In stock trading, fast and accurate information can give you an edge over market volatility. It can be the difference between profit and loss. Over the past few years, Benzinga Pro has become the best real-time financial market news feed for traders. However, supplying news feeds is only a part of being a top financial news source. Let’s see how Benzinga Pro fares in a comparison with two of the industry’s standard-bearers, Bloomberg Terminal, and MarketBeat All Access.
A Look at the Roster
Benzinga delivers real-time news to day traders and investors. Jason Raznik started Benzinga 21 years ago. Since then, it has evolved into a major news service with a league of reporters and a news center. Benzinga Pro is actually an upgrade of the Benzinga free news service. It supplies fresh market data to TD Ameritrade, TradeStation, Bloomberg, and MarketWatch. Benzinga’s estimated annual revenue is a little over $10 million. Be sure to check out our Benzinga Pro review for an in-depth look at the company’s premium service.
Established in 1981, Bloomberg is the king of financial news. It makes around $10 billion a year and has over 325,000 licensed terminals. Plus, it has about 33% market share of the financial data market. Most major banks and hedge funds depend on Bloomberg market news. The Bloomberg Terminal revolutionized the financial markets by providing transparency. Now, it must compete with the new entrants in this field.
When Matthew Paulson launched MarketBeat in 2011, the company focused on state-of-the-art stock research tools. However, his team soon discovered that the most powerful research tools were useless without complete, accurate, and fresh financial data. MarketBeat responded by beefing up its real-time financial news reporting and enhancing its research data sets. Today, MarketBeat All Access has over 8,300 subscribers and the company’s estimated annual revenue is around $3 million. For more details on this service, read our MarketBeat review.
Pricing
This is how Benzinga compares in price and value to Bloomberg and MarketBeat…
| Service | Benzinga Pro | Bloomberg Terminal | MarketBeat All Access |
| Price/Month | $147 | $2,000 | $39.97 |
| Real-time News | YES | YES | YES |
| Audio | YES | NO | NO |
| Chart Analysis | YES | YES | NO |
| Research Tools | YES | YES | YES |
| Chat | YES | NO | NO |
Bloomberg Terminal’s monthly subscription may seem outrageously high. However, the company’s core market consists of institutional traders, professional traders, and investment bankers. Institution traders are responsible for about 70% of the stock trading volume. This is one of the reasons Bloomberg Terminal is the top lion in this industry.
Benzinga pricing is attractive to individual and professional traders. It can provide a keen professional advantage without the exorbitant cost. It has penetrated the institutional market segment enough to put some downward price pressure on the Bloomberg Terminal.
MarketBeat’s super-low monthly fee makes it a strong contender for individual investors who want to up their trading game without paying a lot. It’s primarily fishing in a different pond than Benzinga Pro and Bloomberg Terminal.
Platform
The Benzinga Pro platform sets it apart from most of its competition because you can easily customize it, and run it on multiple windows on multiple monitors. On the dashboard, you’ll see your watchlist, vital news, and instant company details. It gives you quick access to the Squawk box, Stock Screener, Custom Alerts, and Chat. On the Benzinga Calendar, you can instantly pinpoint the upcoming macro-economic news. The Security SnapShots give you a quick and clear view of your stock’s profile. Plus, for such a powerful system, Benzinga Pro is very easy to use.
To use the Bloomberg Terminal, you must have a dedicated hardware and software system that optimizes data speed and connectivity. This is included in the $2,400 a month fee. The platform gives you peerless coverage of market conditions, current market news, and a wealth of research material. It has trading solutions across multiple asset classes. Plus, you have access to state of the art tools and charts. The only drawback is you can’t use it right out of the box. Before you can use it effectively, you must go through substantial training.
The MarketBeat All Access platform promises you the ability to find all the information you’ll need to make a sound stock decision. It offers great research tools, screeners, and real-time data. All Access grants you access to over 1 million analysts’ ratings and recommendations. However, MarketBeat’s platform lacks the news resources of Bloomberg Terminal and the versatility of Benzinga Pro.
Features
Real-Time Trading News
Benzinga Pro’s real-time trading news comes with the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) and company PR news feeds. Also, it supplies news from 21 categories including forex, analyst ratings, ETFs, and short-sellers. Another interesting feature of Benzinga Pro’s trading news is the squawk box. It reduces your screen watching time by delivering real-time oral feeds of the latest market events. Most reviewers agree that Benzinga’s news feeds are the best in the industry. Even Bloomberg uses them.
Bloomberg Terminal has 24,000 seasoned journalists around the world. These journalists avoid traditional sources in favor of exclusive and actionable coverage. The Terminal complements its award-winning coverage with powerful analytical tools and alerts on relevant events. On the dashboard, a suite of analytical tools is available to help you determine the impact of a news event. It also provides communication and trading management tools.
For a very small monthly fee, you get access to MarketBeat’s premier research platform. It features MarketBeat Daily Premium, portfolio monitoring tools, real-time news feeds, and email alerts. The All-Access platform provides a full collection of research tools, stock screeners, and real-time news feeds of stocks on your watch list. You can keep track of your companies’ ratings, earnings, and inside trades. However, most of the company’s emphasis is on nifty research and analytical tools.
Research Tools
In this category, there’s not much separation between the three market news platforms. They have the latest company calendars, with watchlists with email alerts, screeners, indicators, and charts. This kind of technology is standard these days. However, Bloomberg’s newest terminal version offers thousands of charting tools and built-in studies. Its collection of resources is amazing. Plus, the Bloomberg terminal gives you the ability to add-on custom studies or algorithms.
Benzinga Pro’s main advantage over the other two is its NewsDesk chat feature. It’s like having a staff of personal stock experts at your beck and call. It can certainly help your trade decision process. If you are a premium member, the feature directly connects you to a news desk professional. Regular members get to chat with a support agent who can give you insight on the activity of a particular stock or other investment. These analysts base their responses on industry sources, current news, and charts.
Performance
Benzinga Pro and MarketBeat are among the other financial media companies that are attempting to chip away at Bloomberg Terminal’s strong advantage in this industry. Though Benzinga Pro has the best market news feed, Bloomberg is the best financial news source. It has over 15,000 sources and proprietary analyst-driven research. For this reason, Bloomberg Terminal has the attention of over 300,000 of the most powerful decision-makers on the planet. Benzinga Pro and MarketBeat All Access have few proprietary features. So, they do not offer the complete package that Bloomberg Terminal does.
Pros and Cons
Benzinga Pro
Pros
Cons
- Delivers the fastest real-time news feeds
- Quick on reporting price changes
- Calendar with analysts rating
- Highly configured trade and option alerts
- Customers have access to a team of analysts
- Much cheaper than Bloomberg Terminal
Bloomberg Terminal
Pros
Cons
- It’s the most famous and widely used market news platform in the world
- Dominant brand presence
- Services many leading dealer brokers, prime brokers, wealth managers, and financial advisors
- Superb real-time market news
MarketBeat All Access
Pros
Cons
- Great portfolio performance tracking capabilities
- My MarketBeat can host unlimited stocks and watchlists
- Handy email alerts
- Useful watchlist functions including insider trades and price targets
- Newsletter reporting market and stock news
- The cheapest in the group
Final Thoughts
Benzinga Pro has distinguished itself as the best financial market news feed in the industry. Only time will tell whether it can gain the market penetration of Bloomberg Terminal. Brand status is very powerful, and Bloomberg Terminal has done all the necessary things to earn the trust of the most influential financial vanguards. Its powerful influence and global reach are proof of that.
At the same time, Benzinga Pro’s amazing platform and real-time news feed allow it to outpace competitors like MarketBeat All Access. So, for a relatively new entry in the financial news media sector, Benzinga Pro appears to be in a good position for growth.
