Options Scanners & Screeners
What Do Options Scanners Do?
Options scanners are automated tools that filter the universe of thousands of option contracts based on your specific criteria, surfacing candidates that match your trading strategy. Instead of manually checking hundreds of stocks daily, a scanner automatically identifies opportunities that meet your rules, saving hours and ensuring you never miss a potential trade.
A scanner works by applying your filters against live market data continuously throughout the trading day. For example, you might set criteria like "IV rank greater than 75%, call volume greater than 1,000, stock price within $5 of 50-day moving average, earnings within 7 days." The scanner runs this filter every second, and whenever a stock meets all conditions simultaneously, it alerts you. This automation is crucial—no human can monitor thousands of stocks manually with this precision.
Key Scan Criteria for Options
IV Rank (Implied Volatility Rank)
IV Rank measures where current implied volatility ranks relative to the stock's historical IV range over the past 52 weeks. An IV Rank of 75% means implied volatility is at the 75th percentile of its annual range—near the high end. IV Rank above 50% indicates elevated volatility, making options more expensive (ideal for sellers). IV Rank below 30% indicates low volatility and cheaper options (ideal for buyers).
Professional income traders scan for IV Rank > 60% to find overpriced options to sell. Directional traders scan for IV Rank < 30% to buy cheap options before volatility expansion.
Volume Criteria
Volume > 1,000 contracts ensures liquidity. Illiquid options have wide bid-ask spreads, making trading expensive. A standard scan for directional setups filters for call volume > 1,000 or put volume > 1,000, depending on your direction. For income strategies, you want high enough volume that you can open and close positions without slippage.
More aggressive scanners filter for volume > 100x average daily volume, identifying unusual activity that may precede big moves.
Earnings Within 7 Days
The week before earnings, implied volatility typically rises sharply as uncertainty increases. Earnings provide a known catalyst. Many traders specifically scan for stocks with earnings coming within 3-7 days, knowing volatility expansion creates opportunity. Earnings straddle sellers target these stocks—high IV before earnings leads to profitable position decay even if the stock doesn't move much.
Delta Range
Delta represents the probability an option finishes in-the-money and approximates the percentage move of the option for every 1% move in the stock. A 0.30 delta call has 30% probability of finishing ITM and moves $0.30 for every $1 move in the stock. Directional traders often scan for delta 0.40-0.60 (near ATM, good leverage with reasonable probability). Income traders prefer delta 0.20-0.30 (OTM, lower probability but smaller collateral).
Days to Expiration (DTE)
DTE is crucial. Options 30+ DTE have meaningful extrinsic value and time decay accelerates in the final 21 days. Many strategies scan for 30-45 DTE because there's enough premium to collect but time decay is starting to accelerate. Short-term traders might filter 7-14 DTE for rapid theta decay. Longer-term directional traders prefer 45-60 DTE for more time for the move to materialize.
TastyTrade Scanner Features
TastyTrade's scanner is one of the most accessible for retail traders. It provides real-time screening with pre-built scans for common strategies: unusual activity, high IV rank, earnings-driven moves, and more. You can save custom scans and receive alerts when criteria are met.
Pre-built Scans: TastyTrade offers templates for cash-secured puts, covered calls, bull calls, bear calls, straddles, and more. These templates have sensible defaults but are fully customizable.
Custom Criteria: You can combine any of these: IV Rank, volume, DTE, delta, bid-ask spread, price level, moving average relationships, earnings dates, and unusual activity.
Alerts: When your scan finds candidates, you get real-time alerts. You can choose email, push notifications, or browse the results anytime in your dashboard.
Backtesting: TastyTrade integrated backtesting. You can run your scan rules against historical data to see how many trades would have been generated and what the P&L would have been.
Thinkorswim Scan Setup
Thinkorswim (TD Ameritrade's platform) has powerful built-in scanning via its Scan tab. You define a scan using thinkorswim's custom syntax (think scripts), which can reference any technical indicator or fundamental data.
Example Scan for High IV Rank Income Plays:
iv(IVRank) > 60 AND volume(100000) > 100 AND close(100000) > 100 AND put.ImpVolatility() > 30
This scans for stocks with IV Rank above 60%, at least 100,000 shares in daily volume, closing price above $100, and put options with implied volatility above 30%. These are ideal candidates for selling puts to collect premium.
Example Scan for Earnings Straddle Trades:
daystoexp(40) <= 45 AND daystoexp(40) >= 30 AND fundamentals().earnings_date() != null AND iv(IVRank) > 50
This finds stocks with 30-45 days to expiration of the options you're monitoring, with an earnings date coming, and IV Rank above 50% (earnings volatility premium).
Free vs. Paid Scanner Tools
| Tool | Cost | Key Strengths |
|---|---|---|
| TastyTrade Scanner | Free (with account) | Easy UI, pre-built templates, alerts, backtesting |
| Thinkorswim Scan | Free (with TD account) | Powerful custom coding, technical indicators, real-time |
| Unusual Whales | Free + Paid tiers | UOA tracking, flow analysis, real-time alerts |
| OptionStrat | Paid ($199-499/mo) | Backtesting, strategy optimization, education |
| FlowAlgo | Paid ($199-499/mo) | Professional flow tracking, dark pool integration |
| Benzinga Pro | Paid ($99-399/mo) | Real-time alerts, economic data, news integration |
Building Custom Scans
Income Setup Scan (Covered Calls)
Goal: Find liquid stocks with high IV Rank to sell calls against.
Criteria:
IV Rank > 60%, Call volume > 500, Delta (call) 0.20-0.30, DTE 30-45, Stock price > $20, Bid-ask spread < $0.15, Stock above 200-day MA
This scan identifies ideal covered call candidates: stocks in uptrends with expensive options that you can sell for income. The IV Rank ensures the premium is elevated. The delta range targets OTM calls (you'd be happy to get called away above 30-delta). The volume ensures exits are easy.
Directional Setup Scan (Bull Calls)
Goal: Find liquid stocks showing bullish technicals with reasonable options premiums.
Criteria:
Stock > 50-day MA AND < 52-week high, Call volume > 1,000, Delta (call) 0.40-0.60, DTE 30-45, IV Rank 40-70, Stock price > $20
This identifies momentum names (above 50-day MA but room to 52-week high) with ATM-ish calls (0.40-0.60 delta) good for directional leverage. The IV Rank isn't super high (you're buying, so you want reasonable premiums). The volume ensures liquidity.
Earnings Strangle Scan
Goal: Find liquid names with earnings coming with high IV.
Criteria:
Earnings within 3-7 days, IV Rank > 60%, Call volume > 1,000, Put volume > 1,000, Stock price > $50, DTE matching earnings (typically 3-7 days before)
This finds earnings plays. High IV means overpriced strangles (good for selling). Volume ensures you can get out if you need to. A strangle is selling both OTM calls and OTM puts, collecting premium from both sides. Earnings volatility expansion makes this attractive.
Scanning for Income Setups (High IV Rank + Liquid)
Income traders thrive on selling overpriced options. Your scan should prioritize IV Rank > 60% combined with high liquidity (volume > 1,000, tight bid-ask). Add technical confirmation: stock near resistance (good risk/reward for cash-secured puts) or in a mild uptrend (good for covered calls).
The key adjustment for income: you want high IV (sell high, benefit from decay), but you don't want stocks that might crash (destroying your profit). So combine IV Rank > 60% with relative stability (price > 50-day MA, no major negative catalysts).
Scanning for Directional Setups (Trend + OTM Options)
Directional traders want stocks with momentum (above key moving averages, positive technicals) where options are relatively cheap (IV Rank < 60%, or at least not extreme). You're buying leverage, so you need reasonably priced options. Combine technical strength with delta targeting 0.40-0.70 (good leverage, reasonable probability).
Add volume > 1,000 and DTE 30-45 (enough time for your thesis to play out, but time decay working in your favor as you close positions at profit). This creates a scanner focused on technical breakouts with liquid options at fair prices.
Saving and Automating Scans
Once you've built a scan that works for your strategy, save it. Most platforms allow saving scans for repeated use. Set your scan to run continuously during market hours. Configure alerts via email or app notification so you're notified when candidates appear.
Workflow: Market opens → Scan runs automatically → Alert fires when candidate found → You review the chart and technicals → You place the trade if setup looks good.
The time savings are significant. A trader manually checking 500 stocks daily would spend 5+ hours. A scan does it in milliseconds, 24 times per second during market hours.
Real Examples of Profitable Scan Results
Example 1: Your "Earnings + High IV" scan alerts on Nvidia with earnings in 4 days, IV Rank at 72%, call volume 8,000, put volume 6,500. You sell an ATM straddle (sell call + put at the current strike). IV is so elevated that time decay works heavily in your favor. The stock moves 8%, well within the strangle width, and you close at 60% profit in 3 days.
Example 2: Your "Bullish Technical + Cheap Calls" scan identifies Microsoft 2 days after it breaks above key resistance, stock > 52-week high, calls with IV Rank 35%, call volume 5,000. You buy calls and the stock rallies 12% over the next 3 weeks, turning a $200 premium paid into a $1,800 profit from the directional move plus gamma expansion.
Example 3: Your "Income on Quality Names" scan finds Apple with IV Rank 68%, call volume 15,000, stock in mild uptrend. You sell covered calls against 100 shares. Theta decay + IV crush work in your favor. Even if Apple stays flat, you collect the full premium ($240) and can repeat next week with fresh premium.
Key Terms Glossary
Summary
Options scanners transform your trading by automating the search for opportunities that meet your strategy's criteria. Whether you're seeking high IV rank options for income, directional setups with bullish technicals, or earnings-driven plays, a well-configured scanner continuously monitors thousands of options and alerts you when candidates emerge. Free platforms like TastyTrade and thinkorswim provide excellent scanning capabilities. The key is building scans that match your strategy, adding technical confirmation to filter false signals, and automating execution through alerts. Professional traders have used scanners for decades; now they're accessible to all retail traders, creating a powerful edge in the options market.