The best SEC filing tool for a small-cap trader depends on the question you're asking. For dilution (how much new stock a company could still sell), use a dilution-focused tool: DilutionTracker if you're newer to small caps, Ask Edgar if you want the full detail. For reading filings and transcripts, EDGAR, CapEdge, BamSEC and AlphaSense each fit a different budget and workflow.
Published by Ask Edgar, one of the tools on this list. Product details are from each company's public site as of November 2026; check their sites for current plans and pricing.
Quick picks
- Best for professional traders and institutions who need detailed dilution data, in an app or through an API: Ask Edgar
- Best dilution app for newer traders: DilutionTracker
- Best free source of filings: SEC EDGAR
- Best free tool for ownership history: CapEdge
- Best for reading long filings and transcripts: BamSEC
- Best for enterprise research teams: AlphaSense
How we compared them
We looked at each tool against six questions a small-cap trader asks:
- Dilution data: does it show warrants, convertibles, shelf and ATM capacity and float as structured data, or do you read filings and add it up yourself?
- Filing search: how easily can you find and read filings and transcripts?
- AI help: can it summarize filings or answer questions about them?
- API access: can you pull the data into your own tools, and who can get access?
- Cost to start: free, a subscription, or an enterprise quote?
- Who it's built for: individual traders, professional analysts or institutional teams?
The tools are grouped by what they're best at, and listed alphabetically within each group. The "Best for" lines are our judgment as Ask Edgar, so read them rather than the order.
Dilution-focused tools
Ask Edgar
- Best for: professional traders, hedge funds and investment banks who need detailed dilution data, and developers who want it in code.
- What it does: look up a ticker and see its warrants, convertible notes, convertible preferred stock, shelf and ATM capacity and analyst-audited float in one place. The app also gives AI summaries of filings and a chat for questions about one or more filings. The API returns the same data as JSON, and its advanced endpoint adds disclosed holders, financing banks, full price-protection clauses and dated update notes.
- Cost to start: app plans on the pricing page; the API runs on prepaid credits.
- Where it falls short: the depth of data can be a lot if you're new to small caps. It also isn't built for reading transcripts across hundreds of large companies, and there's no free trial right now.
DilutionTracker
- Best for: newer traders who want a simpler way into dilution research. Its paid plans are also aimed at day traders, short sellers and fundamental traders.
- What it does: its pricing page lists a dilution data browser covering over 2,300 tickers, live shelf data, a dilution risk rating, completed offerings, the latest dilution filings, offering and filing alerts, an education library, audited float, institutional ownership and short interest.
- Cost to start: a free plan for casual use and a 7-day free trial of its paid plan. See DilutionTracker's pricing page.
- Where it falls short: its pricing page FAQ says API access comes "with an institutional subscription", so individual developers may need another source. For a full comparison, read Dilution Tracker vs AskEdgar for traders and builders.
Free filing search
CapEdge
- Best for: free research into filings, transcripts and who owns a stock.
- What it does: search EDGAR filings and earnings transcripts, set real-time alerts, track 13F and N-PORT investor holdings over time, and follow IPO roadshows and new S-1 registrations.
- Cost to start: free. CapEdge's site says it's 100% free.
- Where it falls short: it doesn't list structured dilution data, so you read the filings to add up what's outstanding. Read our CapEdge review.
SEC EDGAR
- Best for: anyone who wants every filing at no cost.
- What it does: the SEC's own EDGAR full-text search searches the full text of filings since 2001, and the SEC also offers free APIs for raw filing data.
- Cost to start: free.
- Where it falls short: you do all the reading and adding up yourself, which takes a while on a company with years of financings.
Reading filings and transcripts
BamSEC
- Best for: investment professionals who read full filings and transcripts across many companies.
- What it does: puts SEC filings and earnings call transcripts in one searchable place, with screening, table tools for pulling historical data, search across all filings and transcripts, collaboration, email alerts and filing comparison. BamSEC has joined forces with AlphaSense.
- Cost to start: a free trial, with plans on BamSEC's pricing page.
- Where it falls short: for dilution, you still read the shelf, prospectus supplements and warrant agreements yourself. Read BamSEC Alternatives and Pricing: How Ask Edgar Compares.
Enterprise research
AlphaSense
- Best for: institutional research teams with an enterprise budget.
- What it does: AI search across SEC filings, transcripts, news, trade journals, broker research and expert calls, with notebooks, dashboards, alerts and team collaboration.
- Cost to start: plans are tailored to each team, from per-seat to enterprise-wide; contact sales through AlphaSense's pricing page.
- Where it falls short: it's more than most individual small-cap traders need. Read our AlphaSense review.
FAQ
What's the best free SEC filing tool? SEC EDGAR is free, with full-text search of filings since 2001. CapEdge is also free, and adds transcripts, alerts and ownership history.
Which tools show dilution data directly? Ask Edgar and DilutionTracker. With the others, you find the shelf, prospectus supplements and warrant agreements and add up what's outstanding yourself.
Which tools have an API for dilution data? Ask Edgar has a publicly documented API on prepaid credits. DilutionTracker's pricing page FAQ says API access comes with an institutional subscription.
Start building
Look up any small-cap ticker in the Ask Edgar app, or pull the same data into your own tools with the Ask Edgar API.
Last checked against each company's public site on 3 November 2026.