This comparison is for a data lead or an analyst at a fund who is choosing a service to help find and vet alternative data and has Neudata and Eagle Alpha on the list. It compares only what each company publishes about itself, on the pages linked here, read on 4 October 2026. It draws no conclusion from silence: a service that one company's pages do not mention may still exist, and the place to settle that is a demonstration. The last sections give a way to test both on your own question.
A discovery service is built for the stage before a dataset is chosen: finding which kind of data answers the question, setting many vendors against one list of fields, and monitoring vendors after the purchase. Fokals is a vendor of company data: firmographic, technographic, hiring and intent data on public and private companies, licensed by written agreement and delivered direct, by REST API and as bulk files, which a fund loads into its own research environment. The closing section reads the same test brief against a vendor's own documents.
What each says it is
Neudata's page for new starters says its business is independent research and consultancy on the data sources that investment research uses, and that it neither supplies the data nor acts as a broker. The same page names two products by scope, Neudata Scout for alternative data and Neudata Ranger for market data. Its about page dates the company to 2016 and gives its offices as London, New York and Shanghai.
Eagle Alpha's home page describes it as an alternative data aggregation platform and advisor that works through a platform and workflow tools. Its about page dates it to 2012 and calls it a marketplace. Its FAQ sorts the datasets it profiles into 16 primary categories and 56 sub-categories, and names fund managers, private equity and corporates as its buyer clients.
Both publish counts of datasets on their sites. Those figures change, so this comparison leaves them out: read them at the source on the day you compare.
The two side by side
| Neudata | Eagle Alpha | |
|---|---|---|
| Describes itself as | Research and consultancy on data sources, which does not provide the data or act as a broker | An alternative data aggregation platform and advisor |
| Scope it states | Alternative data in Scout, market data in Ranger | Alternative data, in 16 primary categories and 56 sub-categories |
| Buyers its pages address | AI companies, new starters, experienced data users, compliance teams, private equity and venture capital, professional services | Sophisticated buyers, buyers new to alternative data, private capital buyers |
| Finding datasets | Search and comparison of data products, analysts' dataset reports, which products are gaining traction | Semantic search, filters and mapped securities, dataset profiles with questionnaires and attachments, API access |
| People | Research analysts in London, New York and Shanghai, and calls with the research team | Says its advisory is led by former buy-side and sell-side equity analysts, with a 30-minute session each month and research questions between |
| Written research | Intelligence reports on use cases, Literature Review reports on academic research | Navigator premium content, white papers, workshops and webinars |
| Compliance tool | Sentry: vendor risk profiles, a catalogue of questionnaires with red flags raised automatically, daily monitoring | Surveyor: questionnaire monitoring, change alerts, re-diligence reminders, records for regulatory exams |
| Price | Pricing intelligence on data products, to inform a negotiation | Says it helps new buyers find datasets at the right price |
| Trials | Research on which datasets to trial | Standardised trials, with third-party trial delivery through Lakeshore as an option |
| Events | Its own summits, and AltDating, one-to-one meetings held in person and virtually | The Eagle Alpha Alternative Data Conference, managed by A-Team Group, with workshops and webinars |
| Terms for vendors | Free listing, and no cut of sales, revenue share or commission | No listing fees, commissions or referral fees |
What you read and whom you talk to
Neudata's page for experienced buyers lists software for searching and comparing data products, reports written by its data analysts, and insight on which products are gaining traction. It says its research analysts work for the buyer and not the vendors, and that its team points out data products it considers not worth a buyer's time or money. Its home page adds two series: Intelligence reports on use cases, and Literature Review reports that set datasets against current academic research.
Eagle Alpha's page for sophisticated buyers describes semantic search, filters and mapped securities for moving from a theme or a ticker to a shortlist, with API access to sync the results into a buyer's internal tools. It describes an advisory team of former buy-side and sell-side equity analysts, a 30-minute advisory session each month and research questions on demand between sessions. The same page says new datasets are screened and prioritised by its specialists before they reach the platform, and that clients get early access to datasets from its corporate data monetisation business.
Eagle Alpha also describes onboarding as a programme. Its page for new buyers sets out an eight-step plan over two months: teaching sessions, a closer look at each data category, compliance sessions and training on the platform. Neudata's page for new starters offers how-to guides, calls with its research team and its matchmaking programme.
Sentry and Surveyor
Each company offers a tool for the compliance side of buying data, and the two are described differently.
Neudata's compliance page describes Sentry as a way to monitor vendors for risk throughout the buying process. Every vendor on its platform has a risk profile. There is a repository of risk assessments and due diligence questionnaires supplied by vendors, with red flags generated automatically for follow-up. Vendors are monitored daily for litigation, regulation and news.
Eagle Alpha's Surveyor page describes a workflow product for a buy-side compliance team. It covers building questionnaires, capturing answers and communications with vendors, notifying the team when a questionnaire changes, and storing and retrieving records for regulatory exams by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The page for sophisticated buyers adds vendor news monitoring and reminders to repeat diligence.
On these descriptions the first is presented as a source of risk information about vendors and the second as a system of record for a buyer's own diligence. A compliance team can ask each company how far its tool also does the other's job.
Events
Neudata runs its own. Its events page describes full-day summits, short thematic sessions, webinars and AltDating, a matchmaking programme of one-to-one meetings held in person and virtually, which the page says is free for buyers. On the day it was read the page listed summits in San Francisco in October 2026, New York in December 2026 and London in March 2027.
Eagle Alpha's conference carries its name and is managed by a partner. Its vendor page says the Eagle Alpha Alternative Data Conference is managed by A-Team Group, and its events page listed New York in March and September 2027 and London in May 2027, with workshops and webinars as further event types.
What vendors pay
Both companies say vendors are listed without charge and that they take no share of a sale. Neudata's listing page offers a free listing, says listings are visible only to qualified data buyers, and says Neudata takes no revenue share or commission for recommending a product. Eagle Alpha's vendor page says there are no listing fees, commissions or referral fees, that a profile is reviewed before it is published, and that Eagle Alpha introduces an interested buyer to the vendor directly.
Each connects this to its recommendations. A buyer can also ask what each company does offer to vendors. Neudata's lead generation page offers vendors AltDating and event sponsorship, and invites them to get in touch about sponsorship options. Eagle Alpha's vendor page describes a data monetisation service for data owners who are not yet ready to sell.
Test both on the same question
A catalogue is judged best against a question you already have. Send both companies the same brief and decide the measures before the answers arrive. The brief below is illustrative.
Question Which listed software companies opened sales hiring in a new country this quarter?
Companies 412 ISINs, file attached
Grain One row per company and week, dated when observed
History The first date of each series, and whether past rows are revised
Delivery REST API, or bulk files in CSV or JSON Lines
Licence Internal research use
Compliance Sourcing statement and questionnaire before any trial| Measure | How to count it |
|---|---|
| Datasets proposed | Those that answer the question as written, not merely its category |
| Mapped to your identifiers | The share that joins on ISIN, FIGI or ticker with MIC, with no matching by name |
| History stated | The share with a first date and a statement on whether past rows are revised |
| Questionnaire on file | The share with a current questionnaire you can read before a call |
| Time to a shortlist | Working days from the brief to a list you would trial |
| Analyst time used | Hours of calls and written answers, since both describe access to people |
Run the same brief again a quarter later if you can, because one test cannot show whether a service keeps finding the right new datasets. What alternative data scouts look for in a new dataset lists the criteria from the other side of the table.
Where a single vendor fits
When you already know the dataset you want, a vendor's own documents answer the brief directly. The brief above describes a dataset that Fokals delivers: Sales Team Metrics, weekly metrics on each company's sales organisation, among them the countries where the company published its first sales role in a closed week. The requirements of the brief map onto it as follows.
- Coverage. Every listed company carries its ticker, MIC, ISIN, LEI, FIGI and CIK, so a file of 412 ISINs joins with no matching by name.
- Grain. One row per company and closed week, and every record carries the time it was observed.
- Revisions. Weekly rows are written once, after the week closes, and are never revised, so the data is point-in-time by construction.
- Delivery. REST API, and bulk files as JSON, JSON Lines or CSV.
- Licence. Written agreement for internal use, embedding in a product or redistribution.
- Compliance. The sourcing statement sets out what is collected and how, which is where a compliance review starts, and the data dictionary defines every column. Sample data for the companies you track is sent on request.
The guides to Neudata and Eagle Alpha take each service in turn, and Eagle Alpha vs BattleFin sets a third beside the second.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Neudata and Eagle Alpha?
Both help funds find and vet alternative data. Neudata describes itself as research and consultancy that does not provide data or act as a broker, with a product called Scout for alternative data, analysts' reports, a compliance system called Sentry and its own summits. Eagle Alpha describes itself as an aggregation platform and advisor, with dataset profiles, an advisory team, standardised trials and a compliance product called Surveyor.
Do Neudata and Eagle Alpha charge data vendors a commission?
Both say they do not. Neudata's pages offer vendors a free listing and say it takes no cut of sales, revenue share or commission. Eagle Alpha's vendor page says there are no listing fees, commissions or referral fees. Neudata separately offers vendors event sponsorship and its matchmaking programme, and Eagle Alpha describes a data monetisation service for data owners.
What is the difference between Neudata Sentry and Eagle Alpha Surveyor?
Neudata describes Sentry as vendor risk monitoring: a risk profile for each vendor, a repository of vendor-supplied questionnaires with automatically flagged answers, and daily monitoring for litigation, regulation and news. Eagle Alpha describes Surveyor as a compliance workflow product: building questionnaires, capturing answers and vendor communications, alerts when a questionnaire changes, and records kept for regulatory exams.
Do Neudata or Eagle Alpha sell the data themselves?
Neudata's pages say it does not provide the data itself or act as a broker. Eagle Alpha's vendor page says that when a buyer is interested it introduces buyer and vendor directly and takes no cut of the sale. Its buyer pages also describe standardised trials, with third-party trial delivery through Lakeshore as an option.
How does a fund license and test Fokals data?
Fokals is licensed by written agreement and delivered direct, by REST API and as bulk files, which a fund loads into its own systems. The data dictionary, the methodology and the sourcing statement are public, and sample data for the companies a fund follows is sent on request, so a test runs on the names the fund holds. Every listed company carries its ticker, MIC, ISIN, LEI, FIGI and CIK, and weekly rows are written once and never revised.
The queries and code on this page are examples to adapt. Test them in your own environment before you rely on them.
What this page says about the products it names was checked against their public documentation on 4 October 2026. Product and company names are trademarks of their owners. Fokals is not affiliated with them or endorsed by them.