Oak Growth vs Alpha Spread
Alpha Spread covers more companies and costs less — I'll say that first, because it's true. But nobody researches 100,000 companies, and a portfolio only needs five to ten. Where Oak Growth pulls ahead is everything after the valuation: management quality, the entry point, and what just came out of the filings.
The short version
Alpha Spread is the closest thing to a direct competitor on this list, and I'll say plainly that on two measures it beats Oak Growth: it covers far more companies and it costs less. Where Oak Growth pulls ahead is everything that happens after the valuation — whether management is any good with capital, whether now is a reasonable moment to buy, and what just came out of the filings.
| Oak Growth | Alpha Spread | |
|---|---|---|
| Intrinsic value | DCF on every company | DCF on every company |
| Relative valuation | RV score vs sector peers | Yes |
| Companies covered | ~1,000, curated | 100,000+ |
| Buffett four pillars | Moat, management, economics, value | Moat screening, no management score |
| Entry timing | MA dots, RSI, MACD, Bollinger, Golden/Death Cross | None |
| Company news | Filtered RNS + SEC 8-K | None |
| 12-month forecast | Analyst target band on the chart | No |
| ETF and ETC rankings | Yes, with verified history | No |
| Markets | 8, one price | Global |
| Free tier | 7-day trial | 3 reports a week |
| Price | £18/month · £216/year | From $12/month; $20/month top tier |
Where Alpha Spread wins, plainly
100,000 companies against roughly 1,000. A free tier that gives you three stock reports a week indefinitely. And a lower price. If your priority is looking up a fair value on any listed company anywhere, it is the better tool and I'd say so to anyone.
Where Oak Growth pulls ahead
The four pillars, not just the number
Alpha Spread screens for wide-moat companies. It does not score management — whether capital has been allocated well, whether the dividend is covered, whether the balance sheet is conservative. Oak Growth answers all four Buffett questions in order, and cheap comes last for a reason.
Timing, on the same screen
Knowing a company is undervalued doesn't tell you whether the price is still falling. Cheap and still falling is a different decision from cheap and turning, and a valuation on its own can't distinguish them.
Oak Growth marks the entry point directly on the chart — two moving-average dots and RSI, readable in a second, so you can see whether the price is near support and above its trend or still heading down. The valuation and the timing question sit in the same place, on the same screen. Alpha Spread has no technical layer at all, so that second question has to be answered somewhere else.
Live filings, because news and valuation go together
A valuation is a snapshot of what a business was worth on the day the numbers were filed. Announcements are what change it — a profit warning, an acquisition, a director dealing, a contract win. Reading the two separately means acting on a number that a filing has already made out of date.
Oak Growth carries live SEC 8-K announcements filtered down to the ones likely to move a price, sitting beside the valuation for the same company. Alpha Spread has no news feed, so anything that changed since the last accounts is something you find out elsewhere, if you find out at all.
Curation is a feature, not a shortfall
Nobody could research 100,000 companies in a lifetime. Reading one annual report properly takes an evening; at that rate 100,000 companies is more than a thousand years of evenings. A number that large isn't a research universe, it's a database.
And you don't need one. The value tradition argues for concentration — a portfolio of five to ten businesses you can genuinely keep up with, where you know how each makes money and what would break it. Buffett's own position is that wide diversification is protection against ignorance. On that view the job of a screener isn't to list everything; it's to narrow a defensible universe down to the handful worth your attention. Oak Growth's universe is chosen — the FTSE 100 and 250, the S&P 500, and the major European, Japanese, Hong Kong and Australian names — so everything in it is already worth looking at. See how many stocks you should own.
ETFs and commodities alongside
A portfolio holding both individual companies and trackers sits on one screen. Alpha Spread is equities only.
Who each one suits
Alpha Spread if you want the widest possible coverage and the cheapest route to a fair value figure, and you'll supply the judgement about quality and timing yourself.
Oak Growth if you'd rather hold five to ten businesses you actually follow than browse a hundred thousand you never will — with the moat and management questions already answered, the entry point marked on the chart, live filings beside the valuation, and ETFs in the same place.
Valuation, quality and timing in one place
Oak Growth scores roughly 1,000 companies across eight markets on moat, management, economics and value, with a DCF intrinsic value, margin of safety ranking and entry signals on every chart.
Explore Oak GrowthCommon questions
Is Alpha Spread better than Oak Growth?
For breadth and price, yes — Alpha Spread covers over 100,000 companies from around $12 a month with automatic DCF and relative valuation. Oak Growth covers roughly 1,000 curated companies but adds management scoring, entry timing signals, live SEC 8-K filings and ETF rankings, which Alpha Spread does not have.
Does Alpha Spread have a free version?
Yes — its free tier allows around three stock reports a week plus a limited watchlist, which is more generous than most. Unlimited access to intrinsic values still requires a paid plan, as it does with every tool of this kind.
How much does Alpha Spread cost?
Its paid plans start at around $12 a month, with a higher unlimited tier around $20 a month on annual billing. Oak Growth is £18 a month, about £216 a year, with every market and feature included.
Does Alpha Spread show entry timing?
No. Alpha Spread produces intrinsic value estimates using discounted cash flow and relative valuation but has no technical indicators. Oak Growth shows two moving-average dots and RSI on every chart alongside the valuation.
Also see: Oak Growth vs Finbox → · Best stock screener UK → · How to calculate intrinsic value →