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Investment Analytics · head to head

PitchBook vs Morningstar Sustainalytics

PitchBook logo

PitchBook

Investment Analytics

Private capital market data on companies, deals, funds and investors

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite
Morningstar Sustainalytics logo

Morningstar Sustainalytics

Investment Analytics

ESG Risk Ratings, controversies and regulatory data for investors

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: PitchBook no price is published anywhere on PitchBook's sites; the pricing page is a request form, so cost cannot be compared without a sales conversation.; Morningstar Sustainalytics no prices are published for any dataset or platform licence; everything goes through a request-details form, checked November 2026.
  • They diverge on capability: PitchBook covers Company, deal and investor profiles, Morningstar Sustainalytics covers ESG Risk Ratings.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 12 November 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which PitchBook and Morningstar Sustainalytics actually diverge.

Attributes where PitchBook and Morningstar Sustainalytics differ
AttributePitchBookMorningstar Sustainalytics
PlatformsWeb, iOS, Android, Chrome, APIWeb, API

Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Investment Analytics).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in PitchBook

  • Company, deal and investor profiles
  • Screeners and search
  • Valuations and comps
  • Fund performance and benchmarks
  • PitchBook Credit, powered by LCD
  • Navigator
  • Excel plugin and Chrome extension
  • Direct Data: API, data feed and CRM

Only in Morningstar Sustainalytics

  • ESG Risk Ratings
  • Controversies Research
  • Low Carbon Transition Ratings
  • Regulatory datasets
  • Country Risk Ratings and sanctions screening
  • Global Access platform
  • API and data feeds
  • Corporate licences and second-party opinions

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

PitchBook

  • Sourcing private companies and building target or buyer lists for M&Anot Morningstar Sustainalytics
  • Pricing a deal against comparable transactions and valuation multiplesnot Morningstar Sustainalytics
  • LP due diligence and manager selection using fund returns and benchmarksnot Morningstar Sustainalytics
  • Tracking VC and PE activity, fundraising and exits by sector or regionnot Morningstar Sustainalytics
  • Enriching CRM records with company, investor and deal datanot Morningstar Sustainalytics
  • Following leveraged loan and private credit markets through LCD news and datanot Morningstar Sustainalytics

Morningstar Sustainalytics

  • Screening an investment universe on unmanaged ESG risk before portfolio constructionnot PitchBook
  • Monitoring holdings for ESG controversies with daily alertsnot PitchBook
  • Producing SFDR, EU Taxonomy and EBA Pillar III disclosures from licensed datanot PitchBook
  • Measuring portfolio alignment with net zero through implied temperature risenot PitchBook
  • Prioritising engagement and proxy voting by material ESG issuenot PitchBook
  • Licensing a company's own rating for marketing or a sustainability-linked loannot PitchBook

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

PitchBook

  • No price is published anywhere on PitchBook's sites; the pricing page is a request form, so cost cannot be compared without a sales conversation.
  • Programmatic access is a separate Direct Data product (API or data feed) rather than part of the platform licence, so the all-inclusive description applies to the desktop product, not to feeding the data into internal systems.
  • Coverage figures differ between PitchBook's own pages, with company counts ranging from about 6 million to 12.3 million depending on the page, which makes it hard to tell what a given licence actually covers.
  • Navigator launched covering companies, transactions and market themes only; PitchBook says the full scope of its data will be added over time, so AI answers do not yet reach every dataset.
  • It is a research and data product, not a trading or portfolio system: there is no order management, real-time market data desk or risk engine of the kind found in a terminal or in Aladdin.
  • Private company financials depend on what companies disclose or PitchBook can collect, and the platform does not publish what share of profiles carry verified financials.

Morningstar Sustainalytics

  • No prices are published for any dataset or platform licence; everything goes through a request-details form, checked November 2026.
  • The ESG Risk Ratings measure financial risk to the company from ESG issues, not the company's impact on the world, so a firm with a damaging product can still score low risk. Buyers wanting impact or double materiality need separate datasets.
  • The ratings depend on analyst assessment, which caps coverage: the ESG Risk Ratings page cites more than 16,000 companies, a fraction of the universe that model-driven providers claim.
  • Distribution is uneven by product: the Low Carbon Transition Ratings page lists FactSet, Aladdin and Bloomberg as planned rather than live, so a dataset available in one terminal may not be in another.
  • Since 1 December 2023 the site states its ESG ratings and data are not intended for India-based clients, users or residents.
  • Morningstar sells both these ratings and Morningstar Direct, and corporates can pay to license their own rating; investors relying on it should read the conflict-of-interest disclosures that come with the ESMA application, which was still pending in November 2026.

Pricing, plan by plan

PitchBook

On request
  • PitchBook Platform$undefined/mo
    • No prices published; pricing is given on request
    • Described by PitchBook as all-inclusive: data, research and tools under one subscription
    • Free trial available on request
  • Direct Data$undefined/mo
    • Priced separately by quotation
    • API (selected à la carte) or predefined data feed
    • CRM integration

Morningstar Sustainalytics

On request
  • Investor solutions$undefined/mo
    • Priced by quotation through a request-details form
    • Licensed by dataset: ESG Risk Ratings, controversies, climate, regulatory and screening
    • Delivered via Global Access, API, datafeed or partner platforms
  • Corporate solutions$undefined/mo
    • Priced by quotation
    • ESG rating licences, Top-Rated Companies badges and second-party opinions

Which should you pick?

Choose PitchBook if

  • You need company, deal and investor profiles.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android, Chrome, API.
  • You also want screeners and search.
PitchBook review

Choose Morningstar Sustainalytics if

  • You need esg risk ratings.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want controversies research.
Morningstar Sustainalytics review

Questions people ask

Is PitchBook or Morningstar Sustainalytics better?
Neither clearly leads. PitchBook starts at On request and Morningstar Sustainalytics at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, PitchBook or Morningstar Sustainalytics?
PitchBook starts at On request and Morningstar Sustainalytics at On request.
Does PitchBook or Morningstar Sustainalytics run on more platforms?
PitchBook runs on Web, iOS, Android, Chrome, API. Morningstar Sustainalytics runs on Web, API.
What is PitchBook best used for?
PitchBook is most often used for sourcing private companies and building target or buyer lists for m&a, pricing a deal against comparable transactions and valuation multiples, lp due diligence and manager selection using fund returns and benchmarks, tracking vc and pe activity, fundraising and exits by sector or region. Of those, sourcing private companies and building target or buyer lists for m&a and pricing a deal against comparable transactions and valuation multiples are not what Morningstar Sustainalytics is typically brought in for.
What can PitchBook do that Morningstar Sustainalytics cannot?
PitchBook covers Company, deal and investor profiles, Screeners and search, Valuations and comps, Fund performance and benchmarks. Morningstar Sustainalytics covers ESG Risk Ratings, Controversies Research, Low Carbon Transition Ratings, Regulatory datasets.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

PitchBook: How much does PitchBook cost?

PitchBook does not publish prices. Its pricing page asks prospects to request pricing or a free trial, and describes the subscription as all-inclusive, covering its data, research and tools rather than charging separately for database access.

Source
Morningstar Sustainalytics: What do Sustainalytics ESG Risk Ratings measure?

The amount of material ESG risk a company leaves unmanaged. Exposure is set at sub-industry level, unmanageable risk is separated out, and the remainder is assessed against the company's policies, programmes and controversies. The result falls in one of five bands: negligible, low, medium, high or severe.

Source
PitchBook: Who owns PitchBook?

Morningstar, Inc. Morningstar had held a minority stake since 2009 and completed its acquisition of the whole company on 1 December 2016. PitchBook continues to operate under its own brand as a Morningstar subsidiary.

Source
Morningstar Sustainalytics: How many companies does Sustainalytics rate?

The ESG Risk Ratings page states analyst coverage of more than 16,000 companies across public equity, fixed income and private issuers, using over 200 indicators and 1,800 data points. Controversies Research monitors more than 19,000 entities.

Source
PitchBook: Does PitchBook have an API?

Yes, as part of Direct Data. The API returns specific data on demand and has a sandbox for testing calls; the alternative is a scheduled data feed with hundreds of data points per entity. A CRM integration under the same heading sends PitchBook data directly into the CRM.

Source
Morningstar Sustainalytics: How is Sustainalytics data delivered?

Through the Global Access web platform, an API documented in OpenAPI and Swagger, scheduled datafeeds to SFTP, and partner platforms including Morningstar Direct, Bloomberg, Aladdin, FactSet, RIMES, Markit and Style Analytics.

Source
PitchBook: What is PitchBook Navigator?

A generative AI feature inside the PitchBook Platform, announced on 10 November 2025, that answers natural-language questions on companies, deals and market trends with references to the source data. At launch it covered companies, transactions and market themes, with the rest of PitchBook's data to follow.

Source
Morningstar Sustainalytics: Who owns Sustainalytics?

Morningstar, Inc. It acquired a 40% stake in 2017 and completed the purchase of the remainder in July 2020.

Source
PitchBook: Does PitchBook cover private credit and leveraged loans?

Yes. Morningstar bought Leveraged Commentary & Data from S&P Global in 2022, and PitchBook integrated LCD research in May 2023 and LCD credit news and debt deal data in August 2023. It is sold as PitchBook Credit.

Source
Morningstar Sustainalytics: Is Sustainalytics authorised under the EU ESG Ratings Regulation?

Sustainalytics B.V. has applied to ESMA for authorisation as an ESG rating provider, covering eleven products including ESG Risk Ratings, controversy ratings and low carbon transition ratings. A decision had not been announced as of November 2026.

Source
PitchBook: Can PitchBook data be used in Excel?

Yes. The Excel plugin brings PitchBook data into spreadsheets to create and update financial models, and platform results can also be downloaded to Excel, PDF, PNG and PowerPoint.

Source
Morningstar Sustainalytics: What does Sustainalytics cost?

Prices are not published. Investor and corporate products are sold by quotation through a request-details or contact form.

Source
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