Picking stocks isn’t for the faint of heart. There’s a reason investment professionals get paid millions of dollars to do it well: It takes intense independent investment research, not getting caught up in market sentiment, and conviction behind committing your capital to your investing ideas.
Sure, you could quit your day job, do this all yourself, and join the ranks of professional investors. But even that would hardly guarantee positive results. Sometimes, even the most engaged investors still fall short.
Instead, you might consider enlisting the help of others who have demonstrated a strong track record of performance over time. While this might entail picking up a paid subscription, self-directed investors can employ these paid recommendations with their own effort to research stocks and find the best investment ideas.
One popular company in this space is Motley Fool. The company has built a reputation for picking stocks rooted in investment research that deliver strong stock performance over time. However, you might want to consider some Motley Fool competitors as well.
Today, we’ll provide an overview of several Motley Fool services, then detail which Motley Fool alternatives are worth considering (and what they’re best for).
The Best Motley Fool Alternatives & Competitors—Our Top Picks
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Top All-in-One Research + Picks Service
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Data-Driven Stock Picking Service
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Best Fund Research Service
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4.8
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4.3
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4.2
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Premium: 7-day free trial, then $269/yr. ($30 discount)* Pro: 1 month for $99, then $2,400/yr.**
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$449/yr. ($50 discount)*
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Free 7-day trial. $34.95/mo., or $199/yr. (53% savings vs. monthly)*
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What Is Motley Fool?
Motley Fool has helped millions of investors outperform the stock market with a variety of investment recommendation services.
Motley Fool has a long and sterling history within the investment recommendations community. It started out as an investment newsletter in 1993, and a year later, the founders brokered an online content deal with AOL, where The Fool’s content lived until moving to its own site in 1997.
The company has since gained acclaim through Fool.com and its Motley Fool stock picking services. And today, I’m going to talk about the two most popular services: Motley Fool Stock Advisor and Motley Fool Epic)
Related: 15 Best Stock Market Investing Research & Analysis Sites
What Services Does Motley Fool Offer?
Brothers David and Tom Gardner, as well as Erik Rydholm, began an investment newsletter in 1993. The inspiration for the name “Motley Fool” was taken from Elizabethan drama, “where only the court jester (the ‘Fool’) could tell the King the truth without getting his head lopped off,” their site says.
The website has free informational content, but to see the company’s stock recommendations, you need a subscription to one of their stock-picking services. I’m going to look at two of their most well-known (and accessible!) services: Stock Advisor and Epic.
Motley Fool Stock Advisor
- Available: Sign up here
Motley Fool Stock Advisor, started in 2002, is the company’s signature stock picking service. It does the grunt work of researching stocks for you. The service’s advisors usually lean on well-known, not-too-volatile companies that they believe can beat the stock market. Each pick has a long term bent, with an expected holding period of at least five years.
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor service provides monthly stock picks from two investing teams: Team Everlasting and Team Rule Breakers.
Per Motley Fool, Team Everlasting looks for:
- “High-quality companies that have the sustained potential to keep growing and beat the overall market over extremely long periods”
- “Founder-led companies”
- “Companies employing a strong corporate culture”
- “Businesses that have built a strong enough bond with their customers that they command substantial pricing power and have identifiable proprietary advantages”
- “Cash-rich, low-debt companies”
And Team Rule Breakers looks for:
- “First-mover companies in emerging, but important industries that have become the top dogs in their niches”
- “Companies with sustainable competitive advantages”
- “Sizable past increases in share prices”
- “Companies with good management teams”
- “Businesses with strong consumer appeal that have built up brand awareness”
- “Stocks that are grossly overvalued according to mainstream financial media sources”
What comes with a Motley Fool Stock Advisor subscription?
The Motley Fool’s Stock Advisor service offers much more than stock picks—it also provides community and investment resources. The whole package includes:
- “Foundational Stocks”: 10 stocks that can serve as the foundation of your portfolio, whether you’re a new investor or experienced
- Two new stock picks each month
- Monthly analyst rankings of the service’s top 10 stocks based on their potential to beat the market over a five-year span
- A list of all the service’s active picks, “hold” recommendations, and closed positions
- Recommendations for stock and fixed-income exchange-traded funds (ETFs) you can use to build a diversified portfolio core
- Access to the GamePlan financial planning hub
- Access to Fool IQ, which provides essential financial data and news summaries about all U.S.-listed publicly traded stocks
- Access to a community of investors engaged in outperforming the market and talking shop
Stock Advisor Performance
Stock Advisor stock picks have performed exceptionally well over the service’s 22-year existence. The service has made 190 stock recommendations that have historically delivered 100%+ returns.
Overall, the Motley Fool Stock Advisor stock subscription service has more than quadrupled the return of the S&P 500 since Stock Advisor’s inception in February 2002 through Sept. 5, 2025. This number is calculated by averaging the return of all stock recommendations it has made over the past 23 years.
Motley Fool Stock Advisor is usually priced at $199 per year, with a 30-day full membership-fee-back guarantee.
However, if you sign up using our exclusive link, you’ll typically receive a deep discount on your first year of Stock Advisor. Currently, that’s a 50% discount to $99 for your first year, after which you’ll pay the regular $199 annual price.
- Motley Fool Stock Advisor is a stock service that provides recommendations for both "steady Eddie" and high-flying stocks, as well as a few ETFs for investors who want diversified holdings, too.
- Just getting started? Stock Advisor provides 10 "Foundational Stocks" you can use to anchor your portfolio.
- You're not alone! Stock Advisor membership also gives you access to a community of investors who also want to outperform the market and love talking shop.
- Enjoy access to GamePlan: Motley Fool's financial planning hub, which includes advice on personal finances, taxes, retirement, and more, as well as calculators and other financial tools.
- Limited-Time Offer: Get your first year with Stock Advisor for $99 (vs. $199 usual value)—a 50% discount for new members!
- Discounted introductory price
- Strong outperformance above S&P 500
- High overall average return for stock picks
- High renewal price
- Not every stock is a winner
Related: 14 Best Discount Brokers [Low-Cost Online Brokerage Accounts]
Motley Fool Epic
- Available: Sign up here
Motley Fool Epic isn’t itself a stock-picking service—instead, it’s a bundled selection of four popular Motley Fool stock recommendation products, three of which you can only enjoy by becoming an Epic member:
- Stock Advisor: Buy-and-hold stock picks designed to deliver consistent performance with less volatility. Stock Advisor is the only one of these services you can subscribe to individually.
- Rule Breakers: Stocks that have massive growth potential, whether they’re at the forefront of emerging industries or disrupting the status quo in long-established businesses.
- Hidden Gems: Stocks of medium-to-large businesses, selected by Fool CEO and co-founder Tom Gardner for their “all-in, visionary leadership teams.” More so than the other services, Hidden Gems is mindful of macroeconomic and market environments—and how they might dictate how aggressively you should invest.
- Dividend Investor: This recommendation service revolves around producing income from the best dividend stocks. Fool analysts target companies that deliver above-average yields and dividend growth, with the hope of producing both competitive total returns and an income stream that should carry you through retirement.
What comes with a Motley Fool Epic subscription?
In addition to the services mentioned above, an Epic subscription also comes with …
- Monthly stock picks: Five new picks per month across the various services, can access all active recommendations, and also view Cautious, Moderate, and Aggressive strategies including specific stock allocations.
- Access to Fool IQ+: Fool IQ, which comes with Stock Advisor, provides essential financial data and news summaries about all U.S.-listed publicly traded stocks. With Epic, you get Fool IQ+, which includes all the features in Fool IQ, as well as a much wider variety of financial analysis data (earnings coverage, insider trading data, analyst opinions, and more) and advanced charting options.
- Access to GamePlan+: GamePlan, which comes with Stock Advisor, is a hub of financial planning content and tools. GamePlan+, which you get through Epic, delivers a wider array of articles and tools, as well as more in-depth coverage.
- Access to Epic Opportunities: A members-only podcast.
How much does Motley Fool Epic cost?
Does Motley Fool Epic Cost?
Motley Fool Epic is a much wider-ranging service than Stock Advisor, and its price reflects that. It’s typically priced at $499 per year, again with a 30-day full membership-fee-back guarantee.
But again, if you sign up using our exclusive link, you’ll receive a deep discount on your first year of Epic. Currently, that’s a 40% discount to $299 for your first year, after which you’ll pay the regular $499 annual price.
- Motley Fool's Epic is a discounted combination of four foundational stock-investing services rolled up into one membership.
- Get access to more than 300 recommendations, reports, and analyses across the Stock Advisor, Rule Breakers, Hidden Gems, and Dividend Investor services.
- Get at least five new stock recommendations every month,
- Membership also unlocks GamePlan+ financial planning content and tools, Fool IQ+ stock research tool, a members-only podcast, and more.
- Limited-Time Offer: Get your first year with the Epic for $299 (vs. $499 usual value)—a 40% discount for new members!—by clicking our link and using the EPICSALE coupon code.*
- Discounted introductory price
- Strong outperformance compared to the S&P 500
- High overall average return for stock picks
- Diversified array of recommendations for investors targeting growth, income, or both
- Additional value from GamePlan financial planning content and tools
- High renewal price
- Not every stock is a winner
Related: Motley Fool Epic Bundle Review [Bundle Up]
Why Might You Consider Alternatives to Motley Fool?
While Motley Fool is a well-trusted company with proven results, there are a few reasons to consider some of its competitors.
For one, casual investors might not require the extensiveness of the information available through Motley Fool and could get by with more affordable alternatives.
Furthermore, not everyone’s trading style aligns with Motley Fool’s strategy. For instance, Motley Fool focuses on long-term investing and financial planning; swing traders should seek a website that caters to short-term investors.
Additionally, Motley Fool doesn’t offer free trials—it instead collects payment up front and allows people to receive a refund during the first 30 days if they’re unhappy with the service. However, some of Motley Fool’s competitors provide traditional free trials so users can get a taste of the format and content.
Top Motley Fool Alternatives
While Motley Fool’s premium services are well-respected and boast market-beating performance, their offerings aren’t necessarily an exact fit for all investors.
Here, we’re going to look at a few alternatives, including some stock picking services very much in the vein of Stock Advisor and Epic, and some services better suited for self-directed investors who prefer to find their own opportunities versus putting recommendations to work.
1. Seeking Alpha Premium (Best for Stock Research + Recommendations)
- Available: Sign up here
Seeking Alpha Premium is an all-in-one investing research and recommendation service that offers insightful analysis of financial and business news, stocks, and more—all designed to help you make better investing decisions. Premium best caters to the needs of beginner and intermediate investors looking for an affordable but all-inclusive one-stop research-and-picks stop.
Seeking Alpha Premium gives you unlimited access to thousands of active authors who deliver stock analysis, which is vetted by in-house editors before they’re read and discussed by millions of users. Seeking Alpha also provides you with stock research tools, real-time news updates, crowdsourced debates, and market data.
Users can create their own portfolio of favorite stocks, see how they perform, and receive email alerts or push notifications about their investments.
What do I get from Seeking Alpha Premium?
A Seeking Alpha Premium subscription can help you manage your portfolio with a large investing community so you can better understand the stock market and manage your financial life.
Whether you’re looking to invest on the go or dedicate time for more in-depth research and analysis, Seeking Alpha Premium provides a wealth of features that meet your needs:
- Unlimited access to expert investor content
- Seeking Alpha Quant Ratings (including S&P 500-beating “Strong Buy”-rated stocks)
- ETF and stock screeners
- A portfolio “health check”
- Earnings calls transcripts
- 10 years’ worth of financial statements
- The ability to compare stocks side-by-side with peers
- Access to dividend and earnings forecasts
- And much, much more
In addition to being able to read anything published on Seeking Alpha, you’ll also see authors’ ratings. That lets you know when you’re reading a piece written by someone with top marks or a poor track record.
Want to try Premium? If you use our exclusive link, you can enjoy a free seven-day trial and a discount on your first year’s subscription.
- Seeking Alpha Premium and Pro help you find profitable investing ideas, improve your portfolio, research stocks better and faster, track the news to find investing opportunities, and connects you to the world's largest investing community.
- A Premium subscription provides access to Seeking Alpha's stock and ETF ratings, including Seeking Alpha Quant Strong Buy recommendations, which have greatly outperformed the stock market over time.
- Premium also gives you access to Seeking Alpha's portfolio health check, which will analyze your portfolio's quality, risk level, and performance.
- Advanced and professional investors can sign up for Pro, where they'll get everything from Premium, as well as instant access to ideas from SA's top 15 analysts, the PRO Quant Portfolio (for active traders), short-selling ideas, and more.
- Special offer on Premium: New subscribers through our link receive a $30 discount off the price of Seeking Alpha Premium in their first year.*
- Special offer on Pro: New subscribers through our link receive one month of Pro for $99.**
- Active community of engaged investors and analysts
- Stock screeners, quantitative tools for stock analysis
- Strong track record of market outperformance on stock ratings
- Minimal mutual fund coverage
Related: 7 Best Seeking Alpha Alternatives [Competitors’ Sites to Use]
2. Seeking Alpha’s Alpha Picks (Best Data-Driven Stock Recommendation Service)
- Available: Sign up here
Are you looking for a way to beat the market consistently? Seeking Alpha’s Alpha Picks might be a great option to consider.
Alpha Picks is a stock selection service that provides you with two of the best stock picks each month that SA determines have the greatest chance for price upside. They base their selections on fundamentals such as valuation, growth, profitability, and momentum—not hype.
The stock selection process relies on Seeking Alpha’s proprietary, data-driven computer Seeking Alpha Quant scoring system (available to Premium and Pro users) to screen and recommend stocks for more conservative “buy-and-hold” investors, but with a bit of modification. Namely, all recommendations must meet the following criteria:
- Hold a Strong Buy Quant rating for a minimum of 75 days
- Market cap greater than $500 million
- Stock price greater than $10
- Is a publicly traded common stock (no American Depository Receipts [ADRs])
- Be the highest-rated stock at the time of selection that has not been previously recommended within the past year (Alpha Picks releases one pick at the start of the month, another in the middle).
So far, so good: Since the service’s launch on July 1, 2022, Alpha Picks has outperformed the S&P 500 by 160 percentage points.
If you sign up for the service, you can expect the following:
- Access to all Alpha Picks on Day 1
- Two new long-term stock picks to buy and hold delivered every month
- Detailed explanations from Seeking Alpha behind why they rate each stock pick so highly
- Notifications when new picks are added, and when a recommendation changes to Sell
- Regular updates on current Buy recommendations
This service is designed for busy professionals interested in building a portfolio that outpaces the market but without the time to commit to finding these opportunities. If you’re interested, you can use our exclusive link to sign up for a discounted first-year price.
- Seeking Alpha's Alpha Picks is a stock picking service designed for busy professionals who might not have the time needed to select stocks for their own portfolio.
- Using a proprietary computer-scoring model, Alpha Picks makes "buy-and-hold" picks that last at least two years.
- Since its launch in 2022, Alpha Picks has delivered market-beating performance, with a remarkable 180% increase compared to the S&P 500's 61%.
- Rigorous backtesting also has shown Alpha Picks' methodology would have strongly outperformed the S&P 500 index between 2010 and 2022 (+470% vs. +290%).
- Special offer: Receive $50 off the first year's subscription price by signing up via our link.*
- Data-driven, computer-generated stock selection process
- Avoids human bias
- Strong backtest performance vs. S&P 500 index
- Competitive price point
- Not enough actual performance data
- No frills, just stock picks and info about them
Related: 9 Best Fractional Share Brokerages to Buy Partial Stocks & ETFs
3. Stock Rover (Best for Market Data and Fundamental Research)
- Available: Sign up here
Stock Rover helps you keep track of your portfolio with detailed performance information, emailed performance reports, in-depth portfolio analysis tools, correlation tools, trade planning and re-balancing facilities. You can also create real-time research reports that provide a complete fundamental and technical overview of the company’s performance for the last 10 years.
This service works as a web-based applet and offers several valuable services and applications, depending on your research and analysis needs.
Stock Rover provides a comprehensive alerting facility, a real-time stock screener for instances where companies trade below their perceived fair value and signaling opportunities to buy stocks with a built-in margin of safety.
One of the best features of the web-based app is Stock Rover’s “Brokerage Connect.” This provides you with a read-only data feed of your portfolio holdings, giving investors access to a real-time, comprehensive view of their total portfolio. This shows you a comprehensive view of your portfolios, whether they’re in one brokerage account or spread across numerous investment accounts. After syncing your online brokerage accounts to Stock Rover, details for each portfolio get populated in your Stock Rover dashboard for in-depth analytics and tracking purposes.
Use our link to sign up for a 14-day free trial of Stock Rover Premium, or to start any one of Stock Rover’s paid plans today.
- Stock Rover is a complete service for investors looking to use screeners, investment comparisons, real-time research reports, model portfolios, charts and more.
- Use this top-rated investment analytics service to identify stocks worth buying and outperforming the market.
- Create an account for free, and you can start a 14-day Premium trial subscription with no credit card needed.
- Hundreds of screening metrics
- Proprietary scoring systems
- Real-time executive summary research reports
- No mobile app
- No crypto or forex data
- US markets only
Related: 9 Best Robo-Advisors for Investing Money Automatically
4. Benzinga Pro (Fast-Breaking Business News)
- Available: Sign up here
Benzinga Pro provides fast, actionable financial news, market data and stock research to investors of all kinds, from buy-and-holders to swing and day traders.
The service specializes in providing breaking news on publicly traded companies. Benzinga’s Newsfeed covers all sectors, analyst ratings changes and SEC filings from companies. You can customize these news feeds based on watchlists you create within the platform.
Other notable Benzinga Pro features (which vary by tier) include:
- Audio Squawk: A team calls out actionable news during pre-market all the way through after-hours trading.
- Sentiment Indicators: Analysts apply historical context to news items to help determine the direction or degree of a price move.
- Exclusive News: Benzinga, through its work with insiders, is able to deliver exclusive news about earnings, mergers and acquisitions, drug trials, and more.
- Insider Trading Tracker: What are corporate insiders (company officers, big stakeholders and other important people) doing? Are they buying? Are they selling? How much do they own? This tool helps you learn more about insiders’ “skin in the game.”
- Stock Scanner: Get real-time, customized updates on the stock market.
- Signals: Set up alerts for price spikes, options activity, block trades, opening gaps, price highs and lows, and more.
- Calendar: Get dates for earnings reports, dividends, economic data releases, initial public offerings (IPOs), SEC filings and more.
Sign up for Benzinga Pro today and put the fastest real-time news feed, profitable trading ideas, and exclusive content right at your fingertips.
- Benzinga Pro is built for traders and investors to receive actionable market news and research in real time.
- Get exclusive news about earnings, mergers and acquisitions, drug trials, and more.
- Enjoy tools like Benzinga's real-time stock scanner, signals (which includes alerts for events such as price spikes and block trades), and calendar (with dates for events such as earnings reports, dividends, and IPOs), and more.
- Enjoy the experience of professional day traders, who share their real trades throughout each trading session.
Related: 15 Best High-Yield Investments [Safe Options Right Now]
5. Trade Ideas (Best for Finding Day Trading Opportunities)
- Available: Sign up here
Trade Ideas is a powerful and versatile stock scanner with one of the most innovative top-tier plans among the research tools we review.
The free, basic version of the service offers features such as PiP charts, technical indicators, “Stock Racing,” and trading tournaments, while a paid TI Basic plan adds on real-time data, up to 10 charts on-screen at once, real-time paper trading, in-app trading, and more.
But where Trade Ideas really shines is its Premium tier, which opens up access to an exclusive artificial intelligence virtual research assistant (Holly) that constantly sifts through technicals, fundamentals, social media, earnings, and more to provide real-time stock trade recommendations. The AI assistant runs more than 1 million simulated trades each night and morning before the markets open with more than 60 proprietary algorithms to find you the highest-probability, most risk-appropriate opportunities to invest in stocks.
Trade Ideas also allows you to build your own scanners and screeners with over 500 data points and indicators to choose from. You can backtest your trading strategies, and also forward-test them in the real-time trade simulator. This allows you to learn, test, and optimize, without risking your own money. It also provides access to real-time streaming trading ideas on simultaneous charts to learn how to trade into risk-reward balanced trades. Translation: You can invest and learn at the same time.
Where Trade Ideas excels
Where Trade Ideas excels is not only giving you the data and ideas you haven’t seen elsewhere, but also showing you how to manage your money. The AI-powered “smart risk” levels on every chart are suitable for both long-term investors and active traders. As the stock market evolves, TI’s software adjusts levels and the trading plan to match.
The best part? You can learn how to do all of this without risking your principal through a real-time simulated trading environment.
After you’ve grown comfortable with the service and trading, you can choose to go live with the trade ideas and start investing real money by connecting directly through a brokerage like Interactive Brokers or E*Trade. (The full list of available brokers you can use through the service is available on Trade Ideas’ site.)
I’m a newsletter and alert aficionado, so I want to point out a couple of Trade Ideas products. For one, it has a standalone alert service in the form of a weekly Swing Picks newsletter. This gives you five new trade ideas in your inbox from the company’s model portfolio every Monday. Trade Ideas’ Standard and Premium subscriptions include these stock picks. Trade Ideas also has a free Trade of the Week newsletter highlighting one stock pick TI has identified for members.
Trade Ideas is among the pricier products we review, but it offers exceptional value, especially in the Premium tier. Sign up for any of Trade Ideas’ tiers through our exclusive link, and you can enjoy a significant discount on paid tiers by using the code mentioned in the box below.
- Trade Ideas is a powerful stock market scanner app that teaches you how to trade and invest, and boasts features such as technical indicators, PiP charts, alerts, even trading tournaments.
- Use Trade Ideas' simulated trading platform to learn how to trade without risking actual money.
- Trade Ideas' TI Premium tier opens up access to the platform's AI investment research assistant, Holly, as well as backtesting, "smart risk" levels, channel bar, and more.
- Special offer 1: Save an additional 22% off the above listed price on any annual subscription when you sign up with our link and enter code YATI22.
- Special offer 2: Save an additional 28% off the above listed price on a Premium subscription when you sign up with our link and enter code YATI28.
- Free live trading room that delivers actionable guidance
- In-browser and desktop interface functionality
- Automated trading capabilities
- AI-powered trade suggestions
- No mobile app
- Pricey subscriptions for some traders
Related: How to Get Free Stocks for Signing Up: 10 Apps w/Free Shares
6. TradingView (Best Site for Technical Stock Analysis and Charting)
Available: Sign up here
TradingView is an invaluable data-and-charts platform with highly customizable charting tools, hundreds of indicators, and real-time data on stocks, foreign exchange, cryptocurrency, and more. But it’s more than just information and analysis: It also boasts a community of millions of traders, allowing you to share trading ideas, learn from experts, and connect with fellow investors.
A variety of features, such as charts per tab, indicators per chart, historical bars, parallel chart connections, price alerts, and technical alerts increase in number depending on your plan. Other plan features include:
- Essential: Ad-free experience, volume profile, custom timeframes, custom range bars, multiple watchlists, bar replay, indicators on indicators.
- Plus: Everything in Essential, as well as chart data export; intraday Renko, Kagi, Line Break and Point & Figure charts; and charts based on custom formulas.
- Premium: Everything in Plus, as well as time price opportunity, volume footprint, volume candles, watchlist alerts, auto chart patterns, publishing invite-only scripts, second-based intervals, and more.
- Expert: Everything in Premium, as well as Tick-based intervals, ability to buy professional market data, first-priority support.
- Ultimate: Everything in Expert, but with greater number of charts, indicators, alerts, and more.
TradingView provides a variety of stock, ETF, bond, cryptocurrency and other assets, as well as heatmaps for equities, ETFs, and crypto. It allows you to build options strategies, study yield curves, view financial events around the world via its event calendar, and even view and compare corporate fundamentals in graph mode.
You can also pair TradingView with platforms such as TradeStation or Webull.
Use our link to sign up for TradingView and enjoy a bonus toward your first-year subscription.
- TradingView provides an easy and intuitive stock charting experience, as well as tools that allow you view and share trade ideas.
- Use this stock analysis app to leverage real-time data and browser-based charts to do your research anywhere.
- Collaborate with 100 million TradingView investors.
- Non-Professional Plans: 30-day free trial, then: Essential ($13.99/mo. or $167.88/yr.), Plus ($28.29/mo. or $339.48/yr.), Premium ($56.49/mo. or $677.88/yr.)
- Professional Plans: 7-day free trial, then: Expert ($99.95/mo. or $1,199.40/yr.) & Ultimate ($199.95/mo. or $2,399.40/yr.)
- Special offer: Sign up using our link and you'll get $15 toward your first subscription.
- Fast, powerful charting software
- Ease of use
- Extensive built-in indicators library (400+)
- Crowd-sourced indicator library (100,000+)
- Chart on 1.3 million+ securities listed on 150+ exchanges from 50+ countries
- Massive user base (70 million+ globally)
- Limited free plan
- Can be overwhelming experience for new users
Related: 10 Best Micro Investing Apps [Small, Automated Stock Trading]
7. Morningstar (Best for Fundamentals-Driven Investors)
- Available: Sign up here
Morningstar Investor is a rich platform of investment research tools designed for the buy-and-hold crowd, and it plugs investors into one of the world’s foremost sources for mutual fund and ETF data and analysis.
Morningstar’s ratings are among the service’s most revered features. The original Star Rating—which measures a fund’s risk-adjusted past returns—has been around since 1985 and helped steer countless investors toward cheaper, better-constructed mutual funds and ETFs. But Morningstar doesn’t just look to the past. Its forward-looking Medalist Ratings use traits such as a fund’s parent organization, the managers responsible for making decisions, and fund strategies to determine a fund’s ability to outperform over the long term. You must be a Morningstar Investor subscriber to access Medalist Ratings.
Morningstar also provides a wealth of information and comparable data points about mutual funds and ETFs—fees, risk, portfolio composition, performance, distributions, and more. Morningstar experts also provide detailed explanations and analysis of many of the funds the site covers.
Stock owners shouldn’t feel left out—Morningstar also provides everything you need for stock research, including equity data, corporate financials, analysis, and even Star Ratings of publicly traded companies.
With Morningstar Investor, you can also:
- Seamlessly and securely link your external accounts to get a holistic view of your assets from one simple dashboard
- Use Morningstar Portfolio X-Ray®, which evaluates what you hold from numerous angles—asset allocation, stock sector, valuation, fees, and more—and can identify any overlaps between accounts that might impact just how diversified you are (or aren’t!)
- Set up stock and fund watchlists
- Enjoy stock news and commentary that’s tailored to your holdings
- Screen for securities that match your investing goals using a variety of performance and valuation metrics
- Follow Morningstar authors so you can check out their latest articles, videos, and podcasts as soon as they’re posted
Not sure if Morningstar Investor is right for you? Try it out with a free seven-day trial. You can check out the current deal, as well as discounted rates for students and teachers, in our details box below.
- Morningstar Investor offers expert research, investing analysis, and advisor-grade portfolio management tools that are tailor-made for buy-and-hold investors.
- Morningstar is one of the most prized sources of mutual fund and exchange-traded fund (ETF) data in the world.
- How does your portfolio stack up? Put it through Morningstar's Portfolio X-Ray, which will provide insights such as whether you have too many overlapping holdings or whether you're paying too much in fees.
- Special Offer 1: Click our sign-up link to receive $50 off your first year of Morningstar Investor. (Annual plan only.)
- Special Offer 2: Students receive one year of Morningstar Investor access for just $25!
- Special Offer 3: Teachers receive a 60% discount on Morningstar Investor access.
- Top-flight fund research and analysis
- Portfolio management tool
- Powerful screener
- Watchlists
- Tailored news and commentary
- Below-average charting
- High monthly billing rate
Related Questions on Sites Like Motley Fool
Is there a free version of Motley Fool for stock picks and investment ideas?
Yes, Motley Fool provides free content, but the free content doesn’t include any official recommendations from the Motley Fool team.
You can access free content at Fool.com and don’t need to create an account. The free content includes articles, podcasts, a YouTube channel, and more. It’s written by both Motley Fool analysts, as well as analysts who contract with the company; the contractors can disagree with Motley Fool’s official recommendations.
Many of the topics are timely, such as explaining why a specific stock recently rose or fell. And much of this content can help you with your stock research, even if it doesn’t qualify as official recommendations.
Those who want premium content, including official stock recommendations, have to purchase a Motley Fool premium subscription such as Stock Advisor or Epic.
What is the best investor website?
The best investor website truly depends on you: your investment horizon, budget, investment style (technical or fundamental analysis), and whether you are an active investor interested in making your own picks or just want to invest casually in recommendations.
The top stock picking websites will be transparent about whether they have proven results and a record of consistently beating benchmarks. Recommendations should be backed up with market data and stock research points. Meanwhile, the top sites for self-directed investors will clearly demonstrate how their tools and features help users make educated decisions.
Moreover, some of these companies focus more on fundamental analysis, some more on technical analysis, and others on both. So again, which service is best for you ultimately boils down to which features you need.
Motley Fool’s Stock Advisor and Epic, Seeking Alpha’s Premium and Alpha Picks, Stock Rover, and Morningstar Investor all cater to long-term investors. However, Seeking Alpha’s products can also work for swing traders. Trade Ideas and TradingView are good options for short-term traders. Benzinga Pro has features that will help you, regardless of your time horizon.
Is Motley Fool a reputable company?
Yes. Motley Fool has been around since 1993 and is widely regarded as a reputable company. It was founded by brothers David and Tom Gardner (as well as Erik Rydholm, who has since left the company), and they are trusted within the personal finance industry. They still run the company, and Tom still makes stock recommendations.
Their services have a track record of consistently and significantly beating the S&P 500, and that performance has attracted more than a million Motley Fool premium members. (Just note that Motley Fool recommends holding stock picks for at least five years, so it can take time to see results.)
Does Motley Fool recommend index funds or actively managed funds?
While Motley Fool doesn’t send two fund picks per month as it does for stocks, the website provides plenty of investment research about index funds and actively managed funds. While they’re on the site, they don’t constitute official recommendations. Still, numerous experts weigh in on their favorite exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and mutual funds.
You might also have read about a few ETFs offered by Motley Fool Asset Management (MFAM). While MFAM is an affiliate of Motley Fool, it’s a separate legal entity. MFAM funds aren’t managed by Motley Fool’s co-founders nor any of Motley Fool’s analysts. Instead, the funds are run by MFAM’s portfolio managers.
MFAM used to have two mutual funds but decided to convert them to ETFs. The provider currently offers six ETFs.
What other investment tools might you consider pairing with Motley Fool for stock analysis?
Some investors use multiple websites to stay up-to-date on financial markets and receive stock ideas. Most websites have at least some free content and serious investors may find it worth paying multiple subscriptions. However, not everyone can afford several subscriptions when first starting out (though the best sites help you eventually more than make your money back).
The trading platform where you buy your securities may have useful, built-in technical and/or fundamental analysis tools. For example, the trading platform TradeStation Go comes with powerful analytical tools.
Not every research session has to involve detailed charts and descriptions, however. People also enjoy casual stock news and trade ideas with apps like StockTwits.
Keep in mind that the stock investments you choose are just part of your financial picture. Consider using a personal finance app that tracks your net worth and shows all of your investments across various investment accounts, including 401(k)s, retirement accounts, health savings accounts (HSAs), crypto wallets, and more. Seeing all of your investments together can help you see how your overall portfolio is weighted and note any redundancies. You might notice your investments are weighted significantly in one sector more than you intended or that your portfolio is missing an important aspect.
Consider using a tool like Empower’s app (Personal Capital is now Empower), which provides free net worth and investment tracking. You can link all of your investment accounts to see all of your investments in one place. Having all of your investments in one place makes it easy to see how your investments are growing.
- Empower (formerly Personal Capital) offers both a free set of portfolio, net worth, and cash flow tracking tools, as well as paid asset management service.
- Link Empower to your bank and investing accounts, credit cards, and more to see a single view of useful information and data, including your net worth.
- Empower Wealth Management offers unlimited advice and retirement planning help, as well as managed ETF portfolios, for accounts with between $100,000 and $250,000 in assets. Higher asset tiers include access to dedicated financial advisors, retirement specialists, and more investment options (including stocks, options, real estate, and private equity).
- Free portfolio tracker
- Free net worth, cash flow, and investment reporting tools
- Dedicated investment advisor
- Free tax-loss harvesting
- Dividend reinvestment
- Automatic rebalancing
- 5-day-a-week live customer support, 24/7 email support
- High minimum for investment management ($100k)
- High investment management fee (0.89% AUM)
Related: Best Quicken Alternatives
How can individual investors manage investments recommended by Motley Fool and its alternatives?
Motley Fool’s investing strategy focuses primarily on buying and holding quality stocks for at least five years, preferably longer. Previous picks include powerhouse companies Amazon and Walt Disney. These are the types of stocks where anyone who got in early and held long enough would’ve made a substantial profit.
For individual investors, Motley Fool suggests buying 25 or more of the companies they recommend. The more stocks you buy, the higher your likelihood of earning money. Then, hold those recommended stocks over a long period, with the minimum being five years.
Short-term holds are risky as stock prices naturally fluctuate. Hold these stocks during volatility because if it’s a quality stock, the price will likely go back up.
How do you decide which Motley Fool recommendations to buy?
Ultimately, you want to conduct your own research to determine which picks are best for your particular situation. Let’s say you read the newsletter and are intrigued by both stock recommendations that month. You can further research these stocks by reading contrasting opinions on them by Motley Fool authors.
And you always want to keep portfolio diversification in mind. Compare the stocks to the rest of your portfolio to make sure your portfolio isn’t too heavily weighted in just one sector (say, healthcare or utilities) or market capitalization (say, large caps or small caps).
Lastly, continuously buy stocks. Don’t just buy the first few recommendations you see, sit on them, then never invest in future picks.
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