Finviz Stock Screener Review 2025: Is It Worth Using?
Finviz.com has been a staple in the stock market analysis toolkit for years. But in the ever-evolving world of financial technology, does it still hold up in 2025? With newer, flashier platforms emerging, it's crucial to re-evaluate Finviz and determine if it remains a valuable resource for traders and investors of all levels. This review will dive deep into Finviz's features, pricing, pros, and cons to help you decide if it's worth incorporating into your strategy.
We'll explore everything from its powerful stock screener to its insightful charting tools and news aggregation, providing a comprehensive overview of what Finviz offers in 2025. Let's get started.
What is Finviz?
For those unfamiliar, Finviz (short for Financial Visualizations) is a web-based platform that provides a wide range of financial data and tools. Its core strength lies in its stock screener, which allows users to filter stocks based on various fundamental, technical, and descriptive criteria. Beyond screening, Finviz offers interactive charts, heatmaps, news feeds, and insider trading information, all designed to help users make informed investment decisions. The platform is known for its user-friendly interface and the vast amount of data it provides, making it accessible to both beginners and experienced traders.
Key Features of Finviz in 2025
Finviz boasts a comprehensive suite of features, but some stand out as particularly useful:
Stock Screener: This is the heart of Finviz. It allows you to filter stocks based on hundreds of criteria, including market capitalization, P/E ratio, dividend yield, analyst ratings, technical indicators (like RSI and MACD), and much more. You can create highly specific screens to identify stocks that meet your exact investment criteria.
Interactive Charts: Finviz offers interactive charts with various technical indicators and drawing tools. These charts are relatively basic compared to dedicated charting platforms, but they are sufficient for quick analysis and identifying potential entry and exit points.
News Aggregation: Finviz pulls news from various sources, providing a consolidated feed of relevant articles for each stock. This helps you stay informed about company-specific news and broader market trends.
Heatmaps: These visual representations of the market allow you to quickly identify sectors and industries that are performing well or poorly. They provide a bird's-eye view of market sentiment.
Insider Trading Data: Finviz tracks insider buying and selling activity, providing insights into what company executives and directors are doing with their own stock. This information can be a valuable indicator of company performance and future prospects.
Portfolio Tracking: You can create and track multiple portfolios within Finviz to monitor your investments and analyze their performance.
Futures and Forex Data: While primarily focused on stocks, Finviz also provides data and charts for futures and forex markets.
Finviz Pricing: Free vs. Elite
Finviz offers both a free and a paid ("Elite") version. Here's a breakdown:
Finviz Free: The free version provides access to a significant amount of data and tools, including the stock screener (with some limitations), basic charts, news feeds, and insider trading information. However, there are limitations on the number of filters you can use in the screener, and data is often delayed.
Finviz Elite: Finviz Elite is the paid subscription, offering real-time data, advanced charting tools, unlimited screener filters, backtesting capabilities, and access to exclusive data. As of 2025, the price is around $39.50 per month (billed annually) or $49.50 per month (billed monthly).
Is Finviz Elite Worth It? This depends on your trading style and needs. If you are a day trader or swing trader who relies on real-time data and advanced charting, Finviz Elite is likely worth the investment. The backtesting feature alone can justify the cost for those who want to validate their trading strategies. However, if you are a long-term investor who primarily uses fundamental analysis, the free version may suffice.
Pros and Cons of Using Finviz in 2025
Here's a balanced look at the advantages and disadvantages of using Finviz:
Pros:
- User-Friendly Interface: Finviz is known for its intuitive and easy-to-navigate interface, making it accessible to users of all skill levels.
- Comprehensive Data: The platform provides a vast amount of financial data, including fundamental, technical, and descriptive information.
- Powerful Stock Screener: The screener is highly customizable and allows you to filter stocks based on a wide range of criteria.
- Free Version Available: The free version provides access to a significant amount of data and tools, making it a valuable resource for those on a budget.
- News Aggregation: The consolidated news feed helps you stay informed about company-specific news and market trends.
- Heatmaps: Quickly visualize market performance across sectors and industries.
- Insider Trading Information: Gain insights into company performance based on insider activity.
Cons:
- Charting Tools Are Basic: Compared to dedicated charting platforms like TradingView, Finviz's charting tools are relatively limited.
- Free Version Data Delay: The free version has delayed data, which can be a disadvantage for day traders and swing traders.
- Limited Fundamental Data Depth: While Finviz provides key fundamental ratios, it doesn't offer the same depth of fundamental data as some dedicated fundamental analysis platforms.
- Advertisements on Free Version: The free version is ad-supported, which can be distracting for some users.
- Overwhelming for Beginners: The sheer amount of data and options can be overwhelming for beginners.
How to Use the Finviz Stock Screener Effectively
The Finviz stock screener is a powerful tool, but it's important to use it effectively to get the most out of it. Here's a step-by-step guide:
Define Your Criteria: Before you start screening, clearly define your investment criteria. What are you looking for in a stock? Consider factors like market capitalization, P/E ratio, dividend yield, growth rate, and technical indicators.
Navigate to the Screener: Go to the Finviz website and click on the "Screener" tab.
Choose Your Filters: Use the various filter options to narrow down your search. Finviz offers descriptive, fundamental, and technical filters.
- Descriptive: Filters based on industry, country, market cap, etc.
- Fundamental: Filters based on financial ratios like P/E, EPS, debt/equity, etc.
- Technical: Filters based on technical indicators like RSI, MACD, moving averages, etc.
Adjust Filter Values: Adjust the values for each filter to match your criteria. For example, you might set a minimum market capitalization of $1 billion and a maximum P/E ratio of 20.
Review the Results: Once you've set your filters, review the list of stocks that meet your criteria.
Analyze Individual Stocks: Click on each stock to view its profile page, which includes charts, news, and fundamental data.
Save Your Screens: Save your screens so you can easily run them again in the future.
Tip: Start with broad filters and then narrow down your search as needed. Don't try to use too many filters at once, as this can result in a very small or empty list of stocks.
Finviz Alternatives to Consider
While Finviz is a solid platform, several alternatives offer similar or enhanced features. Here are a few to consider in 2025:
- TradingView: Offers advanced charting tools, a social networking community, and a wide range of data feeds.
- Stock Rover: Focuses on fundamental analysis and portfolio management, with in-depth financial data and powerful screening tools.
- Zacks Investment Research: Provides analyst ratings, earnings estimates, and research reports.
- Yahoo Finance: A free platform with basic charting, news, and financial data. While free, the data quality and depth aren't as robust as Finviz.
Conclusion: Is Finviz Worth Using in 2025?
In 2025, Finviz remains a valuable tool for stock market analysis. Its user-friendly interface, comprehensive data, and powerful stock screener make it a solid choice for both beginners and experienced traders. Whether the free or Elite version is right for you depends on your individual needs and trading style. If you're looking for a cost-effective platform to screen stocks, track news, and analyze charts, Finviz is definitely worth considering. However, if you require advanced charting tools or in-depth fundamental data, you may want to explore some of the alternatives mentioned above. Ultimately, the best platform is the one that best suits your individual needs and helps you achieve your investment goals. Take advantage of the free version to test it out and see if it fits your workflow.