VOL. XCIV, NO. 247

★ FINANCIAL TOOLS & SERVICES DIRECTORY ★

PRICE: 5 CENTS

Sunday, October 5, 2025

Head-to-head

Robinhood vs Unusual Whales comparison

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

Quick takeaways

Robinhood adds Brokerage, Watchlist, Advanced Order Types, Order Book / Level II, and Downloadable Tax Reports coverage that Unusual Whales skips.

Unusual Whales includes Screeners, Paper Trading, Dark Pool & Off-Exchange, Alerts, US Government Trades, Insider Data, 13F, APIs & SDKs, Data APIs, Education, Calendar, and Dividends categories that Robinhood omits.

Robinhood highlights: Commission-free trading on US stocks, ETFs, and options (with per-contract fees: $0.50 standard, $0.35 with Gold)., Fractional share investing starting from $1 across most eligible US stocks and ETFs., and Advanced order types including stop, stop-limit, and trailing stop orders..

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..

Robinhood logo

Robinhood

robinhood.com

Robinhood is a US and UK brokerage offering commission-free trading in stocks, ETFs, and options, plus access to futures and crypto. Options carry per-contract fees. Robinhood Gold ($5/month after a 30-day trial) unlocks Nasdaq TotalView Level II, Morningstar research, larger instant deposits, and a 3% IRA match for eligible customers. The platform also offers 24-Hour Market trading on select symbols, real crypto wallets with deposits/withdrawals, and an accessible mobile-first design.

Platforms

Web
Mobile

Pricing

Free
Subscription
Other

Quick highlights

  • Commission-free trading on US stocks, ETFs, and options (with per-contract fees: $0.50 standard, $0.35 with Gold).
  • Fractional share investing starting from $1 across most eligible US stocks and ETFs.
  • Advanced order types including stop, stop-limit, and trailing stop orders.
  • 24-Hour Market on select symbols, running Sunday evening through Friday evening ET, alongside extended trading hours.
  • Options support includes multi-leg strategies such as spreads and iron condors, with a Strategy Builder tool and Greeks displayed in the chain.

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 Portfolio, Options & Derivatives, and News.

Where they differ

Robinhood

Distinct strengths include:

  • Commission-free trading on US stocks, ETFs, and options (with per-contract fees: $0.50 standard, $0.35 with Gold).
  • Fractional share investing starting from $1 across most eligible US stocks and ETFs.
  • Advanced order types including stop, stop-limit, and trailing stop orders.
  • 24-Hour Market on select symbols, running Sunday evening through Friday evening ET, alongside extended trading hours.

Unusual Whales

Distinct strengths include:

  • 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

AttributeRobinhoodUnusual Whales
Categories

Which research workflows each platform targets

Shared: Portfolio, Options & Derivatives, News

Unique: Brokerage, Watchlist, Advanced Order Types, Order Book / Level II, Downloadable Tax Reports

Shared: Portfolio, Options & Derivatives, News

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

Asset types

Supported asset classes and universes

Stocks, ETFs, Options, Futures, 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

Web, Mobile, API

Pricing

High-level pricing models

Free, Subscription, Other

Free, Subscription

Key features

Core capabilities called out by each vendor

Unique

  • Commission-free trading on US stocks, ETFs, and options (with per-contract fees: $0.50 standard, $0.35 with Gold).
  • Fractional share investing starting from $1 across most eligible US stocks and ETFs.
  • Advanced order types including stop, stop-limit, and trailing stop orders.
  • 24-Hour Market on select symbols, running Sunday evening through Friday evening ET, alongside extended trading hours.
  • Options support includes multi-leg strategies such as spreads and iron condors, with a Strategy Builder tool and Greeks displayed in the chain.
  • Robinhood Gold ($5/month after a free trial) adds Nasdaq TotalView Level II data, Morningstar research, larger instant deposit limits, and a 3% IRA match.

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 Robinhood and Unusual Whales both support?

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

Do Robinhood and Unusual Whales require subscriptions?

Both Robinhood and Unusual Whales keep freemium access with optional paid upgrades, so you can trial each platform before committing.

How can you access Robinhood and Unusual Whales?

Both Robinhood 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?

Robinhood differentiates itself with Commission-free trading on US stocks, ETFs, and options (with per-contract fees: $0.50 standard, $0.35 with Gold)., Fractional share investing starting from $1 across most eligible US stocks and ETFs., and Advanced order types including stop, stop-limit, and trailing stop orders., 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..

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.