MarketBeat vs. The Motley Fool Comparison

Whether you rely on fundamental analysis, technical analysis or a mixture of approaches, investors need access to information to make informed investment decisions. And in this digital age, all of this information is available with just a few keystrokes. However, with so many investment services to choose from, it can be difficult to decide which service is best for your experience and investment style.

We’d like to help. In this article, we’re going to compare MarketBeat to The Motley Fool. Both services provide investors with actionable information. For example, users could search for a specific stock such as Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and they’ll get similar information such as current stock price, 52-week range, price/earnings ratio, market capitalization, interactive stock chart, and trading volume. You can also get articles from analysts about the stock. This is an easy way for investors to get a high level overview of what is happening with a stock.

Both sites also give you access to premium services which gives investors more detailed analysis of stocks in their portfolio or on their watch list. The purpose of this comparison is for you to better understand what each service provides, particularly if investors choose to access one or more of the company’s premium services. Here are the topics this article will cover:

MarketBeat Overview

The Motley Fool Overview

The Key Difference

How Are MarketBeat and The Motley Fool Alike

Review of Premium Services

Conclusion

MarketBeat Overview

MarketBeat was founded in 2011 with the mission of creating high-quality stock research tools and making them available to investors at all levels. The site uses the latest technology to provide proprietary, comprehensive, accurate, and up-to-the-minute financial data including information about analyst recommendations, dividend declarations, and earnings announcements.

All of this information, and more, was made available for free on the company’s website and via the company’s daily newsletters. MarketBeat aims to be a go-to resource for both retail and institutional investors. Currently over 15 million individuals visit MarketBeat.com every month.

The Motley Fool Overview

According to the company’s website;

The mission of The Motley Fool is “to make the world smarter, happier, and richer.”

The Motley Fool was founded in 1993 by Tom and David Gardner. The two brothers created the site which derives its name from the Shakespeare play “As You Like It,” to  “speak the truth about money and investing...and to make financial advice accessible to people of all backgrounds and experience levels.”

However, The Motley Fool is perhaps best known for its flagship premium service, Stock Advisor, that gives investors actionable information based on specific recommendations from The Motley Fool analysts.

How Are MarketBeat and The Motley Fool Different?

The key difference between MarketBeat and The Motley Fool comes down to what information an investor wants to receive.  You can make the argument that MarketBeat provides investors with more immediately accessible information. MarketBeat is designed for the investor who prefers to have access to information without being steered to any specific investment. It positions itself as a one-stop source for investing information. 

For example, in our example in the introduction, if you search for Apple on the MarketBeat homepage, you’ll have all the information we listed. But you’ll also get earnings information, analyst ratings, and dividend history, as well as information about institutional ownership, insider selling, and more. And when it comes to free articles, MarketBeat provides content from its own writers as well as a curated list from other sites including The Motley Fool.   

Premium subscribers get access to rankings, such as the Top-Rated Small-Cap stocks that list the 100 small-cap companies that receive the highest average rating among equities research analysts in the last 12 months.

The Motley Fool, by contrast, is geared to individuals that want to receive specific stock recommendations from Motley Fool analysts. While the company does provide some free analysis for self-directed investors, the company relies significantly on its premium services.

Here are some other differences between the sites:

Portfolio Services

MarketBeat offers free portfolio tracker tools. Subscribers receive daily email alerts, earnings estimate revisions, analyst recommendation changes, and more. The MarketBeat site provides real-time updates for subscribers. .

Stock Screeners

MarketBeat offers stock screening tools including the ability of investors to compare stocks.

Access to an Investment Community

The Motley Fool gives investors access to its CAPS community. Investors will have access to The Motley Fool CAPS rating which “pools the resources of the Motley Fool Community to help you identify the best stocks at the best times to buy them.” MarketBeat culls information from StockTwits, but does not have a proprietary community.

How Are MarketBeat and The Motley Fool Alike?

Ticker Search

Both sites have an easy-to-use search tool that allows subscribers to get more information on the holdings in your portfolio, or to look at new trades. Both sites give you earnings data, analyst ratings, and other features. And both sites make it easy to quickly add those stocks to your portfolio. The Motley Fool provides you with its CAPS rank for each stock.

Investment Ideas

MarketBeat provides subscribers with access to information such as Research Tools, Stock Screeners, Top-Rated Analysts, Stock Lists, Trending Stocks and Premium Reports. These can be accessed under the My MarketBeat tab.

The Motley Fool provides subscribers with the best stock-picking idea and market analysis from the company’s editors and analysts. This information includes top screening strategies, ways to profit from breaking news and professional insight on matters related to their portfolios.

Review of Premium Services

For buy-and-hold investors who simply want to have instant information regarding the equities in their portfolio, these free services may be adequate. However active traders will typically need access to more detailed insights. For that, both companies offer several premium services. For the purpose of this article, premium services are defined as services for which customers have to pay to access.

MarketBeat Premium Services

MarketBeat Momentum Alerts - $97 per year

• This service provides short-term trading opportunities identified by MarketBeat editors using trading momentum, market sentiment, and specific financial triggers.
• Subscribers receive approximately 3 to 5 new ideas each month through MarketBeat Momentum Alerts.

MarketBeat Daily Premium – $199 per year/$19.97 monthly

• MarketBeat Daily Premium is delivered 30 minutes before the market opens and provides actionable news, analyst upgrades and downgrades, dividend payout changes, insider buying and selling disclosures, earnings reports and technical data.
• Subscribers get information that is personalized to their My MarketBeat stock portfolio and watchlist, giving them the latest information for the stocks they care about the most.
• Investors can also choose to receive email or SMS alerts for their stocks so they don't miss major shifts in the market.
• Their daily newsletter contains a summary of key analyst ratings, earnings and dividend announcements, insider transactions of the day.

MarketBeat All Access – $399 per year/$39.97 monthly

• MarketBeat All Access is the company’s premier research platform.
• Subscribers receive all the information included in MarketBeat Daily Premium, plus a Sunday market preview, advanced portfolio monitoring tools (via My MarketBeat), access to MarketBeat’s full suite of research tools and stock screeners, a real-time news feed including email and SMS alerts.
• Subscribers also get access to the MarketBeat Idea Engine, trending stock lists, proprietary brokerage rankings, extended data export tools, and more.

The Motley Fool Premium Services

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor  - $199 per year

• The company’s flagship newsletter service gives subscribers access to The Motley Fool’s top investors
• Two new stock recommendations each month with in-depth, easy-to-understand analysis
• Ten starter stocks which are typically re-recommendations of previous picks that are designed to help investors build a well-diversified portfolio
• Two new stock picks each month

The Motley Fool Rule Breakers - $299 per year              

• This service focuses on high-growth businesses that he company believes are poised to be tomorrow’s market leaders
• Two new stock picks each month
• Best Buys now – chosen from over 200 stocks
• Starter Stocks – foundational stock recommendations for investors of all experience levels
• Community and investing resources – provides access to educational materials and The Motley Fool’s community of investors

The Motley Fool Everlasting Stocks - $299 per year

• This is a relatively new service from co-founder Tom Gardner’s that includes insight from the same analyst team that has beaten the S&P 500 by over 4X for the last 17 years.
• Members-only access to The Motley Fool’s proprietary model portfolio allocation guidance tool.
• Immediate access to 15 stock recommendations from Tom’s personal holdings.

The Motley Fool’s Epic Bundle - $499 per year

• Provides access to Motley Fool’s Stock Advisor, Rule Breakers, and Everlasting Stocks services
• Receive 6 new stock picks and 15 timely stock picks - "buy" alerts that represent timely opportunities - each and every month

Stock Advisor and Rule Breakers Bundle - $498 per year

• Provides access to Motley Fool’s Stock Advisor and Rule Breakers services
• Investors get double the amount of new monthly stock recommendations
• 15 “Best Buy Now” stocks each month

Rule Your Retirement - $149 per year

• Three sets of model portfolios to help you create the best mix of investments using our allocation and rebalancing guidance.
• Mutual fund and ETF recommendations
• Social security tips, tricks, and strategies
• Coverage and analysis on critical retirement topics from estate planning to insurance

One - $13,999 per year

• Provides full access to all Motley Fool stock services

Market Pass - $1,499 per year

• A service that brings together many of your favorite investing styles in one place.
• Delivers Market Pass Access which gives new recommendations every week from other flagship services
• Delivers “Ultimate Portfolio” – a model portfolio of recommendations from the company’s flagship services.
• Special Reports – exclusive research on long-term trends and in-the-moment ideas

Motley Fool Options - $999 per year

• Provides subscribers with access to proprietary information on how a select group of the company’s analysts have enjoyed an 86% profitability rate on closed options trades
• Educate investors on how to potentially double their returns by adding a few simple options investments
• Receive a world-class options education with The Motley Fool’s exclusive Options University

Sector-Specific Services - $1,999 per year

• There are over 20 sector specific investment services that are available to investors.

Conclusion

While we’re confident in the amount and the quality of the information you receive with your MarketBeat subscription, we want to let you understand what the other services are providing.

As you can see, both MarketBeat and The Motley Fool offer many tools for investors of all types. What may be right for you will depend on a combination of factors. Objectively, MarketBeat’s premium services cost less and may satisfy the information needs of most traders. The site is a one-stop resource that will provide most investors with the information they need to execute a trade.

The Motley Fool has a proven track record of picking winners. However, much of this information is available only to premium subscribers. For some investors having access to that level of information is worth the cost of a subscription.