Robinhood has no daily trade limit for most account types

Robinhood does not cap the number of trades you can make in a day, week, or month on a standard brokerage account. You can buy and sell stocks, options, or crypto as many times as you want without hitting a trade counter or paying extra per trade. This is different from some older brokerages that charged per transaction or limited day traders.

The one restriction that does exist is the Pattern Day Trader rule, which is a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rule, not a Robinhood rule. It applies to all brokers, not just Robinhood. If you make four or more day trades in five business days and your account has less than $25,000, your account gets flagged and you cannot day trade for 90 days.

A day trade means buying and selling the same security on the same day. Buying on Monday and selling on Tuesday is not a day trade. Buying at 10 a.m. and selling at 3 p.m. on the same day is.

Key Takeaways

  • Robinhood does not limit how many trades you can make per day, week, or month on a regular brokerage account.
  • The Pattern Day Trader rule, set by the SEC, restricts accounts under $25,000 from making four or more day trades in five business days.
  • If you trigger the Pattern Day Trader restriction, you cannot day trade for 90 days, though you can still buy and hold stocks.
  • Robinhood Gold (the paid subscription) does not remove the Pattern Day Trader rule, but it does give you margin to trade with borrowed money.

What counts as a day trade on Robinhood

A day trade is when you buy and sell the same stock, option, or cryptocurrency in the same calendar day. The order does not matter — you can sell first and buy later in the same day, and it still counts as a day trade. Robinhood marks these trades in your account history.

Trades that do not count as day trades include buying on one day and selling on another day, even if it is the next day. You can also hold a position overnight without triggering the rule. The rule only looks at same-day buy-and-sell activity.

Options and crypto follow the same rule. If you buy a call option at 9:30 a.m. and sell it at 2 p.m. on the same day, that is one day trade. If you buy Bitcoin and sell it the next morning, that is not a day trade.

How the Pattern Day Trader restriction works

The SEC defines a Pattern Day Trader as someone who makes four or more day trades within a five-business-day window. Robinhood monitors your account automatically. If you cross that threshold and your account balance is below $25,000, Robinhood will flag your account and restrict day trading for 90 calendar days.

During the 90-day restriction, you cannot open any new day trades. You can still buy stocks and hold them, and you can sell positions you already own as long as you do not buy and sell the same security on the same day. Once the 90 days pass, the restriction lifts and you can day trade again if you stay under the four-trade threshold.

The $25,000 threshold is a minimum account balance, not a one-time deposit. If your account drops below $25,000 after you have been day trading freely, the rule kicks in. If your account is above $25,000, you can make unlimited day trades with no restriction.

Robinhood Gold and margin trading

Robinhood Gold is a paid subscription ($5 per month or $50 per year) that gives you access to margin — the ability to borrow money from Robinhood to trade with. Margin does not remove the Pattern Day Trader rule. If you have less than $25,000 in your account, you still cannot make four or more day trades in five business days, even with Gold.

What Gold does give you is the ability to trade with more money than you have in cash. For example, if you have $10,000 in your account, Gold might let you trade with $20,000 by borrowing the other $10,000. You pay interest on the borrowed amount. This can help you reach the $25,000 threshold faster if that is your goal, but it does not change the day trade rule itself.

What happens if you trigger the restriction

When Robinhood flags your account as a Pattern Day Trader account, you will see a notification in the app. Your account enters a 90-day restriction period. During this time, you cannot open any new day trades. If you try to buy and sell the same security on the same day, Robinhood will block the sell order or warn you before it goes through.

You can still buy stocks and hold them indefinitely. You can also sell any position you own, as long as you do not buy the same security again on the same day. The restriction only blocks same-day buy-and-sell pairs.

After 90 calendar days, the restriction automatically lifts. You do not have to contact Robinhood or do anything to remove it. Your account returns to normal trading rules. If you make four or more day trades again within five business days, the restriction will trigger again.

How to avoid the Pattern Day Trader restriction

The simplest way to avoid the restriction is to keep your account balance at $25,000 or above. Once you reach that threshold, the Pattern Day Trader rule no longer applies to you, and you can make as many day trades as you want.

If your account is below $25,000, track your day trades carefully. Count how many times you have bought and sold the same security on the same day in the past five business days. If you are close to four, slow down or wait until the five-day window passes before making another same-day trade.

Another approach is to avoid day trading altogether and focus on buy-and-hold investing. If you never buy and sell the same security on the same day, the Pattern Day Trader rule will never affect you, regardless of your account balance.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Robinhood charge per trade?

No. Robinhood does not charge a commission per stock trade, options trade, or crypto trade. You pay no fee to buy or sell. The only cost is the bid-ask spread (the difference between the buy and sell price) and any margin interest if you use borrowed money.

Can I day trade with less than $25,000 if I use Robinhood Gold?

No. Robinhood Gold does not exempt you from the Pattern Day Trader rule. If your account is below $25,000, you still cannot make four or more day trades in five business days, even with a Gold subscription. Gold gives you margin, not an exemption from the SEC rule.

What if I buy a stock, sell it, and buy it again the same day?

That counts as two day trades — one buy-sell pair and one buy. If you do this four times in five business days with an account under $25,000, you will trigger the Pattern Day Trader restriction. Each same-day buy-and-sell combination counts as one day trade.

Does the Pattern Day Trader rule explore to crypto on Robinhood?

Yes. Buying and selling the same cryptocurrency on the same day counts as a day trade under the Pattern Day Trader rule. The rule applies to stocks, options, and crypto equally.

Can I trade during extended hours to avoid the day trade rule?

No. A day trade is defined by the calendar day, not by market hours. If you buy during extended hours in the morning and sell during regular hours the same day, or vice versa, it still counts as a day trade. The entire calendar day is treated as one trading day.