VOL. XCIV, NO. 247

★ FINANCIAL TOOLS & SERVICES DIRECTORY ★

PRICE: 5 CENTS

Sunday, October 5, 2025

Head-to-head

ORTEX vs QuantConnect comparison

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

Quick takeaways

ORTEX adds Short Interest, Insider Data, Data Visualizations, Index Rebalancing, Money Flow, Options, Analyst Recommendations, Analyst Price Targets, News, Calendar, Data APIs, US Government Trades, Screeners, and Blogs coverage that QuantConnect skips.

QuantConnect includes Backtesting, Paper Trading, Auto-Trading & Bots, and APIs & SDKs categories that ORTEX omits.

ORTEX highlights: Short interest and lending analytics including utilization, cost to borrow, shares on loan, and percentage of free float on loan, with intraday and real-time estimates from a large pool of lenders and brokers., Official U.S. exchange-reported short interest (bi-monthly) and European flagged shorts, alongside lending-based estimates., and Options coverage with unusual activity and flow detection; OPRA-sourced data gated by user agreement to OPRA terms..

QuantConnect is known for: Seamless environment that connects research, backtests, and live trading on institutional-grade co-located servers., Powered by the open-source LEAN engine (Python 3.11 and C#), with the flexibility to run locally or in the cloud., and Multi-asset coverage across equities, ETFs, options, futures, FX, and crypto, with a long list of broker and data integrations including Interactive Brokers, Schwab, TradeStation, Tastytrade, Alpaca, OANDA, Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, Bybit, and Bloomberg EMSX..

ORTEX ships a mobile app. QuantConnect is web/desktop only.

ORTEX logo

ORTEX

public.ortex.com

Hands-on review

Analytics platform focused on short interest and securities lending, with additional coverage of options flow, insider trades, analyst views, and index rebalances. Offers a free tier with limited features, plus paid plans (Basic $39/mo, Advanced $129/mo). Options data is sourced from OPRA and requires agreeing to OPRA terms. API access is available with key-based authentication, and an Excel Add-in (beta) supports short interest data.

Platforms

Web
Mobile
API

Pricing

Free
Subscription

Quick highlights

  • Short interest and lending analytics including utilization, cost to borrow, shares on loan, and percentage of free float on loan, with intraday and real-time estimates from a large pool of lenders and brokers.
  • Official U.S. exchange-reported short interest (bi-monthly) and European flagged shorts, alongside lending-based estimates.
  • Options coverage with unusual activity and flow detection; OPRA-sourced data gated by user agreement to OPRA terms.
  • Alpha trading signals across themes like Short Squeeze, EPS, RSI, MACD, and Company Events, each with back-tested stats and intraday updates.
  • Configurable stock screener including short-interest columns; results can be exported.

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QuantConnect logo

QuantConnect

quantconnect.com

QuantConnect runs on the open-source LEAN engine, giving quants and systematic traders a unified workflow from research to backtesting to live deployment. You can run everything locally or in the cloud. Historical data down to tick and second resolution is available on paid tiers, and live-trading notifications scale by plan (from a handful per hour to thousands). Some broker and data feeds—like Trading Technologies futures or premium vendors—are only unlocked at higher tiers.

Platforms

Web
Desktop
API

Pricing

Free
Subscription

Quick highlights

  • Seamless environment that connects research, backtests, and live trading on institutional-grade co-located servers.
  • Powered by the open-source LEAN engine (Python 3.11 and C#), with the flexibility to run locally or in the cloud.
  • Multi-asset coverage across equities, ETFs, options, futures, FX, and crypto, with a long list of broker and data integrations including Interactive Brokers, Schwab, TradeStation, Tastytrade, Alpaca, OANDA, Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, Bybit, and Bloomberg EMSX.
  • Robust options support with Greeks, implied volatility, and helpers for building multi-leg strategies such as iron condors.
  • Generates detailed backtest reports you can download as PDFs and raw results exportable as CSV or JSON.

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Overlap

Shared focus areas

2 overlaps

Mutual strengths include Quant, and Options & Derivatives.

Where they differ

ORTEX

Distinct strengths include:

  • Short interest and lending analytics including utilization, cost to borrow, shares on loan, and percentage of free float on loan, with intraday and real-time estimates from a large pool of lenders and brokers.
  • Official U.S. exchange-reported short interest (bi-monthly) and European flagged shorts, alongside lending-based estimates.
  • Options coverage with unusual activity and flow detection; OPRA-sourced data gated by user agreement to OPRA terms.
  • Alpha trading signals across themes like Short Squeeze, EPS, RSI, MACD, and Company Events, each with back-tested stats and intraday updates.

QuantConnect

Distinct strengths include:

  • Seamless environment that connects research, backtests, and live trading on institutional-grade co-located servers.
  • Powered by the open-source LEAN engine (Python 3.11 and C#), with the flexibility to run locally or in the cloud.
  • Multi-asset coverage across equities, ETFs, options, futures, FX, and crypto, with a long list of broker and data integrations including Interactive Brokers, Schwab, TradeStation, Tastytrade, Alpaca, OANDA, Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, Bybit, and Bloomberg EMSX.
  • Robust options support with Greeks, implied volatility, and helpers for building multi-leg strategies such as iron condors.

Feature-by-feature breakdown

AttributeORTEXQuantConnect
Categories

Which research workflows each platform targets

Shared: Quant, Options & Derivatives

Unique: Short Interest, Insider Data, Data Visualizations, Index Rebalancing, Money Flow, Options, Analyst Recommendations, Analyst Price Targets, News, Calendar, Data APIs, US Government Trades, Screeners, Blogs

Shared: Quant, Options & Derivatives

Unique: Backtesting, Paper Trading, Auto-Trading & Bots, APIs & SDKs

Asset types

Supported asset classes and universes

Stocks, ETFs, Options

Stocks, ETFs, Options, Futures, Currencies, Cryptos

Experience levels

Who each product is built for

Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced

Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced

Platforms

Where you can access the product

Web, Mobile, API

Web, Desktop, API

Pricing

High-level pricing models

Free, Subscription

Free, Subscription

Key features

Core capabilities called out by each vendor

Unique

  • Short interest and lending analytics including utilization, cost to borrow, shares on loan, and percentage of free float on loan, with intraday and real-time estimates from a large pool of lenders and brokers.
  • Official U.S. exchange-reported short interest (bi-monthly) and European flagged shorts, alongside lending-based estimates.
  • Options coverage with unusual activity and flow detection; OPRA-sourced data gated by user agreement to OPRA terms.
  • Alpha trading signals across themes like Short Squeeze, EPS, RSI, MACD, and Company Events, each with back-tested stats and intraday updates.
  • Configurable stock screener including short-interest columns; results can be exported.
  • Live intraday charts with last price and bid/ask displayed.

Unique

  • Seamless environment that connects research, backtests, and live trading on institutional-grade co-located servers.
  • Powered by the open-source LEAN engine (Python 3.11 and C#), with the flexibility to run locally or in the cloud.
  • Multi-asset coverage across equities, ETFs, options, futures, FX, and crypto, with a long list of broker and data integrations including Interactive Brokers, Schwab, TradeStation, Tastytrade, Alpaca, OANDA, Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, Bybit, and Bloomberg EMSX.
  • Robust options support with Greeks, implied volatility, and helpers for building multi-leg strategies such as iron condors.
  • Generates detailed backtest reports you can download as PDFs and raw results exportable as CSV or JSON.
  • Cloud API and Lean CLI for managing projects, running backtests, deploying live strategies, and pulling reports programmatically.
Tested

Verified by hands-on testing inside Find My Moat

Yes

Not yet

Editor pick

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which workflows do ORTEX and QuantConnect both support?

Both platforms cover Quant, and Options & Derivatives workflows, so you can research those use cases in either tool before digging into the feature differences below.

Do ORTEX and QuantConnect require subscriptions?

Both ORTEX and QuantConnect keep freemium access with optional paid upgrades, so you can trial each platform before committing.

Which tool has mobile access?

ORTEX ships a dedicated mobile experience, while QuantConnect focuses on web or desktop access.

What unique strengths set the two platforms apart?

ORTEX differentiates itself with Short interest and lending analytics including utilization, cost to borrow, shares on loan, and percentage of free float on loan, with intraday and real-time estimates from a large pool of lenders and brokers., Official U.S. exchange-reported short interest (bi-monthly) and European flagged shorts, alongside lending-based estimates., and Options coverage with unusual activity and flow detection; OPRA-sourced data gated by user agreement to OPRA terms., whereas QuantConnect stands out for Seamless environment that connects research, backtests, and live trading on institutional-grade co-located servers., Powered by the open-source LEAN engine (Python 3.11 and C#), with the flexibility to run locally or in the cloud., and Multi-asset coverage across equities, ETFs, options, futures, FX, and crypto, with a long list of broker and data integrations including Interactive Brokers, Schwab, TradeStation, Tastytrade, Alpaca, OANDA, Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, Bybit, and Bloomberg EMSX..

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.