AlphaSense vs Merrill Guided Investing: Which Is Better in 2026?

Figures and features are point-in-time and change; treat the table as a starting map, not a live quote.

An enterprise market-intelligence platform that searches filings, earnings transcripts, expert calls and broker research with AI summarisation.

How it works: AlphaSense indexes a large licensed corpus of company filings, earnings call transcripts, expert interviews, news and broker research, then lets you search it semantically and generate AI summaries with citations back to the source document. The value is the corpus and the citation trail rather than the model, which is why it sells to institutions rather than individuals.

In practice, AlphaSense’s AI searches and summarises a licensed document corpus. It falls under ai stock research and scoring, which makes it best suited to professional research across filings, transcripts and broker notes. On connecting an account it is “No”, and on execution it is “No”. It is priced as enterprise pricing, quoted (verify current).

One honest limitation: Priced and built for institutions, so it is not a realistic tool for an individual investor managing their own portfolio.

Merrill's automated investing service, built on Bank of America research, with an optional tier that adds an advisor.

How it works: A questionnaire sets a goal and risk level, and Merrill invests in model portfolios built by its investment office, rebalancing automatically. A higher-priced tier adds access to a financial advisor. Preferred Rewards status at Bank of America can reduce the fee, which is the main reason existing customers choose it.

In practice, Merrill Guided Investing’s AI automates a research-driven model portfolio. It falls under hands-off automated investing (robo-advisors), which makes it best suited to bank of america customers who want managed portfolios in the same app. On connecting an account it is “No (holds your money at Merrill)”, and on execution it is “Automated”. It is priced as percentage of assets, higher with an advisor (verify current).

One honest limitation: Priced above the cheapest automated services, and the portfolios lean on Merrill's own research and funds.

The core difference is category. AlphaSense focuses on professional research across filings, transcripts and broker notes (searches and summarises a licensed document corpus), and Merrill Guided Investing on bank of america customers who want managed portfolios in the same app (automates a research-driven model portfolio). On broker connection they differ too: AlphaSense is “No” versus Merrill Guided Investing at “No (holds your money at Merrill)”. That shapes everything downstream: how personal the answers are, where trades settle, and how much control you keep over individual positions.

Every tool gives something up for what it does well. Here is the honest give-and-take on each, so you can weigh the specific strengths against the limitations that come with them rather than judging on the headline category alone.

For AI investing tools, the distinction that matters most is whether the tool works from your actual, connected positions or reasons from something else: a separate account it manages for you, or the tickers and numbers you feed it. It decides how personal the answers can be, and where your money physically lives.

• AlphaSense: does not see your holdings. AlphaSense works from market data and the tickers you research, not your live positions. You read its output, then act in whichever broker you keep your money at.
• Merrill Guided Investing: manages a separate account it holds. Merrill Guided Investing does not read the brokerage you already use. It opens and holds a new account, then invests the money you move into it, so its view is limited to what sits inside Merrill Guided Investing.

This is where they diverge most. One works from your real, connected account while the other does not, so if you want an assistant grounded in the exact positions you already hold, that gap is the thing to weigh first. This holdings-aware angle is the one Walnut is built around: it connects the brokerage you already use and reasons from your live positions, read-only by default, with any trades left for you to approve.

There is no universal winner here; the right pick depends on the job you are hiring the tool for. Match the category to your intent rather than chasing a single “best.”

• Choose AlphaSense if you want professional research across filings, transcripts and broker notes. Its AI searches and summarises a licensed document corpus, it is priced as enterprise pricing, quoted (verify current), and it fits ai stock research and scoring. It is built for a professional analyst or corporate strategy team, not an individual managing a personal portfolio. Keep in mind that priced and built for institutions, so it is not a realistic tool for an individual investor managing their own portfolio.
• Choose Merrill Guided Investing if you want bank of america customers who want managed portfolios in the same app. Its AI automates a research-driven model portfolio, it is priced as percentage of assets, higher with an advisor (verify current), and it fits hands-off automated investing (robo-advisors). It is built for an existing Bank of America customer whose rewards tier makes the pricing competitive and who values everything in one app. Keep in mind that priced above the cheapest automated services, and the portfolios lean on merrill's own research and funds.

Because they sit in different categories, this is not strictly either-or: some investors use one for professional research across filings, transcripts and broker notes and the other for bank of america customers who want managed portfolios in the same app, and just watch for overlapping costs.

Cost is easy to misread when two tools charge in different shapes, so compare the model, not just the number. AlphaSense is priced as enterprise pricing, quoted (verify current), while Merrill Guided Investing is priced as percentage of assets, higher with an advisor (verify current). A percentage-of-assets fee scales with your balance, a flat subscription does not, and a “free” tier usually earns elsewhere (on cash, order flow, or premium upgrades), so the cheapest headline is not always the cheapest outcome for your situation.

Pricing and tiers change often. Confirm the current numbers on each provider’s own site before you decide; the framing above is point-in-time.

If neither quite fits, Walnut sits in a third category: chat-driven management of your own brokerage. It connects the brokerage you already use through SnapTrade, lets you analyze and manage it by talking through Claude or ChatGPT, build thematic portfolios around a thesis, and place trades you approve. Read-only by default. See Walnut vs AlphaSense and Walnut vs Merrill Guided Investing. Walnut is not an investment adviser.