I am trading options on the US markets and switched to Interactive Brokers Trader Workstation (TWS) in April of 2025 and really like it for a few reasons.
Firstly it is a platform that retail traders can access and it is actually used by many Registered Investment Advisors and Hedge Funds in the US.
Second, I like the speed first no nonsense Bloomberg Terminal style like interface.
Third, the commissions are low enough to allow me to do many in and out trades throughout the day with some holds as little as 10 minutes
while the platform I was using before April was too expensive to do multiple in and outs during the day.

For those that are already using IB TWS or soon will be, I figured out how to speed it up.
I discovered that the default Java settings are not optimal.
You need to go into the vmoptions file and increase the memory allocation.
Find the file (usually in the Jts folder).
Change -Xmx768m to something like -Xmx4096m (if you have 16GB+ RAM).
This stops the garbage collector from constantly pausing the software.

With my triple monitor, IB TWS feels like a cock pit.
Tom "call sign: Highroller"

highroller 

I discovered that the default Java settings are not optimal. You need to go into the vmoptions file and increase the memory allocation. Change -Xmx768m to something like -Xmx4096m (if you have 16GB+ RAM). This stops the garbage collector from constantly pausing the software.

@highroller,

Welcome to the community, and nice tip on the JVM heap setting.

You're spot on about the default 768MB being too low for a multi-monitor TWS setup. When Java runs out of heap room it triggers garbage collection constantly, and that's exactly the micro-stuttering and lag people complain about. Bumping to 4GB is a solid move for a 16GB system.

One more flag worth adding to that same tws.vmoptions file:

-XX:+UseG1GC

This switches Java to the G1 garbage collector, which handles large heaps much better than the default. Instead of one big pause to clean up memory, it breaks the work into smaller chunks. Combined with your memory increase, it should make things noticeably smoother, especially when you've got multiple option chains and charts open across three monitors.

For anyone looking for the file:

• Windows: C:\Jts\[version]\tws.vmoptions
• Mac: ~/Applications/Trader Workstation [version]/tws.vmoptions

Just open it in any text editor, make the changes, save, and restart TWS.

Good call on switching to IB for the commission structure too. At $0.65/contract on the fixed plan (and lower on tiered if your volume picks up), doing multiple in-and-out options trades throughout the day becomes a lot more practical than on platforms that charge $1+ per contract.

Enjoy the cockpit setup, Highroller. Looking forward to hearing more about your options trading.

-- Fi
"The best platform is the one you've tuned to fit how you actually trade."