Explorium vs ContactOut vs RocketReach

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

4.4

The most accessible and scalable professional contact database, serving over 5.6 million users—including 95% of Fortune 500 companies—with verified emails and direct dials at competitive price points

  • API
  • Free Trial
  • GDPR Compliance
35M+
Companies
700M+
People

Selected Customers

Google • Apple • Amazon • Microsoft • Identifee • 3 HTi • Ridgeway Partners

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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

RocketReach

  • Contact Discovery

    Search over 700M professional profiles using 100+ filters—job title, industry, company, location, seniority—to build targeted prospect lists with verified emails and direct dials in seconds.

  • CRM & Sales Workflow Enrichment

    Automatically enrich leads in Salesforce and HubSpot with verified contact data, map tags for segmentation, and trigger outreach sequences in Outreach or Salesloft without leaving your workflow.

  • Recruiting & Talent Intelligence

    Find and contact passive candidates using LinkedIn lookups, company searches, and ATS integrations like Bullhorn, cutting research time from hours to minutes with high-accuracy contact data.

Signals powering these use cases

No signals available

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

RocketReach Snapshot

  • Company coverage 3.4
  • Freshness 3.1

Detailed Feature Comparison

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

Feature Comparison
Explorium
ContactOut
RocketReach
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
REST API with bulk lookup support and metadata query parameters
SLA
Up to 99.999% uptime; rate limit 200 requests/min per key
-
-
Compliance
GDPR, SOC 2, CCPA, ISO 27001
GDPR and CCPA compliant
GDPR-aligned (EU subject filter, data segregation); CCPA compliant; note: lacks EU Article 27 representative
Custom Entities
-
Real-time Lookups
Global Coverage
150M+ companies and 800M+ contacts across 150+ countries
300M+ professionals globally with strong EMEA and APAC coverage
700M+ professionals across 35M+ companies globally; strongest in North America
CRM Integration
Available on custom enterprise plans
Salesforce, HubSpot, Lever
Native integrations with Salesforce and HubSpot; Outreach, Salesloft, and Bullhorn on Pro+ plans
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 app, Chrome extension, API, native CRM integrations
Natural language search
Workflow automation
Automation integrations
n8n, Claude, custom webhook integrations
Zapier, CSV export, API-based workflows
Outreach, Salesloft, Bullhorn, Zapier
Company coverage
150M+ company profiles
30M+ company profiles
35M+ companies
People coverage
800M+ people profiles (767M+ verified contacts)
300M+ professional profiles
700M+ professionals
Geographic coverage
150+ countries
Global, with strong coverage in North America, EMEA, and APAC
Global, with strongest coverage in North America
Data sources type
50+ data providers; proprietary ML enrichment; real-time web signals
Aggregated from public web, LinkedIn, company websites, and proprietary crawling
Proprietary data collection, public web sources, user-contributed verification
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 across geographies; fill rates vary 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
Quarterly database refresh; real-time lookups via API
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
Company name, industry, size, revenue, location, technology stack
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
Email (85%+ fill rate), direct phone (60%+ fill rate), social URLs, job title, seniority
Enrichment categories
Firmographics, technographics, intent, funding, events, contact, website signals, lookalikes
Emails (personal and work), phone numbers, LinkedIn profiles, company firmographics, job titles
Contact data, company firmographics, social profiles
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
Job change alerts available on higher tiers; intent data on Ultimate
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
Name + company matching with LinkedIn profile cross-reference
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
Email verification via SMTP checking and proprietary validation; 85%+ claimed accuracy
Deduplication logic
Advanced ML-based deduplication across 50+ data providers
CRM/ATS enrichment mode identifies and avoids duplicate records on export
Deduplication supported when pushing records to CRM integrations
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
Bulk API Lookups supported; metadata query parameters available
CRM integrations
Custom plan — CRM integrations available
Salesforce, HubSpot, Lever, and other CRM/ATS platforms via API or native integration
Salesforce, HubSpot
Data warehouse support
Custom plan — warehouse ingestion available
-
-
Bulk data delivery
Claude Connector
ChatGPT App
Custom MCP
Claude Plugin
ChatGPT Plugin
OpenClaw Plugin
Skills
16
-
-
GDPR compliance
CCPA support
SOC 2
-
ISO certifications
ISO 27001
-
-
SLA uptime
Up to 99.999% uptime SLA
-
-
Pricing model
Usage-based API credits with custom enterprise plans
Subscription with credit allocations per tier
Credit-based subscription
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
Lookups consumed per contact reveal; unused credits do not roll over
Tier structure
Free trial, Self-serve, Custom Enterprise
Free, Sales ($79/mo), Email + Phone (~$99/mo), Recruiter ($199/mo annual), Team (custom)
Free, Essentials, Pro, Ultimate, 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
5 free lookups/month on free plan, 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 and monthly billing; bulk lookup add-ons at $0.30–$0.45 per lookup
Custom plans available
Bulk deals support
Resell rights
-
-

Pricing

Compare pricing models, flexibility, and commitment structure.

Pricing Dimension
Explorium
ContactOut
RocketReach
Pricing Model
Usage-based with custom enterprise plans
Credit-based per lookup, with subscription tiers defining monthly or annual credit allocations
Credit-based (lookups per month)
Commitment Structure
One-time or custom; no mandatory annual lock-in on self-serve
Monthly or annual; annual billing provides discounted rates
Month-to-month or annual (annual discounted)
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 5 lookups/month, no credit card required
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
Yes — custom Enterprise plans available
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; Enterprise plans include onboarding support

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 Professional

"RocketReach makes it easy to find verified contact information quickly. Its integration with LinkedIn and browser extension makes outreach seamless and efficient. The built-in email outreach feature is very convenient and allows for fast, efficient lead development."
Verified User for RocketReach

Frequently Asked Questions

Is ContactOut better than RocketReach?

It depends on your use case. ContactOut The most accurate contact finder trusted by Fortune 500 companies for LinkedIn prospecting and outbound outreach RocketReach The most accessible and scalable professional contact database, serving over 5.6 million users—including 95% of Fortune 500 companies—with verified emails and direct dials at competitive price points

What is the difference between ContactOut and RocketReach?

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 RocketReach focuses on The most accessible and scalable professional contact database, serving over 5.6 million users—including 95% of Fortune 500 companies—with verified emails and direct dials at competitive price points.

How much does ContactOut cost compared to RocketReach?

ContactOut pricing model: Credit-based subscription. RocketReach pricing model: Credit-based subscription with annual and monthly billing options.

Is ContactOut or RocketReach 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 RocketReach?

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 RocketReach The most accessible and scalable professional contact database, serving over 5.6 million users—including 95% of Fortune 500 companies—with verified emails and direct dials at competitive price points

What is the difference between Explorium and RocketReach?

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 RocketReach focuses on The most accessible and scalable professional contact database, serving over 5.6 million users—including 95% of Fortune 500 companies—with verified emails and direct dials at competitive price points.

How much does Explorium cost compared to RocketReach?

Explorium pricing model: Usage-based with custom plans. RocketReach pricing model: Credit-based subscription with annual and monthly billing options.

Is Explorium or RocketReach 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 does RocketReach verify email accuracy?

RocketReach uses SMTP verification and proprietary validation methods to confirm email deliverability before surfacing results, claiming 85%+ fill rates for emails. However, actual bounce rates can vary, particularly for smaller companies or contacts outside North America.

Does RocketReach support recruiting workflows?

Yes. RocketReach integrates natively with Bullhorn ATS and allows recruiters to find candidate contact information directly from LinkedIn profiles via the Chrome extension, making it a popular choice for headhunters and talent acquisition teams.

What integrations does RocketReach offer?

Native integrations include Salesforce, HubSpot, Outreach, Salesloft, and Bullhorn (ATS). These are available on Pro, Ultimate, and Enterprise plans. All plans can connect to additional tools via Zapier. An API is also available for custom integrations.

Is RocketReach GDPR compliant?

RocketReach offers GDPR-aligned features such as an EU subject filter and data segregation. However, it does not currently have an EU Article 27 representative, which may be a concern for European-based teams with strict compliance requirements.

How is RocketReach different from ZoomInfo or Apollo?

RocketReach focuses primarily on contact-level data discovery and lookup—it excels at LinkedIn-based lookups and bulk contact enrichment but does not offer built-in sequencing or intent data on most plans. It's typically more affordable than ZoomInfo and simpler than Apollo's all-in-one platform.

Does RocketReach have a Claude Code Skill or Claude Plugin?

RocketReach 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.