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This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide financial advice.
Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced investor, choosing the right stock picking service is as important as choosing the right brokerage. This is even more relevant if you don’t want to invest hours researching stocks and would rather sit back and follow recommendations from the experts; choosing the right platform from the get-go will break or make your bank. Even for experienced investors, if the investing platform doesn’t keep up with daily changes or doesn’t have powerful enough, it will end up hurting you in the long run. Established platforms like The Motley Fool and Morningstar can be your solution.
The Motley Fool is an investing and financial advice company that offers dozens of premium investing services and products. It was founded in 1993 and uses a subscription-based model for all its services. All products grant access to a set of foundational stocks and a library of expertly picked stocks to keep an eye on. Additionally, each product comes with its category-specific recommendations, like real estate stocks, technology stocks, or long-term prospect stocks. The library grows every month, and subscribers also gain access to exclusive newsletters and Official ratings.
Founded in 1984, Morningstar is a US-based financial services provider with headquarters in Illinois. Unlike the Motley Fool, Morningstar is not limited to the US and is available in over 29 countries worldwide. Morningstar offers three categories: Individual, Professional, and Managed Investments. Morningstar is generally marketed toward experienced investors who can make the most of all the research tools and historical data. It offers information on an extensive range of stocks and can help choose winners from lesser-known stocks.
In this Motley Fool vs. Morningstar review, we compare the two platforms and their premium plans. We also consider their basic plans and recommend who it might be best suited for.
Keep in mind this is a summary of these two products; for a more thorough analysis, check out our Motley Fool vs. Morningstar full review.
Motley Fool & Morningstar Plans
Starting with the similarities; both platforms offer access to:
- Exclusive premium newsletters
- Stock screeners
- Research tools and historical information
- A proprietary Stock rating system
Motley Fool has dozens of premium products across three main categories: Stock Picking Services, Specialty Services, and Real Money Portfolio Services. Some of the most prominent products include Stock Advisor, Rule Breakers, and Everlasting Stocks.
Morningstar has three categories: Individual, Professional, and Managed Investment products. These are targeted towards beginner and experienced investors, respectively, but at their core are very similar. In this review, we will compare Morningstar’s and Motley Fool’s basic plans and Morningstar’s Individual investment products vs. Motley Fool’s biggest Stock Picking Service: Stock Advisor.
The Motley Fool Basic vs. Morningstar Basic Plan
Platform | Motley Fool Basic | Morningstar Basic |
Monthly subscription | Free | Free |
Articles | Yes | Yes |
Podcasts | Yes | Yes |
Financial data access | Limited | Limited |
Access to Stock Screeners | No | No |
Exclusive premium newsletters | No | Yes |
Access to official Ratings | No | No |
Build and manage a portfolio of stocks or ETFs | No | Yes |
Receive stock news & newsletters to your email | No | Yes |
The Motley Fool basic plan is extremely limited. You can access podcasts and some of the articles published on their site (keep in mind these are not official Motley Fool recommendations). It doesn’t offer newsletters or access to the official Stock Ratings.
The Morningstar basic plan includes access to detailed financial data and the option to create a portfolio of stocks and keep track of them – all in one place. It also grants access to its article database, and you can opt-in to receive newsletters about stocks sent directly to your email.
You should only consider these if you want to get a feel for the platform before purchasing a subscription – no serious investor should consider using either of these for the long term.
Our Pick
Both of these platforms are very limited compared to their premium counterparts. However, the clear winner is the Morningstar Basic plan. It comes with more research tools and content, on top regular publications, and weekly podcasts.
The Motley Fool: Stock Advisor vs. Morningstar Premium Plan
Platform | Motley Fool Stock Advisor | Morningstar Premium |
Subscription | $39/month (or $89/year for the first year) | $34.95/month (or $199/year) |
Trial period | 30 days | 7 days |
Premium Recommendations | Yes | Yes |
Access to Stock Screeners | Yes | Yes |
Exclusive premium newsletters | Yes | Yes |
Exclusive Recommendations | Yes | Yes |
Sync with your broker, build & manage your portfolio | No | Yes |
Stock rating system | Yes | Yes |
These two are much closer than their basic counterparts and are both excellent plans in their rights. Starting with the subscription fee, the Morningstar plan is marginally less expensive than Motley Fool’s plan, but that is only for the first year (after the first year, Motley Fool’s subscription goes up to $199/year). We go over all the fee details in the fees section, but suffice to say, they’re very similar. One advantage of the Motley Fool subscription is that it comes with a 30-day trial, compared to Morningstar’s 7-day trial.
Both platforms offer premium recommendations and access to stock screeners and a proprietary stock-rating system. Morningstar comes with the benefit that you can sync it with your brokerage to track stocks in real-time and receive insights from experts. Motley Fools has a very deep database of foundational stocks and has a history of beating the S&P 500 by a very wide margin.
In general, Morningstar has a higher reach; you can expect to find information about most stocks out there, including some of the more established ones like Apple (AAPL) and Tesla (TSLA) and lesser-known stocks. Motley Fool, on the other hand, focuses on a smaller group of select stocks that have a very high potential and a history of growth.
Keep in mind neither of these platforms is brokerage; you will still need a brokerage to purchase and trade stocks.
Our Pick
Based on the features offered, initial pricing, and focus, our recommendation is Motley Fools. They offer dozens of premium services tailored for every type of investor and offer more actionable information for beginner and experienced investors alike.
Sign-Up Process
Signing Up With The Motley Fool
Anybody can sign up for the Motley Fool. However, keep in mind access to premium services is available only to investors in the US, and it may not be allowed in other jurisdictions. For US investors, the process is very quick, and you will only need a valid email address to get started. Here are the steps:
- Visit TheMotley Fools page
- Click Our Services on the top left
- Select a service
If you use this link to sign up for any of their services, you will get the best discount available. Discounts for yearly subscriptions range from 40% to 60%+ off your first year.
Signing Up With Morningstar
To sign up with Morningstar, you just need some of your basic information (like name and last name) and an email address. Morningstar operates in 29 countries around the globe and has a presence on all continents. To sign up, follow the steps:
- Visit Morningstar’swebsite
- Choose between Individual, Professional, or Managed Investment Products
- Select an investment product and click on learn more
- Fill in some of your basic information and await the confirmation email
To activate the promotional discounts and the 7-day free trial, make sure to create your account using this link; benefits will be applied automatically.
Choosing Your Plan
If you’re still unsure which plan to pick, these are our recommendations.
- If you don’t want to spend any money and want to test basic features and get a feel for the platform, the one with the most complete (and completely free) basic plan is Morningstar
- If you’re looking to start investing seriously and want actionable information and access to the best research tools, you should pick any of Motley Fools Premium services like Stock Advisor or Rule Breakers
- If you’re an experienced investor mainly looking for self-directed tools and access to the broadest range of stocks worldwide, you should pick the Morningstar Premium plan
You can always upgrade your plan as you go, so we recommend checking the basic plans before committing to a platform. Make sure to utilize the trial periods of each to get a better feel for the platform.
If you still have questions about which one is best for you, we recommend checking our full Morningstar vs. Motley Fool review, where we go in-depth on how to pick an investing platform based on your investor type, your experience, and your risk tolerance.
The Motley Fool Fees vs. Morningstar Fees
Motley Fool: Stock Advisor Fees
- Monthly subscription: $39
- Yearly subscription: $199 (or $89 for the first year if you use our link)
New investors pay just $89 for the first year of subscription. You can also test out the platform before committing – there’s a 30-day money-back guaranteed free trial. Make sure to create your account using this link, and the discount and the free trial will be applied automatically.
Morningstar Fees
- Monthly subscription: $34.95 per month
- Yearly subscription: $249 (or $199 for the first year if you use our link)
Morningstar has a 7-day free trial, where you will gain access to all the features and tools. If you sign up for Morningstar, you will get a $50 discount on your yearly subscription; you can read more about that here. The code will be applied automatically, and you don’t need to enter any code.
Conclusion
The Motley Fool and Morningstar are excellent options as stock picking platforms. Motley Fool has the edge regarding the variety of services and actionable data. At the same time, Morningstar is better for its tracking, data-collecting, and advanced tools for experienced investors. The basic Morningstar plan is a great option, even if you sign up with Motley Fool, as some of its research features are available for free. Whichever you pick, you can be sure you will have more than enough information to make the right investment decisions.
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