Every outbound sequence, ad audience and account-based campaign starts with data. If the contact records are stale, emails bounce and sender reputation suffers. If the firmographics are wrong, reps waste time on companies that will never buy. And if you cannot tell which accounts are actively researching your category, your team spends the same effort on cold accounts as on warm ones. That is why B2B data providers and intent data providers sit at the base of most modern go-to-market stacks.
The market splits into a few overlapping groups. Contact and company data platforms such as ZoomInfo, Apollo.io, Cognism, Lusha and UpLead supply emails, direct dials and firmographics for prospecting and CRM enrichment. Intent data providers such as Bombora and Informa TechTarget track which companies are researching which topics across publisher networks. Account intelligence platforms such as 6sense and Demandbase combine both with predictive scoring, advertising and orchestration. Dun & Bradstreet brings a long-established business registry and credit-grade company data.
For this list, we reviewed each vendor’s own product pages and cross-checked company details against press releases and public company profiles. We looked at coverage, how data is sourced and verified, the type of intent signal offered, compliance posture and who each platform suits. Vendors do not pay to appear on REVERB lists, and the order reflects our judgment of breadth and fit for typical B2B sales and marketing teams. Database sizes and other figures are as reported by each vendor.
1. ZoomInfo — All-In-One GTM Data Platform With Contact, Company And Intent Data
ZoomInfo is the most widely used B2B data platform in the enterprise market. Headquartered in Vancouver, Washington, where it opened a new waterfront office in 2025, it trades on Nasdaq under the ticker GTM. The platform combines B2B contact and company data with buyer intent, audience building, conversation intelligence, CRM lead enrichment and AI tools for sales and marketing teams, plus a recruiting product.
Intent is a real strength rather than an add-on. ZoomInfo cites its position as a Leader in Forrester’s evaluation of intent data providers. For technical teams, it offers what it calls a headless GTM data layer, accessible through API, MCP and command-line tools, so data can feed AI agents and internal applications directly. It is also a flagship data partner for Salesforce’s outbound sales agent and has integrated with Exa, a search API for AI agents.
ZoomInfo says it is used by more than half of the Fortune 500, and its customers include 22 of the 25 top software companies. It has more than 8,000 G2 reviews. The trade-off is breadth. Pricing is quoted through sales rather than published, and smaller teams may find more of the platform than they need, so it pays to scope modules carefully.
Best for: mid-market and enterprise sales, marketing and RevOps teams that want contact data, company data and intent signals from a single vendor with deep integrations.
2. Apollo.io — Large Contact Database Bundled With Sales Engagement And Buying Signals
Apollo.io, founded in 2015 and based in San Francisco, pairs a large B2B database with a full sales engagement platform. The company reports more than 240 million contacts and over 30 million accounts, and says more than 600,000 companies use it. Users can search and filter prospects, enrich records, build sequences and send emails and calls from the same product.
Apollo’s data layer includes buying signals such as intent, job changes and website visits, combined into a unified profile for each contact and account. That makes it practical for teams that want to prioritize outreach without buying a separate intent platform. Bombora also lists Apollo as an integration partner, which reflects how widely Apollo sits in outbound stacks.
Accessibility is Apollo’s main advantage. Users can sign up free with no credit card, and paid plans are published on its pricing page, which is unusual for a database of this size. Data accuracy in any self-serve database varies by region and segment, so teams running high-volume email should verify addresses before sending. If you are comparing prospecting platforms more broadly, our list of B2B prospecting tools covers adjacent options.
Best for: startups, SMBs and outbound agencies that want prospect data, buying signals and sequencing in one affordable platform.
3. Cognism — Phone-Verified Mobile Data And Compliance Tooling For European Prospecting
Cognism was founded in London in 2015 and has built its reputation on data quality in Europe, where many US-centric databases are thin. Its sales intelligence product covers contact and company data, recommended contacts, and signals including intent, hiring, job changes and funding announcements. The company says it serves more than 4,000 customers worldwide.
The standout feature is phone-verified mobile data. Cognism runs additional manual and automated checks on mobile numbers, and it says this can produce up to three times higher connect rates for calling teams. Records at director level and above are refreshed every 30 days. For teams that rely on cold calling, connect rates are often the single biggest driver of productivity, so verified mobiles matter more than raw database size.
Compliance is the other differentiator. Cognism aligns its data with GDPR, UK GDPR and CCPA, provides extensive do-not-call coverage across Europe, and says it maintains parity with ISO 27001 and SOC 2 frameworks. It also offers CRM enrichment for inbound leads, API access and an MCP server for AI assistants, with exports to Salesforce, HubSpot and Pipedrive.
Best for: sales teams prospecting into the UK and Europe, especially calling-heavy teams that need verified mobile numbers and built-in do-not-call checks.
4. 6sense — Predictive Account Intelligence Built On Multi-Source Intent Data
6sense, headquartered in San Francisco, is an account intelligence platform for ABM and revenue teams. Its behavioral intent data draws on 6sense’s own publisher network plus third-party sources including Bombora and G2, and refreshes daily. The company describes an intent network covering more than 2 million publishers and 650 million pages, and says it processes over a trillion buyer signals a day.
On top of intent, 6sense layers predictive intelligence built on more than a decade of B2B purchase data, and explains why each account is being prioritized. It also supplies company and contact data, and activation tools including advertising, AI email agents, workflows and sales intelligence, along with an assistant called RevvyAI that answers pipeline and campaign questions.
Customer logos include Okta, SAP, Sage and Shell. Its published case studies include Ivanti, which reports $263.2 million in influenced pipeline, and Custom Truck One Source, which reports $6 million in pipeline within five weeks. 6sense works best when marketing and sales have agreed on how to act on account stages; without that alignment, predictive scores tend to sit unused. For more on that alignment, see our guide to revenue operations.
Best for: mid-market and enterprise B2B teams running account-based programs that want intent, predictive scoring and activation in one platform.
5. Bombora — Co-Op Sourced Company Surge Intent Data Delivered Into Existing Tools
Bombora is the best-known pure intent data provider. Founded in 2014 and headquartered in New York, it runs a data co-op of thousands of publishers, brand sites and data providers, and says 86 percent of the co-op’s data is shared exclusively with Bombora. From that, it produces Company Surge, a score showing which companies are researching a given topic more than usual.
The scale is substantial. Bombora reports more than 14 billion monthly events across 5 million company domains, and a taxonomy of more than 25,300 intent topics. That breadth lets teams track research on narrow subjects rather than broad categories. Forrester described Bombora’s data as highly unique, according to the company.
Bombora’s other strength is distribution. Rather than requiring a new platform, it delivers intent into CRM, marketing automation and ad tech tools. Named partners include Salesforce, HubSpot, Adobe, Apollo, The Trade Desk, Google Ads, Meta Ads, LinkedIn and Dun & Bradstreet, and 6sense also uses Bombora as one of its sources. Bombora data is account-level, so teams still need a contact data source to reach the right people at surging accounts.
Best for: teams that want third-party intent signals inside the CRM, automation and ad platforms they already use, without adopting a full ABM suite.
6. Demandbase — Account Data, Intent And B2B Advertising For Enterprise ABM
Demandbase, headquartered in San Francisco, is one of the original account-based marketing platforms. It unifies account data, buying group information and intent signals, then uses them across three areas: ABM for marketing teams, sales intelligence that shows which accounts are active and who is involved, and B2B advertising that targets the accounts most likely to convert.
The focus on buying groups is useful in enterprise sales, where deals involve many stakeholders. Instead of scoring individual leads, Demandbase helps teams see which roles within an account are engaging and which are missing. Its built-in advertising capability means intent signals can trigger targeted campaigns without exporting audiences to a separate ad platform.
Customer logos include Adobe, IBM, Salesforce, Visa, Thermo Fisher Scientific, DocuSign and Gong, with testimonials from Zoom and SAP Concur. Demandbase holds ISO/IEC 27001 and SOC 2 compliance. Like 6sense, it is a significant investment that pays off when marketing, sales and operations agree on how to act on account signals. Our list of account-based marketing agencies includes partners that implement platforms like this.
Best for: enterprise B2B marketing teams running ABM programs that want account intelligence and advertising in one platform.
7. Lusha — Self-Serve Contact Data With Free Plan And Chrome Extension
Lusha was founded in Tel Aviv in 2016 by Yoni Tserruya and Assaf Eisenstein and now lists its office at 800 Boylston Street in Boston. It is a self-serve B2B data and prospecting platform that reports more than 515 million contacts and 29 million companies, including 132 million US contacts, and says it is used by more than 280,000 go-to-market teams.
Lusha is known for its Chrome extension, which reveals contact details while a rep browses professional networks and company websites. It also offers a free plan with no credit card, which makes it easy to test. Each email comes with a confidence score, and company records carry 77 fields. Lusha tracks buying signals such as job changes, funding rounds, hiring surges and new leaders, each dated and tied to a named company.
Lusha publishes an extensive list of compliance credentials, including SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27701 and ISO/IEC 42001, GDPR certification from ePrivacyseal and CCPA validation from TrustArc. Its signals are event-based rather than topic-level research intent, so teams that want to know what accounts are researching should pair it with an intent provider.
Best for: individual reps, recruiters and small sales teams that want quick, self-serve access to contact data inside their browser.
8. Dun & Bradstreet — D&B Hoovers Sales Intelligence On Top Of The D-U-N-S Business Registry
Dun & Bradstreet is the long-established business data company behind the D-U-N-S Number, a free identifier used to establish business credit profiles and widely used as a reference key for company data. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, D&B was taken private by Clearlake Capital Group in a $7.7 billion deal completed in August 2025.
For sales and marketing teams, the main product is D&B Hoovers. It provides access to data on more than 330 million companies and contacts, buyer intent data to identify accounts ready to purchase, and alerts when companies or contacts appear in the news or go through significant changes. It integrates with Salesforce, and D&B is also listed as a Bombora integration partner.
D&B’s advantage is company-level depth and consistency. Corporate hierarchies, financial and risk data and a stable identifier make it a strong fit for enterprises that need to clean CRM records, map parent and subsidiary relationships, or align sales territories with finance and procurement data. Teams focused on high-volume outbound may find contact-centric tools faster for day-to-day prospecting.
Best for: enterprises that need reference-grade company data, corporate hierarchies and consistent identifiers across sales, finance and risk teams.
Informa TechTarget (Nasdaq: TTGT) was formed when Informa Tech’s digital businesses combined with TechTarget in late 2024. It runs a network of more than 220 technology websites with more than 50 million permissioned, first-party audience members. That audience is the source of its purchase intent data, which shows which technologies and vendors individual prospects at specific accounts are researching.
This is a different kind of intent from co-op or bidstream sources. Because the research happens on TechTarget’s own editorial sites, the company can tie it to registered, permissioned individuals rather than only to company domains. In September 2025, the company announced a 41 percent expansion of its intent data, adding more than 75 digital communities and more than 2,000 topics, and cited its recognition as a Leader in Forrester’s evaluation of intent data providers.
Buyers who know the Priority Engine product should note that Informa TechTarget launched the Informa TechTarget Portal at the same time, combining intent data, audience insights and marketing tools in one interface. The Portal replaces the standalone Priority Engine intent solution, and existing customers are being moved to Portal modules. Coverage is strongest for technology purchases, so vendors outside IT should check topic relevance first.
Best for: technology vendors selling to IT, security and data buyers that want prospect-level, first-party purchase intent.
10. UpLead — Real-Time Verified Contact Data With A 95% Accuracy Guarantee
UpLead is a B2B contact database founded in 2017 and headquartered in Walnut, California. It reports more than 200 million leads, which are verified as users search and ranked by freshness. Emails are checked in real time and verified again when leads are exported, which protects sender reputation for outbound teams.
UpLead’s positioning is accuracy for the price. It cites 95 percent data accuracy and backs it with an accuracy guarantee and refunds on bounced or poor-quality records. It also offers intent data to flag prospects actively looking for a solution like yours. The company says it costs about one third as much as the largest sales platforms.
A seven-day free trial and free sample leads make UpLead easy to test against your own target list before committing. It is a lighter platform than ZoomInfo or 6sense, without built-in ABM orchestration or advertising, which is exactly why it appeals to smaller teams and agencies that just need clean, verified contacts. Good data is only half of deliverability; see our guide to B2B email deliverability for the rest.
Best for: small sales teams, agencies and founders who want verified email data at a modest price and value bounce protection over platform breadth.
How To Choose A B2B Data Or Intent Data Provider
What Problem Are You Solving: Contacts, Accounts Or Timing?
Contact data tells you how to reach people. Company data tells you which accounts fit. Intent data tells you which accounts are in market now. Many teams buy an expensive intent platform when their real problem is bounced emails, or buy cheap contact data when their real problem is prioritization. Define the gap first, then choose the category before choosing a vendor.
How Good Is Coverage In Your Market?
Every B2B data provider claims hundreds of millions of records, but coverage varies sharply by country, industry, company size and seniority. Export a sample of your actual target accounts and ask each vendor to enrich it. Compare match rates, email validity, mobile number availability and title accuracy. This trial matters more than any headline database size.
Where Does The Intent Signal Come From?
Intent data providers use very different sources. Bombora uses a publisher co-op, Informa TechTarget uses first-party research on its own sites, and 6sense blends its own network with third-party feeds. Some signals are account-level, others identify individuals. Ask how topics are defined, how often scores refresh, and how the provider separates real research from noise.
Is The Data Compliant Where You Sell?
If you prospect in Europe, GDPR obligations apply to how you source and use personal data, and many countries maintain do-not-call registries. Ask vendors how they collect data, how they handle opt-outs and which certifications they hold. Cognism and Lusha publish detailed compliance information, which is a good benchmark for others.
Will It Integrate With Your CRM And Workflows?
Data that sits in a separate tool rarely gets used. Check native integrations with your CRM and marketing automation platform, how enrichment handles duplicates and field overwrites, and whether API or MCP access is available for automated workflows. If you are still choosing a CRM, our comparison of HubSpot vs Salesforce is a good place to start.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is The Difference Between B2B Data And Intent Data?
B2B data describes who a company or person is: firmographics, job titles, emails and phone numbers. Intent data describes behavior: which companies or people are researching specific topics, products or competitors. Most teams need both, using intent to decide whom to prioritize and contact data to reach them.
What Are The Main Types Of Intent Data?
First-party intent comes from your own website, product and marketing engagement. Third-party intent comes from outside sources, such as publisher co-ops like Bombora’s or editorial networks like Informa TechTarget’s. Some vendors also track event-based signals such as job changes, funding rounds and hiring, which indicate change but not specific research.
How Much Do B2B Data Providers Cost?
Costs range widely. Apollo.io and Lusha offer free plans, and UpLead offers a seven-day trial with self-serve pricing. Enterprise platforms such as ZoomInfo, 6sense and Demandbase quote pricing through their sales teams, and costs depend on seats, modules and data volume. Always ask how credits are consumed and what happens to unused credits at renewal.
Do Lead Generation Agencies Use These Data Providers?
Yes. Most outbound agencies build lists from one or more of these databases, often combined with enrichment and verification tools. If you hire an agency, ask which sources it uses and whether you keep the data. Our lists of lead generation companies and Clay and GTM engineering agencies cover partners that work with this data.
Conclusion
There is no single best B2B data provider, only the best fit for your market and motion. ZoomInfo offers the broadest all-in-one platform for larger teams. Apollo.io, Lusha and UpLead make contact data accessible to smaller budgets. Cognism leads for European prospecting and verified mobiles. Bombora and Informa TechTarget are the specialist intent data providers, while 6sense and Demandbase combine intent with account-based orchestration. Dun & Bradstreet remains the reference for company-level data.
Test any shortlist against your own target accounts, confirm compliance in the regions you sell to, and make sure the data flows into the tools your team already uses. Good data does not close deals on its own, but bad data makes every other part of the funnel harder.
