Written by the Lusha content team. We sell one of the products compared here. Lusha figures come from our connector documentation and from Campus plays with dated live runs. Competitor facts are from their public pages as of September 12, 2026. Where we lose, the page says so.
TL;DR
- What it is: a comparison of the three B2B data providers with a native way into Claude: Lusha (plugin with skills and interactive cards), Apollo (native connector with write back) and ZoomInfo (enterprise data layer), on what Claude can look up, what it can do back, what a call costs, and where each falls short.
- Best for research and prioritization inside Claude: Lusha, for 26 dated buying signals, buying group mapping, predictive scores and waterfall enrichment through a plugin that also builds Workspace tables and pushes to your CRM.
- Best for sending from Claude: Apollo, whose connector runs on any plan and can enrich a contact and add it to a sequence in the same conversation.
- Best for enterprise accounts already on the platform: ZoomInfo, through its data layer and the Codex, Cursor and Gemini integrations announced in Q2 2026.
The short version: Claude is the same model whichever data provider you connect. What changes is what it can look up mid sentence. Three vendors ship a native way in: Lusha as a plugin in the Anthropic directory (tools plus skills, with interactive cards), Apollo as a native connector with OAuth and write back to sequences, ZoomInfo through its enterprise data layer. If your team uses Claude to research and decide, Lusha gives it the widest set of dated signals and a buying group tool. If your team uses Claude to send, Apollo closes the loop in one window. Pick by what the last step of your workflow is.
Who this is for
Sales, RevOps and GTM builders already working in Claude, Claude Code or Cowork who want the assistant to answer “who should I call this week, and why” from live data rather than from memory. If you have already chosen Lusha and want setup, cost and what to ask first, go straight to Lusha for Claude. If you are a developer wiring an agent, the MCP comparison is the better page.
How we compared
Seven questions, asked of each provider on the same day: how it connects to Claude, which plans qualify, what Claude can look up, what Claude can do back, whether the cost of a call is visible before it runs, what skills and prompts ship with it, and where the data comes from. Lusha answers come from our plugin and connector documentation and from Campus plays with dated live runs. Apollo answers come from apollo.io/product/mcp and the February 24, 2026 press release. ZoomInfo answers come from the Q2 2026 earnings call. Anything we could not verify is marked “not documented” rather than assumed.
Side by side, inside Claude
| Lusha | Apollo | ZoomInfo | |
|---|---|---|---|
| How it connects | Plugin in the Anthropic directory: tools plus bundled skills, interactive cards in the chat, in chat credit purchase. Also the connector alone with OAuth, and remote MCP for Claude Code and Cursor. | Native connector (beta from Feb 24, 2026), OAuth, no API key; Claude Code and Cowork plugin with /apollo commands | Enterprise data layer; Codex, Cursor and Gemini integrations announced Q2 2026 |
| Plans | MCP and plugin on any plan, including Free (40 credits a month, no card). API on every plan, with strict rate limits on Free and Starter and full access from Pro. MCP access is on by default; admins can restrict it by role. Details on the pricing page | Any plan including free | Enterprise |
| What Claude can look up | Contacts and companies, 26 named signals with reading dates, buying group per account, lookalikes, predictive scores, website visitors, recorded sales calls, waterfall enrichment when a field is missing | Contacts and companies, enrichment, sequences, CRM records, sales analytics | Contacts, companies, intent, scoops |
| What Claude can do back | Search, enrich, signals, lookalikes; builds Workspace tables and pushes contacts and companies to Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoho, Pipedrive or SalesLoft. No sending or sequencing. | Create and update contacts, accounts and deals; add to sequences | Platform side |
| Cost visibility | account_usage returns balance and per tool price at zero credits; every Campus play runs it first. Cards show each reveal’s cost before you click. | Mirrors plan limits; costs shown in community tool descriptions | Not documented |
| Skills and prompts | Skills bundled in the plugin; a starter prompt on the consent screen; hundreds of Campus plays, and the signals plays each carry a dated live run and its credit cost | Skills bundled in the Claude Code plugin | Documentation |
| Where the data comes from | Verified across multiple independent sources, never scraped from social networks; waterfall fills gaps from external vendors on one credit balance | Apollo database plus contributor network | ZoomInfo database |
Sources: Lusha connector documentation and Campus; apollo.io/product/mcp and the Feb 24, 2026 press release; ZoomInfo Q2 2026 earnings call. Lusha capabilities updated October 29, 2026. Plan terms change; verify with each vendor.
What the plugin actually does in a conversation
You ask Claude to check a 25 account list for IT spend increases. The plugin runs the zero credit usage check, then the signal call, and Claude returns a table with the reading dates and holds five readings above 200% as VERIFY because a budget does not triple in a month. Cost: 17 credits, shown before and after. You ask for the buying group at the top account; the plugin maps the decision maker, champion and end user, each scored, without revealing a phone or email until you decide. That run is published, masked and dated, on Campus. The point is not the table. It is that the assistant knows how much to trust each number, because the date and the cadence travel with the signal.
Where Lusha loses
Apollo’s connector runs on any plan at plan limits; Lusha’s plugin does too, but a real API evaluation means Pro or above, since Free and Starter carry strict rate limits. Apollo writes back to sequences: from inside Claude it can add a contact to a sequence, and the Lusha plugin does not add to sequences; it builds the list as a Workspace table or pushes it to your CRM, and leaves the send to your sequencer or n8n. And Apollo is the default name in the “Claude for sales” listicles, which is a distribution gap, not a product one. If the last step of your workflow is “send,” Apollo is the shorter path.
Where Lusha wins
The question Claude gets asked more than any other is not “send this.” It is “who, and why now.” Lusha answers it with named, dated signals (a CRO 66 days in seat, twelve SDR roles posted in England, a budget line that rose two months running), a buying group map, a predictive score trained on your closed won deals, and a waterfall so a missing field does not end the run. It also tells Claude what not to trust: every play states the reading cadence, and the plugin returns the date with the value. And the cost is inspectable before anything is spent.
How to test it in ten minutes
Add the plugin, paste 25 domains you already work, and run the IT spend play. The first line of the output is your credit balance. The last line is what the run cost. If the assistant cannot tell you both, it is not the data provider you want underneath an agent. Setup steps, what each prompt returns and what it costs are on Lusha for Claude.
FAQ
Plugin, connector or MCP: which one do I install?
For Claude.ai, the plugin from the Anthropic directory. It includes the connector plus skills and interactive cards. If you only want the data, the connector alone installs with a sign in. For Claude Code, Cursor or an agent you build, the remote MCP endpoint. Same data, same credits, same permissions. The full walkthrough is on Lusha for Claude.
Does Claude spend credits when I ask a question?
Only when a tool runs. account_usage costs nothing and returns your balance and the per tool price before anything is spent. The full breakdown, including what a search call costs, is in how Lusha credits work.
Can Claude reveal a contact’s phone number?
Yes, when you ask and the account permits it. Preview first is the default in every Campus play; reveal is a deliberate second step, and the card shows the cost before you click.
Can Claude write anything with Lusha connected?
Yes. It can create and manage Workspace tables, and push contacts and companies to Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoho, Pipedrive or SalesLoft. It does not send messages or add contacts to sequences; outreach runs in your sequencer, Clay or n8n. Every tool is listed in what the Lusha MCP can do.
Can I use Lusha and Apollo together in Claude?
Yes. Claude supports several connectors at once. A common pairing is Lusha for signals, buying groups and verified data, and a sequencing tool for the send.
Is there a free tier?
Yes. Free is 40 credits a month, no card, and the plugin works on it. API access is included with strict rate limits; full access starts at Pro. MCP access is on by default for every user; a workspace admin can restrict it by role.
Add the Lusha plugin to Claude · Lusha for Claude: setup, prompts and cost · Five checks before you trust a buying signal · See every connector
