Topic collectionBy Realtime Options ResearchUpdated
Options platforms and pricing
An options trading platform is a broker: it holds your account, routes your orders and settles your trades. An options analytics platform is a research layer that sits beside it and never touches your money. Realtime Options is the second. It is not a broker-dealer, not a registered investment adviser, and it cannot place a trade.
- Pages on this topic
- 24
- Where to start
- Read the platform overview to place the two layers, then the tools page to see what belongs in each, then pricing.
- Applies to
- US-listed stock and ETF options
- Purpose
- Independent research and education
Two different products, one overloaded phrase
Search results for platform queries mix brokers, charting software, flow analytics and strategy modellers into one list, which is why comparison shopping in this category is so frustrating. The evaluation criteria barely overlap: execution quality and margin rates matter for one, data latency and analytical depth for the other.
Read the supporting context
Pricing here is deliberately flat: one plan, $29 per month, after a 3-day trial on 15-minute delayed data with no card. There are no tiers, no seat minimums and no add-on data packages, so there is no upgrade path to discover later.
Concept guides
- Free options trading strategies and free strategy educationGenuinely 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.
- Options flow alerts versus analytical dashboardsOptions flow alerts surface a predefined event immediately; analytical dashboards organize the broader market, ticker, strike and contract context around many events.
- Best options flow data tools for trading decisionsThe best options flow data tool is the one that matches your research job and exposes enough context to challenge its own alerts.
Screens, tools and comparisons
- Real time options dataReal time options data usually means current trades and quotes for listed contracts, plus intraday volume and analytics derived from them.
- Real time options quotesReal time options quotes show the current bid and ask for an option contract.
- Realtime Options Public API v1Realtime Options Pro includes authenticated, read-only Public API v1 access to four aggregated analytics endpoints: Buy/Sell Pressure, Algo Flow, 0DTE Flow & Gamma Exposure, and Greeks by Strike.
- Options flow data providersOptions flow data providers differ by data rights, latency, context and product shape.
- Options trading dashboard for connected market researchAn options trading dashboard should connect market-wide flow, ticker activity, strike and expiry positioning, underlying price and catalysts in one research path.
- Free options screener: what free means, tool by toolA 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 2026There is no single best options screener, because the category contains three incompatible products.
- Options trading platform or options analytics platform?An options trading platform is where you place orders through a broker such as Tastytrade, thinkorswim, Interactive Brokers, Schwab, Robinhood or Webull.
- Free options trading platform: four different meanings of freeA 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.
- Options trading and analysis tools, organized by jobThe options research toolkit divides into seven jobs: reading the chain and quotes, tracking flow and unusual activity, mapping positioning and dealer exposure, measuring volatility, modelling a strategy's payoff, following news and the calendar, and reviewing your own past decisions.
- Free options tools and data sources, checked August 2026Genuinely 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.
- Options strategy scannerAn options strategy scanner searches an option chain for multi-leg structures that match a target payoff, credit or probability, then ranks the candidates.
- Compare options flow tools by the research job they completeOptions-flow platforms differ most in the research job they complete.
- Options flow alternatives for different research workflowsAn options-flow alternative is useful only when it replaces the job you actually repeat.
- Best options flow scanner: 11 tools compared by use caseThere is no universal best options flow scanner.
- Realtime Options vs Tradytics: an honest options-flow comparisonTradytics and Realtime Options overlap on options-market research, but they are not interchangeable.
- Realtime Options vs Unusual Whales: an honest options-flow comparisonUnusual Whales and Realtime Options overlap on options-market research, but they are not interchangeable.
- Realtime Options vs Flowtopia: an honest options-flow comparisonFlowtopia and Realtime Options overlap on options-market research, but they are not interchangeable.
- Realtime Options vs Cheddar Flow: an honest options-flow comparisonCheddar Flow and Realtime Options overlap on options-market research, but they are not interchangeable.
- Realtime Options vs FlowAlgo: an honest options-flow comparisonFlowAlgo and Realtime Options overlap on options-market research, but they are not interchangeable.
- Realtime Options vs OptionStrat: an honest options-flow comparisonOptionStrat and Realtime Options overlap on options-market research, but they are not interchangeable.
Common questions
Can I trade through Realtime Options?
No. There is no order entry and no broker connectivity. The platform aggregates and visualises options market data for research; you place any trade through your own broker.
Is there a public API?
Yes. Realtime Options Pro includes authenticated, read-only Public API v1 access to aggregated Buy/Sell Pressure, Algo Flow, 0DTE Flow & Gamma Exposure, and Greeks by Strike analytics. It is not a raw exchange feed, unrestricted option-chain API, execution API or redistribution product.