VOL. XCIV, NO. 247

★ FINANCIAL TOOLS & SERVICES DIRECTORY ★

PRICE: 5 CENTS

Sunday, October 5, 2025

Head-to-head

Google Finance vs Seeking Alpha comparison

Compare pricing, supported platforms, categories, and standout capabilities to decide which tool fits your workflow.

Quick takeaways

Seeking Alpha includes Screeners, ETF Screeners, Alerts, Calendar, Dividends, Scores, Bulls Say Bear Say, Transcripts, ETF Performance, ETF Fundamentals, ETF Factors, Analyst Forecasts, Analyst Recommendations, Analyst Price Targets, Options, Which ETF includes this Stock?, AI Report, and AI Earnings Summary categories that Google Finance omits.

Google Finance highlights: Custom watchlists to follow securities and markets, with tailored news feeds for tracked symbols., Simple portfolio tools: add holdings with quantity, cost basis, and date; convert watchlists to portfolios; experiment with simulated “playground” portfolios; switch portfolio currency., and Performance tracking with one-day and total returns, plus portfolio value charts. Comparisons are based on time-weighted rate of return (TWR)..

Seeking Alpha is known for: Quant Ratings for stocks with five Factor Grades (Value, Growth, Profitability, Momentum, EPS Revisions), plus ETF Factor Grades (Momentum, Expenses, Dividends, Risk, Liquidity)., Stock and ETF screeners with ratings, grades, and advanced filters. Premium members can save screens for reuse., and Side-by-side comparison of up to 20 stocks, with export to Excel or PDF..

Seeking Alpha offers mobile access, which Google Finance skips.

Google Finance logo

Google Finance

google.com

Editor’s pick Hands-on review

Free web portal for quotes, charts, news, watchlists, and simple portfolio tracking. Portfolios can include stocks, mutual funds, ETFs, and crypto, with returns shown using time-weighted calculations. Data freshness varies by source: some exchanges stream in real time, while others are delayed (e.g., 15 minutes for many equities, 10 minutes for CME futures, end-of-day for mutual funds). Currency and crypto quotes update every few minutes. Google Sheets supports the GOOGLEFINANCE() function for live data pulls, though no public REST API is offered.

Platforms

Web

Pricing

Free

Quick highlights

  • Custom watchlists to follow securities and markets, with tailored news feeds for tracked symbols.
  • Simple portfolio tools: add holdings with quantity, cost basis, and date; convert watchlists to portfolios; experiment with simulated “playground” portfolios; switch portfolio currency.
  • Performance tracking with one-day and total returns, plus portfolio value charts. Comparisons are based on time-weighted rate of return (TWR).
  • Interactive charts, quotes, and aggregated financial news across global markets.
  • Coverage across multiple asset classes with varied latency: U.S. equities often real-time, international equities typically 15-minute delay, futures about 10 minutes, crypto and currencies ~3 minutes, and mutual funds end-of-day.

Community votes (overall)

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Seeking Alpha logo

Seeking Alpha

seekingalpha.com

Editor’s pick Hands-on review

One of the largest investor communities online, blending crowdsourced research with data tools. Premium unlocks Quant Ratings and Factor Grades, stock and ETF screeners, advanced comparison tools with Excel/PDF export, broker syncing (via Plaid and SnapTrade), and AI-driven “Virtual Analyst” reports. PRO goes further with curated Top Ideas, Short Ideas, and the PRO Quant Portfolio. Market quotes are a mix of real-time and 15-minute delayed, depending on the exchange.

Platforms

Web
Mobile

Pricing

Free
Subscription

Quick highlights

  • Quant Ratings for stocks with five Factor Grades (Value, Growth, Profitability, Momentum, EPS Revisions), plus ETF Factor Grades (Momentum, Expenses, Dividends, Risk, Liquidity).
  • Stock and ETF screeners with ratings, grades, and advanced filters. Premium members can save screens for reuse.
  • Side-by-side comparison of up to 20 stocks, with export to Excel or PDF.
  • Portfolio tools with custom views, health scores, and Excel export. Premium users can link brokers for daily auto-sync through Plaid or SnapTrade.
  • Market data includes both real-time and delayed quotes, with advanced charts covering intraday to multi-year intervals.

Community votes (overall)

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Overlap

Shared focus areas

8 overlaps

Mutual strengths include Watchlist, Portfolio, and News plus 5 more areas.

Where they differ

Seeking Alpha

Distinct strengths include:

  • Quant Ratings for stocks with five Factor Grades (Value, Growth, Profitability, Momentum, EPS Revisions), plus ETF Factor Grades (Momentum, Expenses, Dividends, Risk, Liquidity).
  • Stock and ETF screeners with ratings, grades, and advanced filters. Premium members can save screens for reuse.
  • Side-by-side comparison of up to 20 stocks, with export to Excel or PDF.
  • Portfolio tools with custom views, health scores, and Excel export. Premium users can link brokers for daily auto-sync through Plaid or SnapTrade.

Feature-by-feature breakdown

AttributeGoogle FinanceSeeking Alpha
Categories

Which research workflows each platform targets

Shared: Watchlist, Portfolio, News, Stock Comparison, Data Visualizations, Financials, ETF Overview, ETF Holdings

Shared: Watchlist, Portfolio, News, Stock Comparison, Data Visualizations, Financials, ETF Overview, ETF Holdings

Unique: Screeners, ETF Screeners, Alerts, Calendar, Dividends, Scores, Bulls Say Bear Say, Transcripts, ETF Performance, ETF Fundamentals, ETF Factors, Analyst Forecasts, Analyst Recommendations, Analyst Price Targets, Options, Which ETF includes this Stock?, AI Report, AI Earnings Summary

Asset types

Supported asset classes and universes

Stocks, ETFs, Mutual Funds, Currencies, Cryptos, Futures, Bonds

Stocks, ETFs, Mutual Funds, Closed-End Funds, Options

Experience levels

Who each product is built for

Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced

Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced

Platforms

Where you can access the product

Web

Web, Mobile

Pricing

High-level pricing models

Free

Free, Subscription

Key features

Core capabilities called out by each vendor

Unique

  • Custom watchlists to follow securities and markets, with tailored news feeds for tracked symbols.
  • Simple portfolio tools: add holdings with quantity, cost basis, and date; convert watchlists to portfolios; experiment with simulated “playground” portfolios; switch portfolio currency.
  • Performance tracking with one-day and total returns, plus portfolio value charts. Comparisons are based on time-weighted rate of return (TWR).
  • Interactive charts, quotes, and aggregated financial news across global markets.
  • Coverage across multiple asset classes with varied latency: U.S. equities often real-time, international equities typically 15-minute delay, futures about 10 minutes, crypto and currencies ~3 minutes, and mutual funds end-of-day.
  • Google Sheets integration via =GOOGLEFINANCE() for fetching current and historical data (with limits on coverage, frequency, and history depth).

Unique

  • Quant Ratings for stocks with five Factor Grades (Value, Growth, Profitability, Momentum, EPS Revisions), plus ETF Factor Grades (Momentum, Expenses, Dividends, Risk, Liquidity).
  • Stock and ETF screeners with ratings, grades, and advanced filters. Premium members can save screens for reuse.
  • Side-by-side comparison of up to 20 stocks, with export to Excel or PDF.
  • Portfolio tools with custom views, health scores, and Excel export. Premium users can link brokers for daily auto-sync through Plaid or SnapTrade.
  • Market data includes both real-time and delayed quotes, with advanced charts covering intraday to multi-year intervals.
  • Full library of earnings call transcripts, with AI-generated “Earnings Call Insights” and “Virtual Analyst” summaries.
Tested

Verified by hands-on testing inside Find My Moat

Yes

Yes

Editor pick

Featured inside curated shortlists

Highlighted

Highlighted

Frequently Asked Questions

Which workflows do Google Finance and Seeking Alpha both support?

Both platforms cover Watchlist, Portfolio, News, Stock Comparison, Data Visualizations, Financials, ETF Overview, and ETF Holdings workflows, so you can research those use cases in either tool before digging into the feature differences below.

Do Google Finance and Seeking Alpha require subscriptions?

Both Google Finance and Seeking Alpha keep freemium access with optional paid upgrades, so you can trial each platform before committing.

Which tool has mobile access?

Seeking Alpha ships a dedicated mobile experience, while Google Finance focuses on web or desktop access.

What unique strengths set the two platforms apart?

Google Finance differentiates itself with Custom watchlists to follow securities and markets, with tailored news feeds for tracked symbols., Simple portfolio tools: add holdings with quantity, cost basis, and date; convert watchlists to portfolios; experiment with simulated “playground” portfolios; switch portfolio currency., and Performance tracking with one-day and total returns, plus portfolio value charts. Comparisons are based on time-weighted rate of return (TWR)., whereas Seeking Alpha stands out for Quant Ratings for stocks with five Factor Grades (Value, Growth, Profitability, Momentum, EPS Revisions), plus ETF Factor Grades (Momentum, Expenses, Dividends, Risk, Liquidity)., Stock and ETF screeners with ratings, grades, and advanced filters. Premium members can save screens for reuse., and Side-by-side comparison of up to 20 stocks, with export to Excel or PDF..

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.