BEST INVESTING TOOLS COMPARISON

Checking

Checked September 24, 2026

Tool Comparison

MarketXLS vs PortfoliosLab

Paid from
$850/yr, billed annually
Free plan
No
Platforms
Desktop, Web

Best if

  • Delayed quotes won't cut it; you need real-time data
  • You want sheets / excel add-ins, broker connectors, and options.
Paid from
$100/yr, billed annually
Free plan
Yes
Platforms
Web, API

Best if

  • You'd rather start free and only pay if you outgrow it
  • You want a lower paid starting price: $100/yr, billed annually instead of $850/yr, billed annually
  • You want an API so you can script or automate things

Pick MarketXLS if

MarketXLS logo

MarketXLS

marketxls.com

From $850/yr, billed annually · Desktop · Web

  • Delayed quotes won't cut it; you need real-time data
  • You want sheets / excel add-ins, broker connectors, and options.

Pick PortfoliosLab if

PortfoliosLab logo

PortfoliosLab

portfolioslab.com

Free • From $100/yr, billed annually · Web · API

  • You'd rather start free and only pay if you outgrow it
  • You want a lower paid starting price: $100/yr, billed annually instead of $850/yr, billed annually
  • You want an API so you can script or automate things

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

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Our take

The bottom line

MarketXLS and PortfoliosLab cover a lot of the same ground (5 shared categories, including screeners, risk metrics, and portfolio), so for the basics you won't go far wrong with either. MarketXLS includes sheets / excel add-ins and broker connectors, and PortfoliosLab includes backtesting and factor exposure.

What readers say

MarketXLS

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PortfoliosLab

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Key differences at a glance

Free plan
PortfoliosLab
Cheaper paid plan
PortfoliosLab$100/yr, billed annually vs $850/yr, billed annually
Desktop app
MarketXLS
API access
PortfoliosLab
Real-time data
MarketXLS
See the full side-by-side table
MarketXLS logo

What MarketXLS does best

  1. Use more than 1,000 market-data and analysis functions in Excel on Windows, Mac, and the web, or in Google Sheets.
  2. Access quotes, fundamentals, historical statements, ETF data, options data, mutual-fund data, crypto pairs, FRED economic series, and selected technical data into workbooks.
  3. Real-time streaming quotes on Advanced and Business plans for covered U.S. and Canadian stocks, ETFs, and options.
  4. Standard defaults to 15-minute delayed stock, ETF, and crypto data, with EOD options, mutual-fund, and economic data.
  5. Analyze options chains, Greeks, implied volatility, order flow, strategy profit and loss, and broker symbols.
PortfoliosLab logo

What PortfoliosLab does best

  1. Backtest portfolios and single instruments with configurable rebalancing, benchmark comparisons, and longer historical windows on paid plans.
  2. Analysis of performance, drawdowns, volatility, VaR, CVaR, Sharpe, Sortino, Omega, Calmar, Martin, Treynor, and related risk-adjusted ratios.
  3. Comparison tools for stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, funds, crypto, and currency instruments across performance, risk, drawdown, and diversification views.
  4. Correlation, alpha and beta, factor, diversification, and optimization tools, including mean-variance, risk parity, HRP, and HERC.
  5. Screening for stocks, ETFs, and mutual funds with daily-recalculated filters, then export results where the selected plan allows it.

Side by side

Pricing & plans
Starting price
From $850/yr, billed annually
Free • From $100/yr, billed annually
Free tier
No
Yes
Free trial
—
—
Platforms & access
Web app
Yes
Yes
Desktop app
Yes
No
Mobile app
No
No
API access
No
Yes
Broker sync
No
No
Integrations
Interactive Brokers, Thinkorswim +11 more
MCP, ChatGPT +1 more
Coverage & data
Asset types
StocksETFsOptionsMutual FundsCurrenciesFuturesCryptos
StocksETFsMutual FundsFundsCryptosCurrencies
Target audience
Not specified
Retail TradersPro RetailInstitutional InvestorsLong-term InvestorsIndex/Passive InvestorsQuants/DevelopersAnalystsFinancial Advisors
Data freshness
Real-time15-min DelayedEnd of Day
End of Day
Data granularity
MinuteEOD
EOD
Export formats
ExcelCSV
Not specified

Pricing comparison

Tier
PortfoliosLabLower annual price
Free plan
—
Free
Entry paid plan
$850/yrBilled annually≈ $70.83/mo“Standard”
$100/yrBilled annually≈ $8.33/mo“Plus”
Tier 2
$1500/yrBilled annually≈ $125/mo“Advanced”
$250/yrBilled annually≈ $20.83/mo“Pro”
Top plan
$2400/yrBilled annually≈ $200/mo“Business”
$900/yrBilled annually≈ $75/mo“Max”

See for yourself

Side by side

Price, platforms, data, and market coverage.
Show
Side-by-side comparison of MarketXLS and PortfoliosLab
Attribute
MarketXLS logo
MarketXLS
PortfoliosLab logo
PortfoliosLab
Pricing & plans
Starting price
From $850/yr, billed annuallyFree • From $100/yr, billed annually
Free tier
NoYes
Free trial
——
Plan limits
9 limits: Standard: stock etf delay minutes: 15, Standard: options timing: End of day +7 more25 limits: Free: watchlists: 1, Free: watchlist symbols: 100 +23 more
Platforms & access
Web app
YesYes
Desktop app
YesNo
Mobile app
NoNo
API access
NoYes
Broker sync
NoNo
Integrations
Interactive Brokers, Thinkorswim +11 moreMCP, ChatGPT +1 more
Audience & fit
Experience level
Beginner, Intermediate, AdvancedBeginner, Intermediate, Advanced
Best for
—Retail Traders, Pro Retail +6 more
Categories covered
1617
Regions
North America, Europe, APACNorth America, Europe
Data & capabilities
Data quality
4 signals: Latency: Real-time, 15-min Delayed, and End of Day, Granularity: Minute and EOD +2 more3 signals: Latency: End of Day, Granularity: EOD +1 more
Capabilities
5 signals: Factors: Value, Quality, and Momentum, Multi-leg options +3 more6 signals: Factor exposure, VaR/ES +4 more
Security
Status page—
Try itVisit MarketXLSVisit PortfoliosLab

Standout features

The best features of MarketXLS and PortfoliosLab.
Show
MarketXLS logo

What MarketXLS does best

  1. Use more than 1,000 market-data and analysis functions in Excel on Windows, Mac, and the web, or in Google Sheets.
  2. Access quotes, fundamentals, historical statements, ETF data, options data, mutual-fund data, crypto pairs, FRED economic series, and selected technical data into workbooks.
  3. Real-time streaming quotes on Advanced and Business plans for covered U.S. and Canadian stocks, ETFs, and options.
  4. Standard defaults to 15-minute delayed stock, ETF, and crypto data, with EOD options, mutual-fund, and economic data.
  5. Analyze options chains, Greeks, implied volatility, order flow, strategy profit and loss, and broker symbols.
PortfoliosLab logo

What PortfoliosLab does best

  1. Backtest portfolios and single instruments with configurable rebalancing, benchmark comparisons, and longer historical windows on paid plans.
  2. Analysis of performance, drawdowns, volatility, VaR, CVaR, Sharpe, Sortino, Omega, Calmar, Martin, Treynor, and related risk-adjusted ratios.
  3. Comparison tools for stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, funds, crypto, and currency instruments across performance, risk, drawdown, and diversification views.
  4. Correlation, alpha and beta, factor, diversification, and optimization tools, including mean-variance, risk parity, HRP, and HERC.
  5. Screening for stocks, ETFs, and mutual funds with daily-recalculated filters, then export results where the selected plan allows it.

All details

Every attribute we track for MarketXLS and PortfoliosLab.
Show
Attribute
MarketXLS logo
MarketXLS
PortfoliosLab logo
PortfoliosLab
Coverage & fit
Asset types
StocksETFsOptionsMutual FundsCurrenciesFuturesCryptos
StocksETFsMutual FundsFundsCryptosCurrencies
Experience
BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced
BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced
Target audience
Not specified
Retail TradersPro RetailInstitutional InvestorsLong-term InvestorsIndex/Passive InvestorsQuants/DevelopersAnalystsFinancial Advisors
Regions
North AmericaEuropeAPAC
North AmericaEurope
Coverage details
Countries: US and CA5 exchangesIdentifiers: Ticker and CUSIP
Countries: US and GBIdentifiers: Ticker
Data
Data freshness
Real-time15-min DelayedEnd of Day
End of Day
Data granularity
MinuteEOD
EOD
Access & integrations
API protocols
Not specified
REST
API auth & delivery
Not specified
Auth: NoneDocs
Import methods
Not specified
ManualCSV
Integrations
Interactive BrokersThinkorswimTradierOrionCharles Schwab (OpenView Gateway)QuoteMediaIEX CloudNasdaq+5 more
MCPChatGPTClaude
Export formats
ExcelCSV
Not specified
Plans & trust
Security & compliance
Status page
Not specified
Capability signals
Factors: Value, Quality, and MomentumMulti-leg optionsGreeksMonte CarloCorrelation
Factor exposureVaR/ESPerformance attributionRebalancingPortfolio factor exposureCorrelation
Vendor & support
MarketXLS LimitedCountry: IrelandFounded 2016Support: Email and Phone
PortfoliosLab Analytics FZCOCountry: United Arab EmiratesSupport: Email
Curation ratings
Methodology 3/5Reliability 4/5UX 4/5
Not specified

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 MarketXLS and PortfoliosLab
Tier
MarketXLS logo
MarketXLS
PortfoliosLab logo
PortfoliosLabLower annual price
Free plan—
Freewatchlists: 1 · watchlist symbols: 100 · +4 more
Entry paid plan
$850/yrBilled annually≈ $70.83/mo“Standard”stock etf delay minutes: 15 · options timing: End of day · +1 more
$100/yrBilled annually≈ $8.33/mo“Plus”watchlists: 5 · private portfolios: 5 · +4 more
Tier 2
$1500/yrBilled annually≈ $125/mo“Advanced”stock etf timing: Real-time streaming · options timing: Real-time streaming · +1 more
$250/yrBilled annually≈ $20.83/mo“Pro”watchlists: 10 · private portfolios: Unlimited · +4 more
Top plan
$2400/yrBilled annually≈ $200/mo“Business”support: VIP · consulting: Included · +1 more
$900/yrBilled annually≈ $75/mo“Max”watchlists: 10 · watchlist symbols: 2,000 · +5 more

Questions we keep getting

What's the difference between MarketXLS and PortfoliosLab?

MarketXLS leans toward sheets / excel add-ins, broker connectors, and screeners, while PortfoliosLab puts more weight on portfolio, watchlist, and backtesting. They overlap in 5 categories, so for most people it comes down to workflow preference and price.

Is MarketXLS or PortfoliosLab free to use?

PortfoliosLab has a free tier, so you can get started without paying anything. MarketXLS is paid-only. If budget matters, start with PortfoliosLab and see how far it takes you before opening your wallet.

Does MarketXLS or PortfoliosLab have an API?

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

Should I choose MarketXLS or PortfoliosLab?

It depends on what you're after. Pick MarketXLS if sheets / excel add-ins and broker connectors matter to you; go with PortfoliosLab if you'd rather have backtesting and factor exposure. And if you only need the basics both share, let price decide.

What asset classes do MarketXLS and PortfoliosLab cover?

Both cover stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, and currencies. MarketXLS also handles options and futures. PortfoliosLab adds funds on top.

Does MarketXLS or PortfoliosLab have real-time data?

MarketXLS offers real-time data, which matters if you trade actively. PortfoliosLab 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.

Can I export data from MarketXLS and PortfoliosLab?

MarketXLS exports to Excel and CSV. PortfoliosLab is stingier about getting data out.

Which has a better stock screener: MarketXLS or PortfoliosLab?

Both MarketXLS and PortfoliosLab 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 MarketXLS or PortfoliosLab?

Yes, both do portfolio tracking: holdings, performance, and allocation in one place.

Feedback

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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.