Top 5 ZoomInfo alternatives in 2023

There is an increasing awareness in the business world that to be successful, business strategies must align sales, marketing, and customer success teams to optimise revenue growth. RevOps is a hot topic and attribution tools are now central for all sales and marketing teams, allowing a clear and thorough understanding of their outreach strategy. Because of this, SaaS companies rely on a variety of sales tools such as ZoomInfo to support their revenue-generating strategies.

ZoomInfo, headquartered in Vancouver, Washington, is a provider of data and intelligence for more than 30,000 companies worldwide. Targeting the B2B sales, marketing, operations, and recruitment industries, it offers access to a range of data, including company and contact information. ZoomInfo is also a registered data broker within the states of California and Vermont.

With four solutions on offer (SalesOS, MarketingOS, OperationsOS, and TalentOS), ZoomInfo can support sales teams in “hitting their number” with a focus on intent data, recruitment professionals find their prospective candidates, operations teams inform their strategies, and marketing teams turn leads into pipeline. ZoomInfo offer a range of features which focus around three central points: Intelligence, Engagement, and Orchestration. It provides support for lead generation, contact and company searching, news and people alerts, reporting, and account-based marketing.

As only the best sales intelligence platforms do, ZoomInfo focuses on “foundational data and buying signals” and tracks nine sales triggers and a range of intent data, to provide a wide range of business intelligence. But ZoomInfo isn’t the only solution in town.

With so many alternatives to ZoomInfo in the market, you wouldn’t be blamed for wanting to shop about. To help you get to grips with the pros and cons, we’ve taken a closer look at some of ZoomInfo’s top competitors:

1. Selligence

What they do:

Selligence, the industry leading provider of sales triggers, is a SaaS market intelligence provider for the sales, marketing, and recruitment industries. Selligence delivers high value leads, significantly reducing research and administrative tasks for its users. With its cutting-edge sales trigger capabilities, Selligence stands out among other lead generation tools by offering 3-5 times higher success rates for outbound efforts.

This comprehensive solution not only saves users hours of valuable time but also automates the prospecting, administrative, and research processes, seamlessly integrating high-quality leads directly into the user's CRM. Additionally, Selligence offers a convenient Chrome extension, allowing users to access company and contact data within their browser, no matter where their online journey takes them.

Selligence offers extensive international coverage across various major industries, equipping its users with a vast array of intelligence to effectively close deals and expand their presence in new markets. With a keen focus on pre-intent data in the shape of sales triggers, the platform allows sales professionals and companies to act on the very first triggers in the buying cycle. By acting in advance of intent data, revenue teams can get months ahead of their competition.

Features:

• Event Prospecting – an industry-leading range of sales triggers (116 in total) to support an automated research and qualification process, saving hours of admin and lead gen time every day
• Job Changes Tracker - identifying newly appointed executives to fill your pipeline with ICP buyers who have budgets to spend
• Contact and Company Database – extensive database offering millions of refined contacts
• Chrome Extension – providing sales trigger leads, account and contact-level data, all provided directly in your Chrome browser
• Data Enrichment – update company and contact-level data inside your CRM. Selligence also has the capability to highlight decision maker movements within your CRM, to ensure that your database is up to date and aligned with all of your product champions

Sales Triggers:

Selligence is the industry leader in tracking sales event triggers. Currently they monitor 45 unique sales trigger events, and a further 71 sub-types of event. That’s a staggering 116 triggers that are trackable and searchable for Selligence users. Covering everything from funding rounds to job loss alerts, or warning letters to vacancies, at Selligence there’s a sales trigger for everyone.

Integrations:

In the true nature of sale intelligence - helping revenue teams save time - Selligence has a stack of integrations available to help streamline things for its users. From email to CRM integrations, through a partnership with Tray.io, Selligence offers a host of integrations to maximise efficiencies:

• Salesforce
• HubSpot
• Pipedrive
• Bullhorn
• Vincere
• Loxo
• Google Chrome
• Gmail
• Microsoft 365
• (many other major brands also available)

Pricing:

From a free plan designed to get you started, right through to customisable packages, Selligence offers a range of plans to suit the individual user or team. The professional plan is based on an individual seat from just £160 per user, per month, but there are options here for all budgets.

2. Apollo.io

What they do:

Apollo.io, based in San Francisco, California, offers a platform designed to facilitate sales, marketing, and customer data management. Apollo boasts a comprehensive database of more than 220 million contacts and 30 million company profiles, and offers a suite of sales engagement and automation tools. With a focus on optimising workflows and supporting greater efficiency, Apollo users can streamline their processes and enhance their productivity while managing and engaging with prospects and customers.

Running with a Lord of the Rings vibe, Apollo claims to be the “one platform to close them all”. But like every great work of fiction, a touch of artistic license also has them claiming they’re “the only end-to-end sales platform”. Perhaps on a more reliable front, Apollo's Privacy Center states that the platform adheres to the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and fulfils the roles of both a Data Processor and Data Controller and has obtained ISO 27001 and SOC 2 certifications.

Features:

Apollo offer a range of features including:

• Call Management – including call recording, call list management, and call monitoring
• Email/Call Sequencing - offering the ability to strategically plan and time emails or phone calls, ensuring no contact gets lost in the details
• Integrations – including CRM and inbox integrations, helping to streamline existing workflows and improve efficiency with seamless connectivity
• Performance Analytics (Sales) - helping team leads to manage their teams more effectively, evaluate their processes, and improve sales performance
• Email Automation – reducing manual tasks to a simple, pre-set process. Allowing sales teams to send timely, relevant, and personalised emails to their subscribers, prospects, or customers
• Workflow Management – allowing teams to optimise and automate business processes to improve efficiency, collaboration, and productivity. Ensuring linear progression through the pipeline, leaving no lead behind

Sales Triggers:

Apollo.io uses sales triggers and intent data to offer sales professionals a competitive edge, but the emphasis here is definitely on intent data. Having now acquired LeadSift, a renowned provider of intent data, Apollo benefits from intent data gathered from various channels, including the public web, social networks, events, hiring activities, technology installations, and more. Combining these signals allows them to create a comprehensive picture of buying behaviours.

Integrations:

Apollo, through a partnership with Zapier, can integrate with a wide range of popular CRM and marketing automation platforms. Here are some of the integrations you might benefit from:

• Gmail/Outlook
• Slack
• Google Sheets
• TypeForm
• Calendly
• Salesforce
• HubSpot
• Zoho
• Notion
• ClickUp
• Monday.com
• Mailchimp
• Pipedrive

Pricing:

Apollo.io provides a range of package options to suit different needs: Free, Basic, Professional, and Custom. Each package is priced on a per-user, per-month basis and comes with a specific allocation of credits for data access. As you move up to higher-tier plans, you unlock additional features such as data enrichment, A/B testing, and fewer limitations on areas such as buyer intent, enhancing your overall experience and capabilities.

It’s worth noting that the pricing structure of Apollo.io relies on credits, which may not always provide users with sufficient access to the desired contacts or companies. The free package starts with 60 mobile credits a year, unlimited email credits, and 120 export credits. Purchasing additional credits, or top-ups, can become a costly thing though, so you’ll want to be mindful of this when selecting the right package for you.

3. Cognism

What they do:

Headquartered in London, Cognism, offers a comprehensive range of B2B sales and marketing solutions. At the core of Cognism's offerings is a sales acceleration platform designed to streamline and automate sales processes for businesses. The platform includes features such as prospecting, email outreach, and data enrichment, which enable Cognism users to improve the efficiency of their sales efforts.

In addition to its sales acceleration platform, Cognism’s global database allows users access to an array of B2B decision-makers and companies. This data helps users to create targeted outreach lists tailored to their specific sales and marketing campaigns. Cognism also provides firmographics, technographics, sales trigger events, and intent data, alongside business emails and mobile phone numbers.

Features:

• Prospecting – allowing users to search and filter intent data for potential leads
• Email Verification – verify email addresses to reduce the risk of bounced emails
• Data Enrichment – enrich existing customer data with additional information
• Analytics and Reporting – analytics and reporting tools allow users to track their sales performance
• GDPR Compliance – ensuring businesses can use the platform without breaching data protection regulations

Sales Triggers:

Cognism's Prospector tool is designed to enhance business development efforts. By leveraging seven sales event triggers, the platform offers a basic understanding of ongoing activities within each company, with a particular emphasis on funding rounds. While business intelligence takes something of a back seat, Cognism's approach prioritises sales intelligence, relying heavily on intent data to empower its users. Unlike sales triggers that provide real-time data directly to sales representatives, Cognism's approach requires reps to run reports to access the information.

Integrations:

Cognism has established a partnership with Zapier, resulting in an extensive list of available integrations. According to Zapier's claims, they offer integration capabilities with over 5,000 applications, presenting a wide range of possibilities for seamless connectivity.

Here are some that we know about:

• Salesforce
• HubSpot
• Microsoft Dynamics
• Pipedrive
• Marketo
• Outreach
• SalesLoft
• Slack
• ZoomInfo
• DiscoverOrg
• Eloqua
• FreshSales
• Clearbit

Pricing:

Cognism's pricing plans, much like ZoomInfo's, require some effort to fully understand. However, Cognism offers several licenses that are priced per user, granting unrestricted access to the data included in each package. The specific features desired by an individual user determine the corresponding pricing. Additionally, there is a flat platform fee that grants users access to Cognism's Web App and Chrome Extension, along with integrations with selected CRMs and Sales Engagement Tools.

4. Lusha

What they do:

Lusha specialises in providing contact information to revenue teams, offering access to a database of over 100 million profiles. The data they provide includes direct-dial phone numbers, with an alleged accuracy rate of 81%, and using Lusha's browser extension, users can also extract contact details while browsing LinkedIn. Lusha also offers CRM integrations, enabling quick and efficient transfers of data, and it is fully GDPR and CCPA compliant.

Features:

If it’s only contact details that you're interested in, then Lusha may well be your answer. However, they have dipped a toe into some other waters too. Here’s what else Lusha clients can expect:

• Contact and Company Search – offering 100 million company profiles
• Lists – turn your searches into exportable lists of data you can deal with later
• Dashboard Analytics – your whole team’s performance can be monitored to provide usage insights
• Prospecting – improve your outreach by streamlining your search criteria to help users find, target, and connect with their ideal customers
• Team Management – allot the credits as you want. One size does not always fit all, so users can distribute credits to suit their individual team’s needs

Sales Triggers Tracked:

Lusha is all about the contact details, so unfortunately, you’ll find no sales triggers or any real prospecting support here.

Integrations:

Lusha has established a partnership with leading workflow automation tool Zapier, providing users with a wide range of integration possibilities comparable to those offered by Selligence (Tray.io) and Cognism (also integrated with Zapier). Lusha claims that you can “integrate with any tool in 60 seconds”.

Pricing:

We all know that a truly free plan is a rare thing, so the fact that Lusha offers one is brilliant. However, your monthly five credits included in the free plan will disappear faster than you would believe, especially when you have more contact numbers to dial, not less. Frankly, it’s enough to tease you, but will leave you hanging for the other 28 days of the month, so be prepared to fork out if you want to keep Lusha to hand.

Lusha stands out by offering transparent pricing plans, including a monthly option, which is quite rare. They offer a plan priced at $29 per month, per user (billed annually) as well as a "premium" plan at $51 per month, per user (also billed annually), giving you some flexibility to choose the best fit for your needs. Think you’ll need more than they’re offering? Lusha also provides the option for a customisable plan; just reach out to them to discuss the pricing details for your specific needs.

5. Dealfront

What they do:

Dealfront, freshly renamed following the acquisition of Echobot by Leadfeeder, aims to empower sales and marketing teams with the essential data, applications, and insights necessary to succeed in European markets. Specialising in lead generation and website visitor tracking, the platform helps businesses identify and track potential leads visiting their website.

By analysing website visitor behaviour and integrating with various marketing and CRM tools, the platform provides insights and data to help businesses identify and prioritise their most promising leads.

Providing solutions in four key areas (sales prospecting, buyer intent signals, website visitor tracking, and B2B advertising), Dealfront use a diverse range of European data sources to offer sales intelligence to revenue teams, prioritising compliance with GDPR regulations and privacy standards. While Dealfront does provide worldwide coverage, it might be worth considering that it places itself as a European specialist.

Features:

• Comprehensive European data – with a native understanding of the European market, the platform is also trained on European data in multiple languages, offering relevant insights and data for the European market
• Access to valuable market data, analytics, and actionable insights to help sales teams make informed business decisions
• Dealfront prioritises data privacy and GDPR compliance
• Search and filter – with a wide array of filtering possible, search results are more focused to the user
• Data cleansing and enrichment – providing the ability to clean/enrich existing data that is maintained in other systems

Sales Triggers Tracked:

The number of sales triggers tracked by Dealfront is a closely guarded secret, but it does claim that sales triggers and intent data are key to the platform’s qualifying stage of the go-to-market strategy.

Integrations:

Again, the list of possible integrations for Dealfront is a long list. Thanks to a partnership with Zapier, here are some of the big names that will integrate:

• Salesforce
• Pipedrive
• HubSpot
• Zoho
• Mailchimp
• Slack
• Looker Studio
• Google Analytics

Pricing:

Dealfront are perhaps not for those on a tight budget, but again, there are three main packages to consider here. Starting with the Basic package, users can benefit from three seats and an annual allowance of 2,500 credits. The number of credits scales for the Pro account up to 15,000, and if more seats is what you’re after, then the Premium package is for you. Serving 10 seats, and with an annual allowance of 50,000 credits, this is a pretty comprehensive deal – even if the price leaves your eyes watering.

Remember

When choosing your next sales intelligence platform, you really need to knuckle down on a few key points: what level of business support do you really need? Where are your current pain points? How early in the sales cycle do you want the actionable intelligence?

If contact data is all you’re after, then you can have your pick of the crop as almost all solutions will have some level of contact data available. If intent data is more of interest for you then there’splenty of choice here too. With so many competitors in this field, you’ll need to play close attention to budget and individual integration needs, as these factors are more likely to sway your decision.

Anyone looking to close more deals and increase revenue will be needing a competitive edge, and that’s where sales triggers come in. Selligence is the clear front runner here, with an industry leading 45 unique sales triggers available to track.

So, make sure you know what your company really needs. Whether you simply want more contact numbers or have a closer focus on boosting sales and getting months ahead of the competition, there are plenty of alternatives to ZoomInfo to consider.

For an all-round solution that not only puts you months ahead of your competition, providing pre-intent, sales trigger data, but also offers a database of refined contacts, as well as integrations with your existing tech stack, Selligence is the answer. To find out how else you can save time and increase billing, get in touch for a demo of the Selligence platform.