VOL. XCIV, NO. 247

★ FINANCIAL TOOLS & SERVICES DIRECTORY ★

PRICE: 5 CENTS

Sunday, October 5, 2025

View SEC.gov (EDGAR)View Unusual WhalesBack to Home

Head-to-head

SEC.gov (EDGAR) vs Unusual Whales comparison

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

Quick takeaways

SEC.gov (EDGAR) adds 13D/13G, Financials, Regulatory Filings Monitoring, and Other coverage that Unusual Whales skips.

Unusual Whales includes Screeners, Options & Derivatives, Portfolio, Paper Trading, Dark Pool & Off-Exchange, Alerts, News, US Government Trades, APIs & SDKs, Education, Calendar, and Dividends categories that SEC.gov (EDGAR) omits.

SEC.gov (EDGAR) highlights: Full-text EDGAR search across filings since 2001, with filters by company, person, form type, and date., Public data APIs at data.sec.gov provide JSON endpoints for company submissions, XBRL facts, concepts, and frames., and APIs update continuously as filings are made public; nightly bulk ZIPs allow batch ingestion..

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 SEC.gov (EDGAR) skips.

SEC.gov (EDGAR) logo

SEC.gov (EDGAR)

sec.gov

Editor’s pick Hands-on review

The official source of U.S. regulatory filings. EDGAR provides free public access through its web portal, JSON data APIs, and structured RSS feeds (updated every 10 minutes). Developers can use the APIs on data.sec.gov for submissions and XBRL datasets, while filers use separate EDGAR Next APIs that require tokens. No email alerting is provided—RSS is the only push channel. Automated access must respect fair-use guidelines, including a descriptive User-Agent.

Platforms

Web
API

Pricing

Free

Quick highlights

  • Full-text EDGAR search across filings since 2001, with filters by company, person, form type, and date.
  • Public data APIs at data.sec.gov provide JSON endpoints for company submissions, XBRL facts, concepts, and frames.
  • APIs update continuously as filings are made public; nightly bulk ZIPs allow batch ingestion.
  • Structured RSS feeds for XBRL disclosures update every 10 minutes during filing hours (Mon–Fri, 6am–10pm ET). Email alerts are not offered.
  • Official downloadable datasets include 13F holdings (as filed), Form D, and Financial Statement Data Sets (both as-filed statements and notes).

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 Data APIs, 13F, and Insider Data.

Where they differ

SEC.gov (EDGAR)

Distinct strengths include:

13D/13G
Financials
Regulatory Filings Monitoring
Other
  • Full-text EDGAR search across filings since 2001, with filters by company, person, form type, and date.
  • Public data APIs at data.sec.gov provide JSON endpoints for company submissions, XBRL facts, concepts, and frames.
  • APIs update continuously as filings are made public; nightly bulk ZIPs allow batch ingestion.
  • Structured RSS feeds for XBRL disclosures update every 10 minutes during filing hours (Mon–Fri, 6am–10pm ET). Email alerts are not offered.

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

AttributeSEC.gov (EDGAR)Unusual Whales
Categories

Which research workflows each platform targets

Shared: Data APIs, 13F, Insider Data

Unique: 13D/13G, Financials, Regulatory Filings Monitoring, Other

Shared: Data APIs, 13F, Insider Data

Unique: Screeners, Options & Derivatives, Portfolio, Paper Trading, Dark Pool & Off-Exchange, Alerts, News, US Government Trades, APIs & SDKs, Education, Calendar, Dividends

Asset types

Supported asset classes and universes

Stocks, ETFs, Mutual Funds, Closed-End Funds

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

Free, Subscription

Key features

Core capabilities called out by each vendor

Unique

  • Full-text EDGAR search across filings since 2001, with filters by company, person, form type, and date.
  • Public data APIs at data.sec.gov provide JSON endpoints for company submissions, XBRL facts, concepts, and frames.
  • APIs update continuously as filings are made public; nightly bulk ZIPs allow batch ingestion.
  • Structured RSS feeds for XBRL disclosures update every 10 minutes during filing hours (Mon–Fri, 6am–10pm ET). Email alerts are not offered.
  • Official downloadable datasets include 13F holdings (as filed), Form D, and Financial Statement Data Sets (both as-filed statements and notes).
  • The ‘Latest Filings’ feed shows real-time submissions entering EDGAR.

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

Highlighted

Highlighted

Frequently Asked Questions

Which workflows do SEC.gov (EDGAR) and Unusual Whales both support?

Both platforms cover Data APIs, 13F, and Insider Data workflows, so you can research those use cases in either tool before digging into the feature differences below.

Do SEC.gov (EDGAR) and Unusual Whales require subscriptions?

Both SEC.gov (EDGAR) 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 SEC.gov (EDGAR) focuses on web or desktop access.

What unique strengths set the two platforms apart?

SEC.gov (EDGAR) differentiates itself with Full-text EDGAR search across filings since 2001, with filters by company, person, form type, and date., Public data APIs at data.sec.gov provide JSON endpoints for company submissions, XBRL facts, concepts, and frames., and APIs update continuously as filings are made public; nightly bulk ZIPs allow batch ingestion., 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.