There is the truth behind the adage that knowledge is power and these 10 best stock research websites and apps are what you need to be a rockstar investor or trader.
If you are new to the stock market, it would take years before you can become a stock market pro. Finding the next Netflix, Amazon, or Apple is hard to predict. But if you know which online tools will be super helpful for your research and analysis things might be a little easier.
It all begins with reliable data and great analytical skills. We are talking about the best stock research websites and apps.
A reputable stock market resource should offer a combination of breaking market and economic news, detailed analysis from market leaders, and some powerful tools that would empower a newbie or amateur trader to perform due diligence on several potential investments.
In this article, we will go in-depth on the best stock research websites and apps for you to have access to reliable and expert-level sources of actionable information.
Importance of Stock Market Research
Stock market research is vital for traders to know the entire performance history of a company that they are planning to invest in or buy stocks from.
The information gathered on these sites is helpful because it contains the full library of each companyโs financial performance. You can find details about key findings like strengths, weaknesses, profitability, and loss with predictions and other in-depth data.
A good stock market research app, on the other hand, contains statistics and analyses from several reputable sources. Here you can also see relevant new and various long-term trends in stocks.
Best Stock Research Websites and Apps
Although there are plenty of stock market websites and apps available online (some are free while some are paid), it has come to saturation points.
Since there is rising competition and advancement in their features, we have listed down the top-of-the-lists stock research websites and apps.
We look into its features, costs, pros, and cons to select the best that would have the answers you are searching for.
- Seeking Alpha โ Best for stock research
- Morningstar Investor โ Best for Beginners
- TradingView โ Best for real-time data and trading
- Motley Fool Stock Advisor โ Best for monthly stock picks
- Stock Rover โ Best for data analysis
- The Wall Street Journal โ Best for news
1. Seeking Alpha โ Best for stock research
Seeking Alpha Premium is one of the most well-respected investment research platforms. It covers stocks and ETFs, in addition to fresh investing ideas. It works as an online community of investors where you can get investing newsletters about various topics including daily market headlines and analysis of individual tickers and market sectors.
Seeking Alpha Premium does two things better than any alternative. Itโs the best product for you to track your portfolio, and the best product for you to research and evaluate stocks. But many investors need something else as well: a simple, trustworthy source of stocks to own.
As an individual investor, you can do really well if you avoid short term trading. Instead, buy good stocks, hold them for the long term, allow your winners to grow, and resist the urge to sell when the market is volatile.
Where can you find the stocks to do that? We found that Seeking Alpha has everything needed to provide the answer. They have a proven, data-driven system for identifying the best stocks based on all the available financial data and analyst estimates. So far it has delivered astounding results.
When we ran a backtest simulation of this stock picking system using historical data from 2010 to 2020, the portfolio outperformed the S&P 500 by 180%*. And since launching this service on July 1, two stocks are already showing double digit returns.
Features
- This is a comprehensive stock screener with several features so you can cut through the noise.
- Tools to help identify high-quality stocks that pay dividends.
- Transcripts of earnings calls and more are all available in one place for free.
- It's like having your own personal Ivy League-efficiency analyze companies before they hit public markets โ only without paying tuition!
- The site even links up account holders from brokerage firms such as Charles Schwab or Fidelity Investments if they have an active investment strategy going on too.
Costs
- Basic โ Free
- Premium โ $189/year
- Pro โ $2,400/year
Pros
- Covers most stocks and ETFs
- Unlimited access to articles on investing ideas
- Quant ratings for most stocks
- Tracking of personal portfolio performance
- You can listen to and download company call presentations and transcripts
Cons
- The fee is too high for casual investors
- Few technical analysis tools
- Does not recommend stocks to buy
- Minimal coverage on mutual funds
- World's largest investing community
- Find profitable investing ideas, improve your portfolio, research stocks better and faster as well as track the news to find investing opportunities
- Receive up to 15 investing newsletters filled with stock research and analysis, commentary and recommendations
- Find stocks likely to outperform and make you money
- Proprietary quant records have an impressive track record leading to massive market outperformance
* Represents hypothetical returns during the backtested period (12/2010- 5/2020). Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
2. Morningstar Investor โ Best for Beginners
Morningstar Investor is touted as the leader in research, ratings, and tools aimed at helping all levels of investors. It is the website beginners in investing should visit.
This independent stock research website provides research, expertise, analysis, and tools that are trusted by the leading investors in the world. The website gives unbiased research, analysis, commentary and insight that helps investors to make a range of decisions, from individual stock picks to the allocation of assets.
Features
- New investors can build a financial foundation that helps them reach their goals.
- Independent analysts provide investment advice for a variety of stocks, including those listed on NASDAQ.
- News articles and stock charts are available for those seeking additional information about stocks.
- Screening for stock analysis is available as an educational resource for beginners.
Costs
- $249 per year for Morningstar Investor, with a 14-day trial
Pros
- Access to world-class investment picks, research, analysis, and data
- Easy to navigate interface with customization options
Cons
- Some ratings are based only on past performances
- The screener tools can be a little confusing and distracting
- Find new investment ideas
- Evaluate investment Ideas
- Monitor investments
- Offers a 14-day free trial then $34.95/monthly
- Use code Partner1 for $50 off
3. TradingView โ Best for real-time data and trading
TradingView is a strong charting system for investors and traders of different experience levels. Whatโs great about it is the social network where people can share ideas, custom scripts to enhance charts, and open topics for the members to discuss their views.
The professional commercial data feed helps analyze prices, volume, and historic asset prices easily. The companyโs fundamental data is also available, allowing the platform to screen through them and follow the companies to match the criteria.
Features
- Real-time data from NYSE and NASDAQ.
- Hundreds of pre-built popular indicators, alerts, and data to compare stocks.
- Trading is possible on the app through the brokers it works with. This is a unique service among the stock research websites.
- Available stock, forex, and crypto screeners.
Costs
- Basic: Free subscription plan (one chart per browser tab and access to 12 customizable charts)
- Pro: $14.50 per month or $10.50 per month when you pay annually
- Pro+: $29.95 per month or $17.90 per month when you pay annually
- Premium: $59.95 per month or $30 per month when you pay annually
Pros
- The free plan gives access to charting tools
- Paid plans are more affordable than the competition
- Stocks, crypto, forex, and futures support
- Available in web-based, desktop, and mobile application
- An extensive set of educational materials
- Customizable charts
- Market alerts based on custom parameters
- Excellent technical and financial analysis tools
Cons
- Not suitable for first-time investors as the platform is too complex
- No customer support for basic subscribers
- A stock screener can be confusing to use
- Easy and intuitive stock charting experience with tools to share and view trade ideas
- Leverage real-time data and browser-based charts to do your research anywhere
- Collaborate with over 10M TradingView investors with a free trial
4. Motley Fool Stock Advisor โ Best for monthly stock picks
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor claims they can beat the market and if you look at the reviews, it seems that they have the numbers to prove it. This online platform offers a financial and investing guide that draws amateur investors with lots of free, easy-to-absorb educational content.
Its business model works as a stock newsletter subscription. Once you are signed up to its Stock Advisor, you will receive their two stock picks for the month and 10 timely new buys from over 300 stocks. The subscriber can have instant access to all of their previous recommendations as well.
Features
- You can find five great stocks to invest in with just one quick search.
- Stock Advisor is a service that provides two new stock picks every month, which if bought when first recommended can result in high returns โ up until you sell it!
- Its advisers have a track record of outperforming the S&P 500 by finding overlooked companies (historical performance isn't guaranteed).
Cost
Motley Fools offer different packages. Here are its prices and perks below.
- Rule Breakers โ $99/year (for new members)
- Everlasting Stocks โ $299/year
- Rule Your Retirement โ $149/year
- Motley Fool Options โ $899/year
- Everlasting Portfolio โ $1,599/year
- Epic Bundle โ Stock Advisor, Rule Breakers, and Everlasting Stocks โ (Check Price)
- Everlasting X10 โ $1,999/ year
Pros
- It has a history of strong returns (past returns are not an indicator of future results)
- Additional rationale and research of every stock picks
- Competitive price
- Real-time buy and sell alerts whenever there are changes in the market
- Access to premium educational content
Cons
- Some services are expensive
- Fees may represent a large part of assets for small portfolios
- Historical outperformance relies heavily on few stocks
- Averaged Stock Pick Return over 318% (vs 114% for the S&P)
- 2 New Stock Picks Every Month
- 700,000+ Loyal Members
- Smarts' Reader Deal: Special $79 Stock Advisor Introductory Offer
5. Stock Rover โ Best for data analysis
Stock Rover is a one-stop platform for fundamental analysis research that deals mostly with US and Canadian stocks and ETFs. It is also one of the best screeners and investment research services there is. Stock Rover offers four separate plans and each offers a progressively more advanced set of investment services.
Features
- Subscribers can easily connect their brokerage accounts to the portfolio analysis tool.
- It is considered as the best among screening tool.
- It also offers comparison tools.
- Access to research reports and charts to compare portfolios.
Costs
- Basic subscription โ Free
- Essentials โ $7.99/ month
- Premium โ $17.99/ month
- Premium Plus โ $27.99/ month
Pros
- Provide great tools for portfolio analysis, charting, and investment screening
- Generate stock ratings and scores as well as notifications of impactful stock news
- Provides in-depth research reports on over 7,000 stocks
- Connect to over 1,000 brokerage platforms to give portfolio analysis
- Web-based accessibility
Cons
- No research support for forex, cryptocurrency, options, and futures
- Limited customer support options
- Limited educational resources
- Offers screeners, investment comparisons, real-time research reports, model portfolios, chart and more
- Identify stocks worth buying and outperforming the market
- Hundreds of screening metrics
- Proprietary scoring systems
- Real-time executive summary research reports
6. The Wall Street Journal โ Best for news
The Wall Street Journal is a US-based English journal and is known for its award-winning news, business, and finance coverage. It has a more in-depth look at economics than most other newspapers. As to its readers, WSJ reported that its readership profile included around the top 60% of top management with an average income of $191,000 and a household net worth of $2.1 million.
Features
- Pulitzer prize-winning journalism.
- Access WSJ podcasts and videos covering major news stories.
- Stock analysis and technical analysis to assist you with picking the best stocks.
- Real-time news and stock information, with enough stock analysis and technical analysis to help them find the best stock picks.
- Provides comprehensive news and stock information to its subscribers.
Costs
- All Access Digital Subscription โ $38.99
- Through Apple News for $9.99
Pros
- Easy to use mobile app
- Reliability and trust
- Two-in-one: financial publication and daily newspaper in one
- Affordable
- Access to archived articles
Cons
- Since it is a newspaper, there might be some opinion piece that you donโt agree with
- Not easy to cancel
7. Zacks Investment Research โ Best for research
This research and analysis firmโs main objective is to provide information about various investors who rely on stocks. Mutual funds, and ETFs to build wealth.
It offers both free and paid services, like independent research, valuable financial data, and investor data analysis that will be useful in making informed decisions. Most of its products are used by independent professionals but are also popular among independent investors.
Features
Zacks Ultimate Account has the following main features:
- With the ranking system, it is convenient to find a profitable investment.
- The stock screener tool has predefined screens.
- Has free newsletters that cover a wide range of topics, including the best mutual funds, ETFs, and financial news.
- Reliable stock recommendations as they are backed by extensive research.
Costs
- Open a personal account as a Zacks Trade client. You need to fund this account with $10,000 within two months
Pros
- A wide variety of tools
- You get many research reports
- All Zacks Investment Research recommendations
- One-month $1 trial
- A+ rating on BBB
Cons
- It is expensive
- It receives several negative reviews on BBB
8. Yahoo Finance โ Best for portfolio analytics
Yahoo Finance ranked 15th on the worldโs most popular financial news and entertainment website. Its emergence has great significance in the financial world. Investors rely on multiple features, promising accurate information delivery of stock quotes, financial reports, and updated press releases. The site has original data and provides accurate information with a promise of quick updates.
Yahoo Finance Plus or previously known as Yahoo Finance Premium, is a subscription service from Yahoo that builds on the information from the popular Yahoo Finance platform. It specifically targets retail investors who want to bring their trading and investing to the next level. Yahoo Finance Plus offers portfolio management, live trading, technical charting, and a significant quantity of expert stock analysis.
Features
Yahoo Finance Plus is packed with exclusive tools to help traders and investors navigate the stock market. Here are its premium features:
- Its premium service, Yahoo Finance Plus is equipped with advanced analytics.
- Access to detailed company profiles and portfolio analytics.
- Also available: intuitive data visualizations.
- The search engine includes daily trade ideas based on your interests.
Costs
- Yahoo Finance โ Free
- Yahoo Finance Plus โ $35 monthly or $350 annually
Pros
- Straightforward fair value analysis for all holdings and stocks
- Access to Argus Research stock outlook reports
- Unique company outlook metrics
- Everything you need is in one platform โ technical analysis, fundamental analysis, and live trading
- Easy to use, clean, and familiar layout
Cons
- None of the features are innovative
9. TheStreet โ Best for stock advice
TheStreet offers articles on investing, retirement, personal finance, cryptocurrencies, technology and the markets. It has an extensive video library, if you want to get your news in video format. The premium content offering โTheStreet Smartsโ has an in-depth daily investing analysis for its subscribers.
Features
- Real-time trade alerts on every buy and sell decision made in the portfolio
- Available stock screeners, stock research, trading ideas, and analyst ratings.
- With real-time news stories and a variety of newsletters to suit your interest.
- 24/7 access to the Action Alerts PLUS portfolio โ follow the open and closed positions in the portfolio.
- Members-only month calls โ give insights and advice on every portfolio stock from the team.
Costs
Three pricing plans for the Action Alerts PLUS service:
- Monthly membership: $29.99
- Annual membership: $299.99
- Two-year membership: $499.99, or about $250 per year
Pros
- Free original financial news content
- Choose from 8 free stock newsletters
- Access to Jim Cramerโs blog and Mad Money articles
- Valuable content for personal finance and retirement
Cons
- Poor site organization
- No clear target audience
10. Trade Ideas โ Best for AI-led stock picks
Trade Ideas is the most popular standalone scanner on the market. It has plenty of built-in scans that search for unique trading opportunities in real-time. The platform can provide a non-stop pipeline of ideas during trading days, which is the Holy Grail for anyone looking for one.
It's also flexible enough for users who want to create their own strategies or make a hybrid version that combines the built-in strategies through drag and drop. That means the users donโt need to learn to code.
Features
- It is extra user-friendly with graphics-based menu themes and opportunities you can select. The website is accessible through a web platform as well as a web-based.
- It has built-in and strategies stock scanners which are the real star of Trade Ideas.
- The results of the scans show up on the alert window, which has configurable columns.
- It allows traders to backtest trading strategies.
- Artificial Intelligence (AI) Holly โ This is the true innovation of the platform. The AI engine actively observes the stock market to execute trades complete with entries and exits. It will also give the exit strategy and the reason why this strategy is executed.
- It has clickable headlines to news releases.
- Provide training to all new subscribers to guide on the platform and answer questions.
Costs
The pricing at Trade Ideas is pretty straightforward:
Standard Package โ $99 a month or $888 for prepaid yearly. It includes the basic scanning tools, channel bar, and customizable built-in indicators. Plus the charts, alerts, and top lists.
Premium Package โ $188 a month or $1,888 yearly. All the standard features plus the Advanced windows, Oddsmaker back-testing, and Artificial Intelligence engine โHolly Grailโ.
Pros
- Offers the best real-time strategy-based stock screener
- Artificial intelligence strategy-based trade performance
- A deluge of ideas from pre-market to post-market
- Free moderated live chat room
- Training and tutorials
- Customizable strategies with backtesting and drag&drop integration
- Auto-trading capability
Cons
- Too many ideas can lead one to overtrade
- Charts need more indicators
- No desktop version or Mac
Conclusion
There you have the best stock research websites and apps that will help you manage your portfolio. If there is one common thing that these websites have, it is their objective to help self-directed investors.
The best stock market websites that you can actually use to research stocks, find the latest market news, and offer stock recommendations with stock screeners are out there. These are the best research tools so that any smart investor can seek the investment research they require.
It doesnโt mean that investors without the time or inclination to manage their investments should not pay attention to market updates or the latest company reports. Even if you are working with a full-service financial advisor, you need to stay informed. Visit these websites and see for yourself.
Other resources
- 16 Best Robinhood Alternatives Worth Checking Out
- How to Invest $150k: 18 Best Way to Use $150,000 in Cash
- 13 Ways To Start Investing With Little Money
Arrived lets you invest in residential real estate and vacation rentals with only $100. It's an excellent option for anyone looking to earn passive income with rental units. And the platform is available to non-accredited investors.