The actually useful free data sources for retail investors—no signup walls, no paywalls

I've spent way too much time finding free data for investment research. Most "free" sources either paywall the good stuff or require creating accounts that lead to endless sales emails. Here's what actually works.

Stock fundamentals:

SEC EDGAR (US stocks): The primary source. Every 10-K, 10-Q, 8-K, and proxy filing. It's ugly and hard to navigate, but all the data is there and it's official. I use it for reading actual filings rather than relying on third-party summaries.

Companies House (UK stocks): Annual reports and accounts for UK companies. Less detailed than SEC filings but useful for UK-specific research. Free to search and download.

Yahoo Finance: Despite Yahoo's decline, the finance section remains useful. Key stats, financial statements (3 years of history), and analyst estimates. Data quality varies—I've found occasional errors—so I cross-reference important numbers.

Macrotrends: 10+ years of financial history for most US stocks, presented in clean charts and tables. Revenue, earnings, margins, ratios over time. Genuinely useful for spotting trends. Some data requires scrolling past ads, but it's there.

TIKR: Relatively new, but offers detailed financials with longer history than Yahoo. Requires free account. I've found it reliable for the data I've cross-checked.

Dividend data:

Nasdaq Dividend History: Ex-dates, payment dates, amounts going back years. Official source for US dividend data.

Dividend.com: Dividend history, payout ratios, growth rates. Some features are premium, but the basics are free.

Simply Safe Dividends: Limited free access, but their dividend safety scores are useful if you're evaluating income stocks. I use the free tier for screening, not deep analysis.

Market data and charts:

TradingView (free tier): Best free charting available. Limited to 1 saved chart and basic indicators on free tier, but you can do a lot with it. The community scripts are hit-or-miss but occasionally useful.

Finviz: Stock screener, maps, and basic charts. The free screener is powerful enough for most retail investors. I use it for initial filtering before deeper research.

Barchart: Free delayed quotes, options chains, and basic analysis. Nothing exceptional, but reliable.

Economic data:

FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data): Treasury rates, inflation, GDP, employment—basically any macro data you need for context. Free, official, downloadable. The charting tools are basic but functional.

ONS (UK Office for National Statistics): UK economic data. Less user-friendly than FRED but comprehensive.

World Bank Open Data: Global economic indicators. Useful for international or emerging market context.

What I actually use regularly:

For a typical research session:

1. Finviz screener to identify candidates

2. Yahoo Finance for quick overview and recent news

3. Macrotrends for long-term financial trends

4. SEC EDGAR for the actual filings if I'm seriously considering buying

5. TradingView for price charts and technical levels

What's not worth the time:

Stocktwits, most Reddit stock subs, and free "stock picking" newsletters. The signal-to-noise ratio is terrible. I'll look at sentiment occasionally but wouldn't base decisions on it.

What free sources have you found useful? Anything I'm missing?