FactSet is the buy-side analyst workstation with portfolio analytics, broker estimates, and a 100+ API catalog — but FactSet's own docs say their Global Filings API does not provide real-time updates. FinancialReports is the filings API built for AI-era pipelines — sub-60 s ingest, webhooks, Markdown, MCP — across 48 markets.
FactSet solves the analyst workstation and portfolio analytics. FinancialReports solves the real-time filings backend. The overlap is one corner of each product.
Every annual, quarterly, interim, and ad-hoc filing — indexed, parsed, normalized to Markdown. Free for the web, paid for the API and bulk delivery.
FactSet Workstation plus 100+ APIs across prices, estimates, ownership, fundamentals, and global filings. Mercury adds an in-workstation AI assistant; FactSet launched a public MCP server in December 2025.
A non-exhaustive grid of what each tool does and how well. Where the lines blur, we say so.
Where we have hard numbers, we use them. Where we don't, we mark .
Median time from regulator publication to a queryable record. FactSet's Global Filings API docs explicitly state it's not real-time .
Measured against 13,400 filings across DE · FR · UK · NL · SE · US, Jan–Apr 2026. Time = regulator publication → API availability. Webhooks fire < 90 s for paid clients.
A few real workflows and where each tool shines. There's no single answer — many firms run both.
FactSet's portfolio analytics, risk models, and attribution are best-in-class. FinancialReports doesn't compete on this layer.
The Global Filings API is batch by spec. FinancialReports delivers Markdown in under 60 seconds via webhook, ready to embed.
FactSet add-ins are embedded across the sell-side. Complement with FinancialReports for the filings ingest layer beneath.
FactSet stays for portfolio analytics and the analyst workstation. FinancialReports takes over the real-time filings layer. Here's how to do it in a week.
Identify what queries the Global Filings API today — typically 10-K, 10-Q, 8-K, ESEF, and manual analyst pulls.
Point the filing.published webhook at your indexer. Markdown lands within 60 s. Keep FactSet for portfolio analytics and estimates overlay.
Stop polling the batch Global Filings API. FactSet stays for the workstation and analytics; FinancialReports is the real-time filings backend.
FactSet's own documentation states it does not provide real-time updates. Requests query up to 8 days of data per call. FinancialReports delivers filings within ~60 seconds of regulator publication and fires HMAC-signed webhooks within 90 seconds.
Not via Global Filings API — it's a pull/poll model. FinancialReports webhooks fire on every new filing across 48 markets.
Mercury itself is a closed in-workstation assistant — but FactSet launched a separate public MCP server in December 2025 exposing 9 datasets through nine MCP tools. Access is entitlement-gated (requires a FactSet contract). FinancialReports' MCP server is public, free, and works with Claude Desktop, Claude Code, ChatGPT, and custom agents — no entitlement required.
FactSet covers EDGAR plus many global sources via Global Filings API. FinancialReports operates a 48-market regulator-scraper fleet with native depth in KR DART, JP EDINET, CN CNINFO, IL TASE, AE ADX and DFM, GR ATHEX, IT 1info, UK FCA, and others.
No — FactSet APIs are sales-gated with multi-year contracts. FinancialReports offers $69/mo Pro and $499/mo Business with self-serve checkout and an API key in two minutes.
Get an API key in two minutes and stop polling a batch API for filings that should arrive on a webhook.