TD Ameritrade's thinkorswim Now 'Powers' Schwab Trading Platform

“For example, it is widely known and accepted that TDA’s Veo platform was superior to Schwab’s, yet they still shunted it aside into the scrap heap of history and went with their legacy incumbent technology,” according to Welsh. “So, in this case, good for them to admit that fact and bring a net benefit to advisors and retail clients.”

In early August 2020, Schwab said TD Ameritrade’s thinkorswim and thinkpipes trading platforms, educational resources and tools would be part of its offering for clients of independent advisors and other investors following the integration of the two firms — along with TD Ameritrade Institutional’s portfolio rebalancing solution, iRebal, for registered investment advisors.

“At the core of Schwab Trading Powered by Ameritrade is the thinkorswim platform suite and its highly popular paperMoney trading simulator,” Schwab said Monday.

The thinkorswim platform suite includes:

thinkorswim desktop: Fully customizable software that Schwab said “offers access to elite trading tools to test strategies, develop new ideas, and execute even the most complex trades.”
thinkorswim mobile: A secure platform that Schwab said was “natively built for mobile devices that offers the features and power of thinkorswim’s desktop platform while on-the-go.”
thinkorswim web: Web-based software that features a streamlined trading experience, available in-browser with no download necessary.

Other key features available on the thinkorswim platforms include the ability for clients to trade an array of products, including equities, select derivatives and exchange-traded funds, along with the thinkScript programming language that Schwab said “powers extensive customization.”

The paperMoney trading simulator, meanwhile, allows traders to test strategies and place trades with no monetary risk.