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Stock research platforms aren’t exactly a dime a dozen, but they’re not rare either. In fact, there are plenty to choose from!
The best stock research platforms provide investors with things like:
Real-time stock prices and market updates
Portfolio tracking and management tools
Stock screeners and watchlists
Proprietary ratings
Done-for-you stock picks (in some cases)
Access to tons of research and analysis
In this review, we’ll be comparing Seeking Alpha vs Motley Fool vs Zacks. These are three of the most popular stock research platforms. They’re all subscription services and each has its own unique features.
Seeking Alpha has 20 million monthly visitors, but we can’t say how many of those are paying subscribers
Motley Fool may have between 500,000 and 1 million subscribers to their premium services, and they say they have millions of active monthly users
Zacks hasn’t released subscription numbers, but they say their newsletters have between 450,000 and 750,000 unique subscribers.
In this review, we’ll help you decide which platform best suits your investment style, whether you’re a beginner, an intermediate investor, or someone who’s got a ton of experience.
Pro Tip:
Ready to enhance your portfolio? Sign up for [Seeking Alpha], [The Motley Fool], or [Zacks] and start making informed investment decisions today!
Detailed View of Each Platform
To help you understand what we’re talking about, here’s our detailed overview of each platform.
Seeking Alpha
Seeking Alpha is an investment platform with a unique twist. While there’s plenty of expert analysis and financials available, it bills itself as the world’s largest investment community.
Premium subscribers get access to the community plus investing groups, which provide a way for members to share information and build portfolios together.
Seeking Alpha’s features include:
Proprietary Quant ratings with a proven track record – “Strong Buy” ratings have outperformed the S&P 500 by 450+%
Investment community & investing groups
Portfolio management tools, including a Portfolio Health Score, and price/rating/news alerts that you can customize
Preset and custom screeners and watchlists
Investment comparison tool
What Seeking Alpha doesn’t have is research about cryptocurrencies or mutual funds, which may be a disappointment for some investors. Two relatively new features related to portfolios are the ability to link to a brokerage account and the Portfolio Health Score, which compares users’ portfolios to others in the Seeking Alpha Community.
Premium services include Seeking Alpha Premium and Seeking Alpha Pro. Most investors should consider Seeking Alpha Premium with its more affordable price.
Motley Fool
Motley Fool has a lot of research and analysis available, but it’s primarily a stock picking service. Every month, Motley Fool Stock Advisor releases two new stock picks. Historically, their picks have outperformed the S&P 500 by about 750%.
Here are some of the features you’ll find with Motley Fool Premium.
Link to brokerage portfolio
2 stock picks every month
Access to historical picks
Portfolio management tools
Access to Fool IQ and investment strategies
News coverage and expert insights
Real-time market updates
If you upgrade to the Epic bundle or above, you’ll also get access to picks from Motley Fool Rule Breakers, Motley Fool Hidden Gems, and Motley Fool Dividend Investor, for a total of 9 stock picks every month.
Motley Fool Stock Advisor is the main subscription service. Motley Fool used to break down some of its other services as stand-alone options, but that’s no longer the case. Stock Advisor comes first, then you can choose to upgrade to one of its bundles, like Epic or Epic+, to get more features.
The Motley Fool is also regulated by the SEC, as a registered investment advisor, giving prospective users additional confidence that its motivation lies in the benefit of its clients.
Zacks
Zacks Premium is also an investment research platform. They don’t provide stock picks, but they do have their own quantitative ratings that have beaten the S&P 500 by an average of 13.8% each year since its inception
Some of the features you’ll get as a Zacks subscriber include:
Proprietary Zacks Rank ratings
Stock recommendations
In-depth research
Portfolio views & management tools
Access to expert-created analysis
Financial data to evaluate investments
Access to data on stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, and cryptocurrencies
Zacks doesn’t allow linking to an outside brokerage account, but they do make it easy to create a portfolio and enter your transactions so you can monitor your investments.
Subscribers can choose from a free plan with limited features, Zacks Premium, or their top tier, Zacks Ultimate
Comparison: Seeking Alpha Vs Motley Fool Vs Zacks
Here’s a quick comparison of Seeking Alpha vs Zacks vs Motley Fool to make it easy for you to see the differences.
Pricing Models
We’ve talked about general pricing information, but here are some details to help you understand what you’ll be getting for your money.
Seeking Alpha Pricing
Seeking Alpha has attractive pricing for first-time subscribers. Here’s how it breaks down.
Free plan: you can set up a portfolio, customize alerts, and get access to some news and analysis and one Premium article per month.
Seeking Alpha Premium: everything in the free plan, plus access to Quant, SA, and Wall St Analyst ratings, preset and custom screeners and watchlists, 10 years of financials, Earnings Call Transcriptions and recordings, portfolio management tools, and Portfolio Health Score. There’s a 30-day trial for $4,95, then new subscribers pay $199 for a year. Renewals clock in at $299 per year.
Seeking Alpha Pro: everything in Premium, plus Short Ideas, instant Upgrade and Downgrade alerts, access to content from top-rated Authors, and VIP customer service. There’s a 30-day trial for $99, then the cost is $2,400 per year.
Motley Fool Pricing
Motley Fool used to have more pricing tiers, but they’ve simplified. Here’s how it breaks down.
Motley Fool Premium: portfolio management tools, 2 stock picks per month, access to in-depth research and analysis. The cost is $199 per year and there’s a 30-day, no-questions-asked, money-back guarantee.
Motley Fool Epic Bundle: everything in Premium, plus access to additional picks from formerly stand-alone services such as Rule Breakers, Hidden Gems, and Dividend Investor, Fool IQ, portfolio strategies, CAPS newsletter, and more. The cost is $499 per year and the same 30-day refund policy applies.
Motley Fool Epic Plus: everything in Epic, plus additional research & recommendations covering options, international, value & trends, plus an intro to Tom Gardner’s portfolio management. The cost is $1,999 per year with a 30-day, money-back guarantee.
We should note that you can pay separately to have Tom Gardner manage your portfolio (3,999 per year) or to get every product bundled into one at a cost of $13,999 per year.
Zacks Pricing
Zacks pricing breaks down like this.
Zacks Premium: daily update updates of Zacks Rank, access to Zacks #1 Rank List, Focus List portfolio of 50 long-term stock, premium screener, and access to Equity Research Reports. There’s a 30-day free trial and after that the cost is $249 per year.
Zacks Ultra: everything included in Zacks Premium, plus access to some of Zacks special insights, including Alternative Energy Innovators, Healthcare Innovators, and Stockers Under $10. There’s a 30-day free trial and the annual price is $2,995 per year.
Zacks Investment Bundle: Zacks Premium, plus access to Home Run Investor, ETF Investor, and Value Investor, to name a few.
We really like the 30-day free trial, which we think everyone should offer since it’s the best way to really get to know a platform before committing to an annual subscription.
Pro Tip:
Ready to enhance your portfolio? Sign up for [Seeking Alpha], [The Motley Fool], or [Zacks] and start making informed investment decisions today!
Pros and Cons
Here’s our take on the pros and cons of each of these services to help you weigh your options.
Seeking Alpha
Pros
Low-cost premium trial
Access to market-beating Quant ratings
Clean interface
Proven track record
Link to brokerage account
Access to investor community and investment groups
Huge library of research and analysis
Customizable home screen
Cons
No free trial and free version offers extremely limited features
Doesn’t make stock recommendations or picks
May be overwhelming for beginners
Motley Fool
Pros
2 done-for-you stock picks every month
Stock picks have outperformed the S&P 500
Portfolio views
Access to historical picks
Plenty of research and analysis
30-day money-back guarantee
Cons
Can’t link to brokerage account
No home screen customization
No free plan
Zacks
Pros
30-day free trial for all plans
Access to Zacks Picks, which have outperformed the market
Real-time stock prices and market news
Access to videos, podcasts, and other educational content
Cons
User experience is less than idea
No customization/cluttered home page
Less comprehensive research content, e.g. no financials, no earnings calls
Pro Tip:
Ready to enhance your portfolio? Sign up for [Seeking Alpha], [The Motley Fool], or [Zacks] and start making informed investment decisions today!
Best Use Cases for Different Types of Investors
Some investment research platforms are better suited for beginners, while others may be best suited for those with years of experience.
Best for Beginners (Motley Fool): We believe that Motley Fool is the best choice for beginners. The recommended buy and hold strategy is easy to follow, and there’s plenty of simple and easy-to-understand investment advice, plus monthly picks and newsletters. It’s not too overwhelming to use, and the done-for-you picks make it easy to build a portfolio and get your feet wet as an investor.
Best for Experienced Investors (Seeking Alpha): We like Seeking Alpha for experienced investors because it offers the most in-depth research and analysis, plus newsletters, investing groups, and plenty of customization options. Advanced investors will appreciate the depth of research available, including 10 years of financials, Earnings Call Transcriptions, and much more.
Best for Traders and Data-Driven Investors (Zacks): We think Zacks is best suited for day traders and data-driven investors who prioritize up-to-the-minute information and short-term price movement predictions. The interface may be overwhelming for beginners.
We’re not saying you can’t use Seeking Alpha as a beginner or that you can’t opt in for Motley Fool’s stock picks even with decades of experience. Our goal here is to give new users the information they need to choose the platform that’s right for them.
Which Platform Is Best For You?
So there you have it: all the information you need to compare Seeking Alpha vs Motley Fool vs Zacks and decide which one is right for you. You should keep in mind your investment experience, risk tolerance, and needs.
As a reminder, our pick is Seeking Alpha for variety and depth of research, Motley Fool for simplicity, and Zacks for data-driven decisions.
FAQ
Yes. Seeking Alpha has a free plan and you can access some Motley Fool content without setting up an account. Zacks has a 30-day free trial. Seeking Alpha doesn’t offer a free trial, but you can try their Premium subscription for 30 days for just $4.95. Motley Fool offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Seeking Alpha doesn’t make stock recommendations per se. However, their “Strong Buy” picks have outperformed the S&P by more than 400% since the company’s inception.
Motley Fool recommends a buy and hold strategy. They evaluate companies based on an array of factors, including management, market advantages, strategy, company culture, and historical performance.
Zacks may be best suited for traders and people who want to make data-driven decisions. We’d say that it can be good for long-term investing, but we prefer Motley Fool.
All three platforms have mobile apps. The apps for Seeking Alpha and Motley Fool are highly rated, while Zacks app could use some improvement.
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