VOL. XCIV, NO. 247

★ FINANCIAL TOOLS & SERVICES DIRECTORY ★

PRICE: 5 CENTS

Wednesday, October 29, 2025

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Tool Comparison

Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) vs Visible Alpha comparison

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

Quick takeaways

Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) adds Shipping & Trade, and Education coverage that Visible Alpha skips.

Visible Alpha includes Financials, Analyst Forecasts, Analyst Price Targets, Analyst Recommendations, Stock Comparison, APIs & SDKs, Sheets / Excel Add-ins, and Playbooks & Case Studies categories that Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) omits.

Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) has a free tier, while Visible Alpha requires a paid plan.

In depth comparison

Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) logo

Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC)

oec.world

A global trade and economic complexity platform with rich visualizations, country and product rankings, and an API. Pro plans unlock the latest monthly and subnational datasets, while Premium adds company-level Bill of Lading data and bulk downloads. Academic discounts and enterprise options with SSO support are also available.

Platforms

WebAPI

Pricing

FreeSubscription

Quick highlights

  • Visualizations and rankings based on Economic Complexity Index (ECI) and Product Complexity Index (PCI), with reports by HS classification.
  • Monthly international trade data and subnational coverage across 30+ countries available on Pro plans.
  • Premium tier adds company-level U.S. Bill of Lading data through a Company Explorer sourced from U.S. Customs.
  • REST API with a free tier for historical data and Pro/Premium tokens for the latest datasets, subnational access, and higher query volumes.
  • Data downloads in CSV, Excel, or JSON, with bulk access and larger query limits available for subscribers.

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Visible Alpha logo

Visible Alpha

visiblealpha.com

Granular, line‑item consensus from full sell‑side models (7,000+ companies; 250+ contributing brokers) with VA Actuals historicals, Excel add‑in, and enterprise delivery via API/Data Feed/Snowflake. Now part of S&P Global Market Intelligence and available as an add‑on within S&P Capital IQ Pro. Includes modules like Target Price & Ratings and a Line Item Monitor for alerts and revision analysis.

Platforms

WebDesktopAPI

Pricing

Subscription

Quick highlights

  • Deep, line‑item consensus built from full working sell‑side models; 7,000+ companies, 250+ contributing brokers, 1M+ consensus line items; 170+ industries covered.
  • VA Actuals: stitched historical fundamentals not always disclosed in filings, integrated with forward estimates for seamless time series.
  • Excel Add‑in with real‑time updating of figures, pre‑built templates, and one‑click tear‑sheets/export from the web app.
  • Target Price & Ratings: consensus rating distributions, target prices and valuation context with an ‘Open Entitlements’ contributor‑visibility framework.
  • Company & Line Item Monitor: alerting on threshold changes, dispersion, trend and revision analysis at the metric level.

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Where they differ

Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC)

Distinct strengths include:

Shipping & TradeEducation
  • Visualizations and rankings based on Economic Complexity Index (ECI) and Product Complexity Index (PCI), with reports by HS classification.
  • Monthly international trade data and subnational coverage across 30+ countries available on Pro plans.
  • Premium tier adds company-level U.S. Bill of Lading data through a Company Explorer sourced from U.S. Customs.
  • REST API with a free tier for historical data and Pro/Premium tokens for the latest datasets, subnational access, and higher query volumes.

Visible Alpha

Distinct strengths include:

FinancialsAnalyst ForecastsAnalyst Price TargetsAnalyst RecommendationsStock ComparisonAPIs & SDKsSheets / Excel Add-insPlaybooks & Case Studies
  • Deep, line‑item consensus built from full working sell‑side models; 7,000+ companies, 250+ contributing brokers, 1M+ consensus line items; 170+ industries covered.
  • VA Actuals: stitched historical fundamentals not always disclosed in filings, integrated with forward estimates for seamless time series.
  • Excel Add‑in with real‑time updating of figures, pre‑built templates, and one‑click tear‑sheets/export from the web app.
  • Target Price & Ratings: consensus rating distributions, target prices and valuation context with an ‘Open Entitlements’ contributor‑visibility framework.

Feature-by-feature breakdown

AttributeObservatory of Economic Complexity (OEC)Visible Alpha
Categories

Which research workflows each platform targets

Shared: Data Visualizations, Data APIs, Blogs

Unique: Shipping & Trade, Education

Shared: Data Visualizations, Data APIs, Blogs

Unique: Financials, Analyst Forecasts, Analyst Price Targets, Analyst Recommendations, Stock Comparison, APIs & SDKs, Sheets / Excel Add-ins, Playbooks & Case Studies

Asset types

Supported asset classes and universes

Other

Stocks

Experience levels

Who each product is built for

Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced

Intermediate, Advanced

Platforms

Where you can access the product

Web, API

Web, Desktop, API

Pricing

High-level pricing models

Free, Subscription

Subscription

Key features

Core capabilities called out by each vendor

Unique

  • Visualizations and rankings based on Economic Complexity Index (ECI) and Product Complexity Index (PCI), with reports by HS classification.
  • Monthly international trade data and subnational coverage across 30+ countries available on Pro plans.
  • Premium tier adds company-level U.S. Bill of Lading data through a Company Explorer sourced from U.S. Customs.
  • REST API with a free tier for historical data and Pro/Premium tokens for the latest datasets, subnational access, and higher query volumes.
  • Data downloads in CSV, Excel, or JSON, with bulk access and larger query limits available for subscribers.
  • Support for multiple HS revisions (from HS92 through HS2022) with well-documented historical ranges.

Unique

  • Deep, line‑item consensus built from full working sell‑side models; 7,000+ companies, 250+ contributing brokers, 1M+ consensus line items; 170+ industries covered.
  • VA Actuals: stitched historical fundamentals not always disclosed in filings, integrated with forward estimates for seamless time series.
  • Excel Add‑in with real‑time updating of figures, pre‑built templates, and one‑click tear‑sheets/export from the web app.
  • Target Price & Ratings: consensus rating distributions, target prices and valuation context with an ‘Open Entitlements’ contributor‑visibility framework.
  • Company & Line Item Monitor: alerting on threshold changes, dispersion, trend and revision analysis at the metric level.
  • Enterprise data delivery: REST API for ad‑hoc queries, file‑based data feeds (S3/SFTP), and Snowflake data shares; feeds/cloud updated throughout the day.
Tested

Verified by hands-on testing inside Find My Moat

Not yet

Not yet

Editor pick

Featured inside curated shortlists

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which workflows do Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) and Visible Alpha both support?

Both platforms cover Data Visualizations, Data APIs, and Blogs workflows, so you can research those use cases in either tool before digging into the feature differences below.

Which tool offers a free plan?

Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) offers a free entry point, while Visible Alpha requires a paid subscription. Review the pricing table to see how the paid tiers compare.

How can you access Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) and Visible Alpha?

Both Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) and Visible Alpha prioritize web or desktop access. Investors wanting a mobile-first workflow may need to rely on responsive web views.

What unique strengths set the two platforms apart?

Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) differentiates itself with Visualizations and rankings based on Economic Complexity Index (ECI) and Product Complexity Index (PCI), with reports by HS classification., Monthly international trade data and subnational coverage across 30+ countries available on Pro plans., and Premium tier adds company-level U.S. Bill of Lading data through a Company Explorer sourced from U.S. Customs., whereas Visible Alpha stands out for Deep, line‑item consensus built from full working sell‑side models; 7,000+ companies, 250+ contributing brokers, 1M+ consensus line items; 170+ industries covered., VA Actuals: stitched historical fundamentals not always disclosed in filings, integrated with forward estimates for seamless time series., and Excel Add‑in with real‑time updating of figures, pre‑built templates, and one‑click tear‑sheets/export from the web app..

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Keep exploring

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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.