Order entry and trade management are much easier and more intuitive, but such products also have features that don't exist in TWS. Take simulated stops for example. Say you're long the ES with a stop-loss at 1025.00. In TWS, as soon as 1025.00 is hit you are gone. But with a front-end you could program it such that only if the bid volume drops below a certain level at 1025.00 it takes you out, or only if the ask volume is say 3 times the bid volume, it takes you out. Your 1025.00 stop-loss becomes an "intelligent" order that will only trigger if the market really is weak at that level. The benefit is obvious, ...suppose 1025.00 is hit but only a few contracts trade (maybe a fake-out new low) and then immediately trades higher again. Your "intelligent" stop-loss kept you in the trade whereas the plain vanilla type would have taken you out. If it turns around and hits your target maybe you just netted a $200.00 gain instead of a $100.00 loss. That's just one example but other features abound.
Even without 'clever' features, just the ease of use factor alone (point and click) is worth the money IMO.
