Six business data APIs are commonly used to enrich leads in 2026: Lusha, Apollo, ZoomInfo, People Data Labs, Clay and HubSpot Breeze Intelligence. All six accept an email, a LinkedIn URL or a company domain and return a filled record. They differ in three things that matter for a pipeline: what the record carries, how the call is priced, and whether a dated signal arrives with the data. Lusha’s API returns a verified contact or company record and can attach any of 26 dated buying signals to the same response, with webhooks that fire when a signal occurs. People Data Labs appears as the developer-first option in every 2026 API roundup checked. Apollo bundles enrichment with its outreach tools. ZoomInfo is enterprise-contracted. Clay chains providers in a waterfall. Breeze enriches inside HubSpot.
Key takeaways
- Decide what one call must return. A bare record (name, title, email) or a record plus context (phone, firmographics, what changed at the company this month). The second saves a call and a join.
- Pricing model matters more than price. Per match, per credit, per seat and per contract each behave differently at 10,000 records a month. Ask what a failed match costs.
- Signals in the enrichment response are rare. Most APIs return the record only; signals are a second product or a second call. Lusha attaches them with a query parameter.
- Check the plan gate before you build. Several vendors sell the API only on higher tiers or contracts.
The comparison
| API | Enrich by | Record carries | Signals in the response | Pricing model | Plan gate | Source (accessed Oct 5, 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lusha | Email, LinkedIn URL, name plus company or domain (person); domain, name or Lusha ID (company); bulk endpoints | Verified email and phone (98% email, 85% US and 86% global phone accuracy, refreshed daily), title, seniority, department, company firmographics, tech, intent, growth indicators | Yes. Add signals=promotion, companyChange and company signals (headcount growth, new jobs, news events) with a start date; webhooks push signals as they occur | Usage draws on the account balance at standard rates | API key issued from the dashboard; plan availability on the pricing page | docs.lusha.com, person enrichment, company enrichment, webhooks |
| Apollo | Email or LinkedIn URL (people/match), domain (organizations/enrich); bulk | Contact and company data; sequences, tasks and CRM objects through the same API | No signal object in enrichment responses on the pages checked | Credits per enrichment and per reveal, bundled with seats; search endpoints documented as not consuming credits | Apollo’s docs state API access on all plans including free; two 2026 third-party reviews report programmatic access gated to higher tiers | apollo.io/developers; pipeline.zoominfo.com review; datalane.com |
| ZoomInfo | Email, name plus company, domain; Enrich and search endpoints | Contact and company data, firmographics, Scoops, intent | Scoops and intent available through separate endpoints | Contract; per-call enrich pricing on the Enrich tier, per third-party review | Enterprise contract; no public pricing | docs.zoominfo.com; datalane.com |
| People Data Labs | Email, LinkedIn URL, name plus company, phone; bulk up to 100 per call | Person and company records, employment history, skills, location; data feeds and Snowflake and Databricks delivery | No | Pay per successful match; free tier with limited contact fields; volume tiers | Self-serve from a monthly minimum; enterprise for licenses | peopledatalabs.com; pipeline.zoominfo.com review |
| Clay | Any identifier, routed through a waterfall of providers including Lusha and PDL | Whatever the chosen providers return, in table columns | Via signal integrations and provider enrichments | Credits per enrichment, provider-dependent; API on paid plans | Paid plan with API access | clay.com; university.clay.com |
| HubSpot Breeze Intelligence | Email, domain, HubSpot record | Firmographics and contact fields written to HubSpot properties | Buyer intent inside HubSpot | HubSpot credits | HubSpot Starter and above for Breeze; Clearbit API remains available | hubspot.com; tinycommand.com roundup |
Competitor rows reflect each vendor’s live documentation or, where noted, a dated third-party review, on October 5, 2026. Prices are not listed; pricing models are. A fact not published on the pages checked is stated as such.
What should an enrichment API return in one call?
The minimum is the record: name, title, company, verified email. For most sales pipelines that is not enough to act on. The rep or the agent still needs the phone, the company size, and a reason to reach out this week rather than next quarter. An API that returns all of that in one response removes a join and a second vendor.
Lusha’s person endpoint accepts a signals parameter. Add signals=promotion or signals=companyChange with a start date and the response carries the contact’s role changes since that date. The company endpoint does the same for headcount growth, new job posts and news events. The record and the reason arrive together.
How do the pricing models differ at volume?
Four models are in play. Per match (People Data Labs): you pay when the vendor finds the record, not when you ask. Per credit (Apollo, Clay, Breeze): a fixed pool, drawn down by field or by enrichment, with unused credits usually expiring. Per seat plus credits (Apollo): the API rides on user licenses. Per contract (ZoomInfo): negotiated, with API calls priced inside it. Lusha draws usage from the account balance at standard rates, the same balance that Workspace and the MCP use.
The question to ask each vendor is the same: what does a failed match cost, and what happens to unused volume at month end.
Which APIs include buying signals with the record?
Lusha: yes, in the same response, with a date on each signal, plus webhooks that push promotions, job changes and company growth as they occur. ZoomInfo: Scoops and intent through separate endpoints. Clay: through signal integrations added as columns. Apollo, People Data Labs and Breeze: no signal object in the enrichment responses on the pages checked. If timing is part of the use case, this column decides.
Which plan do you need?
This is where developer time gets wasted. Apollo’s documentation says API access is on all plans; two 2026 reviews say programmatic access needs a higher tier. People Data Labs is self-serve from a monthly minimum. ZoomInfo is contract only. Clay needs a paid plan. Lusha’s API key is issued from the dashboard; the plans that include API access are on the pricing page. Confirm the gate before the first line of code.
How to enrich a lead with the Lusha API
- Get an API key at dashboard.lusha.com/enrich/api.
- GET https://api.lusha.com/v2/person with email or linkedinUrl, and add signals=companyChange,promotion and a signalsStartDate.
- For a company, GET https://api.lusha.com/v2/company with domain and signals=headcountGrowth,newJobsOpen.
- For lists, use the bulk endpoints or the prospecting search and enrich flow. Full reference at docs.lusha.com.
For the waterfall pattern across several providers, see Waterfall enrichment: the complete guide for RevOps teams. For Lusha inside Clay, see the Lusha and Clay integration.
FAQ
What is a lead enrichment API?
An endpoint that accepts a partial record, usually an email, LinkedIn URL or domain, and returns the missing fields: name, title, company, verified contact details, firmographics, and in some cases signals.
Which enrichment APIs return buying signals?
Lusha returns dated signals in the enrichment response and through webhooks. ZoomInfo exposes Scoops and intent through separate endpoints. Clay adds signals as columns. Apollo, People Data Labs and HubSpot Breeze return the record without a signal object on the pages checked.
Which enrichment API is cheapest at volume?
It depends on match rate and model. Per-match APIs such as People Data Labs charge only on hits. Credit models charge on attempts or fields. Compare on cost per successful record, not list price.
Does the Lusha API need a separate contract?
No separate contract. Usage draws on the account balance at standard rates. API key access is issued from the dashboard; plan availability is on the pricing page.
Can I call the Lusha API from Clay or n8n?
Yes. Clay lists Lusha as a provider, and n8n reaches the same data through the Lusha MCP server or an HTTP node against the API.
Sources
- Lusha API documentation
- Apollo developer documentation; Apollo API review (pipeline.zoominfo.com); datalane.com Apollo API
- ZoomInfo developer documentation
- People Data Labs; PDL pricing review (pipeline.zoominfo.com)
- Clay and Clay University
- HubSpot Breeze Intelligence; tinycommand.com roundup
