Home › Guides › Options: capital & accounts

Selling covered calls and puts on tastytrade

tastytrade was built by option sellers for option sellers, and it shows: probabilities on the ticket, a one-click roll, and a house style about when to manage. Here's what that gives you, and the decisions it still leaves to you.

Options guide · 6-minute read · Updated 2026-10-26

The short answer

Yes. tastytrade, a US broker, is aimed at people who sell options, and covered calls and cash-secured puts are its bread and butter. Approved accounts can place both from the desktop platform, the web or the app. The wheel strategy fits naturally.

This page covers what's generally true and stable. Fee amounts, tier names and feature placement change, and where that's likely the page says to check the current help pages. It isn't an endorsement.

Approval

tastytrade approves accounts in tiers of its own, with names rather than numbers, and IRAs capped below the tiers that need margin. The tier that includes covered calls and cash-secured puts is the one the wheel needs. The application asks the usual experience and finance questions. Read the current tier descriptions when you apply; the general ladder is the same as other brokers', which options approval levels explained covers.

Whether tastytrade accepts accounts from where you live has changed over the years, especially for Canadians. Check the current list of supported countries before you start the paperwork.

What the ticket shows that others don't

When you sell a put or a call, the ticket shows figures most brokers hide behind a tab:

• A probability figure for the trade finishing with a profit, based on the option's implied volatility. It's a model estimate, not a forecast.
• Delta, as a rough chance the option finishes in the money.
• The buying-power effect, so you see what's held.
• The max loss, shown as the full strike value on a cash-secured put.

Seeing "max loss" next to the premium on every ticket is the single best habit the platform builds. The cash-secured put guide explains why that number is the one to size by.

A worked example (an illustration, not a trade idea)

Your tastytrade cash account holds $9,000. A made-up stock, XYZ, trades at $50.

You sell one 45-day put at the $45 strike for $1.20, collecting $120 less the per-contract commission. The ticket shows the buying-power effect of $4,500 and the max loss of $4,380.

The ticket's probability figure would have said the first row was the less likely outcome. Less likely is not never. That's the loss the max-loss number was warning about.

The roll tools

From a position, the platform offers a roll that builds one order closing the current option and opening a new one at your chosen expiry and strike, showing the net credit or debit. It's quick. It's also easy to roll out of habit. Whether to roll a losing put or take the shares is the decision, and it's covered in rolling options explained. The tool doesn't make it for you.

The house style: 45 days, manage at 21

tastytrade's founders and its content push a routine: sell around 45 days to expiry, close or roll at around 21 days, take profits at about half the premium. The platform's defaults nudge toward it. It's a reasonable routine, and it's a routine, not a law. We compare it with the alternatives in 30 DTE vs 45 DTE for option sellers. Decide what you'll do before the trade, and write it down.

Fees

tastytrade has charged a per-contract commission to open and none to close, with a cap per leg, plus regulatory fees. The amounts and the cap have changed, so check the current pricing page. Exercise and assignment fees have been low or zero there, but confirm. Options fees for sellers shows how each fee lands on a premium.

What to check before each trade

• Earnings date. The platform marks earnings in the chain; confirm on the company's investor page.
• The spread on your strike. The ticket defaults to the mid; your fill is what counts.
• Your total obligation across open puts, added by you.
• Whether you're in a cash or margin account. The platform's buying-power figure in a margin account is less than the full strike value.

Questions