Unusual Whales
Stock Screener — Freemium
An options-flow and dark-pool scanner that flags unusual institutional activity in real time for traders to follow.
Whale Alert flow scanner
Overview
Unusual Whales is a stock screener built around options flow and dark pool data, aimed at intermediate day traders who want to see where institutional money is moving before a stock breaks out. It's built for traders who already understand options, not people who want a plain equity scanner. The core idea is following size: watch where the big trades are landing and use that as context for your own setups.
Real-time options flow is the backbone of the platform, streamed as it happens rather than delayed by minutes or hours. Its Whale Alert system flags the largest and most unusual transactions with filters for size, expiry, 0DTE activity, sector and premium spent, and dark pool data adds visibility into off-exchange block trades that a normal screener won't show at all. On top of the data itself, Unusual Whales is priced accessibly relative to other flow tools, which matters for traders who want an edge without paying institutional-level fees. The platform is also available as a mobile app, which matters for traders who want to catch a large print while away from their desk.
Raw flow is still raw. It takes real filtering and interpretation to turn a stream of trades into an actual signal, so this isn't a plug-and-play buy button for anyone new to the concept. Options knowledge genuinely helps here; without a baseline understanding of expiry, premium and strike selection, the flow data will look like noise rather than usable information.
Coverage runs through US stocks and options, built for manual day trading with API access available for traders who want to build their own tools on top of the data. Pricing starts at Free / $24/mo on a freemium model with a free trial included. This Unusual Whales review favors intermediate, options-aware day traders who want an information edge at an accessible price. Beginners with no options background should look elsewhere first.
Pros
- Real-time options flow
- Dark pool and whale alerts
- Affordable entry price
Cons
- Raw flow needs filtering
- Options knowledge helpful