Free SEC filing alerts you can set up in a browser

The two best free SEC filing alerts you can set up without installing anything are AyeWatch's free preview, which runs in the browser and pushes an alert when a filing fits a sentence you write, and EDGAR's own RSS feeds read in a web-based feed reader. One thing that does not work: the SEC's email sign-up, which does not cover company filings.

Here they are in order, with what each one is good for.

1. AyeWatch free preview

Best for: alerts that only fire on the filings you care about.

AyeWatch works in a browser tab, with apps for iOS and Android if you want them later. You make a monitor by typing what you want to hear about, for example "new IPO filings from game studios" or "any 8-K from Nintendo, Sony or Take-Two about an acquisition." Its investor tools list 8-Ks, Form 4 insider buys and IPO filings among the things it watches.

Alerts come with a two-line summary and a link to the source, delivered to your feed and as a push notification. The free preview needs no card. If you outgrow it, paid plans start at $9 a month, billed in monitoring credits, and add email, Slack, Discord and webhooks.

Trade-off: the free preview is a preview, not an unlimited plan.

2. EDGAR RSS in a browser feed reader

Best for: seeing every filing from a few companies, at no cost, forever.

On EDGAR, search for a company and look for the RSS link just above its filing list. You can narrow the list to one type, such as 8-K, before copying the link. The Latest Filings page does the same across all filers and can be filtered by form type or limited to insider ownership forms (3, 4 and 5).

Paste the link into any web-based RSS reader and turn on its notifications. Nothing to install, nothing to pay.

Trade-off: you get every filing that matches, routine or not, and you can only follow companies or form types, not a theme like "game studios."

3. SEC email updates (not for filings)

Best for: SEC press releases and rule news.

There is an email sign-up on the sec.gov home page, and it is free. But the SEC's FAQ says plainly that it does not offer email notification for EDGAR filings, so it will not tell you when a company files. It is listed here only because many people sign up expecting it to.

Quick comparison

How to pick

If you follow two or three companies and like reading every filing, EDGAR RSS is enough and stays free. If you want fewer, better alerts, or want to follow a whole corner of the market, start with AyeWatch's no-install monitor and keep the rule specific.

Either way, a filing alert tells you something was published. It does not tell you what to do with it, and nothing here is investment advice.