Software advice
Best Sales Intelligence Software in 2026
Sales intelligence software is a data product that gives sales and marketing teams verified business contacts, company profiles and buying signals, so reps can decide whom to approach and when. Some tools sell a searchable contact database, others identify companies visiting your website. It is not a CRM, and it does not send your outreach for you.
Quick answer
ZoomInfo ranks first for teams that want the broadest database and accept a quote-only contract. Cognism fits European outbound that needs phone-verified mobiles, and Apollo suits small teams that want published tiers, a free plan and sequencing in one tool.
A sales intelligence purchase is mostly a purchase of data rights. The interface matters less than what you may reveal, export and keep, and how the vendor counts it. Some vendors sell seats with pooled credits, some sell credits per revealed contact, and some price by the number of companies identified on your site. This ranking judges how clearly each vendor shows its price logic, how it handles European privacy rules, and what happens to exported records when you leave. Pages were read in October 2026. We ran no accuracy tests of the databases, so every coverage claim by a vendor is treated as marketing, not measurement.
The 8 best sales intelligence software in 2026, ranked
The order is the verdict, there is no score. No vendor paid for position. How we rank.
| # | Tool | Best for | Free plan | Entry price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ZoomInfo | Mid-size and enterprise sales teams that want one vendor for contacts, intent signals and marketing audiences | Trial | Quoted |
| 2 | Cognism | European and North American outbound teams that need verified mobile numbers and a documented compliance posture | No | Quoted |
| 3 | Apollo.io | Startups and small sales teams that want a database, email sequencing and a free starting plan | Yes | Quoted |
| 4 | Lusha | Individual sellers and small teams who want browser-extension lookups with a transparent credit rule | Yes | Quoted |
| 5 | Leadfeeder | Marketing teams that want to see which companies visit their website and push them into a CRM | Yes | €79 per month (Discover, billed annually) |
| 6 | Leadinfo | Small and mid-size B2B companies in Europe that want visitor identification with lead scoring and CRM links | Trial | €69 per month (Starter, up to 50 identified companies) |
| 7 | Kaspr | Recruiters and sellers who work inside LinkedIn and want phone and email lookups per user | Yes | €45 to €59 per user per month (Starter) |
| 8 | Vainu | Sales and CRM teams working in Finland and the other Nordic markets | No | €250 per month (Reach, billed annually, excluding VAT) |
- 1
ZoomInfo
ZoomInfo ranks first because its product range is the widest here: a contact database, intent signals, website visitor data and marketing audiences under one contract. Sales plans run from Professional to Copilot Enterprise, with free trials on all three. The ranking stops short of recommending it blindly, since nothing on the pricing page gives you an amount.
Strong on
- Sales plans are tiered from Professional to Copilot Enterprise, with a trial button on each
- Marketing plans list included credits, 75,000 on Demand and 150,000 on ABM Enterprise
- Native links to Salesforce, HubSpot and several marketing automation platforms are listed
Weak on
- No price appears on the pricing page, so budgeting needs a sales conversation
- One credit is used per exported profile, so heavy exporting consumes the allowance
Skip it if: Solo sellers and small teams who need a published price, a month-to-month plan or a free tier. Plan names are public, amounts are not. Cost depends on licenses, credits and add-ons.
- 2
Cognism
Cognism ranks second because it is the clearest about how it handles European privacy rules, and because credits are charged once per revealed contact, which is simple to forecast. Pro adds on-demand mobile verification and intent data. The price is hidden behind a quote, and the database is narrower in global reach than ZoomInfo's, which keeps it second for large worldwide teams.
Strong on
- One credit reveals one contact, and viewing a previously revealed contact costs nothing
- Lists ISO 27001, ISO 27701 and SOC 2 Type II on its security page
- Pro tier adds on-demand mobile verification and intent topics, up to 12 per administrator
Weak on
- Pricing is quote-only, so a trial of data quality needs a sales contact
- Intent data and mobile verification require the higher Pro package
Skip it if: Sellers who want a self-serve free plan or a month-to-month card purchase. Standard and Pro packages each include five seats. Amounts are quoted, and extra credits can be bought at any time.
- 3
Apollo.io
Apollo ranks third because it combines a contact database with sequencing and a plan structure a small team can read without a call. The free plan stays free after the trial. It falls behind the first two on privacy documentation, where the fetched pages show only a GDPR label, and on a shared plan level across the whole account.
Strong on
- Free plan stays available after the trial without a time limit
- Credits are pooled across the team, with per-user caps that admins can set
- Sequencing, dialer and pipeline tools sit inside the same product as the data
Weak on
- All seats on one account share one plan level, so mixed needs force the highest tier
- Unused credits expire at the end of each billing cycle and never roll over
Skip it if: Regulated buyers who need certification detail on the pricing page, or teams that want rolled-over credits. Free, Basic, Professional and Custom plans exist. Per-seat amounts did not render in the fetched page.
- 4
Lusha
Lusha ranks fourth because its credit rule is the easiest to explain: 1 credit for an email, 5 for a phone number. A free plan makes testing cheap, and its trust center lists SOC 2 Type II. It sits below Cognism and ZoomInfo because the published pages show no plan amounts and team limits start above five users.
Strong on
- Credit cost is stated plainly, 1 for an email and 5 for a phone number
- Trust center lists SOC 2 Type II and an uptime SLA of 99.95 percent
- Monthly plans roll unused credits over up to twice the plan limit
Weak on
- Teams above five users must go through sales for seats
- Per-user credit limits are available only on Scale plans
Skip it if: Large teams that need predictable seat pricing, or buyers who need a European-hosted database. The free plan gives up to 40 credits per month. Paid plan amounts are not listed in the page text.
- 5
Leadfeeder
Leadfeeder ranks fifth because it answers a narrower question than the databases above, but answers it cheaply and with clear EU hosting. The free Lite tier lets you test match rates on real traffic. It ranks below Cognism and Apollo for outbound, as it identifies companies first and offers verified contacts only on higher plans, which cost several times more.
Strong on
- Lite is free with unlimited users and 7-day visitor history
- Infrastructure is stated as hosted on AWS within the EU/EEA
- Holds ISO 27001 and ISO 27701 per its security page
Weak on
- Price moves with companies identified, so a traffic spike raises the monthly cost
- Scale is billed annually only, and Activate adds contact credits on top
Skip it if: Outbound teams with little website traffic, since there is little to identify. Lite costs €0. Discover, Activate and Scale scale with the number of companies identified per month.
- 6
Leadinfo
Leadinfo ranks sixth because its tiers are clear and it bundles a database of decision makers into even the Starter plan. A no-card free trial and an ISO 27001 badge help. It ranks below Leadfeeder because there is no permanent free tier, and the entry plan allows manual CRM sharing only, so automation costs a step up.
Strong on
- Starter includes 3 users, 3 automations and a database of decision makers
- Pricing page lists 67 free CRM integrations, from HubSpot to others
- Trial needs no credit card, and the page shows an ISO 27001 badge
Weak on
- Starter sends insights to a CRM by hand, since automated sharing begins at Scale
- Phone support is only on Scale and above, and Starter has email only
Skip it if: Teams that need cold-outbound lists of companies who never visited their site. Scale starts at €159 and Pro at €359, each rising with identified companies. Billing term was not confirmed.
- 7
Kaspr
Kaspr ranks seventh because it does one job, contact lookups from LinkedIn, at a per-user price that is easy to read. Its credit tables and export allowances are published in full. It sits low because intent data and account-level signals, which the tools above offer, are reserved for the Enterprise plan, and its reach beyond LinkedIn is limited.
Strong on
- Per-plan phone and direct email credits are listed, plus yearly export allowances
- Works on top of Sales Navigator and Recruiter Lite
- Add-on credit packs are priced openly, from 250 phone credits
Weak on
- API access is limited and only on request for Starter
- Intent data and SSO require the Enterprise plan
Skip it if: Teams needing account-level buying signals or list building outside LinkedIn. Business is €79 to €99 per user per month. Two figures per plan, billing term unlabeled.
- 8
Vainu
Vainu ranks eighth, last, because its scope is regional by design. Inside the Nordics it publishes clear monthly prices, with one country database per licence, and says it collects company data itself. Outside that region, a team will find a global database far more useful, and mobile coverage is not the focus, which keeps Vainu from a higher rank.
Strong on
- Monthly prices per product are published, with data packages priced separately
- Each licence includes one country database and one to two seats
- Offers delivery by platform, API, MCP or CLI, or as a managed service
Weak on
- Extra countries, seats and connectors are priced only on a sales call
- The pages read do not state certifications, so ask for them
Skip it if: Teams selling outside the Nordic region, or buyers who need mobile-number coverage worldwide. Data Sync starts at €417 and Discover at €583. Premium data adds €83 and Full adds €167 per month.
How these sales intelligence software were judged
How accurate is the contact data in sales intelligence software?
No vendor page here proves accuracy, because each describes its own data. ZoomInfo advertises verified emails, direct dials and mobile numbers across Professional and Copilot plans. Cognism offers on-demand mobile verification on its Pro package, and Lusha publishes a customer quote claiming 95 percent deliverability, which is a testimonial and not an audit. Vainu says it collects its Nordic data itself. Test before signing: export 200 contacts from your own target list, send them through an email verifier, call 30 mobile numbers, and compare vendors on the share that connect. Do this for the region you sell in, since coverage differs sharply by country.
What does sales intelligence software cost, and how is it billed?
Billing models split three ways. ZoomInfo and Cognism publish package names but no prices, and Cognism includes five seats in each of its Standard and Pro packages. Apollo, Lusha and Kaspr use credits: Lusha charges 1 credit for an email and 5 for a phone number, and gives 40 credits free each month. Kaspr lists Starter at €45 to €59 and Business at €79 to €99 per user per month, depending on billing term. Visitor tools differ again: Leadfeeder starts at €79 per month for Discover and Leadinfo at €69, both scaling with identified companies. Vainu starts at €250 per month for Reach. All as of October 2026.
Is sales intelligence data collection legal under GDPR?
It can be, but the vendor carries part of the duty, so read how each handles notice and opt-out. Cognism states that it notifies contacts of their inclusion within GDPR timeframes and screens phone data against Do Not Call lists. It lists ISO 27001, ISO 27701 and SOC 2 Type II. Leadfeeder states that it hosts on AWS within the EU/EEA and offers a data processing agreement based on Standard Contractual Clauses. Leadinfo shows an ISO 27001 badge. Lusha lists SOC 2 Type II. Apollo shows a GDPR label only. For ZoomInfo, Kaspr and Vainu, the vendor's certification detail was not checked. You, as the sender, still need a lawful basis for each email.
What do I keep if I cancel my sales intelligence subscription?
Contact data is the main hostage. Cognism says a revealed contact stays usable throughout the contract, and Kaspr includes yearly export allowances of 12,000 leads on Starter and 30,000 on Business. Apollo states that unused credits expire each cycle and do not roll over. Lusha rolls monthly credits over up to twice the plan limit but resets annual ones. Check the licence terms for exported records, because many vendors require deletion or re-licensing after the contract ends. Visitor tools hold less, since history sits in a short window: Leadfeeder Lite keeps seven days of visitor history. Export before the renewal notice date.
Which sales intelligence tool fits a solo seller, a European outbound team or an enterprise?
A solo seller or founder should start with free tiers: Apollo, Lusha and Kaspr all have one, and Leadfeeder Lite is free for visitor identification. A European outbound team that depends on mobile numbers should put Cognism first in its trial plan. A Nordic seller should price Vainu against a global tool. An enterprise with many reps, marketing audiences and routing needs should open a ZoomInfo conversation, since its Marketing plans list included credits of 75,000 and 150,000. A marketing team with traffic and no SDR team should choose Leadinfo or Leadfeeder.
How to choose a sales intelligence platform in three steps
- Decide whether you need a database or visitor data. Write down the question you ask each Monday. If it is whom to approach out of a market of ten thousand companies, you need a contact database such as ZoomInfo, Cognism or Apollo. If it is who from our existing traffic deserves a call, you need visitor identification such as Leadinfo or Leadfeeder. Teams often buy the wrong half, then pay for a second tool within a year. Count your monthly site visitors and your target-account list size first, because those two numbers set the price band for each type.
- Price a pilot with your own list. Take 500 accounts you actually want and ask every shortlisted vendor to match them. Record the hit rate for accounts, titles and mobile numbers. Then convert each quote to cost per usable contact: credits spent divided by contacts that survive a bounce check. Lusha needs 5 credits per phone number, Cognism uses 1 credit per revealed contact, and Apollo credits are pooled and expire monthly. Ask whether a re-reveal of the same person costs again. Choose on the cost per usable record, not the headline seat price.
- Check privacy duties before the first export. Ask four questions in writing. Where is the platform hosted? Which certifications can you see, and can you receive the report? How do contacts opt out, and how quickly does the vendor suppress them? What may you do with exported records after cancellation? Leadfeeder states EU/EEA hosting, and Cognism names its Do Not Call screening. For vendors whose pages are silent, such as ZoomInfo's pricing page, request the trust documentation and a data processing agreement before loading any CRM data into the tool.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best sales intelligence software in 2026?
ZoomInfo ranks first in this comparison for its breadth of data, intent signals and enterprise controls, though pricing is quote-only. Cognism ranks second for European outbound teams that need verified mobile numbers, and Apollo ranks third for small teams that want a free plan with sequencing. The order is editorial and reflects public pages read in October 2026.
Is there a free sales intelligence tool?
Several have free tiers. Lusha gives up to 40 credits per month, Kaspr lists a free plan with 15 B2B email credits, Apollo keeps a free plan after the trial, and Leadfeeder Lite costs €0 with 7-day visitor history. These work for testing data quality on a small sample. Real outbound volume will push you into a paid plan.
How does Lusha count credits?
Lusha charges 1 credit to reveal a verified email address and 5 credits to reveal a phone number. The free plan includes up to 40 credits per month, so it covers about 40 emails or 8 phone numbers. On monthly plans unused credits roll over up to twice the plan limit, while annual plans reset at the end of the year.
Which sales intelligence tool is best for European prospects?
Cognism is the most explicit about European compliance, listing ISO 27001, ISO 27701, SOC 2 Type II and Do Not Call screening in several countries. Leadfeeder states EU/EEA hosting for visitor data, and Vainu focuses on Nordic companies. For other regions, ask each vendor for coverage numbers on your own target list.
What is the difference between Leadfeeder and Leadinfo?
Both identify companies visiting your website and sell by the number of identified companies. Leadinfo bundles a database of decision makers and a Starter plan at €69 per month, while Leadfeeder offers a free Lite tier and paid tiers from €79. Compare their match rates on a month of your own traffic before choosing one.
Does ZoomInfo publish its prices?
No. The ZoomInfo pricing page lists plan names such as Professional, Copilot Advanced and Copilot Enterprise, but no amounts, and routes buyers to a form. The page states that one credit is used when a profile is exported. Expect a negotiated annual contract that depends on seats, credits and add-ons.
Can I buy sales intelligence for the Nordic market only?
Yes. Vainu sells licences that each include one country database and one to two seats, starting at €250 per month for Reach on annual billing, excluding VAT. A Premium data package adds €83 per month and Full adds €167. Extra countries, seats and connectors are priced on a sales call.
What happened to Clearbit?
Clearbit's own website now says Clearbit has joined HubSpot, and it points existing customers to a login page. For that reason it is not ranked here as a standalone product. Buyers who want its enrichment data should ask HubSpot about the current packaging, since this ranking did not verify the replacement plans.