FirmTape vs MenthorQ (2026)
SPX dealer-gamma levels, head to head · MenthorQ's pages read 2026-10-03
MenthorQ sells gamma levels and 60+ quant models across 1,000+ tickers including futures options, delivered into TradingView and ten trading platforms, with an academy and a 7,000-member community. FirmTape measures SPX dealer positioning from the options tape, rebuilt every second while the session runs, and gives away 1,122 finished sessions with no account. The table is what each vendor's own pages state, and one row is marked amber against us on purpose.
| FirmTape | MenthorQ | |
|---|---|---|
| Price / month | $0 archive · $49 live | $129–349 · first month $39–174.50 |
| Free tier | 1,122 sessions + today delayed | Free forever, delayed preview |
| Symbols | SPX every second + 100 on snapshots | 1,000+ incl. ES, NQ, RTY, CL, GC |
| Inspectable history | 1,122 sessions, free, since 2022 | 30 days of end-of-day levels |
| Dealer side | Convention on volume; tape-signed view too | From futures-options chains, method not stated |
| Backtests your rule | Yes: LAB, out-of-sample | Not stated |
| MCP for AI assistants | Live, in the registry | Not stated |
| API | Yes: levels and Lab APIs, OpenAPI | Not stated |
| Publishes null results | Yes: /research | Not stated |
| Sells signals | Never | Q-Score momentum, model levels |
| Community / education | None | Discord, academy, mentorship (Pro) |
| ES/NQ futures levels | Yes: SPX and NDX books by a parity basis, no CME data | Yes: real CME futures-options chains, or a ratio or spread conversion |
Where MenthorQ is stronger
- Futures options natively. Levels computed on the ES, NQ, RTY, CL and GC option chains rather than mapped from SPX or SPY. If you trade the futures, that is the instrument you hold.
- Where you already chart. A TradingView integration and ten platform integrations (NinjaTrader, Sierra Chart, Bookmap, Quantower and more), established. FirmTape's integrations for nine platforms are in beta, and its TradingView script takes pasted levels rather than a live feed.
- Breadth and education. 1,000+ tickers, 500+ hours of academy video, daily newsletters, a 7,000-member community, and weekly mentorship on the Pro tier. FirmTape has none of that by design.
- A permanent free tier. Delayed previews of the models, the academy and the Discord, with no card and no expiry.
Where FirmTape is stronger
- History you can walk. Every finished SPX session since 2022, free, replayed minute by minute, with what price did next to every level. MenthorQ's history indicator carries up to 30 days of end-of-day levels; its pages state no replay.
- A backtester. The LAB turns a plain-words rule into an out-of-sample verdict against an honest baseline. MenthorQ's pages state none.
- A stated method, with its error bars. FirmTape says exactly how the dealer side is inferred and publishes how often that inference is wrong. MenthorQ states the data source (futures-options chains) and not the method.
- Inside the assistant. A live MCP server and an OpenAPI-described Lab API. MenthorQ ships QUIN, its own AI assistant, inside its product; its pages state no MCP or public API.
- Price for one symbol. $49 a month live, $0 for the archive, against $129 a month after the first-month coupon.
The row we lose
FirmTape's dealer side is inferred: each print is signed by which side of the spread the aggressor hit, and the book is rebuilt from that. The inference is good in some regimes and poor in others, and rather than describe it with an adjective the site publishes the measurements: which gamma measure sees anything and which book is the zero-gamma flip. MenthorQ's pages describe their positioning as computed from the futures-options chains; how well that works is not something their pages let a reader check, which is the difference this page is about rather than a claim that ours is better.
Who should pick which
Questions people ask
- Is FirmTape a MenthorQ alternative?
- For SPX gamma levels, yes. FirmTape measures SPX from the tape, carries 100+ more symbols from chain snapshots and adds a free archive, a backtester and an MCP server; MenthorQ covers 1,000+ tickers with native futures-options levels, TradingView and platform integrations, an academy and a community.
- How much does MenthorQ cost compared with FirmTape?
- MenthorQ lists Premium at $129 a month and Pro at $349 a month after a discounted first month of $39 and $174.50, with a permanent free tier on delayed data (read 2026-10-03). FirmTape is $49 a month or $490 a year for the live stream; the finished-session archive is free.
- Does MenthorQ have a TradingView indicator, and does FirmTape?
- MenthorQ does, plus integrations with ten trading platforms. FirmTape has one in beta: a TradingView script fed by a levels string copied from the account page, since TradingView cannot fetch data, beside beta integrations for eight more platforms, all in the LIVE plan.
- Which one shows history?
- FirmTape replays every SPX session since 2022 with the levels of the minute and what price did; MenthorQ's history indicator plots up to 30 days of end-of-day levels, and its pages state no replay.
Check the archive first See pricing
Other comparisons
“Not stated” means the vendor's own public pages did not state it when they were read; it is not a claim that the thing does not exist. Competitor details were read from the vendor's own public pages on 2026-10-03; the ES/NQ futures row on 2026-09-30, and a blank there means that reading did not cover the vendor. The details are reproduced for comparison only. They change without notice, so check the source before relying on any of them. No affiliation with, or endorsement by, any product named. Not investment advice.