Can You Buy Options After Hours? What Every Trader Must Know

The short answer: yes, but with major caveats. You can technically buy options after hours, but availability is severely limited, costs are higher, and fills are uncertain. Most retail traders don’t have reliable access, and those who do often regret attempting it.

The Short Answer: Why Most Traders Can’t

When you search “can you buy options after hours,” you’re probably hoping for a straightforward yes. The reality is more complicated. While stocks trade actively in pre-market and after-hours sessions, options remain largely confined to the regular 9:30 a.m.–4:00 p.m. ET window. This isn’t by accident—it’s structural. Options need liquidity providers, market makers, and matching systems that primarily operate during core hours. Once the bell rings at 4 p.m., most of that infrastructure shuts down.

Even if your broker technically allows after-hours options trading, the conditions are so restrictive that most traders find it impractical. Wider spreads, thin order books, stale quotes, partial fills, and limited order types create a trading environment that punishes carelessness and rewards only the most disciplined traders.

Trading Hours Reality: Where and When You Can Actually Trade

Understanding what “after hours” actually means for options helps explain why access is limited.

The core session is 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time. This is when the options exchanges concentrate their activity, when liquidity is highest, and when quotes from the Options Price Reporting Authority (OPRA) reflect true market conditions.

Extended sessions for options are fragmented and broker-dependent. Some brokers offer post-market windows (roughly 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET), while others offer nothing. A few platforms experiment with limited late sessions tied to specific instruments, but these are exceptions. There is no standardized “after-hours session” for options the way there is for stocks.

Pre-market trading for options is even rarer. Unlike stocks, most brokers do not allow options trading in the pre-market window (4:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. ET). If you’re looking to buy options early, you’re almost always waiting for the regular session to open.

The takeaway: don’t assume your broker’s extended stock trading hours apply to options. Check the specific hours and eligible symbols before trying anything.

What Options You Can Actually Access Off-Hours

Not all option contracts are tradable after hours. Availability depends on three factors: your broker’s policy, the options exchange rules, and the specific underlying instrument.

Individual stock options face the heaviest restrictions. A single Apple option or Tesla option typically has no after-hours market. Brokers rarely support these symbols off-hours because the market makers who provide liquidity simply aren’t present. When they are available, only the most liquid, widely-held stocks might qualify—and fills remain uncertain.

ETF and index options have a better chance. Broad-market ETFs and their corresponding options sometimes have longer trading windows or special late sessions. Index options with cash settlement occasionally trade slightly longer than equity options. If you’re looking for the best odds of finding a liquid market after hours, index and ETF options are your most likely bet.

Pilot programs run by some brokers may include a small roster of high-volume symbols in extended sessions. These are typically blue-chip names where market makers have agreed to post quotes beyond 4 p.m., but availability is unpredictable and can change.

Always verify your broker’s specific list of after-hours eligible symbols before assuming any particular option trades after 4 p.m.

How Brokers Make or Break After-Hours Option Trades

Your broker’s infrastructure determines whether you can trade options after hours—and under what conditions.

Order routing works differently outside core hours. Instead of flowing to consolidated exchanges with standardized auction mechanics, after-hours orders route to proprietary matching systems or small electronic networks. This means fewer potential counterparties and a higher chance your order sits unfilled.

Permitted order types are severely restricted. Most brokers allow limit orders only. Market orders, stop orders, conditional orders, and multi-leg strategies (spreads, butterflies, iron condors) are typically blocked. Time-in-force settings may be limited to immediate-or-cancel (IOC) or day orders, eliminating flexibility.

Quotes and data after hours are sparse and often unreliable. Without real-time Options Price Reporting Authority (OPRA) feeds, the prices you see may be outdated or unrepresentative. Traders making decisions based on stale quotes frequently face unexpected slippage.

Account permissions act as a gating factor. Even if your broker offers after-hours options, your account needs appropriate options trading approval (Level 1, 2, 3, or 4), possible margin permissions, and potentially a subscription to real-time options data. Upgrading approval levels takes time.

Different brokers implement these restrictions differently. Charles Schwab, Investopedia guidance, and Bankrate educational materials emphasize checking your broker’s current policies before attempting any trade.

The Real Risks Nobody Talks About

After-hours options trading amplifies every risk inherent in options. This deserves its own section because it’s where most traders lose money.

Liquidity evaporates. The bid-ask spread widens dramatically. An option spread that is 1 cent wide during the day might be 50 cents wide after 4 p.m. Your $1 order can cost you $0.50 in slippage before you even have a position.

Partial fills destroy strategies. You place an order to buy 10 call contracts. After hours, you get filled on only 3. Now you have an unbalanced position exposed to unexpected directional risk. Closing it requires another partial fill in an even thinner market.

Your position is exposed overnight. If you buy calls at 7 p.m. ET and a major news event happens before pre-market opens at 4 a.m., you cannot adjust your position. You’re locked in with no way to hedge or exit until the regular session begins.

Complex strategies become unreliable. Multi-leg trades (buying a call spread, for example) require simultaneous fills on both legs. After hours, this often doesn’t happen. One leg fills, the other doesn’t. You’re forced to manage an incomplete hedge, increasing risk and stress.

Execution quality is unpredictable. Stale quotes mean you think you’re trading at $5.00 but your limit order is rejected and re-submitted, only to fill at $5.80. Confirmation delays can stretch minutes. Managing the trade becomes chaotic.

Compare this to the core session, where liquidity is reliable, spreads are tight, and the infrastructure is optimized for execution. For most traders, the risks of after-hours trading far outweigh any benefit.

Your Step-by-Step Action Plan

If you’re determined to trade options after hours despite the risks, follow this conservative checklist.

Step 1: Confirm your broker supports it. Log into your trading platform and search for the specific option symbol you want to trade. Check whether it’s flagged as available for after-hours trading. Verify the exact session hours—don’t assume standard times apply.

Step 2: Verify account and data permissions. Confirm your account has the appropriate options trading level. Check whether you have a real-time options data subscription. Trading from delayed quotes dramatically increases risk.

Step 3: Use limit orders exclusively. Never, ever use a market order after hours. Set a limit price that accounts for wide spreads and price slippage. If your limit is 1 cent away from the current quote, you’re likely to miss the fill entirely.

Step 4: Size down aggressively. Reduce your order size by 50% or more compared to core session trades. If you typically trade 10 contracts, trade 5. If you trade 5, trade 2. Thin markets are sensitive to order flow.

Step 5: Enter single-leg trades only. Buy a call or sell a put. Don’t attempt spreads, condors, or any multi-leg strategy. If you must build a strategy after hours, enter it in stages only after carefully evaluating the risk of partial fills.

Step 6: Monitor fills and confirmations immediately. Check your platform within 30 seconds of order entry. Confirm that your trade executed and at what price. Be prepared to cancel unfilled orders and re-enter with adjusted limits or wait for the regular session.

Step 7: Plan your exit immediately. Before entering the trade, decide how and when you’ll close it. If liquidity dries up further, you may need to hold overnight and exit during the core session tomorrow. Accept this possibility.

Is After-Hours Options Trading Right for You?

After-hours options trading makes sense for a narrow group of traders and doesn’t make sense for everyone else.

Consider it only if:

• You’re an experienced trader who understands multi-leg strategies, assignment, and settlement mechanics
• You’re reacting to an after-close market-moving event (earnings announced at 4:30 p.m., major news)
• You operate across multiple time zones and need to hedge or adjust positions outside U.S. hours
• Your strategy requires only single-leg trades with conservative sizing
• You understand and accept the liquidity risk and execution uncertainty
• Your broker’s after-hours infrastructure is documented and you’ve tested it

Avoid it if:

• You’re learning options mechanics and still building trading skills
• You rely on tight spreads or need guaranteed fills for your strategies
• You trade multi-leg strategies regularly and depend on simultaneous execution
• You can’t tolerate slippage, partial fills, or stale quotes
• You trade smaller accounts where slippage represents a meaningful percentage of your capital
• Your broker’s after-hours options support is unclear or undocumented

For most traders, the core session (9:30 a.m.–4:00 p.m. ET) remains the best and safest environment. Your execution is predictable, spreads are tight, order types are flexible, and liquidity providers are present. Waiting 16 hours to trade in better conditions is often smarter than trading immediately in poor conditions.

Common Questions About After-Hours Options Trading

Q: Can I use market orders to buy options after hours? A: Almost never. Most brokers block market orders in extended sessions to prevent uncontrolled execution against thin liquidity. Always use limit orders.

Q: Will options eventually trade 24/7? A: Not likely. Options exchanges concentrate activity during core hours to maximize liquidity and efficiency. Global traders can trade across different regional sessions, but options won’t be truly 24/7.

Q: If I close one leg of a spread after hours, what happens to the other leg? A: Nothing automatic. You must manually close or manage the remaining leg separately. Partial fills create unbalanced positions, which is why multi-leg strategies are risky off-hours.

Q: Does after-hours trading change the option exercise deadline? A: No. Exercise and assignment deadlines are determined by the Options Clearing Corporation (OCC) and exchange rules, regardless of when the trade occurs. An option’s last trading day and exercise cutoff times remain unchanged.

Q: What if my after-hours trade doesn’t fill before the market closes? A: Unfilled orders typically expire at the end of the extended session. You’ll need to re-enter during the regular session the next day.

Key Takeaways and Next Steps

Can you buy options after hours? Yes, technically—but with severe limitations. Availability depends entirely on your broker, the specific option symbol, and exchange rules. Most individual traders don’t have reliable access, and those who do often find the execution conditions worse than waiting for regular hours.

The key risks are liquidity risk, execution uncertainty, partial fills, and limited order types. These combine to create an environment where trading mistakes are expensive and profitable trading is difficult.

The practical reality is that for 99% of traders, options trading during the regular 9:30 a.m.–4:00 p.m. ET session is superior. Better liquidity, tighter spreads, more order type flexibility, and predictable execution make the core session the obvious choice.

If you must trade after hours:

1. Verify your broker’s specific policy and eligible symbols
2. Confirm your account permissions and data subscriptions
3. Use limit orders with conservative pricing
4. Reduce position sizes significantly
5. Avoid multi-leg strategies
6. Monitor fills closely and be ready to adjust

If you want more information, consult Charles Schwab’s help pages, Investopedia’s educational guides, and your broker’s official documentation on extended-hours trading policies. Exchange notices from the Options Clearing Corporation (OCC) and OPRA also provide authoritative guidance on settlement, exercise, and clearing procedures.

The bottom line: waiting for better liquidity and conditions is almost always the smarter move than trying to save a few hours by trading in a fragmented, risky market. Build discipline around core session trading, and you’ll spend less on slippage and manage positions with significantly more confidence.