AlphaSights vs Third Bridge (vs AlphaSense)

Expert networks have become indispensable tools for businesses and professionals across industries as they offer direct access to expert insights, market intelligence, and real-time data to inform decision-making. These firsthand perspectives are a critical addition to secondary research.

While some expert network platforms focus on expert calls and more traditional offerings, others, like AlphaSense, are equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities that enable you to accelerate and streamline your research process. Depending on your research needs, one platform may serve your business better than another.

This guide compares the popular expert network platforms — AlphaSights, AlphaSense, and Third Bridge — analyzing their use cases, strengths, and weaknesses. We also discuss the combined value of the AlphaSense AI-based market intelligence solution and the Tegus platform and how it compares to AlphaSights and Third Bridge.

AlphaSights

AlphaSights is a leading global expert network that connects businesses with industry experts to provide insights and advice for strategic decision-making. AlphaSights provides its clients with information services that help them make better business decisions and deliver outstanding results.

The AlphaSights network of experts is suitable for investment bankers, private investment firms, mutual funds, management consulting firms, corporations, and non-government organizations (NGOs). The platform combines expert network coverage, technology, and compliance to provide business intelligence and analysis to its clients.

The platform focuses primarily on expert consultations, which can be costly and less accessible for smaller companies. Therefore, AlphaSights may not be ideal for small businesses or startups with limited budgets, teams that require comprehensive quantitative data, or organizations seeking automated insights.

Additionally, AlphaSights is primarily geared towards qualitative insights, which may not meet the needs of teams that require detailed quantitative analysis and data-driven decision-making. Organizations seeking more automated insights may find that AlphaSights’ reliance on human expertise does not fully meet their needs.

AlphaSights Pros:

• Access to a large global network of industry specialists across industries and business functions
• Useful for hypothesis validation, due diligence, and strategic insights
• Fast turnaround for scheduling calls (often within 24 to 48 hours)
• High compliance standards and vetted experts

AlphaSights Cons:

• Limited to qualitative data
• No on-demand searchable expert transcript library
• No advanced AI-powered smart search or sentiment analysis
• No broker research, company documents, or news
• Cannot upload internal content
• No support for integrations or organizations

Researchers appreciate AlphaSights' flexible research solutions and vast expert network but note the lack of more comprehensive data offerings and additional content sets beyond expert call transcripts, which are essential for comprehensive market research. Moreover, the scheduling process for expert consultations can be subject to delays, compared to the instant access to insights that is possible with an on-demand expert transcript library.

Third Bridge

Third Bridge is a private research expert network firm that offers unique insights and analysis to asset managers, corporations, and consultants, enabling them to make smarter decisions faster.

Third Bridge uses primary research techniques in its business model, including interviews with industry experts and professionals, to gather information on various companies, industries, and topics.

It primarily facilitates one-on-one consultations and interviews, offering direct access to industry-specific knowledge. These insights help investors make better decisions, assess market opportunities, and develop business strategies.

Third Bridge is largely utilized among investment professionals, consulting firms, and corporate decision-makers who rely on expert opinions for market insights. It’s best suited for those who need real-time access to specialized knowledge and expert calls.

Offering a vast library of high-quality content for business, investments, and consulting purposes, Third Bridge’s extensive collection is regularly curated by experienced and talented staff so that you get the latest data and can make informed business decisions with the help of the most trusted perspectives.

Third Bridge Pros:

• Over 50,000 call transcripts in the Third Bridge Forum library
• Allows clients to conduct one-on-one interviews with experts
• Extensive network of experts across various industries
• Uses a proprietary company ranking model

Third Bridge Cons:

• Users cannot upload internal content
• Lacks broker research, company documents, and news for holistic market research
• Can be cost-prohibitive for small businesses or startups
• Scheduling expert calls can be time-consuming

Overall, Third Bridge excels at providing expert calls and real-time insights from industry specialists for investment researchers who rely solely on primary research to make business decisions.

However, its specialization as an expert network means it lacks the breadth of data and research tools other innovative market intelligence platforms provide, like AlphaSense. This can lead to missed opportunities and blind spots in the research process.

For even more information on Third Bridge and how it compares to other solutions in the market, check out Third Bridge Alternatives & Competitors.

AlphaSense

Founded in 2011, AlphaSense has close to 4,000 enterprise clients, including 88% of the S&P 100, 95% of the top consultancies, 80% of the top asset management firms, and 20 of the largest pharmaceutical companies. This platform is used by corporations for strategy, competitive intelligence, and market landscaping, as well as by IR and financial professionals for messaging research, due diligence, market monitoring, and deal sourcing.

AlphaSense sources information from over 10,000+ different content sources, including company documents and regulatory filings, news and trade journals, broker research, and expert call transcripts. Coupled with this vast universe of content, AlphaSense’s smart search,AI, and generative AI capabilities help shorten the time to insight and take your research process from reactive to proactive.

In July 2024, AlphaSense and Tegus joined forces, bringing unparalleled access to even more insights and covering more industries and companies than ever before.

For more on how the two platforms complement each other, check out our page AlphaSense and Tegus.

AlphaSense Pros:

• Extensive content database that spans key market perspectives, including broker research, expert calls, company documents, news, and regulatory sites
• 10+ years of investment in AI
• Incorporates AI search technology, machine learning, and sentiment analysis
• GenAI features like Generative Search, Smart Summaries, and Generative Grid for enhanced and streamlined workflows
• AI and genAI tools that can be applied to integrated internal content
• 4,000+ pre-built financial models that update automatically
• Live transcripts that allow users to view past, present, and future event transcripts in a calendar and view event transcripts in real time
• Automated and customizable alerts
• All-in-one research platform
• Mobile app that includes all platform content and AI search capabilities
• User-friendly interface
• Internal note-taking, sharing, and collaboration features
• Support for APIs and integrations
• Supports enterprise-level organizations and teams
• Enterprise-grade data production complying with global security standards: SOC2, ISO270001, FIPS 140-2, SAML 2.0
• Excellent customer support team, including 24/5 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

Research professionals appreciate AlphaSense for its vast content universe and advanced search capabilities that allow users to conduct comprehensive research and uncover valuable insights. With a unified integration of various data sources and a seamless user experience, AlphaSense is a one-stop solution for market intelligence.

Features Comparison

AlphaSights Features

AlphaSights allows its clients to consult multiple experts and get access to intelligence from industries across 120+ countries. It facilitates over 350,000 unique expert client interactions annually and thoroughly vets each expert for every project.

The company has recently expanded its service offering beyond just expert call transcripts and meetings and now offers respondent surveys, insights projects (tailored research solutions), and a small content library named AlphaView. AlphaView is similar to the Third Bridge Forum content library, although it is significantly smaller.

Calls

AlphaSights provides calls for deep, one-on-one insights. Clients can request expert calls and share their requirements, and then AlphaSights will quickly source precisely matched experts. Clients can also select profiles they would like to speak with and discuss preferred meeting times. Additionally, AlphaSights offers a bench of ex-investors and strategy professionals to moderate calls on your behalf.

Transcripts

While AlphaSights does not offer a searchable, on-demand expert transcript library, AlphaSights clients can order a transcript for a high-quality record of their call, which is ready within a few hours. Additionally, the platform can generate instant AI summaries of your call transcripts, which can be shared with your team.

Surveys

AlphaSights clients can run a survey for both quantitative and qualitative expert data, then monitor progress and access output in the platform. AlphaSights’ in-house survey team provides end-to-end survey support, from authoring to results and analysis. Guided by your project brief, AlphaSights can quickly build your panel of qualified experts.

Deal Advisors

AlphaSights allows its clients to add an industry veteran to their deal team by launching a Deal Advisor search and selecting an experienced Deal Advisor to map markets and support your deal execution. Users can also commission AlphaSights Executive Partnerships team to run a deep custom search against their requirements.

Research

AlphaSights clients can commission research on companies and markets of interest, and AlphaSights’ specialized research team can set up calls with leading experts.

Third Bridge Features

Third Bridge is an expert network, so while it can provide specialized insights, it does not offer comprehensive market intelligence for data-driven, holistic market research. Third Bridge recognizes this shortcoming with its features—if you’re facing a unique business problem and there is no relevant existing content in the platform, you can take advantage of Third Bridge Connections.

Forum

Forum is an archive of analyst-led investigative interviews, which provides global industry knowledge and full sector insights. The library has over 50,000 transcripts and conducts over 10,000 interviews annually.

Maps

Third Bridge's proprietary product, Maps, is the result of in-depth specialist profiling sessions conducted by Third Bridge's analyst team. A Map visualizes a specialist's individual insights about a company, the ecosystem in which it operates, and its wider value chain.

Connections

Investors can gain direct access to prequalified industry experts in one-on-one consultations for better insights into the market.

Primers

Primers content is generated from 1-hour expert interviews focused on gathering fundamental information on PE and VC-backed companies. Each Primer interview is moderated by a Third Bridge analyst and covers standardized questions with a former company executive who has had P&L responsibilities.

Tearsheets

A Tearsheet is a condensed summary of the Primer transcript, which extracts the specialist's crucial quotes and data estimates. Third Bridge also overlays company information, such as deal history and senior management, and presents it all in an easy-to-read, downloadable format.

Surveys

Surveys empower clients to source large volumes of high-quality insights and to validate their hypotheses with ease. Third Bridge provides responses from hard-to-find experts across all major sectors, pre-screened to meet clients' project-specific needs.

Advisory Solutions

Third Bridge Advisory Solutions facilitates high-quality deal collaborations between top-tier industry advisors and leading PE firms. Third Bridge helps private equity teams gain an edge by carefully identifying and sourcing bespoke senior advisors with high-impact potential to lend their expertise across the entire deal cycle.

Community

Community connects Third Bridge clients to relevant experts by leveraging its extensive global expert network, thorough pre-qualification processes, and a compliance framework.

These interviews are then anonymized and made available via Forum, so clients can get preferential fixed-rate pricing on one-on-one consultations versus traditional more expensive expert consultations.

AlphaSense Features

Extensive Out-of-the-Box Content Library

AlphaSense allows you to combine valuable internal content with our out-of-the-box content library that includes earnings transcripts and other company documents, SEC and global filings, trade journals, news, and regulatory documents. AlphaSense users also have access to two premium and proprietary content offerings. These are:

• 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.
• Expert Transcript Library – 185K+ proprietary transcripts with industry experts, competitors, customers, professionals, and former and current executives, with the ability to conduct your own 1:1 expert calls for less.

In addition to these sources, you can upload and search through your own internal knowledge base, including:

• Internal research, notes, and presentations
• Investment memos
• Reports from industry and market intelligence providers
• Newsletters, web pages, and RSS feeds

Generative Search

Our genAI chat experience transforms how users can extract insights from hundreds of millions of premium content sources. Generative Search is trained to think like an analyst, so it understands the market research intent behind your natural language queries.

Whenever you search for information, Generative Search helps you get up to speed on a company or topic by instantly getting you the answers you need. You can dig deeper into topics by asking follow-up questions or choosing a suggested query. Each answer will always provide citations to the exact snippet of text from where the information was sourced. Generative Search is constantly evolving and incorporates a variety of reasoning models and agentic workflows.

Smart Summaries

Smart Summaries allows users to glean instant earnings insights (reducing time spent on research during earnings season), quickly capture company outlook and bull/bear cases from analyst research, and generate an expert-approved SWOT analysis straight from former competitors, partners, and employees. All summaries provide links to the exact location in the text from where the summaries pull — combining high accuracy with easy verification.

Generative Grid

Our newest genAI tool, Generative Grid, applies multiple genAI prompts to many documents at the same time to quickly provide organized answers to research questions at scale, in an easy-to-read table format. This enables clients to summarize documents using pre-built criteria to save time when executing repeatable workflows.

Generative Grid pulls data from both premium external documents in the AlphaSense platform and users’ internal content. From there, users can choose preset templates or create their own to automate routine workflows. Each summary provides a direct citation to the source material it was pulled from.

Sentiment Analysis

Using sentiment analysis, a feature built with natural language processing (NLP), AlphaSense identifies changes in a text's tone and subjective meaning. Then, using different color codes, it helps you identify if the document has positive, negative, or neutral sentiments.

Each search term gets a sentiment change score that helps you track any slight change in market sentiments across time. With this feature, you can catch subtle inflection points in language that move markets and provide early indicators of shifting corporate performance.

Smart Synonyms™

Another feature is the AI-based Smart Synonyms™ technology—a capability that studies keywords and intent behind your search engine queries. Using advanced algorithms, AlphaSense eliminates noise from your search, including content with matching keywords that is irrelevant to search objectives. AI search functionality lets you find the exact documents and snippets most relevant to your search, saving time and energy for more high-level tasks like analysis.

Company Perspectives (BamSEC)

Make quantitative investment research easier by transforming how you work with public company data. By streamlining access to SEC filings, earnings and events transcripts, financial documents, and more, BamSEC enables analysts to focus on what matters, save time, and do better work.

BamSEC allows users to search across multiple companies and SEC filings. Customers can use these documents to perform due diligence on companies and explore performance metrics efficiently.

Using the tables on BamSEC, users can explore past filings, create models, and benchmark company performance, all in one place, without needing to pull up individual filings to manually track a company’s metrics.

Financials and Metrics (Canalyst)

Gain instant access to over 4,000 global fundamental models and over 60 industry dashboards, all hand-built and sourced by sector-focused analysts. Unlike building your own models and comp sheets, using our off-the-shelf models, dashboards, and data reduces your time spent on undifferentiated work, allowing you to compete on your ability to analyze the data, not aggregate it.

Monitoring, Analysis, and Collaboration Tools

AlphaSense is designed to help users find insights faster. 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 alerts provide real-time updates.
• Powerful collaboration tools like Notebook+ and commenting features help teams manage and share insights more effectively.
• Table Tools allow you to move faster with spreadsheet-style visualizations directly from company filings, so you can chain together, edit, and optimize tables for analysis.
• Image Search allows you to discover insights buried in charts to quickly return data without reading through pages of documents.
• Snippet Explorer allows you to effortlessly assess 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.

Integrations and APIs

It’s now becoming industry standard for many market intelligence platforms to offer integration of internal content containing both structured and unstructured data, but it’s key that this content is indexed and immediately available. A market intelligence platform should also offer the ability to upload new external content sources (such as RSS or web content), so that you can leverage the platform’s analysis tools to pull relevant insights.

AlphaSense provides integration with commonly used programs like OneNote, Sharepoint, Box, and Evernote, enabling streamlined collaboration with members across your organization and improving team productivity. It also allows you to search across all internal and external company content to find key insights, and the proprietary AI technology catches what other platforms miss in a secure and automated way.

User Experience Comparison

AlphaSights User Experience

The AlphaSights platform offers a straightforward process for connecting with experts. Its focus is on facilitating expert consultations, making it ideal for investment professionals, consultants, and businesses looking for fast, actionable insights through one-on-one calls. Setting up AlphaSights is relatively simple, with users able to request expert connections without much technical setup.

The platform is user-friendly and efficient, especially for those familiar with expert networks, but its limited features may not meet the needs of users requiring deeper data or analytics capabilities.

Third Bridge User Experience

Third Bridge, on the other hand, offers a more comprehensive approach, combining expert consultations with detailed industry reports. It is particularly well-suited for professionals in the finance and healthcare sectors who need both in-depth expert interviews and robust research.

However, due to its more extensive feature set, the initial setup can take longer, as it may require tailoring the service to fit specific industry needs. Once configured, Third Bridge is also fairly easy to use, though it may require more guidance for those new to expert networks or report-based research. The Third Bridge platform has a slightly steeper learning curve, which stems from the variety of services offered, but it ultimately provides a richer user experience for those needing detailed insights.

AlphaSense User Experience

The AlphaSense platform is designed to be user-friendly and intuitive from the start. And unlike its competitors, AlphaSense is a one stop shop for market intelligence, giving you aggregated access to company documents, news, expert call transcripts, and broker research.

With AlphaSense, users can cut out cumbersome manual research tasks like combing through multiple tabs of research reports and CTRL+F’ing through documents with limited keywords.The AlphaSense UI works seamlessly with competitive research workflows and is customizable for further fine-tuning.

Clients across a wide range of verticals—from life sciences and technology to investment banking and asset management—find that AlphaSense’s AI search technology, like synonym recognition, pre-set search feeds, and smart keyword suggestions, speed up data and insight discovery even when searching across different sources. The key reasons users stick to AlphaSense are the speed of surfacing valuable data, the unparalleled accuracy lent by smart AI functionalities, and access to premium content like broker research and expert call transcripts.

Support Comparison

AlphaSights Support

AlphaSights provides personalized support through dedicated account managers. Each client typically gets an account manager who helps guide them through the process of finding and scheduling expert consultations, ensuring that the platform’s services are tailored to their specific needs.

This hands-on approach is valuable for companies needing prompt and specialized assistance. AlphaSights is not designed as a self-service platform, so most users rely on the customer service team to ensure smooth project execution.

Third Bridge Support

Third Bridge also offers strong customer service but blends together both personalized and self-serve options. Clients often have access to an account manager or customer service representative, particularly for more complex projects or long-term partnerships.

However, Third Bridge provides more comprehensive documentation and resources that allow users to engage with the platform in a somewhat self-serve manner, especially when accessing industry reports or setting up expert calls. This can give users more autonomy over their research, but direct support is also available for more tailored guidance.

In both cases, neither platform is fully self-serve, but AlphaSights leans more heavily toward a high-touch, account manager-driven experience, while Third Bridge offers a mix of guided support and self-serve options depending on the user's needs.

AlphaSense Support

AlphaSense’s product and customer education teams provide ramp-up and learning sessions with hands-on training and demonstrations. Additionally, all AlphaSense users have a dedicated account representative available for questions and guidance. The product specialist team is also available to put together searches for research professionals to streamline their workflows.

AlphaSense maintains a regular training calendar for live, virtual, instructor-led AlphaSense Education webinars, and the website has a live Help button, where users can chat with product specialists 24/5 and receive instant support for any issues or queries.

Reviews and Ratings Comparison

AlphaSights Reviews and Ratings

Rating: 4.9 out of 5 on Trustpilot (only website with customer reviews)

Popular positives:

• Quick, quality responses and professionalism from AlphaSights customer support
• Connections to knowledgeable experts in various backgrounds
• Smooth overall process and careful vetting process for experts

Popular negatives:

• Quantity of surveys and consultations provided are fewer than desired
• Delayed or lack of compensation for expert consults
• Last-minute cancellations and lack of follow-up for consultation calls

Third Bridge Reviews and Ratings

Rating: 4 out of 5 on Trustpilot (only website with customer reviews)

Popular positives:

• Excellent service and engaging calls
• Transparent payment process for experts
• Smooth and easy process

Popular negatives:

• Lack of professionalism and last-minute cancellations for consultation calls
• Some uncompensated and dissatisfied experts
• Over-persistent communications for uninterested expert prospects

AlphaSense Reviews and Ratings

Rating: 4.7 out of 5 on G2 (no Trustpilot profile)

Popular positives:

• Comprehensive data and analysis on public and private markets
• Real-time data availability
• Easy-to-find relevant and high-quality results
• Intuitive interface and great customer support
• Smart AI-powered search leads to quicker, more accurate insights

Popular negatives:

• Visualization tools are limited to financial data at this time
• Lack of collaborative tools for knowledge management

Pricing Comparison

AlphaSights Pricing

Pricing for AlphaSights typically starts at around $1,000 per consultation. The overall cost can increase based on the number of expert consultations, the seniority or expertise of the professionals being consulted, and the complexity of the project. AlphaSights operates on a pay-per-consultation model, so clients generally pay per expert interaction.

For exact pricing, it’s best to contact the company directly to get a tailored quote based on your specific requirements.

Third Bridge Pricing

Third Bridge tends to be on the higher end, with consultations and research reports often costing upwards of $1,500 each. Third Bridge offers more comprehensive services, such as custom reports in addition to expert consultations, which can further increase costs. For larger projects or ongoing access to their expert network, pricing may be higher depending on the scope and the client's industry.

For exact pricing, it’s best to contact the company directly to get a tailored quote based on your specific requirements.

AlphaSense Pricing

AlphaSense users can access the all-in-one market research platform including unparalleled access to market data and expert analysis, proprietary AI search features, and a better, customer-centric user experience at a competitive price point. AlphaSense users have the option between enterprise and per-seat pricing, making it more accessible for businesses of all sizes.

Learn more about our scalable pricing options by visiting our pricing page or start a free 2-week trial here.

A Better Alternative to AlphaSights and Third Bridge?

While AlphaSights and Third Bridge are notable options for expert network providers, AlphaSense offers a distinct advantage over both platforms by providing a comprehensive market intelligence platform that goes beyond simply connecting users with experts.

Unlike AlphaSights and Third Bridge, which primarily focus on facilitating expert calls, AlphaSense integrates AI-powered search and genAI capabilities into a vast content universe, allowing users to quickly access and analyze a vast array of data sources, including company filings, news, analyst reports, and expert call transcripts — all in one place.

This enables businesses to gain deeper, data-driven insights quickly without the need for multiple consultations. AlphaSense’s platform is particularly beneficial for those who need real-time information and actionable insights, making it a more versatile and efficient tool for market research, investment decisions, and corporate strategy.

Additionally, AlphaSense offers a more user-friendly experience with robust customer support, making it accessible to a wider range of organizations, from startups to large enterprises. This combination of AI technology, extensive content coverage, and ease of use makes AlphaSense a superior option for companies looking to streamline their research processes and make more informed business decisions.

AlphaSense is the best choice for you if:

• You are looking for a platform that can be utilized across your organization and for various strategic goals.
• You need a platform that takes away the tedious, manual parts of research and surfaces relevant, real-time insights, saving you precious time for deeper analysis and strategy.
• You are interested in accessing an expansive content universe of proprietary, premium, private, and public content that is inaccessible to the general public and many of your peers.
• You are looking for a holistic view of any market with access to financial data, broker research, company documents, and real-time news.
• You want a platform that will keep you ahead of the curve with advanced search, AI, and generative AI capabilities that accelerate your research and ensure you never miss critical insights.
• You want a platform that will replace all your various other research avenues and be the one-stop-shop for all your market intelligence needs.
• You want a platform that will work behind the scenes to ensure you never fall behind or miss critical information, with customizable real-time alerts, watchlists, and dashboards.

When selecting a platform for effective market intelligence, buyers should consider platforms that offer both qualitative and quantitative data analysis, AI-driven insights, and real-time access to an extensive content universe. These valuable offerings enable organizations to get a holistic and comprehensive view of the market landscape and make informed decisions quickly and efficiently.

The combination of AlphaSense and Tegus offers a robust and comprehensive research solution that streamlines both qualitative and quantitative research in a single platform with powerful AI technology.