VOL. XCIV, NO. 247

★ FINANCIAL TOOLS & SERVICES DIRECTORY ★

PRICE: 5 CENTS

Sunday, October 5, 2025

View OTC Markets View Unusual Whales Back to Home

Head-to-head

OTC Markets vs Unusual Whales comparison

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

Quick takeaways

OTC Markets adds Order Book / Level II, Ticker Changes, Splits, and Regulatory Filings Monitoring coverage that Unusual Whales skips.

Unusual Whales includes Options & Derivatives, Portfolio, Paper Trading, Dark Pool & Off-Exchange, Alerts, US Government Trades, Insider Data, 13F, Education, and Calendar categories that OTC Markets omits.

OTC Markets highlights: Real‑Time Level 1+ (inside bid/offer + trades) and Level 2+ (full quote book with market participant IDs) data products; Delayed Level 1+ on a 15‑minute basis; End‑of‑Day snapshots., Level 2 quote montage specification (fields: MPID, price, QAP, size, time‑of‑update) and display requirements., and Reference & pricing files (security master with optional CUSIP), plus End‑of‑Day pricing files; secure SFTP delivery supported..

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 OTC Markets skips.

OTC Markets

otcmarkets.com

Primary operator and market data source for U.S. OTC equities via OTC Link ATS/ECN/NQB (SEC‑regulated ATSs). Commercial data products include Real‑Time Level 1+ (inside quote & trades), Level 2+ (full quote book with MPIDs), 15‑minute delayed Level 1+, End‑of‑Day, reference/security master, and compliance datasets (Blue Sky, Promotion/CE, Compliance Analytics). Delivery options include real‑time multicast feeds, SFTP/FTP files, and a REST Disclosure API. Website provides delayed quotes, corporate actions, screeners and issuer news (DNS).

Platforms

Web

API

Pricing

Free

Subscription

Quick highlights

Real‑Time Level 1+ (inside bid/offer + trades) and Level 2+ (full quote book with market participant IDs) data products; Delayed Level 1+ on a 15‑minute basis; End‑of‑Day snapshots.
Level 2 quote montage specification (fields: MPID, price, QAP, size, time‑of‑update) and display requirements.
Reference & pricing files (security master with optional CUSIP), plus End‑of‑Day pricing files; secure SFTP delivery supported.
Disclosure API (REST, JSON/CSV/XML) with app‑key auth; filter by symbol/CUSIP/company; document retrieval; plan‑level rate‑limit guidance.
Compliance & regulatory data: Blue Sky Data (state eligibility monitoring), Promotion Data file (Caveat Emptor/tier/share data), and Compliance Analytics (multi‑factor risk scoring).

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)

0% upvotes 0% downvotes

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Overlap

Shared focus areas

5 overlaps

Mutual strengths include Data APIs, News, and Dividends plus 2 more areas.

Where they differ

OTC Markets

Distinct strengths include:

Order Book / Level II

Ticker Changes

Splits

Regulatory Filings Monitoring

Real‑Time Level 1+ (inside bid/offer + trades) and Level 2+ (full quote book with market participant IDs) data products; Delayed Level 1+ on a 15‑minute basis; End‑of‑Day snapshots.
Level 2 quote montage specification (fields: MPID, price, QAP, size, time‑of‑update) and display requirements.
Reference & pricing files (security master with optional CUSIP), plus End‑of‑Day pricing files; secure SFTP delivery supported.
Disclosure API (REST, JSON/CSV/XML) with app‑key auth; filter by symbol/CUSIP/company; document retrieval; plan‑level rate‑limit guidance.

Unusual Whales

Distinct strengths include:

Options & Derivatives

Portfolio

Paper Trading

Dark Pool & Off-Exchange

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	OTC Markets	Unusual Whales
Categories Which research workflows each platform targets	Shared: Data APIs, News, Dividends, APIs & SDKs, Screeners Unique: Order Book / Level II, Ticker Changes, Splits, Regulatory Filings Monitoring	Shared: Data APIs, News, Dividends, APIs & SDKs, Screeners Unique: Options & Derivatives, Portfolio, Paper Trading, Dark Pool & Off-Exchange, Alerts, US Government Trades, Insider Data, 13F, Education, Calendar
Asset types Supported asset classes and universes	Stocks, Bonds	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 Real‑Time Level 1+ (inside bid/offer + trades) and Level 2+ (full quote book with market participant IDs) data products; Delayed Level 1+ on a 15‑minute basis; End‑of‑Day snapshots. Level 2 quote montage specification (fields: MPID, price, QAP, size, time‑of‑update) and display requirements. Reference & pricing files (security master with optional CUSIP), plus End‑of‑Day pricing files; secure SFTP delivery supported. Disclosure API (REST, JSON/CSV/XML) with app‑key auth; filter by symbol/CUSIP/company; document retrieval; plan‑level rate‑limit guidance. Compliance & regulatory data: Blue Sky Data (state eligibility monitoring), Promotion Data file (Caveat Emptor/tier/share data), and Compliance Analytics (multi‑factor risk scoring). Coverage of OTC Link ATS via MIC 'OTCM'; OTC Link ATS/ECN/NQB each operate as SEC‑regulated ATSs.	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 OTC Markets and Unusual Whales both support?

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

Do OTC Markets and Unusual Whales require subscriptions?

Both OTC Markets 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 OTC Markets focuses on web or desktop access.

What unique strengths set the two platforms apart?

OTC Markets differentiates itself with Real‑Time Level 1+ (inside bid/offer + trades) and Level 2+ (full quote book with market participant IDs) data products; Delayed Level 1+ on a 15‑minute basis; End‑of‑Day snapshots., Level 2 quote montage specification (fields: MPID, price, QAP, size, time‑of‑update) and display requirements., and Reference & pricing files (security master with optional CUSIP), plus End‑of‑Day pricing files; secure SFTP delivery supported., 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

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