New PDT Rule by Broker: Day Trading Under $25,000 in 2026

The $25,000 minimum and the four-day-trades-in-five-days count left FINRA Rule 4210 on June 4, 2026, when the new intraday margin standard in Regulatory Notice 26-10 took effect. Brokers were given until October 20, 2027 to switch over. As of November 11, 2026, nine of the twelve brokers we checked have switched fully and published their new rules, two have switched in part (Interactive Brokers and Kraken), and one, Tradier, says the rule is gone but publishes no mechanics of its own. The table below has each broker's date, what applies now and what its cash accounts allow, with a quote from its own page.

Three things did not change. A margin account still needs $2,000 of equity to use leverage. A cash account is still limited by settlement, one business day under T+1, and still gets restricted for 90 days after repeated good-faith violations. And every broker may set house rules above FINRA's minimum, although none of the twelve lists a $25,000 house minimum. The second half of this page works through what a $5,000 account can do now in a cash account and in a margin account, and what JorgAI does for accounts under $25,000, which is most of the accounts connected to it: 15 of the 17 live accounts with a balance snapshot in the last 14 days sit under $25,000, 11 of them under $5,000. Our first guide to the change covers why the rule ended; this one covers what each broker did about it.

• The rule: SEC approval April 14, 2026 (order 34-105226); FINRA Regulatory Notice 26-10 dated April 20; effective June 4, 2026; phase-in ends October 20, 2027.
• Fully switched, with a published date: Schwab (June 8), Alpaca (June 4), tastytrade (June 4), Robinhood (June 4), Webull (June 4), E*TRADE (June 9), Fidelity (June 2026), Public (June 4), moomoo (June 4).
• Partly switched: Interactive Brokers, whose pages still say an account may be subject to the old rules until October 2027, and Kraken Securities, which dropped the count but is still migrating its margin calculations.
• Still true everywhere: $2,000 to use margin (Rule 4210(b)(4)), T+1 settlement, and the cash-account freeriding freeze (SEC bulletin).

The new rule in one paragraph

Instead of counting day trades, a broker now has to work out an intraday margin deficit for every margin account on any day with a transaction that reduces the account's intraday margin level, broadly any purchase or short sale, per the notice. The deficit is the largest shortfall during the day between the margin the account has to maintain and the equity in it. It must be met "as promptly as possible"; FINRA sets no fixed number of days, and a deficit expires after the fifteenth business day. The 90-day freeze on new debits and short positions applies only if a customer "makes a practice" of being late and misses the fifth business day, and deficits under the lesser of 5% of equity or $1,000 do not count toward that. Real-time monitoring is not required: a single end-of-day calculation is allowed. The rule supplements the regular maintenance margin requirement, which FINRA's investor explainer says is 25% of the value of long stock and applies "throughout the entire trading day, not just at end of the day." The terms "pattern day trader" and "day-trading buying power" no longer appear in the rule; investor.gov keeps the old definition with a note that a firm may use the old rules until October 20, 2027.

What each broker does now, November 2026

The pattern is clear enough: the count is gone almost everywhere, and what differs now is the small print on deficits. Where a broker publishes a deadline it is two to five business days, with E*TRADE and Interactive Brokers also counting how many times you miss in a year. Where a broker publishes nothing, FINRA's own text applies: as promptly as possible, and a freeze only for a practice of lateness.

Charles Schwab and thinkorswim

"As of June 8, Schwab no longer counts day trades in margin accounts," Schwab wrote on July 6, and accounts "formerly flagged as PDT with a balance below $25,000 have had their PDT status removed." From July 13 it added Intraday Margin Buying Power "for all eligible margin accounts with at least $2,000," based on a default 25% maintenance requirement, which "can provide up to four times the buying power intraday"; positions above the overnight limit "must exit them by the end of the trading day (8 p.m. ET)" or a margin call may follow. In April Schwab had said it "plans to monitor accounts and adjust intraday margin buying power in real time" (April 16 article). For cash accounts, Schwab's violations page gives the usual three good-faith violations in 12 months for a 90-day settled-cash restriction, and one freeriding violation for the same. Fractional trading is from $1 across more than 7,000 stocks and ETFs in the regular trade ticket (Stock Slices); through the Trader API it is whole shares only, which matters for a small account and is covered in our Stock Slices and API page.

Alpaca

Alpaca "officially lifted the Pattern Day Trader rule" on June 4 (its blog) and lowered the equity needed for 4x intraday buying power "from $25,000 to $2,000." Its pre-trade checks "will reject orders that would put your account into a margin deficit," so a deficit is unlikely to be created by an order in the first place. The two Alpaca pages disagree on the deadline: the docs say an intraday margin call "must be satisfied within two business days," the blog says five; both say an unmet deficit on the fifth business day brings a 90-day freeze, and both carry FINRA's de minimis line of $1,000 or 5% of equity. Alpaca does not offer cash accounts: every account is a margin account, and one under $2,000 is a limited margin account that trades on unsettled funds at 1x with no limit on round trips. For API users, the blog says the old pattern_day_trader and daytrade_count fields return false and 0 until their removal, planned for July 6, 2026.

Tradier

Tradier's blog of June 5 says the rule "has officially been replaced," and that is the whole of what Tradier publishes: no go-live date of its own, no intraday buying power figure, no deficit deadline, and a disclosures page that still links a 2016 day-trading risk document. Its cash-account rules are clear: purchases draw on settled cash first, a stock bought with settled funds can be sold the same day "without risk of a violation," buying beyond settled funds and selling the same day may draw a good-faith violation, and freeriding brings a 90-day settled-funds restriction (funds available to trade). Fractional shares at Tradier are available only through a registered investment adviser, at a $5 minimum with no limit orders (disclosure), so a self-directed account trades whole shares.

tastytrade

tastytrade "was ready for day-1 implementation of the new rule on June 4th, 2026" (its PDT page). A standard account needs "at least $2,000 in marginable equity to use full margin privileges," maintenance calls "are often due one business day after issuance," a qualifying deficit left through the fifth business day can restrict new short positions and debits for 90 days, deficits below the lesser of 5% of equity or $1,000 do not count, and tastytrade "can liquidate positions without prior notice to cure a deficiency" (intraday margin page). "Cash accounts were never subject to pattern day trading rules" and remain under T+1 and good-faith rules. The pricing page lists fractional shares at $0 commission but tastytrade publishes no minimum or order-type detail of its own.

The other eight, in their own words

• Robinhood: "No more day trade restrictions or day trade calls with your Robinhood margin account," and any PDT flag or restriction "will be removed"; "the $2,000 margin minimum equity requirement will still apply" (day trading). Cash accounts "can't trade with unsettled funds"; a margin account can "instantly trade with funds from unsettled stock and option sales" (settlement). Fractional from $1. Robinhood has no retail API for a bot; its AI-agent route is in our Robinhood agentic trading page.
• Webull: old rules "Ending June 3rd, 2026," new rules "Effective June 4th," "No flag will be triggered," "Accounts are not restricted by number of day trades" (pdt-info). Intraday margin deficit calls "must be satisfied within 5 business days" or the account is restricted from new debits and shorts for 90 days (margin calls). Its day-trading FAQ still describes the old three-trade cap in the future tense, so read the pdt-info page, not the FAQ. Cash: "Unlimited day trades are allowed using settled funds."
• **E*TRADE:** "E*TRADE implemented these changes on June 9, 2026"; accounts under $25,000 that had been restricted to liquidating transactions "will not be subject to restriction"; clients "are only required to maintain a $2,000 minimum equity balance"; an intraday margin deficit call "is due five days after the issuance date," and "three violations in a rolling 12-month period" can bring 90-day limits on new debits and shorts (what's new, rule change). Displayed buying power uses E*TRADE's house requirements, which "can be higher than regulatory minimums."
• Fidelity: "No $25,000 minimum equity requirement to intraday trade in margin," "No more counting day trades," and "Margin accounts will still have a $2,000 minimum equity requirement" (intraday trading). An intraday margin deficiency is due "as promptly as possible, no later than 5 days from issuance," with restriction "for up to 90 days" for repeated failures (margin FAQ). Cash: three good-faith violations, three cash liquidation violations or one freeride in 12 months means settled-cash only for 90 days (trading FAQ). No API for a bot; see our Fidelity automation page.
• Interactive Brokers: the only big broker whose own pages hedge. "Your account may still be subject to existing PDT rules during FINRA's transition period, which ends in October 2027" (margin page), while the company told Traders Magazine on June 4 it was ready for the removal. Deficits "must be satisfied as promptly as possible and ideally within 3 business days," and four or more misses in 12 months may bring a 90-day restriction. The PDT reset guide still documents the old reset request. If you are under $25,000 at IBKR, ask before you assume.
• Public: there is "no longer a 'pattern day trader' designation" and no limit on the number of day trades for margin accounts (what changed); an older margin article still says the opposite. Cash: the fourth good-faith violation restricts the account to settled funds for at least 90 days (cash violations). Fractional in any dollar amount.
• moomoo: the PDT framework is replaced "Effective June 4, 2026," flags "removed automatically," and the account "now tracks an Intraday Margin Level (IML) throughout the trading day," equity less a 25% long, 30% short and 100% non-marginable requirement; a deficit "may" trigger a call or a forced liquidation, with no deadline stated (support). Fractional buys from $5, market orders only.
• Kraken Securities: the designation is gone and you can "enter and exit positions as often as you choose," but full implementation of the new margin calculations "may take longer" and depends on its clearing firm; Kraken will notify each account when it has transitioned, by October 20, 2027 at the latest (support, updated October 30). The account is a limited margin account with no credit extended, and sale proceeds can be used before they settle. Kraken's stock API does not carry US stocks, so a bot cannot trade them there; the crypto side is a different matter.

What a $5,000 account can do now

The arithmetic below uses FINRA's text and the brokers' pages above. It assumes a stock with the standard 25% maintenance requirement and a broker that has switched over. Settlement is T+1, in force since May 28, 2024.

Two details decide most small-account days. First, the cash account's limit is the dollar, not the trade: $5,000 of settled cash can be used once per settlement cycle, in one trade or ten, and is usable again the next business day, with no count and no minimum ever having applied. Second, the margin account's limit is now the deficit, and with $5,000 of equity and 25% maintenance the account's intraday margin level reaches zero at about $20,000 of stock, so a fully extended position creates a deficit on any adverse move. The de minimis line is small, $250 on this account, so the practical rule for a small margin account is to size well inside the intraday buying power the broker shows, not at it. The account-type decision itself, including what each of our brokers reports as spendable money, is in cash account versus margin account; the IRA case, where limited margin and settlement rather than the PDT rule set the limits, is in automated trading inside an IRA.

What JorgAI does for accounts under $25,000

We removed our own day-trade gate on September 17, 2026. Until then the auto-trader counted same-day round trips for accounts under $25,000 and stopped at three in five sessions, the way the old rule required. Now JorgAI imposes no equity threshold and no count of its own at any broker. Day trading is off by default and turns on with one switch in Settings, and before a same-day exit the only question the software asks is whether the broker will accept the order; if a broker still rejects one during its transition, the order fails at the broker and the member sees the broker's own reason. The counters the brokers still send are shown for information: on November 11, Schwab's API still returned its rolling round-trip count and a day-trader flag on every account read, with one connected margin account under $25,000 showing 10 round trips in the rolling five-session window, and Alpaca's API returned 0 for the old day-trade count, as its blog says it would until the field is removed.

Small accounts are the normal case here, not the edge case. Of the 17 live accounts connected to JorgAI with a balance snapshot in the last 14 days, 15 are under $25,000 and 11 are under $5,000; the median is about $1,113. The settings that do the work for them are the per-trade cap, the maximum number of open positions, the daily spend limit and the optional buy-approval gate, all listed in the settings glossary, plus the stop-loss and take-profit that sit at the broker. Two broker facts shape a small Schwab account in particular: the Trader API trades whole shares only, so a $1,100 account at a $400 stock buys two shares or none, and sale proceeds are spendable again the next business day in a cash account. How we automate a Schwab account walks through the setup, and the beginner's guide covers the time and money from sign-up to a first automated order at Schwab, Alpaca, Kraken and Crypto.com. Anyone can open a free account and set the caps before connecting a broker.

What to check before you day trade a small account

• Your broker's own page, dated. Nine of the twelve above publish a date; Interactive Brokers and Kraken say the transition is not finished for every account, and Tradier publishes nothing beyond the headline. Stale pages exist at Webull, Public, Fidelity and moomoo, so read the newest one.
• Account type. A cash account is limited by settled cash and has no count; a margin account under $2,000 is 1x at Alpaca and leverage-free at Kraken; a margin account at $2,000 or more gets intraday buying power up to 4x at Schwab and Alpaca and whatever E*TRADE's house requirements allow.
• The deficit deadline and the miss count. Two business days at Alpaca by its docs, three at Interactive Brokers, five at Webull, E*TRADE and Fidelity, one at tastytrade for maintenance calls, unstated at Schwab, Robinhood, Public, moomoo and Kraken. E*TRADE counts three misses in a year, Interactive Brokers four.
• The good-faith count in a cash account. Three in 12 months at Schwab, Fidelity and E*TRADE, four at Public, and the pages at Webull and tastytrade disagree with themselves or are unreachable, so ask.
• Fractional rules. $1 at Schwab, Robinhood and Fidelity in the app; $5 at moomoo, E*TRADE and Tradier (advisers only); none through the Schwab Trader API. For a sub-$5,000 account trading whole shares, the share price caps the position size before any rule does.

Quick answers

Is the PDT rule gone in 2026?

Yes. FINRA Regulatory Notice 26-10 replaced the day-trading margin rules, including the $25,000 minimum and the four-in-five-days count, effective June 4, 2026. Brokers may phase in until October 20, 2027, and Interactive Brokers' pages still say an account may be subject to the old rules until then.

Do I still need $25,000 to day trade?

Not under FINRA's rules, and none of the twelve brokers on this page lists a $25,000 house minimum. You need $2,000 of equity to use margin at all, and the limit on a margin account is now the intraday margin deficit rather than a count.

Does Schwab still have the PDT rule?

No. Schwab stopped counting day trades on June 8, 2026, removed former PDT flags, and from July 13 offers intraday margin buying power of up to 4x to margin accounts with at least $2,000, with intraday-only positions due out by 8 PM ET.

Does Robinhood still have the PDT rule?

No. Robinhood's day-trading page says there are no more day trade restrictions or day trade calls in a margin account and that existing flags are removed; the $2,000 margin minimum still applies.

Does the PDT rule apply to cash accounts?

It never did. A cash account is limited by settlement: you can buy and sell the same day with settled cash, but reusing unsettled proceeds and selling again before they settle is a good-faith violation, and three in 12 months at most brokers brings 90 days of settled-cash-only trading.

What is a day trade call now?

There is no day trade call in FINRA's rule any more. Its replacement is an intraday margin deficit call, issued when the equity in a margin account falls below the maintenance requirement during the day. Brokers give two to five business days to meet it, and a practice of missing the fifth business day leads to a 90-day freeze on new debits and short positions.

This page describes broker rules as published on November 11, 2026, for information only. It is not investment, legal or tax advice, and rules change; confirm with your broker before relying on any of it.