If you’re someone who’s interested in investing – and particularly, in doing your own research before you add a stock or ETF to your portfolio – then you probably know that you’ve got options when it comes to finding a stock screening service.
The always-pressing question is: Which service is best for you and your needs? After all, what works for one person may not work for another.
In this Seeking Alpha vs Benzinga Pro review, we’ll compare the two services, with details about features, plans, pricing, and what users on the web think about each of them. Both services have their virtues, especially for investors who want in-depth analysis and those in search of real-time news about their investments. Check out Trust Pilot’s reviews of both Benzinga Pro and Seeking Alpha
One of the newest features on Seeking Alpha is the Portfolio Health Rating, which analyzes portfolios based on Quant ratings and how they compare to other portfolios.
A stand-out feature on Benzinga Pro is Audio Squawk, which offers users a real-time audio feed of market news and changes.
So… which platform is best for you? There’s only one way to find out, and that’s to dive into our comparison and look at Benzinga Pro and Seeking Alpha side by side.
Seeking Alpha vs Benzinga Pro: An Overview
Since both are stock screening and research platforms, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Seeking Alpha and Benzinga Pro have a lot in common. Both offer investors tools to evaluate and compare stocks and read news. For example, both offer watchlists and market news.
Seeking Alpha’s features are designed for in-depth research, providing a combination of expert-driven insights and community analysis, plus ratings and advanced screeners. While beginner investors may find the amount of analysis overwhelming, Seeking Alpha’s features serve a wide range of investors from novices to experts.
Benzinga Pro has more in the way of real-time news and prices, which makes it most suitable for traders. That said, you won’t find the same depth of analysis that you will with Seeking Alpha.
Keep reading to see our Benzinga Pro vs. Seeking Alpha comparisons and figure out which platform is most suitable for your investment style and preferences.
How Do They Work?
Both Seeking Alpha and Benzinga Pro have their advantages. Some investors prefer to trade stocks in their portfolios based on the news of the day. Others prefer to read expert analysis, do their own research, and choose investments based on what they learn. Knowing which investment style you prefer is a key element when it comes to choosing an investment research platform.
How Does Seeking Alpha Work?
Seeking Alpha is, at its heart, an investment community. It has thousands of subscribers, many of whom write and post their own analysis of the market and specific investments. As a service, Seeking Alpha is best known for its:
- Quant ratings for detailed stock evaluations
- Crowdsourced investment insights
- Expert analysis
- Personalized stock alerts and watchlists
- Detailed financials
With Seeking Alpha, subscribers can do a deep dive on stocks and ETFs before they buy, and then keep an eye on stocks in their portfolio going forward. Seeking Alpha’s features make it easy to find the facts and figures necessary to make smart investments.
How Does Benzinga Pro Work?
Like Seeking Alpha, Benzinga Pro is designed to provide investors with useful information to help them evaluate investment opportunities and choose which investments to add to their portfolios. Benzinga Pro is best known for these features.
- Real-time stock market news
- Newsfeed and stock screeners for day traders
- Benzinga Signals, which offers real-time alerts for day traders
Comparing what each service is best known for and how it works, it’s clear that Benzinga Pro and Seeking Alpha are designed for different types of investors. Seeking Alpha is for people who prefer to look before they leap by doing extensive investment research, while Benzinga Pro is for those who prefer to move quickly and who may make investment decisions based on up-to-the-minute market news.
Seeking Alpha vs Benzinga Pro: Key Features
One of the best ways to compare investment research platforms is to dig into the features provided by each.
Main Features for Seeking Alpha
Let’s start with a rundown of Seeking Alpha features, which offer an impressive array of stock market and portfolio analysis tools.
- Quant ratings, Seeking Alpha’s proprietary rating system, rates investments from 1 to 5, with 1 indicating a Strong Sell and 5 indicating a Strong Buy. Historically, Seeking Alpha’s “Strong Buy” recommendations have outperformed the S&P 500.
- Dividend Safety Ratings
- Extensive portfolio management tools, including customizable portfolio views and Portfolio Health Score
- Access to in-depth expert and community analysis
- Access to earnings call transcripts and 10 years of financials
- Stock and ETF alerts based on Quant ratings or price changes
- Customizable watchlists
- Personalized stock and article alerts
These features illustrate why Seeking Alpha is the gold standard for in-depth investment research. The one thing to be aware of is that while Seeking Alpha vets the community content it recommends to subscribers, it doesn’t review everything. It’s always a good idea to do your own research instead of taking one person’s recommendation.
Pro Tip:
If you sign up with Seeking Alpha Premium today, you will receive $30 off and access to an exclusive 7-day free trial!
Main Features for Benzinga Pro
Benzinga Pro is mostly suited for people who want to make investment decisions based on up-to-the-minute market news. Here are some of the most important features that you’ll find on Benzinga Pro.
- Real-time market news
- Audio Squawk alerts (traders can stay tuned all day to get real-time updates)
- Real-time stock price alerts
- News feed customization
- Stock movers
- Watchlists
You can see that Benzinga Pro’s features are tailored to keep investors in the moment with market news and alerts. These features are ideal for day traders, but not for those who want in-depth research and analysis to make investment decisions.
Features Comparison
Let’s look at some of Seeking Alpha’s and Benzinga Pro’s features side by side to help you understand how the two services look when compared.
| Feature | Seeking Alpha | Benzinga Pro |
| Investment Ratings | Quant Ratings, Wall Street Analysts Ratings | N/A |
| Screeners | Basic and Advanced | N/A |
| Market News | Newsfeed | Personalized news feed, Audio Squawk |
| Alerts | Alerts based on pricing and ratings changes | Alerts based on pricing, ratings, and market news |
| Watchlists | Customizable | Customizable |
| Portfolio Tools | Custom Portfolio Views, Portfolio Health Scores, no broker integrations | Minimal, no broker integrations |
Pricing
You may be wondering how Seeking Alpha and Benzinga Pro compare when it comes to pricing. It’s time to answer that question.
Pricing for Seeking Alpha
Let’s look at the cost of Seeking Alpha. Seeking Alpha pricing 2024 costs are as follows:
- The Free Basic Plan offers users the option to create a portfolio, get real-time alerts, and read one Premium article per month.
- Seeking Alpha Premium offers a one-month trial for $4.95, then renews at $299 per year for new subscribers. The cost goes up to $499 per year for returning subscribers.
- Seeking Alpha Pro offers a one-month trial for $99, after which it renews at $2,400 per year.
Few investors will be able to afford the Pro Plan, but Seeking Alpha Premium offers everything you’ll need, including access to Quant Ratings, portfolio management tools, updates, and unlimited access to expert and community analysis.
Pricing for Benzinga Pro
Like Seeking Alpha, Benzinga has three plans. Here’s how they break down.
- The Basic Plan is $37 per month (that’s $444 per year) and offers access to real-time Nasdaq alerts, an unfiltered news feed, chats, price alerts, watchlists, and access to premium articles on Benzinga.com
- The Streamlined Plan costs $147 per month (that’s $1,764 per year) and offers everything in the Basic Plan, plus access to Audio Squawk and advanced news feed filtering.
- The Essentials Plan costs $197 per month (that’s $2,364 per year) and offers everything in the Streamlined Plan, plus Calendar, Signals, and unlockable bonuses that include free subscriptions to some of Benzinga’s premium newsletters.
Subscribers at the Streamlined and Essentials levels also have the option to add High Beta Squawk for $49 per month.
Pro Tip:
If you sign up with Seeking Alpha Premium today, you will receive $30 off and access to an exclusive 7-day free trial!
Price Comparison Table
Here’s how Seeking Alpha and Benzinga Pro’s pricing look side by side.
| Plan | Seeking Alpha | Benzinga Pro |
| Basic | $0, limited features | $37 per month, limited features |
| Premium (Seeking Alpha) Streamlined (Benzinga) |
$4.95 for a 30-day trial; $299/yr for new subscribers; $499/yr for returning subscribers | $147 per month |
| Pro (Seeking Alpha)Essential (Benzinga) | $99 for a 30-day trial; $2,400 per year | $197 per month |
As you can see, Seeking Alpha offers a free plan with access to free stock analysis tools, plus a very affordable one-month trial for its Premium Plan. Benzinga Pro subscription costs are higher for premium subscribers, and offer fewer features.
User Experience
Now it’s time for a quick comparison of users’ experiences using Seeking Alpha and Benzinga Pro.
Reviewers on Capterra have awarded Seeking Alpha an average of 4.3 out of 5 stars, while reviewers on Trustpilot have given Seeking Alpha premium 4 out of 5 possible stars.
Some of the things that reviewers praise include these things:
- It’s easy to link to an outside portfolio
- SA provides detailed expert stock analysis, financials, and metrics
- Unique perspectives from community members
- Useful articles
- Portfolio management tools
- Strong performance against benchmarks
Some of the most common issues included these things:
- Lack of vetting for community content
- Customer support response times are sometimes slow
- Automatic renewal process
- Amount of information may be overwhelming
In terms of a Seeking Alpha app review, most users seem to like the app and appreciate having access to a stock market research app on the go.
There’s only one user review for Benzinga on Capterra, and that user gave the service 4 out of 5 stars, but we can’t extrapolate much from such a small sample. That user did praise the Benzinga Pro platform’s usability, but took issue with the lack of analysis.
Trustpilot has more than 600 reviews of Benzinga Pro, and they’ve given the service an average rating of 3.9 stars. Some of the things that reviewers praise are:
- Benzinga’s top-notch customer service
- Customizable news feed
- Real-time market alerts
- Audio Squawk
Some of the most common complaints related to customer service response times, although many users praised customer service reps. There were several mentions of the Basic Plan being too expensive for what users get in return, and recommendations to buy the Essential Plan if you can afford it.
Seeking Alpha’s app and platform have a better UX overall, with easy access to rich data and expert analysis. Benzinga’s interface could use a lot of improvement, as it has a cluttered appearance and may be difficult to navigate. Benzinga is a web-only platform that can be overwhelming for first-time users, but it works well for active traders who want immediate access to news.
Pro Tip:
If you sign up with Seeking Alpha Premium today, you will receive $30 off and access to an exclusive 7-day free trial!
Seeking Alpha vs. Benzinga Pro: Performance Metrics
Comparing performance metrics for Seeking Alpha and Benzinga Pro is difficult because Benzinga Pro doesn’t offer ratings where we can contrast market performance. Overall, we’d say that Seeking Alpha offers highly-accurate (and historically profitable) Quant Ratings plus in-depth analysis. Benzinga Pro focuses on speed, delivering news in real time, but it lacks in-depth analysis.
Performance Metrics for Seeking Alpha
Here are the metrics we can use to rate and evaluate Seeking Alpha.
- Quant Rating accuracy. Seeking Alpha’s “Strong Buy” ratings have historically outperformed the S&P 500.
- Seeking Alpha’s contributor track records are easy to find, and all experts are vetted before their content is shared.
- Users get access to detailed earnings analysis, including access to earnings call transcripts and 10 years of financials.
- Return rates on investments. Someone who invested $10,000 in the S&P 500 back in 2010 would have investments worth $57,416 today. Someone who bought Seeking Alpha’s “Strong Buy” recommendations would have $278,192.
We should also note that Alpha Picks, another one of Seeking Alpha’s premium services, has outperformed the S&P 500 by 40% since its inception.
Performance Metrics for Benzinga Pro
Benzinga Pro doesn’t make stock recommendations per se, so we can’t track results in the same way we can with Seeking Alpha. Here are some metrics we can use.
- Fast news delivery. Benzinga delivers rapid (and sometimes real-time) access to news, particularly for Benzinga Streamlined and Essential subscribers who have access to Audio Squawk.
- Real-time alerts. Users can get real-time alerts of price changes and market news, with customization options to make sure they get exactly the information they want.
On the whole, the metrics support Seeking Alpha as the best option for most investors.
Seeking Alpha vs. Benzinga Pro
Here are some important Pros and Cons to keep in mind as part of our investment platform comparison.
Pros and Cons of Seeking Alpha
Pros
- Free basic plan
- Quant ratings
- In-depth analysis
- Affordable premium services
Cons
- May be overwhelming for beginners and new users
Pros and Cons for Benzinga Pro
Pros
- Up-to-the-minute market news for day traders, including Audio Squawk
- Watchlists and market alerts
Cons
- No free plan
- Expensive for casual investors
- Lack of in-depth stock analysis
Who Is Seeking Alpha For?
We think Seeking Alpha is a better choice than Benzinga Pro for most investors, but let’s talk about who should use Seeking Alpha.
Seeking Alpha is a stock analysis platform for investors. Subscribers get access to a ton of detailed analysis from both experts and community members, so anybody who wants to do a deep dive before purchasing a stock or ETF can benefit from Seeking Alpha.
If you’re wondering: Is Seeking Alpha good for beginners, we’d say that it can be. Beginners can benefit from starting with Seeking Alpha’s free plan, which offers the opportunity to ease into using the platform and get accustomed to the types of research and analysis that are available.
Intermediate and advanced users are the ones who can leverage Seeking Alpha’s Premium features. Even for some investors with experience there may be a learning curve, but it’s not an overwhelming one, especially once you figure out how to customize your feed by following your favorite authors and setting up alerts for stocks in your portfolio.
We’d say that the Pro option is not necessary for most investors. It’s pricey at $200 per month and doesn’t offer that much more in the way of special features.
We believe that investors of all types may benefit from becoming Seeking Alpha Premium subscribers. At the very least, we’d recommend checking out the one-month trial for $4.95, which offers the chance to try out the premium features and see if they’re right for you. If you are interested in learning more about what Seeking Alpha has to offer, check out our article covering the subject here.
Which Platform is Right for You?
Here are our final thoughts on Seeking Alpha vs. Benzinga Pro and which stock screener is best.
Benzinga Pro is best suited for people who want to actively manage their investments and move quickly based on stock market news. It’s not for those who want to dig into company financials and read expert analysis.
Seeking Alpha is the best platform for people who are looking for depth, affordability, and access to expert analysis. You can access 10 years of financials, tons of news and expert analysis, and get access to Quant Ratings, Wall Street Analyst ratings, and a robust set of portfolio management tools, including the Portfolio Health Grade.
On the whole, we believe that Seeking Alpha is a better choice for most investors than Benzinga Pro. It offers more features at a more affordable price.
If you’ve ever wondered how Seeking Alpha compares to MarketWatch, check out our brand new review here!
Get Seeking Alpha Premium for $30 OFF.
FAQs
Free Trials?
There are no free trials, but Seeking Alpha offers a free basic plan. You can also get a 30-day trial of Seeking Alpha Premium for $4.95 or a 30-day trial of Seeking Alpha Pro for $99. Benzinga doesn’t offer a free plan or any free trials at this time.
Fundamental Analysis?
Benzinga Pro offers only market news to help investors choose stocks to buy. It’s not an analysis site and doesn’t offer much in the way of research. By contrast, Seeking Alpha offers users access to expert and community analysis, Quant ratings, Wall Street Analyst ratings, plus advanced screeners and a Portfolio Health Grade.
Ultimately Seeking Alpha offers more research options and analysis than Benzinga, and is better suited for most investors.
Comprehensive vs Real Time Research?
Investors who value research and analysis want to understand the potential risks and rewards of investments before they buy them. While Benzinga Pro’s real-time information is undeniably useful to day traders, many investors prefer to have access to more concrete information before making investment decisions.
