Seeking Alpha is pricing me out

Seeking Alpha has been my go-to for stock market news and analysis, as well as serious discussions with fellow investors in the comments. However, in the past few weeks, they’ve ramped up their push for Premium subscriptions by making almost all their content exclusive to paying members. I’m not willing to spend $300 a year just to access content that’s often created by investors like me.

This subreddit is helpful, but the discussions here feel more beginner-level, and we lack the in-depth Contributor articles or news updates that SA offers.

Can anyone recommend another serious investment site with quality discussions and Contributor-like content similar to Seeking Alpha?

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It is tough. I began using them around 10 years ago, back when a subscription wasn’t even necessary. Now, it’s both expensive and significantly worse. I used to feel like I was getting reliable information from Seeking Alpha, but now it seems just as random as Motley Fool, with people sharing unfiltered opinions.

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I never paid for it, but at one point, they offered me a free subscription in exchange for posting frequently. That says a lot about how they operate, they must have been struggling to get enough quality comments because of the paywalls.

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Yeah, when a controversial topic arises like politics or Elon Musk, the comments feel like a battle between r/Politics and r/conservative. Plus, now there is the added pressure to subscribe.

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The majority of subscription websites have absurdly high prices. Who is really paying these absurd rates?

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Simply wait it out. They will acknowledge that they made a mistake.

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Look for an “unpaywall” extension or a paywall bypass tool. Reddit has some threads where I found mine, but I can’t recall the exact ones. Honestly, never pay for this stuff.

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The analysis they offer is not anything remarkable. There are plenty of other sites that compile news for you to read. I would recommend saving your money. Additionally, there are cheaper options available that provide better research.

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If it helps, trading actively instead of passively is costing you much more than $300 per year.

It is their job to keep you off balance and paying their fees by making you feel as though you need them. How much money you lose while doing it is irrelevant to them.

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You are probably correct that the majority of active traders don’t have much success, which does not exactly make me feel better. So I should just forget about SA and put all of my investments in SPY?

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For most people, this is probably a better option than trading. If you are reading Seeking Alpha, you’re probably not a professional trader.

I have rarely made money on a sale that would not have turned out better if I had just held onto the investment. If I had kept everything I ever bought, I would be on track to retire now. Instead, I’ll be working for another decade.