By Realtime Options ResearchUpdated
Free options tools and data
Free options tools fall into four groups: bundled with a funded brokerage account, publicly published by exchanges and the OCC, freemium tiers with a delay or a cap, and time-limited trials. Each is genuinely free at the point of use and each has a cost somewhere, and the pages below say where.
- Pages on this topic
- 6
- Where to start
- Read the free tools overview, then the specific free screener and free platform pages, then decide whether a paid research layer adds anything you do not already have.
- Applies to
- US-listed stock and ETF options
- Not included
- Signals, recommendations or predicted outcomes
Free real-time US options data does not exist outside a broker
Exchange-consolidated options data is licensed through OPRA and costs money. Anything advertised as free real-time options data is one of three things: delayed by fifteen minutes, bundled into a brokerage account you are paying for through spreads and order routing, or a trial.
That is not a criticism of any of them — delayed data is fine for study, broker analytics are often excellent, and trials are how you evaluate software. It only matters that the label is accurate, because choosing a tool on a wrong assumption about latency wastes weeks.
Concept guides
- Free options trading strategies and free strategy education
Genuinely free options strategy education exists and it is good: the Options Industry Council, Cboe, FINRA and the OCC's disclosure document publish complete material on every common structure at no cost, and most brokers include paper trading so the mechanics can be practised without capital at risk.
Screens, tools and comparisons
- Free options scanner tool: what you can use without paying
A genuinely free options scanner usually provides delayed activity, a limited contract screen or real-time quotes inside a funded brokerage account.
- Free options screener: what free means, tool by tool
A free options screener is usually free in one of five different ways: bundled with a funded brokerage account, published free but delayed 15 to 30 minutes, freemium with the useful filters withheld, free for a fixed trial period, or genuinely free forever with a limited feature set.
- Best options screener: an honest evaluation, August 2026
There is no single best options screener, because the category contains three incompatible products.
- Free options trading platform: four different meanings of free
A free options trading platform usually means one of four things: a commission-free broker whose revenue comes from payment for order flow, interest and other fees rather than a per-trade commission; a free tier of paid software with delayed or reduced data; analytics bundled into a brokerage account you have already funded; or a time-limited trial.
- Free options tools and data sources, checked August 2026
Genuinely free options tools fall into four groups: public market data published by the OCC and Cboe, free education from the Options Industry Council and FINRA, analytics bundled into a funded brokerage account, and free calculators or delayed chain views published by vendors.
Questions people ask about this
What does the Realtime Options free trial include?
Seven days of the full platform — all ten core dashboards and the specialist research views — on 15-minute delayed market data, with no credit card required. After the trial, Pro is $25 per month for near-real-time data, history and notifications.
Is there a permanently free tier?
No. There is one plan at $25 per month after the trial, with no free tier, no seat minimum and no add-on data packages.
Realtime Options is a data analytics and visualisation platform. It does not provide financial advice or trading recommendations, and it is not a registered investment advisor or broker-dealer. Options trading involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for all investors.