VOL. XCIV, NO. 247

★ A CURATED DIRECTORY OF FINANCIAL TOOLS AND RESOURCES ★

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Saturday, December 27, 2025

Tool Comparison

Alpha Vantage vs Unusual Whales comparison

Compare pricing, supported platforms, categories, and standout capabilities to decide which tool fits your workflow.

Quick takeaways

Alpha Vantage adds News Sentiment, Market Sentiment, IPO, Splits, Delisted, GDP, Interest Rates, Inflation Rates, Unemployment Rates, Retail Sales, Yield Curves, Options, ETF Overview, ETF Holdings, ETF Fundamentals, Financials, Transcripts, and Sheets / Excel Add-ins coverage that Unusual Whales skips.

Unusual Whales includes Screeners, Portfolio, Paper Trading, Dark Pool & Off-Exchange, Alerts, US Government Trades, and 13F categories that Alpha Vantage omits.

Unusual Whales offers mobile access, which Alpha Vantage skips.

In depth comparison

Alpha Vantage logo

Alpha Vantage

alphavantage.co

Hands-on review

Exchange-licensed, API-first market data provider for global equities, ETFs, mutual funds, FX, crypto, options, commodities and macro indicators. Free key covers most datasets with 25 API calls/day; premium membership removes daily limits and unlocks premium endpoints such as realtime/15‑minute delayed US data, intraday history, and options, with separate commercial licensing for business use.

Platforms

WebAPI

Pricing

FreeSubscriptionOther

Quick highlights

  • Cloud-native REST APIs for realtime and historical financial data across global stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, FX, cryptocurrencies, commodities, technical indicators and macroeconomic indicators in a single unified portfolio of endpoints.
  • Global equity time series APIs (daily, weekly, monthly and intraday 1–60 minute bars) with 20+ years of history, optional split/dividend-adjusted prices, and support for extended trading hours where available.
  • US options data APIs providing realtime and historical option chains with 15+ years of history, full market/volume coverage, and optional Greeks and implied volatility fields in JSON or CSV.
  • Fundamental data suite covering company overview, income statement, balance sheet, cash flow, dividends, splits, shares outstanding, ETF profile & holdings, listing/delisting status, earnings history, earnings estimates, and earnings/IPO calendars.
  • Alpha Intelligence™ endpoints for market news & sentiment, earnings call transcripts, top gainers/losers, insider transactions, and fixed/sliding-window analytics, built with in‑house AI and quantitative expertise.

Community votes (overall)

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Unusual Whales logo

Unusual Whales

unusualwhales.com

Editor’s pick Hands-on review

Real-time options flow and dark-pool analytics built for active traders. Free plans view delayed data; paid tiers stream live flow, with annual plans unlocking data downloads. The public API is sold separately, and “Periscope” (market-wide SPX exposure) is available as an add-on.

Platforms

WebMobileAPI

Pricing

FreeSubscription

Quick highlights

  • Live options flow across all US options exchanges, with a status indicator so you know the feed is healthy.
  • Dark-pool tape plus ‘Dark Pool Levels’ to surface recent prints and ticker-specific liquidity zones.
  • Options and stock screeners with filters for premium, volume, open interest, IV rank, and common technicals.
  • Options Profit Calculator to model multi-leg strategies, Greeks, and payoff P/L.
  • Paper trading for both stocks and options to test ideas without risk.

Community votes (overall)

0% upvotes 0% downvotes
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Where they differ

Alpha Vantage

Distinct strengths include:

  • Cloud-native REST APIs for realtime and historical financial data across global stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, FX, cryptocurrencies, commodities, technical indicators and macroeconomic indicators in a single unified portfolio of endpoints.
  • Global equity time series APIs (daily, weekly, monthly and intraday 1–60 minute bars) with 20+ years of history, optional split/dividend-adjusted prices, and support for extended trading hours where available.
  • US options data APIs providing realtime and historical option chains with 15+ years of history, full market/volume coverage, and optional Greeks and implied volatility fields in JSON or CSV.
  • Fundamental data suite covering company overview, income statement, balance sheet, cash flow, dividends, splits, shares outstanding, ETF profile & holdings, listing/delisting status, earnings history, earnings estimates, and earnings/IPO calendars.

Unusual Whales

Distinct strengths include:

  • Live options flow across all US options exchanges, with a status indicator so you know the feed is healthy.
  • Dark-pool tape plus ‘Dark Pool Levels’ to surface recent prints and ticker-specific liquidity zones.
  • Options and stock screeners with filters for premium, volume, open interest, IV rank, and common technicals.
  • Options Profit Calculator to model multi-leg strategies, Greeks, and payoff P/L.

Feature-by-feature breakdown

AttributeAlpha VantageUnusual Whales
Categories

Which research workflows each platform targets

Shared: Data APIs, News, Calendar, Dividends, Options & Derivatives, Insider Data, APIs & SDKs, Education

Unique: News Sentiment, Market Sentiment, IPO, Splits, Delisted, GDP, Interest Rates, Inflation Rates, Unemployment Rates, Retail Sales, Yield Curves, Options, ETF Overview, ETF Holdings, ETF Fundamentals, Financials, Transcripts, Sheets / Excel Add-ins

Shared: Data APIs, News, Calendar, Dividends, Options & Derivatives, Insider Data, APIs & SDKs, Education

Unique: Screeners, Portfolio, Paper Trading, Dark Pool & Off-Exchange, Alerts, US Government Trades, 13F

Asset types

Supported asset classes and universes

Stocks, ETFs, Mutual Funds, Options, Currencies, Cryptos, Commodities, Funds

Stocks, ETFs, Options

Experience levels

Who each product is built for

Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced

Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced

Platforms

Where you can access the product

Web, API

Web, Mobile, API

Pricing

High-level pricing models

Free, Subscription, Other

Free, Subscription

Key features

Core capabilities called out by each vendor

Unique

  • Cloud-native REST APIs for realtime and historical financial data across global stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, FX, cryptocurrencies, commodities, technical indicators and macroeconomic indicators in a single unified portfolio of endpoints.
  • Global equity time series APIs (daily, weekly, monthly and intraday 1–60 minute bars) with 20+ years of history, optional split/dividend-adjusted prices, and support for extended trading hours where available.
  • US options data APIs providing realtime and historical option chains with 15+ years of history, full market/volume coverage, and optional Greeks and implied volatility fields in JSON or CSV.
  • Fundamental data suite covering company overview, income statement, balance sheet, cash flow, dividends, splits, shares outstanding, ETF profile & holdings, listing/delisting status, earnings history, earnings estimates, and earnings/IPO calendars.
  • Alpha Intelligence™ endpoints for market news & sentiment, earnings call transcripts, top gainers/losers, insider transactions, and fixed/sliding-window analytics, built with in‑house AI and quantitative expertise.
  • FX and cryptocurrency APIs for exchange rates plus intraday/daily/weekly/monthly time series, alongside commodities (e.g., crude oil, natural gas, metals, agricultural products) and US economic indicators such as GDP, CPI, inflation, unemployment, nonfarm payrolls, retail sales, durable goods orders and Treasury yields.

Unique

  • Live options flow across all US options exchanges, with a status indicator so you know the feed is healthy.
  • Dark-pool tape plus ‘Dark Pool Levels’ to surface recent prints and ticker-specific liquidity zones.
  • Options and stock screeners with filters for premium, volume, open interest, IV rank, and common technicals.
  • Options Profit Calculator to model multi-leg strategies, Greeks, and payoff P/L.
  • Paper trading for both stocks and options to test ideas without risk.
  • Portfolio Manager with broker linking for IBKR, tastytrade, Fidelity, and Robinhood.
Tested

Verified by hands-on testing inside Find My Moat

Yes

Yes

Editor pick

Featured inside curated shortlists

Standard listing

Highlighted

Frequently Asked Questions

Which workflows do Alpha Vantage and Unusual Whales both support?

Both platforms cover Data APIs, News, Calendar, Dividends, Options & Derivatives, Insider Data, APIs & SDKs, and Education workflows, so you can research those use cases in either tool before digging into the feature differences below.

Do Alpha Vantage and Unusual Whales require subscriptions?

Both Alpha Vantage and Unusual Whales keep freemium access with optional paid upgrades, so you can trial each platform before committing.

Which tool has mobile access?

Unusual Whales ships a dedicated mobile experience, while Alpha Vantage focuses on web or desktop access.

What unique strengths set the two platforms apart?

Alpha Vantage differentiates itself with Cloud-native REST APIs for realtime and historical financial data across global stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, FX, cryptocurrencies, commodities, technical indicators and macroeconomic indicators in a single unified portfolio of endpoints., Global equity time series APIs (daily, weekly, monthly and intraday 1–60 minute bars) with 20+ years of history, optional split/dividend-adjusted prices, and support for extended trading hours where available., and US options data APIs providing realtime and historical option chains with 15+ years of history, full market/volume coverage, and optional Greeks and implied volatility fields in JSON or CSV., whereas Unusual Whales stands out for Live options flow across all US options exchanges, with a status indicator so you know the feed is healthy., Dark-pool tape plus ‘Dark Pool Levels’ to surface recent prints and ticker-specific liquidity zones., and Options and stock screeners with filters for premium, volume, open interest, IV rank, and common technicals..

Keep exploring

Curation & Accuracy

This directory blends AI‑assisted discovery with human curation. Entries are reviewed, edited, and organized with the goal of expanding coverage and sharpening quality over time. Your feedback helps steer improvements (because no single human can capture everything all at once).

Details change. Pricing, features, and availability may be incomplete or out of date. Treat listings as a starting point and verify on the provider’s site before making decisions. If you spot an error or a gap, send a quick note and I’ll adjust.