How to Copy Trade Options

Copying options strategies works on the same principle as copying stocks, a trader’s trades are routed to your own account automatically, but options add complexity and risk that make a few extra steps and safeguards important. Here is how to copy trade options sensibly.

What you need first

• A broker that supports options copy trading. Through RelayTrades, brokers like Webull, Charles Schwab, Questrade, and moomoo support stocks, ETFs, and options; some brokers are stocks and ETFs only.
• Options approval on your account. Brokers require you to be approved for an options trading level; what you can copy depends on your individual permissions.
• A strategy that actually trades options, and that you understand well enough to judge its risk.

How copying options works

Once your account is connected and approved, following an options strategy routes the matching contracts to your account when the trader trades, scaled to your settings. Your risk limits are enforced before each order, just as with stocks. Because contract prices and the number of contracts differ from share-based sizing, pay close attention to how positions are sized so a single options trade does not take too much of your account.

Why options copying needs extra care

Options behave very differently from shares. They can move sharply, lose value from time decay as expiration approaches, and turn worthless if a position expires out of the money. Spreads can be wider, which increases slippage on copied fills. These traits mean the risk on an options strategy can be higher and faster-moving than a stock strategy, so understanding what you are following is essential.

Options can lose value quickly and expire worthless. Copy options strategies only if you understand options risk, keep your sizing and slippage limits tight, and never use money you cannot afford to lose.

Safeguards to keep on

Lean on the same controls that protect any copied trade, and lean harder for options: proportional position sizing so contract counts stay sensible for your account, exposure and concurrent-position limits, slippage protection to skip fills that have moved too far, and a kill switch to halt everything. With RelayTrades these are enforced server-side before any order is placed. Consider starting with manual approval so you see each options trade before it goes through.