Investment Analytics · alternatives
Alternatives to FactSet
12 investment analytics tools sit alongside FactSet in this directory. Below is what separates each from FactSet on the figures we hold, price, model, tier count and rating, and a direct comparison for every one.
- Alternatives listed
- 12
- With a free tier
- 2
- Cheaper to start
- -
- FactSet starts at
- On request
Why people look past FactSet
Only what the record supports. Each point below is a figure on the FactSet entry measured against the tools listed beside it.
There is no free tier
The record for FactSet carries no free tier, so evaluating it means paying first. 2 of the 12 alternatives below can be used without paying.
What each alternative does differently
Ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry. Differences are drawn from price, pricing model, tier count and rating, the fields the category listing carries. For a feature-level difference, follow the head-to-head link on each card: those pages read both full records.
Real-time market data, news, analytics, messaging and execution across all asset classes
Priced and rated the same as FactSet on the figures we hold. The difference, if there is one, is in the feature records.
LSEG's financial data terminal with Reuters News, analytics, AI agents and Microsoft 365 integration
Priced and rated the same as FactSet on the figures we hold. The difference, if there is one, is in the feature records.
S&P Global's research platform for company, credit, sector and market data
Priced and rated the same as FactSet on the figures we hold. The difference, if there is one, is in the feature records.
Morningstar's investment analysis platform for fund research, flows and portfolio analytics
Priced and rated the same as FactSet on the figures we hold. The difference, if there is one, is in the feature records.
Alternative assets data on funds, managers, investors, deals and performance
- Can be used without paying; FactSet cannot.
Market research, portfolio analytics and client reporting for advisers and investors
- Can be used without paying; FactSet cannot.
- Publishes an entry price of $39/month, where FactSet does not.
- Sold on a freemium model rather than quote.
Every FactSet alternative at a glance
A dash means the catalogue entry carries no figure, not that the answer is nothing.
| Tool | Entry price | Model | Tiers | Head to head |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FactSet (this page) | On request | Quote | - | |
| Bloomberg TerminalStronger on real-time market data, messaging and trade execution for sell-side and trading desks, where FactSet leans towards buy-side research and attribution. | On request | Quote | - | vs FactSet |
| LSEG WorkspaceComparable research terminal built around Reuters News and LSEG data, with native macOS and Microsoft Teams access. | On request | Quote | - | vs FactSet |
| S&P Capital IQ ProCompetes directly on company fundamentals and banking workflows, drawing on S&P Global's credit ratings and market intelligence data. | On request | Quote | 1 | vs FactSet |
| Morningstar DirectFocused on fund and managed investment research and fund-level analytics rather than company fundamentals and institutional attribution. | On request | Quote | 1 | vs FactSet |
| Preqin | Free | Quote | 3 | vs FactSet |
| Koyfin | Free, then $39/month | Freemium | 6 | vs FactSet |
| YCharts | On request | Quote | 4 | vs FactSet |
| Morningstar Sustainalytics | On request | Quote | 2 | vs FactSet |
| PitchBook | On request | Quote | 2 | vs FactSet |
| Clarity AI | On request | Quote | 1 | vs FactSet |
| BlackRock Aladdin | On request | Quote | 3 | vs FactSet |
| MSCI | On request | Quote | - | vs FactSet |
Ratings are aggregated from third-party sources and imported with each catalogue entry; Softwr hosts no reviews of these products. How each figure is used is set out on the FactSet badges page.
Cheaper ways to solve the same problem
What you would be giving up
FactSet is most often brought in for equity and credit research with company fundamentals, estimates and screening, performance attribution and risk reporting on buy-side portfolios, building refreshable financial models and pitch books in excel and powerpoint, loading factset datasets into snowflake or databricks for quant research, querying portfolio analytics from an internal ai assistant over mcp, deal sourcing and due diligence for private capital teams. Anything replacing it has to cover the ones you actually depend on, and a cheaper tool that misses one of them is not cheaper.
Two things this page cannot settle. It compares on price, model, tier count and rating, because those are the fields the category listing carries, feature-level differences need both full records, which is what the head-to-head pages load. And the ratings are third-party aggregates imported with each entry rather than reviews written here, so a 0.2 difference between two tools is noise rather than a finding.
If FactSet is broadly right and the question is cost, the FactSet pricing breakdown covers every tier and what each one adds. If you want the whole field rather than a shortlist, the Investment Analytics category lists everything the directory holds, and best investment analytics tools ranks them.
FactSet runs on windows, web, api. Platform coverage is not carried on the category listing for the alternatives, so it is one more thing to check on each head-to-head page rather than here.
Questions about FactSet alternatives
- What are the main alternatives to FactSet?
- 12 other investment analytics tools are listed in this directory, led by Bloomberg Terminal, LSEG Workspace, S&P Capital IQ Pro, Morningstar Direct. They are ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry, not by any Softwr ranking.
- What is the best free alternative to FactSet?
- 2 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: Preqin, Koyfin.
- Why do people look for an alternative to FactSet?
- On the figures on record, one thing stands out: there is no free tier. Each is set out with the numbers behind it above.
- What would I give up by switching from FactSet?
- FactSet is most often brought in for equity and credit research with company fundamentals, estimates and screening, performance attribution and risk reporting on buy-side portfolios, building refreshable financial models and pitch books in excel and powerpoint, loading factset datasets into snowflake or databricks for quant research, querying portfolio analytics from an internal ai assistant over mcp, deal sourcing and due diligence for private capital teams. Anything you replace it with has to cover the ones you actually rely on, the side-by-side comparisons linked from each alternative below put the two feature records against each other.
- Is there an open-source alternative to FactSet?
- None of the investment analytics tools listed here are recorded as open source. That is what the licence field on each entry says, and the field is not always filled in, so it is worth checking directly for any tool you are serious about.
- How were these FactSet alternatives chosen?
- They are the tools filed in the same category, Investment Analytics, ordered by the aggregated rating on each entry. There is no editorial shortlist, and nothing on this page is paid: no sponsored placement runs on alternatives pages and the order cannot be bought. Softwr has not used these products.
- Where can I compare FactSet against one of these directly?
- Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against FactSet covering price, platforms, features and what each one is used for. Those pages read the full record for both products rather than the summary shown here.
- Does this list cover every investment analytics tool?
- No. It covers what this directory holds in the Investment Analytics category, 12 tools beside FactSet. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.