Predicting future price movements requires using the best order flow software that aligns with your trading style. You need visual tools to grasp complex market data to identify trends, resistance levels, and potential trading opportunities, which inform your trading decisions.

What is order flow?

Order flow provides traders with a deep insight into the supply and demand dynamics of the equities market. It informs traders like you in real-time about the incoming orders, their prices, and sizes, which you can use to determine their subsequent impact on price.

There are different tools and indicators to analyze the market's direction. This article outlines the top 5 best order flow software for day traders in 2023 so they can react promptly to emerging trade opportunities.

1. BigShort

Overview

BigShort offers the best charts for day traders navigating a rigged market. It has disrupted the trading industry by making its advanced suite of tools available to the public. The platform's founder, Tae Jo, has used these tools to turn $139 thousand into $10 million, proven by posted tax returns and brokerage statements.

This innovative platform seamlessly integrates visualizations of options flow, dark pool prints, and exclusive SmartFlow and Manipulation algorithms into a comprehensive real-time chart for S&P 500 and Nasdaq tickers. The order flow software empowers traders with unprecedented market insight, previously confined to industry insiders, exposing the reality of the rigged market to retail traders.

BigShort helps traders gauge market sentiment. It combines cutting-edge data science and software engineering, scanning millions of quotes per second to deliver insights into market dynamics. It is the only day trading platform to provide a comprehensive view of true leading stock market indicators, superior to the candlestick charts on investment management portfolios.  They can't provide a full picture of what goes behind the scenes, like dark pool trading or the sweeps and blocks of the derivatives market.

At the core of BigShort's success is its comprehensive chart-SmartFlow. This chart showcases reversals in institutional money flows and market maker sentiment, presenting a unique predictive data set for future price movements. This levels the playing field for day traders, offering a comprehensive view of leading stock market indicators.

BigShort's impact has not gone unnoticed, as it received recognition from Benzinga, a leading financial media company for next-gen investors. It became one of the finalists for the category of Best New Product. On November 13, 2023, it was honored with the title of Best Order Flow Analytics, solidifying its position as a game-changer in the trading industry.

Features

Some players in the market win consistently year after year, whereas retail, for the most part, loses every year due to the lack of information. By democratizing access to its sophisticated toolset, BigShort empowers traders with real-time insights, providing the best charts for every ticker in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq.

SmartFlow

Empowering users to distinguish between smart money and momentum money, SmartFlow offers live data for all NYSE and Nasdaq tickers and historical 5-minute charts going back four years. This proprietary algorithm, rigorously forward-tested, was used to transform an initial investment of $139k into an impressive $10 million. Traders benefit from real-time visibility into covert Smart Money activity presented in a clear, actionable format.

UltraFlow

Capitalizing on machine learning insights, UltraFlow operates on a big data algorithm processing millions of data points per second. This delivers unparalleled insight into the market's most prominent and most liquid instruments.

OptionFlow

OptionFlow of BigShort lists the options blocks, sweeps, and splits in real-time. Each is analyzed and labeled bearish, bullish, or neutral. Everything is laid onto the SmartFlow chart to allow day traders to make fast decisions.

Dark Pool Points

Over 30% of all trading volume goes through dark pools, yet no other order flow software displays them like BigShort. Dark pool prints are large-volume backroom deals made by institutions over private exchanges. The day trading platform charts these covert transactions for traders to spot support and resistance levels easily.

Manipulation

The Manipulation indicator approximates market maker positioning, offering traders enhanced market clarity. By gauging market maker sentiment and positioning data in real-time, traders can understand where price direction is being guided.

Daily Short Analysis

In addition to these features, BigShort conducts daily short analyses for all Nasdaq and NYSE tickers. The platform features intermittent BSS (BigShort Squeeze) signals that alert traders to rapid stock price increases, prompting short sellers to exit quickly to avoid losses. The platform also displays short volume charts, visualizing under-appreciated and under-utilized actionable information for traders when a short position is opened for buying and selling derivatives.

BigShort also features dynamically updated top 10 lists to locate the most active SmartFlow and Manipulation charts for the day. Furthermore, the closed-system price alert, Spodin, informs users of price targets via call or text message, allowing them to trade without compromising their price targets in PFOF streams.

The day trading platform has proven and back-tested leading indicators that work. Many have used its signals to quickly interpret the magnitude of incoming data, resulting in faster-trading decisions. They also have a very active Discord channel, where users share trading ideas and talk directly to the BigShort team. Their comprehensive suite of tools, their all-in-one charting views, and proprietary backtested signals are the reasons why we've chosen them as the number one platform for day traders.

2. BlackBoxStocks

Overview

BlackBoxStocks empowers traders with the tools, resources, and community needed to succeed in the competitive field of stocks and options trading. It offers a comprehensive suite of features suitable for beginner and experienced traders to stay ahead of the market and make informed trading decisions.

It supports both stocks and options trading. While they do not have true leading indicators, Blackbox Stocks employ predictive technology and leverage artificial intelligence to detect unusual market activity that can sometimes lead to rapid changes in stock prices. It can continuously scan options markets like Nasdaq, CBOE, and the NY Stock Exchange, analyzing over 10,000 stocks and nearly 1.5 million options contracts multiple times per second.

It provides real-time market data, analytics, and social interaction within a user-friendly interface. BlackBoxStocks has a growing base of users located in 42 countries. It gives them a fully interactive social media platform where they can exchange information and ideas through a common network.

Features

Options Flow Scanner

BlackBoxStocks track large purchases in specific Options Contracts, which allows them to monitor the trades in real-time and follow the smart money. It has a wide array of filters users can apply to focus on the specific type of market data that fits their trading strategy.

Dark Pool Scanner

Users can track dark pool prints using the dark pool scanner and get insight into where major players are making impactful market transactions.

BlackBoxStocks features a dark pool volume profile that can show at which price points a large trade volume is occurring. Traders can leverage this information to plot secondary support and resistance levels for trade entries and exits.

Institutional Grade Charting

BlackBoxStocks offers a charting system with numerous time and display settings. This extends to libraries of drawing tools and proprietary studies like net options delta, gamma exposure, etc. Traders can compare different symbols across any mix of studies for analysis and gain valuable information for all trading strategies.

BlackBoxStocks uses proprietary algorithms to locate the most active stocks, even before the market opens. It features automated scanners that can send alerts that direct traders to profitable opportunities in the market.

Blackbox Stocks also offers boot camps to train the basics of day trading, making the platform a great option for those just starting trading.

3. Cheddar Flow

Overview

Cheddar Flow is a modern options order flow platform that offers insights into smart money traders and hedge funds' latest moves. It provides fast, reliable market data, delivering information quickly and accurately within an intuitive interface.

CheddarFlow scans the market for unusual options activity, detecting large or influential orders to alert traders of potential trade opportunities. It also intelligently highlights orders, providing options for order flow traders with high precision and real-time market data so they can uncover hidden opportunities.

Cheddar Flow follows fast-moving sweep orders across multiple exchanges and compiles the data, empowering day traders with insights into the market's most significant shifts in bullish and bearish directions. It provides access to a large database of unusual options and order flow, informing the decision of users to make big plays.

Features

Advanced Filters

It contains advanced filters so day traders can quickly locate market information. It features over 30 different sets of filters and slider controls, which they can drag to adjust the expected premium, contract size, and expiration date.

Advanced Charting

Powered by TradingView, Cheddar Flow also provides access to charts on active stock symbols with unusual options order flow activity.

Dark Pool History

CheddarFlow can list dark pool history, which traders can use to search and backtest for dark pool trading, even uncover trends and unique insights. They can also export their data, including intraday data, historical data ranges, and the entire market data per symbol.

AI Power Alerts

Day traders are informed to make profitable decisions with AI power alerts. Cheddar Flow features detailed option alert aggregations, which can give them a comprehensive view of the contract performance, enabling them to identify sentiment, spot cheap option contracts, and understand volatility.

Cheddar Flow is perfect for day traders who only seek access to option order flow information. While no system is perfect, it is a powerful tool to inform and improve trading strategies.

4. FlowAlgo

Overview

FlowAlgo tracks option order flow and alerts day traders of notable orders that take place in the stock and equity options markets. It actively monitors the tape market-wide, including the order type size, speed of the order, etc., keeping everything front and center for real-time insights.

FlowAlgo marks the orders its algorithm deems as having a high potential of being market-moving. It alerts traders of block trades as they happen, making order data available at any time, on demand.

Features

FlowAlgo tracks the multi-exchange footsteps of Intermarket Sweep orders, even when they stay under the radar. It consolidates the data by tallying up the multiple small orders to reveal the major size. It provides the data in a format the trader can analyze and use right away.

FlowAlgo can also track option block orders, which are executed from the public auction market, leveling the playing field for traders across levels, including institutions. It can also reveal what goes on behind in the dark pools. Traders can use dark pool order data (dark pool prints) as key markers to help gauge direction, acting as support or resistance levels when tested.

FlowAlgo can also alert traders when it spots large blocks exposed or hidden in the markets. All data is revealed on the dashboard in real-time. It also features filters, which traders can use to sort through intraday and historical data by applying multiple tickers and date ranges.

FlowAlgo simplifies option order flow tracking for traders at all levels. It has straightforward functionality that is suitable for beginners who are new to options trading and want to make higher percentage options trades. We feel their price point is a bit high for their limited offering, which is why they are not higher on the list.

5. Unusual Whales

Overview

Unusual Whales levels the playing field for retail traders and builds awareness of news topics like corporate lobbying in the US. It utilizes a variety of different data sources to bring fast and accurate market data, starting from options flow data to dark pool prints and a market news feed.

It presents option flow information in an easily readable table, which users can filter and customize. By tracking every transaction, it provides a variety of supplemental views and feeds tailored to help retail investors identify potential opportunities that can yield the highest profit.

Features

Unusual Whales highlights notable option order moves so traders can gauge the market sentiment. It also provides advanced charts and charting tools they can utilize to analyze stocks. These visualizations allow them to track the movement of the flow and even gain insight into past options activity to spot market trends.

Their option profit calculator is helpful to visualize potential profit and loss, and users can set up alerts based on custom criteria.

It contains all the necessary features to help retail traders follow option flow. However, the data it presents to free users is limited or delayed, from the options flow feed to the hottest contracts and flow alerts. Users must subscribe to tri-annual or lifetime plans to get the most out of the order flow software and gain access to its research tools to help retail traders discover trade opportunities and monitor their positions.

Conclusion

Navigating the dynamic and sometimes rigged landscape of the modern stock market demands cutting-edge tools that provide real-time insights into order flow. As outlined in this article, the top 5 order flow software platforms for day traders in 2023 offer unique features and capabilities to empower traders in making informed decisions.

Leading the pack is BigShort, a game-changer that has disrupted the trading industry with its advanced suite of tools, democratizing access to sophisticated order flow data. Recognized by Benzinga and awarded the title of Best Order Flow Analytics, BigShort's SmartFlow chart and comprehensive features, including UltraFlow, OptionFlow, Dark Pool Points, Manipulation, and Daily Short Analysis, position it as the number one platform for day traders.

In a landscape where information is key, these top 5 order flow software platforms equip day traders with the tools needed to navigate the complexities of the stock market, identify trends, and seize trading opportunities, ultimately enhancing their chances of success in the ever-evolving world of trading.