ThetaGo vs Covered Call Pro: Which Options Screener Is Worth Paying For in 2025?

The Short Answer Before You Read Further

If you already own stocks and want a screener built specifically for selling covered calls, Covered Call Pro is the stronger fit. ThetaGo is a broader options tool that covers multiple strategies, which makes it more powerful on paper but harder to use if covered calls are your only play. Both charge a monthly fee, so the right choice comes down to what you actually need at your desk every week.

What Each Tool Actually Does

ThetaGo is a multi-strategy options screener. It surfaces trade ideas across covered calls, cash-secured puts, iron condors, and other premium-selling setups. The interface lets you filter by underlying, days to expiration (DTE), delta, and implied volatility rank (IVR). It pulls real-time options chains and flags contracts that meet your criteria. The learning curve is moderate — you need to understand why you are filtering on IVR 50+ or delta 0.30 before the output means anything useful.

Covered Call Pro is purpose-built for one strategy: selling covered calls on stocks you already hold. The screener focuses on annualized return on the call premium, downside protection percentage, and the probability that the call expires worthless. It strips out the multi-strategy noise. If you log in knowing you own 100 shares of AAPL and you want to see which strike and expiration gives you the best risk-adjusted premium this week, the workflow is faster and the output is easier to act on.

A Real Worked Example: AAPL Covered Call

Here is how the same trade looks when you run it through a screener versus doing it by hand, so you understand what you are paying for.

Scenario: You own 100 shares of Apple (AAPL). The stock is trading at $213.40. You want to sell a covered call expiring in 30 days and collect at least 1.5% of the stock price in premium.

You pull up the options chain. The $217.50 call (roughly 2% out of the money) expiring in 28 days is bid at $2.85. Here is the math:

— Premium collected: $285 (one contract = 100 shares × $2.85) — Annualized return on premium: ($285 ÷ $21,340) × (365 ÷ 28) = 17.4% annualized — Downside protection: $2.85 ÷ $213.40 = 1.34% buffer before you are underwater on the position — Break-even price: $213.40 − $2.85 = $210.55 — Maximum gain if called away: ($217.50 − $213.40 + $2.85) × 100 = $695

A good screener surfaces this in seconds and ranks it against the $215 strike and the $220 strike so you can compare. Without a screener, you are doing this math manually for every strike across every stock you own. That is the core value proposition of paying for either tool.

The $215 strike on the same expiration might show a bid of $3.90, giving you a higher premium but only 0.70% out of the money — meaning AAPL needs to drop less than $1.50 before your upside is capped and you are still exposed to full downside below $209.50. A screener makes that trade-off visible at a glance.

Pricing and What You Get for the Money

Screener pricing changes, so treat these as ballpark figures and verify on each platform's current pricing page before subscribing.

ThetaGo has historically offered a free tier with limited scans per day and a paid tier in the $20–$40 per month range that unlocks real-time data and unlimited scans. The paid tier makes sense if you trade multiple strategies and want one dashboard.

Covered Call Pro pricing is structured around the covered-call trader specifically. The screener, trade alerts, and educational content are bundled together so you are not paying for iron condor tutorials you will never use.

Before paying for either, ask yourself three questions: How many stocks do I own that I actively write calls on? Do I trade any strategy besides covered calls? How much time per week do I spend scanning for trades? If your answer is fewer than 10 positions, covered calls only, and less than two hours a week, a specialized tool will save you more time per dollar than a broad platform.

Where Both Tools Fall Short — Risks You Need to Know

No screener eliminates the core risks of covered calls. It is worth being direct about this.

First, a screener shows you high-premium opportunities, but high premium almost always means high implied volatility, which means the market expects the stock to move a lot. A 25% annualized return on a covered call is not free money — it reflects real risk that the stock drops hard and your $285 in premium does not come close to covering the loss.

Second, selling a covered call caps your upside. If AAPL jumps from $213.40 to $230 before expiration, you are called away at $217.50 and miss $12.50 per share in gains. Screeners optimize for premium yield, not for letting your winners run. FINRA reminds investors that covered calls are not a risk-free strategy — you still carry full downside on the stock.

Third, tax treatment matters. In the US, the IRS treats premiums from covered calls as short-term capital gains in most cases, and writing a call can affect the holding period of your underlying shares under qualified covered call rules. In Canada, the CRA has its own rules on option premiums and adjusted cost base. Neither screener does your taxes — they just find trades. Consult a tax professional before writing calls on shares you have held for less than a year.

Fourth, both platforms rely on options data feeds. During fast markets or around earnings, bid-ask spreads widen and the premium you see on screen may not be the premium you actually fill at. Always use limit orders, not market orders, when entering covered call positions. The Options Industry Council (OIC) covers this in its free educational materials if you want a deeper reference.

Which Screener Wins for the Typical Covered Call Trader?

The typical reader of this publication owns between 5 and 20 stock positions, writes covered calls monthly or every 30–45 days, and is not running iron condors or straddles on the side. For that trader, a tool built around covered calls is the better fit. The workflow is tighter, the output maps directly to the decision you are making, and you are not paying for features you ignore.

ThetaGo earns its subscription fee if you are a multi-strategy trader who wants one screen for everything. If you run cash-secured puts alongside your covered calls, or if you want to compare covered calls against collars on the same position, ThetaGo's broader filter set is genuinely useful.

The honest answer to the original question is this: neither tool is a waste of money if you use it consistently. The waste happens when you pay for a platform, log in twice, and go back to scanning options chains by hand. Pick the one that matches your actual workflow and commit to using it every time you consider writing a call.

How to Test Before You Commit

Both platforms offer trial periods or free tiers. Use them the same week on the same positions so you are comparing apples to apples. Take one stock you own — say MSFT trading around $420 — and run it through both screeners. Look for the same 30-day, 2%-out-of-the-money covered call. Note how long it takes each platform to surface the trade, how clearly it displays annualized return and downside protection, and whether the data matches what you see on your broker's options chain.

If the numbers do not match your broker's live chain, that is a data latency issue worth flagging before you pay. A screener that shows you stale premiums is worse than no screener at all because it creates false confidence.

Also check whether the platform integrates with your broker for one-click order routing or whether it is purely a research tool. Most retail covered-call traders are fine placing the order manually after the screener surfaces the idea, but if you trade frequently, direct integration saves meaningful time.

Is ThetaGo worth it for someone who only sells covered calls?

ThetaGo is designed for multiple options strategies, so you will pay for features you do not use if covered calls are your only play. It still works for covered calls, but the interface is not optimized for that single workflow. A covered-call-specific screener will get you to a trade idea faster with less filtering setup.

Can a covered call screener guarantee I make money?

No screener can guarantee profits. A screener finds contracts that meet your yield and risk criteria, but the stock can still fall sharply and wipe out the premium you collected. FINRA is clear that covered calls carry full downside risk on the underlying shares, and no software changes that math.

How do I know if the premium a screener shows me is accurate?

Cross-check the screener's output against your broker's live options chain before placing any order. If the bid shown in the screener is materially higher than what your broker shows, the screener is working off delayed data. Always place covered call orders as limit orders at or near the bid to avoid overpaying on the spread.

Do covered call screeners handle Canadian stocks and TSX-listed options?

Most US-focused screeners cover NYSE and Nasdaq-listed stocks but have limited or no coverage of TSX-listed options. Canadian investors writing covered calls on TSX stocks should verify data coverage before subscribing. The CRA also treats option premiums differently from the IRS, so confirm the platform does not assume US tax rules apply to your trades.

What delta should I filter for when screening covered calls?

Most covered-call traders target a delta between 0.20 and 0.35, which puts the strike roughly 5–10% out of the money on a 30-day contract. Lower delta means less premium but more room for the stock to run before you get called away. Higher delta means more premium but a higher chance of assignment — use whichever fits your view on the stock.

Does selling covered calls affect the tax treatment of my shares?

Yes, it can. In the US, the IRS has qualified covered call rules that can suspend the holding period of your underlying shares if the call is too deep in the money, which may affect whether your stock gain is taxed at long-term or short-term rates. In Canada, the CRA treats premiums received as proceeds that adjust your cost base or create income depending on the situation. Speak with a tax professional before writing calls on shares you have held for less than one year.