What Unusual Whales does

Unusual Whales is a privately held, bootstrapped financial data and analytics platform founded in 2016 and operated by a small (1–10 person) team with zero outside funding. The platform delivers real-time options flow, dark pool print tracking, and congressional trading intelligence across more than 11,000 tickers, processing over one billion data points per day. Its proprietary toolset includes the Periscope market-maker exposure module (gamma/delta flow on SPX), the USONAR engine for flagging unusual congressional trades based on disclosure, committee jurisdiction, and news proximity, and the Z-Score algorithm for prediction-market insider identification, all accessible via a web dashboard, mobile apps (iOS/Android), Discord bot, and an API surface spanning more than 100 endpoints across REST, WebSocket, Kafka, and MCP delivery.

The company monetizes through tiered subscriptions: Retail Basic ($38/month annual), Retail Pro ($57/month), and Professional ($153/month) for the platform; usage-based API plans from $113 to $2,500 per month including Startup and Startup+Kafka tiers; a freemium prediction-market intelligence product (Predictions) at $17/month; and custom enterprise plans starting at $750/month for SEC/FINRA/CFTC-registered professionals. Distribution is product-led and community-led, anchored by an 80,000+ member Discord server, podcasts on Apple and Spotify, a YouTube channel, and viral annual Congressional Trading Reports cited by ABC, Bloomberg, and Reuters and referenced in Congressional hearings. Unusual Whales also serves as data provider for the NANC and GOP Subversive Congressional Trading ETFs (launched February 2023), enabling retail investors to mirror Democratic and Republican congressional trades.

The customer base spans retail traders and investors (100,000+ users), professional and SEC/FINRA-registered advisors, developers building trading systems and AI agents via the API (with named customers including Perplexity AI and Public.com), and political accountability advocates tracking Congressional trades. Recent product expansion has moved the company beyond traditional equity options into prediction-market intelligence (Unusual Predictions, launched January 2026 with Polymarket and Hashdive) and AI-assisted market analysis (Mr. Whale, 2025), with an MCP server and Agent Skills positioning the dataset as infrastructure for AI-native trading applications.

Name

Unusual Whales

Legal name

Unusual Whales Inc.

Website

https://unusualwhales.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Unusual Whales is a bootstrapped financial data platform providing real-time options flow, dark pool tracking, and congressional trading intelligence to over 100,000 retail traders, professional advisors, and developers building AI trading systems.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Subscription - Platform Access: Tiered subscription model providing access to options flow dashboard, screeners, dark pool data, congressional trading, and prediction market tools. Three main tiers: Retail Basic ($38/mo), Retail Pro ($57/mo), Professional ($153/mo) plus API and Predictions subscriptions.
2. API Access: Programmatic access to 100+ endpoints across 18 categories. Tiers: API Trial Basic ($45/week), API Basic ($113/mo), API Advanced ($284/mo), Startup ($625/mo), Startup+Kafka ($2,500/mo). Revenue from developer/enterprise API consumption.
3. Predictions Subscription: Unusual Predictions product for tracking insiders in prediction markets. Free tier and $17/month paid tier with full insider alerts and smart money tracking.
4. Enterprise Plans: Custom enterprise pricing at $750/mo starting for custom solutions, data licensing, redistribution, and dedicated support for professional traders and investment advisors registered with SEC/FINRA/CFTC.
5. Whale Bundles: Combined packages offering Retail Pro plus API access at discounted rates, bundling multiple products for value.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels7 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Unusual Whales operates a real-time financial data and analytics platform that delivers options flow, dark pool prints, congressional trading intelligence, and prediction market monitoring to retail traders, professional traders, and developers. Core revenue is generated through tiered subscriptions (Retail Basic, Retail Pro, Professional), standalone API access, the Unusual Predictions product, and data licensing/enterprise plans. The platform also serves as data provider for the NANC and GOP Congressional Trading ETFs.

Product overview

Unusual Whales is a financial data and analytics platform for retail traders, offering a suite of tools for tracking options flow, dark pool activity, and congressional trading. The core platform (unusualwhales.com) is complemented by the Mr. Whale AI assistant, the Unusual Predictions prediction market monitoring product, and the Unusual Whales API for programmatic access. The company also provides two ETF products (NANC and GOP) launched in 2023 that allow retail investors to mirror congressional stock trades. Pricing tiers include Retail Basic ($38/month), Retail Pro ($57/month), and Professional ($153/month), with API access available separately at $113-284/month. The platform covers 11K+ tickers with 1B+ data points daily and is available via web dashboard, Discord bot, and mobile apps for iOS and Android.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Unusual Predictions: A prediction market monitoring tool that scans for potential insiders, smart money trades, and unusual whale activity in prediction markets, powered by partnerships with Polymarket and Hashdive.
• Mr. Whale
• USONAR
• Mr Whale

Products and services

• Unusual Whales Platform Subscription-based real-time financial data platform providing options flow, dark pool prints, congressional trading intelligence, Greeks, volatility, and screeners across 11K+ tickers with 1B+ data points daily. Sold as tiered subscriptions (Retail Basic $38/month, Retail Pro $57/month, Professional $153/month).
• Unusual Whales API Programmatic data API with 100+ endpoints across 18 categories. Sold separately with usage-based pricing from API Trial Basic ($45/week) to Startup+Kafka ($2,500/month). Customers include Perplexity AI and Public.com.
• Unusual Predictions Standalone prediction market intelligence product with Z-Score insider detection, Smart Score analytics, whale tracking, and Smart Gap analysis. Available as freemium with paid tier at $17/month or $184/year.
• NANC ETF (Unusual Whales Subversive Democratic Trading ETF) Congressional-themed ETF mirroring Democratic trades. Unusual Whales provides the underlying trade data and analytics. 0.74% expense ratio with 45-day disclosure lag.
• GOP ETF (Unusual Whales Subversive Republican Trading ETF) Congressional-themed ETF mirroring Republican trades. Unusual Whales provides the underlying trade data and analytics. 0.74% expense ratio with 45-day disclosure lag.

Quantifiable outcome

• NANC ETF (Unusual Whales data) returned 93.23% since February 2023 launch vs SPY's 78.79%
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

AI capability5 records

Feature10 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• HashdivecoreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2026Partnership with Hashdive to analyze prediction market data. Hashdive brings their proprietary Smart Score system (a -100 to 100 metric evaluating traders on consistency, risk-awareness, and profitability) combined with Unusual Whales' pattern detection capabilities for the Unusual Predictions product.
• AutopilotminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Partnership with Autopilot to enable retail copy-trading of politicians. Allows users to automatically replicate Congressional trading activity through Autopilot's platform.
• RepresentUsminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2024Partnership with RepresentUs to campaign Congress on passing the ETHICS Act (Ending Trading and Holdings in Congressional Stocks) to ban Congressional stock trading.
• PolymarketcoreTechnology or IntegrationData partnership where Polymarket provides prediction market data for the Unusual Predictions product. Unusual Whales applies their insider detection algorithms to Polymarket's markets to identify potential insider activity.
• CME GroupminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner courses provided through Unusual Whales platform covering futures, options on futures, crypto, and portfolio strategy. CME Group provides educational content for traders using the platform.
• IEX CloudminorOthersPrimary securities exchange data provider for market data as noted in terms of service.
• Financial Modeling PrepminorOthersIndex pricing data provider for financial market information.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• BlackBox Stocks: Real-time options flow and dark pool data platform for active retail traders with comparable subscription pricing and feature set.
• SwaggyStocks: Retail-focused options flow and unusual options activity platform with social/community features, comparable to Unusual Whales' core flow dashboard.
• Quiver Quantitative: Retail-facing platform tracking Congressional stock trades with similar transparency and retail-investor positioning. Most direct competitor to Unusual Whales' congressional trading tracker and USONAR tool.
• FlowAlgo: Real-time options order flow and dark pool alerts service for retail traders. Directly comparable subscription-based options flow product targeting similar retail trader persona.
• Market Chameleon: Options data and unusual activity analytics platform for retail and professional traders with comparable screeners and historical options data offerings.

Broad incumbents

• TradingView: Dominant retail trading platform with charting, screening, and increasingly options flow features. A much larger incumbent that overlaps with Unusual Whales' charting/screening functionality while offering broader market coverage.
• Bloomberg Terminal: Institutional financial data and analytics standard-bearer offering options flow, dark pool data, and predictive analytics. Overlaps at the professional tier of Unusual Whales but targets institutional customers at significantly higher price points.
• Barchart: Established financial data platform with options flow, screeners, and market analytics serving retail and professional users. Provides broader market data at scale rather than Unusual Whales' niche focus.
• Finviz: Retail-focused financial visualization and screening platform with comparable self-serve subscription model. Adjacent offering rather than direct options flow competitor but serves overlapping retail trader audience.

Emerging players

• Polymarket: Prediction market platform that is both a data partner and adjacent competitor to Unusual Whales' Unusual Predictions product. Comparable in the emerging prediction market intelligence category.

Market position

Strengths2 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/unusual_whales
• YouTubeyoutube.com/c/unusualwhales
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/unusualwhales

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Unusual Whales