RadarPulse: a focused options flow scanner for ThinkOrSwim users

The problem with finding unusual flow inside a full brokerage platform

ThinkOrSwim is a powerful platform, charting, scripting, options chains, live P&L, but it's built for execution, not discovery. To find unusual activity you typically need to write a custom thinkScript scan, set thresholds manually, and then run it against the market. That works, but it requires knowing what to look for and how to express it in the platform's scripting language. You're building the scanner, not using one.

RadarPulse is the scanner. It watches the whole options tape, computes a 0–100 unusualness score on every print using volume-to-open-interest, premium size, days-to-expiry and aggressor side, and surfaces the highest-scoring prints automatically. You open the scanner; the unusual activity is already there. For the underlying signal, see our guide on unusual options flow.

What RadarPulse offers ThinkOrSwim users

• A 0–100 unusualness score on every trade. No scripting required. Every print is scored in real time on the factors flow traders actually use, so you can skim scores rather than volumes, strikes, and expiries one by one.
• A daily Top 25 with clear flags. The day's most unusual activity ranked with EXTREME, ELEVATED and NOTABLE tags. Open the Top 25 to see at a glance what the tape is saying without scrolling thousands of rows.
• Whale detection. Block and sweep orders moving real size are surfaced with the aggressor side flagged, showing whether the big print was bought aggressively or sold.
• Congress, Trump and 13F trackers. See what lawmakers are trading, the Trump trades tracker, and institutional 13F filings alongside the options flow, institutional context that no platform scan can give you.
• Radar (AI chat). Ask the AI any question about a ticker, a print, or market conditions in plain English. No formula syntax, no documentation lookup.
• Vera (AI equity research). An AI research analyst that delivers a structured fundamental analysis on any stock, pair it with the flow reading for a complete picture before you take a position.
• Live market synthesis. A breaking-news banner with live market-condition context, so you always know whether the tape is moving against a risk-off backdrop or a macro surprise.
• Free $100K paper trading + Academy. Practise options strategies in a $100K virtual wallet with live prices, and join the leaderboard to see how your returns compare. Free forever, no card required.

A factual feature comparison

The table describes RadarPulse's capabilities in detail. Note that RadarPulse is a research tool, not a brokerage, it doesn't execute orders. For ThinkOrSwim (Charles Schwab), we only note widely-known facts; check their site for the current, authoritative feature list and pricing.

"See their site" means we're deliberately not stating another company's specifics, verify current ThinkOrSwim features and pricing on the Schwab site directly.

RadarPulse pricing

• Basic: $12/mo, with a 14-day free trial. Scored scanner, daily Top 25, whale detection, Congress and 13F trackers on 15-minute-delayed flow.
• Pro, $29/mo. More headroom for active users, saved filters, more alerts, cross-device sync.
• Elite, $59/mo. Adds the real-time tape for traders reacting inside the same minute.
• Free forever: $100K paper trading + Academy + leaderboard. No card required.

Full breakdown at the pricing page.

Which traders benefit most

RadarPulse is the right add-on for ThinkOrSwim users who spend meaningful time each day hunting for unusual prints, running manual scans, monitoring alert lists, piecing together context from several sources. If you'd rather open a dashboard and see the day's highest-conviction unusual activity already ranked and explained, with congressional and institutional context right there, RadarPulse collapses that work into a few minutes. You keep ThinkOrSwim for charting and execution; RadarPulse handles discovery and research.

If you're newer to flow trading, the free paper wallet and Academy let you practise reading flow and acting on it before committing real capital. The guide on finding unusual options activity is a good starting point too.

thinkorswim in depth: professional analytics at retail prices

thinkorswim, now operating as Charles Schwab's flagship desktop and web trading platform following Schwab's acquisition of TD Ameritrade, is genuinely one of the most capable options analysis tools available to retail traders. It is worth understanding in detail before deciding what to add to your workflow, because its strengths are real and its weaknesses are specific.

On the analytical side, thinkorswim offers a multi-leg options strategy builder that lets you model complex structures, iron condors, calendar spreads, ratio spreads, custom risk-reversals, and immediately see the full Greeks profile before entering an order. The P&L simulation graph renders expected value curves at expiry and at intermediate dates, with volatility sliders so you can stress-test a position against different IV environments. The Market Maker Move (MMM) indicator calculates the market's expected binary move into an earnings event from the current options prices, a useful calibration tool for structuring event-driven trades. thinkorswim also ships a paper trading account funded with virtual capital and connected to live market data, allowing traders to practise real strategy entries without financial risk.

ThinkScript is the platform's proprietary scripting language and represents its deepest differentiator for active traders. With ThinkScript you can write fully custom technical indicators, build screeners that filter the universe on any combination of price action and options metrics, and set conditional alerts on specific conditions, for example, alerting when a name's implied volatility rank crosses a threshold you define. ThinkScript places thinkorswim in genuine competition with institutional tools on analytical depth, at no additional cost to Schwab brokerage account holders.

The charting system is highly configurable: custom time frames, multi-study layouts, multiple chart windows arranged across your display, with every chart tied directly to the order entry panel. Integration with Schwab's brokerage infrastructure means that the same platform you use to analyze a position is the platform you use to route the order, manage the position, and review margin requirements, a cohesive experience that traders who have been on thinkorswim for years often cite as a primary reason for staying.

What thinkorswim does not offer is a market-wide ranked discovery layer for options flow. It does not compute a 0-100 conviction score on every print across the full tape and present the top 25 by score each morning. It does not cross-reference options activity against congressional trading disclosures filed under the STOCK Act. It does not include a conversational AI assistant grounded in live flow data. These are specific absences, not failings, thinkorswim was built for execution and deep single-name analysis, not for discovering which of the five thousand-plus options-active names traded today deserve attention first.

The scanner gap: high volume vs. high conviction

thinkorswim's scanner is a legitimate tool. You can filter options by volume, open interest, implied volatility rank, IV percentile, unusual volume, bid-ask spread, and dozens of other parameters. You can chain multiple conditions in ThinkScript to approximate a conviction filter. If you know a name is worth watching and you want to confirm that options activity is elevated there today, thinkorswim's scanner can surface that quickly.

What the scanner cannot do is score every options print across the full market on a consistent 0-100 metric and rank today's entire output by that score. This is a structural gap, not a configuration problem. thinkorswim's scanner surfaces names with elevated options metrics, it cannot tell you that today's print in a particular name scores an 89 while a different name's equally large print scores a 51, or explain why the 89 reflects genuine institutional conviction and the 51 looks more like a hedge.

RadarPulse's scoring model uses six factors with disclosed weights:

• Vol/OI ratio (40% weight). The ratio of today's volume in this contract to its existing open interest. A contract trading at 10x its open interest is doing something fundamentally different from one trading at 0.3x.
• Premium size (30% weight). Absolute dollar size of the trade. A $2.1M sweep carries different informational content than a $4,000 retail trade even if the Vol/OI is identical.
• Execution type (10% weight). Whether the print hit as a sweep, a market-order that crossed multiple exchanges, or a single-exchange block. Sweeps indicate urgency; blocks may reflect negotiated large-lot positioning.
• Aggressor side (10% weight). Whether the trade hit at the ask (buyer-initiated) or at the bid (seller-initiated), or in between. Buyer-initiated call sweeps and seller-initiated put sweeps carry different directional signals.
• Days to expiry (5% weight). Very short-dated options (weekly or shorter) that print large size represent a different risk/reward profile than the same premium in six-month LEAPS.
• Time of day (5% weight). Prints in the first and last thirty minutes of the session, when market makers are adjusting books and hedging expiry risk, are down-weighted relative to mid-session prints.

Scores of 85 and above are flagged EXTREME. Scores of 65 to 84 are ELEVATED. Scores of 45 to 64 are NOTABLE. The daily Top 25 shows the 25 highest-scoring prints from the full tape, typically drawn from five thousand or more options-active names on an active session.

The practical workflow that most thinkorswim users adopt is straightforward: use RadarPulse's ranked leaderboard for morning discovery, which names scored EXTREME today and why, then open thinkorswim for the second step: chart review, options chain analysis, and position modeling on the names that scored highest. RadarPulse handles discovery; thinkorswim handles analysis and execution. Neither tool is redundant in this workflow.

How ThinkScript users can incorporate flow signals

Advanced thinkorswim users who write their own ThinkScript scans have already invested meaningful effort in building a personal signal generation system. That investment is real and the outputs are often well-calibrated to a specific trading style. The question for these traders is not whether to abandon ThinkScript, but whether there are signals outside what ThinkScript can calculate that are worth incorporating.

ThinkScript operates on the data thinkorswim makes available: price, volume, options chain metrics, Greeks, and derived indicators from those inputs. It cannot ingest RadarPulse's cross-market conviction score because that score is computed externally, on RadarPulse's own infrastructure, from the full OPRA tape. ThinkScript can approximate some of what RadarPulse does, an IV rank breakout scan, a volume-relative-to-open-interest alert, but it is approximating what RadarPulse computes directly and at scale.

For ThinkScript developers, RadarPulse functions as a validation layer rather than a replacement. Consider two specific use cases:

• IV rank scanner confirmation. A ThinkScript scan set to alert when a name's IV rank crosses the 70th percentile indicates elevated options premium relative to the name's own history. When that alert fires at the same time that RadarPulse shows an EXTREME-flagged print in the same name, the two systems are pointing at the same event from different methodologies, Vol/OI-based conviction score on one side, name-specific IV history on the other. That convergence is a materially stronger signal than either alone.
• Volume breakout alerts. A ThinkScript alert set on options volume crossing a raw threshold catches elevated activity broadly. It will trigger on earnings-season hedging, on dividend-related rolls, and on genuine directional accumulation equally. RadarPulse's scoring model uses aggressor side and execution type to distinguish between these cases, so a volume alert from ThinkScript and an EXTREME score from RadarPulse on the same name, same session, represents a convergence of independent signal sources rather than the same signal counted twice.

The most systematic approach for ThinkScript developers is to treat RadarPulse's daily Top 25 as a morning filter that feeds the universe of names worth scanning with ThinkScript at all. Rather than running a broad universe scan across every options-active name, which can produce hundreds of alerts on an active day, ThinkScript scans applied to the RadarPulse Top 25 are operating on a pre-filtered set where conviction is already established. This reduces false positives and focuses analytical work on the names where the market's most unusual positioning is concentrated.

Congressional and political disclosure data: thinkorswim's gap

thinkorswim is an analytics and execution platform. It integrates Schwab's research, earnings calendars, options analytics, and news feeds, but it has no political disclosure layer. It does not ingest STOCK Act filings, does not track congressional trading activity, and does not surface the Trump Organization's OGE financial disclosures. This is not a criticism; political disclosure data is not brokerage data, and thinkorswim was built to handle brokerage data extremely well.

RadarPulse includes full STOCK Act congressional trading disclosures, every House and Senate stock trade filed with the relevant disclosure offices, updated as filings arrive, with late-filing flags on members who disclosed outside the required 45-day window. It also includes the Trump trade tracker, sourced from OGE disclosures covering the policy basket of companies whose regulatory and tariff exposure is linked to executive-branch decision-making.

For options traders in policy-sensitive sectors, this creates a cross-domain confluence signal that no brokerage platform offers. Two concrete examples illustrate the value:

Energy, financial regulation, and infrastructure are additional sectors where congressional positioning and unusual options flow have historically appeared together ahead of significant regulatory or legislative developments. RadarPulse is the only retail tool that surfaces both the options signal and the political disclosure data in a single interface, updated daily.

Radar: AI research in the thinkorswim workflow

RadarPulse includes Radar, a conversational AI market assistant with access to live flow data, market conditions, and news context. Radar is represented by the two-ring radar face mark, it is a brand character, not a generic AI interface, and is never represented by an emoji.

The practical role Radar plays in a thinkorswim workflow is immediate context generation after an unusual print appears. When RadarPulse surfaces an EXTREME-flagged call sweep in a name you do not follow closely, Radar can answer questions about the underlying company in plain English: recent earnings, analyst price targets, revenue trajectory, any catalyst on the horizon, how the current options activity compares to the name's typical flow volume. This context takes approximately two minutes to gather through Radar; gathering the same context manually across earnings databases, analyst research portals, and news feeds takes substantially longer.

That context then informs the next step in thinkorswim. If Radar's answer reveals that the name is reporting earnings in three weeks and analysts recently raised price targets following a positive pre-announcement, a trader using thinkorswim can open the options chain with that framework in mind, looking at the appropriate expiry, reviewing the MMM indicator for the expected earnings move, and modeling whether a long call, a bull call spread, or a call calendar is the right structure given the risk/reward context. Radar handles the "what is happening here and why might someone be buying this aggressively" step; thinkorswim handles the "how do I structure a position with defined risk" step.

Vera, available on the Elite tier and represented by the cyan V monogram, provides a deeper layer of structured equity research. Where Radar gives conversational, fast context, Vera delivers a multi-lens analysis: business model assessment, revenue quality, competitive positioning, risk factors, and valuation framing. For traders considering a complex multi-leg options structure in an unfamiliar name, a large premium at risk in a position that requires specific price and volatility outcomes, Vera's structured analysis provides a foundational understanding of the company before capital is committed. Vera's research does not replace the financial modeling in thinkorswim's P&L simulator; it precedes it, ensuring that the trade thesis is grounded in business reality before the technical structure is selected.

thinkorswim provides access to Schwab's research integration, analyst reports, earnings estimates, news feeds, but does not include a conversational AI assistant that is specifically grounded in live unusual options flow data. The combination of RadarPulse's Radar for immediate flow-grounded context, Vera for structured company research, and thinkorswim for options chain analysis and execution covers the full analytical chain from discovery to position entry.

Case studies: thinkorswim and RadarPulse in a combined workflow

The following three scenarios illustrate how the two tools fit together in practice. These are representative examples using realistic but illustrative figures, not records of specific historical trades.

Which thinkorswim users benefit most from RadarPulse

thinkorswim alone is sufficient, and excellent, for traders who operate in the following modes:

• Options income traders who generate their own signals. If you run covered calls, cash-secured puts, or iron condors on a fixed watchlist of names you already know well, thinkorswim's options chain and position management tools are everything you need. You are not in the business of discovering new names; you are in the business of executing a repeatable income strategy on familiar underlying assets.
• Technical traders who scan for their own chart-based setups. If your entries are driven by price action, volume patterns, or technical breakout conditions that you identify through thinkorswim's charting tools and ThinkScript scans, and options activity is a confirming factor rather than the primary signal, thinkorswim covers your workflow entirely.
• ThinkScript developers with established signal systems. If you have invested significant time building a proprietary scanner in ThinkScript that produces consistent, well-calibrated alerts, and you are satisfied with the signal quality, adding RadarPulse is incremental rather than transformative, useful for confluence, but not a gap-filler in the core workflow.

RadarPulse adds clear, specific value for thinkorswim users in the following situations:

• You want a market-wide ranked daily discovery layer. If you spend meaningful time each morning scanning, filtering, and building alert lists to find which names are worth watching, RadarPulse replaces that manual work with a pre-scored, pre-ranked daily Top 25. The names that scored EXTREME today are already surfaced; you move directly to analysis in thinkorswim rather than spending time building and running the scan first.
• You track congressional and political positioning alongside market signals. If defense, energy, healthcare, financial regulation, or infrastructure names are part of your regular universe, and you want to know whether legislative insiders are positioning in the same names as unusual options flow, RadarPulse is the only retail tool that gives you both signals in a single interface.
• You use unusual options flow as a primary or confirming signal for trade decisions. If flow conviction is central to how you decide which names to trade, rather than a secondary filter applied after you have already identified a name through other means, then a purpose-built flow scanner with a consistent scoring methodology gives you a faster, more systematic approach than a general-purpose brokerage tool configured for the same task.
• You want immediate AI research context when a high-conviction print appears in an unfamiliar name. The market does not limit unusual flow to the names you already follow. When an EXTREME print appears in a name outside your watchlist, Radar provides instant context without requiring you to open multiple research tabs, reducing the time between signal and informed decision.
• You are building systematic entry rules and want a structured paper-trading feedback loop. The free $100K paper wallet and academy let you track which flow signals, by score tier, execution type, sector, and DTE range, have historically accompanied good paper outcomes, creating an evidence base for your entry criteria before real capital follows the system.

The combined workflow, RadarPulse for ranked daily discovery, congressional context, and AI research; thinkorswim for options chain analysis, P&L modeling, and execution, gives you the full analytical chain from "what is the market flagging as unusual today" through to "how do I structure a defined-risk position in response." Neither tool is redundant; they address different steps in the same process.

Ready to add a ranked daily flow discovery layer to your thinkorswim workflow? Join the waitlist to get early access when RadarPulse opens to new members.

Frequently asked questions

What can RadarPulse do for ThinkOrSwim users?

RadarPulse is a standalone flow-scanning and research tool, not a brokerage. It adds an automated 0-100 unusualness score on every options print, a daily Top 25 with EXTREME/ELEVATED/NOTABLE flags, whale detection, Congress and 13F trackers, and AI chat and equity research. Keep ThinkOrSwim for execution and charting; use RadarPulse for discovery and research.

Is RadarPulse simpler than ThinkOrSwim?

RadarPulse is purpose-built for flow discovery and research rather than full brokerage depth. If you want one place to spot unusual options activity, understand it quickly, and track what institutions and lawmakers are doing, RadarPulse is faster and more focused than configuring a general-purpose platform for the same task. ThinkOrSwim remains the better tool for detailed charting and direct order execution.

How much does RadarPulse cost?

RadarPulse Basic is $12/mo with a 14-day free trial. Pro is $29/mo, Elite is $59/mo. The $100K paper-trading wallet, leaderboard, and Academy are free forever with no card required. Flow is 15-minute delayed on every tier except Elite, which adds the real-time tape.

Does RadarPulse generate its own flow data?

Yes. RadarPulse generates its own real options flow on a 15-minute delay on every paid tier (real-time on Elite), so you don't need a separate data subscription or custom scan. The 0-100 score is computed automatically from real Vol/OI, premium size, DTE, and aggressor side on every print.

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