Simply Wall St and Morningstar are stock research platforms that enable you to take a deep dive into specific companies and identify the best investments available today. Simply Wall St stands out for its modern visualizations, while Morningstar offers impressive ETF research and portfolio analysis tools.
In our Simply Wall St vs. Morningstar comparison, we’ll take a closer look at how these two research services stack up and help you decide which is best for you.
About Simply Wall St and Morningstar
Simply Wall St was founded in 2014 and has since found an audience of more than four million users worldwide. The platform covers more than 100,000 stocks across 95 countries, and much of the company data it offers is sourced from publicly available databases.
Morningstar was founded in 1984 and has become one of the world’s leading investment research firms. It has a team of more than 140 in-house analysts who provide unique insight into stocks, ETFs, and mutual funds. Morningstar currently has around 11 million users.
Simply Wall St vs. Morningstar: Stock & ETF Analysis
The main service provided by both Simply Wall St and Morningstar is stock analysis.
Simply Wall St offers detailed company reports that use visualizations to illustrate key metrics. For example, a snowflake plot shows how each stock that Simply Wall St covers ranks in terms of value, growth, financial health, past performance, and dividend yield. Each company report is packed with charts and graphics, making it easy to digest complex information about how a company is doing.
Morningstar’s stock research reports look bland by comparison, as the majority of financial and performance data is present in tables rather than charts. However, given that this is how the majority of stock research platforms present data, this can actually be an advantage.
One important difference between the analysis provided by Simply Wall St and Morningstar is that Simply Wall St mainly summarizes publicly available data, while Morningstar has a team of in-house analysts who provide unique insights. For example, Morningstar Premium subscribers get access to fair value estimates, analyst reports, and stock ratings.
Morningstar also covers ETFs and mutual funds. In fact, it has arguably the most in-depth ETF research of any major stock analysis platform. Simply Wall St doesn’t offer any coverage for ETFs.
Simply Wall St vs. Morningstar: Stock & ETF Lists
Both Simply Wall St and Morningstar organize stocks that are worthy of your attention into featured lists. On Simply Wall St, the selection of lists includes categories like “buy the dip,” “growth at a reasonable price,” and “established, profitable, and undervalued.” At Morningstar, the lists include “5-star stocks” and “wide moat + undervalued.”
On both platforms, the lists turn over on a scale of weeks and months rather than in a matter of days. You’ll want to do more detailed analysis into any stocks you find on the lists, since the screening criteria isn’t particularly well-defined at either Simply Wall St or Morningstar.
Morningstar also has a number of lists for ETFs, including 5-star rated ETFs. These lists offer an excellent place to start for anyone who wants to build a new portfolio from ETFs.
Simply Wall St vs. Morningstar: Screeners
Both Simply Wall St and Morningstar offer stock screeners. The Simply Wall St screener is a little bit easier to use, and it enables you to filter stocks based on almost any metrics you’ll find in the stock reports.
On Morningstar, there are basic and premium screeners. The basic screener gives you access to a huge range of fundamental and performance metrics, but not to the data that sets Morningstar apart – fair value estimates, analyst ratings, and moat ratings. To filter stocks based on those metrics, you’ll need a Morningstar Premium subscription.
Once again, Morningstar stands out for its ETF and mutual fund tools. The platform has a dedicated screener for funds as well as a similar funds tool that help you find mutual funds with similar holdings.
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Simply Wall St vs. Morningstar: Portfolio Analysis
Simply Wall St and Morningstar both enable you to create portfolios and track your performance over time. At Simply Wall St, that’s about all you can do with your portfolios.
At Morningstar, however, you’ll find much more in-depth tools for analyzing your holdings. The Portfolio X-ray tool is especially neat because it shows you what’s inside your ETFs and mutual funds. So, you can see how much overlap you have in your portfolio and how your holdings break down in terms of value versus growth.
Simply Wall St vs. Morningstar: Pricing
Simply Wall St offers three pricing tiers. The Free tier offers access to five stock reports per month. The Premium tier costs $10 per month and offers 30 stock reports per month and access to the stock screener. The Unlimited tier costs $20 per month and offers unlimited stock reports as well as data exports.
Morningstar offers access to most of its data for free. However, you’ll need a Morningstar Premium subscription to get access to fair value estimates, analyst reports, stock lists, the premium screener, and advanced portfolio analysis tools. Morningstar Premium costs $34.95 per month or $249 per year.
Which Service is Better?
For the majority of investors, Morningstar offers more bang for your buck than Simply Wall St. Morningstar’s stock reports include much of the same data available in Simply Wall St’s reports, plus in-house analysis from a team of experienced stock analysts. In addition, Morningstar has outstanding tools for ETF and mutual fund investing, as well as portfolio analysis tools that can help you monitor a mix of stock and fund holdings.
Simply Wall St might make sense for investors who put a premium on visualizations and mainly want access to data about a huge range of global companies. For investors who prioritize analysis quality and depth, however, Morningstar’s service is the more robust offering.
Alternatives to Simply Wall St and Morningstar
Zacks Premium
If you’re interested in Simply Wall St and Morningstar, you may also want to check out Zacks Premium. Zacks Premium offers in-house analyst research on thousands of stocks and organizes them into rank lists so you can easily find top investment ideas. New stocks are added to Zacks’ #1 rank list each day, making this platform potentially better for active stock investors than Morningstar. Zacks Premium costs $249 per year.
Motley Fool Stock Advisor
While Simply Wall St and Morningstar are both great for self-directed research, many investors prefer simple stock picks. Motley Fool Stock Advisor is a time-tested service that provides two stock picks every month. Since inception, the service has 4X’ed the returns of the S&P 500, making it an excellent choice for anyone who wants to identify stocks that may beat the market.
Conclusion
Simply Wall St and Morningstar offer in-depth stock research for self-directed investors. While both platforms have a lot to offer, we think Morningstar offers the better value thanks to its analyst-driven stock ratings and research reports and its excellent tools for ETF investing.
