You cannot buy or sell options during after-hours trading on Robinhood

Robinhood closes options trading when the regular market closes at 4 p.m. Eastern Time. If you try to place an options order after 4 p.m., Robinhood will reject it. This applies to all options trades — buying calls, buying puts, selling covered calls, or closing any options position. The restriction is the same whether you trade during extended hours for stocks or not.

The reason is structural: options markets themselves do not operate after hours the way stock markets do. While some brokers show after-hours stock prices because individual stocks trade on electronic networks after 4 p.m., options have no equivalent after-hours market. There is nowhere for your order to go, so no broker can fill it.

Key Takeaways

  • Options trading on Robinhood stops at 4 p.m. Eastern Time, when the regular market closes, and does not resume until 9:30 a.m. the next trading day.
  • You can place a standing order (a limit order set to execute the next day) for options before 4 p.m., but you cannot execute a new options trade after hours.
  • Stock trading on Robinhood continues until 8 p.m. Eastern Time during extended hours, but this does not explore to options.
  • If you want to trade options at a specific price, you must place a limit order during regular market hours and let it sit overnight or cancel it.

How Robinhood's options hours compare to stock hours

Robinhood offers extended trading for stocks — you can buy and sell stocks from 4 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. (pre-market) and from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. (after-hours). Options do not have this flexibility. The options market operates only during regular hours: 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday.

This difference exists because the options market is centralized. All options trade through a small number of exchanges (the CBOE, ISE, and others), and those exchanges close at 4 p.m. Stock trading, by contrast, happens on multiple networks — some close at 4 p.m., but others stay open until 8 p.m., which is why you see after-hours stock prices on Robinhood.

If you hold an options position overnight, you still own it. You just cannot close it, adjust it, or open a new one until the market reopens at 9:30 a.m. the next day.

What happens if you try to place an options order after 4 p.m.

Robinhood will show an error message and prevent the order from being submitted. The message typically says something like "Options trading is closed" or "This order cannot be placed outside of market hours." You will not be able to proceed until the market reopens.

This is a hard stop — there is no workaround. You cannot call Robinhood support to place an after-hours options trade, and you cannot use a different order type to bypass the restriction. The platform straightforward does not accept options orders outside regular market hours.

Using limit orders to trade options at a specific price

If you want to buy or sell an option at a particular price and you are not watching the market when it hits that price, you can place a limit order during regular hours. A limit order tells Robinhood to execute your trade only if the option reaches the price you set.

You can place this order at any time during the trading day, and it will remain active until the market closes at 4 p.m. If the price is not reached by 4 p.m., the order expires at the end of the day. You can also set a limit order to "good-til-canceled" (GTC), which means it will stay active for multiple days until the price is hit or you cancel it manually.

This is not the same as after-hours trading — your order still executes only during regular market hours — but it lets you set a price target and walk away without watching the screen.

Why options markets close while stocks stay open

Options are derivatives: their price depends on the price of the underlying stock. When the stock market closes, the value of every option changes because the stock price has moved. Options exchanges close to prevent a situation where options are trading at prices that no longer reflect the stock's actual value.

After-hours stock trading happens at lower volume and with wider bid-ask spreads (the gap between the price someone will pay and the price someone will sell at). Options pricing would become unreliable in this environment. Rather than risk traders getting filled at stale prices, the options exchanges straightforward close.

Some brokers do offer limited after-hours options trading through special programs, but Robinhood does not. This is a platform choice, not a market limitation.

What to do if you need to trade options outside regular hours

If you need to close an options position urgently and the market is closed, you have limited options. You can wait for the market to reopen at 9:30 a.m. the next day and close the position then. If you are concerned about overnight risk (for example, if you are holding a short call and worried about a gap up at the open), you can close the position at the end of the regular trading day instead.

If you use a different broker that offers after-hours options trading, you could transfer your account, but this takes several days and may not be practical for an when ready need. Most individual traders straightforward close options positions during regular market hours or hold them overnight and close them the next day.

You can also set a limit order before 4 p.m. to close your position at a certain price. If the price is reached the next day, the order will execute automatically when the market opens.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I place an options order before the market opens and have it execute at the open?

No. You cannot place any options order before 9:30 a.m., when the market opens. You can place a limit order during regular hours (9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.) and set it to "good-til-canceled" so it stays active across multiple days, but you cannot submit a new order before 9:30 a.m.

If I own an options contract, can I sell it after hours?

No. Ownership does not change the trading hours. You can only sell (close) the position during regular market hours, 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern Time. If you hold it past 4 p.m., it remains yours but you cannot trade it until the next day.

Do options expire after hours on Robinhood?

Options expire at 4 p.m. on their expiration date, which is the same time the market closes. If your option is in-the-money (profitable), it will be automatically exercised at or shortly after 4 p.m. You do not need to do anything, but you also cannot prevent it after hours.

Why can I trade stocks after hours on Robinhood but not options?

Stock after-hours trading happens on electronic networks that stay open past 4 p.m. Options have no equivalent after-hours network — all options trade through centralized exchanges that close at 4 p.m. This is a market structure difference, not a Robinhood restriction.

Can I set a stop-loss order for options after hours?

No. Stop-loss orders, like all options orders, can only be placed during regular market hours. If you want a stop-loss to protect an options position overnight, you must set it before 4 p.m. and let it sit. If the price drops to your stop level after hours, the order will not execute until the market reopens at 9:30 a.m.