Explorium vs Prospeo vs Semrush

Objective, side-by-side analysis of Explorium, Prospeo, and Semrush 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

Prospeo

4.5

Fast, accurate email and mobile finder with best-in-class LinkedIn Sales Navigator integration and a pay-only-for-valid-results credit model

  • API
  • Free Trial
  • GDPR Compliance

Semrush

4.5

The all-in-one platform for online visibility management and competitive digital intelligence

  • 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

Prospeo

  • LinkedIn & Sales Navigator Email Extraction

    Export leads directly from LinkedIn and Sales Navigator searches and enrich them with triple-verified email addresses and mobile numbers in bulk. The Chrome extension captures prospect data on the fly while browsing LinkedIn profiles without leaving the page.

  • Bulk Contact Enrichment

    Upload CSV files of prospects and enrich them at scale with email addresses, phone numbers, and 50+ firmographic data points. Credits are only charged for verified VALID results — CATCH_ALL and not-found results are free, making bulk enrichment cost-efficient.

  • Data Enrichment API

    Access Prospeo's enrichment capabilities programmatically via a developer-friendly API that returns clean JSON responses with millisecond latency and 99.99% uptime SLA. Revenue operations teams use it to enrich CRM records automatically or power custom data pipelines.

Signals powering these use cases

No signals available

Semrush

  • SEO & Keyword Intelligence

    Access 27 billion keywords and track position rankings across 130+ countries with daily updates, enabling teams to build data-driven content strategies and outrank competitors.

  • Competitive Research

    Analyze competitor traffic sources, ad strategies, backlink profiles, and organic rankings to uncover growth opportunities and benchmark performance.

  • Digital Advertising Intelligence

    Monitor rival PPC campaigns, ad creatives, and spend patterns across search and social channels to optimize paid media strategy and reduce wasted budget.

Signals powering these use cases

  • Keyword ranking changes
  • Competitor traffic shifts
  • Backlink gains and losses
  • Ad spend movements
  • Content gap opportunities

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

Prospeo Snapshot

Semrush Snapshot

  • Company coverage 4.5
  • Signals depth 2.3
  • Freshness 3.8

Detailed Feature Comparison

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

Feature Comparison
Explorium
Prospeo
Semrush
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 enrichment API with JSON responses and 99.99% uptime SLA
Available on Business and Enterprise plans; also sold as add-on
SLA
Up to 99.999% uptime; rate limit 200 requests/min per key
99.99% uptime
Enterprise SLA available on custom plans
Compliance
GDPR, SOC 2, CCPA, ISO 27001
GDPR compliant — processes professional B2B data only, supports data subject rights
GDPR, CCPA, PCI DSS Level 1, SOC 2 Type 2
Custom Entities
-
-
Real-time Lookups
Global Coverage
150M+ companies and 800M+ contacts across 150+ countries
Global LinkedIn coverage with 7-day refresh
190+ regions, 130+ countries for rank tracking
CRM Integration
Available on custom enterprise plans
HubSpot and Salesforce native integrations
Google Analytics, Search Console; enterprise CRM integrations via API
Platform interface
REST JSON API, MCP server (AgentSource MCP), batch support up to 100 entities, webhooks, sync and async modes
Web dashboard, Chrome extension, CSV bulk upload, API
Web application with dashboards, reporting, and project management
Natural language search
Workflow automation
Automation integrations
n8n, Claude, custom webhook integrations
Zapier, Instantly, Clay
Zapier, API-based custom integrations
Company coverage
150M+ company profiles
-
43 trillion backlinks indexed; coverage across 190 regions
People coverage
800M+ people profiles (767M+ verified contacts)
-
-
Geographic coverage
150+ countries
Global, with strongest coverage for profiles on LinkedIn
190+ regions globally
Data sources type
50+ data providers; proprietary ML enrichment; real-time web signals
Proprietary database + LinkedIn enrichment + real-time verification
Web crawlers, clickstream data, search engine data, social media APIs
Global schema consistency
Unified schema across 4,000+ data points globally; consistent API response structure
Consistent email + firmographic schema globally
Consistent data schema across all 190 tracked regions
Refresh frequency
Daily for high-velocity signals; weekly for semi-dynamic attributes; monthly/quarterly for stable firmographics
7-day data refresh cycle — fastest among major email finders
Daily updates for rank tracking; near-real-time for alerts
Business enrichments
Company size, revenue, industry, tech stack, funding stage, headcount trends, competitive landscape, website traffic
Company name, domain, industry, headcount, location
Traffic analytics, domain authority, competitor benchmarking, market share
Prospect enrichments
Job title, seniority, verified email, phone, LinkedIn URL, job history, people events
Verified email, mobile number, LinkedIn URL, job title, full name
-
Enrichment categories
Firmographics, technographics, intent, funding, events, contact, website signals, lookalikes
Email (verified), mobile number, LinkedIn profile URL, company firmographics (50+ data points)
SEO metrics, PPC data, social media analytics, content performance, backlink profiles
Intent data
Event signals
Company events (20+ types), people events (5+ types), funding rounds, acquisitions, hiring surges
-
Keyword ranking changes, backlink gains/losses, competitor traffic shifts
Technographics
Hiring and growth signals
Matching precision
98% company accuracy; 95% people accuracy
92% match rate on enrichment API; 98% claimed email accuracy for verified results
Domain-level and keyword-level matching
Confidence scoring
Validation methodology
Advanced ML-based deduplication; 98%+ company accuracy; 95% people accuracy
5-step proprietary verification: MX record check, SMTP ping, catch-all detection, syntax validation, domain validation
Proprietary web crawlers, clickstream data partnerships, search engine integrations
Deduplication logic
Advanced ML-based deduplication across 50+ data providers
Platform handles deduplication in bulk upload workflows
Domain deduplication across 43T+ backlink database
API availability
QPS performance
Up to 100 QPS; 200 requests/min per API key
Millisecond latency
-
CRM integrations
Custom plan — CRM integrations available
HubSpot (native), Salesforce (native), Clay (native)
Google Analytics, Google Search Console, Google Business Profile
Data warehouse support
Custom plan — warehouse ingestion available
-
Custom enterprise integrations 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
99.99% uptime
-
Pricing model
Usage-based API credits with custom enterprise plans
Credit-based (pay only for valid results)
Per-seat tiered subscription
Credit system
Credit-based; 100 credits on free trial; self-serve and custom plans scale with volume
1 credit per valid email found; CATCH_ALL and not-found are free
Credits apply to on-demand reports and exports depending on plan tier
Tier structure
Free trial, Self-serve, Custom Enterprise
Free → Starter ($39) → Growth tiers → Custom enterprise
Pro ($117.33/mo annual), Guru ($249.95/mo), Business ($416.66/mo annual), Enterprise (custom)
Free trial details
30-day free trial with 100 credits; covers API and MCP access
Free plan with 75 credits/month — no time limit
7-day free trial on SEO toolkit plans; 14-day trial on Semrush One suite
Budget commitment options
Custom enterprise plans with volume negotiation
Month-to-month subscription; no annual lock-in
Monthly or annual commitment; annual billing discounts available
Custom plans available
Bulk deals support
Resell rights
-
-
-

Pricing

Compare pricing models, flexibility, and commitment structure.

Pricing Dimension
Explorium
Prospeo
Semrush
Pricing Model
Usage-based with custom enterprise plans
Monthly credit-based subscription
Per-seat tiered subscription
Commitment Structure
One-time or custom; no mandatory annual lock-in on self-serve
Month-to-month; no annual commitment required
Monthly or annual; annual saves 17%
Payment Recurrence
One-time or custom
Monthly
Monthly or Annual
Free Trial
30-day free trial with 100 credits; no credit card required
Free plan with 75 credits/month
7-day free trial on most toolkits; 14-day free trial on Semrush One
Enterprise Customization
Yes — custom plans include CRM integrations, warehouse ingestion, resell rights, and dedicated support
Custom pricing available for high-volume needs
Custom pricing with dedicated account management, API access, and custom integrations
Onboarding Model
Self-serve for API and MCP; dedicated onboarding for enterprise custom plans
Self-serve; no onboarding required
Self-serve with documentation; enterprise plans include 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

Head of Sales Development, B2B SaaS

"The accuracy of valid emails and the LinkedIn enrichment profile you can use inside Clay is excellent. It's become a core part of our outbound stack — clean data, easy to use, and the API is rock solid."
Verified User for Prospeo
V

Verified G2 Reviewer

Marketing Manager

"What keeps me coming back is the rabbit hole it lets you go down — and the number of features is exactly what makes that rabbit hole so deep. I'll start by checking one keyword and two hours later I've mapped out an entire content strategy using tools I didn't even know Semrush had."
Verified User for Semrush

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Prospeo better than Semrush?

It depends on your use case. Prospeo Fast, accurate email and mobile finder with best-in-class LinkedIn Sales Navigator integration and a pay-only-for-valid-results credit model Semrush The all-in-one platform for online visibility management and competitive digital intelligence

What is the difference between Prospeo and Semrush?

See the feature-by-feature comparison above. In short: Prospeo focuses on Fast, accurate email and mobile finder with best-in-class LinkedIn Sales Navigator integration and a pay-only-for-valid-results credit model while Semrush focuses on The all-in-one platform for online visibility management and competitive digital intelligence.

How much does Prospeo cost compared to Semrush?

Prospeo pricing model: Credit-based subscription. Semrush pricing model: Per-seat subscription.

Is Prospeo or Semrush 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 Prospeo?

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 Prospeo Fast, accurate email and mobile finder with best-in-class LinkedIn Sales Navigator integration and a pay-only-for-valid-results credit model

What is the difference between Explorium and Prospeo?

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 Prospeo focuses on Fast, accurate email and mobile finder with best-in-class LinkedIn Sales Navigator integration and a pay-only-for-valid-results credit model.

How much does Explorium cost compared to Prospeo?

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

Is Explorium or Prospeo 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 Semrush?

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 Semrush The all-in-one platform for online visibility management and competitive digital intelligence

What is the difference between Explorium and Semrush?

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 Semrush focuses on The all-in-one platform for online visibility management and competitive digital intelligence.

How much does Explorium cost compared to Semrush?

Explorium pricing model: Usage-based with custom plans. Semrush pricing model: Per-seat subscription.

Is Explorium or Semrush 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 Prospeo's credit system work for CATCH_ALL emails?

Prospeo only charges credits when it returns a VALID verified email address — one that has passed all 5 steps of its verification process and is confirmed deliverable. CATCH_ALL emails (domains that accept all incoming mail, making deliverability uncertain) and contacts where no email is found are returned without consuming any credits. This means your per-valid-email cost is predictable and you are not paying for results that would bounce.

Why does Prospeo's bulk match rate sometimes appear lower than the claimed 92%?

The 92% match rate refers to the enrichment API when queried with a full name and verified company domain. In large bulk Sales Navigator exports, the match rate can drop significantly (sometimes to 15-20%) because the input data quality is lower — incorrect company names, job title changes, or people who have since left LinkedIn. The headline accuracy figure of 98% applies to emails that are returned as VALID, not to the share of a list that can be found at all.

How does Prospeo integrate with Clay?

Prospeo has a native Clay integration that makes it one of the preferred email enrichment sources within Clay workflows. Clay users can add a Prospeo enrichment step in any table to find and verify email addresses using Prospeo's API credits. This is particularly popular because Clay users can run Prospeo alongside other enrichment waterfalls (e.g., Apollo, Hunter) to maximize match rates while controlling cost.

What makes Prospeo's 7-day data refresh different from other email finders?

Most email finder databases are refreshed on a monthly or quarterly basis. Prospeo's 7-day refresh cycle means contact email validity is rechecked weekly, which reduces the likelihood that an email that was valid last month has since bounced due to the person changing jobs or the company updating its email infrastructure. This translates to better deliverability rates on outbound campaigns built from Prospeo data.

Does Prospeo support mobile phone number finding, or only emails?

Yes — Prospeo includes a Mobile Finder feature that surfaces B2B mobile phone numbers for prospects in addition to email addresses. Mobile number coverage is more limited than email coverage (as is true across the industry), but Prospeo describes its phone data as 'exclusive B2B phone data' that is separate from its email verification pipeline. Mobile lookups are available as part of the same credit-based pricing model.

Does Prospeo have a Claude Code Skill or Claude Plugin?

Prospeo 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 Semrush compare to Ahrefs — which is better for SEO?

Semrush and Ahrefs are the two dominant SEO platforms, and the right choice depends on your primary use case. Semrush leads on keyword data depth (27 billion keywords vs. Ahrefs' roughly 10 billion), PPC intelligence, content tools, and site audit capabilities — making it the stronger all-around choice for agencies and multi-channel marketers. Ahrefs leads on backlink data accuracy and freshness, with the most active web crawler in the industry; its Content Explorer is also considered best-in-class for link building. In 2026, Semrush added AI visibility tracking for ChatGPT and Perplexity citations (via Semrush One), a differentiator Ahrefs has not yet matched.

What are the real costs of adding users to a Semrush plan?

Semrush's base plans only include 1 user seat. Adding extra seats costs $45/month per additional user on all plans. For a 3-person team on Guru ($249.95/month), the actual cost becomes ~$340–$410/month once additional seats are included — a 35–65% increase over the advertised price. Teams evaluating Semrush for multiple users should factor in per-seat costs from the start, as they are not included in the headline pricing.

What are the project and keyword tracking limits per plan?

Semrush enforces project and keyword tracking limits by plan tier. The Pro plan supports 5 projects and tracks 500 keywords. Guru supports 15 projects and 1,500 keywords. Business supports 40 projects and 5,000 keywords. These limits matter for agencies managing multiple client domains or enterprise teams running large-scale tracking campaigns — teams hitting plan limits must upgrade to avoid losing tracking coverage.

What is Semrush One and how is it different from the classic plans?

Semrush One is a newer integrated suite launched alongside the classic Pro/Guru/Business plans, starting at $199/month. It is designed for the AI search era and adds AI visibility tracking (monitoring how brands appear in ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Perplexity responses), brand monitoring, and a unified cross-channel performance hub. Classic plans focus on traditional SEO, PPC, and backlink tools. Teams concerned about their visibility in AI-generated search results should evaluate Semrush One; teams focused purely on traditional SEO and PPC may not need the additional features at the higher price.

Why does Semrush have a 2.1/5 Trustpilot score despite strong G2 ratings?

Semrush holds a strong 4.5/5 on G2 but only 2.1/5 on Trustpilot — a gap that reflects differences in review audience. G2 reviews come predominantly from active platform users rating features. Trustpilot reviews skew toward billing and cancellation complaints: users report unexpected charges after free trials due to auto-renewal terms, difficulty canceling subscriptions (no direct cancel button in-dashboard — requires contacting support), and refund refusals. Teams should carefully review renewal terms, set calendar reminders before trial expiration, and document cancellation requests if they decide not to continue.

How accurate are Semrush's traffic and keyword volume estimates?

Semrush traffic estimates are modeled approximations — not direct measurements from site analytics. They are generally reliable for directional competitive benchmarking and identifying relative traffic differences between competitors, but actual traffic can differ meaningfully from reported figures, especially for smaller sites with limited clickstream panel coverage. For keyword volume, Semrush is widely regarded as having stronger accuracy than Ahrefs for long-tail and niche keywords, particularly in the US market. Neither platform should be treated as a substitute for first-party data from Google Search Console.

Does Semrush have a Claude Code Skill or Claude Plugin?

Not officially — Semrush 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.