VOL. XCIV, NO. 247

★ FINANCIAL TOOLS & SERVICES DIRECTORY ★

PRICE: 5 CENTS

Sunday, October 5, 2025

Head-to-head

BamSEC vs Unusual Whales comparison

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

Quick takeaways

BamSEC adds Improved Filings, Diff View, Transcripts, Financials, and Institutional Data coverage that Unusual Whales skips.

Unusual Whales includes Options & Derivatives, Portfolio, Paper Trading, Dark Pool & Off-Exchange, News, US Government Trades, APIs & SDKs, Data APIs, Education, Calendar, and Dividends categories that BamSEC omits.

BamSEC highlights: Advanced document search across filings and transcripts, with boolean and proximity operators for precision., Table tools include one-click Excel downloads, 'Similar Tables' to pull prior versions, and 'Merge Tables' to combine data across periods., and Redline comparison view highlights added or removed text and tables between filing versions directly in the browser..

Unusual Whales is known 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..

Unusual Whales offers mobile access, which BamSEC skips.

BamSEC logo

BamSEC

bamsec.com

Editor’s pick Hands-on review

A focused research platform for SEC filings and transcripts. The Pro plan adds powerful tools like document search, Excel table downloads, redlines, transcripts, and all-company screening with alerts. Enterprise subscribers get consolidated invoicing, usage reporting, and priority support.

Platforms

Web

Pricing

Free
Subscription

Quick highlights

  • Advanced document search across filings and transcripts, with boolean and proximity operators for precision.
  • Table tools include one-click Excel downloads, 'Similar Tables' to pull prior versions, and 'Merge Tables' to combine data across periods.
  • Redline comparison view highlights added or removed text and tables between filing versions directly in the browser.
  • All-company screening with filters for industry, market cap, and document type, plus email alerts tied to searches.
  • Ownership data includes insider transactions (Form 4) with filters, and institutional ownership/13F holdings with labeling for options and convertibles.

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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

Web
Mobile
API

Pricing

Free
Subscription

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.

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Overlap

Shared focus areas

4 overlaps

Mutual strengths include Screeners, Insider Data, and 13F plus 1 more area.

Where they differ

BamSEC

Distinct strengths include:

  • Advanced document search across filings and transcripts, with boolean and proximity operators for precision.
  • Table tools include one-click Excel downloads, 'Similar Tables' to pull prior versions, and 'Merge Tables' to combine data across periods.
  • Redline comparison view highlights added or removed text and tables between filing versions directly in the browser.
  • All-company screening with filters for industry, market cap, and document type, plus email alerts tied to searches.

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

AttributeBamSECUnusual Whales
Categories

Which research workflows each platform targets

Shared: Screeners, Insider Data, 13F, Alerts

Unique: Improved Filings, Diff View, Transcripts, Financials, Institutional Data

Shared: Screeners, Insider Data, 13F, Alerts

Unique: Options & Derivatives, Portfolio, Paper Trading, Dark Pool & Off-Exchange, News, US Government Trades, APIs & SDKs, Data APIs, Education, Calendar, Dividends

Asset types

Supported asset classes and universes

Stocks

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

Web, Mobile, API

Pricing

High-level pricing models

Free, Subscription

Free, Subscription

Key features

Core capabilities called out by each vendor

Unique

  • Advanced document search across filings and transcripts, with boolean and proximity operators for precision.
  • Table tools include one-click Excel downloads, 'Similar Tables' to pull prior versions, and 'Merge Tables' to combine data across periods.
  • Redline comparison view highlights added or removed text and tables between filing versions directly in the browser.
  • All-company screening with filters for industry, market cap, and document type, plus email alerts tied to searches.
  • Ownership data includes insider transactions (Form 4) with filters, and institutional ownership/13F holdings with labeling for options and convertibles.
  • Integrated S&P earnings and event transcripts, with downloadable PDFs.

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

Highlighted

Highlighted

Frequently Asked Questions

Which workflows do BamSEC and Unusual Whales both support?

Both platforms cover Screeners, Insider Data, 13F, and Alerts workflows, so you can research those use cases in either tool before digging into the feature differences below.

Do BamSEC and Unusual Whales require subscriptions?

Both BamSEC 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 BamSEC focuses on web or desktop access.

What unique strengths set the two platforms apart?

BamSEC differentiates itself with Advanced document search across filings and transcripts, with boolean and proximity operators for precision., Table tools include one-click Excel downloads, 'Similar Tables' to pull prior versions, and 'Merge Tables' to combine data across periods., and Redline comparison view highlights added or removed text and tables between filing versions directly in the browser., 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..

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.