# Commissions: pick your IBKR plan

> Match Scalpel's SIM fees to your Interactive Brokers plan: Pro Tiered, Pro Fixed, Lite or custom, plus exchange and clearing fees, and the FEE column.

Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/commissions
Guide 6.3, SIM and LIVE. Beginner, 6 min read.
Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team.

**In short:**

In LIVE, Scalpel books the real commission Interactive Brokers reports for every fill. In SIM it estimates fees from the plan you pick in **Settings > Risk > Commission plan**: **IBKR Pro Tiered** (the default, $0.0035 a share, $0.35 minimum), **IBKR Pro Fixed** ($0.005 a share, $1.00 minimum), **IBKR Lite** ($0) or **Custom**. On Tiered and Custom, SIM also adds the exchange and clearing fees IBKR passes through. Pick the plan your IBKR account is on, so your paper P&L matches what live trading would cost.

Fees are the cost a scalper pays on every single trade, win or lose. A 10c winner on 200 shares is $20 before fees; at two fills of $1.34 each it is $17.32 after them. Over a hundred trades a month that difference decides whether a small edge is an edge at all. Scalpel nets fees out of every realized P&L figure, every R multiple and every Analytics stat, so set the plan before you judge your SIM results.

**Before you start:**

- Know your Interactive Brokers pricing plan. It is shown in Client Portal, in your account settings.
- Scalpel open in SIM ([guide 6.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/paper-trading-sim)).

## The four plans

| Plan | Per share | Minimum per order | Cap | Exchange and clearing fees in SIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| **IBKR Pro Tiered** (default) | $0.0035 | $0.35 | 1% of trade value | Added |
| **IBKR Pro Fixed** | $0.005 | $1.00 | 1% of trade value | Included in the price, not added |
| **IBKR Lite** | $0 | $0 | None | Not added |
| **Custom** | Your number | Your number | Your number | Added |

The commission on one fill is the per-share rate times the shares, raised to the minimum, then capped at the percent of the trade's value: `min(max(rate x shares, minimum), cap% x shares x price)`. The cap can pull a tiny order below the minimum, exactly as IBKR does: 1 share at $5 on Fixed costs 5c, not $1.

On **Tiered** and **Custom**, SIM adds what IBKR passes through on that plan:

- **Exchange fee** on fills that take liquidity: $0.003 a share, or 0.3% of the trade's value on stocks under $1. A marketable buy, a sell into the bids and a stop-out all take liquidity. A working buy remainder that fills from the tape, a sell resting at the ask or the mid, and a SIM take-profit rest at their price, so they pay no exchange fee.
- **Clearing fee** on every fill: $0.0002 a share.

Regulatory fees on sales (tiny on a scalp) are left out on every plan.

## Pick your plan

### 1. Open Settings, Risk

Press `Ctrl`+`,` (`Cmd`+`,` on a Mac) and click **Risk**. The commission settings sit under **SIM commission (per-share)**.

### 2. Choose the plan

Open **Commission plan** and pick the plan your account is on. Picking a plan fills in **Comm $/share**, **Comm min ($)** and **Comm cap (% of trade)** for you.

*Screenshot: Settings, Risk: the Commission plan list, on IBKR Pro Tiered.*

### 3. Or set your own numbers

If your rate differs (Tiered's per-share rate drops as your monthly volume grows), type your own numbers into the three fields. The plan picker shows **Custom** as soon as they match no plan. Custom adds the exchange and clearing fees like Tiered.

*Screenshot: Custom: a lower per-share rate with the Tiered minimum and cap.*

### 4. Apply

Click **Apply**. The new plan prices every SIM fill from now on; fills already booked keep the fee they were charged.

## Worked examples

What SIM charges for one fill that takes liquidity (a marketable buy or sell):

| Fill | Tiered | Fixed | Lite |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 shares at $3.00 | $0.67 ($0.35 + $0.02 clearing + $0.30 exchange) | $1.00 (the minimum) | $0 |
| 200 shares at $4.00 | $1.34 ($0.70 + $0.04 + $0.60) | $1.00 | $0 |
| 500 shares at $5.00 | $3.35 ($1.75 + $0.10 + $1.50) | $2.50 | $0 |
| 1,000 shares at $5.00 | $6.70 ($3.50 + $0.20 + $3.00) | $5.00 | $0 |
| 10,000 shares at $0.50 | $52.00 ($35.00 + $2.00 + $15.00) | $50.00 (the 1% cap) | $0 |

A round trip pays twice: buy and sell. So a 500-share scalp on a $5 stock costs about $6.70 on Tiered and $5.00 on Fixed in SIM.

**Note.**

With the pass-through fees added, SIM's Tiered estimate is cheaper than Fixed for fills under about 150 shares and dearer above that, on stocks over $1. Real Tiered bills vary: the per-share rate falls with volume, and exchange fees and rebates differ by venue and by whether you add or take liquidity. These numbers are SIM's estimate, not a quote. Choose your plan with Interactive Brokers on your own trading; Scalpel just needs to know which one you are on.

## Where fees show

- **The FEE column** in the orders panel. On the **Orders** tab it is the fee for each order. On the **Positions** tab, the open position shows the entry fees so far and each closed trade shows its round trip. A dash means no fee yet.
- **Realized P&L** everywhere (the closed trades, the header, **NET P&L** on the desk) is net of fees.
- **R multiples** use the net P&L, so a 1R target that only just pays for its fees reads a little under 1R ([guide 5.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/r-multiples)).
- **Analytics** shows the total as **COMMISSIONS** on the Overview ([guide 6.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/analytics)).

*Screenshot: The FEE column: $3.35 of entry fees on the open 500 shares, and $2.22 for each 166-share round trip. Demo data.*

## In LIVE

LIVE ignores the plan setting. Each fill's FEE is the commission IBKR reports for it, which arrives a moment after the fill (the column shows a dash until then). Scalpel adds the entry commission to the position and nets both sides out of the trade's realized P&L when it closes.

## Questions

**Which IBKR plan is best for day trading?**

It depends on your share sizes and volume, and only Interactive Brokers can quote it. In SIM's estimate Tiered is cheaper on small fills and Fixed on larger marketable ones. Set Scalpel to the plan your account is actually on.

**Why are my SIM fees higher on Tiered than the $0.0035 rate?**

Because SIM adds the exchange fee ($0.003 a share when you take liquidity) and clearing ($0.0002 a share) that IBKR passes through on Tiered. Fixed and Lite prices include them, so SIM adds nothing there.

**Does the commission plan change LIVE fees?**

No. In LIVE Scalpel books the commission Interactive Brokers reports for each fill. The plan only drives SIM's estimate.

**Why does the FEE column show a dash?**

No fee has been booked yet. In LIVE the commission report arrives just after the fill; on IBKR Lite in SIM the fee is zero.

**Can I change the exchange and clearing fee rates?**

Not in Settings. They have sensible defaults and are only editable in Scalpel's settings file. To leave them out, use Fixed or Lite.