What is the best options screener in 2026?

It depends on the job. Option Samurai states 100+ to 170 filters and adds alerts and backtesting; OptionStrat is built for single-trade building; Unusual Whales for flow; QuantWheel and ThetaScanner for the wheel; Option Alpha for automation; and OptionClaws for scanning multi-leg strategies from ChatGPT or Claude.

Which options screeners have a free tier?

Among the tools we checked, OptionStrat, Unusual Whales, QuantWheel, ThetaScanner, and Barchart list free access, usually with delayed data or limits, and Option Alpha is free with a qualifying broker account. OptionClaws has no free tier; it offers a 7-day trial with no card.

Which options screeners work with ChatGPT or Claude?

OptionClaws includes ChatGPT and Claude connectors in its subscription. QuantWheel lists MCP connections for Claude, ChatGPT, Grok, and Perplexity. Unusual Whales has an MCP server that requires separately purchased API tokens. We did not find AI connectors on the pages we checked for the others.

Which screener is cheapest?

Of the paid plans we checked, ThetaScanner Pro at $5.99/mo is the lowest list price, followed by Barchart Premier at $29.95/mo. Prices were checked in September 2026 and change often.

Is this list sponsored?

No. It is written by OptionClaws, which is one of the products listed. We used only facts from each company's own public pages, linked below, and name the areas where other tools offer more than ours.

Best options screeners in 2026: which tool fits which trader

By OptionClaws · Updated 2026-09-28

There is no single best options screener. The tools people call screeners do different jobs: some scan the whole market by strategy, some focus on the wheel, some are built around options flow, and some automate trades. This guide covers nine of them and names the use case each fits best, with strengths, limits, and list prices as of September 2026. We make OptionClaws, so read our entry with that in mind. Every fact about another product comes from that company's own public pages, linked in the sources at the end, and where we could not verify something we say so rather than guess. Prices and features change often, so confirm on each company's pricing page before you subscribe.

Key facts

For full-market strategy scanning plus alerts, backtesting, and a journal, Option Samurai offers all of these and states 100+ to 170 filters.
For building and fine-tuning one trade, OptionStrat's builder and optimizer fit best; for options flow, Unusual Whales is built around it.
For the wheel, QuantWheel adds broker sync and a journal, while ThetaScanner is the lowest-cost option we checked at $5.99/mo.
For automated execution and backtesting, Option Alpha is a bot platform rather than a screener. Barchart offers a free covered call screener with paid emailed results.
OptionClaws fits traders who want to scan 23 strategies, multi-leg included, from ChatGPT or Claude, on the web, or in its iOS and Android apps.

Options screeners by use case (list prices from each company's public pages as of September 2026)
	Best for	Price (Sept 2026)	Free tier or trial
OptionClaws	Scanning multi-leg strategies from ChatGPT or Claude	$39.99/mo or $399.99/yr	7-day trial, no card; no free tier
Option Samurai	Deep strategy scanning with alerts, backtests, and a journal	From $39/mo billed annually; its pages list different prices	14-day trial, no card
OptionStrat	Building, visualizing, and optimizing one trade; options flow	Live Tools $39.99/mo; Live Flow $99.99/mo	Free tier with delayed data; 7-day trial on paid plans
Barchart	Low-cost covered call screening with emailed results	Premier $29.95/mo or $199.95/yr	Free users can save screeners; 30-day Premier trial
Market Chameleon	Not rated: we could not verify its features	Premium $99/mo	7-day trial
Unusual Whales	Options flow, dark pool, GEX, and congress trades	From $50/mo (Retail Basic)	Free tier with delayed data
QuantWheel	The wheel with broker sync, a journal, and GEX	$29, $49, or $79/mo	Free demo with delayed data; 7 days for $1
ThetaScanner	Budget wheel screening	$5.99/mo or $60/yr	Free tier (12 tickers); 7-day trial
Option Alpha	Automated trading bots and backtesting	Pro $149/mo, or $99/mo billed annually	Free with a qualifying broker account; 30-day trial, no card

How we picked and described these tools

We included tools that options traders commonly compare when looking for a screener or scanner, even where the main product is something else, such as flow data or trading bots. For each one we read the company's own site, help center, or app listing on September 28, 2026, and used only facts we could confirm there. The list is ordered for reading, not ranked: each entry is best for a different kind of trader.

Where a product's pages did not mention a feature, we say we did not find it, not that it does not exist. Market Chameleon's site could not be reviewed in enough detail to describe its screeners, so its entry is limited to price and trial.

OptionClaws

Best for: scanning multi-leg strategies from ChatGPT or Claude. OptionClaws is our product. It scans the whole market for 23 strategies, from covered calls and cash-secured puts to credit spreads, iron condors, straddles, strangles, butterflies, calendars, and diagonals, and it can be driven from an AI assistant.

Strengths: 23 strategies with 40+ filters, 20 presets, saved scans, and a watchlist; a payoff chart and probability of profit on each result; quotes refreshed intraday; ChatGPT and Claude connectors included in the subscription (also Grok and Claude Code); web, iOS, and Android apps.
Limits: no alerts or emailed scans, fewer filters than Option Samurai states, no backtesting, no journal, no broker sync or execution, no flow or GEX data, and no free tier.
Price (September 2026): $39.99/mo or $399.99/yr list, with a 7-day free trial and no card.

Try OptionClaws free for 7 days

Works in ChatGPT and Claude, on the web, and in the iOS and Android apps. No card needed for the trial.

Option Samurai

Best for: traders who want a deep full-market strategy scanner with alerts, backtesting, and a journal in one place. Option Samurai's pages list 23 to 24 strategies plus custom strategy definition, and state over 100 filters on the features page and 170 on the homepage.

Strengths: predefined and saved scans; intraday scan alerts on the Advanced plan; a scenario backtester and Monte Carlo simulation; a trade journal; direct trade transmission to brokers; Excel and Google Sheets tools.
Limits: we found no ChatGPT or Claude connector on its features page, and it describes a mobile web version rather than a native app.
Price (September 2026): from $39/mo billed annually per its homepage; its landing page shows other amounts, so check its pricing page. 14-day free trial with no credit card.

OptionStrat

Best for: building, visualizing, and optimizing a trade on a ticker you already have in mind, plus unusual options flow. Its Optimizer searches trades from a sentiment or target price and expiration; its features page does not describe a cross-market strategy screener.

Strengths: over 50 strategy templates in an interactive builder; chance of profit, net greeks, and IV adjustments; unusual options flow with alerts on the Live Flow plan; paper trading; iOS and Android apps; a free tier.
Limits: not built as a whole-market strategy screener; we found no AI connector on its features or membership pages.
Price (September 2026): free tier with delayed data; Live Tools $39.99/mo or $419.99/yr; Live Flow $99.99/mo or $999.99/yr; 7-day trial on paid plans.

Barchart

Best for: low-cost covered call screening, especially if you want saved results in your inbox. Barchart is a broad market data site, and its options screeners are one part of it. Its help center documents a covered call screener that looks for high theoretical return with hundreds of filter combinations.

Strengths: free users can create and save screeners; Premier emails saved screener results on weekdays, with an optional CSV; a 30-day Premier trial.
Limits: we could not verify its full list of strategy screeners or an AI connector.
Price (September 2026): Premier $29.95/mo, $199.95/yr, or $368 for two years; 30-day free trial for registered users.

Market Chameleon

Best for: not rated. Market Chameleon's site could not be reviewed in enough detail for us to describe its screeners, data, or tools fairly, so we are not assigning a use case. If it is on your list, evaluate it directly during its trial.

Price (September 2026): Premium $99/month, with a 7-day free trial.

Unusual Whales

Best for: options flow and market data such as dark pool prints, GEX, and congress trades. Its screening sits inside a broader data product: its pricing page lists a stock and options screener and an options profit calculator.

Strengths: real-time flow, news, and alerts on paid plans; 25 custom alerts on Basic and unlimited on Pro and Max; Mr. Whale, an in-app AI analyst; an MCP server that supports Claude, ChatGPT, and other clients; mobile app access on paid plans; a free tier.
Limits: its MCP server requires API tokens purchased separately on its API pricing page; we could not verify a multi-leg strategy scanner across the market.
Price (September 2026): free tier with delayed data; Retail Basic $50/mo or $504/yr; Pro $75/mo or $756/yr; Max $120/mo or $1,224/yr.

QuantWheel

Best for: running the wheel with broker-synced tracking. QuantWheel screens cash-secured puts and covered calls across a broad market list, adds a buying screener for long calls, puts, and directional structures, and builds a journal from your broker account.

Strengths: broker sync with 12 brokers; an options journal with true cost basis; real-time alerts on Wheel and Quant plans; GEX analytics; options flow and an API on Quant; MCP connections for Claude, ChatGPT, Grok, and Perplexity.
Limits: its pages focus on wheel and directional trades, and we found no mention of iron condors, strangles, calendars, or butterflies; no annual plan listed; the trial is paid.
Price (September 2026): GEX $29/mo, Wheel $49/mo, Quant $79/mo, or quarterly; free demo with delayed data; 7-day trial for $1.

ThetaScanner

Best for: budget wheel screening. ThetaScanner is a cash-secured put and covered call finder with a trading journal, at the lowest paid list price in this guide.

Strengths: 20+ filters across greeks, fundamentals, and technicals; a watchlist and saved filter presets; a trading journal, wheel tracker, portfolio analytics, and CSV import and export on Pro; a free tier covering 12 major tickers.
Limits: its site describes a cash-secured put and covered call focus, and we found no spreads, iron condors, or strangles mentioned.
Price (September 2026): Pro $5.99/mo or $60/yr, with a 7-day free trial.

Option Alpha

Best for: automating options trades with no-code bots and backtesting them first. Option Alpha is a trading automation platform; its Trade Ideas feature ranks opportunities by expected value during market hours, but its core is bots that place trades through your broker.

Strengths: automated execution through broker APIs; unlimited backtesting, including 0DTE; paper trading with live data; a 30-day free trial with no credit card.
Limits: the free plan requires a qualifying broker account with a minimum balance; we could not verify the full list of strategies in Trade Ideas.
Price (September 2026): Pro $149/mo, or $99/mo billed annually; $0 when connected to TradeStation ($10k minimum), Tradier ($5k), or tastytrade ($5k).

How to choose

Decide first what you want the tool to do after it finds a trade. If you want to be alerted, backtest, journal, or execute, Option Samurai, QuantWheel, and Option Alpha each cover some of that, and OptionClaws does not. If you trade the wheel, QuantWheel and ThetaScanner are purpose-built for it. If you want flow, look at Unusual Whales or OptionStrat Live Flow. If you want to build one trade carefully, OptionStrat's builder is designed for that.

If you want to scan the whole market for many strategies, including spreads, condors, butterflies, and calendars, and would like to do it by asking ChatGPT or Claude, OptionClaws is built for that. Several of these tools offer free tiers or trials, so the practical test is to run the same scan for a strategy you already trade in two of them and compare.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best options screener in 2026?: It depends on the job. Option Samurai states 100+ to 170 filters and adds alerts and backtesting; OptionStrat is built for single-trade building; Unusual Whales for flow; QuantWheel and ThetaScanner for the wheel; Option Alpha for automation; and OptionClaws for scanning multi-leg strategies from ChatGPT or Claude.
Which options screeners have a free tier?: Among the tools we checked, OptionStrat, Unusual Whales, QuantWheel, ThetaScanner, and Barchart list free access, usually with delayed data or limits, and Option Alpha is free with a qualifying broker account. OptionClaws has no free tier; it offers a 7-day trial with no card.
Which options screeners work with ChatGPT or Claude?: OptionClaws includes ChatGPT and Claude connectors in its subscription. QuantWheel lists MCP connections for Claude, ChatGPT, Grok, and Perplexity. Unusual Whales has an MCP server that requires separately purchased API tokens. We did not find AI connectors on the pages we checked for the others.
Which screener is cheapest?: Of the paid plans we checked, ThetaScanner Pro at $5.99/mo is the lowest list price, followed by Barchart Premier at $29.95/mo. Prices were checked in September 2026 and change often.
Is this list sponsored?: No. It is written by OptionClaws, which is one of the products listed. We used only facts from each company's own public pages, linked below, and name the areas where other tools offer more than ours.

Sources

Option Samurai homepage (checked 2026-09-28)
Option Samurai features (checked 2026-09-28)
Option Samurai pricing landing page (checked 2026-09-28)
Option Samurai help center: pricing plans (checked 2026-09-28)
Option Samurai blog: backtester (checked 2026-09-28)
OptionStrat features (checked 2026-09-28)
OptionStrat membership and pricing (checked 2026-09-28)
Barchart help: Premier benefits and cost (checked 2026-09-28)
Barchart help: Premier trial (checked 2026-09-28)
Barchart help: covered calls screener (checked 2026-09-28)
Barchart Stocks & Futures on the App Store (checked 2026-09-28)
Market Chameleon subscription comparison (checked 2026-09-28)
Unusual Whales pricing (checked 2026-09-28)
Unusual Whales MCP (checked 2026-09-28)
Unusual Whales public API (checked 2026-09-28)
QuantWheel homepage (checked 2026-09-28)
QuantWheel pricing (checked 2026-09-28)
QuantWheel products (checked 2026-09-28)
QuantWheel documentation (checked 2026-09-28)
ThetaScanner homepage (checked 2026-09-28)
Option Alpha homepage (checked 2026-09-28)
Option Alpha pricing (checked 2026-09-28)
Option Alpha FAQs (checked 2026-09-28)
Option Alpha: how it works (checked 2026-09-28)

Option Samurai alternative OptionStrat alternative All options screeners Covered call screener AI options scanner Pricing

Educational content, not investment advice. Options involve substantial risk and are not suitable for every investor. Product names are trademarks of their owners; details about other products come from their public pages on the dates shown and may have changed. See our Terms of Service.