VOL. XCIV, NO. 247

★ FINANCIAL TOOLS & SERVICES DIRECTORY ★

PRICE: 5 CENTS

Sunday, October 5, 2025

View The Zen of InvestingView Unusual WhalesBack to Home

Head-to-head

The Zen of Investing vs Unusual Whales comparison

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

Quick takeaways

The Zen of Investing adds Spin-offs, 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, Data APIs, Education, and Dividends categories that The Zen of Investing omits.

The Zen of Investing highlights: Covers U.S. spinoffs and select international cases, with a clear focus on special situations., “Upcoming Spinoffs” list tracks definitively announced events, often with links to presentations and filings., and “Recent Spinoffs” page compiles completed transactions, including prospectuses and investor decks..

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 The Zen of Investing skips.

The Zen of Investing logo

The Zen of Investing

thezenofinvesting.com

A free, niche site dedicated to spinoffs and special situations. It maintains curated lists of upcoming and recent spinoffs, often linking directly to investor decks, prospectuses, and filings. The site also offers RSS feeds for SEC prospectus and tender-offer filings, making it a useful resource for event-driven investors. No subscriptions, paywalls, or API access are offered.

Platforms

Web

Pricing

Free

Quick highlights

  • Covers U.S. spinoffs and select international cases, with a clear focus on special situations.
  • “Upcoming Spinoffs” list tracks definitively announced events, often with links to presentations and filings.
  • “Recent Spinoffs” page compiles completed transactions, including prospectuses and investor decks.
  • Archives investor-relations PDFs from major spinoff companies, such as DuPont or GE Vernova.
  • Publishes RSS feeds that surface SEC prospectus and tender-offer filings for easy monitoring.

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

1 overlap

Both tools cover this research theme.

Where they differ

The Zen of Investing

Distinct strengths include:

Spin-offs
Blogs
  • Covers U.S. spinoffs and select international cases, with a clear focus on special situations.
  • “Upcoming Spinoffs” list tracks definitively announced events, often with links to presentations and filings.
  • “Recent Spinoffs” page compiles completed transactions, including prospectuses and investor decks.
  • Archives investor-relations PDFs from major spinoff companies, such as DuPont or GE Vernova.

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

AttributeThe Zen of InvestingUnusual Whales
Categories

Which research workflows each platform targets

Shared: Calendar

Unique: Spin-offs, Blogs

Shared: Calendar

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

Asset types

Supported asset classes and universes

Stocks

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

Web, Mobile, API

Pricing

High-level pricing models

Free

Free, Subscription

Key features

Core capabilities called out by each vendor

Unique

  • Covers U.S. spinoffs and select international cases, with a clear focus on special situations.
  • “Upcoming Spinoffs” list tracks definitively announced events, often with links to presentations and filings.
  • “Recent Spinoffs” page compiles completed transactions, including prospectuses and investor decks.
  • Archives investor-relations PDFs from major spinoff companies, such as DuPont or GE Vernova.
  • Publishes RSS feeds that surface SEC prospectus and tender-offer filings for easy monitoring.
  • Simple, free access with a contact form for inquiries; no paid plans or gated features.

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 The Zen of Investing and Unusual Whales both support?

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

Do The Zen of Investing and Unusual Whales require subscriptions?

Both The Zen of Investing 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 The Zen of Investing focuses on web or desktop access.

What unique strengths set the two platforms apart?

The Zen of Investing differentiates itself with Covers U.S. spinoffs and select international cases, with a clear focus on special situations., “Upcoming Spinoffs” list tracks definitively announced events, often with links to presentations and filings., and “Recent Spinoffs” page compiles completed transactions, including prospectuses and investor decks., 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.