Most in-depth company information is not available for free. Below are a number of websites that provide information for free or at low cost. Company websites are often a valuable source of information on all aspects of a company. You can usually find annual reports and other basic information about the company, as well as press releases about new products and developments, key personnel, and financial information.

10KWizard
10 K Wizard provides expanded coverage and advanced search capabilities of the SEC’s EDGAR (Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval) database. It allows you to perform keyword searches on up-to-the-minute SEC filings and set up alerts for companies you want to track. The database includes all 418 electronically filed forms, EDGAR Archives through 1994, pre-EDGAR Historical Index (listing) of all SEC filings to 1966, and foreign filers. Subscriptions start as low as $199/year.

AnnualReports.com
Annualreports.com “is the most complete and up-todate listing of Annual Reports online. We are America’s largest annual report service. Our directory is a free Internet service that will enable potential investors to review a company’s annual report in an easy, convenient manner. This free service provides access to annual reports in their actual format.”

BizJournals.com
Biz Journals offers recent news from more than 40 local business journals. You can search and view articles by topic, industry, or market location. When researching a particular company, this is a good place to view recent news articles about them.

High Beam
High Beam is a low-cost search engine that allows you to search both its library of articles from leading business, industry, and general interest publications (more than 3,000 sources), or free sources on the Web, including search engines, news, discussion lists, business information and research Web sites. You can create a customized group of resources to search each time, or search by source type or topic. You can also create email alerts or RSS feeds for a particular search. High Beam offers both a free basic subscription and a $99 full subscription that provides access to the full text of the articles.

Hoovers.com
Hoovers offers free brief information about companies, as well as news and industry information. For most companies, you can access a description of the company, sales revenues, and key personnel. To access the in-depth information (financials, executive profiles, competitors) you must purchase a subscription, which ranges in price depending on the type of organization and number of users.

LLRX.com – Business Filings Databases
LLRX is a helpful compendium of annotated links by state to corporate and business filings available online. “All 50 states make some level of corporate and business filings available online. In a few instances only limited information (such as name availability) is retrievable. The majority of the states, however, use their Web presence to disseminate a range of public business records -- and most of them offer access at no charge.”

New York Public Library – Searching for Company Information
NYPL.org includes a free online course, “Prospecting for Business Information.”

SEC Filings and Forms (EDGAR)
EDGAR provides free access to U.S. corporate filings. All companies, foreign and domestic, are required to file registration statements, periodic reports, and other forms electronically through EDGAR. The website offers links to the complete list of filings available through EDGAR and provides instructions for searching the EDGAR database.

Thomas.net
Thomasnet.com is an industrial search engine that provides information on more than 650,000 manufacturers, suppliers, and service providers. You can search for product information by category or name; for example, glass bottles or fence posts. You can also search for company information by region or for the entire United States and Canada, and for information by brand name. Other options include millions of CAD drawings, a radius search from a specific location, and company certification information. The website is free. You can also find quite a bit of useful information on companies and other economic data through state agencies. Most states collect information on corporations, sales tax revenues, demographics, wages and employment, licensed professionals, and other data that you can access via the Web, usually for free or a small fee.