Compustat

A

artvandalay

New member
Joined
Jun 18, 2026
Messages
0
Reaction score
0
Anyone use this for work or school? I just got a free access to it through an MBA program I’m starting this fall, and was wondering if this is generally a well regarded tool. Does anyone know how much this would cost for a subscription? (it’s the research insight web-based product)
Thanks
 
i use it alot for work. we have ours on a server at work and we call information through formulas within excel. i would assume it is the same for the web-based product. i am not sure what it costs but it is not cheap. what school are you attending that has a subscription?
 
The strictly web-based product is rather inconvenient in my view. However, there is a way apparently to link it to SAS and that’s how most PhDs in finance use it. That’s supposed to be better. Penn has it through WRDS and I know that NYU can access it through WRDS. It’s rather pricey for an individual.
 
I believe the subscription is somewhere around $15-$20K for a school. I’m not sure about pricing for individuals (or even if they offer it).
True - Compustat’s PC product is awkward if you’re a SAS user. If you have access to WRDS, they’ve already done the work to put the data into SAS-readable format (along with other commonly used datasets researchers use). But they charge another $30-$40K for their front-end.
I’ve mentioned the lack of SAS-readability to the Compustat people (as have many colleagues. Who knows - eventually they come out with a SAS front-end.
 
Compustat is a very good source of fundamental information. I haven’t used the web based product but Research Insight is a bit of a clunky interface that I find annoying. I have used Compustat extensively at all of my jobs. The difference between the academic version that is licensed to universities and schools is that it is only updated like twice a year versus the institutional database which is updated nightly. Don’t know what they would charge for it to an individual as the cost for an investment management firm is based on AUM.
 
Thanks for the feedback! I guess I can install the excel plug-in, maybe I’ll do this. I’ve used other plug-ins like Cap IQ and I thought they were pretty slick.
 
Does anybody know if you can get historical prices on options through the Compustat Database?
If not, does anyone know where you can get historical prices on options?
 
Compustat doesn’t cover options at all, it is equity focused.
 
I used it in school last year. It worked great to grab a large amount of data and throw into Excel for an analysis. It all depends on what you would be using it for.
 
Do know if the CBOE (or other entity) would have historical data on options? Obviously, once the option expires, there’s no more information…
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top