Find Your Edge with the Best Options Trading Alert Service

Let’s face it—getting into options trading is not an easy endeavor.

Even if you already have experience with investing in or trading equities, derivatives are an entirely different matter. The fact of the matter is, most options traders end up losing money.

Trading options gives you a lot more freedom—whether you want to hedge your positions or simply use the power of derivatives to secure better returns. However, learning how to do so successfully and consistently will take a lot of effort—and headache. 

There is a way, however, by which you can gain some hands-on experience, an inside look into how experts conduct their options trades, while also securing actual profit from options trading—but without the huge risk that is usually associated with them.

We’re talking about options trading alert services. Unlike the tidal wave of low-grade “trading signals” (most of which are scams), a professional alert service leverages algorithms and in-house experts, and has a proven track record. These aren’t short snippets telling you to buy or sell—they are in-depth theses, with the rationale behind the trade, the risk-to-reward ratio, and the profit target included in the alert.

We’ve selected what we believe to be 5 of the best options trading alert services. We looked at criteria including profitability, win rate, trading style, price, educational materials, and bonus features. If you’d like to speed up your options journey by getting some (guided) hands-on experience, keep on reading.

1. The Trading Analyst – Best Overall

Our own options trading alert service is our best overall pick. This is well-earned confidence—but our service, like all others, isn’t perfect in every way. We’ll give it a fair, unbiased shake, and you can decide for yourself if it’s something you’d like to pursue. If interested, The Trading Analyst offers three different subscription plans.

Pros:

• Real-time swing trade alerts delivered via SMS, email, and Telegram
• Real-time day trade alerts delivered via Telegram
• Comprehensive weekly Trading Report with market commentary from trading team, explaining market-moving events to watch in the upcoming week
• Suited for amateurs and veteran traders alike
• Transparent with past performance
• Watchlist shared among membership
• Unparalleled customer support

Cons:

• Average screeners and analysis tools
• Some periods of market activity will result in a low frequency of alerts

The Trading Analyst has undergone a transformative evolution, especially in the past year. From our humble beginnings of sending SMS alerts, we’ve expanded our horizons significantly. This growth has been fueled by our unwavering commitment to listening to our members’ feedback and our relentless pursuit of offering exceptional customer service.

Starting with the basics, since its inception in July 2018, The Trading Analyst has had 337 winning trades and 302 losing trades. That’s a win rate of 52.7%. The profit factor is 1.66—our average win totaled $4,324.02, while the average loss was -$2,603.29.

Let’s use a hypothetical—if you had signed on at the very beginning with a starting equity of $100,000, by July 2023, your account would be worth $771,011.67, for a total net profit of $671,011.67.

Here’s a basic rundown of how our trading system works. We focus on large market-cap stocks that have been trading sideways for a certain period of time. If they experience high volume for another period of time, along with meeting our proprietary criteria, our in-house experts take a closer look. If we believe the activity represents a potential trading opportunity, we’ll alert our members in real-time.

We focus primarily on swing trading as we believe it is the strategy that’s the best fit for the common investor or trader seeking to branch out into options. Positions are typically held for days or even weeks, allowing subscribers to continue their profession while casually trading on the side. Depending on market conditions, we dispatch real-time alerts via SMS, email, and Telegram, aiming for gains between 10% to 25%, with up to 10 alerts sent out each month.

But beyond the alerts, what truly sets us apart and makes TTA a leading signal provider? Our comprehensive weekly Trading Report is a testament to our commitment. Delivered every Monday, our senior trader offers a detailed recap, setting the tone for the week ahead, and providing insights into market-moving events coming in the near future.

Our Telegram channel has become one of our main communication hubs where our members find the most value in The Trading Analyst. Here, members are privy to real-time swing trade alerts, potential setups accompanied by custom charts, in-depth trade explanations, and other exclusive content (important news, market commentary, and analysis from our trading team).

Elevating education has always been a core principle for us. From comprehensive trading courses tailored for both beginners and advanced traders to our popular Stock chart patterns cheat sheet, we’ve got you covered. Our Education center, replete with well-received blogs further cements our position as a leading educator in the field.

And, for those keen on day trading, we’ve introduced an entirely separate trading system focused on the QQQ Index. This dynamic approach, active during specific market hours, offers alerts based on 3-minute bars. Given the volatility of QQQ, trades can last anywhere from 3 to 30 minutes. Our Intraday Alerts have showcased impressive metrics, including a portfolio gain of +58% (without compounding), a win rate of 41.24% and a profit factor of 1.99.

So—the most important question remains, and that is price. We operate on a subscription model and have three billing plans—monthly, quarterly, and annual. They’re priced as follows: $147 a month, $357 per quarter, and $787 per year. The annual plan is the best bargain, provided that you can shoulder the upfront cost.

Although we focus primarily on options, on occasion, if a good opportunity presents itself, we also send out alerts for stock trading as well.

And with that, you can now see why we’ve put ourselves in the number one position.

2. Market Chameleon – Best for Experienced Traders

At number two, we have Market Chameleon—which serves as a pretty good foil to our own service. Both are fantastic—they’re simply built with different things in mind.

Pros:

• Top-of-the-line analysis tools
• Backtesting
• Customizable alerts

Cons:

• Lackluster design
• No hand holding—requires a lot of experience

Market Chameleon is purpose-built for the veteran trader. The interface is dated, we’ll grant you that, but it is chock full of features and information. The screeners and analysis tools that Market Chameleon provides are second to none—a fact that we have no problem acknowledging.

Here’s the flipside—although Market Chameleon offers great analysis tools, you have to know how to use them. As far as the frequency of alerts goes, you can expect anywhere from two to five trades a week. The real utility, however, is using the tools to come up with trading ideas on your own.

The service has three separate offerings: Stock Trader, Options Trader, Earnings Trader, and Total Access. In order, they are priced at $39/month, $69/month, $79/month, and $99/month. In our opinion, the price is more than fair—especially when you consider what you get in terms of tools. 

Options breakdowns by liquidity, open interest, volume, and expiration. Volatility comparisons, historical implied volatility, unusual options activity monitoring, historical price data…we could go on, trust us.

We’ve mentioned that the design is dated, but that’s a matter of aesthetics—it does not impair functionality. All the relevant information is presented neatly and is easy to take in. The service’s alerts are customizable, you can create your own alert parameters through watchlists, and you can even backtest 18 different options trading strategies.

The biggest drawbacks by far are that the service isn’t particularly beginner-friendly, it won’t earn any awards for being user-friendly in general, and it lacks educational resources. There’s also the risk of analysis paralysis—with so many tools at your disposal, it’s easy to get lost and overwhelmed. 

Once all is said and done, this is a fantastic service, and we highly recommend it to experienced options traders. The alerts are timely, well-thought-out, and reliable—what’s most impressive is that even with all that said, they’re not the star of the show due to how impressive the research and analysis tools are.

Last but not least, Market Chameleon offers a free 7-day trial for any of their subscription models, allowing you to give this impressive, feature-laden platform a test run to see if it’s to your liking.

3. Motley Fool Options – Best for Long Swing Trades

In operation since 2009, this options alert service is run by one of the most trusted names in finance media. Motley Fool also offers a stock-picking service—but for now, let’s focus on options.

Pros:

• Great win rate
• Trial available
• Comprehensive options trading course

Cons:

• One-time billing and price
• Infrequency of alerts

First things first—as you can tell from the category, the Motley Fool’s options picking service focuses on longer swing trades—which are usually between a couple of weeks and a couple of months. In accordance with that, there aren’t a lot of alerts being sent out—just a couple per month, but it’s more than enough.

That last sentence might be a bit confusing—but with an 86% win rate, the behind-the-scenes process that the Fool’s in-house team of analysts and experts is taking care of is obviously giving results.

Some of the advanced investment strategies that the Fool utilizes are diagonal calls, covered calls, synthetic longs, bull call spreads, written puts, buying calls, and synthetic covered calls.

Now, let’s move on to the cons—the first of which is price. Clocking in at $999 per year, it is expensive—and to make matters worse, the only way to pay is upfront—a thousand dollars, billed all at once.

On the other hand, you can try the service out for 30 days, and if you’re not satisfied, a simple call to customer support can transfer your “credit” to any of the various Motley Fool premium services.

The service also offers access to educational material—Options U, which is a three-part course, a membership forum where you can interact with other subscribers and the Motley Fool Options team, a comprehensive tutorial section covering everything from the tax implications of options to how to place a trade.

As far as the alerts themselves go, they are delivered on the service’s website and consist of three parts. The rationale contains the in-depth description of why the trade is being proposed, the strategy explains why the concrete strategy was used (for example, why a synthetic long was used instead of a covered call), and the alternative strategy offers another potential approach, usually differentiated by how risky it is.

A lot of the proposed trades that the service sends out are based on long-term equity anticipation securities (LEAPS), which are options contracts with expiration dates ranging from one year to three years. For a lot of traders, that’s simply too much waiting—but if you’re in no hurry, you will get your money’s worth.

4. Sky View Trading – Best for Beginner Traders

This Seattle-based alert service has been in business since 2013. Founded by Adam Thomas and Eli Grelecki, Sky View Trading is focused on spread-based strategies, and the stated goal is to rack up small but consistent profits. Another key focus is education—let’s take a closer look.

Pros:

• Short but informative trading course
• Live Trades from experts
• Private Discord server and community

Cons:

• Average frequency of alerts
• Basic tier is barebones—elite tier is expensive

There are two subscription tiers—alerts and elite. The first only gives access to the alerts—while the elite membership also gives subscribers access to an options trading course, Q&A forum, and a private Discord server.

The alerts are sent out via SMS or email, depending on your preference. The company boasts a 90% win rate and an average gain of 15% per trade. On average, the service sends out at least three alerts per week.

Elite members also receive a Live Trade Review Video after each alert, in which Thomas and Grelecki explain the rationale behind their trades—another useful point in favor of Sky View’s educational offerings.

In terms of educational resources, the elite membership gives subscribers access to an options trading course that is 5 hours long and consists solely of video content. While 5 hours might not sound like much, the content is well-produced, easy to follow, and contains a lot of information.

Most of the trades proposed by Sky View Trading are based on spread strategies, such as single-leg covered calls, calendar spreads, iron condors, credit spreads, and debit spreads. Although trades that last a day do appear in the alerts, this is a rare occurrence—with most of the alerts falling squarely into the category of swing trading.

Everything up to now was a positive—now, let’s move on to the most pronounced negative with Sky View Trading. Unfortunately, we’re talking about price.

The barebones alert subscription will set you back $99 a month. That by itself is not cheap by any stretch of the imagination, and it offers only one feature. The more feature-rich tier, Elite, costs a whopping $199 per month. Keep in mind that the cheaper tier doesn’t include things like…24/7 email support, for example, or any educational material, or live trade review videos.

The one silver lining is that you can try out the elite model in a trial—however, do notice that we didn’t say free trial. Still, at $14 for 14 days, it’s better than no trial.

The end result is that, while this is a good service, and can be a net positive for traders, this requires a very specific scenario. If you have absolutely no experience with how options work, deep pockets, and are looking to supplement your trading income with derivatives, then this is the service for you.

5. Mindful Trader – Best for Data-Driven Approach

Last but not least, Mindful Trader, founded in 2020 by Stanford grad Eric Ferguson, is our top pick for those seeking a data-driven approach.

Pros:

• Transparency
• Stock and options alerts
• Great educational content

Cons:

• Inflexible in terms of strategy
• Requires higher than average risk tolerance

There is only one subscription tier for Mindful Trader, and it will set you back a modest $47 per month. In terms of transparency, everything is fair and square with Ferguson—subscribers get access to all of his trades—both currently held and those closed in the past. This means that by subscribing, you also get access to his stock picks.

One thing (among many) that we particularly like about this service is the frequency of alerts. On average, subscribers receive between 6 and 8 alerts per week. All of these trades look the same—purchasing a call option with an expiry date about a week from when it was purchased. 

The price target and stop-loss are predetermined and are not changed throughout the duration of the trade. If the price does not reach the price target or stop less, the trade is closed a day before expiration.

With the aforementioned frequency of alerts, and a simple swing trading strategy, following Ferguson’s trades is incredibly easy—and it works. As we’ve mentioned, Ferguson is big on transparency—subscribers can see all of his current trades, and he even publishes samples of his trading results for the public.

Now on to the caveats—although you’re not obliged to replicate this, Ferguson’s risk tolerance allows him to risk 5% of his account value for each option trade—significantly more than the 1% to 2% that’s a rule of thumb in risk management. Second, although profitable in the long run, his results do show that his strategies cause large drawdowns.

And finally, Mindful Trader also offers subscribers access to educational content in the form of videos or text. These are produced by Ferguson himself and break down complex topics into something that is easily understandable. Ferguson covers a lot of ground with these videos—from fundamental analysis, to how to pick stocks, to futures trading, technical indicators, and of course, how to trade options.

There’s a lot of bang for your buck here—at $47 per month, this is by far the most affordable choice on our list. On the other hand, it is inflexible—with a single trade type being used at all times. However, if you’re interested in consistent, small gains, Mindful Trader is worth a look.

What Are Options Trading Alert Services?

An options trading alert service is a tool or platform that is used to notify traders when an enticing opportunity to trade options contracts emerges. 

These alerts are based on large datasets, often utilizing real-time information, which are analyzed by algorithms, then analyzed again by experts, based on a proprietary set of criteria, and then sent out to subscribers with a profit target and usually a stop-loss recommendation.

We should emphasize once again that these aren’t unproven providers of “trading signals” with no proven track records—while you should always do your own due diligence, these trading alert services are seen as legitimate.

Once an alert is prepared, it is instantly sent out, usually via a push notification on an app, a text message, or an e-mail. Alerts usually contain detailed instructions, as well as the rationale behind why the trade is being proposed—the best of both worlds in terms of rapidly making the most of a good opportunity.

Apart from that, these services also offer plenty of additional features, such as educational content, watchlists, and trading courses.

How Do Options Trading Alert Services Work?

Options trading alert services combine the analytic powers of machines and human experts alike. Vast datasets are collected from financial databases, news sources, and directly from stock exchanges.

Once that is done, complex algorithms sort through the information, analyze it and highlight potential trading opportunities. Once that is done, a team of human experts does manual oversight and additional analysis—if everything holds up, a trade alert is made by setting a price target, a stop loss, and including some additional info explaining why the particular trade is being proposed.

Making the Most of Options Trading Alerts

Like all tools when it comes to trading, options trading alerts can be quite efficient—provided that you use them the right way. Let’s go through a short checklist of things to keep in mind:

• Set defined and reasonable objectives: Before actually opting into a service, ask yourself what it is that you’re hoping to accomplish. A reasonable rate of return, whether you’re focused on the short-term or the long-term, as well as how much time you have to devote to options trading are all questions that should be firmly answered before embarking on this journey.
• Stay informed and keep on learning: While alerts will provide you with trading opportunities, staying in the know, consuming financial media, and continuously working on your trading skills is the only way to achieve long-term success—don’t disregard this because you receive alerts from pros
• Where possible, customize: Quite a lot of options trading alert services allow you to customize parameters to include or exclude certain types of alerts (for example, on the basis of the risk-to-reward ratio or the timeframe of the trade). Doing so will help prevent unnecessary alerts from clogging up your mental resources
• Analyze before, during, and after: While simply following an alert can and will lead to profits quite often, sometimes things won’t pan out that way. Analyzing missteps is crucial—figuring out where certain alerts went wrong is key to avoiding future mistakes. Analyze the provided rationale for the trade, how prices moved during, and what happened afterward to get a full picture.
• Maintain discipline and don’t budge: While it might be tempting to follow alerts that don’t fit in with the rules you’ve set for yourself, your risk tolerance, or your strategy, we strongly advise against it. Keeping a cool head is paramount when trading—and the only way to achieve discipline is through continuous practice, even if the temptation is there.

What to Look for in a Good Options Trading Alert Service? 

Alright—now that we’re done with the reviews, as well as some basic explanations of what these services are and how they work, we still have one more significant area to cover.

At the end of the day, in reviewing these services, we can talk in general terms. Your preferences and needs are specific. In order to help you find the service that will work best for you, you need a framework that you can use to compare, contrast, and evaluate options alert services. We’ve set apart five criteria that we think are the most important, and that you should always consider.

Accuracy of Alerts

The primary goal of an options trading alert service is to provide information that is both timely and accurate. Of course, the best way to evaluate this would be through a free trial—but that isn’t always an option. In the absence of that, we look at past performance and overall strategy.

Looking backward, take note of the win/loss ratio of the proposed trades, as well as average profitability. When trading derivatives such as options, you’re always exposing yourself to risk, even with the use of a stop-loss order— so a lot of “small” trades won’t cut it.

Accuracy also considers methods of transmission. Most services opt for push notifications, text messages, or e-mails as a mode of communication—so making sure that those alerts arrive quickly, on time, and reliably is quite important.

Another thing to consider is how the information the service uses is sourced. These are usually complex, advanced datasets, the likes of which the average trader isn’t equipped to evaluate. However, there are a couple of features that are always favorable—the ability for customers to provide feedback on alerts, consideration of external factors such as geopolitics and major economic news, and cross-referencing with technical indicators.

Last but not least, another highly-coveted feature is real-time data integration, which allows a service to process market data near-instantaneously, ensuring you have the best odds of receiving a timely, actionable report.

Profitability

Profitability is the end goal of options alert trading services. If a vetted, trusted service has been in business for years, it’s more than likely that it is profitable. 

Results will vary, and you should always check the methodology used when claims of profitability are made since quite a lot of these services publish results that could be replicated by buying and selling at the perfect time…which happens but is far from the norm in actuality.

You’re probably aware of the effects of compounding on returns—basically, even a few percentage points of difference can snowball and produce much better results in the long run. Take everything with a grain of salt, but there’s no denying the fact that, at the end of the day, your goal is to secure maximum profitability at a level of risk that you’re comfortable with.

Another point that bears mentioning is consistency. When looking at averages, a service with decent, reliable gains and one with big losses and slightly bigger gains can look the same. However, trading psychology plays a role—consistent gains are better than large gains interspersed with huge drawdowns and streaks of losing trades.

Risk Management

Risk management is a necessity in any sort of trading—and since options, as derivatives, are even more volatile than stocks, this should be even more emphasized.

Before we move on, it’s important to note that finding a legitimate, accountable service is paramount. No legitimate service will ever guarantee profits, and you should always do your due diligence (check reviews, how long the website has been operational, where is the company registered) before signing on to a service.

A good options trading alert service will always emphasize the need for risk management. In terms of options, this will mostly take the form of risk-reward analysis—focusing on trades that have a good ratio of risk vs. reward, using stop-loss orders to prevent any huge losses, as well as only using 1% or 2% of your account value for any individual trade.

Educational Resources

Alerts are immensely helpful on their own—but if being a successful trader or investor was simply a matter of following alerts and signals, everybody would be rich. We’re not discounting the utility of these services—obviously, but learning how to do things on your own is the only surefire way to become successful.

Most of the top options trading alert services also offer users access to educational material. This material varies from service to service but usually includes platform tutorials, the basics of options trading, a couple of specific strategies or setups, and courses.

When looking at educational resources, quality and comprehensiveness are king. Well-structured, expansive, and modular lesson plans can go a long way in making the lifelong journey of financial education much more enjoyable and fast-paced.

Since no two people have the same learning style, we would also suggest paying attention to how lessons are given—in other words, through which medium. While some people do fine with written material, webinars, video courses, quizzes, or even tutoring sessions make life significantly easier for others.

On top of all of that, we would also pay attention to a few more points. Access to news is important—the financial world is quite dynamic, so having access to a market report or simply a stream of the latest headlines helps keep you informed. The same holds true for an economic calendar that highlights significant events such as earnings releases, job reports, or FED meetings.

Lastly, having access to experts—either in the form of tutorials or live-streamed trading sessions is also a huge boon. Having a seasoned veteran explain their rationale while going through the process step by step is a great learning opportunity and a huge plus in terms of educational resources.

Customer Support

Although it would be optimal if things always went according to plan, that isn’t the case. We’re not talking about trading itself, necessarily—sometimes alert services themselves run into issues. These can range from alerts not reaching you, the customer not being able to log in if the service has a dedicated platform or issues with billing and subscription charges.

The criteria for customer support are more or less the same when it comes to services related to finance. Availability is key—especially if you’re trading from a place that has a timezone different from that of the service. The ideal case here is a service that provides 24/7 customer support.

Availability also concerns how you can get in touch with customer support. The most common methods include live chat, email, and via phone—although, in the best-case scenario, an options alert trading service will support all three methods.

The languages in which support is available also contribute to the overall quality of customer support. Although the internet often gives us the illusion that everyone communicates in perfect English all of the time, a lot of people are bilingual or multilingual—and sometimes, explaining the issue at hand is much easier in your native language.

That’s the “technical” side of customer support—apart from that, your criteria should also focus on the “performance” side of customer support. What we mean by this is how knowledgeable, helpful, and quick to respond the customer support agents are.

Pros and Cons of Using Options Alert Services

Before we end things, we thought it would be useful to summarize the advantages that these services afford you. However, it would be only fair to include the potential pitfalls or cons as well. 

Let’s start with the good:

• Time-saving tool: Far and away the biggest advantage of these services, having vetted experts present trading ideas with clear entry points, profit targets, and stop losses is much more efficient in terms of time compared to manually looking for trading opportunities. Although you should perform your own analysis when possible, constantly monitoring the market requires a lot of time. Using an alert service is the best way to trade successfully while still maintaining a 9 to 5 job.
• Built-in Risk Management: To piggyback off of the previous point, since trading alerts factor in the risk-to-reward ratio and come with profit targets and predefined stop losses, risk management is also taken care of for you.
• Diverse in terms of strategy: While most of the premier options trading alerts services focus on one strategy, the fact remains that by looking at the big picture traders can find one to cater to any strategy. If you’re a beginner, focus on beginner trading strategies—conversely, if you already have some experience, you can find a service that focuses on advanced options trading strategies.
• Expert Analysis: Track records are one of the most important selling points of services like these, so they employ experts who rely on thorough, advanced datasets and analysis to make their decisions. That level of expertise and analysis is out of reach for most traders—even seasoned veterans.

Now, on to the (potentially) bad:

• Cost: While this is more an unfortunate reality than a genuine con, it’s essential to be honest with yourself about what you can and cannot afford. For some traders, the utility gained by these services does not justify the cost. For traders whose accounts are still small, we would recommend waiting a bit and growing your account before subscribing to an alert service.
• Overreliance is another worry: While these services are helpful, and plenty of them have great track records, it’s all too tempting to outsource your decision-making to someone else for a price. This, however, will lead to stagnation or regression in terms of your trading skills—so it should be avoided at all costs.

Conclusion

In the last couple of years, plenty of options trading alert services have emerged as potent tools that can help you take your options trading game to a higher level. 

You’ll have to shop around a bit and consult sources like us, but it’s well worth the legwork. If you do it right, you’ll get access to real-time alerts, educational materials, and expert opinions—not to mention how much time you can save.

A helping hand and a guiding light are all well and good—but once again, before we cap things off, we’d like to caution you against overreliance on this (or any other) tool. They’re worth the money, they’re helpful—but they are not an excuse to slack off. If you can keep that in mind and stay disciplined, you’ll be able to use them to their utmost potential.

Best Services for Options Trading Alerts: FAQs

What are Trading Alerts?

Trading alerts are short snippets of information letting a trader know that the service that is sending out the alert sees a good potential trade. They usually include the rationale behind the trade and price targets.

How Can I Get Options Trading Alerts?

In order to get options trading alerts, you have to subscribe to an options trading alert service like one of the five that we’ve reviewed in this article.

What is the Most Successful Options Trading Strategy?

The most successful strategy is one that fits your personal style, and risk tolerance, and that you can reliably execute. This will vary from person to person, but from our perspective, swing trading options is a method that offers numerous advantages that appeal to the everyday trader.

What is the Best Time to Trade Options?

Options trading depends quite a lot on market volatility—however, the middle of the week, especially Wednesday, is often touted as the best time to trade options.

How Do You Keep Track of Options Trades?

Most trading platforms allow you to keep track of your options trade, but you could also make use of a portfolio tracking service.