Binary options have been around long enough to draw a sharp divide between those who treat them as a form of controlled speculation and those who get burned by their simplicity. At the surface, the idea is easy: you’re choosing whether an asset will go up or down in a fixed amount of time. But the way these contracts are structured—and the way they’re marketed—has led to all kinds of variations. Not all of them are equally used or even equally available across platforms, and depending on who’s offering them, the name might change even when the mechanism doesn’t.
Understanding the different types is less about memorizing a list and more about recognizing how brokers package risk and time. That’s what each binary option type boils down to: how the price will behave in relation to a condition, and how much time it has to meet or fail that condition. Each type appeals to different attitudes towards risk, speed, and interpretation of market trends.
High/Low Binary Options
Also called Up/Down, this is the most common type by a wide margin. It’s also the one most people think of when they hear “binary option.” You’re choosing whether the price of an asset will finish higher or lower than its current value at the time of expiry. It sounds basic because it is. But don’t mistake basic for low risk—picking direction in a short window when markets are moving unpredictably is harder than it looks.
Most high/low options have short expiry windows, ranging from 30 seconds to an hour. The shorter the time, the higher the chance for noise and price spikes to derail even solid technical calls. Longer expiries, like daily or weekly, are less common in the high/low format but not unheard of.
This type works best when the trader has a clear directional bias and short-term technical analysis suggests a sharp move is likely. For example, reacting to an economic release or earnings report where the sentiment is clear, but the price hasn’t yet moved aggressively.
Touch and No-Touch Options
Touch options are based on whether a price will reach—or touch—a certain level before expiry. If the asset touches that level even once, the contract pays out. No-touch is the inverse: the price must not touch a specific level before the expiry.
Unlike high/low options, where you’re looking at the price at expiry, touch options are about price behavior within the contract’s life. It doesn’t matter where the price ends up—if the condition is met early, it’s already decided. This makes them especially attractive when markets are volatile, and a big swing is expected.
Touch options tend to offer higher payouts than basic binaries because hitting a specific price can be less likely than simply finishing higher or lower. They’re used more frequently in currency trading, where breakout strategies are common. If a trader believes a currency pair will spike up before reversing, a touch option placed above the current price can take advantage of that move without needing to time the reversal correctly.
In/Out or Range Options
Also called boundary options, these are based on whether an asset’s price stays within a defined range during the life of the contract. Some contracts require the price to stay within the range the entire time to win (in-range). Others are structured to pay out if the price exits the range (out-of-range).
Range options are particularly relevant during periods of low volatility, like just before major news announcements or when markets are consolidating. They can also be useful when trading assets that tend to mean-revert within certain bands.
These types often come with wider payout variances depending on the distance of the boundaries and the expiry length. Brokers often tweak the distance between the upper and lower bounds depending on the market’s implied volatility.
60-Second Binary Options
Technically just a subtype of high/low options, 60-second binaries became popular because they appeal to the instant gratification crowd. These contracts expire in one minute, and the pitch is always the same: make money fast, over and over. In practice, most traders who gravitate toward these lose more than they win.
That’s because they’re not fast enough for true scalping and not long enough for any real analysis. Price action within that tiny window can be random, and spreads can eat up a big chunk of the movement. Unless there’s a very specific event triggering high-probability short-term moves, 60-second options are more gambling than trading.
Still, they exist, and platforms keep offering them because they bring volume and keep users glued to screens. For some, they’re useful in testing reactions to sudden price spikes or news. But anyone trading these regularly needs to be honest about why they’re doing it.
One-Touch Binaries vs Double-One-Touch
These are variations of touch options, with the double-one-touch offering two trigger levels—one above and one below the current price. If either is touched, the option pays out.
Traders might use these when they expect significant movement in either direction but don’t know which way it’ll go. This is common before big announcements, like central bank decisions, where volatility is almost guaranteed but direction isn’t.
The key here is implied volatility. The higher the expected movement, the more likely one of the levels will get hit. Payouts on these are adjusted accordingly—if levels are close, payouts shrink. If they’re far apart, the risk is higher, but so is the reward.
Ladder Options
These are similar to high/low options but instead of a single strike price, they have multiple levels (like rungs on a ladder). Each level has its own payout based on its distance from the current price. Higher rungs offer higher returns but are less likely to be hit.
Ladders give traders more flexibility. You can take multiple positions on different price points within the same expiry, allowing a kind of hedged directional play. For example, if you expect a slow grind higher, you could take a lower-rung position for a safer payout and a higher one for a higher return if momentum continues.
These require better timing and a stronger grip on volatility forecasting. Most beginners stay away from ladders because managing multiple price points quickly gets confusing without a systematic approach.
Paired Options
Less common but still offered on some platforms, these involve picking which of two related assets will perform better over a set time period. For instance, will Google outperform Apple today? Will gold outperform silver this week?
These options are useful when relative strength is more predictable than absolute direction. If the market is choppy but there’s a strong fundamental reason to believe one asset will hold up better, paired binaries allow that opinion to be expressed without needing both assets to move.
This format is generally used by more advanced traders or those with a niche interest in a specific asset pair. The payout structure depends on how close the assets are in price movement historically and how the platform models relative movement.
Digital Options (Often Confused with Binary Options)
Some brokers, particularly regulated ones, use “digital options” to refer to instruments that behave similarly to binaries but include variable payouts based on how far the price moves beyond the strike. This introduces a gradient to the risk-reward equation, as opposed to the all-or-nothing payout of traditional binary options.
These hybrids are closer to vanilla options in function but are sold to the retail crowd as a “less complicated” alternative. They’re often offered by brokers trying to comply with regulatory pressure, especially in the EU, where pure binary options have faced bans.
It’s worth double-checking what a broker means by “digital option,” as the definition isn’t always consistent.
Final Thought
Binary options have developed a rough reputation for good reasons, but the contract types themselves aren’t inherently flawed. Most of the problems come from how they’re sold, who they’re sold to, and the expectation that simple equals easy. Understanding the types is less about collecting terminology and more about seeing how different price behaviors are turned into betting formats.
For those who treat them seriously and manage risk aggressively, binary options can become part of a broader strategy. But for that to happen, knowing the underlying structure of each type is non-negotiable. It’s the only way to know what you’re really putting money on—and whether the odds are anywhere close to fair.
To find out more about how binary options function in practice and where these types are most often seen, you can head back to the main page.