Zacks
US research service built around the Zacks Rank; genuine free tier, a large preset-screen library and a 125-field custom screener.
Zacks Investment Research, out of Chicago, has published the Zacks Rank continuously since 1988 — a 1-to-5 rating driven by earnings-estimate revisions, paired with A-to-F Style Scores for value, growth and momentum. The free membership is genuinely useful: rank and scores on every quote, a portfolio tracker with daily email alerts, and basic preset screens. Premium ($249 per year, 30-day trial) unlocks the full custom screener with 125 fields in 18 categories, more than 45 curated screens across 9 strategy categories plus 39 thematic screens, and research reports with price targets on over a thousand stocks. The limits are equally clear: screening covers US exchanges only (foreign stocks appear solely as ADRs), technical criteria stop at price action and volume, and the real power tools — custom formulas and backtesting — live in Research Wizard, a separately-sold Windows desktop product. Mobile apps exist for both platforms.
Features at a glance
| Feature | Zacks |
|---|---|
| Pricing | Freemium |
| Tracking & data | |
| Multi-asset | Yes |
| Screening | |
| Fundamental filters | Yes |
| Technical filters | Partial |
| Custom metrics & formulas. Build your own ratios or screening formulas from raw data fields. | Partial |
| Preset & guru screens. Ready-made screens curated by the vendor or modelled on well-known investors. | Yes |
| Composite stock scores. A per-stock composite rating (e.g. quality/value/momentum ranks) — not a portfolio health score. | Yes |
| Valuation models. Built-in intrinsic-value estimates computed in the product, such as DCF fair value (not just a quoted analyst price target). | Partial |
| Watchlists & alerts | Yes |
| Global market coverage. Screens international exchanges, not just US markets. | Not supported |
| Data export | Yes |
| Analysis & insights | |
| AI portfolio analysis | Not supported |
| AI asset & market analysis. AI commentary on individual holdings and market context, not just the whole portfolio. | Partial |
| Backtesting & scenarios. Test a portfolio against historical data or run scenario simulations. | Partial |
| Access & pricing | |
| Free tier | Yes |
| Open source | Not supported |
| Self-hostable | Not supported |
| Public API | Not supported |
| Platform & reach | |
| Mobile app | Yes |
| Multi-language | Not supported |
Best for
US-focused investors who want an opinionated, estimate-driven rating system with a usable free tier — not a technical scanning workstation.
Strengths
- Zacks Rank has run continuously since 1988 on a documented estimate-revision method — and covers mutual funds and ETFs too
- Deep genuinely free tier: rank and Style Scores, portfolio tracker with daily email alerts, basic screens
- Large curated library: 45+ premium screens in 9 strategy categories plus 39 thematic screens
- Unmatched earnings-estimate depth: revisions, surprises and the Earnings ESP filter
Trade-offs
- Screens US exchanges only — no foreign exchange is searchable, international exposure is ADRs
- Technical criteria are minimal: price action and volume, no RSI or moving averages
- Custom formulas and backtesting require Research Wizard, sold separately on top of Premium — and renewal prices of the higher bundles are not public
Zacks vs PortfolioGlance
Zacks tells you what its model thinks of a stock before you buy; PortfolioGlance keeps the ledger of what you own after. PortfolioGlance deliberately has no ratings, no buy lists and no screener — if you want an estimate-revision-driven shortlist of US stocks, Zacks answers a question we have chosen not to ask. Its Portfolio Tracker, in turn, is a watchlist with alerts rather than an investor ledger: no multi-currency cost basis, no dividend income accounting, no allocation health or goal planning, and nothing beyond US-listed tickers. A workable pairing is Zacks for the shortlist and a tracker like PortfolioGlance for everything after the trade — especially for European portfolios, which Zacks cannot even screen.
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This overview is editorial and for information only — not financial advice or an endorsement. Features and pricing may have changed since publication; check the official site for the latest details.