Softwr

Investment Analytics · head to head

FactSet vs S&P Capital IQ Pro

FactSet logo

FactSet

Investment Analytics

Financial data workstation, portfolio analytics and data feeds for investment professionals

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite
S&P Capital IQ Pro logo

S&P Capital IQ Pro

Investment Analytics

S&P Global's research platform for company, credit, sector and market data

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: FactSet no published pricing; FactSet's FAQ says cost depends on the use case and products required, and trials go through sales (checked November 2026).; S&P Capital IQ Pro no published pricing: the product page and release notes offer a demo request only, checked November 2026.
  • They diverge on capability: FactSet covers FactSet Workstation, S&P Capital IQ Pro covers ChatIQ.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 12 November 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which FactSet and S&P Capital IQ Pro actually diverge.

Attributes where FactSet and S&P Capital IQ Pro differ
AttributeFactSetS&P Capital IQ Pro
PlatformsWindows, Web, APIWeb, Excel, Mobile

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 FactSet

  • FactSet Workstation
  • Universal Screening
  • Microsoft Office integration
  • Portfolio Analysis
  • Mercury AI assistant
  • Model Context Protocol servers
  • Data feeds and cloud delivery

Only in S&P Capital IQ Pro

  • ChatIQ
  • Document Intelligence
  • Screener
  • S&P Capital IQ Pro Plug-in
  • ChatIQ Spreadsheets
  • Sector and credit modules
  • Valuation tools
  • Earnings IQ alerts

What people use each for

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

FactSet

  • Equity and credit research with company fundamentals, estimates and screeningnot S&P Capital IQ Pro
  • Performance attribution and risk reporting on buy-side portfoliosnot S&P Capital IQ Pro
  • Building refreshable financial models and pitch books in Excel and PowerPointnot S&P Capital IQ Pro
  • Loading FactSet datasets into Snowflake or Databricks for quant researchnot S&P Capital IQ Pro
  • Querying portfolio analytics from an internal AI assistant over MCPnot S&P Capital IQ Pro
  • Deal sourcing and due diligence for private capital teamsnot S&P Capital IQ Pro

S&P Capital IQ Pro

  • Building comparable company and precedent transaction sets for M&A and valuation worknot FactSet
  • Credit analysis drawing on S&P Global Ratings research alongside company financialsnot FactSet
  • Sector research in banking, insurance, real estate, energy, and metals and miningnot FactSet
  • Querying filings and earnings call transcripts across many companies with ChatIQnot FactSet
  • Feeding refreshable company and market data into Excel modelsnot FactSet
  • Private company research and screening for deal sourcingnot FactSet

Where each one falls short

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

FactSet

  • No published pricing; FactSet's FAQ says cost depends on the use case and products required, and trials go through sales (checked November 2026).
  • The Excel add-in is typically part of a broader subscription according to FactSet's FAQ, so Office integration cannot be bought as a lightweight standalone tool.
  • The installed Workstation is Windows only, with 16 GB or more of memory recommended and a base installation upgrade advised every 12 months, per FactSet's installation guide.
  • Portfolio Analytics MCP launched as a limited release in June 2026, so AI access to attribution and risk outputs is not yet a mature, generally available feature for every client.
  • Benchmark DataFeeds on Snowflake are built per client, and FactSet's own developer recipe says designing each workflow takes several days to a week.

S&P Capital IQ Pro

  • No published pricing: the product page and release notes offer a demo request only, checked November 2026.
  • Several datasets are add-on subscriptions on top of the base licence, so the content a user sees depends on what their firm has bought rather than on the product.
  • Multi-Document ChatIQ excludes Dow Jones and Nikkei news, scanned documents, insurance statutory filings and research from contributors including Goldman Sachs, Citi, Barclays and Bank of America, per the October 2025 release notes.
  • Earnings IQ alerts cover US exchange-listed companies only, per the October 2025 release notes.
  • Many of the newest AI tools are labelled beta or Labs, including Portfolio Insights and ChatIQ Presentations, as of the October 2026 announcement.
  • The product pages on spglobal.com refuse automated requests, so evaluating the product without talking to sales means relying on release notes and press releases.

Pricing, plan by plan

FactSet

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the FactSet review.

S&P Capital IQ Pro

On request
  • Capital IQ Pro licence$undefined/mo
    • Priced by quotation through S&P Global Market Intelligence sales, no list prices published
    • Some datasets, such as mine emissions, are separate add-on subscriptions
    • Bulk data delivery via Xpressfeed, APIs and Snowflake is sold separately

Which should you pick?

Choose FactSet if

  • You need factset workstation.
  • You work on Windows, Web, API.
  • You also want universal screening.
FactSet review

Choose S&P Capital IQ Pro if

  • You need chatiq.
  • You work on Web, Excel, Mobile.
  • You also want document intelligence.
S&P Capital IQ Pro review

Questions people ask

Is FactSet or S&P Capital IQ Pro better?
Neither clearly leads. FactSet starts at On request and S&P Capital IQ Pro at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, FactSet or S&P Capital IQ Pro?
FactSet starts at On request and S&P Capital IQ Pro at On request.
Does FactSet or S&P Capital IQ Pro run on more platforms?
FactSet runs on Windows, Web, API. S&P Capital IQ Pro runs on Web, Excel, Mobile.
What is FactSet best used for?
FactSet is most often used 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. Of those, equity and credit research with company fundamentals, estimates and screening and performance attribution and risk reporting on buy-side portfolios are not what S&P Capital IQ Pro is typically brought in for.
What can FactSet do that S&P Capital IQ Pro cannot?
FactSet covers FactSet Workstation, Universal Screening, Microsoft Office integration, Portfolio Analysis. S&P Capital IQ Pro covers ChatIQ, Document Intelligence, Screener, S&P Capital IQ Pro Plug-in.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

FactSet: How much does FactSet cost?

FactSet does not publish prices. Its FAQ says the cost varies with your use case and the specific products and services you need, and quotes and trials are arranged through the sales team.

Source
S&P Capital IQ Pro: What is ChatIQ in Capital IQ Pro?

ChatIQ is the conversational AI layer in Capital IQ Pro. It answers natural-language questions across company, market, credit and economic data and over financial documents, news and research. The October 2026 update extended it to Excel modelling through ChatIQ Spreadsheets and to slide creation through ChatIQ Presentations in Labs.

Source
FactSet: Does FactSet have an Excel add-in?

Yes. FactSet's Office tools create auditable, refreshable links to FactSet content in Excel, Word, PowerPoint and Outlook. The FAQ notes the Excel add-in is typically part of a broader subscription.

Source
S&P Capital IQ Pro: How many documents can Multi-Document ChatIQ analyse at once?

Up to 20, drawn from filings, transcripts, investor presentations, news and research across different companies or industries. Dow Jones and Nikkei news, scanned documents, insurance statutory filings and some contributor research are excluded.

Source
FactSet: What are the system requirements for FactSet Workstation?

The installed Workstation and Office add-ins are a single MSI installer for Windows desktop and server operating systems. FactSet recommends 16 GB or more of memory, Windows 11 64-bit and Office 2016 or Microsoft 365, and upgrading the base installation every 12 months.

Source
S&P Capital IQ Pro: Can Capital IQ Pro data be used in Excel?

Yes. The S&P Capital IQ Pro Plug-in pulls data into Excel with formulas, a Formula Builder and a template library, and new datasets such as sustainability metrics and bond indices are added to it alongside the web platform.

Source
FactSet: Can FactSet data be delivered to Snowflake?

Yes. Standard DataFeed content can be delivered as Snowflake data shares, with each feed appearing as a schema with tables. Benchmark DataFeeds are customised per client and take several days to a week to design.

Source
S&P Capital IQ Pro: How much does S&P Capital IQ Pro cost?

S&P Global does not publish prices. Access is licensed through its sales team after a demo, and some datasets are sold as add-on subscriptions.

Source
FactSet: What is the FactSet Portfolio Analytics MCP?

A Model Context Protocol server, announced as a limited release on 26 June 2026, that lets buy-side firms query governed performance, attribution and risk outputs from FactSet inside their own AI environments.

Source
S&P Capital IQ Pro: Can the AI screener build screens from plain English?

Yes. Since October 2025 the Companies screener has an optional AI-assisted mode that converts a natural-language description into screening criteria, which can then be refined manually. It is switched on in Screener settings.

Source
Share

Related pages

More on FactSet

More on S&P Capital IQ Pro

Keep looking

Other head to heads