Best free stock market tools, the honest Reddit-style list
You can do most of a retail trader's research for free. Use a free charting plan for price and indicators, a free screener to narrow the market, a free options chain with volume and open interest, and a paper trading simulator before risking money. Pay only when a free plan's limit is the thing stopping you.
| Platform | Free plan | Lowest paid, per month | GEX by strike | Options flow | Charting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Obelion | Yes | $20 | Yes, free with no sign-up | No | Yes |
| Unusual Whales | Yes, flow delayed | $50 | Heatmap on paid tiers | Yes | Yes |
| SpotGamma | Free SPX tools only | $89 | Yes | Yes | Limited |
| MenthorQ | Unclear | $129 | Yes, key levels | Not stated | Through TradingView |
| Koyfin | Yes | $39 | No | No | Yes |
| TradingView | Yes | $12.95 billed yearly | No | No | Yes |
Monthly billing unless noted. Read from each vendor's own pricing page on November 1, 2026. Prices change; check before you subscribe.
The jobs, and what free covers
Charting: free plans from the large charting sites and from Obelion give you candles, volume and common indicators. Limits are usually on how many charts or indicators you can show at once.
Screening: free screeners filter by price, volume, market cap and simple technicals. Saved screens and intraday data are where paid plans start.
Options: a free options chain with bid, ask, volume, open interest and implied volatility covers most needs. Obelion's options pages and gamma exposure view are free with no sign-up.
Practice: a simulator with real market data is the cheapest education there is. Obelion Arena replays real charts so you can trade them with play money on a free account.
When paying is worth it
Pay when you hit a specific limit you feel every day: more charts on screen, faster data, more saved alerts. Paying for features you might use someday is how a free research setup turns into four subscriptions.
Disclosure
Obelion makes one of the tools on this list. Its free plan is described here as it is, and the table lists competitor prices read from their own pricing pages.
Questions
- What is the best free stock charting tool?
- The one whose free limits you do not hit. Most traders need candles, volume and two or three indicators, which every major free plan covers.
- Is there a free gamma exposure tool?
- Yes. Obelion shows gamma exposure by strike for free with no sign-up, on the GEX page and the per-ticker options pages.
- Are free stock tools delayed?
- Often. Free quotes and options data are commonly delayed by about 15 minutes. That is fine for research and practice, not for scalping.
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For education only, not financial advice. See the disclaimer.