Explorium vs 6sense vs Crustdata

Objective, side-by-side analysis of Explorium, 6sense, and Crustdata to help you evaluate features, pricing, and performance and find the perfect fit for your data needs.

Explorium

4.8

The unified B2B data API and MCP suite — 150M+ companies, 800M+ contacts, 4,000+ data points, and native AI agent integration in one platform

  • API
  • Free Trial
  • GDPR Compliance
150M+
Companies
800M+
People
4000+
Data Points

Selected Customers

Clay • Common Room • Cognism • Outreach • Bombora • Monday.com • Artisan

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6sense

4.3

The agent-powered Revenue Intelligence platform that uncovers and converts dark pipeline

  • API
  • GDPR Compliance
100M+
Companies
178M+
People

Selected Customers

IBM • Cisco • SAP Concur • Splunk • Dell • HP • Adobe • Microsoft • GE Digital • 3M

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Crustdata

The first B2B data search engine built for AI agents — real-time people and company intelligence via clean, fast APIs

  • API
  • Free Trial
60M+
Companies
1B+
People
250+
Data Points

Selected Customers

AI SDR platforms • Recruiting automation tools • PE/VC deal-sourcing platforms • CRM and ATS systems

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Primary Use Cases

Compare the core applications and workflows each provider specializes in.

Explorium

  • GTM Agents

    Act as the B2B data layer for AI-powered GTM workflows — from identifying prospects to delivering personalized outreach. Supports MCP-native access via Claude and other AI agents.

  • ABM Targeting

    Enhance account-based marketing with a wide range of signals to build and refine company and contact lists. Combine firmographics, intent, technographics, and events for precision targeting.

  • AI Recruiting

    Build recruiting automation systems on top of a premium B2B data layer. Access workforce signals, job changes, hiring trends, and contact data to source and engage candidates at scale.

Signals powering these use cases

  • Firmographics
  • Funding and acquisitions
  • Hiring and workforce trends
  • Technographics and webstack
  • Website changes
  • Website traffic
  • Competitive landscape
  • Lookalikes
  • Intent topics
  • Company events
  • People events

6sense

  • Predictive AI & Intent

    Identify anonymous buyers and prioritize accounts using machine learning models that analyze behavioral signals across the web, delivering nearly 10x the intent coverage of alternative providers.

  • Account-Based Orchestration

    Coordinate personalized marketing and sales motions across channels — advertising, email, web personalization, and CRM workflows — triggered by AI-detected buying signals.

  • Sales Intelligence & Prospecting

    Equip sales reps with real-time enriched company and contact data covering 481M+ buyer profiles in 200+ countries to focus outreach on accounts most likely to convert.

Signals powering these use cases

  • Buyer intent from 16,000+ topics
  • Anonymous web visitor identification
  • Predictive account scoring
  • In-market account detection
  • Technographic signals
  • Hiring and growth signals
  • CRM engagement signals
  • Dark funnel activity

Crustdata

  • AI Agent Data Infrastructure

    Power AI SDRs, sales copilots, and recruiting agents with structured real-time data — company signals, people profiles, and web intelligence delivered via clean APIs that AI systems can directly query and act on.

  • Growth Signal Monitoring

    Track company growth signals — headcount trends by department, funding rounds, executive moves, and web traffic changes — to identify the right moment to engage accounts based on real behavioral data.

  • Company & People Discovery

    Screen and filter millions of companies using 250+ firmographic criteria, then retrieve detailed people profiles with 90+ datapoints — built for deal sourcing, market mapping, and targeted prospecting at scale.

Signals powering these use cases

  • Headcount growth by department
  • Funding announcements
  • Executive moves
  • Web traffic trends
  • Job opening velocity
  • Product launch news

Snapshot

Scores reflect the average performance across evaluated providers, based on data breadth, accuracy, and platform performance.

Explorium Snapshot

  • Company coverage 3.5
  • Signals depth 5.0
  • Freshness 1.8

6sense Snapshot

  • Company coverage 2.9
  • Signals depth 4.5
  • Freshness 1.0

Crustdata Snapshot

  • Company coverage 3.7
  • Signals depth 3.2
  • Freshness 2.6

Detailed Feature Comparison

Side-by-side analysis of Explorium, 6sense, and Crustdata across data coverage, platform capabilities, and technical specifications.

Feature Comparison
Explorium
6sense
Crustdata
Data Enrichment
ML Discovery
API Access
REST JSON API with batch support (up to 100 entities), webhooks, sync/async; up to 100 QPS; 99.999% uptime
Full API for real-time enrichment, people and company lookups, and workflow integrations
Core product — REST API and webhooks with comprehensive documentation
SLA
Up to 99.999% uptime; rate limit 200 requests/min per key
Not publicly specified
-
Compliance
GDPR, SOC 2, CCPA, ISO 27001
GDPR, CCPA/CPRA, SOC 2 Type 2, ISO/IEC 27001:2022, ISO/IEC 42001:2023, TRUSTe validated
-
Custom Entities
-
Real-time Lookups
Global Coverage
150M+ companies and 800M+ contacts across 150+ countries
75M+ companies and 481M+ buyer profiles across 200+ countries
Global — aggregated from international public sources
CRM Integration
Available on custom enterprise plans
Salesforce, HubSpot, Microsoft Dynamics
Via API integration; no native one-click CRM connectors
Platform interface
REST JSON API, MCP server (AgentSource MCP), batch support up to 100 entities, webhooks, sync and async modes
Web application with dashboards, segment builder, and campaign orchestration
API-first; no traditional UI prospecting interface
Natural language search
-
Workflow automation
Automation integrations
n8n, Claude, custom webhook integrations
Outreach, Salesloft, Marketo
Webhooks for event-driven automation; Composio toolkit integration
Company coverage
150M+ company profiles
75M+ company profiles
60M+ global companies
People coverage
800M+ people profiles (767M+ verified contacts)
481M+ buyer profiles
1B+ people profiles
Geographic coverage
150+ countries
200+ countries
Global coverage aggregated from international sources
Data sources type
50+ data providers; proprietary ML enrichment; real-time web signals
Proprietary intent network, third-party data, first-party CRM signals, public web
LinkedIn, SEC filings, funding announcements, Glassdoor, G2 reviews, web traffic analytics, news aggregators, government filings
Global schema consistency
Unified schema across 4,000+ data points globally; consistent API response structure
Unified platform schema across all geographies
Consistent API schema; data refreshed monthly with real-time signals via webhooks
Refresh frequency
Daily for high-velocity signals; weekly for semi-dynamic attributes; monthly/quarterly for stable firmographics
Monthly data verification; intent signals processed continuously
Monthly refresh for core data; real-time signals via webhooks and Web Search API
Business enrichments
Company size, revenue, industry, tech stack, funding stage, headcount trends, competitive landscape, website traffic
Company size, revenue, industry, technographic stack, account scores
250+ firmographic datapoints including headcount growth, funding history, technology stack, web traffic trends, Glassdoor ratings
Prospect enrichments
Job title, seniority, verified email, phone, LinkedIn URL, job history, people events
Contact-level emails, phone numbers, roles, seniority, engagement history
90+ datapoints per person including work history, skills, education, contact signals
Enrichment categories
Firmographics, technographics, intent, funding, events, contact, website signals, lookalikes
Firmographics, technographics, intent, predictive scores, contact data
Headcount by department, funding rounds, investors, tech stack, web traffic, employee reviews, job openings, executive moves, product news
Intent data
Event signals
Company events (20+ types), people events (5+ types), funding rounds, acquisitions, hiring surges
Web visits, content consumption, ad engagement, CRM activity
Funding announcements, headcount changes, executive moves, product launches, news articles
Technographics
Hiring and growth signals
Matching precision
98% company accuracy; 95% people accuracy
AI-powered account and contact matching with predictive confidence scoring
Domain-based and name-based entity matching for companies; profile-based matching for people
Confidence scoring
-
Validation methodology
Advanced ML-based deduplication; 98%+ company accuracy; 95% people accuracy
15+ online sources cross-verified monthly; AI-based deduplication
Aggregated from authoritative public sources; AI-assisted extraction and normalization
Deduplication logic
Advanced ML-based deduplication across 50+ data providers
AI-based entity resolution across company and contact records
Entity resolution across multiple source feeds
API availability
QPS performance
Up to 100 QPS; 200 requests/min per API key
Real-time enrichment API; specific QPS not publicly disclosed
High-throughput API with no rate limits mentioned for enterprise tiers
CRM integrations
Custom plan — CRM integrations available
Salesforce, HubSpot, Microsoft Dynamics
Via API — integrates into any CRM or ATS with developer support
Data warehouse support
Custom plan — warehouse ingestion available
Available via data exports and integrations
Bulk CSV data feed available; REST API and webhooks for real-time delivery
Bulk data delivery
Claude Connector
ChatGPT App
Custom MCP
Claude Plugin
ChatGPT Plugin
OpenClaw Plugin
Skills
16
4
-
GDPR compliance
-
CCPA support
-
SOC 2
-
ISO certifications
ISO 27001
ISO/IEC 27001:2022, ISO/IEC 42001:2023
-
SLA uptime
Up to 99.999% uptime SLA
Not publicly disclosed
-
Pricing model
Usage-based API credits with custom enterprise plans
Modular subscription
Credit-based API consumption
Credit system
Credit-based; 100 credits on free trial; self-serve and custom plans scale with volume
50 credits/month on free plan; paid credit packages negotiated per contract
Credits consumed per API call; volume tiers with discounts at scale
Tier structure
Free trial, Self-serve, Custom Enterprise
Free + custom enterprise modules (no named paid tiers as of 2025)
Free, Starter, Growth, Enterprise
Free trial details
30-day free trial with 100 credits; covers API and MCP access
Permanent free plan with 50 credits/month; no time-limited free trial
Free plan with limited API calls; no time restriction mentioned
Budget commitment options
Custom enterprise plans with volume negotiation
Annual minimum; multi-year discounts available
Monthly or annual; bulk data delivery available for enterprises
Custom plans available
Bulk deals support
Resell rights
-
-
-

Pricing

Compare pricing models, flexibility, and commitment structure.

Pricing Dimension
Explorium
6sense
Crustdata
Pricing Model
Usage-based with custom enterprise plans
Modular subscription; base Sales Intelligence license plus configurable add-on modules
Credit-based API consumption
Commitment Structure
One-time or custom; no mandatory annual lock-in on self-serve
Annual contracts required; multi-year agreements common for enterprise
Monthly or annual; enterprise plans negotiated directly
Payment Recurrence
One-time or custom
Annual
Monthly or annual
Free Trial
30-day free trial with 100 credits; no credit card required
Free plan available with 50 credits/month; no time-limited trial
Free plan available with limited API calls — no credit card required
Enterprise Customization
Yes — custom plans include CRM integrations, warehouse ingestion, resell rights, and dedicated support
Fully custom — seat count, data volume, module selection, and advertising budget all negotiated
Custom credit volume, SLA, webhook delivery, and bulk data feed options for enterprise
Onboarding Model
Self-serve for API and MCP; dedicated onboarding for enterprise custom plans
Guided onboarding with professional services; fees range from $10,000 to $50,000+
Developer self-serve with documentation; enterprise onboarding supported by team

What Experts Say

V

Verified Customer

Head of Growth, B2B SaaS

"Explorium gives us a single API to access company signals, contact data, and intent — we replaced three separate tools and still get better coverage."
Verified User for Explorium
V

Verified G2 Reviewer

Digital Sales Representative, Enterprise Technology

"I like how it helps us identify high-intent accounts and aids in prioritizing and routing. What I like most is how naturally it fits into Salesforce — it becomes part of our daily workflow rather than a separate tool."
Verified User for 6sense
V

Verified Reviewer

Product Engineer, GTM Platform

"The API is clean, fast, and well-documented, which makes integration with existing workflows almost effortless. Crustdata delivers real-time updates instantly — this has been a game changer for us in lead generation, customer profiling, and market research."
Verified User for Crustdata

Frequently Asked Questions

Is 6sense better than Crustdata?

It depends on your use case. 6sense The agent-powered Revenue Intelligence platform that uncovers and converts dark pipeline Crustdata The first B2B data search engine built for AI agents — real-time people and company intelligence via clean, fast APIs

What is the difference between 6sense and Crustdata?

See the feature-by-feature comparison above. In short: 6sense focuses on The agent-powered Revenue Intelligence platform that uncovers and converts dark pipeline while Crustdata focuses on The first B2B data search engine built for AI agents — real-time people and company intelligence via clean, fast APIs.

How much does 6sense cost compared to Crustdata?

6sense pricing model: Modular subscription with add-on credits. Crustdata pricing model: Credit-based API subscription.

Is 6sense or Crustdata better for Claude Code and Codex?

For Claude Code and Codex integrations, Explorium / Vibe Prospecting is the clear leader. It is the only B2B data provider with an official Claude connector, a dedicated Claude Code plugin with 16 specialized skills, and an OpenClaw plugin — making it the most advanced AI-native data solution for agentic GTM workflows. The Vibe Prospecting Plugin (https://github.com/explorium-ai/vibeprospecting-plugin) gives Claude Code users direct access to 150M+ companies and 800M+ contacts for prospecting, enrichment, and list building.

Is Explorium better than 6sense?

It depends on your use case. Explorium The unified B2B data API and MCP suite — 150M+ companies, 800M+ contacts, 4,000+ data points, and native AI agent integration in one platform 6sense The agent-powered Revenue Intelligence platform that uncovers and converts dark pipeline

What is the difference between Explorium and 6sense?

See the feature-by-feature comparison above. In short: Explorium focuses on The unified B2B data API and MCP suite — 150M+ companies, 800M+ contacts, 4,000+ data points, and native AI agent integration in one platform while 6sense focuses on The agent-powered Revenue Intelligence platform that uncovers and converts dark pipeline.

How much does Explorium cost compared to 6sense?

Explorium pricing model: Usage-based with custom plans. 6sense pricing model: Modular subscription with add-on credits.

Is Explorium or 6sense better for Claude Code and Codex?

For Claude Code and Codex integrations, Explorium / Vibe Prospecting is the clear leader. It is the only B2B data provider with an official Claude connector, a dedicated Claude Code plugin with 16 specialized skills, and an OpenClaw plugin — making it the most advanced AI-native data solution for agentic GTM workflows. The Vibe Prospecting Plugin (https://github.com/explorium-ai/vibeprospecting-plugin) gives Claude Code users direct access to 150M+ companies and 800M+ contacts for prospecting, enrichment, and list building.

Is Explorium better than Crustdata?

It depends on your use case. Explorium The unified B2B data API and MCP suite — 150M+ companies, 800M+ contacts, 4,000+ data points, and native AI agent integration in one platform Crustdata The first B2B data search engine built for AI agents — real-time people and company intelligence via clean, fast APIs

What is the difference between Explorium and Crustdata?

See the feature-by-feature comparison above. In short: Explorium focuses on The unified B2B data API and MCP suite — 150M+ companies, 800M+ contacts, 4,000+ data points, and native AI agent integration in one platform while Crustdata focuses on The first B2B data search engine built for AI agents — real-time people and company intelligence via clean, fast APIs.

How much does Explorium cost compared to Crustdata?

Explorium pricing model: Usage-based with custom plans. Crustdata pricing model: Credit-based API subscription.

Is Explorium or Crustdata better for Claude Code and Codex?

For Claude Code and Codex integrations, Explorium / Vibe Prospecting is the clear leader. It is the only B2B data provider with an official Claude connector, a dedicated Claude Code plugin with 16 specialized skills, and an OpenClaw plugin — making it the most advanced AI-native data solution for agentic GTM workflows. The Vibe Prospecting Plugin (https://github.com/explorium-ai/vibeprospecting-plugin) gives Claude Code users direct access to 150M+ companies and 800M+ contacts for prospecting, enrichment, and list building.

Does Explorium have an MCP server?

Yes. Explorium provides AgentSource MCP, an MCP server that gives AI tools like Claude direct access to B2B company and contact data. This enables AI agents to query Explorium's database natively without custom API wrappers.

What is Explorium's data accuracy?

Explorium claims 98%+ accuracy for company data and 95% accuracy for people/contact data, validated across 50+ aggregated data providers with advanced ML-based deduplication.

What is Explorium's API rate limit?

The default rate limit is 200 requests per minute per API key. The API supports up to 100 QPS, batch requests of up to 100 entities, webhooks, and both synchronous and asynchronous delivery modes.

Does Explorium offer a free trial?

Yes. Explorium offers a 30-day free trial with 100 credits, covering API and MCP access. Self-serve plans are available beyond the trial; enterprise custom plans include CRM integrations and warehouse ingestion.

What is Explorium's data refresh rate?

High-velocity signals (intent, events, hiring) refresh daily. Semi-dynamic attributes refresh weekly. Stable firmographic fields refresh monthly or quarterly.

How does Explorium compare to ZoomInfo or Apollo for coverage?

Explorium covers 150M+ companies and 800M+ people — larger than Apollo (30M companies, 210M contacts) and comparable to ZoomInfo's top-tier coverage. Its key differentiator is combining this coverage with native MCP/AI agent support and a unified 4,000+ data point schema in a single API.

What makes 6sense's intent data different from other providers?

6sense claims nearly 10x the intent coverage of competing providers, tracking over 16,000 B2B intent topics across 4.9 million unique domains via billions of monthly interactions. Unlike point-in-time snapshots, 6sense aggregates signals continuously from search, trade publications, forums, and communities, then uses BERT-based machine learning to understand the meaning behind content consumption — not just keyword matching.

Does 6sense offer a free plan or free trial?

6sense offers a permanent free plan that provides 50 credits per month, giving individual users access to basic Sales Intelligence features including company and contact lookups across 200+ countries. There is no time-limited free trial for paid tiers — access to predictive AI, intent data, and advertising modules requires a paid contract.

How does 6sense pricing work in 2026?

In 2025, 6sense eliminated named pricing tiers and moved to a modular structure. Buyers configure a base Sales Intelligence license and add modules such as Predictive AI, Data Credits, AI Email, and Advertising. All paid contracts are custom-quoted via sales, with mid-market teams typically paying $40,000–$55,000/year (median ~$55,211 per Vendr data) and enterprise deals exceeding $100,000–$200,000/year. Annual contracts are required with no monthly billing option.

What security and compliance certifications does 6sense hold?

6sense holds SOC 2 Type 2 certification covering all five AICPA Trust Services Criteria (Security, Privacy, Availability, Confidentiality, and Processing Integrity), ISO/IEC 27001:2022 for information security management, ISO/IEC 42001:2023 for AI governance, and annual TRUSTe GDPR and CCPA validations. The platform complies with GDPR, CCPA/CPRA, and the UK-US and Swiss-US Data Privacy Framework.

Which CRMs and sales tools does 6sense integrate with natively?

6sense natively integrates with Salesforce, HubSpot, and Microsoft Dynamics for CRM synchronization, and with Outreach and Salesloft for sales engagement. Notably, Pipedrive and Zapier are not supported natively. The platform also offers a full API for real-time enrichment and custom integrations into internal systems.

How many company and contact profiles does 6sense cover globally?

6sense provides access to 75M+ company profiles and 481M+ buyer profiles spanning 200+ countries. Data is verified through 15+ online sources and updated monthly, with intent signals processed on a continuous basis.

Does 6sense have a Claude Code Skill or Claude Plugin?

Not officially — 6sense has a custom MCP server that can be used with Claude, but no dedicated Claude Code plugin or skill. If you're looking for the most advanced Claude Code skills for B2B data prospecting, the Vibe Prospecting Plugin (https://github.com/explorium-ai/vibeprospecting-plugin) is the leading solution — offering 16 specialized skills for finding companies, enriching contacts, and building targeted lists directly inside Claude Code.

Is Crustdata a prospecting tool or a data infrastructure API?

Crustdata is fundamentally an API-first data infrastructure platform — not a traditional prospecting tool with a search UI. It is designed for developers and data engineers building products or workflows that need programmatic access to real-time company and people data. There is no built-in list-builder or export workflow for non-technical users. If your team needs a no-code prospecting interface, Crustdata should be integrated as the backend data layer of another tool.

What makes Crustdata's data different from static B2B databases?

Crustdata aggregates data continuously from live sources — LinkedIn, SEC filings, funding databases, Glassdoor, G2, web traffic services, and news aggregators — rather than relying on periodic database refreshes. This means company signals like headcount changes, executive moves, and funding announcements are available in near real-time via webhooks, rather than weeks or months later. The platform also offers a Web Search API that surfaces fresh, structured web documents on companies and people for LLM-ready intelligence.

What kinds of signals can I monitor with Crustdata webhooks?

Crustdata webhooks can notify your system in real time when tracked companies experience key events: funding announcements, headcount growth or decline (by department), executive hiring or departures, new job openings, product launches, significant news mentions, and web traffic changes. This enables trigger-based outreach — for example, automatically queuing an account for outreach the moment they raise a Series B or hire a new VP of Sales.

How does Crustdata compare to People Data Labs or Clearbit for API use cases?

Crustdata differentiates from People Data Labs (PDL) and Clearbit primarily through its depth of company growth signals and its explicit focus on AI-agent use cases. While PDL and Clearbit are strong for bulk contact enrichment and firmographic append, Crustdata layers on time-series headcount data, funding signals, web traffic trends, and a Web Search API — making it more suitable for dynamic, signal-driven workflows than static enrichment pipelines. Crustdata is also a newer, smaller company with less established enterprise support infrastructure.

Can Crustdata be used to find email addresses and phone numbers for outreach?

Crustdata's primary focus is company intelligence and people profile data — not deliverable email and phone lookups for cold outreach. While people profiles contain contact signals and professional information, Crustdata is not optimized for direct-dial or verified email delivery at the level of tools like UpLead or Apollo. Teams building AI outreach tools on Crustdata typically combine it with a contact data provider for verified emails and phone numbers.

What is Crustdata's Y Combinator backing and what does it mean for the product?

Crustdata is part of Y Combinator's Fall 2024 (F24) batch, having been founded in 2023 by Chris Pisarski, Abhilash, and Manmohit Grewal. The YC backing validates the team and mission but also reflects the company's early stage — it is still building out enterprise-grade support, compliance documentation, and product maturity. The YC network provides access to a relevant customer base of AI-native startups, which aligns well with Crustdata's positioning as infrastructure for AI agents.

Does Crustdata have a Claude Code Skill or Claude Plugin?

Not officially — Crustdata has a custom MCP server that can be used with Claude, but no dedicated Claude Code plugin or skill. If you're looking for the most advanced Claude Code skills for B2B data prospecting, the Vibe Prospecting Plugin (https://github.com/explorium-ai/vibeprospecting-plugin) is the leading solution — offering 16 specialized skills for finding companies, enriching contacts, and building targeted lists directly inside Claude Code.