The article evaluates public and private information and consulting services provided to small and medium-sized enterprises in Poland. The author uses methods furnished by new institutional economics and the theory of market inefficiency. Gancarczyk compares an experimental group covered by public assistance against a control group made up of companies with similar features and using commercial information and consulting services. The comparison was made according to criteria such as accuracy, efficiency, usefulness, reliability and effectiveness. The study reveals that public authorities should continue providing free information and consulting services, the author says, because there are continued market inefficiencies, including an insufficient supply of consulting services and a strong asymmetry in access to information. The market inefficiencies in question call for further public assistance in this area, Gancarczyk adds. The analysis of the criteria of accuracy, efficiency, usefulness, reliability and effectiveness from the perspective of alternative costs confirms that free public services are more reliable than comparable services offered by private service providers, while the evaluation of effectiveness and usefulness for both groups was similar. On the other hand, public service providers displayed lower efficiency, Gancarczyk says.