Many investors choose to pay for a stock-picking subscription to help them research potential investments. There are plenty of newsletters, stock-picking subscriptions, and investment information sites designed to help people who want to buy individual stocks make good decisions. 

Whether you are new to stock market investing or you just want to make more informed decisions without dedicating your free time to researching stocks, a subscription to a stock picking service or stock information website could provide the boost you need to build a profitable portfolio of growth stocks. 

Why Subscribe To A Stock Picking Service?

Paying for advice about which stocks to pick can be a great time saver. It’s crucial that you trust your source of information, however. Subscribing to a stock picking service requires an investment, which can be tough to justify if the service doesn’t have a long and dependable track record of choosing up-and-coming companies. 

To get your money’s worth, you’ll need to take the service’s advice and buy the stocks they recommend. Stock picking services make the most sense for investors who already have some money in the stock market and have the extra money and confidence it takes to buy individual stocks. 

Even with a stock picking service, you’ll need to know enough about how the stock market works to determine whether a specific stock is a good fit for your portfolio. If you are new to buying stocks, it’s wise to spend time learning about how other investors research stocks. The Khan Academy offers a great deal of free and unbiased education about stocks and bonds in their Finance and Capital markets section. 

What To Look For In A Stock Picking Subscription

🥇 Track record: The stock picking service should produce returns for subscribers that purchase recommended stocks. Look for how the service’s choices performed compared to a benchmark index. Growth stocks should perform over time. 

💸 Price: Some stock picking services cost thousands of dollars each year. Look for a modestly priced service; not one that you couldn’t cover the cost of with gains from your portfolio. 

📈 Results you can reproduce: Some of the best-performing investments aren’t available unless you are an institutional investor. They may be able to buy stocks at a lower price before it goes public. If you can’t reproduce the results in your portfolio, the service has no value to you. 

📚 Education: A good stock picking service doesn’t just periodically send you the names of stocks to buy. You should gain knowledge when you read about how and why they chose a specific stock. The service should help you build the skills you need to evaluate recommendations based on your unique criteria, investment goals, and risk tolerance. 

Top 12 Stock Picking Services, Subscriptions, and Websites of 2021

Below are the best stock picking services we’ve found and evaluated for 2021. The services vary based on the type of investing and/or trading you intend to do.

Best Stock Picking Service for Finding Undervalued Stocks: Motley Fool Rule Breakers

Motley Fool Rule Breakers is one of several subscription stock picking services provided by the financial media company. They recommend stocks in emerging industries that have a sustainable advantage along with competent management. Rule Breakers’ advisors look for companies with strong consumer appeal that are currently undervalued. 

Rule Breakers Basics

Motley Fool Rule Breakers track record: Rule Breakers has a 15-year track record of beating the market.

What you’ll get with Rule Breakers: Starter Stocks list to help establish a portfolio, five “Best Buys Now” stock recommendations per month, and two new stock pick recommendations per month.

Motley Fool Rule Breakers price: $99 per year after a 30-day trial period

Best for: Investors who want to consistently invest in growth stocks. 

Motley Fool Rule Breakers may be a good fit for you if:

• You prefer to buy and hold stocks
• You have enough disposable income to invest in at least two new stocks each month
• You are financially stable enough to invest and hold stocks for at least five years

Best Stock Picking Service for Buy and Hold Investors: Motley Fool Stock Advisor

Motley Fool Stock Advisor concentrates on well-established companies with the potential to create wealth inside a portfolio. In the past, they’ve recommended Disney and Netflix. 

Stock Advisor track record: During the past 17 years, Stock Advisor has done five times better than the S&P 500.

Subscribers can see every recommendation offered by Stock Advisor throughout the entire history of the service. 

What you’ll get with Stock Advisor: Access to the full history of Stock Advisor recommendations, “Starter Stocks” recommendations to help build a foundation of solid growth stocks in your portfolio, two new monthly stock picks, access to the service’s “10 Best Buys Now” list chosen from 300 stocks on the service’s watchlist, access to a community of like-minded investors.

Motley Fool Stock Advisor price: $99 per year after a 30-day trial period

Best for: Investors who want to buy stocks in established companies with the intention of holding those investments for at least five years

Motley Fool Stock Advisor may be a good fit for you if:

• You prefer to buy and hold stocks
• You want to invest in undervalued companies with a track record of success
• You have money to invest at least $10,000 in the stock market and can continue to add new stocks to your portfolio each month

Best Stock Picking Service for Day Traders: Trade Ideas Premium Plan

The Trade Ideas Premium Plan uses an artificial intelligence (AI) assistant to help subscribers research potentially lucrative investments. The AI assistant runs more than one million simulated trades using over 70 proprietary algorithms each night before the markets open. 

Scan results, curated by real people before they become official stock picks on the Trade Ideas platform, include the method used to choose the stock, why it may perform well and how to find similar stocks. 

A live simulated reading room allows subscribers to see how the stock-picking service’s recommendations perform without risk. Users have access to real-time streaming ideas to facilitate skill-building. 

What you’ll get with Trade Ideas Premium Plan: Price alerts, Trade of the Week newsletter, five new trade ideas each Sunday night, Rules-based virtual trading room for active traders and long-term investors, fully-functioning AI assistant (Holly) that you can connect to your separate brokerage account to execute trades automatically.

Trade Ideas Premium price: $2,268 per year or Standard for $1068.

Compare features below:

Best for: Long-term investors and day traders who want access to robust technology and also want to learn how to invest

Trade Ideas Premium Plan may be a good fit for you if:

• You have an established portfolio and plan to purchase larger volumes of stocks
• You want to learn how to invest and trade using a simulated trading platform
• You are comfortable allowing technology to execute trades on your behalf
• You are currently engaged in day trading or are interested in learning more about how to become a successful day trader

Best Stock Picking Service for Fundamental Investors: Zack’s Investment Research Premium Subscription

Based in Chicago, Zack’s Investment Research offers constant monitoring of stocks to help investors decide whether to buy, hold, or sell individual investments. You can access the investment research software on Zack’s Investment Research site for free. Bull and Bear of the Day provide insights about two stocks (one Bull and one Bear) to help investors decide which stocks to hold or buy and which to sell. 

Zack’s rates stocks from one (strong buy) to five (strong sell) along with ratings for value and growth and momentum. Subscribers can enter their current stocks and funds to get up-to-date ratings 24/7. 

What you’ll get with Zack’s Investment Research: Focus List including long-term stock recommendations, Equity Research reports, Custom Stock Screener, and The Zacks #1 Rank List.

Zack’s Investment Research Premium track record: Stocks rated as a #1 Strong Buy beat the S&P 500 by more than 14% (on average) for the past three decades. Stocks rated as a #5 Strong Sell underperformed the market by 8%.

Zack’s Investment Research Premium price: $249 per year after a 30-day trial

Best for: Fundamental investors

Zack’s Investment Research may be a good fit for you if:

• You have an active portfolio and aren’t afraid to buy or sell stocks to maintain growth
• Have the experience and knowledge needed to make independent decisions about your portfolio
• Are willing to devote time and money to the pursuit of creating a profitable portfolio

Best Stock Picking Service App for Momentum Investors: Seeking Alpha App Premium Subscription

Seeking Alpha’s app provides comprehensive investment news along with the opinions of thousands of experienced traders. Subscribers to Seeking Alpha’s Premium Tier app can opt into push notifications, email alerts, and texts to stay on top of breaking news in the world of stock market investing. 

Premium subscribers can create watch lists using the stock tracking portion of the app to get a custom feed. 

Seeking Alpha Premium App track record: Quant performance beats the market by four-to-one, stocks rated as very bullish created a 1,369% return over the S&P 500 and had an average annualized return of 29%. 

What you’ll get with Seeking Alpha Premium app subscription: Stock quant ratings, stock dividend grades, author ratings, author performance, unlimited access to all Premium content, watch list creation, news alerts, fewer ads than the free limited version of the app, and conference call transcripts.

Seeking Alpha Premium app price: $19.99 per month

Best for: Research-driven investors

Seeking Alpha Premium app may be a good fit for you if:

• You want original stock news (not news-aggregator)
• You want to interact with other investors about strategy
• You base your investment decisions on ideas from other investors and original news

Read our full review of Seeking Alpha here.

Best Stock Picking Service For Comprehensive Investment Analysis: The Maley Report

The Maley Report offers no-frills information about stocks, including fundamental, macro, and technical analysis. Matt Maley has more than 35 years of experience trading on Wall Street and is now a market strategist at Miller Tabak + Co. Subscribers to The Maley Report have access to his analysis of what’s happening in the stock market.

What you’ll get with The Maley Report: Aggregates of Matt Maley’s videos, blog posts, and trade alerts, educational resources to help investors learn Maley’s strategy, a regular email newsletter with an overall outlook on the market and discussion of what’s to come.

The Maley Report price: $49 per month or $490 per year with a 30-day money-back guarantee

Best for: Fundamental investors

The Maley Report may be a good fit for you if:

• You want actionable stock insights based on a number of factors
• You want information from an experienced investor willing to discuss his methods for choosing high-performing stocks

Best Stock Picking Service For Active Traders: Pilot Trading

Pilot Trading uses artificial intelligence to watch other day traders in real time and make predictions about how the market may change from one minute to the next. Subscribers can create a custom watchlist or choose a pre-made one in the app. Link to a brokerage account to use the stock research app and make trades through the app. 

What you’ll get with Pilot Trading: Information about real-time trading activity, alerts when market sentiment shifts, and the ability to link brokerage accounts. 

Pilot Trading price: $19.95 per month after a 14-day free trial

Best for: Forex, futures, crypto, and stock traders

Pilot Trading may be a good fit for you if:

• You are an active trader interested in cryptocurrency investment, futures, or forex
• You want in-app trading that connects to stock trading platforms

Best Stock Picking Service For Day Traders: Scanz

Scanz offers two ways to get information to inform day trading activity. The Scanz News Streamer offers SEC filing on NASDAQ, NYS, and AMEX alerts. It also provides two broker integrations and streaming charges. The Trade Scanner offers Level 1 and Level 2 data on NYSE, AMEX, and NASDAQ with unlimited watchlists, a montage window, streaming charges, and breakout alerts. 

Subscribers can choose between the services or bundle them to get a discount. 

What you’ll get with Scanz: Access to customized alerts for price changes, percentage changes, volume changes, and important company news.

Scanz price: $79 per month for news only, $99 per month for scanner only, $149 per month for news and scanner; seven-day free trial

Scanz may be a good fit for you if:

• You are an active day trader who wants up-to-the-minute breaking news that’s curated to help you reach your goals
• You want to filter stocks based on a predetermined set of criteria, including penny stocks

Best Stock Picking Service For Penny Stock Day Traders: Tim Alerts

Tim Alerts is a platform created by Tim Sykes. The successful penny stock investor started with just $12,000 and in about ten years became a multimillionaire. Skyes started Tim Alerts to help penny stock investors learn how to make money in the stock market by purchasing penny stocks. The platform provides finance services, training for retail investors, and educational content. 

What you’ll get with Tim Alerts: Access to a chat room with a paired trading app, daily penny stock picks newsletter with stock watchlists, and customizable push notifications.

Tim Alerts price: $679 per year

Best for: Penny stock traders

Tim Alerts may be a good fit for you if:

• You are curious about investing in penny stocks and want to learn from someone with documented and ongoing success
• You want daily stock picks delivered to your inbox
• You learn best by interacting with other investors 

Best Stock Picking Service For Income Investing: AAII Dividend Investing

AAII Dividend Investing provides direction to investors who want to build a portfolio of dividend-paying stocks. The platform provides subscribers with research and information produced by its proprietary stock picking process. AAII searches for and highlights stocks providing a mix of asset and yield quality. It also looks closely at recommended company’s management teams to make sure that the stock is likely to pay out dividends for years to come. 

What you’ll get with AAII Dividend Investing: Access to a target portfolio with a mix of Geographical Exposure and GISC Sector investments, weekly webinars, and access to weekly stock ideas and the lead analyst.

AAII Dividend Investing price: $2 for the first 30 days and then $199 per year or $359 for two years

Best for: Dividend investors

AAII Dividend Investing may be a good fit for you if:

• You want reliable information about low-risk dividend-paying stocks
• You want instant access to the information you need to build a portfolio with fully vetted dividend stocks

Best Stock Picking Service For Swing Trading: Mindful Trader

Mindful Trader helps swing traders make confident decisions about when to buy and sell stocks. Short-term movements in the stock market can be hard to follow, even for devoted traders. Mindful Trader offers up to 15 text or email alerts each week to help traders manage an active portfolio of investments. 

What you’ll get with Mindful Trader: Stock trade alerts via text and email, between five and 15 trade alerts each week, clear guidance about when it may be smart to open or close positions, and historical data on every recommended trade since Mindful Trader’s inception.

Mindful Trader price: $47 per month; cancel anytime

Best for: Swing traders

Mindful Trader may be a good fit for you if:

• You want an easy way to take advantage of quick movements in the market
• You want access to live positions in a portfolio with historical data

Best Stock Picking Service For REIT Stocks: Millionacres Real Estate Winners

Investors involved in real estate investing and REITs may find that the valuable and condensed information included with a Millionacres Real Estate Winners subscription helps them level up their investing game. 

Millionacres Real Estate Winners aims to help investors understand the complicated world of real estate investment with recommendations and stock picks to help you create a portfolio of money-making stocks. 

What you’ll get with Millionacres Real Estate Winners: Investing ideas with guidance on how to get started in the real estate market, monthly new stock recommendations, updates on previously recommended stocks, “Top 10 Investment Alerts” quarterly, unlimited access to education resources on the Millionacres site. 

Millionacres Real Estate Winners price: $149 per year 

Best for: Buy and hold REIT investors and those curious about getting started with REITs

Millionacres Real Estate Winners may be a good fit for you if:

• You are a beginning investor interested in making successful REIT trades
• You are an experienced investor seeking bit-sized monthly investment alerts about real estate equities and REITs to support your current trading activity
• You want to use real estate investments to create a portfolio that produces consistent and reliable results for years to come. 

Bottom Line

Stock picking services should help you build the skills you need to make independent decisions about your portfolio. Even if you only subscribe to a single stock picking service, it’s wise to gather information from a number of sources before you decide to buy or sell any single stock. Many of the services listed here offer free information and resources. Always research stock picks on your own and make sure they are a good fit for your portfolio. 

If you decide to try out a stock-picking service, take full advantage of the service during the free trial (if there is one) before you commit.

The Motley Fool and Seeking Alpha have a track record of successfully steering investors in the direction of money-making investments. There are a number of high-quality investing newsletters available on a subscription-only basis, and these two options stand out for their modest price points and smart stock recommendations. 

Motley Fool Stock Advisor Services Basics

The Motley Fool is an investment advisory service with a long track record. Started by brothers David and Tom Gardner in 1993, the site offers a huge library of free information on investing, retirement, and personal finance. 

The Motley Fool offers a number of different stock advice subscriptions, each with a different theme. The Motley Fool Stock Advisor is one of their most popular newsletters and is priced at $199 per year. The site frequently offers Stock Advisor at a discounted price. 

With MF’s Stock Advisor, you’ll get advice on which stocks to add to a high-quality portfolio that should ideally be held for at least five years. Each month, subscribers get a list of new stock picks with information about why they may be a good buy. 

Here’s what Stock Advisor subscribers get:

Stocks to Buy: Motley Fool’s ever-evolving list of the ten best stocks to buy today. 

Starter Stocks: List of ten stocks ideal for anchoring a portfolio for the long haul. New investors can start by purchasing these individual stocks. 

Monthly Newsletter: Two stock picks each month plus an in-depth analysis of the reasons MF staff experts chose these stocks. 

Motley Fool Advisor Services Subscription Choices 

Motley Fool’s Stock Advisor newsletter is just one of their subscription services. There are several choices designed to meet the needs of nearly any type of investor. 

• Stock Advisor (SA): Current stock recommendations from The Fool founders, analysts, and the community. 
• Rule Breakers (RB): RB provides monthly access to community and investment resources as well as monthly stock recommendations. 
• Rule Your Retirement (RYR): RYR is for investors interested in retiring soon. It includes recommendations about ETFs and mutual funds as well as Social Security tips and strategies. RYR costs $149 per year.
• Options (OPT): Created to meet the needs of advanced traders, OPT provides access to the Options University, options trading news, and options investment recommendations. OPT normally costs $999 per year but is currently not accepting new members.
• Market Pass (MP): MP subscribers get access to the information included with Rule Breakers and Stock Advisor. They also get research on long-term investment trends. MP has a subscription cost of $1,499 per year but isn’t currently accepting new members.

Seeking Alpha Stock Advisor Services Basics

Seeking Alpha’s stock advisory service exists within three distinct tiers. The Free Plan allows users to set alerts on their favorite stocks to receive new information and analysis. Free Plan subscribers can’t see the author’s track record, however. Stock analysis authored by experts and those with an excellent track record are behind the paywall. 

With Seeking Alpha’s Premium Plan, subscribers get access to expert analysis, news, and Quant Ratings for $199.99 annually. The site runs frequent promotions and sales, so you may be able to get access to the service for less money. 

The Seeking Alpha Pro Plan is $199.99 per month billed at $2,399.88 annually. There’s an automatic 14-day trial period during which subscribers get full access to all of the Pro Plan’s top-tier features. 

Seeking Alpha Advisor Services Basics Subscription Choices

• Seeking Alpha Free Plan: Subscribers get analysis alerts, new article alerts, access to comments, and they can see StockTalk and Seeking Alpha blogs. 
• Seeking Alpha Premium: Seeking Alpha Premium offers unlimited access to more than 1 million articles on the SA site. Subscribers can see author ratings, quant ratings, dividend scores, and author performance numbers. SA Premium also comes with fewer ads than the free plan. 
• Seeking Alpha PRO: With a SA PRO subscription, you get everything included with the free plan and Alpha Premium plus Top Ideas content, short-selling ideas portal, and all PRO content and newsletters. The idea screener allows subscribers to filter investing ideals by certain parameters. Subscribers also get access to the VIP Editorial Concierge where they can work directly with PRO editors to create ideas that match their interests and investing style. The PRO subscription comes with an ad-free site experience. 

Are Motley Fool Stock Picks Any Good? 

Yes. The Motley Fool’s stock advisors choose growth stocks, and so far their picks have significantly outperformed the stock market. Stock Advisor pointed subscribers in the direction of Disney, Netflix, and Amazon back when those companies were somewhat new. Over time, MF’s Stock Advisor stock picks have produced more than a 500% return. 

In November of 2018, the Stock Advisor Newsletter suggested that subscribers should purchase Apple, Arista Networks, Shopify, Booking Holdings, Stitch Fix, and Amazon. All of these stocks have increased in value. For example, Shopify was $134.45 per share in November of 2018. Today, it sells for more than $1,247 per share. 

MF analysts recommend that investors purchase their stock recommendations with the intent of holding those stocks for at least five years. If you subscribed in 2017 and purchased all 24 recommended stocks, you would have beat the market by 223%. All 24 stock picks from 2017 are profitable, six have more than tripled in value, and 11 have more than doubled in value. Nearly 90% of Motley Fool Stock Advisor stock picks during the past five years are profitable. 105 stocks recommended by Motley Fool since 2017 in this newsletter are winners; 15 are losers. 

Who Is Motley Fool Stock Advisor Good For?

If you plan to buy and hold your investments for at least five years, The Motley Fool’s Stock Advisor subscription may be a good buy. It also helps to have a minimum of $3,000 to $5,000 set aside to invest in stocks. 

The Motley Fool isn’t advertising or promoting any get-rich-quick schemes with its subscription services. It’s best if you have enough disposable income to easily cover the purchase price of the subscription and can make unilateral decisions about which stocks to buy, even if it doesn’t line up with the experts’ recommendations.

Are Seeking Alpha Stock Picks Any Good? 

Seeking Alpha’s content is user-generated, so subscribers must sift through the advice to find stocks that hold promise. You can get a list of top-rated stocks in each sector with one click after subscribing to Seeking Alpha Premium. The Factor Scorecard evaluates ETFs, REITs, and stocks using grades with easily discoverable underlying data. 

Seeking Alpha’s Premium subscription differs from The Motley Fool’s Stock Advisor in that SA doesn’t feed subscribers a list of stocks to buy each month. Instead, it offers access to the information and analysis investors need to make the right decisions for their portfolios. 

Who Is Seeking Alpha’s Premium Subscription Good For?

Investors who prefer to compile their own research with a set of advanced tools that are easy to navigate and located in a single platform may prefer Seeking Alpha Premium Tier. 

Investors may spend a great deal of time going through individual sources to vet investment ideas. Seeking Alpha Premium offers Quant ratings to help investors get a snapshot of an investment’s potential worth. 

Which Premium Subscription Offers the Best Value?

Seeking Alpha Premium and Motley Fool Stock Advisor offer a very different set of services, so one isn’t necessarily a better value dollar-for-dollar than the other. Investors who have a couple of hundred dollars a year to spend on expanding their investment knowledge base are likely to find that their money is well spent with either service. 

In general, Seeking Alpha Premium may be more satisfying for the curious investor who likes to get lost in research and investment experts’ opinions about individual stocks. Motley Fool Stock Advisor may work better for the investor who wants a short answer to the complicated question, “Which stock should I buy this month?”

Seeking Alpha Premium Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Access to investing ideas articles 
• Quant ratings
• Personal portfolio tracking
• Audio of company call transcripts and presentations

Cons:

• Could be too expensive for new or casual investors
• No specific stock recommendations
• Lacks mutual funds coverage
• Few tools for technical analysis

Motley Fool Stock Advisor Services Pros and Cons

Pros

• Track record of market-beating returns
• Stock Advisor picks routinely beat the S&P 500
• Straightforward and action-oriented investing advice

Cons

• Could be too expensive for new or casual investors
• No investment portfolio tracking
• No investing community interaction or support

When to Choose Motley Fool

Motley Fool Stock Advisor may be ideal for investors who:

• Plan to buy and hold individual stocks for at least five years
• Have adequate discretionary income with which to buy stocks
• Have a solid understanding of the risks of investing in the stock market
• Want a brief overview of a few stocks to buy each month authored by financial experts

Investors who want to regularly beat the S&P 500 with their stock picks and those who want to start purchasing stocks right away may appreciate the straightforward nature of the Motley Fool Stock Advisor subscription service. 

When to Choose Seeking Alpha

Seeking Alpha Premium may be ideal for investors who:

• Are serious about actively purchasing individual stocks, ETFs, and REITs
• Want access to Seeking Alpha content published more than ten days ago
• Currently hold at least five individual stocks
• Enjoy researching ETFs and stocks

Active investors who rely on others to provide in-depth research, investing ideas, and news alerts may find that Seeking Alpha’s paid subscription services save them time. It may also be useful to interact with other investors facing the same questions and problems. 

When to Choose Both Motley Fool and Seeking Alpha

Motley Fool’s Stock Advisor Subscription could work well with Seeking Alpha’s Premium tier subscription. Their services don’t overlap much, and both offer important information that could help an investor make wise choices. 

Is Motley Fool Worth it For New Investors?

Yes, if a new investor is ready to purchase individual stocks, the Motley Fool Stock Advisor newsletter can help them choose already-vetted stocks that MF analysts think have great potential.  If you are new to investing, but understand the basic ideas outlined in The Motley Fool’s How to Invest Guide, you may be ready for a subscription to one of Motley Fool’s premium newsletters. 

Of course, you can’t make money in the stock market unless you are willing to invest. So before you decide to pay for an MF newsletter subscription, make sure you have enough disposable income to purchase the stocks they recommend. 

Motley Fool’s investing strategy rests on the idea that you should buy individual stocks with the intention of holding them for at least five years. Those who want to invest but may need access to their money sooner should pursue other (safer) investment vehicles. 

If investing is a completely new idea, it’s wise to learn more by spending time on the Motley Fool website absorbing the free information. Start with The Top 21 Stocks to Buy in 2021 (And the 1 Ultimate Stock) after reading the How to Invest Guide. 

The Motley Fool’s stock analysts recommend that new investors put their money into a diversified fund. For example, they recommend that investors check out the Vanguard Total World Stock Index Fund EFT (NYSEMKT:VT). 

Is Seeking Alpha Worth it For New Investors?

Yes. Investors that are ready to purchase individual stocks and understand how important it is to conduct research before putting in their order will find a huge stockpile of information with access to Seeking Alpha Premium. 

This amount of data can be overwhelming for those who don’t have a lot of experience researching stocks. However, for investors who are interested in gaining knowledge, Seeking Alpha Premium is a great choice among affordable stock advice subscriptions. 

Motley Fool Stock Advisor Newsletter Reviews from Customers

Trustpilot.com has 1,261 reviews of The Motley Fool platform for all paid subscribers and those who use the free information on the site. MF users offer an average rating of 2.6 stars out of five stars. 

• Excellent: 35%
• Great: 11%
• Average: 5%
• Poor: 5%
• Bad: 45%

Here are a few Motley Fool Stock Advisor newsletter subscribers offering their experiences with the service on Reddit: 

“Overall, my experience has been positive. Motleyfool also has an in-house retirement account setup that I am using as well. I have been encouraged by my results, as I am up around 23% in the last 3 months (although 6 months looks about the same at 24%, 1 year at 31%).” -Charcuterienighmare

“I would recommend it. Here’s the question I want to ask you: what do you EXPECT out of it / what exactly do you want from the service that will make it “worth it” for YOU? If you think you can just buy their recommendations without any research or conscious thought, then this isn’t for you. They have a rationale for every stock they recommend, and they even SPECIFICALLY tell you to only invest in stocks that you truly believe in and/or support.” -GeepGeepOG

“I’ve had a subscription to Stock Advisor for over 3 years. I don’t buy every recommendation they make, but I use it as a strong indicator of what to research further. All of my picks based on their recommendation have done very well. The service more than pays for itself for me.” -WhiteFang34

Seeking Alpha Premium Tier Reviews from Customers

Trustpilot.com has 70 reviews of the Seeking Alpha platform across all subscription tiers with an average rating of 4.3 stars out of five stars:

• Excellent: 64%
• Great: 13%
• Average: 1%
• Poor: 6%
• Bad: 16%

Here are a few Seeking Alpha Premium subscribers offering their opinions about the service on Reddit:

“So I’ve been reading seeking alpha premium for about 5 months now. I would say it’s worth trying free for a month to see if it fits your investment needs. I invest in a lot of niche asset classes (CEFs+preferreds+ REIT/ute CEFs/preferreds) and there aren’t a lot of other places that carry so many contributors covering this area. Often the articles are gated esp. those involving Pimco.

The reason I like SA is because it’s crowdsourced so you get many conflicting opinions and there are a lot of savvy readers so there is a lot of pushback in the comments. Note some authors delete unfavorable comments so unfortunately there is censorship of a sort.”

-h-ster

“At least for REITS and dividend stocks I think the quality of seeking alpha is much better than other online resources. If you visit the site often and keep up to date you can get by without paying.” -Redwakasushi

“I would say it depends on: 1) how sophisticated you are with investing in general, 2) if you have any specialized interests (REITs, dividend stocks, commodities), 3) your current account size, 4) your level of satisfaction with the free version, and 5) if there are specific articles you’ve tried to access but have been excluded from. So… It’s hard to say if it’s worth it “in general” -thechickensage

Which Stock Advice Service is Better?

Your long-term satisfaction with Seeking Alpha Premium or Motley Fool Stock Advisor depends on your needs as they relate to investing. 

If you want a direct connection to specific stocks recommended by experts, Motley Fool does a better job than Seeking Alpha of providing condensed recommendations via a monthly newsletter. 

However, if you want to dive into the research on your own and read several experts’ opinions on whether an individual stock is a worthy investment, Seeking Alpha may be a better fit. 

Final Thoughts

In general, investors should have a good understanding of the inner workings of the stock market and be comfortable with the idea that they could lose money by investing in stocks. Even new investors with a good working knowledge of how to interpret the analysis of individual stocks could benefit from both a subscription to The Motley Fool’s Stock Advisor newsletter and the Premium Tier of Seeking Alpha. 

These two services are different from each other, but also complimentary. If making money in the stock market is your goal, and you are ready to buy individual stocks, The Motley Fool’s Stock Advisor newsletter offers straightforward advice about exactly which stocks you should buy each month and why those stocks are a great addition to a portfolio.

Seeking Alpha can help you build your stock analysis skills and provide you with an interactive platform where you can track stocks you own while you watch how interesting stocks perform over time. If you want to be part of an active community of investing enthusiasts, discuss investing ideas, and read articles from some of the most successful investors in the marketplace, a Premium Tier subscription to the Seeking Alpha website provides access.