Morningstar vs Yahoo Finance 2024: Which is better?

Morningstar vs Yahoo Finance Video

Factor 1: Free Features

Most investors have already started building their investment portfolio, but they’re looking for resources that can help them manage their current profile.

Performing basic technical analysis, being able to find new stock investment ideas, and receiving stock recommendations are a few of the features you can often access for free.

Of course, the bad news is that the free services never cover the wide range of information included with a premium membership. Still, you may be able to gain something useful from the stock investment newsletters and other free resources offered.

Morningstar

Due to the lack of Morningstar data offered with the free membership, a fundamental investor won’t find much use for this version. While some basic information—such as earnings estimates—can be accessed, the most useful information is restricted to the various membership options (Morningstar Premium, Morningstar Direct, Morningstar Advisor).

You will be able to read a limited number of business news articles and subscribe to stock investment newsletters, but the free version of Morningstar hardly fits as a substitute for an advisor service.

It could potentially offer investors a small, long-term advantage with the data it offers. However, long-term investing data is still extremely limited on the free version, and data for short-term trading is insufficient.

Yahoo Finance

When it comes to free offerings, Yahoo Finance comes out on top. A fundamental investor will have plenty of information they can access using the features offered.

Whether you’re looking for stock investment ideas, trying to monitor individual stock price performance, or hoping to track your entire investment portfolio, Yahoo Finance has you covered.

The data provided can be useful for both short and long-term investing, although the long-term advantages have more potential. This version may not offer as much data as the premium membership does, but casual investors will be able to find new stock recommendations and track their independent investment portfolio with ease.

Factor 2: Paid Features

Once you upgrade to a premium membership, the benefits are instantly noticeable. All of the vital information you haven’t yet been able to access—such as the annual dividend yield or the quarterly dividend—become available, along with a plethora of investment & portfolio tools.

While these paid features may be a bit excessive for those who take a hands-off, long-term investing approach, most investors will find them useful.

Morningstar

Morningstar data—which is offered on everything from mutual funds to individual stocks—is extremely comprehensive. Information like annualized dividend yields is included, but every piece of data is expanded upon to provide users with the best insights for long-term investing.

In addition to unique ratings on stocks and access to its asset allocation services (with complete data for their allocation funds), Premium members also gain “Top Picks” and the “Portfolio X-Ray” tool, which makes it easy for investors to identify and address potential problems.

Click here to read the full list of Morningstar’s capabilities as an investment tool.

Yahoo Finance

Yahoo Finance offers two membership levels, “Lite” and “Essential.” The “Lite” plan includes all of the free features plus analytical tools, community insights, daily recommendations on stock trading (high-growth stocks), and more.

“Essential” unlocks additional features, allowing subscribers to read stock ratings (from Morningstar and Argus), subscribe to premium stock investment newsletters, ready company insights, and more. This set of features is extremely helpful when selecting stock trading picks to build a diversified stock portfolio.

Factor 3: Subscription Costs

While the benefits you get from subscribing to a premium service are immense, the pricing could potentially be bad news. Not all premium services are reasonable, and—even if they are—it doesn’t make much sense to pay for premium features that you’ll never use.

Let’s compare the pricing between these two platforms.

Morningstar

Morningstar Premium offers both monthly and annual billing, but you can save a bit of money if you choose the latter option. Monthly, Morningstar will cost you $34.95 ($419.40 over the course of the year). However, if you opt for annual billing instead, the service will only cost you $249 for the year!
Learn More About Morningstar

Yahoo Finance

The “Lite” version of Yahoo Finance is slightly cheaper at $20.83 per month, although you’ll need to pay for the year (a total of $249.96) upfront.

The “Essential” version costs a bit more, coming out to $349.92 for the year (or $29.16 per month). This plan also needs to be paid in full for the year.

Factor 4: External Customer Reviews & Ratings

External Morningstar Reviews & Ratings

External Yahoo Finance Reviews & Ratings

Summary

When comparing Morningstar vs Yahoo Finance you see a lot of similarities, but there’s a clear winner as well: Morningstar! While both of the services can offer recommendations on stock trading picks, provide stock ratings, and help you build a diversified stock portfolio full of high-growth stocks, Morningstar does so for less.

Click here to save $50 off a year-long subscription to Morningstar!