Options Strategy Builder

Last reviewed: May 17, 2026 by Options Analysis Suite Research.

Design, analyze, and compare multi-leg options strategies with real-time pricing and risk metrics. Choose from 45+ pre-built strategies or construct custom positions. Black-Scholes pricing is free. Advanced models and features are available with a Professional subscription. Open the strategy builder.

• 10 Pricing Models: Build and price strategies using Black-Scholes, Binomial, Monte Carlo, Heston, Jump Diffusion, SABR, Variance Gamma, Local Volatility, FFT, and PDE solvers.
• 7 Exotic Option Types: Price Asian, Barrier, Lookback, Digital, Compound, Chooser, and Multi-Asset options alongside standard vanilla contracts.
• Exotic Strategy Insight Cards: When an exotic model is selected on a single-leg strategy, a dedicated insight card appears with strategy-level analysis: DCA vs lump sum comparisons, stop-loss level cost analysis across multiple barrier levels, trailing stop trail-width comparisons, prediction market fair probability extraction, buy-now vs wait-for-clarity timing analysis with LEAP roll scenarios, straddle vs chooser capital efficiency, and multi-asset correlation sensitivity stress tests. Each card compares the exotic price against a vanilla Black-Scholes reference to answer the real trading questions these models were built to solve.
• Pre-Built Strategies: Covered calls, cash-secured puts, vertical spreads, iron condors, butterflies, calendars, straddles, strangles, ratio spreads, and more.
• Custom Leg Builder: Add unlimited legs with any combination of calls, puts, and stock.
• P&L Payoff Diagrams: Visual profit/loss at expiration with break-even points highlighted.
• Aggregated Greeks: Net position Greeks across all legs for unified risk view.
• What-If Analysis: Model price, volatility, and time changes to see strategy impact.
• Strategy Comparison: Compare multiple strategies side-by-side.

Why Multi-Leg Greeks Aggregation Matters

A two-leg vertical spread is not just two contracts side-by-side. Its Greeks profile is qualitatively different from either leg alone. The long leg contributes positive gamma while the short leg contributes negative gamma, and the net gamma flips sign as spot moves across the spread. The Strategy Builder computes net Delta, Gamma, Theta, Vega, and the higher-order Greeks across all legs simultaneously, so you can see what the position actually looks like to the market, not what it looks like as a sum of leg-level line items.

Workflow: Building a Trade from a Thesis

Typical pattern: start with a directional or volatility thesis, pick a template that matches (covered call for income on a holding, put credit spread for moderate bullishness, iron condor for neutral with vol contraction), and adjust the strikes and expirations to match your conviction level. Read the aggregated Greeks to confirm the position's risk profile aligns with the thesis. A "neutral" iron condor that's actually delta-positive is masking directional exposure you didn't intend. Then check the payoff diagram for breakeven points and max-loss boundaries, run what-if sweeps on volatility and time, and compare against a few alternatives before committing.

Exotic Strategy Insight Cards

When you select an exotic model (Asian, Barrier, Lookback, Digital, Compound, Chooser, or Multi-Asset) on a single-leg strategy, an insight card appears that compares the exotic price against a vanilla Black-Scholes reference and surfaces the trading question the exotic was built to answer: DCA vs lump sum for Asian, stop-loss cost analysis for Barrier, trailing-stop trail-width comparisons for Lookback, prediction-market fair probability for Digital, buy-now-vs-wait timing for Compound, straddle-vs-chooser capital efficiency for Chooser, and basket correlation sensitivity for Multi-Asset. This turns exotic pricing from an academic exercise into a workflow that maps onto real trade decisions.

Picking a Template by Thesis

The pre-built strategy library maps onto thesis types in a fairly predictable way. Directional bullish with moderate IV: long call, bull call spread, or short put. Directional bullish with high IV: put credit spread or covered call (pair the directional view with selling expensive premium). Directional bearish with moderate IV: long put, bear put spread, or short call. Neutral with vol contraction expected: iron condor, iron fly, or short strangle. Neutral with vol expansion expected: long straddle, long strangle, or calendar (short near, long far). Earnings or event window: calendar spreads to harvest IV crush, or directional verticals if the event direction is clear. The template list is organized so that picking the closest fit and then refining strikes is faster than building each leg from scratch.

Adjustments and Roll Logic

Strategy management often matters more than strategy selection. The Strategy Builder supports modeling adjustments before placing them: rolling a tested short put down-and-out, converting a vertical to an iron condor by adding the opposite-side credit, or converting a covered call to a collar by buying a downside put. Each modeled adjustment shows the new aggregated Greeks, the new payoff curve, and the cost or credit of the adjustment, so the trader can decide whether the adjustment improves the position's risk profile or just shifts the breakeven without addressing the original problem. This is the workflow that separates a trader who manages positions from one who just opens and closes.

Comparing Strategies Side-by-Side

The strategy comparison view is most useful when the thesis is clear but the structure is not. For example, "I am moderately bullish on this name and want defined risk" admits long calls, bull call spreads, ratio call spreads, short puts, and put credit spreads as candidates. Comparing them side-by-side surfaces how expected payoff, max loss, and vol sensitivity differ at the trader's target price. The comparison is most informative when the alternatives are all consistent with the same thesis; comparing structures across different theses (e.g., a covered call vs a long put) just confirms that they have different risk profiles, which is already obvious.

This page is part of the Options Analysis Suite features overview. Browse the full documentation.