If you’re on the quest for a powerful stock screener, chances are that you have come across Trendspider and FinViz. Both are highly popular out there – and indeed have many features to marvel at. The former has a long-standing industry reputation while the latter is relatively new but still managing to turn heads.
So, which one of the two is better for you? We compare their similarities and differences so you can have an easy time making a choice.
Trendspider
Overall Rating: 4.6/5
Finviz
Overall Rating: 4/5
About Finviz
The name FinViz is a shortened version of the words Financial Visualizations. It’s a tool comprising market data that is then broken down to provide visualization, research and financial analysis. So, if you’re looking for a tool that can help you sum up large volumes of data for easy understanding, FinViz is built just for you.
About Trendspider
As for Trendspider, what you get is a tool that you can use for comprehensive technical analysis. It comprises charting tools, stock screener, news, and even backtesting functionalities. It has been around since around 2018 although the idea was originally conceptualized in 2016.
What Are The Differences Between These Two?
Much as they share a lot of similarities, FinViz and Trendspider have huge differences between them. These range from pricing to quality of news sources, quality of charting tools etc. Hang in there, let’s break them down further for you.
1. Platforms Supported
In this day and age, you cannot afford to be glued to a computer screen the whole day all in the name of trading. As such, it makes perfect sense to find out if the tool you’re about to invest in provides you with the kind of flexibility needed to enjoy freedom.
If freedom is what you’re after, TrendSpider is definitely what you’re looking for because it is supported by a variety of platforms. We’re talking about Android, iPad, iPhone, and even SaaS (i.e. web based access).
FinViz, on the other hand, is purely an SaaS program. So, you can only access it through a browser. And while this isn’t too bad (since you can even access it via mobile), it’s a bit backward for them not to have a dedicated app for easier access.
2. Customer Support
Excellent customer support is, no doubt, important especially when you have got to use these complicated tools. That’s why when analyzing Trendspider vs Finviz, we were eager to establish who between them takes customer support more seriously than the other.
FinViz seems to be doing a pretty decent job of attending to burning queries. That said, they still have a lot to do to keep up with the new market entrants.
For instance, the only way to contact them is to fill out a contact form and hope that someone will get back to you after God knows how many hours.
TrenSpider provides a friendlier access to customer support by providing a toll free phone number, email address, social media tools, and even their physical address. Queries are normally handled fast and professionally and that’s why we think that indeed, they are miles ahead of FinViz in this regard.
3. Pricing: Which One’s Cheaper?
Whether you’re a beginner or intermediate trader, you definitely want to make the most of the money that’s available to you. You don’t want to lose it on some gizmos! And above all, you want to ensure that you’re always getting the best bang for your bucks.
Well, if you like free things, FinViz is the right place to be. Their free package provides you with delayed data and you have to contend with annoying ads.
If you’re after their premium package i.e. FinViz Elite, you’ll need to part with $39.50 per month. Unfortunately, they don’t have a free trial package for the “Elite” tier.
As for Trendspider, there’s nothing like a free-for-life package. They do provide you with a 7-day free trial package but unfortunately after that you have got to upgrade to one of their existing plans.
The cheapest one “Premium” will set you back some $18 per month. What’s more, it provides you with access to real-time data on stocks, ETFs and currencies. On the flipside, though, you won’t get access to their backtesting tool which is quite important especially for beginner traders.
To get the full package under TrendSpider you’ll have to part with a whopping $54 per month.
So, overall, none of them is cheaper than the other. It just depends on what you’re interested in.
4. Quality of Training & Resources
Each one of these has a collection of educational resources designed to help you grow into an expert user. However, it is worth noting that these resources are merely designed to help you become more proficient in using the platforms.
Neither FinViz nor Trenspider provides training on specific trading strategies!
But as far as the quality of videos and documentation provided is concerned, TrendSpider clearly has an upper hand. Their “University” has got all the tools needed to make learning easy and efficient.
FinViz, on the other hand, only focuses on the basics. But should you need any further training on how to use their “Elite” package all you need to do is contact them.
5. Brokerage Integration
Gone are the days when traders relied on brokers for everything. Nowadays, most people prefer to only use their broker’s platform for execution leaving the task of analysis to third-party tools.
Now, the challenge with that is that one can waste precious time switching from the third-part tools to the brokerage platforms to open/close trades. And that’s precisely why brokerage integration is so important.
Talking about brokerage integration, FinViz provides you with seamless connectivity to Alpha Bot. So, if you’re an Alpha Bot client you’ll get an edge as you can easily execute your trades, open charts, load indicators from one interface.
TrendSpider currently offers no broker integration. That said, they seem to be making efforts toward that.
Let’s just say that these two companies are lagging behind on this frontier. They need to reach out to the like of Interactive Brokers, E*Trade, TD Ameritrade etc if they’re to meet the needs of most of their potential users.
Who’s Got Better News Feed Features?
Right off the bat, TrendSpider has got a better News Feed tool. This is because it feeds directly from Benzinga.
If you’ve been in this game for long enough, chances are that you know how Benzinga have mastered the art of stock news delivery. They rely on exclusive news sources ranging from Benzinga Wire, Benzinga News, SEC Filings, to Investorshub Newswire and so forth.
Plus, you’re given a tool that you can use to customize the feed e.g., by choosing your preferred sources.
On its part, FinViz gathers news from the mainstream media platforms among them Reuters, Bloomberg, CNN, and Yahoo Finance among others. While these are great platforms, they are mainstream and tend to focus on general news.
Benzinga tends to give you access to exclusive news features, plus it breaks the news before the big companies can take it up. What’s more, with Benzinga, you can even gather news about small companies which aren’t considered newsworthy by the big media companies.
So, long story short, TrendSpider has got a better newsfeed than FinViz.
Charting Tools
TrendSpider’s charting tools are highly advanced and powerful. They are not only user-friendly but also come fully-equipped with powerful organizational tools. And what’s more, you get access to all kinds of technical analysis features you can imagine.
That’s not all, everything in the TrendSpider charts can be fully automated. Some automated tools worth taking note of include:
- Support & resistance detection
- Breakout detection
- Automated trendline detection
- Candlestick pattern recognition
- Automated Fibonacci
The FinViz charts are good enough for the basics, but if you really want to go pro, then we’d recommend going for Trendspider instead.
Even at a basic level, whatever Trendspider provides you with is highly visually appealing. Without a doubt, FinViz’s user interface looks dated to us.
Reputation – Who’s More Trustworthy?
FinViz has been around since 2007. Yup, that’s one and a half decade. It’s not easy to survive in such a competitive market unless you really know what you’re doing.
So, if reliability means everything to you, you have a trustworthy partner in FinViz.
TrendSpider has been around since 2018. They are not exactly new in this space – they’ve been around for 4 years and that’s long enough for them to prove that they are indeed worth their salt.
Final Verdict
There’s no doubt that TrendSpider and FinViz are both great platforms. You can bank on them to improve your trading skills and accuracy.
FinViz has been around longer, they have a solid reputation but they seem to have grown comfortable over time. They rarely update their features and provide limited options for those seeking customer support services.
The saying “new brooms sweep cleaner” rings true when you look at TrendSpider. They seem to have everything figured out. Fresh and intuitive charts, affordable pricing, awesome customer support and so forth.
That said, they still have room for improvement particularly with regard to brokerage integration.
If you’re looking for versatility and a smoother learning curve, TrendSpider would be a good bet. But if you’re conservative and looking for a feature-rich tool, FinViz would still be a great compromise.
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