VOL. XCIV, NO. 247

★ FINANCIAL TOOLS & SERVICES DIRECTORY ★

PRICE: 5 CENTS

Monday, October 6, 2025

View Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC)View Unusual Whales Back to Home

Head-to-head

Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) vs Unusual Whales comparison

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

Quick takeaways

Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) adds Data Visualizations, Shipping & Trade, and Blogs coverage that Unusual Whales skips.

Unusual Whales includes Screeners, Options & Derivatives, Portfolio, Paper Trading, Dark Pool & Off-Exchange, Alerts, News, US Government Trades, Insider Data, 13F, APIs & SDKs, Calendar, and Dividends categories that Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) omits.

Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) highlights: Visualizations and rankings based on Economic Complexity Index (ECI) and Product Complexity Index (PCI), with reports by HS classification., Monthly international trade data and subnational coverage across 30+ countries available on Pro plans., and Premium tier adds company-level U.S. Bill of Lading data through a Company Explorer sourced from U.S. Customs..

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 Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) skips.

Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC)

oec.world

A global trade and economic complexity platform with rich visualizations, country and product rankings, and an API. Pro plans unlock the latest monthly and subnational datasets, while Premium adds company-level Bill of Lading data and bulk downloads. Academic discounts and enterprise options with SSO support are also available.

Platforms

Web

API

Pricing

Free

Subscription

Quick highlights

Visualizations and rankings based on Economic Complexity Index (ECI) and Product Complexity Index (PCI), with reports by HS classification.
Monthly international trade data and subnational coverage across 30+ countries available on Pro plans.
Premium tier adds company-level U.S. Bill of Lading data through a Company Explorer sourced from U.S. Customs.
REST API with a free tier for historical data and Pro/Premium tokens for the latest datasets, subnational access, and higher query volumes.
Data downloads in CSV, Excel, or JSON, with bulk access and larger query limits available for subscribers.

Community votes (overall)

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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

2 overlaps

Mutual strengths include Data APIs, and Education.

Where they differ

Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC)

Distinct strengths include:

Data Visualizations

Shipping & Trade

Blogs

Visualizations and rankings based on Economic Complexity Index (ECI) and Product Complexity Index (PCI), with reports by HS classification.
Monthly international trade data and subnational coverage across 30+ countries available on Pro plans.
Premium tier adds company-level U.S. Bill of Lading data through a Company Explorer sourced from U.S. Customs.
REST API with a free tier for historical data and Pro/Premium tokens for the latest datasets, subnational access, and higher query volumes.

Unusual Whales

Distinct strengths include:

Screeners

Options & Derivatives

Portfolio

Paper Trading

Dark Pool & Off-Exchange

Alerts

News

US Government Trades

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

Attribute	Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC)	Unusual Whales
Categories Which research workflows each platform targets	Shared: Data APIs, Education Unique: Data Visualizations, Shipping & Trade, Blogs	Shared: Data APIs, Education Unique: Screeners, Options & Derivatives, Portfolio, Paper Trading, Dark Pool & Off-Exchange, Alerts, News, US Government Trades, Insider Data, 13F, APIs & SDKs, Calendar, Dividends
Asset types Supported asset classes and universes	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, Subscription	Free, Subscription
Key features Core capabilities called out by each vendor	Unique Visualizations and rankings based on Economic Complexity Index (ECI) and Product Complexity Index (PCI), with reports by HS classification. Monthly international trade data and subnational coverage across 30+ countries available on Pro plans. Premium tier adds company-level U.S. Bill of Lading data through a Company Explorer sourced from U.S. Customs. REST API with a free tier for historical data and Pro/Premium tokens for the latest datasets, subnational access, and higher query volumes. Data downloads in CSV, Excel, or JSON, with bulk access and larger query limits available for subscribers. Support for multiple HS revisions (from HS92 through HS2022) with well-documented historical ranges.	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	Not yet	Yes
Editor pick Featured inside curated shortlists	Standard listing	Highlighted

Frequently Asked Questions

Which workflows do Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) and Unusual Whales both support?

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

Do Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) and Unusual Whales require subscriptions?

Both Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) 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 Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) focuses on web or desktop access.

What unique strengths set the two platforms apart?

Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) differentiates itself with Visualizations and rankings based on Economic Complexity Index (ECI) and Product Complexity Index (PCI), with reports by HS classification., Monthly international trade data and subnational coverage across 30+ countries available on Pro plans., and Premium tier adds company-level U.S. Bill of Lading data through a Company Explorer sourced from U.S. Customs., 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..

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