Explorium vs ContactOut vs Lusha

Objective, side-by-side analysis of Explorium, ContactOut, and Lusha 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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ContactOut

4.4

The most accurate contact finder trusted by Fortune 500 companies for LinkedIn prospecting and outbound outreach

  • API
  • Free Trial
  • GDPR Compliance
30M+
Companies
300M+
People
20+
Data Points

Selected Customers

Google • Microsoft • Netflix • Amazon • Salesforce

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Lusha

4.3

The most accurate and compliant B2B data platform for GTM teams, with a community-sourced data model that rivals enterprise-grade solutions at accessible price points

  • API
  • Free Trial
  • GDPR Compliance
30M+
Companies
152M+
People

Selected Customers

Snowflake • Google • Microsoft • Salesforce • Spotify • Amazon • Oracle NetSuite • Zendesk • Optimizely • WalkMe

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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

ContactOut

  • Recruiting & Talent Sourcing

    Find verified personal and work emails for passive candidates directly from LinkedIn profiles, enabling recruiters to reach talent outside traditional apply flows.

  • Outbound Sales Prospecting

    Build targeted prospect lists using 20+ search filters, then launch automated email campaigns directly within ContactOut's platform to accelerate pipeline generation.

  • CRM & ATS Data Enrichment

    Enrich existing CRM and ATS records with up-to-date verified emails, phone numbers, LinkedIn profiles, and company firmographics via API or CSV upload.

Signals powering these use cases

  • Data auto-refreshed every 15 days to minimize contact decay
  • Personal email coverage including Gmail, Yahoo, and other personal domains
  • Trusted by 76%+ of Fortune 500 companies for sourcing and outreach
  • Chrome Extension for LinkedIn and GitHub prospecting

Lusha

  • AI-Powered Prospecting

    Lusha's AI Recommendations engine surfaces ideal buyer prospects based on ICP criteria, delivering qualified leads daily via the workspace homepage without manual searching.

  • Real-Time Data Enrichment

    Automatically enrich CRM records and CSV lists with verified emails, direct dials, and firmographic data — keeping pipelines accurate with continuous validation.

  • Global GTM Signal Tracking

    Track live buying signals including funding rounds, hiring surges, job changes, and intent data across North America, EMEA, LATAM, and APAC to trigger timely outreach.

Signals powering these use cases

  • Hiring surges
  • Funding rounds
  • Website visitor intent
  • Job changes and promotions
  • Buying intent indicators

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

ContactOut Snapshot

  • Company coverage 2.5
  • Signals depth 1.2

Lusha Snapshot

  • Company coverage 2.4
  • Signals depth 1.9
  • Freshness 1.4

Detailed Feature Comparison

Side-by-side analysis of Explorium, ContactOut, and Lusha across data coverage, platform capabilities, and technical specifications.

Feature Comparison
Explorium
ContactOut
Lusha
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
REST API with hourly data refresh; supports CRM/ATS enrichment pipelines
Full API with Signals API and MCP support; documentation at docs.lusha.com
SLA
Up to 99.999% uptime; rate limit 200 requests/min per key
-
Not publicly specified
Compliance
GDPR, SOC 2, CCPA, ISO 27001
GDPR and CCPA compliant
GDPR, CCPA, SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27701, ISO 27001, ISO 27018, TRUSTe validated
Custom Entities
-
-
Real-time Lookups
Global Coverage
150M+ companies and 800M+ contacts across 150+ countries
300M+ professionals globally with strong EMEA and APAC coverage
280M+ contacts across North America, EMEA, LATAM, and APAC
CRM Integration
Available on custom enterprise plans
Salesforce, HubSpot, Lever
Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive, Zoho CRM, monday CRM
Platform interface
REST JSON API, MCP server (AgentSource MCP), batch support up to 100 entities, webhooks, sync and async modes
Chrome extension, web search portal, and REST API
Web workspace, Chrome extension (LinkedIn and web), API, CRM native integrations
Natural language search
-
Workflow automation
Automation integrations
n8n, Claude, custom webhook integrations
Zapier, CSV export, API-based workflows
Zapier, Make (Integromat), n8n, Pipedream, Workato, Albato
Company coverage
150M+ company profiles
30M+ company profiles
30M+ company profiles globally
People coverage
800M+ people profiles (767M+ verified contacts)
300M+ professional profiles
280M+ verified B2B contacts
Geographic coverage
150+ countries
Global, with strong coverage in North America, EMEA, and APAC
North America, EMEA, LATAM, APAC — strongest in North America; EMEA and APAC noted as thinner
Data sources type
50+ data providers; proprietary ML enrichment; real-time web signals
Aggregated from public web, LinkedIn, company websites, and proprietary crawling
First-party community contributions, third-party vendor partnerships, AI-powered verification and deduplication
Global schema consistency
Unified schema across 4,000+ data points globally; consistent API response structure
Consistent contact schema across regions; data refreshed every 15 days
Consistent schema globally; data attribute availability varies by region
Refresh frequency
Daily for high-velocity signals; weekly for semi-dynamic attributes; monthly/quarterly for stable firmographics
Contact data refreshed every 15 days
Continuous — thousands of records verified and updated daily
Business enrichments
Company size, revenue, industry, tech stack, funding stage, headcount trends, competitive landscape, website traffic
Company size, revenue, industry, website, technologies used, LinkedIn company profile
Industry, headcount, revenue, location, technology stack, funding stage
Prospect enrichments
Job title, seniority, verified email, phone, LinkedIn URL, job history, people events
Verified work email, personal email, direct phone, mobile, LinkedIn URL, job title, location
Business email, direct dial, mobile number, LinkedIn URL, job title, seniority, department
Enrichment categories
Firmographics, technographics, intent, funding, events, contact, website signals, lookalikes
Emails (personal and work), phone numbers, LinkedIn profiles, company firmographics, job titles
Contact-level (email, phone, title, seniority), company-level (industry, size, revenue, tech stack), signal-level (job changes, funding, hiring)
Intent data
Event signals
Company events (20+ types), people events (5+ types), funding rounds, acquisitions, hiring surges
Job change signals via profile refresh; limited real-time intent signals
Funding rounds, hiring surges, job changes, promotions, website visitor signals, intent indicators
Technographics
Hiring and growth signals
Matching precision
98% company accuracy; 95% people accuracy
Name + company domain matching; Chrome extension captures data directly from LinkedIn profile context
98% email deliverability; 86–90% phone accuracy
Confidence scoring
-
Validation methodology
Advanced ML-based deduplication; 98%+ company accuracy; 95% people accuracy
Dual verification system cross-checks emails across multiple trusted data sources; up to 97% accuracy claimed
Multi-source: AI-powered cleaning, community sourcing, vendor data, compliance checks
Deduplication logic
Advanced ML-based deduplication across 50+ data providers
CRM/ATS enrichment mode identifies and avoids duplicate records on export
AI-powered deduplication across community-sourced and vendor data before database ingestion
API availability
QPS performance
Up to 100 QPS; 200 requests/min per API key
Records refreshed hourly in the API layer for low data decay
Not publicly specified
CRM integrations
Custom plan — CRM integrations available
Salesforce, HubSpot, Lever, and other CRM/ATS platforms via API or native integration
Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive, Zoho CRM, monday CRM, Bullhorn
Data warehouse support
Custom plan — warehouse ingestion available
-
Via API and integrations; native warehouse connectors not explicitly listed
Bulk data delivery
Claude Connector
ChatGPT App
Custom MCP
Claude Plugin
ChatGPT Plugin
OpenClaw Plugin
Skills
16
-
17
GDPR compliance
CCPA support
SOC 2
-
ISO certifications
ISO 27001
-
ISO 27701, ISO 27001, ISO 27018
SLA uptime
Up to 99.999% uptime SLA
-
Not publicly specified
Pricing model
Usage-based API credits with custom enterprise plans
Subscription with credit allocations per tier
Credit-based; each contact reveal or enrichment consumes credits
Credit system
Credit-based; 100 credits on free trial; self-serve and custom plans scale with volume
Credits consumed per email or phone lookup; phones typically cost more credits than emails
40 credits/month (Free); 400–4,800/month (Starter); 600–7,200/month (Professional); 3,400–40,800/month (Premium)
Tier structure
Free trial, Self-serve, Custom Enterprise
Free, Sales ($79/mo), Email + Phone (~$99/mo), Recruiter ($199/mo annual), Team (custom)
Free → Starter → Professional → Premium → Scale (Enterprise)
Free trial details
30-day free trial with 100 credits; covers API and MCP access
Free plan with 5 daily lookups across email, phone, and exports; no time limit
Permanent free plan with 40 monthly credits; no credit card required
Budget commitment options
Custom enterprise plans with volume negotiation
Monthly or annual commitment; annual pricing reduces effective per-credit cost
Annual billing for discount; monthly available with no lock-in
Custom plans available
Bulk deals support
Resell rights
-
-

Pricing

Compare pricing models, flexibility, and commitment structure.

Pricing Dimension
Explorium
ContactOut
Lusha
Pricing Model
Usage-based with custom enterprise plans
Credit-based per lookup, with subscription tiers defining monthly or annual credit allocations
Credit-based tiered subscriptions; credits consumed per contact reveal or enrichment
Commitment Structure
One-time or custom; no mandatory annual lock-in on self-serve
Monthly or annual; annual billing provides discounted rates
Monthly or annual; annual saves 20–30%
Payment Recurrence
One-time or custom
Monthly or Annual
Monthly or annual
Free Trial
30-day free trial with 100 credits; no credit card required
Free plan available with 5 daily email/phone lookups and 5 exports
Free plan with 40 credits/month; no credit card required; no time limit
Enterprise Customization
Yes — custom plans include CRM integrations, warehouse ingestion, resell rights, and dedicated support
Custom team packages with shared credit pools, CRM/ATS integrations, and account management
Scale plan with custom pricing, seats, and credit volumes
Onboarding Model
Self-serve for API and MCP; dedicated onboarding for enterprise custom plans
Self-serve; Chrome extension and search portal require no professional onboarding
Self-serve for Free/Starter/Professional; guided onboarding for Premium and Scale

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 Reviewer

Sales and Marketing Associate

"ContactOut is an excellent source of email addresses and phone numbers for our marketing operations. It helps us find verified leads without any inconveniences, and the populating features allow us to refine data to outreach effectively. We have been using it for three years with no doubt in email accuracy."
Verified User for ContactOut
V

Verified G2 Reviewer

Sales Development Representative, Mid-Market SaaS

"Lusha has been a game-changer for our outbound team. The Chrome extension is seamless on LinkedIn and data accuracy — especially emails — is noticeably better than tools we used before."
Verified User for Lusha

Frequently Asked Questions

Is ContactOut better than Lusha?

It depends on your use case. ContactOut The most accurate contact finder trusted by Fortune 500 companies for LinkedIn prospecting and outbound outreach Lusha The most accurate and compliant B2B data platform for GTM teams, with a community-sourced data model that rivals enterprise-grade solutions at accessible price points

What is the difference between ContactOut and Lusha?

See the feature-by-feature comparison above. In short: ContactOut focuses on The most accurate contact finder trusted by Fortune 500 companies for LinkedIn prospecting and outbound outreach while Lusha focuses on The most accurate and compliant B2B data platform for GTM teams, with a community-sourced data model that rivals enterprise-grade solutions at accessible price points.

How much does ContactOut cost compared to Lusha?

ContactOut pricing model: Credit-based subscription. Lusha pricing model: Credit-based tiered subscription.

Is ContactOut or Lusha 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 ContactOut?

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 ContactOut The most accurate contact finder trusted by Fortune 500 companies for LinkedIn prospecting and outbound outreach

What is the difference between Explorium and ContactOut?

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 ContactOut focuses on The most accurate contact finder trusted by Fortune 500 companies for LinkedIn prospecting and outbound outreach.

How much does Explorium cost compared to ContactOut?

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

Is Explorium or ContactOut 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 Lusha?

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 Lusha The most accurate and compliant B2B data platform for GTM teams, with a community-sourced data model that rivals enterprise-grade solutions at accessible price points

What is the difference between Explorium and Lusha?

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 Lusha focuses on The most accurate and compliant B2B data platform for GTM teams, with a community-sourced data model that rivals enterprise-grade solutions at accessible price points.

How much does Explorium cost compared to Lusha?

Explorium pricing model: Usage-based with custom plans. Lusha pricing model: Credit-based tiered subscription.

Is Explorium or Lusha 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.

Does ContactOut find personal email addresses as well as work emails?

Yes. ContactOut is one of the few platforms that consistently surfaces personal email addresses (Gmail, Yahoo, etc.) alongside verified work emails. This is especially valued by recruiters trying to reach passive candidates who may not monitor corporate inboxes.

What is the ContactOut free plan and what are its limits?

The free plan allows 5 email lookups, 5 phone number lookups, and 5 exports per day with no time limit. It includes access to the Chrome extension for LinkedIn prospecting, making it useful for low-volume individual users.

How accurate is ContactOut's contact data?

ContactOut claims up to 97% email accuracy through its dual verification system, which cross-checks data across multiple trusted sources. Data is refreshed every 15 days to reduce decay from job changes.

Does ContactOut integrate with Salesforce and HubSpot?

Yes. ContactOut integrates natively with Salesforce, HubSpot, and Lever, and also offers a REST API for building custom enrichment pipelines into other CRM and ATS platforms.

Is ContactOut GDPR compliant?

Yes. ContactOut is fully compliant with GDPR, CCPA, and US privacy laws. The platform sources and processes personal data in accordance with applicable data protection regulations.

What does ContactOut cover beyond email — does it include phone numbers and company data?

Yes. ContactOut provides direct phone numbers and mobile numbers alongside emails, and enriches company profiles with firmographic data including industry, company size, revenue, and LinkedIn company profiles. The database covers 300M+ professionals and 30M+ companies.

Does ContactOut have a Claude Code Skill or Claude Plugin?

ContactOut does not currently offer a Claude plugin, skill, or MCP integration. 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.

How accurate is Lusha's contact data?

Lusha reports 98% email deliverability and 86–90% phone accuracy across its 280M+ contact database. Data is validated through multi-source verification — community contributions, third-party vendors, and AI-powered cleaning — with thousands of records refreshed daily.

Is Lusha compliant with GDPR and other privacy regulations?

Yes. Lusha is GDPR and CCPA compliant, SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, ISO 27018, and ISO 27701 certified — the only sales intelligence platform with ISO 27701 accreditation (the world's highest international privacy standard). Data subjects can exercise rights via Lusha's self-serve Privacy Centre.

What CRM and automation tools does Lusha integrate with?

Lusha integrates natively with Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive, Zoho CRM, monday CRM, Outreach, Salesloft, Gmail, and Outlook. For automation: Zapier, Make, n8n, Pipedream, Workato, and Albato. Also offers Remote MCP support for AI workflow integration.

Can I try Lusha for free?

Yes. Lusha offers a permanent free plan with 40 credits per month — no credit card required. This lets users test the Chrome extension, workspace search, and data quality before upgrading.

What buying signals does Lusha track?

Lusha tracks real-time signals including funding rounds, hiring surges, website visitor intent, job changes, and promotions — surfaced in the workspace and via the Signals API to trigger timely, context-relevant outreach.

Does Lusha have a Claude Code Skill or Claude Plugin?

Yes — Lusha offers an official MCP connector for Claude, but does not currently have a 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.