Apollo vs ZoomInfo vs Lusha vs Cognism

• Best for a free plan and simple per-contact credits: Lusha
• Best for a database bundled with sales engagement: Apollo
• Best for EMEA phone compliance: Cognism

4 tools side by side

	Apollo	ZoomInfo	Lusha	Cognism
Contact database	240M+ contacts, 30M+ accounts✓	70M+ direct dials, 174M+ verified emails✓	290M+ contacts, 29M+ companies✓	10M+ phone-verified contacts; total size not published✓
Free plan	Yes, for founders and light usage✓	Not published on the pages we read	Yes, up to 40 credits a month✓	Not published on the pages we read
Pricing model	Credits are the platform currency✓	Licenses plus credit usage✓	Credits per email or phone reveal✓	Seats with a bundled credit allocation✓
Published price	From $49 per seat a month, billed annually✓	Not published; priced by license and credits✓	From $37.45 a month, billed yearly✓	Not published on the pages we read
Accuracy claim (vendor-stated)	98% email accuracy✓	96% email deliverability, 87% mobile accuracy✓	98% email accuracy, 86% phone accuracy✓	Phone-verified numbers connect 3x more often, per a cited study✓
Phone compliance	Not published on the pages we read	General CCPA and GDPR standards, no named DNC list✓	Not published on the pages we read	DNC screening across 12+ named countries✓
CRM integrations	Salesforce, HubSpot, Outreach, SalesLoft, Marketo✓	Plug-and-play CRM, marketing and sales automation sync✓	HubSpot, Salesforce, n8n✓	Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive, Bullhorn, Dynamics✓
Best for	A database with built-in sales engagement✓	Buyer-intent and website-visitor signals✓	A free tier and simple credit math✓	EMEA-heavy teams needing DNC-screened mobiles✓

Apollo: a database bundled with built-in sales engagement

Apollo's data product page states its network includes 240 million-plus contacts and 30 million-plus accounts, with verified B2B data, firmographics, and signals✓. The company positions its Free plan for founders and early-stage teams exploring the product or running very light usage✓, and it uses credits as the single currency for actions across the platform✓. Apollo says it never charges more than 1 credit to access a contact's personal or business email, whether you reveal one field or both✓.

On data quality, Apollo describes a seven-step email verification process that checks emails within catch-all domains and verifies data in real time✓, on top of an automated multi-step verification process it says keeps the database accurate and records up to date✓. Apollo also runs monthly checks across its database on top of the real-time updates it applies whenever a new signal comes in✓. Where no single provider has full coverage on a record, Apollo's waterfall enrichment pulls from more than 20 trusted third-party sources in sequence until each field is complete✓.

Beyond data, Apollo bundles six connected sales engagement products into the same account: Sequences for multi-channel outreach, Dialer for calling, Tasks for daily execution, Book of Business for account-based follow-up, AI Messaging for personalization, and Meeting Scheduler for booking✓. It also includes a built-in Email Deliverability Suite covering domain and mailbox setup, authentication, warmup, verification, reputation protection, and monitoring, plus the ability to buy dedicated sending domains and mailboxes inside the platform with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC configured automatically✓. Apollo documents integrations with Salesforce, HubSpot, Outreach, SalesLoft, Marketo, Sendgrid, LinkedIn, and all major email providers, with API access for custom integrations available on Custom plans✓.

Where Apollo falls short

Apollo's pricing page lists Basic at $49 per seat a month✓, Professional at $79✓ and Organization at $119 with a 3-seat minimum✓, all billed annually, while the Free plan comes with 900 credits per seat a year✓ 3. Apollo's own FAQ acknowledges that third-party email verification tools sometimes flag its verified emails as invalid, explaining this happens because most popular checker tools rely on SMTP tickling, a method that cannot tell valid emails from invalid ones on catch-all domains✓. That is a useful caveat for anyone cross-checking Apollo's output against a separate verification tool before sending.

Migration difficulty

Apollo locks every seat on an account to the same plan tier; the pricing page states plainly that you cannot have some users on Professional and others on Basic, because the plan level applies to the whole account✓. Credits reset at the start of each billing cycle and do not roll over if unused, so unused capacity does not carry forward into a new contract term✓. Apollo also caps how many records a user can select from the database in one action, up to 10,000 leads per click without a limit in place, though bulk export of already-saved records is still available in one step✓. Its documented integration list and Custom-plan API access make moving data in and out relatively standard✓.

ZoomInfo: the broadest published database, priced by license and credit depth

ZoomInfo's Sales product page describes the largest B2B contact database among the four tools in this comparison, with more than 70 million direct-dial phone numbers and more than 174 million verified email addresses✓. On top of the base database, ZoomInfo Sales adds buyer-intent tracking for companies researching a solution✓, and it plugs into CRM, marketing automation, and sales automation platforms through plug-and-play integrations customers can purchase✓.

None of the ZoomInfo pages we read states a dollar price. ZoomInfo says pricing is based on features and functionality, the number of licenses, and credit usage✓, and packaging depends on license count and the desired level of data and feature access rather than a published rate card✓. On accuracy, ZoomInfo's data page displays headline stats of 96% email deliverability and 87% mobile number accuracy✓. Its 2024 Form 10-K, a public SEC filing rather than a marketing page, describes an AI and machine-learning powered engine that gathers data from millions of sources and standardizes, matches, verifies, and cleans it✓, backed by a human-in-the-loop research team the filing says focuses on quality assurance and gaps technology alone cannot close✓. ZoomInfo's developer documentation describes an API for retrieving company and contact data, enriching records, and building audiences✓.

Where ZoomInfo falls short

ZoomInfo's data-sourcing page frames its privacy program around CCPA in the United States and GDPR in the European Union as general standards, without naming specific Do Not Call registries the way Cognism's compliance page does✓. And unlike Apollo, none of ZoomInfo's public pages we could read states an actual price, so a real quote requires a sales conversation.

Migration difficulty

ZoomInfo's 10-K states that its standard customer contract includes a quality guarantee: a customer can terminate its subscription, and ZoomInfo could be obligated to reimburse certain payments, if data accuracy falls below a stated threshold✓. That is a contractual detail worth asking about directly rather than assuming it applies to every deal. On the technical side, ZoomInfo's developer documentation describes API limits evaluated across per-second, per-hour, and per-day windows that vary by package, surfaced through rate-limit response headers✓.

Lusha: simple per-contact credits with a free tier

Lusha's own product page describes itself as the B2B data and intelligence layer for GTM teams and AI agents, with more than 290 million verified contacts and more than 29 million companies✓. Its pricing page is the most transparent of the four on unit economics: revealing a verified email address costs 1 credit, and revealing a phone number costs 5 credits✓. Lusha's Free plan provides up to 40 credits a month and already includes basic prospecting features, the browser extension, and CRM integrations✓.

On data quality, Lusha states platform-wide figures of 98% email accuracy and 86% phone accuracy✓, and it describes a published test of 322 US contacts run in July 2026 in which work email returned a usable value for all 322 contacts and mobile phone returned a usable value for 97.5% of them✓. Lusha's documentation lists native connectors for HubSpot, Salesforce, and n8n✓, and separately states that its HubSpot integration can auto-enrich contacts and companies inside CRM workflows✓. Its API documentation covers contact and company prospecting and enrichment, including fields like previous employment and LinkedIn data✓.

Where Lusha falls short

Lusha's pricing page lists Starter at $37.45 a month with 4,800 credits a year✓ and Pro at $52.45 a month with 7,200 credits a year✓, both billed yearly 13. Lusha's compliance and phone pages were not part of the set we read for this comparison, so we cannot say what, if anything, it publishes about Do Not Call screening; treat that as "not published on the pages we read" rather than an absence of a program. Its database-size and accuracy figures, including the 322-contact test, are also vendor-published claims rather than an independent audit✓.

Migration difficulty

Lusha's Free plan already includes CRM integrations and the browser extension, which lowers the cost of a first evaluation before a paid commitment✓. Its documented native connectors for HubSpot, Salesforce, and n8n, plus a public API for enrichment, mean moving data into an existing stack does not require custom development for the most common targets✓.

Cognism: phone-verified data built for EMEA compliance

Cognism's pricing page describes a seat-based model: credits are used to reveal, enrich, or export a contact, each seat carries a bundled credit allocation as part of the subscription, and additional credits can be purchased at any point✓. The unit is simple even without a public dollar figure: 1 credit equals 1 revealed contact✓. Its Standard plan is described as built for teams that need core prospecting workflows and includes 5 seats✓.

Cognism's core differentiator is phone data. The company says it has more than 10 million phone-verified contacts globally, with 95% of director-level and above contacts refreshed every 30 days✓, and it cites an independent study calling 1,000 contacts' mobiles to support a claim that phone-verified numbers are three times more likely to connect than standard mobile numbers✓. On compliance, Cognism says it screens its telephone database against Do Not Call registries in the UK, US, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, France, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Croatia, Sweden, and Belgium✓, and separately claims DNC list cross-referencing across an "industry leading" 15 territories✓. For GDPR, Cognism says it relies on the lawful basis of legitimate interest under Article 6(1)(f), with assessments in place to support that basis✓, and more broadly says its data collection and processing practices adhere to GDPR and CCPA guidelines✓. A customer quote on Cognism's own site claims the vendor can power prospecting across "the UK, Europe and North America" from one database✓, though that is a vendor-selected testimonial rather than an audited coverage figure. On integrations, Cognism lists Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive, Bullhorn, and Microsoft Dynamics as supported CRMs, plus Zapier for connecting the rest of a tech stack✓.

Where Cognism falls short

Cognism's pricing page never states a dollar figure; the seat count is the only fixed commercial detail it publishes, and everything else routes to a sales conversation✓. Its own compliance page says it is still working to register in more Do Not Call registries around the world, so the named 15-territory DNC list is a point-in-time count, not a finished map✓. And Cognism does not publish a total database size on the pages we read, only the 10-million-plus phone-verified contact figure✓.

Migration difficulty

Cognism's credit model, where each seat gets an allocation and more credits can be purchased at any point without a described expiry, is more flexible on paper than a hard monthly reset✓. Its named integrations cover the major CRMs (Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive, Bullhorn, Microsoft Dynamics) plus Zapier for everything else✓.

How the 4 vendors back their accuracy claims

Every accuracy number in the table above is vendor-stated, not independently audited by Modern Inbound or by a neutral third party. Apollo backs its 98% email accuracy figure with a described seven-step verification process, real-time updates on new signals, and monthly database checks✓. ZoomInfo backs its 96% and 87% figures with an AI and machine-learning data engine plus a human-in-the-loop research team, and its standard contract includes a quality guarantee tied to accuracy thresholds✓. Lusha backs its 98% and 86% figures with a published test of 322 US contacts run in July 2026✓. Cognism backs its phone-connect claim with a cited independent study that called 1,000 contacts' mobiles✓.

None of these four descriptions amounts to a shared, neutral benchmark. Sample sizes, definitions of "accuracy," and testing dates differ by vendor, and none of the four companies let a third party audit their full live database on a recurring basis in the pages we read. The only reliable way to compare them for your own use case is to run the same list of target contacts through each tool's free plan, trial, or a small paid batch, and record how many fields come back usable for your actual target geography, seniority, and industry, rather than trusting any single published percentage.

Which of the 4 tools should you choose?

Choose Apollo if you want a contact database bundled with sales engagement, calling, and deliverability tools inside one account, and you are comfortable working within a credit system that resets every billing cycle✓. 16

Choose ZoomInfo if buyer intent, website-visitor identification, and a very large direct-dial and email database matter more to you than a published price or a documented Do Not Call list✓. 7

Choose Lusha if you want to start on a free plan, understand exactly what an email or phone reveal costs before you commit, and need documented HubSpot, Salesforce, and n8n connectors from day one✓. 1316

Choose Cognism if most of your prospecting happens in the UK, Europe, or other markets with active Do Not Call enforcement, and you need a vendor that documents which registries it screens against and what GDPR lawful basis it relies on✓. 19

FAQ

How we researched this

We read the pricing, product, integrations, and documentation pages published by Apollo, ZoomInfo, Lusha, and Cognism, plus ZoomInfo's 2024 Form 10-K filed with the SEC, all on September 30, 2026. Every factual claim in this article links to the specific vendor page it came from, with an exact quote saved at the time we read it. Where a vendor did not publish a figure on the pages we could read, we said so instead of estimating one.

How Modern Inbound can help

Picking a data vendor is one decision inside a larger outbound system: list building, verification, sending infrastructure, sequencing, and reply handling all have to work together regardless of which of these four tools sits underneath. Modern Inbound builds and runs that full system for clients, and can help you test any of these four vendors against your actual target list before you commit to a contract.