IBKR ATS Clients
Execute Inside the Spread
The IBKR ATS is built for mid-market execution on non-marketable US stock orders with zero spread potential, no maker/taker fees, and anti-gaming logic designed to protect your resting orders from predatory trading.
Key Benefits
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Zero Spread Potential
Midpoint pegged orders are designed to trade at the NBBO midpoint, effectively reducing the bid-offer spread to zero for both your resting order and the SmartRouted order it crosses with.
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No Maker/Taker Charges
No maker/taker fees or credits on directed orders. Commissions average just under $0.002 per share.1 What you see is what you pay.
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Anti-Gaming Protection
Designed to protect your resting orders. The IBKR ATS continuously monitors for predatory trading patterns. If someone is probing for large resting orders, the system blocks it. Your orders stay hidden and protected.
How IBKR ATS Works
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Direct your non-marketable order to IBKR ATS as a routing destination.
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Your order rests privately in the order book, tagged as “not held” and invisible to the broader market.
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Incoming SmartRouted orders from other IBKR clients are matched against your resting order.
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Midpoint pegged orders are designed to execute at the NBBO midpoint, reducing the effective spread to zero.
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If unfilled within a time window you specify, the order automatically reroutes to SMART.
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Anti-gaming logic runs continuously to prevent predatory traders from probing the ATS for large resting orders.
Eligibility
- US stocks trading above USD 1.00
- Non-marketable, liquidity-adding orders only
- No market orders
Ready to see how the IBKR ATS
can work for your flow?
Our institutional sales team can walk you through execution quality data, order types, and connectivity options.
Unique Order Types
Pegged-to-Midpoint with Positive and Negative Offsets
Your order sits at the midpoint between the best bid and offer. You can adjust it slightly above or below the midpoint to gain priority over other resting orders. Only available on the IBKR ATS.
Pegged-to-Best with ATS-Aware Pricing
Your order automatically adjusts its price to stay the best bid or offer, up to the midpoint. You don't have to manually update your price as the market moves. The ATS does it for you.
Minimum Contra-Side Quantity Filters
You set a minimum order size that can trade against yours. If someone sends a smaller order, it won't interact with you. This stops other participants from picking away at your order with small, probing trades.
Other Supported Order Types
Limit, Relative/Pegged-to-Primary, Pegged-to-Market, Scale, and Accumulate/Distribute.
All orders except midpoint pegs provide dynamic adjustment: a buy stays at least one tick below the NBO, a sell at least one tick above the NBB. GTD lets you set an expiration on resting orders.
Integration and Connectivity
TWS Access Route from Mosaic, Classic TWS, or the order ticket. Supported algos: Accumulate/Distribute, ScaleTrader, and BasketTrader (with CSV upload for batched orders).
FIX CTCI Connect your applications and front-end systems directly to the IBKR ATS via FIX. Serve as a liquidity provider or find liquidity for large block orders through our high-speed routing infrastructure.
Learn How to Use IBKR ATS
A complete walkthrough of access, order types, supported algos, and fill verification.
Take the Course: Introduction to the IBKR ATS
Additional Lessons:
Execute Orders in between the NBBO
Designed for mid market execution on resting orders. No maker/taker charges. No principal trading against you.
Ready to route your first order?
Institutional and High-Net-Worth Clients
New to IBKR
Existing IBKR Clients
Disclosures
- Commissions may vary based on commission model. For more information, see commissions.