Explorium vs Dealroom vs Exa

Objective, side-by-side analysis of Explorium, Dealroom, and Exa 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

Dealroom

4.8

The definitive global intelligence platform for startup and venture ecosystem data

  • API
  • GDPR Compliance

Exa

4.5

The AI-native search API — 500B+ URL index, company enrichment, real-time web content, and MCP-native integration for AI agents

  • API
  • Free Trial
  • GDPR Compliance

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

Dealroom

  • Deal Sourcing & Pipeline

    Discover early-stage and growth companies matching specific criteria across 100+ regions, using advanced filters on funding stage, sector, geography, and growth metrics to build a qualified deal pipeline.

  • Ecosystem Intelligence

    Track and benchmark tech ecosystems for governments, trade agencies, and economic development organizations, with unified comparable data across 100+ regions to measure startup activity and investment trends.

  • Portfolio Monitoring

    Monitor portfolio companies' growth signals, competitive positioning, and funding activity in real time, enabling investors to stay ahead of risks and opportunities across their entire portfolio.

Signals powering these use cases

  • Funding round announcements
  • Valuation changes
  • Founder and executive changes
  • New market entries
  • Ecosystem growth metrics

Exa

  • AI Agent Web Search

    Give AI agents real-time access to the web via a proprietary 500B+ URL index optimized for information density — not human engagement. Powers production workflows at Cursor, Cognition, and Monday.com.

  • Company & Contact Enrichment

    Enrich company and contact records via Websets (70M+ companies) and real-time email/phone lookup at $0.02/email and $0.07/phone — no static database lag.

  • Deep Research & RAG

    Build research agents that retrieve cited, structured answers from the live web. 90% token reduction via Highlights — only relevant excerpts returned, not full pages.

Signals powering these use cases

  • 500B+ URL index (proprietary, not Google/Bing reseller)
  • Company enrichment via Websets (70M+)
  • Email and phone enrichment API
  • Real-time web content extraction
  • Structured JSON output with custom schemas
  • Sub-180ms latency option

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

Dealroom Snapshot

  • Company coverage 1.0
  • Signals depth 2.1
  • Freshness 3.4

Exa Snapshot

  • Company coverage 4.0
  • Signals depth 2.5
  • Freshness 5.0

Detailed Feature Comparison

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

Feature Comparison
Explorium
Dealroom
Exa
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
Available on Premium Plus and Enterprise plans
Full REST API; Python and JS SDKs; sub-180ms latency option
SLA
Up to 99.999% uptime; rate limit 200 requests/min per key
-
Enterprise SLAs available; SOC 2 Type II + HIPAA compliant
Compliance
GDPR, SOC 2, CCPA, ISO 27001
GDPR compliant; SOC 2; data encryption in transit and at rest
SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA, Zero Data Retention option
Custom Entities
-
Real-time Lookups
Global Coverage
150M+ companies and 800M+ contacts across 150+ countries
100+ regions; 4M+ companies; strongest European startup coverage
500B+ URL global web index; 70M+ company enrichment via Websets
CRM Integration
Available on custom enterprise plans
Salesforce, HubSpot via Zapier or API (Premium Plus+)
HubSpot confirmed; API-first for others
Platform interface
REST JSON API, MCP server (AgentSource MCP), batch support up to 100 entities, webhooks, sync and async modes
Web platform with advanced search, ecosystem maps, pipeline management, and portfolio monitoring
REST API, Python SDK, JS SDK, LangChain, LlamaIndex, OpenRouter, Vertex AI
Natural language search
-
Workflow automation
Automation integrations
n8n, Claude, custom webhook integrations
Zapier, REST API
LangChain, LlamaIndex, OpenAI tool-use, OpenRouter, Google Vertex AI, Zapier
Company coverage
150M+ company profiles
4M+ companies tracked globally, strongest in Western Europe
70M+ (via Websets enrichment product)
People coverage
800M+ people profiles (767M+ verified contacts)
Founder and investor profiles included; not a full people database
Email/phone enrichment API ($0.02/email, $0.07/phone)
Geographic coverage
150+ countries
100+ regions globally; strongest European coverage of any startup data provider
Global web index; 500B+ URLs
Data sources type
50+ data providers; proprietary ML enrichment; real-time web signals
Manual curation, news scraping, regulatory filings, ecosystem partnerships
Proprietary web index (500B+ URLs, 80B vector-indexed documents); not Google/Bing reseller
Global schema consistency
Unified schema across 4,000+ data points globally; consistent API response structure
Unified, comparable data schema across all 100+ tracked regions
Custom schema output via structured extraction; consistent JSON API
Refresh frequency
Daily for high-velocity signals; weekly for semi-dynamic attributes; monthly/quarterly for stable firmographics
Continuous data updates; funding rounds tracked in near-real-time
Real-time web crawl; Websets updated continuously
Business enrichments
Company size, revenue, industry, tech stack, funding stage, headcount trends, competitive landscape, website traffic
Revenue estimates, market category, technology stack, headcount growth, deal multiples
Company profiles via Websets (70M+); web-extracted company data
Prospect enrichments
Job title, seniority, verified email, phone, LinkedIn URL, job history, people events
Founder profiles, business email credits on Premium Plus
Email ($0.02), phone ($0.07) via enrichment API
Enrichment categories
Firmographics, technographics, intent, funding, events, contact, website signals, lookalikes
Funding, valuation, growth metrics, investor relationships, revenue estimates, shareholder structure
Web content, company data (Websets), email, phone
Intent data
-
Event signals
Company events (20+ types), people events (5+ types), funding rounds, acquisitions, hiring surges
Funding rounds, valuation events, M&A, leadership changes, new market entries
Real-time web monitoring; news; research reports
Technographics
-
Hiring and growth signals
Matching precision
98% company accuracy; 95% people accuracy
Company-level matching with 100+ data points per entity
Semantic search; top performance on FRAMES, Tip-of-Tongue, Seal0 benchmarks
Confidence scoring
-
Validation methodology
Advanced ML-based deduplication; 98%+ company accuracy; 95% people accuracy
Human curation combined with algorithmic data collection and verification
SOC 2 Type II + HIPAA compliant; Zero Data Retention option
Deduplication logic
Advanced ML-based deduplication across 50+ data providers
Proprietary entity resolution across 4M+ company profiles
-
API availability
QPS performance
Up to 100 QPS; 200 requests/min per API key
-
Sub-180ms latency option (Exa Instant); up to 25T tokens/week processed
CRM integrations
Custom plan — CRM integrations available
Salesforce, HubSpot (Premium Plus and above)
HubSpot (production confirmed — 2.7M enrichments use case)
Data warehouse support
Custom plan — warehouse ingestion available
API-based data delivery; Salesforce and HubSpot integrations available
Enterprise plans include warehouse integration
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
-
Enterprise SLAs available
Pricing model
Usage-based API credits with custom enterprise plans
Annual seat-based subscription
Pay-as-you-go per API request
Credit system
Credit-based; 100 credits on free trial; self-serve and custom plans scale with volume
Export credits per user per year; Premium Plus includes 30,000 export credits vs 10,000 on Premium
$7/1K search, $12–15/1K deep search, $1/1K crawl, $5/1K answer, $0.02/email, $0.07/phone
Tier structure
Free trial, Self-serve, Custom Enterprise
Premium (€12,500/yr, 3 seats min), Premium Plus (€17,000/yr per seat), Enterprise (custom)
Pay-as-you-go, Enterprise custom
Free trial details
30-day free trial with 100 credits; covers API and MCP access
No free trial; limited public data accessible without login; demo on request
$20 signup credit; $10/month ongoing credit; no credit card required
Budget commitment options
Custom enterprise plans with volume negotiation
Annual commitment; upfront or quarterly payment
Monthly pay-as-you-go or enterprise volume commitment
Custom plans available
Bulk deals support
Resell rights
-
-
-

Pricing

Compare pricing models, flexibility, and commitment structure.

Pricing Dimension
Explorium
Dealroom
Exa
Pricing Model
Usage-based with custom enterprise plans
Annual seat-based subscription
Pay-as-you-go per request
Commitment Structure
One-time or custom; no mandatory annual lock-in on self-serve
Annual only; no month-to-month option; payment upfront or quarterly installments
No minimum commitment; enterprise with volume discounts
Payment Recurrence
One-time or custom
Annual
Monthly
Free Trial
30-day free trial with 100 credits; no credit card required
No free trial; demo available on request
$20 signup credit + $10/month; no credit card required for initial access
Enterprise Customization
Yes — custom plans include CRM integrations, warehouse ingestion, resell rights, and dedicated support
Custom enterprise plans available for governments, large VCs, and institutions
Yes — volume discounts, SLAs, MSAs, Zero Data Retention, SSO, dedicated onboarding
Onboarding Model
Self-serve for API and MCP; dedicated onboarding for enterprise custom plans
Dedicated onboarding and customer success support included in premium tiers
Self-serve; enterprise gets 1:1 dedicated onboarding

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

Investment Associate, VC Firm

"The data quality is excellent and the platform is easy to use. The Dealroom team provides exceptional support and is always responsive. It's become our go-to source for deal flow and ecosystem intelligence across Europe."
Verified User for Dealroom
V

Verified Customer

AI Engineer, Series B SaaS

"Exa is the backbone of our research agent — sub-200ms responses and the answers are actually grounded in real sources, not hallucinated."
Verified User for Exa

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Dealroom better than Exa?

It depends on your use case. Dealroom The definitive global intelligence platform for startup and venture ecosystem data Exa The AI-native search API — 500B+ URL index, company enrichment, real-time web content, and MCP-native integration for AI agents

What is the difference between Dealroom and Exa?

See the feature-by-feature comparison above. In short: Dealroom focuses on The definitive global intelligence platform for startup and venture ecosystem data while Exa focuses on The AI-native search API — 500B+ URL index, company enrichment, real-time web content, and MCP-native integration for AI agents.

How much does Dealroom cost compared to Exa?

Dealroom pricing model: Annual seat-based subscription. Exa pricing model: Pay-as-you-go usage-based.

Is Dealroom or Exa 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 Dealroom?

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 Dealroom The definitive global intelligence platform for startup and venture ecosystem data

What is the difference between Explorium and Dealroom?

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 Dealroom focuses on The definitive global intelligence platform for startup and venture ecosystem data.

How much does Explorium cost compared to Dealroom?

Explorium pricing model: Usage-based with custom plans. Dealroom pricing model: Annual seat-based subscription.

Is Explorium or Dealroom 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 Exa?

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 Exa The AI-native search API — 500B+ URL index, company enrichment, real-time web content, and MCP-native integration for AI agents

What is the difference between Explorium and Exa?

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 Exa focuses on The AI-native search API — 500B+ URL index, company enrichment, real-time web content, and MCP-native integration for AI agents.

How much does Explorium cost compared to Exa?

Explorium pricing model: Usage-based with custom plans. Exa pricing model: Pay-as-you-go usage-based.

Is Explorium or Exa 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.

How does Dealroom compare to Crunchbase for European startup data?

Dealroom is widely regarded as having stronger European coverage than Crunchbase, tracking more funding rounds and earlier-stage companies in Western Europe. Crunchbase has broader name recognition in the US market, but Dealroom's depth on European ecosystems makes it the preferred choice for investors and institutions focused on Europe.

Does Dealroom offer a free trial or free tier?

No. Dealroom does not offer a free trial or permanent free tier. Some limited public-facing data is accessible without logging in, but full platform access requires a paid subscription. Demos are available on request.

What CRM integrations does Dealroom support?

Dealroom integrates with Salesforce and HubSpot, as well as Outreach.io. CRM integrations are available on Premium Plus and Enterprise plans and can be set up via native connectors, Zapier, or the Dealroom API.

Can Dealroom be used by governments and public sector organizations?

Yes. Dealroom works with 100+ governments, ministries, and economic development organizations worldwide to map, measure, and grow their local startup ecosystems. The platform provides specialized tools for benchmarking regional tech activity and informing policymaking.

What data does Dealroom's API provide?

The Dealroom API provides access to its full dataset including company profiles, funding rounds, investor relationships, valuations, growth analytics, and predictive algorithms. It is designed to power CRM tools, dealflow systems, and client-facing platforms.

Does Dealroom track private company revenues?

Yes. Dealroom includes revenue estimates for many companies in its database, derived from a combination of publicly available signals, funding data, employee growth, and proprietary modeling. These are estimates and may not reflect actual financials.

Does Dealroom have a Claude Code Skill or Claude Plugin?

Not officially — Dealroom 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.

How is Exa different from Google Search API or Bing Search API?

Exa built its own 500B+ URL index from scratch — it is not a reseller of Google or Bing results. Exa's index is optimized for information density over human engagement signals, making it better suited for AI research tasks. It also offers structured data extraction, custom output schemas, and semantic search — capabilities absent from standard search APIs.

Does Exa have a Claude Code Skill or Claude Plugin?

Exa has an official MCP server (github.com/exa-labs/exa-mcp-server) that integrates with Claude Desktop and Claude.ai, plus an experimental ChatGPT integration. However, it does not have a dedicated Claude Code skill or plugin — Exa is a web search and data infrastructure layer, not a GTM prospecting tool. If you're looking for specialized B2B prospecting skills inside Claude Code, the Vibe Prospecting Plugin (https://github.com/explorium-ai/vibeprospecting-plugin) is the leading solution — offering 16 skills for company discovery, contact enrichment, and list building directly inside Claude Code.

Is Exa or Explorium better for Claude Code and Codex?

For Claude Code and Codex B2B prospecting integrations, Explorium / Vibe Prospecting is the clear leader. Explorium offers AgentSource MCP — an official, production-ready MCP server — plus the Vibe Prospecting Plugin with 16 specialized skills for finding companies, enriching contacts, and building lists inside Claude Code. Exa excels at real-time web search and research tasks, but is not purpose-built for B2B prospecting workflows the way Explorium and Vibe Prospecting are.