Option Samurai Review 2026 • OptionsScanners.com

Quick Verdict: Option Samurai is a workflow-focused options scanner that excels at simplicity, speed, and systematic strategy scanning. At $39-59/month (annual pricing), it delivers exceptional value for traders who want pre-built scans, customizable filters (150+), and Excel/Sheets integration, without the complexity or price tag of institutional-grade platforms. The scanner’s strength lies in its “Scan → Analyze → Trade” methodology and unique features like Samurai Stock Score and IV curve analysis, but it lacks real-time options flow tracking, advanced charting, and broker integration that competitors offer.

Rating: ★★★★☆ (4.2/5)

What You Need to Know Right Now

Option Samurai succeeds at three things:

Scanning efficiency (1.2+ million options scanned instantly using 8+ data sources, 44 pre-built scans, 150+ filters)
Workflow optimization (Excel/Google Sheets integration, trade log, intraday alerts, Stock Scenario analyzer)
Simplicity without sacrifice (clean interface, 24 strategies, minimal learning curve, mobile-optimized)

If these three things align with your approach, Option Samurai at $39/month (annual) is solid value for intermediate options traders. You’re getting professional scanning capabilities without the $99+/month pricing of Market Chameleon or the overwhelming feature bloat of platforms trying to do everything.

The platform fails at three things:

No options flow tracking (can’t see unusual activity or smart money moves like BlackBoxStocks or Unusual Whales)
Limited charting (basic price charts, no technical indicators or drawing tools)
No broker integration (can’t auto-populate positions or one-click execute from the platform)

Bottom line: If you’re a systematic trader who relies on pre-defined scans, wants to integrate options data into your existing spreadsheets, and values a clean, focused interface over flashy features, Option Samurai delivers. Just don’t expect it to replace flow scanners, charting platforms, or your broker’s execution tools, it’s a specialized scanner that does one job exceptionally well: helping you find strategy-specific trades fast.

What Is Option Samurai?

Company Background

Option Samurai was founded by Leav Graves, a licensed investment professional with 19+ years of trading experience (including working through the 2008 financial crisis). The platform launched with a clear mission: build a scanner that cuts through market noise and finds profitable trades before other traders, using multiple data sources and systematic workflows.

Unlike venture-backed competitors that prioritize feature quantity, Option Samurai focuses on quality workflows. The team (which includes options traders themselves) built the platform around a simple philosophy: consistent workflow = consistent results.

The core workflow:

Scan – Use pre-built or custom scans to find trades matching your criteria
Analyze – Deep dive into trade details, IV analysis, stock scores, P&L scenarios
Trade – Log trades (paper or live), track performance, refine strategy

This approach resonates with systematic traders who want repeatability, not guesswork.

What Makes It Different

Data aggregation: Option Samurai pulls from 8+ different data sources to scan 1.2 million+ options contracts across 5,000+ tickers. This multi-source approach ensures you’re not missing opportunities that single-source scanners might overlook.

Proprietary tools:

Samurai Stock Score (1-10 rating combining fundamental and technical strength)
IV Curve Analyzer (validates trade ideas using mean-reverting implied volatility)
Value on Strike (converts asset values to optimal strike prices)
Stock Scenario (finds best strategy for a specific ticker given target price/date)

Excel/Sheets integration: Unlike platforms that keep data locked inside their ecosystem, Option Samurai offers a plugin that imports live options data directly into your spreadsheets. This is rare, and incredibly valuable for traders who’ve built custom models or workflows.

Who’s Actually Using This?

Based on testimonials and user reviews, Option Samurai’s core audience breaks into three groups:

Income traders (50-55%) – Covered call sellers, cash-secured put sellers, wheel strategy practitioners
Spread traders (30-35%) – Iron condor, butterfly, calendar spread traders seeking specific risk/reward setups
Systematic scanners (10-15%) – Traders who run the same scans daily/weekly as part of disciplined process

The platform has strong word-of-mouth growth, with users consistently praising the customer support quality and the founder’s responsiveness to feature requests.

Key Features Breakdown

Custom Options Scanner: The Core Tool

This is Option Samurai’s foundation. The scanner supports 24 different strategies and offers 150+ filters to narrow results to your exact specifications.

Supported Strategies:

Directional: Long call, long put, bull call spread, bull put spread, bear call spread, bear put spread
Neutral/Income: Covered call, cash-secured put (naked put), iron condor, iron butterfly, butterfly spread
Volatility: Straddle, strangle, covered straddle, calendar spread, diagonal spread
Advanced: Ratio spreads, backspreads, collar, synthetic futures

Filter Categories (150+ total):

Fundamental Filters:

Analyst ratings
Dividend dates and yield
Earnings dates
P/E ratio, market cap, sector
Short interest
Samurai Stock Score (1-10 proprietary rating)

Technical Filters:

RSI, MACD, Bollinger Bands
Performance (monthly, quarterly, YTD)
Volume and relative volume
Price vs. moving averages
ATR (Average True Range)

Strategy-Specific Filters:

Expected return (ROI)
Probability of profit
Maximum risk and reward
Breakeven percentage
Days to expiration range
Strike price relative to current price (ITM/ATM/OTM)
Credit/debit amount

Options-Specific Filters:

Implied volatility rank (IV percentile vs. 200-day range)
IV vs. realized volatility ratio
Skew rank (call vs. put pricing imbalance)
Liquidity metrics (volume, open interest)
Greeks (delta, gamma, theta, vega)

How Scanning Works:

Choose a strategy (e.g., “Bull Put Spread”)
Add filters (e.g., IV Rank > 50, ROI > 3%, 30-45 DTE)
Click “Scan” – results appear in seconds
Sort by two columns simultaneously (e.g., highest ROI + lowest max risk)
Color-coded metrics highlight favorable setups
Save scan for future use

Scan Results Display: Results appear in an interactive table showing:

Ticker symbol
Strategy details (strikes, expirations)
Credit/debit amount
Max profit and max risk
Probability of profit
ROI percentage
IV rank
Stock Score
Earnings date proximity

What We Like:

150+ filters cover almost every conceivable criterion
Skew rank filter is unique (hard to find elsewhere)
IV rank calculated as percentage vs. historical makes cross-stock comparisons easy
Can save unlimited custom scans
Results load instantly despite scanning 1.2M+ contracts
Color-coding makes high-probability trades obvious

What Drives Us Crazy:

Can’t create fully custom strategies (limited to 24 pre-built ones)
No backtesting (can’t test “Would this scan have worked in 2023?”)
No unusual options activity tracking (no flow detection)

Pre-Defined Scans: 44 Ready-to-Go Templates

One of Option Samurai’s strongest features is its library of 44 pre-built scans covering common strategies and market conditions. These aren’t throwaway templates, they’re high-quality starting points that save hours of filter configuration.

Scan Categories (with tags):

By Strategy:

Covered calls on dividend aristocrats
Wheel candidates (high-probability CSPs)
Iron condor opportunities
Calendar spreads on earnings
Butterfly spreads in low IV
Straddles for volatile events

By Market Outlook:

Bullish setups (call spreads, long calls)
Bearish setups (put spreads, long puts)
Neutral strategies (condors, butterflies)

By Risk Tolerance:

Conservative (high probability, low ROI)
Moderate (balanced risk/reward)
Aggressive (lower probability, high ROI)

By Special Situations:

Earnings plays
Dividend capture with options
High-IV environments
Low-IV mean reversion

Each scan includes a description explaining:

What the scan looks for
When to use it
Risk considerations
Typical holding period

Example: “Wheel Strategy Candidates” This scan finds stocks suitable for the wheel strategy (selling cash-secured puts, getting assigned, then selling covered calls). Filters include:

IV Rank > 30 (elevated premium)
Stock Score > 6 (quality underlying)
Adequate liquidity (volume > 500)
No earnings in next 21 days
Put strike delta between 0.20-0.35

What We Like:

Saves massive time for new traders learning strategies
High-quality filters (not generic junk)
Tagged for easy discovery
Great educational value (see how experienced traders scan)
Can customize any pre-defined scan and save as your own

What Drives Us Crazy:

Can’t share custom scans with other users (community feature would be valuable)
No performance tracking of pre-defined scans (e.g., “this scan had 68% winners last quarter”)

Trade Log: Track Performance and Improve

Option Samurai’s trade log is a relatively new feature (still in beta) that enables traders to track both paper and live trades, analyze performance, and identify patterns.

What You Can Track:

Premium collected or paid
Current P&L (profit/loss)
ROI percentage
Time decay impact (theta)
Max profit and max loss seen
Days held vs. days to expiration
Strategy type
Ticker symbol
Expiration month

Organization Options:

Group trades by strategy (see which strategies work best for you)
Group by expiration month (analyze time-frame performance)
Group by ticker (identify which underlyings you trade well)
Add notes to each trade (why you entered, what you learned)

Multiple Account Support:

Beginner Plan: 2 accounts max
Advanced Plan: Unlimited accounts

This is useful for traders who want to separate:

Paper trades vs. live trades
Different brokers
Different strategies (e.g., one account for income, one for speculation)

Analysis Tab: After logging trades, you can model adjustments:

Change strike prices
Adjust expiration dates
Modify position sizing
See how changes affect P&L

This helps with trade management decisions (roll, close early, adjust to different spread?).

What We Like:

Purpose-built for options (not generic trade journal)
Easy to add trades directly from scanner results
Notes field for qualitative insights
Grouping by strategy reveals performance patterns
Free for all plan levels (not paywalled)

What Drives Us Crazy:

Still in beta (missing advanced analytics)
Can’t calculate P&L for trade groups (must do manually)
No custom tags (can only use pre-set categories)
Doesn’t connect to brokers (must add trades manually)
No performance visualization (charts/graphs of win rate, ROI over time)

Excel & Google Sheets Integration: Power User Feature

This is where Option Samurai shines for quantitative traders and spreadsheet enthusiasts. The Excel/Google Sheets plugin allows you to import live data directly from Option Samurai into your worksheets.

What You Can Import:

Stock data: Price, volume, fundamentals, technical indicators, analyst ratings, earnings dates, dividend dates
Options data: Specific option contracts (by strike/expiration) or “floating formulas” (e.g., “30-delta call option for ticker in cell A2”)
Strategy data: Multi-leg strategy pricing, Greeks, ROI calculations
Custom calculations: IV rank, skew, realized volatility, expected move

How It Works:

Install Option Samurai plugin for Excel or Google Sheets
Use custom functions (e.g., =SAMURAI_STOCKPRICE("AAPL"))
Reference other cells for dynamic updates (e.g., ticker in B2, function pulls that ticker’s data)
Data refreshes automatically throughout the trading day

Floating Formulas: This is the killer feature. Instead of hardcoding “AAPL 175 call expiring Dec 20,” you can ask for:

“Option with 30 days to expiration, 30 delta, for stock in cell A2”
“Call option 3 strikes OTM for ticker in watchlist”
“Highest volume call expiring next week”

Use Cases:

Custom trade models: Build your own P&L calculator with commission fees, assignment scenarios
Watchlist automation: Import data for 50 tickers, auto-update IV rank, flag opportunities
Backtesting: Import historical option data, test strategy performance
Portfolio tracking: Track multiple positions, calculate aggregate Greeks, risk exposure
Custom scanners: Build spreadsheet-based scanners with your exact logic

Example Template: Covered Call on Dividend Aristocrats Option Samurai provides a pre-built Excel template that:

Lists dividend aristocrats
Pulls current stock prices
Finds optimal covered call strikes (30-45 DTE, 0.20-0.35 delta)
Calculates annualized ROI including dividends
Auto-updates throughout the day

What We Like:

Rare feature (most scanners lock data in platform)
Floating formulas enable truly custom workflows
Works on Excel (desktop and web) and Google Sheets
100s of data points available
Templates provided to get started
Unlimited use cases (limited only by spreadsheet skills)

What Drives Us Crazy:

Requires Advanced Plan ($59/month annual, $75/month monthly)
Learning curve for traders unfamiliar with spreadsheet formulas
Documentation could be more comprehensive (videos would help)
Historical data breadth is limited (not decades of backtest data)

Implied Volatility Tools: Edge-Finding Features

Option Samurai includes several tools specifically designed to analyze implied volatility, a critical factor in options pricing.

IV Curve Analyzer: Compares implied volatility vs. realized (historical) volatility to identify:

Overpriced options (IV > realized volatility = sell premium)
Underpriced options (IV < realized volatility = buy options)
Mean reversion opportunities (IV extreme high/low vs. 200-day range)

The tool displays:

Current IV level
IV percentile (where current IV ranks vs. past 200 days)
Realized volatility (actual stock movement)
IV/RV ratio
Visual chart showing IV curve over time

Skew Analysis: Shows the pricing relationship between calls and puts:

Positive skew: Puts more expensive than calls (fear/hedging demand)
Negative skew: Calls more expensive than puts (greed/FOMO)
Skew rank: Standardized measure making cross-stock comparisons easy

Skew Rank Filter: This is a unique Option Samurai feature. Skew rank quantifies how pronounced the call/put imbalance is, helping traders:

Find underpriced calls when skew favors puts
Find underpriced puts when skew favors calls
Avoid overpriced options on either side

What We Like:

IV vs. RV comparison is powerful for premium sellers
Visual charts make data intuitive
Skew rank filter is unique (hard to find elsewhere)
IV percentile standardization enables cross-stock analysis
Helps validate trade ideas statistically

What Drives Us Crazy:

No historical IV charts showing past cycles (just 200-day range)
Can’t set alerts for IV reaching specific levels
No IV crush prediction for earnings (Market Chameleon does this better)

Stock Scenario Analyzer: Strategy Comparison Tool

The Stock Scenario feature answers a specific question: “What’s the best options strategy for this stock if I think it will reach [target price] by [target date]?”

How It Works:

Enter ticker (e.g., TSLA)
Set target price (e.g., $250)
Set target date (e.g., 45 days from now)
Choose comparison: Bullish, Bearish, or Neutral

What It Shows: Option Samurai scans all possible strategies and ranks them by:

Max return: Highest profit potential
Probability: Highest chance of profit
Risk-adjusted: Best balance of return and probability

Strategies Compared:

Long call/put
Call/put spreads
Straddles/strangles
Condors and butterflies
Diagonal and calendar spreads
Buy and hold stock (for comparison)

Output: For each strategy, you see:

Expected profit/loss at target price
Maximum risk
ROI percentage
Probability of profit
Greeks
P&L chart

This makes it easy to see, for example, that a bull call spread offers 80% of a long call’s upside with 60% less risk.

Saved Scan Discovery: The tool also shows which of your saved scans or pre-defined scans the ticker currently appears in. This is useful for finding opportunities you might have missed.

What We Like:

Answers “best strategy for this stock” quickly
Compares options to buy-and-hold (valuable context)
Visual P&L charts for all strategies
Helps traders expand beyond favorite strategies
Educational value (see how strategies compare)

What Drives Us Crazy:

Limited to single-ticker analysis (can’t compare TSLA vs. NVDA scenarios)
Can’t save scenario results for later review
No historical performance (e.g., “this strategy worked 65% of time in similar setups”)

Mobile Experience: Full Feature Parity

Option Samurai offers a fully responsive mobile interface that works on phones and tablets without compromising functionality.

Available on Mobile:

All scanning features (compose scans, run pre-defined scans)
Trade log access (add trades, view P&L)
Saved scans (access anywhere)
Stock analyzer
Intraday alerts (push notifications)
Analysis tabs

Unlike platforms that offer watered-down mobile versions, Option Samurai’s mobile experience includes everything available on desktop. The interface adapts intelligently to smaller screens without losing critical data.

Scan Watching with Alerts: Set saved scans to be monitored continuously throughout the trading day. When a new ticker matches your criteria, you get:

Push notification (mobile)
Email alert
In-app notification

This is valuable for traders who can’t watch screens all day but want to catch opportunities when they appear.

What We Like:

True feature parity (not “mobile-lite”)
Touch-optimized interface
Fast performance (no lag)
Push notifications work reliably
Can trade idea generation on the go

What Drives Us Crazy:

No dedicated iOS/Android apps (web-based only)
Smaller screen makes 150+ filters harder to navigate (though still functional)
Can’t save screenshots directly from mobile interface

Samurai Stock Score: Proprietary Rating System

Option Samurai assigns every stock a proprietary score from 1-10 combining fundamental and technical factors. This helps traders quickly assess underlying quality without manually checking multiple metrics.

Factors in Stock Score:

Financial health (balance sheet strength, profitability)
Growth metrics (revenue growth, earnings growth)
Valuation (P/E ratio, PEG ratio relative to sector)
Technical strength (price trends, momentum indicators)
Analyst consensus
Short interest

Score Interpretation:

8-10: High-quality stocks (strong fundamentals + technical strength)
6-7: Moderate quality (decent fundamentals, mixed technicals)
4-5: Below average (fundamental or technical weakness)
1-3: Low quality (avoid for conservative strategies)

Use Cases:

Income strategies: Focus on 6+ scores for covered calls/CSPs (want quality underlyings)
Speculation: 4-6 scores acceptable for spreads if opportunity justifies risk
Avoid: 1-3 scores unless specifically hunting distressed situations

The Stock Score is integrated throughout the platform:

Appears in scan results
Available as a filter (e.g., “only show trades on stocks with score > 7”)
Shown in Stock Scenario analyzer

What We Like:

Saves time researching individual stocks
Helps avoid low-quality underlyings
Integrates with scanning workflow
Regularly updated as fundamentals change

What Drives Us Crazy:

Proprietary formula isn’t transparent (can’t see exact weights)
Scores sometimes lag major news events
No historical score tracking (can’t see how score changed over time)

Pricing & Plans Analysis

Option Samurai offers two pricing tiers. Let’s break down what you get and whether it’s worth the cost.

Beginner Plan – $49/month or $39/month (annual)

What’s Included:

Complete custom options scanner (24 strategies, 150+ filters)
All 44 pre-defined scans
Unlimited saved custom scans
Trade log for up to 2 accounts
Stock Scenario analyzer
Implied volatility tools (IV curve, skew analysis)
Samurai Stock Score
Mobile access with full features
14-day free trial (no credit card required)

Annual Pricing: $39/month billed annually ($468/year) = 20% savings vs. monthly

Who It’s For: The Beginner Plan is perfect for traders who:

Scan regularly for specific strategies (covered calls, iron condors, etc.)
Want pre-built scans to learn from
Need trade logging for 1-2 brokerage accounts
Don’t require Excel integration or intraday alerts

For $39/month (annual), this is exceptional value. You’re getting professional scanning capabilities that rival platforms costing 2-3x more.

Verdict: Best value for individual traders focused on scanning and strategy execution.

Advanced Plan – $75/month or $59/month (annual)

What’s Included: Everything in Beginner Plan, plus:

Unlimited trade log accounts (paper and live)
Excel/Google Sheets integration (plugin with 100+ data points, floating formulas)
Intraday email alerts (notified when new tickers match your scans)
Scan watching (continuous monitoring with push notifications)
Premium reports (center of mass, open interest aggregations, unique market insights)

Annual Pricing: $59/month billed annually ($708/year) = 21% savings vs. monthly

Who It’s For: The Advanced Plan targets:

Traders managing multiple brokerage accounts
Spreadsheet power users who want to build custom models
Systematic traders who need intraday alerts
Data enthusiasts who want premium market reports

The Excel/Sheets integration alone justifies the extra $20/month for quant-focused traders. The ability to import live options data into your existing workflows is rare and valuable.

Verdict: Worth upgrading if you use spreadsheets heavily or manage 3+ trading accounts.

Free Trial

Both plans include a 14-day free trial with no credit card required. This is genuinely risk-free, sign up, test all features, and cancel if it’s not right for you.

Pro tip: Start with the Beginner Plan trial. If you find yourself wishing for Excel integration or intraday alerts, upgrade to Advanced. If basic scanning meets your needs, stick with Beginner at $39/month.

Refund Policy

Initial payments: Non-refundable
Monthly renewals: Non-refundable
Annual renewals: Full refund available within 7 days of renewal

This policy is fair, you get 14 days to test risk-free, so initial payments being final makes sense. The 7-day refund window on annual renewals protects users from accidental auto-renewals.

Competitor Pricing Comparison

Scanner	Monthly Price	Annual Price	Key Features
Option Samurai	$49 (Beg)<br>$75 (Adv)	$39/mo (Beg)<br>$59/mo (Adv)	24 strategies, 150+ filters, Excel integration, trade log
Market Chameleon	$99	$79-129/mo	Earnings focus, probability calculator, historical data
OptionStrat	$29.99-89.99	$24.99-74.99/mo	Visual builder, optimizer, mobile app
Barchart	$29.95	$16.67/mo	Futures + options, charting, alerts
Unusual Whales	$49-69	$37-57/mo	Flow tracking, congress trades, dark pool
BlackBoxStocks	$99.97	$67/mo	Flow, stock scanner, community, education

Value Analysis:

Best budget scanner: OptionStrat Live Tools at $29.99/month
Best mid-tier: Option Samurai Beginner at $39/month (strong scanning without flow)
Best for spreadsheet users: Option Samurai Advanced at $59/month (Excel integration)
Best premium: BlackBoxStocks at $99/month (all-in-one with community)

Option Samurai sits in the “sweet spot” for price, more features than OptionStrat’s $29.99 plan, but cheaper than Market Chameleon or BlackBoxStocks. If you don’t need flow tracking or earnings specialization, Option Samurai delivers better value.

Who This Scanner Is Actually Built For

Perfect For:

Income-Focused Traders: If you run the wheel strategy, sell covered calls, or collect premium through cash-secured puts, Option Samurai’s pre-defined scans (dividend aristocrats, high IV wheel candidates) save hours of manual screening. The IV rank filters ensure you’re selling premium when it’s expensive.

Systematic Scanners: Traders who run the same scans daily/weekly as part of a disciplined process will love Option Samurai’s saved scan feature and intraday alerts. Set it up once, run it forever, get notified when opportunities appear.

Spread Traders: If your edge is iron condors, butterflies, or credit spreads, the strategy-specific filters (max risk, probability of profit, ROI targets) make finding optimal setups fast. The Stock Score helps you avoid low-quality underlyings.

Spreadsheet Enthusiasts: Power users who’ve built custom trade models, backtesting systems, or portfolio trackers will appreciate the Excel/Sheets integration. It’s rare to find a scanner that exports live data to your existing workflows.

Mobile-First Traders: If you prefer analyzing trades on your phone or tablet (commute, lunch break, etc.), Option Samurai’s full-featured mobile interface delivers. No compromises.

Not Ideal For:

Flow Traders: Option Samurai doesn’t track unusual options activity or smart money moves. If institutional flow is your primary signal, you need BlackBoxStocks ($99/month), Unusual Whales ($49/month), or FlowAlgo ($149/month).

Earnings Specialists: If earnings plays are your focus, Market Chameleon ($99/month) provides historical earnings move data, IV crush analysis, and probability calculators specifically built for earnings. Option Samurai shows earnings dates but doesn’t specialize here.

Technical Analysis-Heavy Traders: Option Samurai’s charting is minimal, basic price charts and volume. If you rely on Fibonacci retracements, VWAP, Bollinger Bands, or other indicators, you’ll need TradingView or your broker’s platform. Option Samurai focuses on options metrics, not chart analysis.

One-Click Execution Seekers: There’s no broker integration for auto-populating positions or one-click trade execution. You’ll manually enter trades in your broker after finding them in Option Samurai. This adds friction for active traders managing 10+ positions.

Backtesting Enthusiasts: Option Samurai can’t backtest strategies against historical data. The trade log tracks going forward, but you can’t test “Would selling weekly put spreads on SPY at 10 delta have been profitable 2020-2024?” Dedicated backtesting platforms or ORATS handle this better.

What We Like (Honest Pros)

1. Scanning Speed and Efficiency

1.2 million+ options scanned in seconds, this is legitimately fast. Unlike clunky scanners that take 30+ seconds to refresh, Option Samurai returns results instantly. For traders running multiple scans daily, this time savings adds up.

2. Pre-Defined Scan Quality

The 44 pre-built scans aren’t generic templates, they’re high-quality starting points reflecting real trading strategies. Newer traders learn by seeing how experienced traders configure filters. Veteran traders save time by customizing existing scans instead of building from scratch.

3. Workflow Focus

The “Scan → Analyze → Trade” methodology creates discipline. This structured approach prevents impulsive trades and encourages systematic decision-making. Combined with the trade log, you can refine your process over time.

4. Excel/Sheets Integration (Advanced Plan)

This feature is rare and incredibly valuable for quantitative traders. The ability to import live options data into custom spreadsheets enables workflows that locked-ecosystem platforms can’t match. Floating formulas (e.g., “30-delta call for stock in A2”) are particularly powerful.

5. Samurai Stock Score

Having a 1-10 quality rating for every stock saves research time. Instead of manually checking fundamentals, technicals, and analyst ratings, one glance at the Stock Score tells you if the underlying is solid. This helps avoid putting on “good” options trades on terrible stocks.

6. Skew Rank Filter

This is a unique feature that most scanners lack. Being able to quickly identify overpriced calls vs. puts (or vice versa) helps traders find edge. If you’re buying calls, finding stocks where calls are relatively cheap vs. puts can improve entry prices.

7. Mobile Optimization

Full feature parity on mobile is underrated. Many scanners offer “mobile versions” that are barely functional. Option Samurai’s mobile interface lets you run complex scans, check trade logs, and analyze opportunities from anywhere, without compromise.

8. Customer Support

Users consistently praise Option Samurai’s support quality. The founder (Leav Graves) is responsive to feature requests and bug reports. For a small-team platform, the support experience rivals larger companies.

What Drives Us Crazy (Honest Cons)

1. No Options Flow Tracking

At $49-75/month, Option Samurai competes with flow scanners like Unusual Whales ($49/month) and sits below BlackBoxStocks ($99/month). The lack of unusual activity detection is a significant gap. For traders who use flow as a primary signal, this is a dealbreaker.

Our take: If you’re purely a scanner-focused trader, this doesn’t matter. If flow is important, look elsewhere or add a flow tool to your stack.

2. Can’t Create Fully Custom Strategies

You’re limited to 24 pre-built strategies. While these cover 95% of common trades, advanced traders who create unique multi-leg combinations (e.g., custom ratio spreads, broken wing butterflies) will hit limits.

Workaround: Use the Stock Scenario tool and manually adjust legs in your broker. Tedious but functional.

3. Trade Log Still in Beta

The trade log is promising but incomplete. Missing features:

Aggregate P&L for trade groups (must calculate manually)
Custom tags for categorization
Performance visualization (win rate charts, ROI trends over time)
Broker integration (must add trades manually)

Our take: The foundation is solid, but it needs development to compete with dedicated journaling tools like TraderSync or Edgewonk.

4. Limited Charting

Basic price charts and volume are available, but no technical indicators, drawing tools, or advanced analysis. For traders who combine options strategies with technical setups, you’ll need TradingView or your broker’s platform open simultaneously.

Our take: Option Samurai focuses on options metrics, not chart analysis. This isn’t necessarily a flaw, just recognize it’s not an all-in-one solution.

5. No Backtesting

You can’t test strategies against historical data. Questions like “Would selling 0.30 delta put spreads on high IV rank stocks have been profitable 2019-2024?” can’t be answered within Option Samurai.

Competitor advantage: ORATS and specialized backtesting platforms offer this. But they cost $99-299/month.

6. Excel Integration Requires Advanced Plan

At $75/month ($59 annual), the Excel toolbox isn’t available on the cheaper Beginner Plan. For spreadsheet power users, this means you’re forced into the higher tier, even if you don’t need unlimited trade log accounts or premium reports.

Our take: This feels like the one feature that should be available on both plans, perhaps with data point limits on Beginner.

7. Proprietary Stock Score Lacks Transparency

While the 1-10 rating is useful, Option Samurai doesn’t disclose the exact formula or factor weights. Traders who want to understand why a stock scored 7 vs. 6 don’t get that insight.

Workaround: Use Stock Score as a quick filter, then research individual stocks before committing capital.

8. No Broker Integration

You can’t link Option Samurai to your brokerage for auto-population of positions or one-click execution. Every trade requires manual entry in your broker. For active traders building/adjusting 10+ positions weekly, this friction adds up.

Competitor advantage: Platforms like Schwab’s StreetSmart Edge or TD Ameritrade’s thinkorswim have built-in options analyzers that sync automatically.