Simply Wall St vs Stock Analysis (2026):
visuals vs raw data — which one fits your workflow?
Both platforms analyse the same global stock universe. The difference is what they do with the data: Simply Wall St translates financials into visual scores and portfolio narratives; Stock Analysis surfaces the raw numbers fast, for free, with a screener most paid tools can’t match. This comparison is neutral — we have affiliate links to both, so the goal is to put you in the right one, not the one that pays more.
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TL;DR
- You invest in individual stocks and want visual, narrative-style summaries.
- You’re still building your financial literacy and don’t want to read raw balance sheets.
- You want to build and track an investment thesis over time.
- Dividend health, valuation flags, and growth signals matter more than raw numbers.
- You want fast access to financial statements and analyst estimates — for free.
- You build multi-factor screens across 290+ filters.
- You research ETFs alongside individual stocks.
- You prefer interpreting raw data yourself over automated summaries.
| Category | Winner | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|
| Best UI / Visuals | Simply Wall St | Stock Analysis |
| Best free plan | Stock Analysis | Simply Wall St |
| Best for beginners | Simply Wall St | Stock Analysis |
| Best raw financial data | Stock Analysis | Simply Wall St |
| Best stock screener | Stock Analysis | Simply Wall St |
| ETF research | Stock Analysis | Simply Wall St (none) |
| Portfolio narratives | Simply Wall St | Stock Analysis |
| Best value for money | Stock Analysis | Simply Wall St |
What is Simply Wall St?
Simply Wall St was built around one idea: most retail investors don’t have time to read 10-Ks. It pulls institutional-grade financial data — sourced from S&P Global and Nasdaq Data Link — and compresses it into a single visual output called the Snowflake diagram. Each stock gets a five-axis score covering valuation, future growth, past performance, financial health, and dividends. You get a quick read on where a company is strong or fragile without opening a spreadsheet.
Beyond the Snowflake, Simply Wall St has built out portfolio-level tools. The Narratives feature lets you write an ongoing investment thesis linked to your holdings, with automated alerts if the underlying data contradicts your assumptions. Dividend analysis, intrinsic value estimates, and automated risk flags round out the core product. The platform covers 120,000+ global stocks across major exchanges including XETRA, Euronext, LSE, NYSE, and NASDAQ.
The trade-off: Simply Wall St does not cover ETFs at all. If funds are a significant part of your portfolio, you’ll need a second tool. It also simplifies data by design — which helps beginners but can frustrate investors who want to run their own models or see underlying assumptions. Read our full Simply Wall St review →
What is Stock Analysis?
Stock Analysis was built to be everything Yahoo Finance is, but faster and without the clutter. It’s a free-first, data-dense research platform covering 130,000+ global stocks and funds. Every stock page surfaces income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements — switchable between annual and quarterly, and togglable between absolute numbers and per-share metrics in one click. No signup needed. No paywall for the core data.
The screener is the standout feature: 290+ filters across financial ratios, valuation multiples, growth rates, technical signals, and ETF-specific criteria. Stock Analysis also covers earnings calendars, analyst estimates, insider transactions, and institutional holdings — all free. The ETF database is genuinely useful, with holdings breakdowns, expense ratios, and performance comparison tools that most standalone ETF screeners don’t match.
The trade-off: there’s no editorial layer. Stock Analysis surfaces numbers; it doesn’t interpret them. You need to know what you’re looking for. There’s no Snowflake equivalent, no automated risk alerts, and no portfolio narrative feature. It rewards investors who already understand how to read financial statements. Read our full Stock Analysis review →
Head-to-head comparison
All data as of 2026. Pricing listed for annual billing where applicable.
| Feature | Simply Wall St | Stock Analysis |
|---|---|---|
| Stock coverage | 120,000+ global stocks | 130,000+ stocks + funds |
| ETF coverage | None | Yes — full ETF database |
| Free plan | Limited views — free trial then paywall | Fully functional — no signup needed |
| Paid plan (annual) | ~$84/yr (approx $7/mo) | ~$79/yr (Premium) |
| Refund policy | Not prominently offered | 60-day money-back guarantee |
| Data source | S&P Global, Nasdaq Data Link | S&P Global, Nasdaq Data Link |
| Snowflake / visual score | Yes — 5-axis Snowflake diagram | No |
| Financial statements | Yes (summarised) | Yes — full, switchable, fast |
| Stock screener | Yes (Snowflake-based filters) | Yes — 290+ filters |
| Portfolio tracking | Yes — Narratives + risk alerts | Basic watchlists only |
| Intrinsic value estimate | Yes — automated DCF | Partial |
| Dividend analysis | Strong — safety scores + yield | Strong — yield + payout history |
| Analyst estimates | Yes | Yes — detailed consensus view |
| Insider transactions | Not prominently featured | Yes — full insider data |
| Earnings calendar | Limited | Yes |
| Technical analysis | Weak | Moderate |
| Mobile app | Yes — iOS + Android | Mobile-responsive web only |
| Beginner-friendly | Excellent | Moderate |
| EU exchange coverage | Yes | Yes |
Visuals vs raw data: how each platform presents information
This is the core philosophical split between the two platforms, and it determines which one you’ll actually use.
The Snowflake diagram is the product. It condenses five dimensions of company health into a single pentagon — each axis rated from 0 to 2 — that you can read in seconds. Colour-coded infographics flag risks automatically, and written summaries explain the headline number in plain English.
The trade-off is control. You’re trusting Simply Wall St’s model assumptions. For the Snowflake’s intrinsic value estimate, those assumptions are baked in — you can’t change the discount rate or growth inputs without upgrading and digging further in.
Stock Analysis shows you the raw numbers in Bloomberg-style tables. Income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow — switchable between annual/quarterly and absolute/per-share in one click. Page loads are near-instant. There’s no editorial filter between you and the data.
The trade-off is interpretation. If you don’t know what net debt-to-EBITDA means or how to read a cash conversion cycle, the numbers tell you nothing. Stock Analysis assumes a working knowledge of fundamental analysis.
Screener comparison: 290+ filters vs Snowflake-based search
If you actively screen for stocks — not just look up tickers you already know — this section matters a lot.
Filters are built around the Snowflake framework — you screen for valuation strength, growth trajectory, dividend safety, and financial health. This is highly accessible for investors who think in narrative terms (“show me undervalued stocks with strong financials”) but less flexible for multi-ratio screens.
The output includes market themes and investing ideas that can serve as a starting point. Useful for discovery; not designed for quant-style filtering.
290+ filters — the most comprehensive free screener for retail investors. You can combine P/E, EV/EBITDA, revenue growth, gross margin, short interest, institutional ownership, and dozens of other criteria simultaneously. Separate ETF screener included.
For European investors: you can filter by exchange to isolate stocks on XETRA, Euronext, or the LSE. Overnight market movers and pre/post-market filters are also available.
For a broader view of what’s available for EU investors, see our best free stock screeners for Europe guide →
Portfolio tracking: depth vs simplicity
How you track positions is where the gap between the two platforms becomes most visible in daily use.
- Narratives: Write an investment thesis per holding; Simply Wall St alerts you if the data moves against it.
- Portfolio audit: Automated dividend stress-tests, hidden risk flags, diversification checks.
- Automated alerts: Price targets, valuation changes, analyst revisions — all configurable.
- Snowflake view across your entire portfolio, not just individual stocks.
- Multiple watchlists (e.g. “Growth Ideas”, “Dividend Core”) for organising tickers.
- Daily gain/loss tracking for positions you’ve entered manually.
- No risk analytics, no thesis tracking, no automated alerts.
- Portfolio tracking is a monitoring layer, not an analysis layer.
Cost comparison: free plans and break-even math
- Free: Limited number of stock views — enough to evaluate the platform, not enough for regular research.
- Paid (annual ~$84/yr): Unlimited stocks, full Snowflake, portfolio tools, Narratives, alerts.
- A 14-day free trial is typically offered before the paywall kicks in.
At ~$7/month, Simply Wall St pays for itself if it replaces even 1–2 hours of manual research per month. The question is whether you’ll actually use the visual layer — or whether you’d prefer to just read the numbers yourself.
- Free: Genuinely functional — financial statements, screener, ETF data, analyst estimates, insider data. No signup required.
- Premium (~$79/yr): Bulk data exports, extended historical data, advanced screener filters, ad-free experience.
- 60-day money-back guarantee on the Premium plan.
Most retail investors never need Premium. The free version is genuinely complete — not a stripped-down demo. Upgrade only if you need bulk exports or extended history for your own models.
What EU and non-US investors need to know
Neither platform was built specifically for European investors, but the gap in usefulness depends heavily on how you invest.
Both platforms cover the major EU exchanges — XETRA (Germany), Euronext (France, Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal), Borsa Italiana (Italy), and the LSE (UK). You can research European blue chips and mid-caps on either platform without issues. Simply Wall St covers 120,000+ global stocks; Stock Analysis covers 130,000+.
Simply Wall St has no ETF coverage. If UCITS ETFs are the core of your portfolio — which is typical for passive EU investors — Simply Wall St adds no value for your primary holdings. You’d need a separate tool for fund-level analysis. Stock Analysis has a full ETF database including holdings, expense ratios, dividend history, and return comparison — which partially covers this gap, though it is not UCITS-specific.
Which should you use?
The tools are not really competing for the same user. Think of them as different defaults depending on how your brain works and what your portfolio looks like.
- You invest in individual stocks and want a fast visual read on company health.
- You’re building financial literacy and want data explained, not just displayed.
- You want to write and track an investment thesis linked to your portfolio.
- Automated dividend alerts and risk flags are part of your workflow.
- You’re willing to pay ~$84/year for a tool that saves meaningful research time.
- You know how to read financial statements and just want fast access to the data.
- You build multi-factor stock screens and need granular filter control.
- ETFs are part of your research and you want fund-level data in one place.
- You want a free tool that doesn’t compromise on data quality.
- You prefer interpreting raw numbers over automated summaries.
Both platforms draw from the same underlying data providers, so accuracy is not the differentiator. The differentiator is the interface and what you do with the output. Beginners and visual investors: Simply Wall St. Data-first and free-first investors: Stock Analysis. If you’re genuinely unsure, try Stock Analysis first — it costs nothing to find out if raw data works for you before committing to a Simply Wall St subscription.
Stock Analysis is free with no signup — start there. Simply Wall St offers a 14-day trial before you need to subscribe. Both use the same underlying data sources, so the decision comes down to which interface matches how you actually think about investing. If you hold primarily UCITS ETFs, see our full stock screener comparison for tools that cover the EU fund universe.
Go deeper
Common questions
Is Simply Wall St worth paying for?
For stock-focused investors who want visual summaries and portfolio narratives without running financial statements manually, Simply Wall St is worth it. The Snowflake diagram and automated health checks save meaningful research time. At roughly $84/year (annual plan), the break-even is low if it replaces even a few hours of manual research per month. For ETF-only investors or those who prefer raw data, it’s harder to justify — Stock Analysis covers most of the same stocks for free.
Is Stock Analysis completely free?
The core product — financial statements, screener, earnings data, analyst estimates, ETF data, and insider transactions — is free with no signup required. A Premium plan (~$79/year) adds bulk exports, advanced screener filters, and extended historical data. For most retail investors, the free version is fully functional and covers everything Yahoo Finance does, faster and with a cleaner interface.
Which is better for beginners?
Simply Wall St wins for beginners. The Snowflake diagram condenses five dimensions of stock health into a single visual — valuation, future growth, past performance, financial health, and dividends — without requiring the user to read a balance sheet. Stock Analysis surfaces the same underlying data but expects you to interpret tables yourself. If you’re still learning how to read financial statements, Simply Wall St’s summaries reduce the learning curve significantly.
Does Simply Wall St cover ETFs?
No. Simply Wall St focuses exclusively on individual stocks. There is no ETF screener, no ETF analysis page, and no Snowflake for funds. If ETFs are a significant part of your portfolio, Simply Wall St will not help you analyse them. Stock Analysis includes a full ETF database with holdings breakdowns, expense ratios, dividend history, and performance data — making it the stronger option for ETF research.
Which platform has the better stock screener?
Stock Analysis has the stronger screener by volume — 290+ filters covering financial ratios, growth metrics, valuation, technicals, and ETF-specific criteria. Simply Wall St’s screener is built around its own Snowflake scoring system and is more intuitive for beginners but less granular for advanced filtering. If you build complex multi-factor screens, Stock Analysis is the better tool.
Which tool is better for European investors?
For European stock investors, both platforms cover major EU exchanges adequately — XETRA, Euronext, LSE, Borsa Italiana. Simply Wall St has 120,000+ global stocks; Stock Analysis covers 130,000+ stocks and funds. The key gap is ETFs: European investors who hold UCITS ETFs as the core of their portfolio will find Simply Wall St unhelpful for fund-level analysis. Stock Analysis is the better pick for EU investors who want ETF data alongside stock research.
QuantRoutine provides educational content only. Nothing on this page is an offer to buy or sell securities, or personalized investment advice. Both Simply Wall St and Stock Analysis are third-party platforms — pricing, feature availability, and free plan limits may change. Always review current pricing and terms on each platform’s official website before subscribing.