VOL. XCIV, NO. 247

★ FINANCIAL TOOLS & SERVICES DIRECTORY ★

PRICE: 5 CENTS

Sunday, October 5, 2025

View Interactive BrokersView Unusual WhalesBack to Home

Head-to-head

Interactive Brokers vs Unusual Whales comparison

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

Quick takeaways

Interactive Brokers adds Brokerage, Advanced Order Types, Smart/Direct Routing, Order Book / Level II, Watchlist, Risk Metrics (VaR/ES/Drawdown), Scenario & Stress Tests, and Performance Attribution coverage that Unusual Whales skips.

Unusual Whales includes Screeners, Dark Pool & Off-Exchange, Alerts, News, US Government Trades, Insider Data, 13F, Education, Calendar, and Dividends categories that Interactive Brokers omits.

Interactive Brokers highlights: Single universal account providing access to around 160 markets across 36 countries and 28 currencies., More than 100 order types and algos, including Bracket, OCO, and OCA, with either SMART routing or direct exchange routing., and Market depth (Level II) and full order book views via Trader Workstation (TWS)..

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 keeps a free entry point that Interactive Brokers lacks.

Interactive Brokers logo

Interactive Brokers

interactivebrokers.co.uk

Editor’s pick Hands-on review

A global, multi-asset direct-access broker with coverage across 160 markets in 36 countries and 28 currencies. Crypto trading and some services vary by region (IBKR Crypto is powered by Paxos or Zero Hash where supported). Client APIs include the Client Portal Web API and TWS API; retail users authenticate via the local Client Portal Gateway, while OAuth2 applies to approved web integrations.

Platforms

Web
Mobile
Desktop
API

Pricing

Other

Quick highlights

  • Single universal account providing access to around 160 markets across 36 countries and 28 currencies.
  • More than 100 order types and algos, including Bracket, OCO, and OCA, with either SMART routing or direct exchange routing.
  • Market depth (Level II) and full order book views via Trader Workstation (TWS).
  • Advanced options analytics with Greeks, implied volatility curves, and a 3D volatility surface viewer.
  • Risk Navigator for real-time portfolio risk, Value-at-Risk, and what-if scenario analysis.

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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

5 overlaps

Mutual strengths include Paper Trading, APIs & SDKs, and Data APIs plus 2 more areas.

Where they differ

Interactive Brokers

Distinct strengths include:

Brokerage
Advanced Order Types
Smart/Direct Routing
Order Book / Level II
Watchlist
Risk Metrics (VaR/ES/Drawdown)
Scenario & Stress Tests
Performance Attribution
  • Single universal account providing access to around 160 markets across 36 countries and 28 currencies.
  • More than 100 order types and algos, including Bracket, OCO, and OCA, with either SMART routing or direct exchange routing.
  • Market depth (Level II) and full order book views via Trader Workstation (TWS).
  • Advanced options analytics with Greeks, implied volatility curves, and a 3D volatility surface viewer.

Unusual Whales

Distinct strengths include:

Screeners
Dark Pool & Off-Exchange
Alerts
News
US Government Trades
Insider Data
13F
Education
  • 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

AttributeInteractive BrokersUnusual Whales
Categories

Which research workflows each platform targets

Shared: Paper Trading, APIs & SDKs, Data APIs, Portfolio, Options & Derivatives

Unique: Brokerage, Advanced Order Types, Smart/Direct Routing, Order Book / Level II, Watchlist, Risk Metrics (VaR/ES/Drawdown), Scenario & Stress Tests, Performance Attribution

Shared: Paper Trading, APIs & SDKs, Data APIs, Portfolio, Options & Derivatives

Unique: Screeners, Dark Pool & Off-Exchange, Alerts, News, US Government Trades, Insider Data, 13F, Education, Calendar, Dividends

Asset types

Supported asset classes and universes

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

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, Mobile, Desktop, API

Web, Mobile, API

Pricing

High-level pricing models

Other

Free, Subscription

Key features

Core capabilities called out by each vendor

Unique

  • Single universal account providing access to around 160 markets across 36 countries and 28 currencies.
  • More than 100 order types and algos, including Bracket, OCO, and OCA, with either SMART routing or direct exchange routing.
  • Market depth (Level II) and full order book views via Trader Workstation (TWS).
  • Advanced options analytics with Greeks, implied volatility curves, and a 3D volatility surface viewer.
  • Risk Navigator for real-time portfolio risk, Value-at-Risk, and what-if scenario analysis.
  • Portfolio Rebalancer tool to realign or target allocation weights across accounts.

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 Interactive Brokers and Unusual Whales both support?

Both platforms cover Paper Trading, APIs & SDKs, Data APIs, Portfolio, and Options & Derivatives workflows, so you can research those use cases in either tool before digging into the feature differences below.

Which tool offers a free plan?

Unusual Whales offers a free entry point, while Interactive Brokers requires a paid subscription. Review the pricing table to see how the paid tiers compare.

How can you access Interactive Brokers and Unusual Whales?

Both Interactive Brokers and Unusual Whales support web and mobile access, making it easy to keep tabs on research away from the desk.

What unique strengths set the two platforms apart?

Interactive Brokers differentiates itself with Single universal account providing access to around 160 markets across 36 countries and 28 currencies., More than 100 order types and algos, including Bracket, OCO, and OCA, with either SMART routing or direct exchange routing., and Market depth (Level II) and full order book views via Trader Workstation (TWS)., 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

Stay on top of related tools

Browse the categories and profiles that overlap most with this comparison to round out your shortlist.

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.