VOL. XCIV, NO. 247

★ FINANCIAL TOOLS & SERVICES DIRECTORY ★

PRICE: 5 CENTS

Sunday, October 5, 2025

View InvestopediaView Unusual WhalesBack to Home

Head-to-head

Investopedia vs Unusual Whales comparison

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

Quick takeaways

Investopedia adds Videos, Newsletters, and Stock Handbook coverage that Unusual Whales skips.

Unusual Whales includes Screeners, Options & Derivatives, Portfolio, Dark Pool & Off-Exchange, Alerts, US Government Trades, Insider Data, 13F, APIs & SDKs, Data APIs, Calendar, and Dividends categories that Investopedia omits.

Investopedia highlights: Extensive financial dictionary (14,000+ definitions) and more than 36,000 articles, attracting over 40 million monthly readers., Free paper-trading Simulator with $100k in virtual cash, supporting market, limit, and stop orders on delayed data (~20 minutes)., and Assets supported in the Simulator include stocks, options, ETFs, and select cryptocurrencies, limited to NYSE and Nasdaq listings..

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 Investopedia skips.

Investopedia logo

Investopedia

investopedia.com

Hands-on review

Free financial education site best known for its dictionary, guides, and market explainers. Includes a paper-trading Simulator with $100k virtual cash that supports stocks, ETFs, options, and select crypto on NYSE/Nasdaq (quotes delayed ~20–30 minutes). Investopedia Academy courses were discontinued in June 2024, with past purchasers given access instructions via email.

Platforms

Web

Pricing

Free

Quick highlights

  • Extensive financial dictionary (14,000+ definitions) and more than 36,000 articles, attracting over 40 million monthly readers.
  • Free paper-trading Simulator with $100k in virtual cash, supporting market, limit, and stop orders on delayed data (~20 minutes).
  • Assets supported in the Simulator include stocks, options, ETFs, and select cryptocurrencies, limited to NYSE and Nasdaq listings.
  • Option to create public or private games with configurable rules such as margin use, short selling, or options trading, plus leaderboards.
  • Built-in research tools, price charts, company information, and a stock screener integrated with the Simulator.

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 News, Paper Trading, and Education.

Where they differ

Investopedia

Distinct strengths include:

Videos
Newsletters
Stock Handbook
  • Extensive financial dictionary (14,000+ definitions) and more than 36,000 articles, attracting over 40 million monthly readers.
  • Free paper-trading Simulator with $100k in virtual cash, supporting market, limit, and stop orders on delayed data (~20 minutes).
  • Assets supported in the Simulator include stocks, options, ETFs, and select cryptocurrencies, limited to NYSE and Nasdaq listings.
  • Option to create public or private games with configurable rules such as margin use, short selling, or options trading, plus leaderboards.

Unusual Whales

Distinct strengths include:

Screeners
Options & Derivatives
Portfolio
Dark Pool & Off-Exchange
Alerts
US Government Trades
Insider Data
13F
  • 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

AttributeInvestopediaUnusual Whales
Categories

Which research workflows each platform targets

Shared: News, Paper Trading, Education

Unique: Videos, Newsletters, Stock Handbook

Shared: News, Paper Trading, Education

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

Asset types

Supported asset classes and universes

Stocks, ETFs, Options, 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

Web, Mobile, API

Pricing

High-level pricing models

Free

Free, Subscription

Key features

Core capabilities called out by each vendor

Unique

  • Extensive financial dictionary (14,000+ definitions) and more than 36,000 articles, attracting over 40 million monthly readers.
  • Free paper-trading Simulator with $100k in virtual cash, supporting market, limit, and stop orders on delayed data (~20 minutes).
  • Assets supported in the Simulator include stocks, options, ETFs, and select cryptocurrencies, limited to NYSE and Nasdaq listings.
  • Option to create public or private games with configurable rules such as margin use, short selling, or options trading, plus leaderboards.
  • Built-in research tools, price charts, company information, and a stock screener integrated with the Simulator.
  • Regularly updated financial news coverage and opt-in newsletters, including Investopedia Daily.

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 Investopedia and Unusual Whales both support?

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

Do Investopedia and Unusual Whales require subscriptions?

Both Investopedia 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 Investopedia focuses on web or desktop access.

What unique strengths set the two platforms apart?

Investopedia differentiates itself with Extensive financial dictionary (14,000+ definitions) and more than 36,000 articles, attracting over 40 million monthly readers., Free paper-trading Simulator with $100k in virtual cash, supporting market, limit, and stop orders on delayed data (~20 minutes)., and Assets supported in the Simulator include stocks, options, ETFs, and select cryptocurrencies, limited to NYSE and Nasdaq listings., 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.