Your outreach is only as good as the data behind it. We compared eight B2B contact databases on what each vendor publishes: accuracy, coverage, compliance and how pricing works. Lusha is our product, so it’s listed first. Every other entry uses only that vendor’s own pages, checked October 26, 2026.
The short answer
- Lusha if you want verified contacts with dated buying signals on the same record, published accuracy figures, and a free plan to test on your own list: 98% email accuracy, 85% US and 86% global phone accuracy, 515M+ contacts.
- ZoomInfo if you’re an enterprise team buying through procurement. It states 500M+ professional profiles and 135M+ direct dials. Pricing goes through a demo.
- Apollo if you want contact data, sequences and a dialer in one tool.
- Cognism if your calls go mainly into Europe. It checks numbers against 16 do not call lists worldwide.
- UpLead, SalesIntel, Hunter or Kaspr for narrower needs: a flat credit per contact, human research on demand, email only, or LinkedIn prospecting in Europe.
What is a B2B contact database?
A B2B contact database holds verified professional contact information, such as business emails, direct dials, mobiles, job titles and company data, that revenue teams use to find and reach decision makers. The data goes stale fast. Lusha’s decay study found 12.25% of US sales leaders changed roles in 12 months (B2B data decay, 148,000 records, September 2026).
- Core data types: business emails, direct dials, mobile numbers, profile links, and company data such as headcount, industry, revenue and technologies.
- Who uses it: SDRs and BDRs building outbound lists, AEs researching accounts, RevOps teams enriching the CRM, and marketing ops teams scoring leads.
- What it changes: less time on manual research, and more calls and emails that reach the right person.
- How it differs from a CRM: a CRM stores the relationships you have. A contact database finds and checks new contacts before they enter it. See how B2B data enrichment fits the wider workflow.
How we compared them
Each entry uses only what the vendor publishes on its own site, checked October 26, 2026. Where a vendor doesn’t publish a figure, we say so rather than fill the gap from reviews or estimates. We looked at:
- Accuracy: the email and phone figures the vendor states, and what they cover.
- Coverage: the contact, phone and company counts the vendor states.
- Compliance: certifications and do not call handling.
- Pricing: whether prices are published, and how credits work.
- Extras: buying signals, AI access, enrichment and integrations.
A published figure is an average across a vendor’s whole database. Your segment may sit above or below it, so test any vendor on your own list before you sign.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Choose it if | Published accuracy figure | How pricing works | Free option |
“Not found” or “not checked” means the figure wasn’t on the vendor pages we opened on October 26, 2026. It may be published elsewhere. Ask the vendor in writing.
1. Lusha
Why it’s on this list
Lusha publishes 98% email accuracy and 85% US and 86% global phone accuracy across 515M+ contacts and 29M+ companies, with 132M+ contacts in the US counted by the contact’s location (Lusha facts). Data comes from its community program, licensed partner directories and publicly available business information. The data sources page explains each one.
Lusha returns the contact with the context to use it. Each account can carry 26 dated buying signal types, such as funding, hiring surges, job changes and leadership moves. Buying Group ranks who at an account decides, champions and uses what you sell, and Lusha scores accounts against your ideal customer profile. The same data works in the Workspace, the Chrome extension, the API, and inside Claude and ChatGPT through the Lusha MCP, on every plan including Free.
Certifications: SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, 27017, 27701, 31700 and 42001, TRUSTe Responsible AI, GDPR certified by ePrivacyseal and CCPA validated by TrustArc. Anyone can view, correct or remove their record through the Privacy Center.
Pros
- Published accuracy: 98% email, 85% US and 86% global phone
- 26 dated buying signal types and Buying Group roles on the same record
- Search shows which numbers exist before you pay. A phone is 5 credits, an email 1
- Free plan with 40 credits a month and no card, plus MCP access on every plan
- Native HubSpot and Salesforce on every plan
Cons
- Phone coverage drops below senior levels. In Lusha’s US sales data, 85.3% of C-suite records carry a phone, against 61.2% at manager level
- Coverage is lower outside the US. 66.1% of German sales VPs and directors carry a phone, against 81.6% in the US
- Hiding numbers on do not call lists is a Scale plan feature and covers the US and UK today
Pricing
Five plans: Free (40 credits a month, one seat, no card), Starter, Pro and Premium (self serve, monthly or annual) and Scale (custom annual). Current prices are on the pricing page.
What users say
“We were struggling with poor data quality: low accuracy rates and countless invalid entries. With Lusha we achieved 95% email deliverability and a 72% phone contact rate, and saved $85,000 annually compared to our previous provider.”
Good fit if
You want verified contacts with a reason to reach out, in a B2B prospecting platform you can test free before committing. Lusha’s native integrations with Salesforce, HubSpot, Outreach, Salesloft and Pipedrive fit the stack you already run.
2. ZoomInfo
Why it’s on this list
ZoomInfo states 500M+ professional profiles, 100M+ company records, 135M+ direct dials and 96% email deliverability. It’s built for enterprise go to market teams, and pricing goes through a demo request.
Pros
- Large stated direct dial count: 135M+
- States 96% email deliverability
- Built for enterprise teams with a dedicated operations function
Cons
- No prices on the page we checked
- No phone accuracy figure or do not call handling on the page we checked
Pricing
Through a demo request. Ask for the phone accuracy figure and do not call handling in writing before you sign.
Good fit if
You’re an enterprise team buying through procurement and want a large direct dial count.
Compare: ZoomInfo alternatives.
3. Apollo
Why it’s on this list
Apollo combines a contact database with sequences and a dialer in one tool. It returns mobile, work direct, home and other numbers, and gives the company HQ number at no charge.
Pros
- Data, sequences and a dialer in one subscription
- Charges once per contact when it finds and verifies at least one phone number
- Warns you when a number is on a do not call registry
Cons
- We found no phone accuracy figure on the pages we checked
- Credits are still charged for numbers on a do not call registry
- Unused credits don’t roll over and aren’t refundable
Pricing
Published plans with a credit allowance. Calls through Apollo’s own dialer are charged per minute.
Good fit if
You want contact data and outreach tools in one place, and your team will run sequences inside Apollo.
Compare: Apollo alternatives | Apollo competitors.
4. Cognism
Why it’s on this list
Cognism verifies mobile numbers through manual and automated checks and says these phone verified mobiles connect 3x more often than the industry average. It checks numbers against 16 do not call lists worldwide and refreshes director level and above contacts every 30 days.
Pros
- Do not call screening across 16 lists worldwide
- Phone verified mobiles, with on demand verification on Pro
- MCP and API access on both packages
Cons
- No published prices
- On demand mobile verification sits on the Pro package
Pricing
By quote. Standard and Pro packages, each with 5 seats included. One credit reveals one contact.
Good fit if
Your calls go mainly into Europe and do not call screening across many countries is a requirement.
5. UpLead
Why it’s on this list
UpLead charges one credit per contact, and that credit includes both the email and the mobile direct dial. It states 95% accuracy for email and describes its phones as verified, without a figure.
Pros
- One flat credit per contact, with email and mobile included
- Published prices and a 7 day trial with 5 credits
- Monthly plans with no contract
Cons
- The 95% figure covers email, not phones
- No do not call handling stated on the page we checked
- Essentials and Plus are single user accounts
Pricing
Essentials from $99 a month for 170 credits, Plus from $199 a month for 400 credits, Professional by quote and billed annually.
Good fit if
You want a simple per contact price with the phone included, for one user.
6. SalesIntel
Why it’s on this list
SalesIntel combines automated data with human research and offers research on demand for contacts it doesn’t have yet. On its own blog it states phone number accuracy of 83%+, measured on a sample of 5,000 mobile numbers a month.
Pros
- A stated phone figure with the sample behind it
- Research on demand for contacts outside the database
Cons
- We didn’t find a published price list
- The phone figure is SalesIntel’s own measurement
Pricing
Ask SalesIntel for current plans.
Good fit if
You want human verified records and can wait for research on demand to fill gaps.
7. Hunter
Why it’s on this list
Hunter is built for finding business email addresses by company domain. Its pricing page lists email searches and verifications, auto verified data on all plans, and unlimited users. It doesn’t list phone numbers.
Pros
- Free plan with 50 credits a month
- Unlimited users on every plan
- Email verification built in
Cons
- No phone numbers listed on its pricing page
- No buying signals or account data for outbound at scale
Pricing
Free, Starter, Growth, Scale and Enterprise. Current prices on Hunter’s pricing page.
Good fit if
You only need business emails for specific domains.
8. Kaspr
Why it’s on this list
Kaspr is a LinkedIn first prospecting tool with a Chrome extension. Its paid plans include unlimited B2B emails, with phone credits metered by plan.
Pros
- Free plan with 15 B2B email credits a month
- Unlimited B2B emails on paid plans
- Works inside LinkedIn
Cons
- Phone credits are capped on each plan
- No accuracy figure on the page we checked
Pricing
Free, Starter, Business and Enterprise. Current prices on Kaspr’s pricing page.
Good fit if
You prospect from LinkedIn in Europe on a small budget.
Also considering RocketReach? See Lusha vs RocketReach and RocketReach alternatives.
How to choose a B2B contact database
Match the tool to where you sell, who you call and how you buy.
- You sell mainly in the US: compare Lusha and ZoomInfo. Lusha publishes its US count (132M+) and phone accuracy (85% US), and you can test it free. ZoomInfo states a large direct dial count and sells through a demo.
- You sell mainly in Europe: check do not call screening first. Cognism screens 16 lists. Lusha hides numbers on the US and UK lists on Scale.
- You’re a startup or small team: start with a free plan. Lusha, Hunter and Kaspr have one, and UpLead has a 7 day trial.
- You need a reason to reach out, not just a contact: look for buying signals and buying group roles on the same record. Lusha returns 26 dated signal types and Buying Group roles with the contact.
- You only need emails: Hunter covers domain based email search.
Whichever you shortlist, run the same test on all of them: pick 100 contacts you’d call anyway, check which have a phone before paying, reveal 50, and work out the cost per right person reached. The phone number databases comparison walks through the full one week test.
FAQs
What is the best B2B contact database?
It depends on where you sell and how you buy. Lusha suits teams that want verified contacts with buying signals and a free plan to test on. ZoomInfo suits enterprise teams buying through procurement. Cognism suits teams calling mainly into Europe. Test any shortlist on your own contacts, because published figures are averages.
How much do B2B contact databases cost?
Models differ. Lusha, Hunter and Kaspr have free plans with published paid tiers. UpLead publishes prices from $99 a month. ZoomInfo and Cognism price by quote. Compare the cost per contact you’ll actually reach, not the plan price.
What should I look for in a B2B contact database?
Published email and phone accuracy figures, coverage for your countries and seniority levels, do not call handling, CRM integration, a clear credit model, and whether the record tells you why to reach out now.
How do I evaluate contact data quality before buying?
Ask each vendor for its accuracy figures and how they were measured. Then run a pilot on contacts you already have: check which have a phone or email before paying, reveal a sample, and measure bounces and wrong numbers. A vendor’s headline contact count tells you little about how many records reach the right person.
Conclusion
A good contact database saves research time, cuts bounces and puts reps in front of the right person at the right time. A poor one fills your CRM with stale records. Shortlist two or three from this page, test them on the same 100 contacts, and choose on cost per right person reached. Lusha’s free plan lets you start that test today.
Sources, all opened October 26, 2026: Lusha, Lusha facts (updated October 25, 2026) and DNC docs. Coverage by level and country counted live through the Lusha connector. ZoomInfo, ZoomInfo for Sales. Apollo, Access a Prospect’s Phone Number and What Are Credits? Cognism, Pricing and Our data. UpLead, Pricing. SalesIntel, How accurate is SalesIntel data. Hunter, Pricing. Kaspr, Pricing.
