Started as a personal
project.
Built for everyone.

I knew what the numbers meant — I just got tired of digging through hundreds of pages to find them. So I built the tool I wanted.

Overall progress 0%
Research
Prototype
Dev
Beta
Launch
Growth

About Plainsheet

How it started

A 10-K is hundreds of pages. The numbers I actually wanted were buried across all of them.

I understand financial metrics — gross margin, free cash flow, debt-to-equity, all of it. That was never the hard part. The hard part was the grind: opening a filing, scrolling through page after page of footnotes and legal language, hunting down the figures, and piecing them together by hand just to get a read on a company. I built Plainsheet so I didn't have to do that anymore. It pulls the filing, finds the numbers, does the math, and lays it out in seconds — so the time goes into thinking about the company, not excavating it.

The real problem

The data is public. Getting to it is the chore.

Every figure is sitting right there in the filings on SEC EDGAR — for free. But finding it means wading through a dense document that was written for lawyers and regulators, not for someone who just wants to understand a business. Plainsheet does the wading for you and hands back the part that matters, with plain-English context next to every number.

Who it's for

For people who get the numbers — and people who want to learn them.

If you already know your way around a balance sheet, Plainsheet saves you the legwork. If you're still learning, every metric comes with a plain-English explanation and a built-in dictionary, so you pick it up as you go. Same tool, both ends of the spectrum. No VC, no ads — just something genuinely useful, free where it can be.

1 person
Solo-built
$0 raised
Bootstrapped
Free core
The data is public, so the basics stay free

RoadMap — and where it's going

01 — THE QUESTION
Can this actually work?
✓ Complete
Dug into the SEC EDGAR API to see if financial filings could be parsed into something structured. They could. That was enough to keep going.
SEC EDGAR API Filing structure Feasibility
02 — THE LOCAL BUILD
Built for one user
✓ Complete
Built a working local version and used it to research companies personally. It solved the problem I had. Then I wondered if it would solve it for people who don't have an accounting background.
Local app Filing parser Metric explainers Personal use
03 — BUILDING FOR EVERYONE
Development
In progress
Rebuilding the local tool into a proper platform. User accounts, plain-English metric explainers, AI filing assistant, multi-year charts, and a free/Pro tier structure. The core research engine is done — platform work is happening now.
Metrics engine AI assistant User accounts Plain-English explainers Charts
04 — FIRST REAL USERS
Beta
Up next
Small group of everyday investors. Find where it breaks for someone without a financial background. Fix those things before opening it up.
Early access Real feedback Onboarding Bug fixes
05 — OPEN TO EVERYONE
Public launch
Planned
Free tier goes live publicly. Pro pricing set at whatever it costs to run sustainably — not to maximise revenue. The SEC data is public, so access to the core tool should be too.
Free tier live Pro pricing Public release
06 — BEYOND THE TOOL
Financial literacy platform
Future
Expand from a filing reader into a place where investors actually improve their financial literacy over time. Learn content, watchlist alerts, mobile experience, and more — built around the same principle: make this understandable for everyone.
Learn content Watchlist alerts Mobile Community

Plainsheet is a research tool — not financial advice.

Everything on Plainsheet is based on historical data that companies have already filed publicly. We help you read and understand that information — but we never tell you what to buy, sell, or hold. The AI assistant can make mistakes and should always be checked against the original filing. For financial decisions that matter, consult a licensed professional. See our Terms of Service for the full detail. Plainsheet is an educational and research platform; information provided is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial, investment, legal, or tax advice.