Seeking Alpha is one of the best known and most accurate investing research platforms. We’ve been members of their free version since 2010, and we upgraded to Seeking Alpha Premium in 2020.
That begs the question: Is Seeking Alpha Premium worth it?
We think it is! We keep renewing our membership, and that’s not something we’d do if we weren’t getting the results we wanted.
The name Seeking Alpha is a clue to what this service does well. In the world of investing, ‘alpha’ refers to the amount that an investment earns over and above its benchmark. For example, if you bought a stock that’s on the S&P 500 and that stock earned 15% more than the benchmark, you’re not just seeking alpha – you’ve found it!
In this Seeking Alpha Premium review, we’ll give you our honest take on whether Seeking Alpha Premium is worth the money.
Seeking Alpha Premium vs Free
Seeking Alpha offers a free membership, and with it, you can get access to some basic investment research tools. New investors may prefer to try the free option first before going all-in with the Premium service.
Here’s what you can do with a free Seeking Alpha account.
- Read one free Premium article per month
- Create a portfolio
- Create real-time alerts for your investments
- Check real-time stock prices
If you want to explore Seeing Alpha a bit before paying for it, you can get a limited view of its features and how they work with the free plan.
Now for Seeking Alpha Premium. There are some significant benefits to upgrading to the premium service. Here are some of the features you can only get with the Premium version.
- Membership in a community of knowledgeable investors
- Unlimited access to Seeking Alpha’s expert investor content
- Access to Seeking Alpha’s Quant Ratings (more about these later!)
- Stock and ETF screeners
- Rankings of Top Stocks and ETFs
- Portfolio health check and warnings
With the Premium membership, you’ll get access to far more data and analysis than you would with the Free membership. If you’re someone who’s looking for in-depth ratings to take the guesswork out of investing, then Seeking Alpha Premium may be the right choice for you.
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!
Key Features of Seeking Alpha Premium
Seeking Alpha Premium has tons of useful features that make it worth the money.
Quant Ratings
Seeking Alpha’s Quant Ratings offer investors invaluable information about stocks. Seeking Alpha defines the Quant Rating like this:
An objective evaluation of stocks based on financial data, price performance, analyst estimates, and more.
More than 100 metrics go into assessing stocks before assigning a Quant Rating. There are five key factors involved: Value, Growth, Profitability, Momentum, and EPS Revisions. The rating and score go together. For example, a 1.0 is a Strong Sell and a 5.0 rating is a Strong Buy. This is an example of how Quant Ratings appear to Premium members.
In-Depth Stock Analysis
Premium membership will give you access to some of the most detailed and in-depth stock analysis around.
In addition to Quant Ratings, you can get detailed charts and graphs, expert analysis, news, and ratings from other reliable sources, including the Wall Street Analysts rating.
If you’re someone who likes to know a lot about a stock before buying it, Seeking Alpha offers the opportunity to do a deep dive before you invest.
Users should keep in mind that Seeking Alpha’s user-written content is not regulated by FINRA and we suggest independent research before acting on investment advice.
Advanced Stock Screener
Most investment research tools have stock screeners, but Seeking Alpha’s are better than most. You can choose from one of their preset screeners like the one above, which tracks Seeking Alpha’s top stocks, or you can create your own.
If you decide to create your own screener, you can search by country, industry or sector, and filter by Quant ratings and other metrics.
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!
10 Years of Financials for Every Stock
Another SA feature that encourages deep-dive research is that Premium members get access to 10 full years of financials for every stock.
You can access these by simply clicking on the stock, and then choosing the Financials tab. You’ll get a ton of information, including gross profits, net income, EBITDA, and even R&D expenses.
Compare Stocks and ETFs Side-by-Side
Stock and ETF comparisons are available either as preset options or, as was the case with Stock Screeners, you can create your own. The image above shows a stock comparison chart for EV companies.
Custom Portfolio View
The Custom Portfolio View is one of SA’s newer features. You can use it to customize how you view your portfolio by adding specific metrics and numbers you want to see.
If you have only one portfolio, you can still create multiple views to help you make comparisons and track your results.
Portfolio Health Score
Have you ever wondered how strong your portfolio is overall or how it compares to what other investors are doing? If so, then SA’s new Portfolio Health feature is for you.
As you can see above, this feature assigns a rating to your portfolio based on which stocks you hold. You can also see how your portfolio compares to others.
Price & Ratings Alerts
Another relatively new feature is the option to set up alerts when one of your investments’ prices or ratings changes. All you need to do is click on the stock ticker, then click on the bell to set up your alert.
You can choose between a Price or Rating alert, specify your parameters, choose your delivery method, then save to be alerted when your specifications are met. There’s also an option to get alerts when there’s news about your investment.
Impressed by these features? Signup now for Seeking Alpha Premium!
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!
Who Should Consider Seeking Alpha Premium?
We’ve been using Seeking Alpha Premium for four years, and we’re fans. That’s all well and good for us, but how do you know if paying for Seeking Alpha Premium is the best choice for you?
Here are the characteristics that describe the ideal Seeking Alpha Premium member.
- Investors who trade frequently and need up-to-the-minute data. If you’re someone who likes to get daily updates on their investments and wants the information needed to act quickly, you’ll get a lot from Seeking Alpha’s premium features.
- Individuals interested in long-term, data-driven investments. Some investors prefer to have as much data as possible before making an investment. If that sounds familiar, then you can benefit from a Seeking Alpha premium membership.
- You like a hands-on approach to investing. Some people prefer to work with a human or robo advisor, while others like to do their own research. If you’re in the latter group, you can benefit from Seeking Alpha Premium.
Beginner investors who want to get their feet wet and aren’t interested in (or could get overwhelmed by) huge amounts of data may want to start with the free version of Seeking Alpha. Experienced investors or those who want to become experienced by digging into the numbers will benefit the most from the premium version.
Is Seeking Alpha Premium Worth It for You?
By now, you’re probably wondering how much you’ll pay for a Seeking Alpha Premium membership and whether the cost is worth it for you. Let’s break it down.
Cost of Seeking Alpha Premium
Seeking Alpha doesn’t offer a free trial of their Premium service, but they do offer a low-cost way for new subscribers to get a taste of premium features. You can get a one-month trial subscription for just $4.95.
After the one-month trial, the Seeking Alpha Premium cost for new subscribers is $299 for a one-year subscription. The renewal price is $499 per year.
Keep in mind that you may also be able to find Seeking Alpha discount and promo codes online.
Here’s a chart showing how Seeking Alpha Premium compares to similar services.
| Seeking Alpha Premium | Motley Fool | Zacks Premium | |
| Annual Cost | $299 for new subscribers; $499 to renew | Stock Advisor: $199 per year; Epic: $499 per year | $249 per year; other premium options are available |
| Free Trial? | No, but there’s a one-month trial for $4.99 | No | Yes; free 30–day trial for all plans |
| Key Features | Quant Ratings, stock & ETF comparisons, 10 years of financials, expert analysis, stock & ETF screeners, portfolio health score, real-time price and rating alerts | 2 monthly stock picks, monthly rankings, entry strategies, access to Game Plan financial hub. Epic: 5 monthly stock picks, monthly rankings & recommendations, Quant 5Y proprietary ratings, Fool IQ, portfolio strategies. | Zacks daily newsletter with Strong Buy picks and recommendations, articles, portfolio tracker, Zacks #1 Stock List & Focus List, Equity Research Reports, premium stock filters. |
Comparing Seeking Alpha Premium to Competitors
Now, let’s look at Seeking Alpha Premium versus other services when it comes to results, which – let’s face it – is all we really care about.
Let’s start with Seeking Alpha. According to their website, Premium picks have outperformed the S&P 500. The YTD 2024 return for SPY is 19.90%, while Seeking Alpha Premium’s return is 38.54% for the same period. Historical returns are similarly impressive, with SA seeing a 139.98% return since its inception compared to 51.04% for the S&P 500.
Zacks #1 has lost money YTD, with a return of -1.99%. In 2023, it returned +20.63%, which is less than the S&P 500.
Motley Fool doesn’t provide as much information about their returns. They highlight a 780% return against the S&P’s 168%, but they don’t specify the period, only that the returns are based on a $10,000 investment.
We should note here that each of these services uses its own formula to calculate returns. These may not be apples-to-apples comparisons, but they do give an idea of how each service performs.
Finally, we should note that we think the breadth and value of Seeking Alpha Premium outstrips its competitors, and we’re particularly impressed with the Quant Ratings and huge library of user analysis.
Real User Experiences
We’ve been using Seeking Alpha Premium for years, but we don’t expect you to simply take our word for whether you should subscribe. Let’s look at what some reviewers have to say about the service.
Capterra users have given Seeking Alpha an average review of 4.3 stars out of a possible 5 stars. Highlights that reviewers have mentioned include:
- Detailed stock analysis and metrics
- Unique perspectives
- Useful articles
- Easy to link to an outside portfolio
Some of the most common complaints were Seeking Alpha’s automatic renewal process, sometimes-slow support response times, and concerns that user content is not vetted. Beginner users seem to be somewhat overwhelmed by the options and say they feel they’re not getting the most from their subscription. Intermediate and advanced investors praise the detailed analysis.
Trustpilot reviewers have awarded Seeking Alpha Premium an average rating of 4.0 out of 5 stars. Reviewers there praise these things.
- Seeking Alpha’s customer service
- Strong returns against benchmarks
- Useful ratings and analysis
- Dividend tracking
One of the most common complaints among Trustpilot users relates to Seeking Alpha’s frequent changes to what’s included in a premium subscription. There are also some issues with the unvetted content produced by users, as noted above.
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!
Experience Seeking Alpha Premium and Save on Your Subscription
You may be wondering what your next steps should be if you decide to sign up for Seeking Alpha Premium. Here’s what we would recommend.
- Set up your account and complete your profile.
- Connect with your outside portfolio if you have one.
- Set up stock alerts, which as a reminder, you can do by clicking on any stock in your portfolio, then clicking the bell at the upper right hand corner.
- Follow an existing stock screener or set up your own. You can find stock and ETF screeners in the menu on the left-hand side of the Seeking Alpha home page.
After you’ve taken these preliminary steps, we recommend reading some articles and following your favorite analysts.
Save $30 on Seeking Alpha Premium!
Seeking Alpha Premium Conclusion
We recommend Seeking Alpha Premium for intermediate and experienced investors who want a research platform that includes in-depth analysis, ratings, and stock tracking features to help them manage their portfolios. The Premium subscription is less suitable for beginner investors, although those who want to learn may gain a lot of knowledge and confidence from using Quant Ratings and other analysis to make investment choices.
The key benefits of Seeking Alpha Premium include the Quant Ratings, Stock & ETF Screeners, Stock & Rating Alerts, In-Depth Analysis, and Portfolio Health Score. The price of Seeking Alpha Premium is comparable to other services and don’t forget that you can take advantage of the one-month trial for just $4.99
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s included in Seeking Alpha Premium?
Seeking Alpha Premium members get access to Seeking Alpha’s Quant Ratings, expert analysis, advanced stock screeners, price & rating alerts, and 10 years of financials for every stock, as well as portfolio health reports.
How much does Seeking Alpha Premium cost?
There’s a $4.99 one-month trial for Seeking Alpha Premium. After that, the annual price for new investors is $299, and the price increases to $499 at renewal.
Is Seeking Alpha Premium suitable for beginner investors?
Seeking Alpha Premium may be suitable for some beginner investors who are willing to take on a steep learning curve using Seeking Alpha’s huge library of content and analysis. Some beginners may be overwhelmed and prefer to gain some experience before using Seeking Alpha Premium.
