IBKR vs CBOE Comparison

Interactive Brokers is a large, automated, retail and institutional brokerage that boasted nearly $780 billion in customer equity at the end of 2025. The company cut its teeth as a market maker, introducing US financial markets to automated and algorithmic training before expanding into brokerage services in 1993. The firm has a wide-ranging client base, with its best-in-class order execution and extremely low margin lending rates catering to a sophisticated audience of hedge funds, proprietary traders, and introducing brokers that account for about 45% of the firm's commissions. With operations spanning more than 160 electronic exchanges, 36 countries, and 28 currencies, Interactive Brokers caters to a global clientele, with more than 80% of active accounts sitting outside the US.

Founded in 1973, Cboe controls the largest option exchange in the US, which provides around 60% of the firm's revenue. The company is best known for its proprietary S&P 500 and VIX index options, which it offers through an exclusive contract with S&P Global. The firm moved into US and European equities through the $3.4 billion acquisition of BATS in 2017. Cboe has continued to look to expand internationally, using acquisitions to build a presence in both Canada and Australia.