OptionsHouse was built on top of/along side some fairly sophisticated in-house trading tools at PEAK6. For instance, I believe their risk viewer is pretty much a port of the windows-based risk analysis tool they use internally, albeit somewhat dumbed down. They know how to build tools, however I'm less confident they can run a successful business. E.g., their $10 flat-rate for option trades doesn't cover their direct out-of-pocket for any order of size. They may be losing money on every trade, but they're making it up on volume! I'd give them a try, but don't be surprised if they 'adjust' their rates in the not too distant future.