VOL. XCIV, NO. 247

★ FINANCIAL TOOLS & SERVICES DIRECTORY ★

PRICE: 5 CENTS

Sunday, October 5, 2025

Head-to-head

Federal Reserve Board (FRB.gov) vs Unusual Whales comparison

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

Quick takeaways

Federal Reserve Board (FRB.gov) adds Central Bank Watcher, Interest Rates, and Yield Curves coverage that Unusual Whales skips.

Unusual Whales includes Screeners, Options & Derivatives, Portfolio, Paper Trading, Dark Pool & Off-Exchange, Alerts, US Government Trades, Insider Data, 13F, APIs & SDKs, Education, and Dividends categories that Federal Reserve Board (FRB.gov) omits.

Federal Reserve Board (FRB.gov) highlights: Data Download Program (DDP) with custom or preformatted packages, available in Excel, CSV, or XML., H.15 Selected Interest Rates, including daily Treasury constant-maturity yields., and H.4.1 Factors Affecting Reserve Balances (the Fed balance sheet), updated weekly every Thursday at 4:30 p.m..

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 Federal Reserve Board (FRB.gov) skips.

Federal Reserve Board (FRB.gov) logo

Federal Reserve Board (FRB.gov)

federalreserve.gov

Hands-on review

The official website of the U.S. central bank. Through its Data Download Program (DDP), the Fed offers public access to many of its most important statistical releases in Excel, CSV, or XML formats. Key datasets include interest rates, the Fed balance sheet, commercial bank assets, foreign exchange rates, industrial production, and financial accounts. The site also hosts FOMC calendars, meeting minutes, press releases, speeches, and other policy materials.

Platforms

Web
API

Pricing

Free

Quick highlights

  • Data Download Program (DDP) with custom or preformatted packages, available in Excel, CSV, or XML.
  • H.15 Selected Interest Rates, including daily Treasury constant-maturity yields.
  • H.4.1 Factors Affecting Reserve Balances (the Fed balance sheet), updated weekly every Thursday at 4:30 p.m.
  • H.8 Assets & Liabilities of Commercial Banks, with detailed weekly data and customizable downloads.
  • Foreign exchange reference rates (H.10 weekly and G.5 monthly), with scheduled update times and public downloads.

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

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.

Community votes (overall)

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Overlap

Shared focus areas

3 overlaps

Mutual strengths include Data APIs, Calendar, and News.

Where they differ

Federal Reserve Board (FRB.gov)

Distinct strengths include:

  • Data Download Program (DDP) with custom or preformatted packages, available in Excel, CSV, or XML.
  • H.15 Selected Interest Rates, including daily Treasury constant-maturity yields.
  • H.4.1 Factors Affecting Reserve Balances (the Fed balance sheet), updated weekly every Thursday at 4:30 p.m.
  • H.8 Assets & Liabilities of Commercial Banks, with detailed weekly data and customizable downloads.

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

AttributeFederal Reserve Board (FRB.gov)Unusual Whales
Categories

Which research workflows each platform targets

Shared: Data APIs, Calendar, News

Unique: Central Bank Watcher, Interest Rates, Yield Curves

Shared: Data APIs, Calendar, News

Unique: Screeners, Options & Derivatives, Portfolio, Paper Trading, Dark Pool & Off-Exchange, Alerts, US Government Trades, Insider Data, 13F, APIs & SDKs, Education, Dividends

Asset types

Supported asset classes and universes

Bonds, Currencies, Other

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

Free, Subscription

Key features

Core capabilities called out by each vendor

Unique

  • Data Download Program (DDP) with custom or preformatted packages, available in Excel, CSV, or XML.
  • H.15 Selected Interest Rates, including daily Treasury constant-maturity yields.
  • H.4.1 Factors Affecting Reserve Balances (the Fed balance sheet), updated weekly every Thursday at 4:30 p.m.
  • H.8 Assets & Liabilities of Commercial Banks, with detailed weekly data and customizable downloads.
  • Foreign exchange reference rates (H.10 weekly and G.5 monthly), with scheduled update times and public downloads.
  • G.17 Industrial Production & Capacity Utilization, published monthly with full release schedules and data formats.

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 Federal Reserve Board (FRB.gov) and Unusual Whales both support?

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

Do Federal Reserve Board (FRB.gov) and Unusual Whales require subscriptions?

Both Federal Reserve Board (FRB.gov) 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 Federal Reserve Board (FRB.gov) focuses on web or desktop access.

What unique strengths set the two platforms apart?

Federal Reserve Board (FRB.gov) differentiates itself with Data Download Program (DDP) with custom or preformatted packages, available in Excel, CSV, or XML., H.15 Selected Interest Rates, including daily Treasury constant-maturity yields., and H.4.1 Factors Affecting Reserve Balances (the Fed balance sheet), updated weekly every Thursday at 4:30 p.m., 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.