# FactSet Alternatives (2026): 6 Platforms Compared

> FactSet workstations are reported at $12k-$40k/user/yr. Compare it with Capital IQ, Multiples, LSEG and other alternatives on coverage, price, and features

- Canonical: https://multiples.vc/compare/factset-alternatives
- Facts last verified: 2026-08-17
- Method: https://multiples.vc/compare/methodology (estimates labelled *; corrections: hi@multiples.vc)

## What is FactSet?

FactSet is an investment research workstation for public markets, sold to investment banks, asset managers and research teams. It has the deepest consensus estimates availability of the major platforms (alongside Multiples that licenses data from FactSet), global fundamentals, ownership data and portfolio analytics. Pricing is quoted per package; reported figures run $12,000-$40,000 per user per year on annual contracts.

FactSet is accessible through the workstation and a strong Microsoft Office integration - models and pitch decks link to FactSet data directly. Programmatic delivery (Content APIs and feeds) is sold under separate enterprise agreements.

Its core customer base is sell-side research, asset managers and portfolio analytics teams, with banking teams using it for comps and pitch work.

FactSet was founded in 1978 and is publicly listed on the NYSE (ticker FDS). It also licenses its fundamentals and estimates to other platforms - including Multiples.

There are alternatives that (depending on the use case) can replace FactSet. Capital IQ, Bloomberg and LSEG Workspace are direct workstation swaps at similar reported prices. Multiples covers comps and valuation on FactSet-licensed data from $239/month. Koyfin covers monitoring from $39/month. PitchBook covers private-market deals, funds and contacts.

## FactSet alternatives

|  | FactSet | Multiples | Capital IQ Pro | Bloomberg | LSEG Workspace | Koyfin | PitchBook |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Best for | Enterprise clients, bulge bracket investment banks, mega funds | Small to mid-size M&A boutiques, VC/PE firms, corp dev teams and CFOs | Enterprise clients, trading firms, mega funds, bulge bracket IBs | Enterprise clients, bulge bracket investment banks, mega funds | Enterprise clients, bulge bracket investment banks, mega funds | Individual equity investors | Enterprise clients, bulge bracket investment banks, mega funds |
| Price per seat | $12k-$40k/yr* | $239-499/mo | $13k-$30k/yr* | $31,980/yr* | $12k-$24k/yr* | $0-$79/mo | $25k-$70k+/yr* |
| Contract | Annual | Monthly or annual | Annual | Annual | Annual | Monthly or annual | Annual |
| Free trial | Partial (Needs demo) | Yes (Self sign-up) | Partial (Needs demo) | Partial (Needs demo) | Partial (Needs demo) | Yes (Self sign-up) | Partial (Needs demo) |
| Public comps | Yes (With estimates) | Yes (With estimates) | Yes (With estimates) | Yes (With estimates) | Yes (Included) | Yes (With estimates) | Yes (With estimates) |
| M&A multiples | Partial (Add-on) | Yes (Included) | Partial (Add-on) | Yes (Included) | Yes (Included) | No | Yes (Included) |
| VC multiples | Partial (Add-on) | Yes (Included) | Partial (Add-on) | Yes (Included) | Yes (Included) | No | Yes (Included) |
| Fund & LP data | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| Contact data | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Real-time stock data | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Excel add-in | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| API | Yes (Enterprise pricing) | Yes (From $1,499/mo) | Yes (Enterprise pricing) | Yes (Enterprise pricing) | Yes (Enterprise pricing) | No | Yes (Enterprise pricing) |
| MCP server | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |

_* = reported figure, vendor does not officially publish pricing. Published prices and reported ranges are stated as they stand in August 2026._

## Also worth considering

- **Daloopa:** Daloopa is an AI-powered financial data platform that extracts, structures, and updates data for over 6,000 public comps. It automates the collection of financial metrics from SEC filings, investor presentations, earnings releases, and transcripts.
- **Morningstar Direct:** Morningstar Direct is a web-based investment analysis platform, mostly targeted at institutional researchers, asset managers, and wealth advisors. It features historical data on 350k+ managed investment offerings, including mutual funds, ETFs, equities, hedge funds, private markets (via PitchBook), and ESG metrics.

## FactSet pricing, features and coverage vs. alternatives

### Multiples

Multiples is a modern, specialized niche platform built for M&A firms, venture or private equity investors who need access to public and private valuation data. It features complete coverage of public comps, M&A and VC transactions.

Interestingly, Multiples uses raw financial data and consensus analyst estimates from FactSet (and Morningstar) as the foundation for its public comparables.

Multiples is designed to be accessible for smaller funds, boutique M&A shops, and independent operators. FactSet is more tailored to enterprise clients, with pricing running into tens of thousands of dollars per user annually (locked behind strict institutional contracts).

FactSet offers deep, heavy terminal experience. Multiples, while not so feature-heavy, operates a modern, streamlined UI tailored to eliminate friction and improve productivity for comps analysis.

Compared to FactSet, the price is $239/month against a reported $12,000-$40,000.

**Pricing:** Pro: $239/mo (billed annually) or $299 (monthly). Pro Max: $399/mo (billed annually) or $499 (monthly). API: from $1,499/mo. Free 3-day trial.

**Strengths:**
- Extensive valuation data across M&A and VC deals
- Public comps licensed from FactSet and Morningstar
- Affordable $239/mo entry price
- Excel add-in, API, MCP server

**Limitations:**
- No fund performance or LP data
- No investor contacts or BD tooling
- Private coverage is tied to deals - no profiles for companies that never transacted

**Best for:** Teams that use FactSet mainly for valuations and public/private comps.

### S&P Capital IQ Pro

Capital IQ is widely regarded as an investment banking staple data platform. It has deep fundamental financial data, transaction comps, and auditability that lets users click directly through to source SEC filings.

FactSet leans more toward the buy-side, being an elite portfolio management, risk analysis, and multi-asset analytics platform. It requires a desktop app installation, and its deep customization options carry a bit steeper learning curve.

FactSet licenses its data to other platforms too, like Multiples, that uses FS consensus estimates public comps data to power their own product.

Both Cap IQ and FactSet sit in a similar enterprise tier (typically $30-40k+ per license annually depending on the exact data bundles).

**Pricing:** Custom quote. Reported $13k-$30k per seat per yr. Add-ons needed for M&A and VC data.

**Strengths:**
- The benchmark Excel plug-in for model building
- Filings-linked fundamentals and transaction data
- S&P ecosystem: ratings, indices, research

**Limitations:**
- Quote-only pricing at FactSet levels
- Annual contracts, per-seat quotes
- M&A data priced as a separate module

**Best for:** Teams with heavy corporate finance and M&A financial modelling workflows.

### Bloomberg Terminal

Bloomberg runs roughly 325,000 terminals worldwide (widely reported). The terminal carries live prices on every asset class, news, and the IB chat network used across banks and trading desks.

A seat costs $31,980 per year, or $28,320 on multi-seat contracts (2026 figures), with a two-year minimum. Data License and B-PIPE feeds are priced separately.

Both Bloomberg Terminal and FactSet are leading financial software platforms, but they serve different user needs. Bloomberg = real-time market data, global news, fixed-income trading, and instant messaging. FactSet = heavy public comps data, portfolio analysis, risk modeling, and fully customizable module integrations.

**Pricing:** $31,980/seat/yr single seat. $28,320 multi-seat (as of 2026). 2-year minimum contract. Data License priced separately.

**Strengths:**
- Real-time prices and news across every asset class
- The chat network banks and desks run on
- Excel integration included with the seat

**Limitations:**
- Most expensive seat in the group: $31,980/yr
- Two-year minimum contract
- Research workflow weaker than FactSet

**Best for:** Trading desks, teams that need real-time data.

### LSEG Data & Analytics

LSEG Workspace replaced Refinitiv Eikon as LSEG’s desktop product. Its consensus estimates come from I/B/E/S, with history back to 1976. Workspace bundles Datastream for macro time series, StarMine analyst-ranking models, Reuters news and CodeBook for Python work inside the product.

Reported pricing runs $12,000-$24,000 per user per year, below most FactSet packages.

Both FactSet and LSEG Workspace are elite financial data platforms. FactSet is better in portfolio analysis, has multi-asset data, and is powerful for any investment banking and asset management workflows. Compared to FactSet, LSEG is stronger on news, FX and fixed income data.

**Pricing:** Custom quote. Reported $12k-$24k/seat/yr.

**Strengths:**
- Reuters news, FX and fixed income depth
- I/B/E/S consensus estimates
- Cheapest reported range of the big workstations

**Limitations:**
- Estimates depth below FactSet
- Quote-only pricing
- No private markets data

**Best for:** Macro and multi-asset teams, enterprise customers only.

### Koyfin

FactSet and Koyfin are both financial data platforms, but they serve very different users and price points. FactSet is an institutional-grade legacy workstation, built for large investment banks and enterprise asset managers. Koyfin is a modern, lightweight platform designed for individual analysts, hobby traders, and (very) small teams. It has no institutional depth, no private markets coverage, no Excel plugin.

Koyfin pricing is published: free tier, Plus $39/month, Premium $79/month, Advisor plans from $209/month.

Compared to FactSet, Koyfin costs a tiny fraction of FS price, but covers only basic stock data. It is not a true financial data workstation, has no M&A or VC data and no Excel integration.

**Pricing:** Free tier available. Plus $39/mo. Premium $79/mo. Advisor Core $209/mo, Advisor Pro $299/mo.

**Strengths:**
- Published pricing from $0
- Good charting and dashboards
- Easy to use

**Limitations:**
- No comps building or deal data
- Data not institutionally licensed
- No Excel plug-in

**Best for:** Individual investors, hobby traders, very small teams.

### PitchBook

PitchBook is a comprehensive private-markets database owned by Morningstar. While FactSet is built for public markets analysis, portfolio management, and deep financial modeling, PitchBook specializes in private data, VC/PE transactions, and startup tracking.

PitchBook licenses are quoted per team, reported at $25,000-$40,000 per year, or $70,000+ with API access. There is no monthly option.

PitchBook also publishes the quarterly PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor, the standard report on US venture activity.

Choosing between FactSet and PitchBook depends on whether your focus is public markets or PE/VC/deal data. For a modern alternative that combines both, consider Multiples - it has both high-quality public comps data, as well as extensive private transactions database.

**Pricing:** Custom quote. Reported $25k-$40k+/yr for a base license. $70k+ for API

**Strengths:**
- Deepest private-market deal and fund data
- Investor and M&A contacts
- Equity research included

**Limitations:**
- Public comps weaker than FactSet
- Reported $25k-$40k/yr, quote-only
- Annual contracts with seat minimums

**Best for:** Large enterprise clients looking for private markets deal data, investor contacts.

## Compare FactSet alternatives to your use case

| Platform | Best For | Public markets data depth | M&A data depth | VC data depth | Ease of use | Tools Integration |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| FactSet | Public markets depth, buy-side analytics | High | Medium | Low | Low | High |
| Multiples | Public comps and transaction data | High | High | High | High | High |
| S&P Capital IQ Pro | Financial modelling workflows | High | High | Medium | Low | High |
| Bloomberg Terminal | Real-time data, news and IB chat | High | Medium | Medium | Low | Medium |
| LSEG Data & Analytics | News, FX and fixed income | High | Low | Low | Low | Low |
| Koyfin | Charting and monitoring | Medium | Low | Low | High | Low |
| PitchBook | Extensive sourcing, contact data | Medium | High | High | Medium | High |

## Should you choose FactSet or look for an alternative?

**FactSet strengths:**
- Best consensus estimates across all of the major platforms
- Great for buy-side - portfolio analytics, quant tools and more
- Ownership data and global stock fundamentals
- Strong Excel/PowerPoint add-ins
- Legacy brand name, established enterprise support

**FactSet trade-offs:**
- Very expensive: $12,000-$40,000/yr, pricing per quote only
- No flexibility re contract term, annual only
- Many modules are sold as add-ons, which increases the total price
- Weak private markets and deal multiples data

## Why teams look for FactSet alternatives

- **Too extensive (and expensive) feature set:** FactSet is an enterprise, heavy workstation. It is also priced accordingly. It has tons of features for equity analytics, but teams using it mainly for pulling comps might find it not the best value for money.
- **Price increases on renewal:** FactSet packages are negotiated and reset at each renewal. Prices reportedly go up with every renewal for most teams.
- **Thin private markets data:** M&A and private-market coverage at FactSet is pretty weak without purchasing module add-ons. Teams that need transaction data usually buy a second product, like Multiples or PitchBook.
- **Overwhelming UI:** Using FactSet has a steep learning curve, UI tends to be overwhelming, and getting to data takes time. If you are a team that simply wants to pull comps data, it might be tiring after a while.

## FAQ

### How much does FactSet cost?

FactSet does not publish a price list. Reported figures run $12,000-$40,000 per user per year for a base workstation. Add-on modules are priced additionally.

### What is the cheapest FactSet alternative?

Depending on workflow: Koyfin ($0-$299/mo) for simple stock screening. Multiples ($239/mo) for public comps, including analyst estimates. Daloopa (free tier) for SEC filings data collection.

### FactSet vs Bloomberg: which one should you choose?

Both heavy workstations, but different use cases. Bloomberg is for real-time markets data, news and IB chat. It costs $32k per seat. FactSet is more research-focused: stock estimates, fundamentals, portfolio analytics. It costs reported $12k-$40k. Big banks and financial institutions often buy both: Bloomberg for markets desks, FactSet for advisory, research teams.

### Does Multiples use FactSet data?

Yes. Public company consensus estimates are licensed from FactSet. Multiples also sources company fundamental data from Morningstar.

### Is Capital IQ or FactSet better for comps?

They are quite similar, Capital IQ’s Excel plug-in is generally preferred for financial modelling. Reported pricing overlaps, they are both similarly priced.

### Which FactSet alternative works with AI assistants?

For native AI integration, choose Multiples. Its Pro Max subscription includes an MCP server, so you can use it in Claude, ChatGPT and other tools.

### Does FactSet offer a free trial?

Not a self-serve one, you need a sales demo before. Among the alternatives compared here, Multiples and Koyfin offer self-serve trials.

### Who owns FactSet?

FactSet is a publicly listed company, founded in 1978 and listed on the NYSE (ticker FDS) since 1996.

## The bottom line

Use FactSet if you truly need a heavy public markets workstation. It is best suited for teams who need the highest quality listed companies coverage, ownership data, portfolio analytics, and more buy-side features.

If you mostly need comps, the same FactSet-licensed data is available inside Multiples from $239/month, additionally with M&A and VC deal comps included.

## Keep comparing

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