YCharts
Financial research and data platform for advisors, RIAs, and asset managers.
On the record
Checkpoint: Kitces 2026 AdvisorTech rankings release, testing whether YCharts retakes #1 from Koyfin
The call
YCharts keeps a profitable, licensed-data-locked advisor base, but a cheaper AI-native rival and a paused private equity sale leave its ranking and ownership both unsettled.
YCharts is a software platform that financial advisors use to organize and analyze client information, with licensed financial data built in and compliance rules to keep advisors out of legal trouble. The main reason it is hard to replace is that advisors get used to it and switching takes work, plus the licensed data and compliance features cost money to build. However, a cheaper competitor called Koyfin is now rated higher by industry experts, and AI tools like Claude can do some of what YCharts does for free or cheap, which means YCharts may have to cut prices and make less profit. The one thing that could change everything is whether YCharts can keep selling to new customers or just keep the ones it has, and whether its recent purchase of Zephyr helps it sell more services to existing customers.
Why
01
AI pressure: Koyfin (AI-native, lower-cost advisor research platform). Koyfin's cheaper AI-native tools already rank above YCharts in the 2025 Kitces AdvisorTech survey, pulling price-sensitive advisors away. Could AI do the core job? Only partly.
02
Bigger players: Bloomberg Terminal. Bloomberg's roughly $24k a year terminal stays locked to large institutions, so it rarely competes for YCharts's core advisor base. Could a giant copy it? Probably.
03
What protects it. Licensed market data, compliance grade reporting, and workflow integrations across 15,000 advisor desks are hard for a chatbot or a cheaper rival to copy fast.
What would change this call
Kitces' 2026 AdvisorTech Study rankings are published and compared to Koyfin's position. Shows whether YCharts regained ground against Koyfin or fell further behind.
YCharts reports whether the Zephyr acquisition generated net-new ARR by end of 2026. Indicates if the Zephyr deal is expanding the customer base or just adding features.
LLR Partners announces a sale, recapitalization, or dividend recap of YCharts. Would signal a liquidity event and possible change in ownership or strategic direction.
YCharts reports whether the Zephyr acquisition generated net-new ARR by end of 2026. Indicates if the Zephyr deal is expanding the customer base or just adding features.
LLR Partners announces a sale, recapitalization, or dividend recap of YCharts. Would signal a liquidity event and possible change in ownership or strategic direction.
Key numbers
- 15,000+ financial professionals served
- Ranked #19 of 3,369 on G2's 2026 list
- 195 employees, up 13% year over year
Named risks
- Koyfin's lower-cost, higher-rated platform erodes YCharts's premium-tier pricing and advisor mindshare.
- LLR Partners could resume a paused sale process, creating ownership and equity uncertainty for staff and clients.
- Y agentic AI tool, launched June 16, 2026, has no independent evidence yet of retention or upsell impact.
- Headcount growth has stalled (growth score 13 of 100 as of June 2026), signaling slower expansion.
Rivals, as read in July 2026
| Rival | Direction | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Koyfin | gaining on | Rated highest in 2025 Kitces AdvisorTech Study for Investment Research and Analytics, ahead of YCharts |
| Morningstar | contesting | Former minority investor exited in 2020, now competes via Morningstar Direct and Advisor Workstation |
| Bloomberg | gaining on | Bloomberg Terminal at $24,000-plus per year structurally priced out of YCharts's downmarket advisor segment |
| FactSet | contesting | Named as a direct peer platform in advisor analytics space as of 2026 |
| Nitrogen and Kwanti | contesting | Overlapping risk-scoring and stress-testing features compete for same advisor workflow budget |
Questions people ask
- Is YCharts profitable in 2026?
- No public profitability figure is disclosed. YCharts had surpassed $15M ARR by October 2020 when LLR Partners acquired it in an all-cash recapitalization. No revenue figures have been disclosed since, so current profitability cannot be confirmed from public sources.
- Who owns YCharts?
- Private equity firm LLR Partners has owned YCharts since October 9, 2020, when it completed an all-cash growth recapitalization, buying out Morningstar, Hyde Park Angels, I2A Fund, and REV Venture Partners. No new equity round has been disclosed since.
- Could AI replace YCharts?
- AI can approximate templated tasks like charting, screening, and report drafting, but YCharts's licensed data, compliance wrapper, and 15,000-plus professional user base are harder to replicate. YCharts itself launched an agentic AI tool, Y, built on Anthropic's Claude, on June 16, 2026.
- Who is YCharts's biggest competitor?
- Koyfin is YCharts's closest rival and was rated highest in the 2025 Kitces AdvisorTech Study for Investment Research and Analytics, ahead of YCharts. Bloomberg Terminal, at roughly $24,000 per year, is structurally priced out of YCharts's advisor market.
- Will YCharts be sold?
- LLR Partners reportedly explored a sale of YCharts in the past year but paused that process, according to InvestmentNews reporting dated July 15, 2026, the same day YCharts announced its acquisition of Zephyr.
- What did YCharts just acquire?
- On July 15, 2026, YCharts acquired Zephyr, a separately managed account analytics business previously owned by Informa since 2012, adding a 21,000-product SMA database called PSN. It is YCharts's first disclosed acquisition since 2020.
Timeline
- 2026-07-15YCharts acquires Zephyr from Informa, adding 21,000-product SMA database (PSN)
- 2026-06-16Launches Y, agentic AI assistant built on Anthropic's Claude, across all pricing tiers
- 2026-04-01Expands Axtella enterprise deal to cover 800-plus advisors
- 2025-01-01Koyfin rated ahead of YCharts in 2025 Kitces AdvisorTech Study for Investment Research and Analytics
- 2025-01-01Rolls out AI Chat feature, later wins a Wealthie award
- 2021-01-01Announces partnership with United Planners Financial Services
- 2020-10-09LLR Partners acquires YCharts in all-cash growth recapitalization
- 2009-01-01YCharts founded in Chicago
Revision history
21 July 2026
First assessed. Protection under test. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.
In the same band
Sources
- Y Charts acquires Informa's Zephyr to bolster SMA analytics for advisors (2026-07-15)
- YCharts sells to PE firm in all-cash transaction as it looks to pass $15M ARR this year (2020-10-09)
- YCharts - Headcount, Funding & Open Jobs (2026-06-19)
- Revenue, Competitors, Alternatives (2022-04-20)
- YCharts Unveils Specialized AI Agent for Financial Advisors and Asset Managers (2026-06-16)
- Private equity firm LLR Partners acquires YCharts (2021-05-28)
- Products, Competitors, Financials, Employees, Headquarters Locations (2026-03-31)
- YCharts Mission, Purpose & Impact 2026 (2026-04-22)
- YCharts Company Growth, Stability & Outlook 2026 (2026-04-28)
- YCharts 2026 Company Profile (2026-01-01)
- Chicago investment research firm YCharts is acquired by LLR Partners (2020-10-09)
- Financial Research and Proposal Platform (2026-07-16)