Comparisons

Strategies that are easy to confuse, side by side: what sets them apart, when each one fits, and both built live at today's prices.

• Iron Condor vs Iron Butterfly

  Both sell volatility with a capped loss: a sold put spread and a sold call spread around the price. The butterfly sells both inner options at the same strike, at the money; the condor sells them apart, out of the money. That one choice trades a bigger credit for a wider range.

• Long Straddle vs Long Strangle

  Both buy volatility: a call and a put, profiting from a large move either way. The straddle buys both at the same at-the-money strike; the strangle buys them out of the money, apart. The straddle costs more and needs a smaller move; the strangle is cheaper and needs a bigger one.

• Covered Call vs Short Put

  At the same strike and expiry, a covered call (holding the underlying and selling a call) and a short put have the same payoff at expiry: limited upside, the full downside below the strike. That's put-call parity. What differs is how each is held.

• Bull Call Spread vs Bull Put Spread

  Both are bullish vertical spreads with a capped profit and a capped loss. The call spread buys a call and sells a higher one: you pay to enter. The put spread sells a put and buys a lower one: you're paid to enter. With the same strikes, their payoffs at expiry match apart from costs.

• Deribit vs OKX vs Bybit

  The three venues side by side: premium currency, fees, listed expiries and today's spreads.