As markets become increasingly data-driven, sentiment companies are playing a central role in helping institutional investors, traders, and analysts extract timely insight from unstructured information. Whether it’s gauging reactions to central bank announcements or spotting early shifts in commodity prices, the best sentiment companies offer more than just a trend – they provide a critical edge.
But with a variety of platforms claiming to offer “AI-powered sentiment,” how do you know which solution is right for you?
At Permutable, we’re often compared to other leading sentiment companies. So we’ve compiled this guide to show how we — and they — stack up, using clear, honest comparisons to help you choose the best fit for your needs.
What buyers are actually looking for in sentiment companies
Before diving into each company, let’s acknowledge what serious buyers want:
- Real-time, high quality, contextual insight — not delayed scores or one-dimensional sentiment
- A transparent methodology they can trust
- Specific use cases: from macroeconomic forecasting to commodities and FX analysis
- Open data architecture, clear pricing, and responsive support
- Not just a dashboard – but a platform that integrates directly into workflows
- Avoiding using sources that are already overcrowded
Sentiment companies at a glance
Here’s a breakdown of the sentiment companies that often come up in conversations with clients and prospects, including our own.
1. Permutable
Best for: Institutional teams who need real-time, multi-asset sentiment tracking from news, macro events, and global data sources.
Why it works: At Permutable, we offer real-time data intelligence across thousands of entities — from commodities to equities and currencies — layered with contextual sentiment powered by proprietary LLM models. We don’t just say a news story is “positive” or “negative.” We identify the exact economic, geopolitical or environmental event, track its trajectory, and show you what’s shifting — and why.
Built for: Traders, asset managers, macroeconomic analysts, and fintech platforms who need speed, accuracy, and explainability.
Why people switch to us: Faster reaction time, richer context, and fully transparent scoring — all in a customisable, analyst-ready format.
2. Alexandria
Best for: Asset managers and financial services firms looking for thematic sentiment summaries.
Why it works: Alexandria uses natural language processing (NLP) to surface thematic trends across economic and financial narratives. They’re known for strong design and dashboard-based insights, with some ESG and macro overlays.
What’s the difference? Unlike Permutable, Alexandria tends to update sentiment in batches and has less focus on multi-entity correlation (e.g., how trade tensions in China affect copper, FX, and oil simultaneously).
Why companies switch to us: More detailed granularity, real-time responsiveness, cross-asset insight, and a broader range of event tagging.
3. Accern
Best for: Finserv teams who want NLP insights from financial news and social media.
Strengths: Good for surface-level signals and keyword trend detection, especially when integrated with traditional finance workflows.
Limitations: Typically lacks advanced contextualisation (multi-entity, macro linking), and leans more toward alerting than decision-making.
Why people consider Permutable instead: We offer more explainability, signal strength scoring, and use-case-ready insights for commodities, equities, FX, and global risk.
4. SESAMm
Best for: ESG and reputational sentiment analytics at the enterprise level.
Strengths: Strong reputation analysis across media sources, including litigation and controversy tracking.
Limitations: Less emphasis on real-time financial market movement, and limited in terms of intraday use by traders or quants.
Why Permutable appeals to traders: We focus directly on market-shifting data for commodities, equities, FX, macro indicators, and economic regimes — with explainable LLM-driven scoring.
5. Amenity Analytics (Now part of Symphony)
Best for: Event extraction from earnings calls and corporate filings.
Strengths: Earnings-specific sentiment, risk flags, and KPI tracking from structured corporate data.
Limitations: Primarily focused on equities and structured disclosures, not broader market news or geopolitical developments.
Why Permutable is different: We cover macro shifts, economic sentiment, global crises, and their direct impact across sectors — not just earnings.
6. RavenPack
Best for: Quant desks and hedge funds integrating news sentiment into models.
Strengths: Long-standing credibility in quant finance, structured feeds for systematic strategy development.
Limitations: Less transparency around scoring, slower updates in volatile news scenarios, and less flexibility around customisation.
Why people are choosing Permutable instead: Our explainability, next generation technology stack, cross-entity analysis, and real-time signal sensitivity deliver a clearer, more accessible and less crowded edge.
| Company | Best For | Why It Works | Limitations | Why Companies Switch to Permutable AI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Permutable AI | Institutional teams needing real-time, multi-asset sentiment across equities, macro, commodities, and FX | Contextual, explainable sentiment across thousands of entities, powered by proprietary LLMs. Real-time updates, analyst-ready scoring, and cross-asset relationships — including equities, commodities, currencies, and global macro themes. | Not designed for traditional earnings call parsing; instead, focused on broader market dynamics and real-time multi-entity sentiment. | Clients switch for faster signal speeds, transparent scoring, and real-time event-based insights that integrate directly into macro, trading, and investment workflows. |
| Alexandria | Asset managers and financial services looking for thematic dashboards | Thematic sentiment analysis with ESG overlays and well-designed UI | Sentiment updates in batches, less correlation tracking across entities and slower responsiveness | Permutable offers more granular, real-time, and multi-asset sentiment with broader event tagging and macro mapping. |
| Accern | Financial services teams wanting basic NLP alerts from financial news and social media | Good for surface-level alerts and keyword trends across traditional finance content | Limited contextualisation, weak macro integration, and not ideal for actionable signals | Permutable provides deeper signal explainability, real-time sentiment strength, and use-case-ready insights across markets. |
| SESAMm | Large enterprises monitoring ESG, litigation, and reputational sentiment | Reputation analytics across media sources; strong in controversy tracking | Not tailored for traders or real-time market monitoring | Permutable appeals to financial teams seeking real-time sentiment that moves markets — not just reputational signals. |
| Amenity Analytics | Equity analysts extracting KPIs from earnings calls and filings | Corporate disclosure parsing with a focus on equity and KPI risk flagging | Limited macro, geopolitical, or cross-sector event tracking | Permutable enables broader economic sentiment mapping and market signal correlation across sectors — including equity news and market-moving themes. |
| RavenPack | Quant desks and hedge funds using structured feeds for model building | Structured news sentiment data for quant integration with long-standing industry presence | Lower transparency in scoring, slower to adapt to volatile events, limited flexibility | Clients choose Permutable for its modern architecture, transparent logic, and real-time multi-entity signal mapping across equities, commodities, currencies, and macro. |
What’s the difference?
Let’s be honest: any sentiment company can put a “positive” or “negative” label on a headline. The real question is — does the signal come in time, and does it help you act?
At Permutable, we have built and our continuously refining our technology with institutional decision-making in mind. Our LLMs decode relationships in real time between events, entities, and asset classes. Whether it’s interest rate divergence in Asia, LNG supply shocks in Europe, or droughts impacting commodity prices in Argentina, our models deliver insight that’s immediate, specific, and actionable.
Who is our market sentiment for?
- Best for institutional traders and analysts
- Ideal for energy and commodity desks
- Trusted by macro strategy teams and quant PMs
- Used by institutions needing plug-and-play data feeds
- Perfect for those trading across assets
We’re not a one-size-fits-all vendor. We’re a sentiment partner — designed for teams who want to move faster, with confidence.
Why hedge funds and institutional trading desks are switching to Permutable
Our clients have been switching to us because we offer what many sentiment companies can’t: real-time, explainable market intelligence tailored for today’s fast-moving, cross-asset trading environment and ultimately proven alpha. Unlike tools built for batch updates, equities earnings, or basic media alerts, at Permutable we deliver high-frequency, multi-entity sentiment insights mapped directly to macroeconomic trends, commodities and currencies, equities and geopolitical events. Our transparent scoring and domain-specific LLMs ensure that the institutional teams we work with – from macro strategists to commodities traders – get not only speed and scale, but also clarity and confidence in their decision-making. Simply put, we help you act faster and smarter, when it matters most.
Don’t just monitor sentiment — understand it
Choosing the right sentiment company is about clarity, not features. It’s about who helps you see the signal, not the noise. At Permutable, we’re leading the next generation of sentiment companies by offering true data intelligence – and this is what alpha looks like.
Thinking of trying a new sentiment provider? Contact our team at enquiries@permutable.ai to discuss a demo or trial and experience first-hand how our sentiment data compares and discover why more trading desks are choosing data intelligence they can trust.