Explorium vs RocketReach vs The Companies API

Objective, side-by-side analysis of Explorium, RocketReach, and The Companies API 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

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

The Companies API

The fastest and most developer-friendly company enrichment API — search, enrich, and discover similar companies across 54 million records with a single API call

  • 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

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

The Companies API

  • Real-Time Company Enrichment

    Pass any domain name or company email to the Enrichment API and receive 300+ data points in a single API call — including revenue, employee count, industry, technologies, social links, and identification codes. The fast, scalable infrastructure handles enterprise workloads, and missing data points can be requested and added by the team within days.

  • Targeted Company Search & Prospecting

    Filter the 54 million company database by industry, location, revenue range, employee count, technology stack, and 300+ other parameters to build targeted prospect lists programmatically. This supports ICP-based account targeting for ABM campaigns, CRM enrichment, and automated lead qualification pipelines without manual research.

  • Similar Company Discovery

    The Similar Companies API identifies businesses that match a given company's profile — by industry, technology stack, size, and location — enabling sales teams to expand their addressable market by discovering lookalike accounts. This is particularly useful for account-based marketing teams looking to grow their ICP universe beyond manual research.

Signals powering these use cases

  • Technology stack adoption
  • Revenue and employee count signals
  • Industry classification
  • Company similarity scoring

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

RocketReach Snapshot

  • Company coverage 3.4
  • Freshness 3.1

The Companies API Snapshot

  • Company coverage 1.5
  • Signals depth 1.3
  • Freshness 4.0

Detailed Feature Comparison

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

Feature Comparison
Explorium
RocketReach
The Companies API
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 bulk lookup support and metadata query parameters
Full REST API; Startup 50 RPS, Scaleup 250 RPS, Enterprise 1,000 RPS
SLA
Up to 99.999% uptime; rate limit 200 requests/min per key
-
-
Compliance
GDPR, SOC 2, CCPA, ISO 27001
GDPR-aligned (EU subject filter, data segregation); CCPA compliant; note: lacks EU Article 27 representative
GDPR-compliant; all data is publicly visible and verifiable
Custom Entities
Real-time Lookups
Global Coverage
150M+ companies and 800M+ contacts across 150+ countries
700M+ professionals across 35M+ companies globally; strongest in North America
54M+ companies globally, all industries and regions
CRM Integration
Available on custom enterprise plans
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
Web app, Chrome extension, API, native CRM integrations
REST API with documentation; no native prospecting UI
Natural language search
-
Workflow automation
Automation integrations
n8n, Claude, custom webhook integrations
Outreach, Salesloft, Bullhorn, Zapier
Webhook support for event-driven workflows
Company coverage
150M+ company profiles
35M+ companies
54M+ companies
People coverage
800M+ people profiles (767M+ verified contacts)
700M+ professionals
-
Geographic coverage
150+ countries
Global, with strongest coverage in North America
Global; all industries and regions
Data sources type
50+ data providers; proprietary ML enrichment; real-time web signals
Proprietary data collection, public web sources, user-contributed verification
Public web data from hundreds of sources; GDPR-compliant
Global schema consistency
Unified schema across 4,000+ data points globally; consistent API response structure
Consistent schema across geographies; fill rates vary by region
Consistent 300+ data point schema across all companies
Refresh frequency
Daily for high-velocity signals; weekly for semi-dynamic attributes; monthly/quarterly for stable firmographics
Quarterly database refresh; real-time lookups via API
Real-time data processing and enrichment; webhook notifications for updates
Business enrichments
Company size, revenue, industry, tech stack, funding stage, headcount trends, competitive landscape, website traffic
Company name, industry, size, revenue, location, technology stack
Revenue, employee count, industry, location, technologies, social profiles, identification codes
Prospect enrichments
Job title, seniority, verified email, phone, LinkedIn URL, job history, people events
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
Contact data, company firmographics, social profiles
Firmographic, technographic, revenue, employee count, social, similar companies
Intent data
-
Event signals
Company events (20+ types), people events (5+ types), funding rounds, acquisitions, hiring surges
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 matching with LinkedIn profile cross-reference
Domain-based and name-based matching
Confidence scoring
-
Validation methodology
Advanced ML-based deduplication; 98%+ company accuracy; 95% people accuracy
Email verification via SMTP checking and proprietary validation; 85%+ claimed accuracy
Data sourced from hundreds of public web sources; described as 'most accurate and reliable' by users
Deduplication logic
Advanced ML-based deduplication across 50+ data providers
Deduplication supported when pushing records to CRM integrations
-
API availability
QPS performance
Up to 100 QPS; 200 requests/min per API key
Bulk API Lookups supported; metadata query parameters available
50 RPS (Startup), 250 RPS (Scaleup), 1,000 RPS (Enterprise)
CRM integrations
Custom plan — CRM integrations available
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
Credit-based subscription
Credit-based monthly subscription
Credit system
Credit-based; 100 credits on free trial; self-serve and custom plans scale with volume
Lookups consumed per contact reveal; unused credits do not roll over
Credits consumed per API call; search and enrichment each consume credits
Tier structure
Free trial, Self-serve, Custom Enterprise
Free, Essentials, Pro, Ultimate, Enterprise
Free, Startup ($95/mo), Scaleup ($295/mo), Enterprise ($595/mo)
Free trial details
30-day free trial with 100 credits; covers API and MCP access
5 free lookups/month on free plan, no credit card required
500 free credits, no credit card required, no time limit stated
Budget commitment options
Custom enterprise plans with volume negotiation
Annual and monthly billing; bulk lookup add-ons at $0.30–$0.45 per lookup
Monthly subscription only
Custom plans available
Bulk deals support
-
Resell rights
-
-

Pricing

Compare pricing models, flexibility, and commitment structure.

Pricing Dimension
Explorium
RocketReach
The Companies API
Pricing Model
Usage-based with custom enterprise plans
Credit-based (lookups per month)
Credit-based monthly subscription
Commitment Structure
One-time or custom; no mandatory annual lock-in on self-serve
Month-to-month or annual (annual discounted)
Monthly, no annual commitment required
Payment Recurrence
One-time or custom
Monthly or annual
Monthly
Free Trial
30-day free trial with 100 credits; no credit card required
Free plan with 5 lookups/month, no credit card required
Free plan with 500 credits, no credit card required
Enterprise Customization
Yes — custom plans include CRM integrations, warehouse ingestion, resell rights, and dedicated support
Yes — custom Enterprise plans available
Enterprise plan at $595/mo; custom plans available on request
Onboarding Model
Self-serve for API and MCP; dedicated onboarding for enterprise custom plans
Self-serve; Enterprise plans include onboarding support
Fully self-serve with documentation and live chat 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 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
V

Verified GetApp Reviewer

Developer / Small Business

"The data was the most accurate and reliable source for our needs. The API is easy-to-use and well-documented, and customer support is extremely fast and helpful."
Verified User for The Companies API

Frequently Asked Questions

Is RocketReach better than The Companies API?

It depends on your use case. 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 The Companies API The fastest and most developer-friendly company enrichment API — search, enrich, and discover similar companies across 54 million records with a single API call

What is the difference between RocketReach and The Companies API?

See the feature-by-feature comparison above. In short: 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 while The Companies API focuses on The fastest and most developer-friendly company enrichment API — search, enrich, and discover similar companies across 54 million records with a single API call.

How much does RocketReach cost compared to The Companies API?

RocketReach pricing model: Credit-based subscription with annual and monthly billing options. The Companies API pricing model: Credit-based monthly subscription.

Is RocketReach or The Companies API 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.

Is Explorium better than The Companies API?

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 The Companies API The fastest and most developer-friendly company enrichment API — search, enrich, and discover similar companies across 54 million records with a single API call

What is the difference between Explorium and The Companies API?

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 The Companies API focuses on The fastest and most developer-friendly company enrichment API — search, enrich, and discover similar companies across 54 million records with a single API call.

How much does Explorium cost compared to The Companies API?

Explorium pricing model: Usage-based with custom plans. The Companies API pricing model: Credit-based monthly subscription.

Is Explorium or The Companies API 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 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.

Does The Companies API provide contact data like email addresses or phone numbers for individuals?

No. The Companies API is strictly a company-level data platform. It does not provide individual contact data such as professional email addresses, direct dial phone numbers, or LinkedIn profiles. The enrichment output covers company attributes — revenue, employee count, industry, technologies, social profiles, and similar company identification — but has no people or contact data layer. Teams that need person-level enrichment alongside company data will need to combine The Companies API with a separate contact enrichment provider.

What exactly can be searched and filtered in the company search API?

The Search API lets you filter 54M+ companies using 300+ data points including industry, geographic location, company size (employee count), revenue range, technology stack, and keywords. Results can be used to build targeted account lists for ABM campaigns, ICP prospecting, or market research. The database covers all industries and global regions, with GDPR-compliant public data sourced from hundreds of web sources.

How does the Similar Companies feature work?

The Similar Companies API accepts a company identifier (domain or name) and returns a list of businesses that share similar characteristics — industry, size, location, and technology stack. This enables sales and marketing teams to discover lookalike accounts programmatically, expanding their ICP target list beyond manually curated lists or static segments. It is particularly useful for account-based marketing programs where the goal is to find more companies that match the profile of existing best-fit customers.

What happens if the API is missing a data point I need?

The Companies API has a stated policy of adding missing data points upon customer request within a few days. This is explicitly mentioned in their documentation and has been noted by users as a differentiating service characteristic. This flexibility is unusual among data API providers and makes the platform particularly adaptable for teams building custom data products or enrichment workflows that require niche or specialized company attributes not included in standard schemas.

What are the rate limits, and can they handle enterprise-scale workloads?

Rate limits scale with plan tier: 50 requests per second on the Startup plan ($95/mo), 250 RPS on the Scaleup plan ($295/mo), and 1,000 RPS on the Enterprise plan ($595/mo). The API returns a standard 429 Too Many Requests error when limits are exceeded, and the documentation recommends exponential backoff. For most enrichment use cases — CRM batch jobs, list enrichment, product onboarding flows — the Scaleup tier at 250 RPS handles substantial volumes. High-frequency real-time applications at enterprise scale would require the Enterprise tier or a custom arrangement.

How does The Companies API handle GDPR compliance?

The Companies API states that all data in its database is public, GDPR-compliant, and visible on the internet to anyone. The platform sources exclusively from public web data aggregated from hundreds of sources, which means there is no personal data processed beyond publicly available business information. Its GDPR-compliant infrastructure is also described as enabling developers to build AI-driven workflows safely. Customers operating in EU markets should note that while the data provider is GDPR-compliant, downstream use of the data in marketing or outreach workflows still requires the customer's own legal basis assessment.

Does The Companies API have a Claude Code Skill or Claude Plugin?

The Companies API 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.