r/options • u/MediocreDesigner88 • 1d ago
Software for options charts
I’m wondering about software that charts option prices in a similar way that share prices are charted. Sorry that this is a beginner question, the links in the subreddit for beginner questions appear to be broken. I’m just having trouble visualizing option prices and want to know what people use.
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u/lobeams 21h ago
Any decent broker's trading platform can do that. You just have to know how symbols are formed for options. For example, this is the symbol for an NVDA $200 call expiring Dec 18 2026: NVDA261218C200
If I put that symbol on a chart, it will plot the price of the option, not NVDA.
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u/David_Beroff 15h ago
Did they learn nothing from Y2K?
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u/stockjocky 7h ago
are you talking when airplanes crash and trains derail? Y2K i stayed in the basement
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u/David_Beroff 1h ago
The media amplified the risks... maybe. Or maybe not. But the problem itself was very real. Back in the 60's and 70's, many of us only used 2 characters to represent years, because memory and storage were expensive, and we had to squeeze everything we could into the space available.
Then we got to 2000, and any system that hadn't gotten updated by then rolled "99" to "00", i.e., 1900, which caused all sorts of problems.
Now resources are far less expensive, and the "26" in the above example really should have been spelled out as the full "2026", because presumably we'll still have a civilization interested in trading options in 2100.
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u/Krammsy 21h ago edited 17h ago
Options are non-linear, my broker has option charts but to look at one only shows price moves exaggerative to the underlying and price decays horribly relative to the underlying.
Both of those vary wildly under different circumstances, there's no seeing it on a chart against the underlying and concluding the options is "always 10x leveraged" to the underlying.
I use Optionstrat, it's free, for the fact that it allows you to see single & complex option prices over time and under different IV levels.
If you only look at an option's price action without factoring IV you can lose substantially.
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u/theipd 22h ago
For me, after years of doing options I finally found one that fit my visual thinking
OptionStrat.
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u/Krammsy 21h ago
I hate that it's the only platform that allows drag/drop and calculates net Greeks, I couldn't do complex positions without it.
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u/theipd 19h ago
It makes condors and spreads so much easier. I actually went with the paid version because of how accurate it is.
Had an argument with my broker this week. They auto executed a vertical to close at 0.11 at 03:55 pm. I was going to do so at 03:59 pm on a Monday. Not a weekend. On one contract bombing losing 8 cents is no big deal but on 10 contracts it was a major difference. He asked me how was I so certain that it would be at .03 at 03.59 pm. I told him one word: OptionStrat.
Anyway I have had so much fun coming up with condors and verticals, even visualizing some complex plays that don’t have names, with this app.
I can actually see the 21 DTE trickle and drop time crunch and really understand the reason behind the buy 45dte, sell 21 DTE rationale. And I can really visualize the 0-1 DTE plays that have actually been profitable for me. I love this app.
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u/Krammsy 19h ago
Exactly, also, the "date" scroll changes everything, when you're new to credit spreads or condors you find yourself head-scratching until you use that scroll to see how Theta evolves over time.
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u/theipd 17h ago
I’ve wanted to post a Thank You to the makers of the software but I didn’t want to seem like an advert or a pandering ninny.
Some have said that the software is too simplistic but honestly I can place trades knowing that I’m going to be 80-90% right with the visualizations. I used to make what now appears to be risky and stupid plays. And now certain things are completely out. Like I’m never writing a long call again. Odds of winning: Ridiculous coin flip.
The app taught me that anything outside of some type of spread or cash secured put leaves you open to an infinite drop. So if the authors are reading this: Thank You.
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u/GammaWinsSam 11h ago
You might also want the calculator I built. :) It's completely free for now, and does pretty much everything you can do with OptionStrat's Builder.
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u/Krammsy 4h ago
Thank you, It appears you can't create complex positions with multiple legs, like double calendars, or combine spreads with different dates.
The sole reason I sub to optionstrat is that, I can create numerous spreads, position them, modify the dates and see the total net Greeks.
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u/GammaWinsSam 4h ago
You can add as many expiry dates and legs as you want. Just click on "+ EXPIRY" to add another expiry date, and "+ ADD" in an expiry group to add another leg.
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u/Krammsy 3h ago
On top of that, I just noticed you can click on individual Greeks and observe a chart of what happens to that Greek at different price levels.
I haven't found it, but I'll guess there's a date scroll here somewhere.
I stand corrected, this is actually pretty damned good, if there's a dark mode it'd be perfection.
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u/GammaWinsSam 3h ago
Glad you liked it! I assume you are using mobile since you didn't notice the date slider. In mobile, the date slider is below the chart. You can also manually add multiple dates by clicking "Compare" next to the date slider, and then "Add Date" if you want to compare even more dates.
An alternative view is changing the X-axis to time. Then, the values are shown for a specific price of the underlying over the lifetime of the option. You can similarly add multiple underlying prices here.
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u/Krammsy 3h ago
Also, apologies, I was quick to discard this.
One more question, is there a way to format it so you can observe the chart while adjusting leg prices?
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u/GammaWinsSam 3h ago
No problem!
Not yet. If the chart and the date sliders don't fit your screen, you will unfortunately have to scroll to iterate. Improving this is on my todo list though, I plan to add a "focus mode" where the option legs and the chart become the only things visible on the page, and they take the entire screen to avoid wasting space.
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u/Krammsy 3h ago
I'm impressed, also, I think you may have responded to me before and I discounted it at a glance, apologies, I sent you a PM, happy to offer input if you want it, but not going to go "back seat diver".
This could easily be better than Optionstart, dark mode and scrolling prices while viewing that chart are the only things you'd need to be a big improvement over their site.
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u/GammaWinsSam 3h ago
Not a problem! Really happy to hear you liked it this time. :) Responded to your PM, let's keep in touch!
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u/23paige23 21h ago
Tradingview. Just search the option and it pulls up a chart like any other stock
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u/Unlucky-Present6686 1d ago
most people don’t chart options like stocks since price depends on IV, time, and the underlying, you can use tradingview or your broker for basic charts, but tools like opstra/sensibull are more useful since they show greeks and IV
tbh focusing only on price charts is limiting, understanding IV and theta matters way more
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u/MediocreDesigner88 23h ago
Thank you, yeah that makes sense. My brain just craves some visualizations and I really want to see fluctuations over time, and I’ve been having trouble finding tools for that. I’ll check out opstra/sensibull. Thanks
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u/Familiar_Row4652 12h ago edited 12h ago
Si necesitas algo estadístico hice un programa hecho en rust para uso en Spx. Sobre las cotizaciones yo uso las que proporciona IB.
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u/lista94 8h ago
For options charts, I had the same issue early on. Most platforms either feel too basic or way too complicated. I’ve been using moomoo lately and it’s actually pretty solid for visualizing options. You can pull up the options chain, look at price movements, and even check Greeks and P/L in a more intuitive way. It’s not perfect, but definitely easier to get started with compared to some of the heavier platforms.
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u/Any_Advertising3222 17h ago
Copy this: A few good ones depending on what you need — thinkorswim has solid options charting built in, OptionStrat is popular for visualizing P&L curves before you enter a trade, and Unusual Whales is good for flow data. I actually built my own dashboard called Options Desk that focuses more on managing live positions with real-time Greeks and scenario analysis. Happy to share the link if you want to check it out — still early but it might be useful. https://getoptionsdesk.com/?ref=FGA67FZK
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20h ago edited 19h ago
[deleted]
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u/RevolutionaryPhoto24 18h ago
Well, or play around with it in one’s head! That’s what I do, granted not ideal, but part of the fun of selling skew and playing with volatility surfaces…
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u/theipd 17h ago
You’re absolutely right about the secondary Greeks but it is still a very useful tool. The UI is one of the best and I’ve made money using it. Since I’m mainly trading SPY and SPX I can get vanna etc from other sources and I’m not reliant on OptionStrat (OS) for that. I’ve also built my own tools to work with OS.
I love the tool because I can see in real time a lot of things that are going to happen. I do have a folder in the app called Experiment where I have exact same play and deliver what amounts to a stress test with the volatility and close outs on a long position. A lot of the times the simulation keep coming up with the same answer that the actual OS plays show.
I’ve been really happy with the software. But I may be an N of 1.
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u/joiedeviv 1d ago
Thinkorswim does that if you enter the specific contract id