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AlphaSense vs CB Insights
AlphaSense is the industry leader in market intelligence and qualitative research for corporations and financial services. For over 10 years, AlphaSense has been at the forefront of comprehensive research solutions, leveraging the power of AI and NLP to provide analysts and researchers with quality insights into companies, industries, and markets.
Here’s how AlphaSense compares with the market intelligence platform, CB Insights.
Trusted by the world's leading corporations
80%
of the top consultancies
80%
of the top asset management firms
20
largest pharmaceutical companies
85%
of the S&P 100
Overview
AlphaSense
AlphaSense is a leading all-in-one market intelligence and AI search platform built for robust financial and market research. This tool is designed for research and business professionals looking to implement a qualitative research strategy powered by automated features and proprietary AI technology.
Consistently ranked as an industry leader by TrustRadius and G2, AlphaSense was also recognized by Forbes as a top 50 AI company in 2023.
Here’s how AlphaSense helps you extract insights and access both high-value internal and external content with the power of artificial intelligence—all in a single platform.
Extensive Out-of-the-Box Content Library
AlphaSense comes equipped with an extensive collection of external market intelligence and research that comprises over 10,000+ private, public, premium, and proprietary data sources. This content is organized by the four key perspectives of research—company, journalist, analyst, and expert. Our platform is purpose-built to speed up your team’s access to information on all the relevant topics and companies driving your market.
Our external content sources include earnings transcripts, news wires, trade journals, and SEC and global filings. Besides that, AlphaSense also gives users access to two proprietary and premium content offerings. These are:
- Expert Insights – 40,000+ expert transcripts featuring one-on-one calls with competitors, customers, professionals, industry experts, and former and current executives. You can also request bespoke 1:1 expert calls for less.
- Wall Street Insights® – A collection of broker research from Wall Street’s leading firms, covering global sector themes, industries, and companies from 1,000+ sell-side and independent firms, available within the AlphaSense platform. Research professionals can even preview the contents of a broker report, saving them wasted time and money on potentially fruitless research.
In addition to these sources, AlphaSense enables you to upload, index, and search through your own content. That includes:
- Internal research, notes, and presentations
- Reports from industry and market intelligence providers
- Newsletters, web pages, and RSS feeds
- Meeting and conference notes
AI Search & Summarization Technology
AlphaSense comes with the following industry-leading AI capabilities:
Smart Synonyms™
Smart Synonyms™ is a proprietary AlphaSense feature that uses AI technology to recognize both the keyword and search intent behind any query.
AlphaSense uses advanced algorithms to eliminate noise from your search (i.e., content with matching keywords but ultimately irrelevant to your search objective) and leverages variations in language to pinpoint the exact information you need.
Sentiment Analysis
Sentiment analysis, a natural language processing (NLP)-based feature, parses through content and identifies nuances in the tone and subjective meaning of text. It then uses color coding to help readers identify the document’s positive, negative, and neutral sentiments.
This technology assigns each search term a numerical sentiment change score to help users track any slight change in market sentiments across time. Users can take advantage of it to make better-informed investment decisions and improve their risk management strategies.
Generative AI
Unlike other consumer-grade generative AI (genAI) tools trained on publicly available data, AlphaSense takes an entirely different approach. Our industry-leading suite of generative AI tools is purpose-built to deliver business-grade insights and leans on 10+ years of AI tech development. Our proprietary AlphaSense Large Language Model (ASLLM)—trained specifically on business and financial data—matches or beats the leading third-party LLMs over 90% of the time.
Our suite of tools currently includes:
- Smart Summaries – this feature allows you to glean instant earnings insights—reducing time spent on research during earnings season, quickly capture company outlook, and generate an expert-approved SWOT analysis straight from former competitors, partners, and employees.
- Enterprise Intelligence – a first-of-its-kind offering that delivers AlphaSense’s AI-powered search and summarization capabilities to customers’ internal organizational knowledge.
- AlphaSense Assistant (in beta) – a generative AI chat experience that transforms how users can extract insights from hundreds of millions of premium content sources.
Integration Capabilities
Even the best companies fall victim to silos. But forward-thinking organizations know to avoid this pitfall by leveraging the advanced collaborative tools found in modern market intelligence platforms.
Seamlessly Integrate with Other Tools
AlphaSense works with the apps and tools you already use to help you be more productive with less effort. Connect with integrations to Box, Sharepoint, OneNote, or leverage our API suite to securely upload your proprietary content.
APIs
API capabilities provided by your market intelligence platform allow you to build your own tools to get maximum ROI from the content sources you can now access. For example, AlphaSense offers the following APIs for users to leverage our proprietary technology and content across other parts of their strategies:
- Alert Feed API: Real-time data feed based on saved searches & alerts.
- Search API: Solution that provides real-time, programmatic access to AlphaSense search infrastructure to query and filter the database of documents from a third party domain.
- Ingestion API: Integration, processing, and enrichment capabilities for internal or custom content sets.
- AI API: Enrichment capabilities that enable company recognition, sentiment, themes and KPI services for internal content.
Monitoring, Analysis, and Collaboration Tools
AlphaSense is designed to help users find insights faster. But finding insights is half the battle. We also understand that the real power in crucial insights is the ability to share them with teams and C-Suite leadership. In order to do that, we offer a number of tools that extend beyond search and summarization to help users accelerate research tasks.
- Customizable Dashboards create a centralized information hub for monitoring key companies and themes, while tailored real-time alerts provide real-time updates.
- Smart Alerts monitor the most important themes, companies and market updates with weekly, daily, or real-time alerts.
- Notebook+ and commenting features increase collaboration and help teams manage and share insights more effectively. Notebook+ also includes templates that streamline the process of creating deliverables.
- Table Tools allow you to streamline your quantitative analysis by enabling you to export modeled time-series data on company financials.
- Image Search allows you to discover insights buried in charts to quickly capture data without reading through pages of documents.
- Snippet Explorer allows you to effortlessly look at any topic or theme and all its historical mentions in a single view.
- Our Black-lining feature allows you to automatically identify any QoQ changes in SEC filings
- Automated Monitoring allows you to set up real-time alerts that send instant updates on any relevant market movements, news, emerging trends, and competitor activities. We also generate snapshots of companies and topics regularly that keep you ahead of the curve with actionable insights.
AlphaSense Pros
- Extensive content database that spans the four key perspectives, including broker research, expert calls, company documents, news & regulatory sites.
- Incorporates AI search technology, machine learning, and sentiment analysis
- Generative AI features, like Smart Summaries, for earnings and image search
- Automated and customizable alerts
- All-in-one research platform
- User-friendly interface
- Internal messaging and collaboration features
- Support for APIs and integrations
- Supports enterprise-level organizations and teams
- Enterprise-grade data production complying with global security standards
- Excellent customer support team, including 24/7 chat with product specialists, a live Help button on the website, and regular live AlphaSense Education webinars
AlphaSense Cons
- Visualization tools are limited at this time
- Collaboration tools are limited to users with AlphaSense licenses
CB Insights
CB Insights offers market and technology insights and intelligence on venture capital firms, private companies, and angel investments to its clients. Its massive information database gives users the ability to track industries, investors, and private companies based on their use of technology.
The CB Insights platform focuses on tech market intelligence in particular. Users get a chance to preview emerging technologies, track and anticipate competitor strategy, support digital innovation and transformation, and connect with multiple tech stakeholders. CB Insights uses data analysis and machine learning to provide users with information on emerging industries, market trends, and investment opportunities, particularly in the technology space.
Through its platform, you can find:
- Emerging and trending tech companies
- A mosaic score that predicts the success or failure of a company
- In-depth data and analytics on a company
Although CB insights provides deep, comprehensive access to information in the tech space and competitive intelligence, it lacks content sets that can give you a more holistic market outlook, such as broker research, global and SEC filings, and expert calls. Additionally, though it utilizes machine learning to track trends and topics, it has no generative AI or smart search capabilities, which limits the scope and speed of research.
CB Insights Pros
- Great platform for finding new opportunities in the tech space
- Provides information for hard-to-access private companies
- Has access to in-depth data and research analytics
- Supports APIs and integrations with other apps
- Uses machine learning and analyst briefings to collect data on companies
CB Insights Cons
- Focuses primarily on private tech companies with no focus on public companies unless concerning their interactions with startups
- No access to global/SEC filings, ESG reports, newspapers, trade journals, expert calls, or broker research
- No generative AI capabilities
- No image search
- No smart synonym search functionality
- Pricing locks users to a team of five members with no flexibility for smaller teams
- Ideal only for niche tech-related use cases
- Not suitable for small-scale firms
AlphaSense clients include respected leaders in every sector:
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do companies choose AlphaSense for market intelligence? 
Compared to CB Insights, AlphaSense has a much more diverse and comprehensive universe of content, organized around the four key perspectives of research:
- Company – Published reports from public and private and public companies, including SEC and company filings, financial reports, expert call transcripts, presentations, and ESG reports
- Analyst – Equity research and market data from top Wall Street firms, covering global and regional markets, themes, and industries.
- Expert – Interviews by top buy-side analysts and vetted industry experts with direct industry access and experience, including customers, former and current business partners, and past executives.
- Journalist – Content published in major news cables, trade journals, and top government publications
AlphaSense also allows you to upload, index, and search through your own internal content on the platform, using smart search and generative AI capabilities.
Meanwhile, CB Insights lacks broker research or expert calls, and does not provide access to many company documents. While it provides users with access to up-to-date research and publications, the insights are mostly limited to the tech industry, and the platform does not allow you to upload and search through internal content from your company.
Additionally, AlphaSense incorporates advanced AI search technology, sentiment analysis, and generative AI in its platform, enabling deeper, more accurate analysis in a fraction of the time. CB Insights does not offer any smart synonym, sentiment analysis, or generative AI capabilities, which could limit the quality, pace, and comprehensiveness of your research.
How do corporate development and/or competitive strategy teams use AlphaSense?
Wall Street research, once considered exclusive to the financial services industry, is now used by corporations to plan and execute smart market intelligence strategies that give them an edge over competitors.
Corporations can maximize revenue potential through:
- Strategic Planning – Identify growth opportunities with insight from top analysts.
- Competitive Intelligence – Maintain a clear understanding of the competitive landscape and monitor specific competitor performance as needed.
- Trend Tracking – Stay ahead of emerging trends to capitalize on revenue opportunities.
- Market Monitoring – Confidently navigate market shifts by being the first to know of important news and updates.
How do IR teams use AlphaSense?
IR teams use AlphaSense to keep pace with industry demands, all while delivering exceptional reports to stakeholders and executives.
With tools like sentiment analysis, Snippet Explorer (instantly showing the quarter-over-quarter history of keywords and KPIs), and Topic Modules (summarizing key trends from earnings at the company and industry level), earnings analysis becomes faster, more accurate, and more streamlined than ever before.
AlphaSense helps IR teams to:
- Maintain Continuity – Easily access and scan previous earnings call transcripts and other company documents to maintain consistent narratives quarter over quarter.
- Monitor Sentiment Shifts – Recognize significant sentiment changes when they occur and frame them in the most effective way to stakeholders.
- Track Trends – Monitor market trends and understand how they impact your business.
- Prepare for Presentations and Earnings Calls – Never miss an important insight and be prepared for every potential stakeholder question.
“The time saved by using AlphaSense is enormous. It easily saves us several hours a week. Requested information can be prepared in a timely, precise and efficient manner. For our daily work, this is essential.”
— Michael Otto, Director of Investor Relations and Sustainability
How do financial services firms use AlphaSense?
Financial services firms can use AlphaSense to make accurate and timely investment decisions with confidence.
Access to exclusive content sources (like broker research and expert call transcripts) can give institutional investors deep insights into competitors and market trends, keeping them ahead of the pack when it comes to smart investment strategies.
Our clients range from asset management companies and hedge funds to venture capital firms and private equity. For these clients, more information is better, and they rely on AlphaSense’s extensive content universe to stay ahead.
High-value investment research applications include:
- Asset Management – Pinpoint critical company metrics by analyzing earnings reports.
- Alpha Generation – Find and capitalize on opportunities faster with AI.
- Equity Research – Accelerate due diligence with Smart Search and trend analysis.
- Venture Capital Auditing – Aggregate financial metrics across public and private competitors to validate target companies.
- Sell-side Research – Accelerate earnings and company analysis by recognizing sentiment shifts and important market events earlier.
How do consultants use AlphaSense?
Consultants use AlphaSense to access the insights they need to deliver smart strategic services and win more business. Using the AlphaSense platform, consultants across industries can:
- Achieve stronger proposal alignment – Get smart on a company’s strategy and performance faster with access to broker research, expert call transcripts, earnings transcripts, and more.
- Deliver higher-quality market research – Easily analyze 10 years worth of earnings transcripts and get the full picture faster with advanced AI capabilities.
- Build deeper client relationships – Act as a confident thought leader with insights easily surfaced for you.
- Discover the next great M&A opportunity – Get smart on companies and the market landscape quickly, so you can deliver the very best recommendations to your clients.
How much does CB Insights cost?
According to third-party sources, CB Insights’s base plans start at about $60,000 a year, with licenses available only for five users at a time and no option to pay by seat.
How much does AlphaSense cost?
An AlphaSense user can access smarter features, a better user experience, and an extensive content universe at a more reasonable price. With AlphaSense, you’ll either pay by the enterprise or per seat. Contact us for more information on pricing options.
What are some additional alternatives to CB Insights?
Some credible alternatives and top competitors to CB Insights are Sentieo, Pitchbook, Bloomberg Terminal, and Refinitiv Eikon. For a full list of similar products, check out our guide to Top 5 CB Insights Alternatives for Competitive Intelligence.
Related Resources
Experience the AlphaSense Difference
Ready to explore a massive content library that incorporates all the key research perspectives across a wide variety of industries? Curious to see how artificial intelligence and automation can elevate your research and analysis process? Look no further than AlphaSense.
Regardless of your professional role, industry, or business goals, AlphaSense offers features that can help you make better financial and strategic decisions, while eliminating research blind spots.
Ready to try AlphaSense for yourself?
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