Full disclosure: Dombey Capital is our own research service and our top pick here, for the reasons below. The section on where it falls short is there so you can judge whether it fits your process.
Which part of Unusual Whales are you replacing?
Unusual Whales bundles several jobs: a real-time options flow feed, dark pool data, dealer exposure measures such as gamma exposure, news, alerts, screeners and an API. Its pricing page lists a free plan with flow delayed two trading days, news delayed 15 minutes and alerts delayed 30 minutes, and paid plans with no delay. Few readers use all of it, and the right replacement depends on which job you would miss. Our list of the 8 best options flow and unusual activity tools ranks the category as a whole; this page takes the angle of someone leaving Unusual Whales, or deciding not to start.
| The Unusual Whales job you rely on | Closest replacement here | What you give up |
|---|---|---|
| Real-time flow with dealer exposure | Quant Data | Multiple plan tiers and a free plan |
| One plan with flow, sweeps and dark pool | InsiderFinance | Unusual Whales' alert and dashboard limits by tier |
| Sweeps, blocks and dark pool prints | FlowAlgo | Exposure measures and a broad dashboard |
| Flow inside wider analytics and Discord bots | Tradytics | Depth of the flow tools |
| Following each order after it prints | Options Flow | Published full-access pricing |
| Market-wide options volume, free | Cboe market statistics | Any single-trade detail |
| Delayed off-exchange stock data, free | FINRA OTC Transparency | Real-time prints |
| A reason the options matter, with a date and the case written | Dombey CapitalTop pick | Any live feed at all |
Quick comparison
| Tool | Best for | Key features | Price (as of October 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dombey CapitalTop pick | Options activity read inside research on dated special situations | Founding Membership: weekly Options Research, weekly Phoenix Report, Catalyst Briefing, DombeyAI Portal with the Daily Phoenix Screener and Earnings Conviction Model | Founding Membership $1,200/year (annual only); Standard Access $80/year or $8/month; Public Archive free |
| Quant Data | Flow beside dealer exposure | Live and historical flow, consolidated and trade-by-trade; exposure by strike for delta, gamma, vanna and charm; heat map with 30+ metrics; dark pool levels and prints; apps and API | $74.99/month, or $62.50/month billed annually; 7-day free trial |
| InsiderFinance | One plan covering flow, sweeps and dark pool | Real-time order flow, unusual activity and sweeps, dark pool and equity prints, news and sentiment, historical data, Discord | $75/month; $195/quarter; $660/year; free options flow to try |
| FlowAlgo | Sweeps, option blocks and dark pool prints | Real-time alerts on intermarket sweeps, option blocks, equity blocks and dark pool prints; historical search by ticker and date | Two-week trial for $37; $149/month after the trial; from $99/month paid annually |
| Tradytics | Flow inside wider analytics and bots | Live options flow and premium scanners on Pro; AI trade ideas; Discord bots for server owners | Free basic access; Pro $69/month; Discord server plan $199/month |
| Options Flow | Following orders after they print | Live order flow, unusual activity feed, custom filters, gamma exposure, order tracking and backtesting | Free access (15-minute delay); see the vendor's page for full access |
| Cboe | Free market-wide options volume | U.S. options market volume summary | Free to view |
| FINRA OTC Transparency | Free delayed off-exchange stock data | OTC trading by each ATS and member firm, published on a delay; quarterly ATS statistics | Public; see FINRA's terms for data use |
How we compared these tools
We compared these tools from vendor documentation, pricing pages and public product pages, read on October 25, 2026. We did not run trials of the paid plans, and we make no claims about the speed or accuracy of any feed or about investment results.
| Criterion | Weight | What it measures |
|---|---|---|
| Event context | 25% | Whether the tool ties options activity to a dated catalyst and explains it |
| Flow coverage and speed | 20% | Real-time trades, sweeps, blocks and historical search |
| Exposure and volatility measures | 15% | Gamma and other dealer exposure, implied volatility context |
| Dark pool and equity prints | 10% | Off-exchange stock trades beside the options |
| Alerts and filtering | 10% | Custom filters, alerts and watchlists |
| Cost and friction | 20% | Price of the plan you would need, trials and free tiers |
We weighted event context most because a large options trade means little until you know what event it might relate to and whether it opened a position. If you trade intraday on flow and weight speed most, Quant Data, InsiderFinance and FlowAlgo move to the top; if you weight cost, Tradytics' free tier, Options Flow's free access and the Cboe and FINRA data lead.
Quick picks by job
Best for options activity read inside dated special situations: Dombey Capital
Dombey's Founding Membership includes weekly Options Research alongside the weekly Phoenix Report, the Catalyst Briefing and the DombeyAI Portal with the Daily Phoenix Screener and the Earnings Conviction Model. It suits readers who see unusual activity and want to know whether there is a dated event behind it, what the options price for that event and what could change the case, with each thesis published before the event and kept in the archive.
Best for flow beside dealer exposure: Quant Data
Quant Data lists live and historical flow, exposure by strike and expiry for delta, gamma, vanna and charm, and a heat map of more than 30 metrics. At $74.99 a month, or $62.50 a month billed annually, with a seven-day trial, it is the closest single-plan match for readers who use Unusual Whales' exposure tools.
Best for one plan covering flow, sweeps and dark pool: InsiderFinance
InsiderFinance puts real-time order flow, unusual activity and sweep activity, dark pool and equity prints, news and historical data in every plan. The price falls from $75 a month to $65 a month on quarterly billing and $55 a month on annual billing.
Best for sweeps and block prints: FlowAlgo
FlowAlgo alerts on intermarket sweeps, which it consolidates into one alert, option block trades, equity blocks and dark pool prints, with historical data searchable by ticker and date. It suits readers who watch for large, urgent orders.
Best for flow inside wider analytics: Tradytics
Tradytics' Pro plan adds live options flow, premium scanners, AI trade ideas and a premium Discord community to a free tier that includes simple flow data and a daily scanner. It suits readers who want flow as one input among several.
Best for following orders after they print: Options Flow
Options Flow lists order tracking and backtesting so you can save an order and see how the contract's price moved after it was reported. Free access shows flow with a 15-minute delay; full access adds the unusual activity feed and custom filters.
Best free market-wide data: Cboe and FINRA
Cboe publishes a U.S. options market volume summary, and FINRA publishes delayed OTC trading data by each alternative trading system and member firm. Neither shows single trades in real time, but together they give longer-term investors context at no cost.
Full reviews
1. Dombey Capital
What it does. Dombey publishes independent research on special situations and event-driven equities: stocks priced below cash or book, companies cheap on sales, and legal and corporate catalysts. Its weekly Options Research brings options-market context to that coverage, and each thesis is published before its catalyst, priced on the day and kept in the archive.
Best for. Readers who want to know which options activity relates to a real, dated event and what the options price for it.
Pricing. Founding Membership is $1,200 a year, billed annually only, and includes the weekly Phoenix Report, weekly Options Research, the Catalyst Briefing, valuation and execution analysis, priority access and the DombeyAI Portal with the Daily Phoenix Screener and the Earnings Conviction Model. Standard Access is the lower-cost option at $80 a year (about $6.67 a month) or $8 a month on monthly billing, with the Biweekly Catalyst Briefing and the complete public-research archive; it does not include Options Research. The Public Archive is free.
Pros
- Options activity is read against a dated event, not in isolation.
- Written reasoning you can test against filings and the option chain.
- Theses are archived, so you can compare each case with what followed.
Cons
- No live flow feed, scanner or alerts.
- Covers a short list of situations.
- Founding Membership costs more than most flow plans here on an annual basis.
Verdict: Our top pick for options activity read inside dated special situations. Pair it with a free or low-cost flow tool if you want to watch prints.
2. Quant Data
What it does. Quant Data is an options analytics platform with web, iOS and Android apps. It lists live and historical options order flow across U.S. exchanges with consolidated views of blocks, splits and sweeps and trade-by-trade data; dealer positioning by strike and expiration for delta, gamma, vanna and charm; a heat map with more than 30 metrics including GEX, DEX, VEX and CHEX; insights such as Net Drift, Net Flow, Dark Flow and volatility skew; dark pool levels and prints; and a developer API.
Best for. Readers who use flow and dealer exposure together.
Pricing. $74.99 a month, or $62.50 a month billed annually, with a seven-day free trial. A futures product is $74.99 a month, or $119.99 a month bundled with options. The standard plans are for personal, non-professional use.
Pros
- Flow and exposure measures in one plan.
- Trade-by-trade and consolidated views.
- A free trial and a lower annual rate.
Cons
- No free plan beyond the trial.
- Exposure measures depend on assumptions about who holds which side.
- Built for active traders more than for event research.
Verdict: The closest match for readers who used Unusual Whales mainly for flow and gamma exposure.
3. InsiderFinance
What it does. InsiderFinance lists real-time options order flow, unusual options and sweep activity, dark pool and equity prints, news and sentiment, technical analysis, on-demand historical data, custom watchlists and Discord access in every plan.
Best for. Readers who want everything in one plan at one price.
Pricing. $75 a month; $195 a quarter (about $65 a month); $660 a year (about $55 a month). It also offers free options flow to try.
Pros
- Every plan includes the same features.
- The annual plan is among the lower effective monthly prices here.
- Dark pool and equity prints sit beside the options flow.
Cons
- Its trade ideas are marketing claims we cannot verify; treat them with caution.
- Less focus on dealer exposure than Quant Data.
- Built for short-term trading.
Verdict: The pick for readers who want flow, sweeps and dark pool data without choosing between tiers.
4. FlowAlgo
What it does. FlowAlgo sends real-time alerts on notable option and equity order flow: intermarket sweep orders, consolidated into one alert; option block trades; and equity blocks and dark pool prints. Historical data is searchable by ticker and date in a web browser.
Best for. Readers who watch for large, urgent orders.
Pricing. The page lists a two-week trial for $37, a monthly price of $149 after the trial and annual plans from $99 a month paid annually.
Pros
- A clear focus on sweeps, blocks and dark pool prints.
- Historical search by ticker and date.
- A low-cost trial.
Cons
- No dealer exposure measures listed.
- The monthly price is higher than most here.
- A sweep shows urgency, not intent.
Verdict: The pick for readers who used Unusual Whales mainly to spot sweeps and blocks.
5. Tradytics
What it does. Tradytics offers analytics for retail traders. Its free tier includes a market overview, an AI news feed, delayed analytics, simple flow data and a daily scanner. Pro adds live options flow, advanced analytics, AI trade ideas and portfolios, premium scanners and a premium Discord community. A separate plan puts Tradytics bots, options sweeps and live data into a Discord server.
Best for. Readers who want flow as one input among several analytics, or who run a Discord community.
Pricing. Free basic access; Pro $69 a month, with $15 for the first 15 days; Discord server plan $199 a month, with the same introductory offer.
Pros
- A free tier with simple flow data.
- A wide set of tools beyond flow.
- Discord integration for communities.
Cons
- AI trade ideas are not research; check every case yourself.
- Flow tools are less deep than dedicated platforms.
- The page we read showed outdated sale terms, so confirm the current offer.
Verdict: The pick for readers who want flow inside a broader toolkit.
6. Options Flow
What it does. Options Flow shows a feed of large options orders from U.S. exchanges, gamma exposure, an unusual activity feed and custom filters, plus order tracking and backtesting to see how a contract moved after an order was reported. It also runs a weekly free live training session.
Best for. Readers who want to follow what happened after a print.
Pricing. Free access requires no credit card and shows order flow with a 15-minute delay, every other order in full, and gamma exposure on a limited set of tickers. Full access adds live flow on all orders, the unusual activity feed and custom filters; the page we read does not list its price, so see the vendor's page.
Pros
- Order tracking shows what followed each print.
- A usable free tier without a card.
- Free live training.
Cons
- Full-access price not published on the page we read.
- Free access hides half the orders and delays the rest.
- A backtest of past prints does not show what will happen next.
Verdict: The pick for readers who want to study the aftermath of flow, not just the print.
7. Cboe market statistics
What it does. Cboe, which operates options exchanges, publishes a U.S. options market volume summary on its market statistics pages.
Best for. Longer-term investors who want market-wide options context without a subscription.
Pricing. Free to view.
Pros
- Official exchange data.
- No cost and no sign-up.
- Useful for market-wide context.
Cons
- No single-trade or single-stock flow.
- No alerts.
- Not built for trading decisions.
Verdict: A free source of context, not a flow tool.
8. FINRA OTC Transparency
What it does. FINRA publishes over-the-counter trading information on a delayed basis for each alternative trading system and each member firm with a trade reporting obligation, plus quarterly statistics on total shares, trades and average trade size for each ATS.
Best for. Readers who want to see how much of a stock trades off-exchange, without paying for real-time prints.
Pricing. Published by FINRA; its data agreement sets the terms of use.
Pros
- The regulatory source for off-exchange volume.
- No subscription.
- Shows which venues handle a stock's trading.
Cons
- Delayed, so not usable for live trading.
- Volume by venue, not individual prints with prices.
- Requires some work to read.
Verdict: The free reference for dark pool volume.
Where Dombey falls short
- Narrow coverage. Dombey covers a short list of special situations. Most tickers that appear in a flow feed will never appear in its research.
- No broad stock data terminal. No live flow, scanner, exposure heat map, alerts or database. You still need a tool for live options data.
- Small team. A small team limits how many situations it can follow properly.
- Pen-name author. Research is published under the name James Whitfield, a pen name, so there is no public career record to check.
- Short history. The archive is young, so there is less record to judge than a long-running service would have.
Where this goes wrong
Changing flow tools changes the feed, not the reading of it. A large trade can be an opening bet, a hedge against a stock position, one leg of a spread or a closing trade, and the side is estimated by the tool, not reported by the exchange. Open interest the next day shows whether a position was opened, and the put/call ratio has similar limits.
Free vs paid
| Tool | Free option | What paying adds |
|---|---|---|
| Dombey | Public Archive of published research | Founding Membership adds weekly Options Research, the Phoenix Report and the DombeyAI Portal; Standard Access, the lower-cost option, adds the Catalyst Briefing and full archive |
| Unusual Whales | Free plan, flow delayed 2 trading days | Real-time flow, news and alerts |
| Quant Data | 7-day free trial | Full platform |
| InsiderFinance | Free options flow to try | Full real-time platform |
| FlowAlgo | None free; two-week trial for $37 | Real-time alerts and history |
| Tradytics | Free basic access with simple flow | Live flow, scanners and AI tools |
| Options Flow | Free access, 15-minute delay | Live flow, all orders, custom filters |
| Cboe and FINRA | Free | Not applicable |
For many investors who hold for weeks or months, delayed flow plus implied volatility on a free option chain covers most of what matters. Our list of the best options analysis tools for earnings covers the expected-move side, and Benzinga Pro alternatives covers news.
How to choose
| Your situation | Pick | Add later when |
|---|---|---|
| You want options activity read against a dated event, with the case written | Dombey CapitalTop pick | You want to watch prints: add Tradytics' free tier or Options Flow's free access |
| You trade intraday on flow and exposure | Quant Data | You want sweeps flagged separately: try FlowAlgo |
| You want everything in one plan | InsiderFinance | You want exposure depth: add Quant Data |
| You watch for sweeps and blocks | FlowAlgo | You want exposure measures: try Quant Data |
| You want flow as one input among many | Tradytics | You want deeper flow: try InsiderFinance |
| You want to spend nothing | Unusual Whales free, Options Flow free, Cboe and FINRA | You need real-time data |
- If your first question is "what just traded," start with Quant Data, InsiderFinance or FlowAlgo.
- If your first question is "where are dealers positioned," start with Quant Data.
- If your first question is "is there an event behind this, and what is priced for it," start with Dombey and keep one free flow source.
For the wider research field, our Seeking Alpha vs Motley Fool vs Morningstar vs Dombey comparison weighs four services side by side. Dombey's published work is in the research archive.
The bottom line
Dombey Capital is our top pick for investors who want options activity read inside research on dated special situations, provided you accept that it is written research on a short list and not a live flow scanner. Among flow platforms, Quant Data is the closest match for flow with dealer exposure, InsiderFinance for one plan covering flow, sweeps and dark pool prints, FlowAlgo for sweeps and blocks, Tradytics for flow inside wider analytics and Options Flow for following orders after they print. Cboe and FINRA provide free market-wide context. Whatever you pick, treat a flagged trade as a reason to look for the event behind it, not as a signal by itself.