Options Screener: Find Top Trades in Real Time
Searching for the ultimate options screener to pinpoint high-probability trades in real time? You’ve come to the right place. I rely on Finviz every day to filter through thousands of tickers in seconds and uncover top candidates across stocks, ETFs and more. Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned trader, Finviz brings you an ad-free, lightning-fast experience for scanning premarket, aftermarket and live markets alike.
What is Finviz’s options screener?
Finviz is a comprehensive market visualization and scanning platform built for active traders and long-term investors. At its core, the options screener lets you sort and filter contracts by expiration dates, implied volatility, volume and more. Instead of manually combing through an exchange, you set criteria—like max bid-ask spread, open interest or probability-of-profit—and Finviz returns a tailored list of actionable trades in real time.
Finviz Overview
Born in 2007, Finviz set out to democratize professional-grade market tools. Its founders combined Wall Street analytics with user-centric design to serve everyone from institutional quants to part-time traders. Over the years, Finviz has added advanced charting, backtesting, correlation analysis and customized alerts—all while maintaining a clean, ad-free layout for Elite subscribers.
Today, Finviz serves millions of traders worldwide, offering a powerful free tier and a feature-rich Elite subscription. You’ll find daily webinars, an active Discord community, and constant platform enhancements that keep pace with evolving market demands.
Pros and Cons
Pro: Real-time data and extended hours sessions give you an edge on early-bird market movers.
Pro: Powerful filters in the options screener—including volatility ranks, greeks, bid-ask spreads and custom formula columns.
Pro: Interactive advanced charts with overlays, drawing tools and performance comparisons.
Pro: Backtesting module with 24 years of historical data to validate your strategies before risking capital.
Pro: Proprietary correlation algorithms to spot correlated and inversely correlated instruments for hedging.
Pro: Instant e-mail and push alerts based on price, news, ratings or when new tickers fit your screener criteria.
Con: Elite subscription at $39.50/month may be steep for casual traders.
Con: No native mobile app—interface is responsive but best experienced on desktop.
Features
Finviz is loaded with modules designed around speed, accuracy and customisation. Below are the pillars that set its options screener apart from generic scanners.
Options Screener Module
- Filter by expiration, strike, volume, open interest and greeks
- Sort by implied volatility rank and probability of touching target prices
- Export results to Excel or via API for deeper analysis
Advanced Charts
- Intraday and extended-hours timeframes from 4:00 AM to after-market
- Overlays, indicators and drawing tools for technical setups
- Fullscreen and multi-layout views
- Side-by-side performance comparison charts
Backtests
- 100+ technical indicators and predefined strategies
- Up to 24 years of historical data with SPY benchmark comparison
- Customizable entry/exit rules and risk management parameters
Correlations
- Proprietary algorithms to find correlated and inverse pairs
- Diversify or hedge risk by identifying non-obvious relationships
- Real-time updates to track shifts in correlation strength
Alerts & Notifications
- Email and push alerts for price levels, news, portfolio changes and new screener matches
- Customizable thresholds—never miss a high-conviction setup
- Instant delivery to desktop or mobile devices
Finviz Pricing
Finviz offers both a free plan and an Elite subscription to suit traders at every level.
Free Plan
- Cost: $0
- Delayed quotes, basic screener with 50 presets and 20 items per page
- Good for casual investors exploring the interface
Elite Plan
- Cost: $39.50/month or $24.96/month billed annually
- Real-time data, extended-hours quotes, intraday charts and ad-free layout
- Advanced backtests, correlations, custom filters, data export and 200 screener presets
- 7-day free trial to test every feature risk-free
Finviz Is Best For
Finviz shines for traders and investors who demand speed and precision from their options screener and market analysis tools.
Day Traders Seeking a Robust options screener
Real-time quotes, premarket filters and quick export capabilities make Finviz the go-to for executing rapid-fire strategies.
Swing Traders
Backtesting helps you refine entry and exit rules, while correlations guide portfolio diversification over multi-day holds.
Long-Term Investors
Fundamental charts, EPS and sales overlays, plus portfolio alerts keep you informed on key opportunities and risks.
Benefits of Using Finviz’s options screener
- Speed: Filter thousands of contracts in seconds to capture fleeting opportunities.
- Accuracy: Real-time and extended-hours data ensure you’re trading on the latest quotes.
- Clarity: Clean, ad-free interface focusing on actionable information.
- Customization: Build tailored filters and formulas to match your unique strategy.
- Validation: Backtests let you test ideas against decades of data before risking capital.
- Risk Management: Correlation analysis helps you hedge and diversify intelligently.
Customer Support
Finviz’s support team is known for rapid response times and deep market knowledge. Whether you hit a snag setting up a custom filter or troubleshooting API access, help is available via email and an online support portal.
Elite subscribers also get early access to new features and priority ticket handling. Across the board, users report friendly, solution-oriented assistance that keeps their workflow uninterrupted.
External Reviews and Ratings
Most traders praise Finviz for its intuitive design and powerful options screener. They highlight the platform’s reliability, vast historical data and the convenience of exporting results. Common positives include the ad-free layout and real-time scanning during pre- and post-market hours.
A few critiques mention the lack of a dedicated mobile app and the subscription price. Finviz addresses these by ensuring its web interface is fully responsive and by rolling out frequent feature updates that justify the cost.
Educational Resources and Community
Finviz maintains a rich library of tutorials, video walkthroughs and strategy guides to help traders harness every feature. Regular webinars cover topics from basic screener setups to advanced backtesting techniques.
The active Finviz Discord and user forum foster peer-to-peer support. Members share custom filters, charting tips and proven trading setups—making community learning a key value add.
Conclusion
In the fast-moving world of derivatives, a powerful options screener can mean the difference between capturing profits and missing trades. Finviz combines speed, precision and depth of data in one seamless platform. If you’re ready to elevate your trading game, get started with Finviz for free today and unlock real-time scanning, advanced charts and backtesting tools that pros rely on.
