Always cool to see what tools the more experienced people use. Yeah, I'll probably stick to something newbie friendly for now.
one can always give them a call: www.thinkorswim.com 866-839-1100 But to my knowledge they are flexible.
For TWS, I would suggest you try a demo a bit a it is much more powerful than many realize. We also have another front end called Mosaic and if you don't like that, there are a host of other front ends that route via IB. As for cost, you are not comparing apples and oranges if you don't consider the hidden cost of payment for order flow. I came across this from Eric Hunsader of Nanex. Explaining Payment for Order Flow with Taylor Swift concert tickets: