PitchBook vs Preqin: Which Should You Use?
TrustRadius reviewers praise PitchBook most for company and deal data; Preqin covers alternative assets and third-party comparisons label it LP and fund data. Use PitchBook for company and deal research, Preqin to raise or benchmark a fund. Neither lists a price or founder plan in the pages we reviewed. Founders can start with free investor matches on Round Funded.
PitchBook vs Preqin at a Glance
| PitchBook | Preqin | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Private capital market intelligence platform, owned by Morningstar since 2016 (third-party reports) | Alternative assets data platform (Preqin Pro), part of BlackRock since March 3, 2025 |
| Best for | Company, deal and valuation research | LP and fund data, due diligence and performance benchmarking |
| Pricing | No price on its pricing page. Third-party estimates: about $20,000 to $30,000 a year for one seat (LPbacked, October 2026); from around $12,000 (Prospeo, undated) | No price found. Third-party estimate: about $15,000 to $81,000 a year (Active Family Offices, October 2026) |
| Free plan or trial | No free plan reported (LPbacked); free trial by application | Free account for research reports and statistics; Preqin Pro starts with a demo request |
| Data focus | Companies, investors, funds, deals and people | Eight asset classes, from private equity and hedge funds to real estate and secondaries |
| Who it is aimed at | Priced differently for banks, PE and VC firms, corporates and smaller investors (LPbacked) | Fund managers and allocators (TrustRadius) |
How PitchBook and Preqin Differ
Data focus
PitchBook describes its coverage by entity: companies, investors, funds, deals and people. Preqin describes it by asset class, eight in all, including hedge funds, private debt, real estate, infrastructure and natural resources. They overlap, since Preqin also sells Company Intelligence, a companies and deals product. Even so, 49% of PitchBook's recent TrustRadius reviewers (53 verified reviews in 18 months) single out its company and deal data, while one Preqin reviewer praises market sizing and fund benchmarking. One Reddit poster who used both called Preqin fine for fund and LP coverage and PitchBook okay on deal coverage, but found both short on depth (a single anecdote).
Workflow
PitchBook's pricing page lists complimentary access to its desktop offering, mobile app, Excel and PowerPoint plugins and a Chrome extension; in November 2025 it announced Navigator, a chat assistant. Preqin delivers through its platform, mobile app, feeds and partner integrations, and its Business Development Dashboard shows fund manager data, contact updates and upcoming fund launches to help users time outreach. Both now offer data for AI workflows: PitchBook launched Data MCP on October 14, 2026, and Preqin lists a Preqin MCP.
Users
Reach claims count different things: PitchBook says it serves more than 100,000 clients, Preqin says more than 200,000 professionals use it, and BlackRock lists Preqin at 4,400 clients and 220,000 users. On G2, PitchBook scores 4.5/5 from 261 reviews (November 2025 page) and Preqin Pro 2.7/5 from three, too few to judge; TrustRadius shows Preqin at 7.7/10 from ten (September 2026).
Pricing Compared
| PitchBook | Preqin | |
|---|---|---|
| Published price | None: the pricing page asks you to request pricing | None found: Preqin Pro starts with "Book a demo" |
| Contract | Annual, quoted by seats, data modules and firm type (LPbacked) | Annual, quoted by sales (Active Family Offices) |
| Estimate, LPbacked (October 2026) | One seat about $20,000 to $30,000 a year; larger teams $70,000 or more | About $25,000 to $80,000 a year |
| Estimate, Prospeo (undated) | About $12K to $70K+ a year | About $15K to $50K+ a year |
| Estimate, Active Family Offices (October 2026) | Not found in the pages we reviewed | About $15,000 to $81,000 a year, depending on modules and seats |
Neither vendor lists a figure in the pages we reviewed, so every dollar amount above is a third-party estimate, and LPbacked and Prospeo each sell contact data of their own. The ranges overlap, and every estimate we use starts at about $12,000 a year. Costbench quotes a $2.1K a year Preqin tier but prices its other tiers per month ($4.2K and $6.7K, billed annually), so we leave its figures out. LPbacked adds that PitchBook buyers frequently report increases at renewal. Our PitchBook and Preqin pages go deeper.
Which One Should You Choose?
- Fund managers raising from LPs: start with Preqin. Third-party comparisons label it LP and fund data, and Preqin says its users raise capital with it. Test it on your own target LPs first: a July 2026 G2 reviewer found Preqin Pro stale for investor targeting.
- Dealmakers researching companies: start with PitchBook. Company and deal data is its main strength in TrustRadius reviews, and since February 2026 it offers daily valuation estimates for VC-backed companies. Verify details: outdated information was the top con in G2's November 2025 summary (36 mentions), and 25% of recent TrustRadius reviewers raise accuracy concerns.
- Firms that do both jobs: have each vendor run your real use case first; PitchBook trials need an application, Preqin starts with a demo.
- Founders raising a round: the next section covers what to use instead.
Or Neither: What a Startup Founder Raising a Round Needs
A seed or Series A raise needs investors who write checks now, a way to write to them and a record of who answered. PitchBook and Preqin sell to finance professionals and firms. An r/startups founder, as cited by Prospeo, could not justify about $20,000 for PitchBook just to build a one-off fundraising list; a July 2026 G2 reviewer who used Preqin Pro for fundraising called it stale and outdated. No source we reviewed describes emailing investors from either tool; LeadLoft, an outreach vendor, found no built-in outreach in PitchBook in 2024 (unconfirmed for 2026).
Round Funded is built for that job. Its database covers 60,000+ active VCs, angels, family offices and accelerators, filtered to a check in the last 6 months. Find Investors gives free matches, Investor Match returns your 10 best-fit active investors, and Round+ unlocks the full database. Outreach is AI-drafted and sent from your own Gmail, with a built-in pipeline to track replies. As of October 2026: Round+ $99 a month, Round Pro $249 a month, Lifetime $899 one-time (pricing). Round+ and Round Pro include a 3-day free trial for first-time accounts, card required. There is no free tier.
PitchBook and Preqin offer what Round Funded does not: Round Funded has no LP data, fund performance data, company financials or valuations. If your work needs valuations and deal history, or LP mandates and fund benchmarks, use them. Round Funded does not compete on data breadth, only on the founder's job of finding active investors, writing to them and tracking replies. For more options, see our best investor database tools for founders in 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is better, PitchBook or Preqin?
Preqin vs PitchBook is a split by job, not a ranking. PitchBook suits research on private companies, deals and valuations. Preqin suits fund managers and allocators who need LP, fund and benchmark data. The price estimates overlap, so cost alone is unlikely to decide it.
PitchBook or Preqin for fund managers?
For raising capital from LPs, Preqin is the closer match: third-party comparisons label it LP and fund data. For researching target companies and deals, PitchBook fits. Check recency first: a July 2026 G2 reviewer found Preqin Pro stale for investor targeting.
PitchBook vs Preqin pricing: which costs more?
Neither lists a price in the pages we reviewed, so every figure is a third-party estimate. As of October 2026, LPbacked reports about $20,000 to $30,000 a year for one PitchBook seat and $25,000 to $80,000 for Preqin; an undated Prospeo page lists PitchBook at $12K to $70K+ and Preqin at about $15K to $50K+. The ranges overlap, so the estimates do not settle which costs more. Ask each vendor for a written quote.
Does PitchBook or Preqin have a free plan or trial?
LPbacked reports no free PitchBook plan, though some news and research is free. PitchBook's pricing page offers a free trial by application: it will "see if a free trial might be right for you", with no trial length given. Preqin offers a free account for reports and statistics, but Preqin Pro starts with a demo request, and we found no Preqin Pro trial in the pages we reviewed.
Who owns PitchBook and Preqin?
Third-party reports from Multiples and Prospeo, both vendors of competing data products, say Morningstar fully acquired PitchBook in 2016 for $225 million. BlackRock completed its acquisition of Preqin on March 3, 2025, after agreeing to pay 2.55 billion pounds, about $3.2 billion in cash, and said Preqin would remain available as a standalone solution.
Is Round Funded affiliated with PitchBook or Preqin?
No. Round Funded is not affiliated with PitchBook, Morningstar, Preqin or BlackRock. This is an independent comparison built from the vendors' public pages and published third-party sources, checked in October 2026. Third-party prices are estimates; confirm any figure with the vendor before you budget.
Final Word
PitchBook fits company and deal research, Preqin fits fund and LP work, and third-party reports describe both as quote-only annual contracts. A founder raising a round needs active investors, outreach and tracking at a price they can see.
