Full-fledged Options Chain Simulator in TradesViz

Update (Aug 2026): The options simulator now has a redesigned, streamlined workspace - one-click session loading, a no-scroll layout with a persistent order dock, and named layout presets. The walkthrough below still explains how trading works, but the loading flow and on-screen layout have changed. Jump to the Aug 2026 redesign notes to see what is new.

This is one of our biggest features in 2023. For the first time *ever*, you can simulate your options trades in TradesViz itself. 

To our knowledge, there are no other online OPTIONS simulation tools available - one that can work with the same feature set as our stock/future/forex simulator. 

In this blog post, we will unveil and talk about all the features of our new full-fledged options simulator. 

First, we will celebrate the differences between our existing options spread simulator and this options chain simulator. You can find more info about our existing options spread simulator here: https://www.tradesviz.com/blog/options-execution-simulation/.

1. The options execution simulator is primarily for learning the correlations between the underlying along with the charting of the options spread/legs. This means you can view the exact options OHLC chart, and view the exact pnl per minute for the options strategy you are trying to simulate.
2. This options simulator on the other hand is primarily for trading practice. It is designed to be just like the option chain you see in your trading platform. You can place orders, see them get filled in real-time and check your pnl then and there as it's automatically logged to your journal. There are no options OHLC charting in this simulator but we may add it in the future. 
3. The key difference is:
   1. If you want to really learn the options vs price vs pnl correlations for complex strategies, check the options executions simulator.
   2. If you want to practice and improve your real-time options trading, use this options simulator.

You can visit the options simulator by clicking on the 3-line icon on the top right corner of your dashboard and clicking on the "Options simulator" option.

Once you launch the option simulator page, you will see a screen similar to that of our multi-chart-simulator with a central control section at the top.

1. Select the symbol you want to simulator (US stocks and indices. For example, you can type in SPX to simulate an SPX options chain) 
2. Select the date (data since 2022 Jan is available)
3. Press the Load Session button (in the new Aug 2026 layout; older screenshots below show a "Play"/"Apply changes" button that did the same thing)

Once you load the session, you will see the options chain load up. Please note that depending on the total volume of trades made that day, loading options can take up to a few minutes. 

This is the same advanced table we use for our pivot tables in the main dashboard so you can expect the highest speed, and zero lag when it comes to table-related operations.

After you see both the chart and the options chain, the session is ready. (In the Aug 2026 layout it opens paused - press the Play button to start the replay. In older versions it started automatically.) Then you can start trading.

Trading using the TradesViz options chain is very simple:

1. Click on any bid or ask the cell to sell and buy respectively. 
2. Clicking on any of the cells will immediately place a "pending to send" order in the order box (the Draft tab of the order dock in the Aug 2026 layout; right below the chain in older layouts).
3. You can then send the order as either a limit or market order.
4. Note that you can select multiple executions at once thus creating options strategies like you would in any normal chain.

Here is a video demo of simple options simulation execution of options legs on an AAPL chain:

The order section has multiple buttons on the left side of each order/row:

• Delete Order: This will close or remove the order if it is in "pending to send" or in the "submitted" state. Active/filled orders cannot be canceled.
• Repeat Order: This will create a clone/copy of the order as a "pending to send" order in the orders table.
• Close Order: This will create a clone/copy of the order with the opposite side as a "pending to send" order in the orders table.
• Send Order: Sends an order to be simulated with the current state of the running options chain.

Each order can be in one of 4 stats:

1. Pending submit: This is the state when an order has just been created (by clicking on bid/ask in the chain or by cloning an exiting order)
2. Submitted: An order is changed to the submitted state when it is sent to the simulator and is waiting for a fill. In this state, you can still cancel the order.
3. Filled: Once there is a price match (either market or limit), an order is considered filled and an entry is automatically added to your journal.
4. Canceled: Orders that are canceled are just there for your reference and cannot be re-sent - however, you can clone them.

The live chart sits next to the options chain (below the order entry in older layouts) - this chart is similar to the chart in our regular stock/future simulators where you will see movements in the seconds-level. You can freely change the timeframe of the chart and this chart will also show your options executions.

As with our other simulators, you can easily speed up the simulation process by up to 100x, pause, and also seek to any time of the day, and all the elements - options chain and the table will be updated/refreshed accordingly.

Remember that all your executed orders are saved to the trading account you choose at the top right corner. We suggest creating a dedicated account for your simulation trades. All your orders are also shown at the bottom with the pnl and all the relevant details.

That completes the walkthrough of the options simulation on TradesViz. A first in trade journaling, and even in the entire FinTech SaaS space. Here are some tips we have for you to effectively use the simulator:

• When you start the simulator, wait for a few seconds so that all the charts are loaded completely.
• Loading very frequently traded options like 0-DTE SPX or SPY options can take some time.
• Experiment with limit and market orders to see how your options strategy would work - spreads in options are very important and the TradesViz options simulator is the best place to experience this in real time. 
• Adjust your strikes range by using the dropdown at the top left corner of the chain. By default, the options chain table shows ALL the expires and 10 strikes (each above and below the current price). You can also use the filters in the table itself - by hovering your mouse pointer over the columns and clicking on 3 lines icon > filter icon to filter this with even finer detail. 

 Update Sep 2025:

You can now resize the options simulator layout charts by dragging the border lines between the charts. This works well with the already available multi-layout mode. Double-clicking the border will reset the size. Check the video below!

Update May 2026:

You can now see the live pnl of your trades as you place orders - this will be available at the top of the options chain section.

Update Aug 2026: New streamlined workspace

We have completely rebuilt the options simulator workspace to be faster and far less cluttered. All the core trading mechanics are exactly the same - you still click a bid to sell or an ask to buy, stage multi-leg orders, send market/limit/stop orders, watch them fill against the real historical chain, and every fill is still logged automatically to your journal. What changed is how you load a session and how everything is arranged on screen.

• One-click session loading. Pick your symbol, date, start time and account, then press a single Load Session button. There is no more separate "Apply changes" step. A loaded session now opens ready and paused, and the Play button only controls replay - it never loads data. So the old "click Play to generate the chain, then click Play again to run" confusion is gone.
• No-scroll trading workspace. The options chain and the underlying chart now sit side by side at the top, with a persistent order dock along the bottom. You can stage, submit, monitor and close orders without ever scrolling the page.
• Organized order dock. Orders are split into clear tabs instead of one mixed table: Draft (staged legs you have not sent yet), Working Orders (submitted, waiting to fill), Positions (currently open, with live PnL and a one-click Close), and History (filled, closed and journal-logged orders).
• Faster order entry. Editing quantity, side or price is now single-click (no more double-clicking cells), the submit button clearly shows how many legs you are placing (for example "Place 2 orders"), and clicking a bid/ask gives instant visual feedback so you always know the click registered.
• Named layout presets. Instead of numbered layouts, choose Balanced, Chain Focus or Chart Focus, then drag the dividers to fine-tune the split. Your layout and divider positions are saved automatically.
• Prefer the old stacked look? Click the pin icon on the order dock and it drops below the chart in a classic, scrolling layout - handy if you are used to the previous UI.
• Cleaner header and PnL. Once loaded, the setup controls collapse into a compact session chip, with the replay controls and your Open / Closed / Total PnL all in one tidy row. Use Change session on the chip to load a different symbol or date.

In short: everything you already know about placing and simulating options orders works the same - this update is purely about making the whole workflow quicker, clearer and easier to use. The screenshots and video earlier in this post show the previous layout, but the buttons and steps map directly onto the new one.

Update Aug 2026: Live implied volatility and greeks in the chain

The options simulator now calculates implied volatility and the greeks live, on every replay tick. As you step through the day, each contract's IV, delta, gamma, theta and vega are solved from the actual historical bid/ask on the tape, and they keep re-pricing as the underlying moves - not just when that contract happens to trade.

This was the one thing missing from the simulator. You could always see what a contract cost; now you can see why it cost that, and what it will do next.

• Choose how much you want to see. A new Greeks selector sits in the chain toolbar with three settings: IV + Delta (the default, shown above), All greeks (adds gamma, vega and theta to both sides), and Off if you prefer the original clean chain. Your choice is remembered.
• Mirrored around the strike. Calls read outward from the strike and puts read outward the other way, so IV and delta always sit closest to the money on both sides and the two wings stay easy to compare at a glance.
• Net position greeks in the header. Next to your Open / Closed / Total PnL you now get live Δ, Γ, Θ and V totals across every open leg. Delta is shown in share-equivalents of the underlying, theta is per calendar day, and vega is per 1 volatility point. Stage a spread, send it, and watch the numbers move as the replay runs.
• Per-position greeks too. The Positions tab has optional Pos Delta / Gamma / Theta / Vega columns, so you can see which leg is actually carrying your risk instead of only the net.
• Priced against a proper forward. For each expiry we solve the forward price directly from put-call parity in the chain itself. That sounds technical, but it is what makes the delta trustworthy: it automatically accounts for dividends on stocks, and on index sessions it accounts for the gap between the futures-based chart and the index the options actually settle against. No settings for you to get wrong.
• Empty cells are deliberate. Deep in the wings, and in the last minutes before expiry, an option's price stops responding to volatility at all - at that point its IV genuinely is not recoverable from the price. Those cells are left blank rather than filled with a confident-looking number that means nothing. If you see a gap, that is the simulator being honest, not broken.
• SPX and SPXW no longer share a row. On monthly expiration Fridays, the AM-settled index contracts and the PM-settled weeklies share the same date and the same strikes but are completely different instruments that expire hours apart. They are now kept separate, with a Root column shown whenever a session contains more than one. The same applies to adjusted equity contracts such as AAPL1, which no longer mix into the standard chain.

Everything here is computed in your browser from data the simulator already loads, so there is no extra loading time and no slowdown during replay, even at high speed.

That's it for now! Please let us know your feedback by emailing us at [email protected]. We have improved the other simulators (single and multi-chart) based on your feedback since the launch, and we are looking forward to doing the same with this feature also! 

We hope that, with this feature, we are making TradesViz the #1 platform for journaling, simulation, analyzing, and more for not just stock/futures/forex traders, but for options traders as well.