BEST INVESTING TOOLS COMPARISON

Checking

Checked September 24, 2026

Tool Comparison

ETF Central vs GuruFocus

Paid from
—
Free plan
Yes
Platforms
Web

Best if

  • You want money flow.

GuruFocus

TestedMost versatile pick
Review & pricing
Paid from
$45.75/mo
Free plan
Yes
Platforms
Web, Mobile, API

Best if

  • You do a lot of your research from your phone
  • You want an API so you can script or automate things
  • You want stock ideas, screeners, and top analysts.

Pick ETF Central instead if

ETF Central logo

ETF Central

etfcentral.com

Free · Web

  • You want money flow.
Most versatile pick

Start here

GuruFocus logo

GuruFocus

gurufocus.comTested

Free • From $549/yr · Web · Mobile · API

  • You do a lot of your research from your phone
  • You want an API so you can script or automate things
  • You want stock ideas, screeners, and top analysts.

Skip both if: Neither one clicks with how you research; there are strong third options.

See alternatives

Other tools you might like

Outbound links may include affiliate or sponsor codes.

Not set on either one? See the top 50 tools, ranked by user votes, or the deals page for big discounts on popular tools.

Our take

The bottom line

ETF Central and GuruFocus cover a lot of the same ground (7 shared categories, including ETF screeners, ETF comparison, and watchlist), so for the basics you won't go far wrong with either. GuruFocus simply does more: 49 categories to ETF Central's 8, including stock ideas, screeners, and top analysts, plus a mobile app. ETF Central counters by being completely free.

What readers say

ETF Central

No votes yet. Cast the first one.

GuruFocus

No votes yet. Cast the first one.

Key differences at a glance

Mobile app
GuruFocus
Free trial
GuruFocus7 days
Broader coverage
GuruFocus49 vs 8 categories
API access
GuruFocus
Broker sync
GuruFocus
Global coverage
GuruFocus
See the full side-by-side table
ETF Central logo

What ETF Central does best

  1. Screen more than 5,500 U.S.-listed ETFs with filters, sorting, presets, and Trackinsight thematic taxonomy views.
  2. Compare ETFs side by side across performance, liquidity, risk, exposure, and holdings.
  3. Segment dashboards to review best and worst performers plus inflows and outflows across multiple time windows.
  4. Build a free-account watchlist of up to 100 ETFs, choose from 27 data columns, and export the list to Excel.
  5. Construct, simulate, analyze, import, and share portfolios of U.S.-listed ETFs.
GuruFocus logo

What GuruFocus does best

  1. Research coverage for global stocks with long historical financials, valuation data, charts, comparisons, market valuation indicators, economic indicators, industry data, and company-level fundamentals.
  2. The All-in-One Screener with hundreds of filters across fundamentals, valuation, profitability, growth, dividends, guru holdings, insider trades, predefined value screens, custom filters, saved screens, and downloads.
  3. ETF Screener and ETF GF Scores for filtering and comparing more than 5,000 U.S.
  4. Corporate and government bond screening by yield, maturity, ratings, coupon structure, outstanding amount, issuer, and industry, plus company-level bond tabs.
  5. Backtest screener strategies across many countries with configurable stock count, ranking metric, sort order, date range, and rebalance frequency; current membership terms give Premium the latest five years and Premium Plus/Professional history back to 2006.

Side by side

Pricing & plans
Starting price
Free
Free • From $549/yr
Free tier
Yes
Yes
Free trial
—
7 days
Platforms & access
Web app
Yes
Yes
Mobile app
No
Yes
API access
No
Yes
Broker sync
No
Yes
Integrations
—
GuruFocus Data API, GuruFocus MCP Server +3 more
Coverage & data
Asset types
ETFs
StocksETFsBondsMutual FundsOptionsFundsOther
Target audience
Retail TradersPro RetailFinancial AdvisorsAnalystsStudents/Researchers
Retail TradersPro RetailLong-term InvestorsValue InvestorsQuality InvestorsDividend InvestorsAnalystsQuants/Developers+3 more
Data freshness
Not specified
End of Day
Data granularity
Not specified
EOD
Export formats
ExcelPDF
CSVExcelJSON

Pricing comparison

Tier
ETF CentralCheaper start
Free plan
Free
Free
Entry paid plan
—
$549/yr≈ $45.75/mo“Premium”
Tier 2
—
$200/mo“Data API Builder”
Tier 3
—
$2000/mo“Data API Commercial”
Tier 4
—
Subscription“Premium Plus”
Tier 5
—
Subscription“Professional”
Top plan
—
$100 per unit“Data API Pay As You Go”
Custom / enterprise
—
Contact sales“Custom API / Enterprise Package”
Free trial
—
7 days

See for yourself

Side by side

Price, platforms, data, and market coverage.
Show
Side-by-side comparison of ETF Central and GuruFocus
Attribute
ETF Central logo
ETF Central
GuruFocus logo
GuruFocus
Pricing & plans
Starting price
FreeFree • From $549/yr
Free tier
YesYes
Free trial
—7 days
Plan limits
Free: watchlist etfs: 100 and Free: watchlist columns: 2757 limits: Free: portfolio limit: Up to 3 portfolios with 25 stocks each for free members, Free: data api requests: 100/month included in the Free API package +55 more
Platforms & access
Web app
YesYes
Mobile app
NoYes
API access
NoYes
Broker sync
NoYes
Integrations
—GuruFocus Data API, GuruFocus MCP Server +3 more
Audience & fit
Experience level
Beginner, Intermediate, AdvancedBeginner, Intermediate, Advanced
Best for
Retail Traders, Pro Retail +3 moreRetail Traders, Pro Retail +9 more
Categories covered
849
Regions
North AmericaNorth America, Europe, APAC, LatAm, Middle East, Africa
Data & capabilities
Data quality
—5 signals: Latency: End of Day, Granularity: EOD +3 more
Data partners
Trackinsight and NYSE5 partners: QuoteMedia, Morningstar +3 more
Capabilities
7 signals: Universe builder, Factor exposure +5 more9 signals: Custom formulas, Ranking backtests +7 more
Security
—Status page and Encryption in transit
Try itVisit ETF CentralVisit GuruFocus

Standout features

The best features of ETF Central and GuruFocus.
Show
ETF Central logo

What ETF Central does best

  1. Screen more than 5,500 U.S.-listed ETFs with filters, sorting, presets, and Trackinsight thematic taxonomy views.
  2. Compare ETFs side by side across performance, liquidity, risk, exposure, and holdings.
  3. Segment dashboards to review best and worst performers plus inflows and outflows across multiple time windows.
  4. Build a free-account watchlist of up to 100 ETFs, choose from 27 data columns, and export the list to Excel.
  5. Construct, simulate, analyze, import, and share portfolios of U.S.-listed ETFs.
GuruFocus logo

What GuruFocus does best

  1. Research coverage for global stocks with long historical financials, valuation data, charts, comparisons, market valuation indicators, economic indicators, industry data, and company-level fundamentals.
  2. The All-in-One Screener with hundreds of filters across fundamentals, valuation, profitability, growth, dividends, guru holdings, insider trades, predefined value screens, custom filters, saved screens, and downloads.
  3. ETF Screener and ETF GF Scores for filtering and comparing more than 5,000 U.S.
  4. Corporate and government bond screening by yield, maturity, ratings, coupon structure, outstanding amount, issuer, and industry, plus company-level bond tabs.
  5. Backtest screener strategies across many countries with configurable stock count, ranking metric, sort order, date range, and rebalance frequency; current membership terms give Premium the latest five years and Premium Plus/Professional history back to 2006.

All details

Every attribute we track for ETF Central and GuruFocus.
Show
Attribute
ETF Central logo
ETF Central
GuruFocus logo
GuruFocus
Coverage & fit
Asset types
ETFs
StocksETFsBondsMutual FundsOptionsFundsOther
Experience
BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced
BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced
Target audience
Retail TradersPro RetailFinancial AdvisorsAnalystsStudents/Researchers
Retail TradersPro RetailLong-term InvestorsValue InvestorsQuality InvestorsDividend InvestorsAnalystsQuants/Developers+3 more
Regions
North America
North AmericaEuropeAPACLatAmMiddle EastAfrica
Coverage details
Countries: USIdentifiers: Ticker
Identifiers: Ticker and CIK
Data
Data freshness
Not specified
End of Day
Data granularity
Not specified
EOD
Pricing sources
Not specified
ExchangeVendorModel
Data partners
TrackinsightNYSE
QuoteMediaMorningstarRefinitivFREDSEC / local regulators
Access & integrations
API protocols
Not specified
REST
API auth & delivery
Not specified
Auth: APIKeySDKs: Python and GoDocs
Import methods
Not specified
CSVBrokerOAuthManual
Integrations
Not specified
GuruFocus Data APIGuruFocus MCP ServerGuruFocus Excel Add-inGuruFocus Google Sheets Add-onSnapTrade
Export formats
ExcelPDF
CSVExcelJSON
Plans & trust
Security & compliance
Not specified
Status pageEncryption in transit
Capability signals
Universe builderFactor exposureVaR/ESPerformance attributionPortfolio attributionRebalancingPortfolio factor exposure
Custom formulasRanking backtestsUniverse builderFactors: Value, Quality, Momentum, and GrowthBroker syncMulti-currencyYield curvesCredit ratings+1 more
Vendor & support
Trackinsight (ETF Central)
GuruFocus.com, LLCCountry: United StatesFounded 2004Support: Email, Chat, Phone, and Forum

Green tags are exclusive to that tool in this comparison.

Pricing

Plans, billing, free trials, and monthly prices.
Show
Plan-by-plan pricing comparison of ETF Central and GuruFocus
Tier
ETF Central logo
ETF CentralCheaper start
GuruFocus logo
GuruFocus
Free plan
Freewatchlist etfs: 100 · watchlist columns: 27
Freeportfolio limit: Up to 3 portfolios with 25 stocks each for free members · data api requests: 100/month included in the Free API package · +1 more
Entry paid plan—
$549/yr≈ $45.75/mo“Premium”billing: Annual only · region price: $549/year for USA, Asia, or Europe; $369/year for several other regions · +7 more
Tier 2—
$200/mo“Data API Builder”billing: Billed annually · monthly request limit: No limit · +12 more
Tier 3—
$2000/mo“Data API Commercial”billing: Billed annually · monthly request limit: No limit · +1 more
Tier 4—
Subscription“Premium Plus”billing: Annual only · public price: Current rendered pricing could not establish the Premium Plus amount · +4 more
Tier 5—
Subscription“Professional”billing: Annual only · public price: Current rendered pricing could not establish the Professional amount · +1 more
Top plan—
$100 per unit“Data API Pay As You Go”initial top up: $100 credit · stock daily prices: $0.05/request · +16 more
Custom / enterprise—
Contact sales“Custom API / Enterprise Package”
Free trial—7 days

Questions we keep getting

What's the difference between ETF Central and GuruFocus?

ETF Central leans toward ETF screeners, ETF comparison, and watchlist, while GuruFocus puts more weight on stock ideas, screeners, and ETF screeners. They overlap in 7 categories, so for most people it comes down to workflow preference and price.

How much do ETF Central and GuruFocus cost?

Good news: both ETF Central and GuruFocus have free plans, so you can run them side by side and only pay if you hit a wall.

Can I use ETF Central or GuruFocus on my phone?

GuruFocus lists a dedicated mobile app, so it travels better. ETF Central doesn't list a dedicated mobile app; its documented access is web.

Does ETF Central or GuruFocus have an API?

GuruFocus has an API for programmatic access and custom integrations. ETF Central doesn't, so you're working through its interface.

Should I choose ETF Central or GuruFocus?

It depends on what you're after. Pick ETF Central if money flow matter to you; go with GuruFocus if you'd rather have stock ideas and screeners. And if you only need the basics both share, let price decide.

What asset classes do ETF Central and GuruFocus cover?

Both cover ETFs. GuruFocus adds stocks, bonds, and mutual funds on top.

Which covers international markets: ETF Central or GuruFocus?

GuruFocus has documented international coverage (North America, Europe, APAC, LatAm, and more), so it's the safer bet if you hold non-US stocks. ETF Central is more region-specific, mainly North America.

Can I export data from ETF Central and GuruFocus?

Yes, both export to spreadsheets (Excel), which is handy if you like running your own numbers.

Can ETF Central or GuruFocus connect to my broker?

GuruFocus syncs with brokers automatically. With ETF Central, you're entering holdings by hand or importing files.

Which has a better stock screener: ETF Central or GuruFocus?

Both ETF Central and GuruFocus include stock screeners, and they differ more in interface than raw power; try both and see which one clicks for you.

Can I track my portfolio with ETF Central or GuruFocus?

GuruFocus handles portfolio tracking. ETF Central is really a research tool; you'd track your portfolio elsewhere.

Feedback

Spot stale pricing, missing features, or a comparison that feels off? Send feedback on the verdict, table, alternatives, or recommendation.

Curation & Accuracy

This directory blends AI‑assisted discovery with human curation. Entries are reviewed, edited, and organized with the goal of expanding coverage and sharpening quality over time. Your feedback helps steer improvements (because no single human can capture everything all at once).

Details change. Pricing, features, and availability may be incomplete or out of date. Treat listings as a starting point and verify on the provider’s site before making decisions. If you spot an error or a gap, send a quick note and I’ll adjust.