Named to the Inc. 5000 list of America’s fastest-growing private companies six years in a row (2017–2022).
Investopedia: Best Short Term Stock Screener, 2024
The short answer: Pick based on whether you want another flow tape or a wider tool. For unusual options activity inside a full stock scanner with AI and testing, Trade Ideas. For another options flow tape, compare FlowAlgo and Cheddar Flow on their own sites. For stock charts, TradingView. Trade Ideas makes one of the tools on this page.
Replaces: Options activity discovery, plus the equity scanner, AI and backtesting stack.
Real-time data
Live market data on both plans. Stock alerts can fire on every trade.
Scans and alerts
310 alerts and 249 filters, with options activity filters among them. Stock-side Channel Bar presets in TI Pro, with any plan. The Holly AI Assistant builds a scan when you describe it in plain English.
Backtesting
OddsMaker checks how a stock setup did across Trade Ideas history. It needs TI Premium but no code.
AI
On TI Premium, Holly AI Signals cover stocks, and every signal lists where to enter, where to stop out and the target.
Beginner-friendly
Yes, for the stock side. Presets need no setup. The free Trading Room has Barrie Einarson trading live.
Price
TI Standard: $127 a month, or $1,068 a year. TI Premium: $254 a month, or $2,136 a year. No fee for the Trading Room.
The stock side, in numbers. Next to the options channel sit 310 alerts and 249 filters, each documented in our help. Pair any alert with any filters and give each filter a floor, a ceiling or both; 191 alerts also take their own setting, such as the minimum ratio over normal volume on a 1-minute volume spike. Opening range breakouts and breakdowns fire at 1, 2, 5, 10, 15, 30 and 60 minutes (here is the 5-minute breakout), and technical alerts such as a 15-minute bearish engulfing can confirm or contradict what the flow suggests. The scans you can put together are effectively unlimited.
Worth knowing: Trade Ideas covers US-listed stocks. Keep a flow tape if dark pool prints drive your trades. TI Premium is required for Money Machine, Holly AI Signals and OddsMaker. Options traders on a Mac can use the browser-based web Dashboard with no download, and it includes the Unusual Options Activity channel; TI Pro, where Streaming Alerts run, is for Windows.
Stock scans to go with the flow. Ask the AI Assistant for a scan, or set one up from 310 alerts and 249 filters in a menu that needs no code, and add custom filters in the Formula Editor. Those ideas can be tested in OddsMaker on TI Premium, a plan that also includes Holly AI Signals with stop and target levels and a suggested entry.Each piece hands off to the next, and this loop shows the order: live data, formulas, strategies, testing, optimization and Holly.
Best fit: Options traders who also want a live stock scanner and AI, and beginners on the stock side who want the premium experience.
FlowAlgo is an options flow service. It focuses on unusual options activity and related prints.
Replaces: Options flow monitoring.
Real-time data
Paid plans list real-time flow. Check their site for current plan details.
Scans and alerts
Options flow and related alerts are the product.
Backtesting
Not listed.
AI
Not listed.
Beginner-friendly
Fair. Check their site for trial options.
Price
Check their site for current pricing.
Worth knowing: It is options-flow focused. Confirm current prices on flowalgo.com.
Best fit: Traders who want a dedicated options flow tape.
3. Cheddar Flow
Best for options flow
Cheddar Flow is an options flow service with alerts and related tools.
Replaces: Options flow monitoring.
Real-time data
Paid plans list real-time flow. Check their site for current plan details.
Scans and alerts
Options flow and alerts are the product.
Backtesting
Not listed.
AI
Not listed.
Beginner-friendly
Fair. Check their site for trial options.
Price
Check their site for current pricing.
Worth knowing: It is options-flow focused. Confirm current prices on cheddarflow.com.
Best fit: Traders who want another options flow tape.
4. TradingView
Best for charting the underlying stock
Options flow shows where the money went. TradingView helps you study the chart behind it. Its screeners cover stocks, ETFs and crypto on 150+ exchanges in 50+ countries, and Pine Script handles custom studies.
Replaces: Charting and screening, including non-US markets.
Real-time data
Pay for a plan and the screener refreshes on a 10-second or 1-minute cycle. Real-time data for certain exchanges is a separate purchase.
Scans and alerts
Its stock screener has more than 500 fields, technical and fundamental. Pine Screener and alerts are listed.
Backtesting
Listed features include strategy backtesting and Bar Replay.
AI
The AI screener allows 100 to 500 requests on paid tiers.
Beginner-friendly
Yes. The Basic plan is $0.
Price
Basic is free. Paid plans billed annually: Essential at $12.95, Plus at $29.95, Premium at $59.95 a month (special price on Oct 5, 2026).
Worth knowing: Free users don't get auto-refresh. Custom studies are built in Pine Script, not Python.
Best fit: Options traders who want a separate charting tool.
Stock-side view: Streaming Alerts and Top Lists in Trade Ideas Pro, replayed from September 8, 2026.
Honest take
Who should stay with Unusual Whales
For many options traders, Unusual Whales is enough. Stay if one of these fits.
You live in an options flow tape all day. Unusual Whales is built for that.
Dark pool and flow alerts are your only need. A focused flow service can be enough.
You want Unusual Whales' specific flow UI. Stay if that layout matches how you trade.
Cost points to Retail Basic. It was $50 a month on October 6, 2026.
If you are okay with static non-refreshing data, Trade Ideas is probably not your best choice.
Switch
Switching from Unusual Whales: what carries over
Trade Ideas leads with unusual options activity plus a full equity stack. Unusual Whales leads with an options flow tape. The table shows where each Unusual Whales habit lands.
What carries over from Unusual Whales to Trade Ideas.
Free entry to the Trading Room with Barrie Einarson.
Swipe to compare each Unusual Whales habit with Trade Ideas.
Channel Bar and Streaming Alerts
The stock side doesn't require setup. The Channel Bar is in TI Pro whatever you pay. Click Big Momentum Movers, or S&P 500 stocks moving up quickly, to see live stock lists. Trade Ideas for beginners walks you through it.
On the stock side, Streaming Alerts are the scanner and Top Lists are the screener. Both run on live market data.
Holly AI Signals and OddsMaker
TI Premium adds Holly AI Signals for stocks during market hours. You get the entry, stop and target with each one. Exit that day or hold.
OddsMaker lets you test a stock setup on Trade Ideas history before acting on the next flow alert.
Past results, including backtests, don't guarantee future results.
Bringing Trade Ideas into an options workflow in six steps
Choose your plan. For the stock side, TI Standard brings paper trading, the Holly AI Assistant, Top Lists and Streaming Alerts. Stock signals and history tests come with TI Premium, which adds OddsMaker, Money Machine and Holly AI Signals.
Look at the stock side. A single click on Big Momentum Movers shows which stocks are moving right now.
Turn a flow idea into a stock scan. Ask the AI Assistant for a stock scan in plain English, or work from a new high alert.
Paper trade the stock.Paper trading uses live prices.
Check history. On TI Premium, OddsMaker shows how the setup did.
Retail Basic: $50 a month (about $42 a month billed annually)
Retail Pro: $75 a month (about $63 a month billed annually)
Retail Max: $120 a month (about $102 a month billed annually)
On the free plan, options flow shows up two trading days late. We checked these prices on unusualwhales.com/pricing on October 6, 2026.
Trade Ideas
TI Standard: $127 a month, or $1,068 per year (around $89 a month)
TI Premium: $254 a month, or $2,136 per year (around $178 a month)
Options traders who want stock signals too will need TI Premium for Holly AI Signals, along with OddsMaker and Money Machine. On the stock side, both plans carry the Holly AI Assistant and the Channel Bar in TI Pro. The Trading Room costs nothing to join.
Prices as checked on October 6, 2026. They change, so look at each site before you buy.
For options flow alone, Unusual Whales costs less. The Trade Ideas price covers stock scanning on a database built and improved in-house for more than two decades, with alerts that can go off on every trade and 310 alerts to combine with 249 filters.
Vendor-sourced. Unusual Whales facts come from unusualwhales.com, and each other tool's facts from its own site.
Our meaning of "not listed." We didn't find it on the vendor's pages. That does not rule it out.
Why Trade Ideas is first here. Options traders who widen out from Unusual Whales usually want unusual options activity inside a full stock scanner with AI and testing. Trade Ideas fits. Weigh that we build it, and test the alternatives.
The rest follow by job. Options activity plus equity stack first, then other flow tapes, charts and equity scanners.
Log: this page first appeared October 6, 2026, with each Unusual Whales price and feature checked that day.
FAQ
Unusual Whales alternatives: FAQ
What is the best alternative to Unusual Whales?
For unusual options activity plus a full stock scanner, our pick is Trade Ideas. It's our product, so compare it. If you want a dedicated options flow tape, Unusual Whales remains a good fit.
Is there a free alternative to Unusual Whales?
A few, with limits. Unusual Whales has a free plan with delayed flow. TradingView Basic costs $0 and Finviz has a free version. Stock traders can join the Trade Ideas Trading Room free of charge and decide on a paid plan later.
What is the cheapest Unusual Whales alternative?
On October 6, 2026, TradingView Essential was $12.95 a month on annual billing and Finviz Elite was $39.50 a month. Unusual Whales Retail Basic was $50 a month. For FlowAlgo and Cheddar Flow, check their sites.
Is Trade Ideas good for beginners?
Yes, on the stock side. For an options trader who has never run a stock scanner before, Trade Ideas is a good fit for a beginning trader who wants the premium experience. The presets on the Channel Bar in TI Pro work without configuration. Any TI Pro plan adds the Holly AI Assistant to help with the stock side. See Trade Ideas for beginners.
Is Trade Ideas more expensive than Unusual Whales?
Yes, at list price. On October 6, 2026, Unusual Whales listed Retail Basic at $50, Pro at $75 and Max at $120 a month. For options traders adding a stock scanner, Trade Ideas was $127 monthly or $1,068 yearly on TI Standard and $254 monthly or $2,136 yearly on TI Premium.
Is Trade Ideas just for day trading?
No. Holly AI Signals fire during the trading day, but a stock position can be held as long as you like. Even buy-and-hold investors check Streaming Alerts and Top Lists for entry timing.
Does Trade Ideas have unusual options activity?
Yes. Trade Ideas monitors unusual options activity across stocks, with a dedicated channel in TI Pro and the Web Dashboard that is built on the Unusual Options Volume % filter. See Unusual Options Activity and our best unusual options activity scanner page.
Can I keep Unusual Whales and add Trade Ideas?
Yes. Some traders keep a flow tape for options. Trade Ideas fills in the stock side with Streaming Alerts, plus Holly AI Signals, OddsMaker and Money Machine on TI Premium.
