Tool Comparison
CB Insights vs Perplexity Finance
- Paid from
- On request
- Free plan
- No
- Platforms
- Web, Mobile, API
Best if
- You want sheets / excel add-ins, corporate actions & special situations, and newsletters.
- Paid from
- $20/mo
- Free plan
- Yes
- Platforms
- Web, Mobile, API
Best if
- You'd rather start free and only pay if you outgrow it
- Delayed quotes won't cut it; you need real-time data
- You want watchlist, news, and calendar.
Pick CB Insights if
CB Insights
Contact for pricing · Web · Mobile · API
- You want sheets / excel add-ins, corporate actions & special situations, and newsletters.
Pick Perplexity Finance if
Perplexity Finance
Free • From $20/mo · Web · Mobile · API
- You'd rather start free and only pay if you outgrow it
- Delayed quotes won't cut it; you need real-time data
- You want watchlist, news, and calendar.
Skip both if: Neither one clicks with how you research; there are strong third options.
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Our take
The bottom line
CB Insights and Perplexity Finance cover a lot of the same ground (3 shared categories, APIs & data feeds, screeners, and data visualizations), so for the basics you won't go far wrong with either. Perplexity Finance simply does more: 12 categories to CB Insights's 7, including watchlist, news, and calendar. CB Insights counters by keeping things simpler.
What readers say
CB Insights
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Perplexity Finance
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Key differences at a glance
- Free plan
- Perplexity Finance
- Broader coverage
- Perplexity Finance12 vs 7 categories
- Real-time data
- Perplexity Finance
What CB Insights does best
- Research coverage for private and public companies, investors, funding rounds, M&A, business relationships, earnings, markets, and competitive markets.
- Company profiles, market analytics, visual dashboards, deal analysis, and sector tracking to map markets and competitors.
- Mosaic Score and other proprietary measures to evaluate private-company health and growth signals.
- Strategy Terminal, Browser Analyst, ChatCBI, and team-of-agents workflows for AI-assisted scouting, briefs, trend discovery, and market analysis.
- Access to CB Insights data into workflows through Excel, Salesforce, Microsoft 365 Copilot, Snowflake, Zapier, Affinity, A2A, MCP-style, and data-solution integrations where licensed.
What Perplexity Finance does best
- Finance pages for stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, crypto, options, charts, news, financial data, analyst estimates, ownership data, filings, and earnings context.
- Support for asking cited finance questions that can reference SEC filings, company documents, news, and third-party finance datasets.
- Upgraded charts with volume, OHLCV tooltips, candlestick or area views, comparison overlays, moving averages, and custom date ranges.
- Tools for building watchlists and review AI-generated briefings that combine watchlist price movement with relevant market news.
- Screening for stocks in natural language with filters, columns, sorting, and coverage that includes U.S. and Indian equities.
Side by side
Pricing comparison
See for yourself
Side by side
Price, platforms, data, and market coverage.ShowHide
Side by side
| Attribute | ||
|---|---|---|
| Pricing & plans | ||
Starting price | Contact for pricing | Free • From $20/mo |
Free tier | No | Yes |
Free trial | — | — |
Plan limits | 3 limits: Browser Analyst: pricing: Request pricing, Strategy Terminal: pricing: Request pricing +1 more | 6 limits: Standard (Free): pro searches per day: 3, Pro: pro searches: Extended access +4 more |
| Platforms & access | ||
Web app | Yes | Yes |
Mobile app | Yes | Yes |
API access | Yes | Yes |
Integrations | Salesforce, Microsoft Excel +6 more | — |
| Audience & fit | ||
Experience level | Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced | Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced |
Best for | — | Retail Traders, Pro Retail +6 more |
Categories covered | 7 | 12 |
Regions | North America, Europe, APAC, LatAm, Middle East, Africa | North America, APAC |
| Data & capabilities | ||
Data quality | — | Latency: Real-time |
Data partners | — | 6 partners: Financial Modeling Prep, Unusual Whales +4 more |
Capabilities | — | Universe builder and AI summaries: Filings and News |
Security | — | SOC2 and Status page |
| Try it | Visit CB Insights | Visit Perplexity Finance |
Standout features
The best features of CB Insights and Perplexity Finance.ShowHide
Standout features
What CB Insights does best
- Research coverage for private and public companies, investors, funding rounds, M&A, business relationships, earnings, markets, and competitive markets.
- Company profiles, market analytics, visual dashboards, deal analysis, and sector tracking to map markets and competitors.
- Mosaic Score and other proprietary measures to evaluate private-company health and growth signals.
- Strategy Terminal, Browser Analyst, ChatCBI, and team-of-agents workflows for AI-assisted scouting, briefs, trend discovery, and market analysis.
- Access to CB Insights data into workflows through Excel, Salesforce, Microsoft 365 Copilot, Snowflake, Zapier, Affinity, A2A, MCP-style, and data-solution integrations where licensed.
What Perplexity Finance does best
- Finance pages for stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, crypto, options, charts, news, financial data, analyst estimates, ownership data, filings, and earnings context.
- Support for asking cited finance questions that can reference SEC filings, company documents, news, and third-party finance datasets.
- Upgraded charts with volume, OHLCV tooltips, candlestick or area views, comparison overlays, moving averages, and custom date ranges.
- Tools for building watchlists and review AI-generated briefings that combine watchlist price movement with relevant market news.
- Screening for stocks in natural language with filters, columns, sorting, and coverage that includes U.S. and Indian equities.
All details
Every attribute we track for CB Insights and Perplexity Finance.ShowHide
All details
| Attribute | ||
|---|---|---|
| Coverage & fit | ||
Asset types | StocksOther | StocksETFsMutual FundsCryptosOptions |
Experience | BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced | BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced |
Target audience | Not specified | Retail TradersPro RetailLong-term InvestorsDay TradersStudents/ResearchersFinancial AdvisorsAnalystsInstitutional Investors |
Regions | North AmericaEuropeAPACLatAmMiddle EastAfrica | North AmericaAPAC |
Coverage details | Not specified | Countries: US and INIdentifiers: Ticker |
| Data | ||
Data freshness | Not specified | Real-time |
Data partners | Not specified | Financial Modeling PrepUnusual WhalesQuartrFiscal.aiS&P Global Market IntelligenceMorningstar |
| Access & integrations | ||
API protocols | Not specified | REST |
API auth & delivery | Not specified | Auth: APIKeyDocs |
Integrations | SalesforceMicrosoft ExcelMicrosoft 365 CopilotSnowflakeAffinityZapierA2AMCP | Not specified |
| Plans & trust | ||
Security & compliance | Not specified | SOC2Status page |
Capability signals | Not specified | Universe builderAI summaries: Filings and News |
Vendor & support | CB Information Services, Inc.Country: United StatesSupport: Email and Phone | Perplexity AI, Inc.Support: Email, Chat, and Forum |
Green tags are exclusive to that tool in this comparison.
Pricing
Plans, billing, free trials, and monthly prices.ShowHide
Pricing
| Tier | ||
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | — | Free“Standard (Free)”pro searches per day: 3 |
| Entry paid plan | — | $20/mo“Pro”pro searches: Extended access · annual price usd: 200 |
| Tier 2 | — | $200/mo“Max”pro searches: Weekly limits for advanced use · annual price usd: 2,000 |
| Top plan | — | $10/mo“Education Pro” |
| Custom / enterprise | Contact sales“Browser Analyst”pricing: Request pricing | — |
Questions we keep getting
What's the difference between CB Insights and Perplexity Finance?
CB Insights leans toward APIs & data feeds, sheets / excel add-ins, and screeners, while Perplexity Finance puts more weight on screeners, watchlist, and data visualizations. They overlap in 3 categories, so for most people it comes down to workflow preference and price.
Is CB Insights or Perplexity Finance free to use?
Perplexity Finance has a free tier, so you can get started without paying anything. CB Insights is paid-only. If budget matters, start with Perplexity Finance and see how far it takes you before opening your wallet.
Do CB Insights and Perplexity Finance have APIs?
Yes, both offer API access, so developers and quants can pull data programmatically or wire up their own integrations.
Should I choose CB Insights or Perplexity Finance?
It depends on what you're after. Pick CB Insights if sheets / excel add-ins and corporate actions & special situations matter to you; go with Perplexity Finance if you'd rather have watchlist and news. And if you only need the basics both share, let price decide.
What asset classes do CB Insights and Perplexity Finance cover?
Both cover stocks. CB Insights also handles other. Perplexity Finance adds ETFs, mutual funds, and cryptos on top.
Does CB Insights or Perplexity Finance have real-time data?
Perplexity Finance offers real-time data, which matters if you trade actively. CB Insights runs on delayed or end-of-day data, which is perfectly fine for longer-term investors who don't live and die by the tick.
Is CB Insights or Perplexity Finance better for day trading?
Perplexity Finance is the one positioned more for active traders. CB Insights is the better fit if you care less about fast trading workflows and more about a calmer research process.
Which has a better stock screener: CB Insights or Perplexity Finance?
Both CB Insights and Perplexity Finance include stock screeners, and they differ more in interface than raw power; try both and see which one clicks for you.
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