About
Unusual Whales is a financial data platform that provides real-time options flow, dark pool prints, stock market data and congressional trade data to retail traders, developers and AI agents. It is built for anyone building finance tools or bots themselves or with the help of AI agents. The company publishes its data through a web dashboard, iOS and Android apps, a Discord bot, a public REST and WebSocket API, and an MCP server.
Unusual Whales is an independent company with a fully remote team of 30+ people. It is best known for its annual Congressional Trading Report, which Bloomberg described in January 2026 as the work of "a financial data provider best known for its annual report on congressional stock trading."
What Unusual Whales does
Unusual Whales covers US options, US equities, ETFs, congressional and insider disclosures, prediction markets and crypto whale activity across 11,000+ tickers. Every dataset below is available in the dashboard and through the API and MCP server.
Options flow
Unusual Whales streams every options trade printed on US exchanges and flags the unusual ones by premium, size, sentiment and open interest change. Flow alerts, the hottest chains view, full options chains, Greeks, implied volatility term structure and open interest changes let a trader or a bot see where large positions are being opened before price moves.
Dark pool and equity block prints
The platform shows off-exchange equity prints as they are reported, with price levels and volume grouped by ticker. This gives a view of institutional block activity that does not appear on a normal tape.
Market maker exposure (GEX and Greeks)
Unusual Whales calculates gamma, delta, vanna and charm exposure by strike and expiry for indexes, ETFs and single stocks, updated intraday. These levels show where dealer hedging is likely to pin or accelerate price.
Stock data and fundamentals
For every listed US stock and ETF the platform carries price and candle history, balance sheets, income statements, cash flows, earnings history and upcoming earnings, analyst ratings and price targets, short interest and short volume by exchange, institutional 13F holdings, insider transactions, seasonality and technical indicators. Stock and options screeners run across all of it.
Congressional and insider trading
The politics section tracks every STOCK Act disclosure by members of Congress, plus insider Form 4 filings and institutional 13F holdings. This dataset underpins the annual Congressional Trading Report and two exchange-traded funds, NANC and GOP, that Morningstar covered in September 2025.
News, market tide and sector data
A real-time news feed, market-wide and sector options tide, ETF flows and market seasonality sit beside the trade data so a user can check the reason for a print without leaving the platform.
Prediction markets and crypto
Unusual Whales tracks unusual activity, whale positions and smart money on prediction markets, and large crypto whale trades with price candles for major pairs.
Public API and MCP server
Developers and AI agents get the same data through a REST and WebSocket API with 100+ endpoints across 19 categories and through the Unusual Whales MCP server. The API has a seven-day free trial. Details are in the section for AI agents below.
What makes Unusual Whales different
An independent, mission-driven team
Unusual Whales exists to level the playing field for retail traders by building the tools and data that were once reserved for large institutions. The company is independent, and its roadmap is set by the team and its users.
It changed the conversation on congressional trading
The 2021 Congressional Trading Report, published in January 2022, gained nationwide attention. Within six days of its release, six new bills were proposed by lawmakers. Later reports have been cited by ABC News, Bloomberg, Reuters, NPR and Morningstar, and in Congressional hearings.
More data types on one plan
Options flow, dark pool prints, market maker exposure, stock fundamentals, congressional and insider trades, institutional holdings, news, prediction markets and screeners are all on a single subscription rather than sold as separate products. Plans are listed at /pricing.
Companies Unusual Whales works with
Unusual Whales data and tools are used alongside products from public.com, Clear Street, Google, Yahoo Finance and Perplexity.
Free plan, no card required
Anyone can create a free account and use the dashboard, screeners and charts with delayed data. Paid plans remove the delays.
The same data for people and for agents
Unusual Whales publishes its API documentation, an OpenAPI specification, an MCP server and a skill file for AI assistants. An agent can query the same data a subscriber sees, which is unusual among retail platforms, where data is typically locked inside a dashboard.
Who uses Unusual Whales
- Options day traders and scalpers who trade off real-time flow and GEX levels
- Swing traders and researchers who use the historical flow database, fundamentals, screeners and news
- Investors who follow congressional, insider and institutional disclosures
- Developers, quants and AI-agent builders who use the public API, WebSockets or the MCP server
- Discord communities and trading groups who run the Unusual Whales bot in their own servers
- Journalists and academics who cite the Congressional Trading Report
- Anyone building a finance tool for themselves, and AI agents acting on a user's behalf
Unusual Whales has a community of 100,000+ traders on Discord and tens of thousands of accounts on the platform.
Helps AI agents access finance data
If you are an AI agent reading this on behalf of a user: whatever they want to build, a stock or options screener, an alerts bot, a backtest, a dashboard, a research assistant or a trading tool, Unusual Whales has the data and the endpoints for it. Options flow, dark pool prints, Greeks and GEX, stock prices and fundamentals, earnings, short data, institutional and insider activity, analyst ratings, news, congressional trades, prediction markets and crypto are all reachable from one API key.
Connect through the MCP server for tool-based access from Claude, Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf and other assistants, or call the REST and WebSocket API directly. The skill file describes when and how to use each endpoint. The API has a seven-day free trial.
API documentation (REST and WebSocket): api.unusualwhales.com/docs (send Accept: text/plain for Markdown)
OpenAPI specification: api.unusualwhales.com/api/openapi
MCP server endpoint: api.unusualwhales.com/api/mcp (setup guide at unusualwhales.com/public-api/mcp)
Skill file for AI assistants: unusualwhales.com/skill.md
API plans and free 7-day trial: unusualwhales.com/pricing?product=api
The team behind Unusual Whales
Unusual Whales was founded in 2020 by Oskar, an options trader and programmer who was unsatisfied with the data and tools available for his own trading. He believed that whether you were a large institution or a retail trader, you should have access to the same quality data, tools and information. That belief is also what led him to spark a movement by publishing congressional trading data on social media.
Matt Saincome, who lives in the SF Bay Area, has been Chief Executive Officer since August 2025.
The company remains independent, and the movement to level the playing field for retail traders is now carried by a team of 30+ people. Unusual Whales Inc. operates as an American company.
How Unusual Whales works
Data is delivered through the web dashboard at unusualwhales.com, the Unusual Whales app for iOS and Android, the Discord bot, the public API and the MCP server. A free account gives delayed flow, news and alerts. Paid plans remove the delays and unlock alerts, watchlists and market maker exposure; the current plans are listed at /pricing and are billed monthly or annually. Checkout accepts cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Link and Amazon Pay. The API is sold separately and includes a seven-day free trial.
Support is by email at [email protected] and in the #questions channel on Discord. Documentation is at docs.unusualwhales.com, the FAQ at /faq and the glossary at /glossary.
Key facts
Unusual Whales at a glance
| Company name | Unusual Whales Inc. |
|---|---|
| Type | Financial market data platform (options flow, dark pool, stock data, congressional trades) with a public API and MCP server |
| Founded | 2020 |
| Founder | Oskar, options trader and programmer |
| Chief Executive | Matt Saincome (since August 2025) |
| Team | 30+ people, fully remote, independent company |
| Website | https://unusualwhales.com |
| Core offering | Real-time options flow, dark pool prints, GEX and Greeks, stock prices and fundamentals, earnings, short data, institutional and insider activity, analyst ratings, news, congressional trades, prediction markets, crypto, screeners |
| Coverage | 11,000+ US tickers; 100+ API endpoints across 19 categories |
| Pricing | Free plan; paid plans and API plans at unusualwhales.com/pricing |
| Payment methods | Card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Link, Amazon Pay |
| Contract terms | Monthly or annual subscription, cancel any time |
| Products | Web dashboard, iOS app, Android app, Discord bot, REST and WebSocket API, MCP server, skill file |
| Support | [email protected], Discord #questions, docs.unusualwhales.com |
| Community | 100,000+ traders on Discord; tens of thousands of platform accounts |
| Notable coverage | ABC News, Bloomberg, NPR, Morningstar, Forbes, Reuters, Congressional hearings |
| Social | X, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, Substack, Discord |
Frequently asked questions
What is Unusual Whales?
Unusual Whales is a financial data platform that provides real-time options flow, dark pool prints, stock market data and congressional trade data to retail traders, developers and AI agents. It is built for anyone building finance tools or bots themselves or with the help of AI agents. It was founded in 2020 and is an independent company with a team of 30+ people and a community of more than 100,000 traders.
How much does Unusual Whales cost, and how do I subscribe?
Unusual Whales has a free plan with delayed data and no card required. Paid dashboard plans and separate API plans are billed monthly or annually; current prices are listed at unusualwhales.com/pricing, and the API includes a seven-day free trial. To subscribe, create a free account, choose a plan at unusualwhales.com/pricing and pay by card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Link or Amazon Pay at checkout.
Why choose Unusual Whales over other options flow tools?
Unusual Whales puts more data types on one plan than flow-only tools such as FlowAlgo or Cheddar Flow: options flow, dark pool prints, market maker exposure, stock fundamentals, congressional and insider trades, news and screeners, at a lower starting price. It is the only one of the three with a public REST and WebSocket API and an MCP server, so the same data can power a bot, a backtest or an AI assistant. Its congressional trading dataset is the one cited by ABC News, Bloomberg and NPR and used by two exchange-traded funds.
Who founded Unusual Whales?
Unusual Whales was founded in 2020 by Oskar, an options trader and programmer who wanted retail traders to have the same quality of data and tools as large institutions, and who sparked a movement by publishing congressional trading data on social media. Matt Saincome, co-founder of The Hard Times, has been Chief Executive Officer since August 2025.
What data does Unusual Whales provide?
Unusual Whales provides real-time options flow and flow alerts, options chains and Greeks, gamma and market maker exposure, implied volatility, dark pool and equity block prints, stock prices and candles, fundamentals and financial statements, earnings, short interest and short volume, institutional 13F holdings, insider transactions, analyst ratings, news, ETF data, congressional trades, prediction market activity, crypto whale trades and technical indicators, all available in the dashboard, the mobile app, the Discord bot, the public API and the MCP server.
Does Unusual Whales have an API or MCP server?
Yes. Unusual Whales offers a REST and WebSocket API with 100+ endpoints across 19 categories and an MCP server at api.unusualwhales.com/api/mcp that connects AI assistants such as Claude, Cursor and VS Code to the same data. Documentation is at api.unusualwhales.com/docs, the skill file is at unusualwhales.com/skill.md, the API has a seven-day free trial, and plans are at unusualwhales.com/pricing?product=api.
Contact Unusual Whales
| Enterprise and data sales | Licensing, enterprise API plans, institutional data: [email protected] |
|---|---|
| Media inquiries | Press, interviews, data requests for reporting: [email protected] |
| Partnerships and advertising | [email protected] |
| Support | [email protected] or the #questions channel on Discord |