Verithiathe honest score on any app
Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
Head-to-head

Seeking Alpha vs CNBC

Seeking Alpha 4.8★ · Free + IAP 75
Winner Seeking Alpha
CNBC 4.7★ · Free to download 65

Seeking Alpha is better for in-depth investment analysis and stock picking tools, while CNBC excels at delivering timely financial news and live market coverage.

Full reviews: Seeking Alpha · CNBC

Seeking Alpha offers robust investment analysis, quant ratings, and diverse perspectives, though users report app performance issues and concerns about content moderation. CNBC provides timely financial news, live streaming, and portfolio tracking, but struggles with app stability, excessive ads, and perceived political bias.

Head to head

Features & Content edge: Seeking AlphaR2R3R5R10
Seeking Alpha Seeking Alpha is highly valued for its in-depth stock analysis, quant ratings, and diverse perspectives from independent research analysts, which many users find essential for investment decisions and identifying strong potential stocks R2R3R5R11. However, some users note a lack of coverage for non-US stocks, particularly in the UK , and a decline in the value of free portfolio tracking R10.
CNBC CNBC is praised for its timely financial news, live market coverage, and the ability to track portfolios . Users appreciate features like Picture-in-Picture for multitasking . However, several users report missing key data like 52-week highs and lows , and some find the content biased R67R81R84R112.
Ease of Use & Reliability tieR1R6R9R13
Seeking Alpha Seeking Alpha users frequently report significant app performance issues, including freezing, lag, slow updates, and articles not loading R1R9R13. Recent updates are often cited as the cause of these problems R6R13. Some also mention battery drain and notification issues .
CNBC CNBC users experience frequent issues with live streaming, including videos freezing, not loading, or stopping after commercials R66R73R76. Login problems, especially with cable providers and on Apple TV, are also common . Some users report general app instability, data display errors, and content not updating .
Price & Value edge: Seeking AlphaR5R10R11R20
Seeking Alpha Seeking Alpha's premium services are considered pricey by some R5R34, with one user noting a $300/year subscription was not justifiable for limited valuable content R10. Free users are frustrated by constant subscription prompts and the removal of previously free features like portfolio tracking R10. However, many paying users find the service well worth the cost for the value it provides in investment insights R5R11R20.
CNBC CNBC is a free-to-download app, but users complain about an overload of ads and high subscription prices for premium content . Some paying users feel the subscription doesn't offer enough value, with issues like video freezing even for subscribers and limited access to content .
Support & Community tieR4R7R12R16
Seeking Alpha Seeking Alpha's customer support is criticized for being arrogant and dismissive of feedback R12. Users also report issues with content moderation, with claims of censorship against certain political viewpoints and a prevalence of biased comments R4R7R16.
CNBC CNBC users report poor and unresponsive support, with issues like login problems and app malfunctions going unresolved . There are also complaints about political bias in articles and commentary, which some find tiresome and irrelevant to market news R67R81R84R112.
Pick Seeking Alpha if

You are a serious investor looking for in-depth stock analysis, quant ratings, and diverse expert opinions to inform your investment decisions R5R11R20. You are willing to pay for premium content and can overlook occasional app performance issues for valuable insights R5R20.

Pick CNBC if

You primarily need timely financial news, live market coverage, and basic portfolio tracking . You are comfortable with a free app that includes ads or are willing to subscribe despite reports of app instability and content bias R76R112.

Evidence note: Both apps have a significant number of negative recent reviews, primarily focusing on app performance issues and perceived content biases. Seeking Alpha's negative reviews often come from premium subscribers frustrated with technical glitches, while CNBC's come from both free and paid users struggling with live streaming and ad overload.

Frequently asked

How much does Seeking Alpha cost?
Seeking Alpha offers a free tier, but many valuable features require a premium subscription, which some users find pricey, with one mentioning a $300/year cost R10R34.
Does CNBC have a live stream?
Yes, CNBC offers live streaming of its programming, but many users report frequent issues with it freezing, not loading, or having audio problems, even for paying subscribers R66R73R76R78.
Are there issues with app performance for Seeking Alpha?
Yes, many Seeking Alpha users report significant app performance issues, including lag, freezing, slow updates, articles not loading, and battery drain, especially after recent updates R1R9R13R18.
Do users complain about political bias in CNBC's content?
Yes, several CNBC users express frustration with what they perceive as political bias in articles and commentary, stating it detracts from the financial news they expect R67R81R84R112.

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 120 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

  1. [R2] Seeking Alpha 5/5 · US One Stop Shop: Great resource for various perspectives on a variety of timely topics backed with thoughtful analysis.
  2. [R3] Seeking Alpha 3/5 · US Good stuff!: Seeking Alpha provides good, thoughtful analysis!
  3. [R5] Seeking Alpha 5/5 · US An Essential App if you own or plan to buy Stocks: Best of Breed by a Mile. Premium services are pricey but Wirth eve
  4. [R10] Seeking Alpha 1/5 · US No more portfolio tracking: The great portfolio tracking feature will no longer update without a subscription. It was the one thing that kept me coming back to SA. Was a subscriber for years until many of the articles became nothing but clickbait with little to no substantial value. Leo Nelisson was excellent but I couldn’t justify a $300/yr subscription for only one contributor that was of any va
  5. [R1] Seeking Alpha 1/5 · US Atrocious - App keeps “sticking”: I’m a new premium subscriber. I’m trying to enter in details of my portfolio. It sits there stuck with each keystroke and the lag is ridiculous. Trying to get the Menu to respond is like go away and come back after a few mins. Whoever is in charge of this app should be taken to the back and dealt with.
  6. [R6] Seeking Alpha 3/5 · US Great tool with good content,but…..: The product is great and I see it as invaluable, so nothing negative on that front. However, that’s not the purpose of this review. First off I absolutely hate the app update they did at the beginning of 2025. I almost cancelled my subscription just because of that but I realized I like the tools and content enough to deal with it. But most importantly is I not
  7. [R9] Seeking Alpha 3/5 · US Lots of latency: I wish I could rely on this app more, but during trading hours, there is a lot of latency with the updates to prices…and the app becomes unbearably slow when trying to update your stocks! Needs improvement!
  8. [R13] Seeking Alpha 1/5 · US Terrible update: Very little works now. Will not stay on the Portfolios tab, which is my preferred starting page. The customization page does not work and requires closing the app to exit.
  9. [R11] Seeking Alpha 5/5 · US Great Resource!: I have been very impressed with seeking alpha quant ratings. It gives me clear indicators on stocks with strong potential. Well worth it!
  10. [R20] Seeking Alpha 5/5 · US Excellent App for Serious Investors: I absolutely love the Seeking Alpha app! It’s incredibly informative and has become my go-to platform for in-depth stock analysis and market insights. The content quality is outstanding, articles, transcripts, and expert opinions are well-written and provide real value. What I appreciate most is how spending time reading on the platform has directly helped me m
  11. [R4] Seeking Alpha 1/5 · US Censorship: This site is loaded with extreme right wing types who are free to comment without being censored. Liberal points of view are highly censored. The home of racists, Christian Nationalists and other unsavory groups.
  12. [R7] Seeking Alpha 1/5 · US Racist and discriminatory company: Racist and discriminatory company that mistreats people of color. Wouldn’t recommend supporting their products. Mobile app is a shell of its site. Lotta spammy content.
  13. [R12] Seeking Alpha 3/5 · US Useful Content but serious user interface issues: I am a fan of this platform and find the content, data and community comments to be extremely valuable to discerning readers. Big negative is their customer support. They are arrogant and dismissive of valid feedback.
  14. [R16] Seeking Alpha 2/5 · US Moderators censor conservatives: SA used to be a good site. But after Trump became POTUS most comment sections turned into deranged Liberal ranting. They can say literally anything, but conservative comments get censored and the Commenter gets put into “review” so every post has to be approved by the censors. This only happens for Conservative posters, the other side posts literally anything with
  15. [R34] Seeking Alpha 1/5 · US Rip: $300 for an annual subscription is a major ripoff.
  16. [R66] CNBC 3/5 · US Live stream on iPad stopped working: I’m so frustrated I cannot stream cnbc on my iPad. I constantly remove and reinstall but doesn’t help. Worked fine before the split.
  17. [R73] CNBC 1/5 · US Videos Freeze: I don’t understand for the life of me how this is a five star rated app. This app is absolutely horrible and has gotten worse since Versant bought out the company. The videos freeze about 20% into it. The charts are incredibly amateur and lag the videos take so long to come out after they’ve been played. Do better this is garbage.
  18. [R76] CNBC 1/5 · US Livestream never loads: I hardly ever leave reviews and almost never leave negative reviews but this app has been so frustrating. I have to refresh it 30+ times to get the livestream to even load and sometimes it just never does and I can't watch that morning. Then sometimes I have to go through the same process after stops working after a commercial break. No one has time for that. I know it's sp
  19. [R78] CNBC 3/5 · US Audio Issues: When watching livestream, I can hardly hear it. Since last update, even after raising volume on phone to max or via bluetooth speaker, the audio is very low. Hopefully it gets fixed.
  20. [R18] Seeking Alpha 3/5 · US Now articles won’t load: This used to be a solid app. Now it’s plagued by bugs that support cannot replicate or repair. Currently, articles will not load from notifications. All typical repairs did not alter this outcome.
  21. [R67] CNBC 2/5 · US Articles are biased at best, propaganda at worst.: I look at the quotes, whoever writes the articles are left wing activists that are too biased. I don’t watch CNBC anymore because of the bias and lies.
  22. [R81] CNBC 3/5 · US News ? Halfway news? Part schmoooze?: CNBC has today’s trumpp live BS trumpcast on live for extended viewing. Waste of time without subtitles or a counter blast of this idiots mindless 4th grade emotional outburst ( a 4th grader from a horriblly dysfunctional family) CNBC does not accurately broadcast the news about the horror show of the GOP, the WH occupant, the cabinet members of presidenti
  23. [R84] CNBC 3/5 · US Political bias: Steve Less-man’s Political bias is Disgusting! And a real dis-service to your viewers. Still wrong on tariffs, still wrong on inflation,still wrong on everything due to TDS. Andrew is a child with child views of the world. Sara and Joe are both thoughtful and reasonable and clearly the adults in the room.
  24. [R112] CNBC 1/5 · US I came here for stock tickers, not constant political slant: I downloaded the CNBC app to track my portfolio, monitor market trends, and get breaking financial news. Instead, my notification feed has turned into a constant stream of political commentary, specifically a relentless barrage of anti-Trump articles. If I wanted 24/7 political bias and opinion pieces dressing up as hard news, I would ha

Synthesized from 120 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store