Alternatives
Ken is our productBest Cognism Alternatives (2026)
Ken (our product) is the top Cognism alternative for free search and no seat fees. Next: Lusha for reps who want phone numbers on monthly plans, then Apollo.io for teams that want data, sequences and a dialer.
Ken is our product. We list it first, and every fact about other tools comes from their public pages on the date shown.
Should You Switch From Cognism to Ken?
In short Ken's view: switch if you want free search across 250M people and 24M companies, paying only for valid emails found; stay on Cognism if you cold call European decision-makers and want phone-verified mobiles screened against Do Not Call lists.
Ken or Cognism?
Ken's view: Cognism quotes every package and leads on phone-verified mobiles, which Ken does not offer. Ken Search covers 250M people and 24M companies with free search and 1 credit ($0.02) per valid email found, charged only on success, and Platform ($200/month) includes unlimited seats and Campaigns over email and LinkedIn in the same product.
Pick Ken if
- you want to search 250M people and 24M companies free and pay 1 credit ($0.02) only when Ken finds a valid email
- you want the whole team on one plan: Platform is $200/month for unlimited seats and workspaces, with 200,000 sends and 5,000 credits a month
- you want to send the list as an email and LinkedIn campaign in the same product
Pick Cognism if
- you cold call European decision-makers and want phone-verified mobiles screened against Do Not Call lists
- you sell into EMEA and need contact data with compliance checks built in
- you want contact data inside Claude or ChatGPT through an MCP connector on the same credits
Top Alternatives at a Glance
In short Ken plus 7 tools that can replace Cognism, ranked. Ken is first because it is ours.
| Tool | Best for | Starting price | Free plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ken(ours) | Teams that want data and outbound on one plan, without seat fees | Free, then Platform $200/month, or $160/month billed annually | Yes - 1,000 credits once, no card |
| Key differenceSearch is free, a valid email costs 1 credit ($0.02), and Platform has no seat fees | |||
| Lusha | Reps who want phone numbers on monthly plans | From $49.90 a month, or $37.45 billed annually (Starter) | Yes - Free plan with 40 credits a month, 1 seat, no card |
| Key differenceSells verified emails and phone numbers on published monthly plans, says it has 117M+ verified phone numbers, and has a Free plan of 40 credits a month | |||
| Apollo.io | Teams that want data, sequences and a dialer | From $65 per seat a month, or $49 billed annually (Basic) | Yes - Free plan with 75 credits per seat a month, 2 sequences and 250 emails a day |
| Key differencePairs 240M+ contacts and phone numbers with sequences, a US dialer and Bombora intent topics on every plan, at published per-seat prices | |||
| ZoomInfo | Enterprise teams buying direct dials and intent data | No public price (contact sales) | Yes - ZoomInfo Lite with 10 credits a month, plus a free trial (typically 7 days), no card |
| Key differenceSays it has 135M+ direct-dial numbers and sells buyer intent across 4,500+ topics and website visitor tracking, mostly on annual contracts | |||
| Seamless.AI | Teams wanting emails and phones in one credit | No public price (contact sales) | Yes - Free plan with 50 credits that do not replenish, no card |
| Key differenceOne credit reveals a contact's emails, cell phones and direct dials together, and built-in Emailing sends bulk email with open and click tracking | |||
| Amplemarket | Teams wanting data, multichannel sequences and a dialer | From $600 a month, billed annually (Startup) | No - 7-day trial on Startup, requested with a company email; Growth and Elite start with a demo |
| Key differencePairs a database of 200M+ business profiles with sequences across email, LinkedIn and phone, with the dialer on every plan | |||
| UpLead | Solo users buying emails and mobiles per credit | From $99 a month, or $74 billed annually (Essentials) | No - 7-day free trial with 5 credits |
| Key differenceOne credit buys a verified email plus a mobile direct dial, invalid emails are not charged, and Essentials and Plus bill monthly without a sales call | |||
| RocketReach | Reps looking up contacts one at a time | From $69 per seat a month, or $33 billed annually (Essentials) | Yes - Free account with 5 lookups, no card |
| Key differenceUses a lookup credit only when it finds a verified email or phone number, with phone numbers from Pro and sequences on every plan | |||
Starting price is the lowest published paid plan or credit pack on each vendor's pricing page, checked Oct 17, 2026. Ken's prices come from Ken's pricing page.
Why Do Teams Look for Cognism Alternatives?
In short Every package is quoted through sales, and there is no free plan or self-serve trial.
- No public prices; every package is quoted through sales.
- No free plan or self-serve trial, only a free data sample on request.
- Intent data, the premium mobile filter and on-demand mobile verification are Pro only.
- You need a separate tool to email your contacts. No built-in email sequencing; contacts go out to CRMs or tools like Outreach and Salesloft.
1. Ken
In short Search is free, a valid email costs 1 credit ($0.02), and Platform has no seat fees.
Ken Search covers 250M people and 24M companies, searchable by title, seniority, company and location.
Best for: teams that want data and outbound on one plan, without seat fees.
Strengths:
- Search 250M people and 24M companies.
- Search is free; you pay only for valid emails found, 1 credit ($0.02) each.
- Company and person enrichment is free.
- Emails you upload or find with your own provider key cost nothing.
- Your AI agent can search the same database over MCP.
- Platform is $200/month for unlimited seats and workspaces, with 200,000 sends and 5,000 credits a month.
Limits:
- Counts are people and companies in Ken's database, not the whole market.
- Fair-use rate limits apply.
- Mobile and direct-dial numbers: No (work emails only).
- Browser extension: No.
- Buyer intent data: Coming (Signals).
Price: Free plan: 1,000 credits once, no card. Platform: $200/month, $180/month billed quarterly or $160/month billed annually, with 200,000 sends and 5,000 credits a month and unlimited seats and workspaces. 1 credit = $0.02. Ken Search: search and enrichment are free; emails Ken finds cost 1 credit each, only when found. Checked Oct 17, 2026.
2. Lusha
In short Sells verified emails and phone numbers on published monthly plans, says it has 117M+ verified phone numbers, and has a Free plan of 40 credits a month.
Lusha is a B2B contact data platform that sells verified emails and phone numbers through a web workspace, a Chrome extension, an API and an MCP server, used by sales, marketing, RevOps and recruiting teams.
Best for: reps who want phone numbers on monthly plans.
Strengths:
- Phone data: Lusha says it has 117M+ verified phone numbers and states 85% US and 86% global phone accuracy.
- Says it has 515M+ verified business contacts and 29M+ companies, with 98% stated email accuracy.
- One credit balance works across the Workspace, the Chrome extension, the API and an MCP server for Claude and ChatGPT.
- Free plan with 40 credits a month and no card, including the Chrome extension and the HubSpot and Salesforce integrations.
- Monthly plans roll unused credits over, up to twice the monthly limit.
Limits:
- A phone number costs 5 credits, so the 400 credits on Starter cover 80 phone reveals a month.
- Seats are capped per plan: Starter has 1, Pro includes 2 (up to 10) and Premium 5 (up to 25). Unlimited seats need the custom Scale plan.
- Annual plans reset unused credits at the end of the year.
- The API has strict rate limits on Free and Starter; full API access starts on Pro.
Starting price: From $49.90 a month, or $37.45 billed annually (Starter). Free plan with 40 credits a month, 1 seat, no card. Prices checked Oct 17, 2026 on Lusha's pricing page.
3. Apollo.io
In short Pairs 240M+ contacts and phone numbers with sequences, a US dialer and Bombora intent topics on every plan, at published per-seat prices.
Apollo.io is a sales platform that pairs a B2B contact database with sequences, a dialer, meeting scheduling and deal management, used by sales teams that prospect and run outreach in one per-seat tool.
Best for: teams that want data, sequences and a dialer.
Strengths:
- Says it has 240M+ contacts and 30M+ accounts.
- Sequences, a US dialer, a meeting scheduler, call recording and deal management come in the same seat as the data.
- Charges email credits only for addresses it can verify, and never more than 1 credit per contact for an email.
- Free plan with 75 credits per seat a month, 2 sequences and API access, plus a 14-day trial of Basic and Professional.
- Salesforce and HubSpot push and pull and Bombora intent topics are included on every plan, Free too.
Limits:
- Priced per seat: $49 to $119 per seat a month on annual billing, and Organization needs 3 seats on an annual contract.
- A phone number costs 8 credits from the same pool as emails.
- Free and Basic cap sending at 250 emails a day and 1 mailbox per user; unlimited sends start on Professional.
- Credits, including bought add-ons, expire at the end of each billing cycle.
Starting price: From $65 per seat a month, or $49 billed annually (Basic). Free plan with 75 credits per seat a month, 2 sequences and 250 emails a day. Prices checked Oct 17, 2026 on Apollo.io's pricing page.
4. ZoomInfo
In short Says it has 135M+ direct-dial numbers and sells buyer intent across 4,500+ topics and website visitor tracking, mostly on annual contracts.
ZoomInfo is a go-to-market data platform that sells B2B contact and company data, mobile and direct-dial numbers, buyer intent and sales workflows to sales, marketing and RevOps teams, mostly on annual contracts.
Best for: enterprise teams buying direct dials and intent data.
Strengths:
- Says it has 500M+ professional profiles and 135M+ direct-dial numbers, with mobile numbers and business emails from the entry Professional package.
- Buyer intent across 4,500+ topics plus website visitor tracking on Copilot Advanced and up.
- A permanent free tier, ZoomInfo Lite, with 10 credits a month, the Chrome extension and WebSights Lite.
- Pay-as-you-go API, MCP and CLI access through GTM AI with published per-credit prices and free search and lookup.
Limits:
- No public prices for Professional, Copilot Advanced or Copilot Enterprise; every quote goes through sales.
- Paid plans are annual contracts with a minimum seat count; ZoomInfo says there is no standard monthly option.
- Intent data, website visitors and workflows start at Copilot Advanced, and Streaming Intent costs extra.
- The free Lite tier gives 10 credits a month and is closed to current or past paid customers.
Starting price: No public price (contact sales). ZoomInfo Lite with 10 credits a month, plus a free trial (typically 7 days), no card. Prices checked Oct 17, 2026 on ZoomInfo's pricing page.
5. Seamless.AI
In short One credit reveals a contact's emails, cell phones and direct dials together, and built-in Emailing sends bulk email with open and click tracking.
Seamless.AI is a real-time search engine for B2B emails, cell phones and direct dials with built-in emailing, sold to sales teams through custom quotes.
Best for: teams wanting emails and phones in one credit.
Strengths:
- Says it has 1.8B+ verified business emails and 414M+ phone numbers.
- One credit reveals a contact's emails, cell phones and direct dials together, with no separate phone price.
- Credits for invalid emails come back automatically, without a refund request.
- API access is included on every plan, Free too, and draws from the plan's existing credits.
- Native Salesforce, HubSpot and Microsoft Dynamics integrations, plus a Chrome extension.
Limits:
- No public prices: the pricing page redirects to a demo form, so every quote goes through sales.
- The Free plan's 50 credits do not replenish.
- Subscriptions auto-renew, and cancelling needs a request at least 60 days before renewal plus a meeting with Customer Success.
- Basic licenses include 250 credits a month, so high-volume research needs Pro or bulk credits.
Starting price: No public price (contact sales). Free plan with 50 credits that do not replenish, no card. Prices checked Oct 17, 2026 on Seamless.AI's pricing page.
6. Amplemarket
In short Pairs a database of 200M+ business profiles with sequences across email, LinkedIn and phone, with the dialer on every plan.
Amplemarket is an AI sales platform for B2B sales teams that combines a database of 200M+ business profiles, multichannel sequences across email, LinkedIn and phone, and Duo AI assistants that draft outreach and replies.
Best for: teams wanting data, multichannel sequences and a dialer.
Strengths:
- One sequence can mix email, phone calls and 7 LinkedIn step types, including follows, post likes and voice and video messages, with conditional branches by available contact data.
- Built-in B2B database of 200M+ business profiles with 70M+ updates a week; Startup includes 13,500 email credits and 600 phone credits per user a year.
- The outbound dialer is on every plan, and parallel dialing runs up to 5 lines at once as a step inside sequences.
- Duo Copilot scans for buying signals every 24 hours and drafts a multichannel sequence per lead for the rep to send or dismiss.
- Native two-way Salesforce and HubSpot sync with activity logging, plus email warmup and domain health monitoring for connected mailboxes.
Limits:
- No monthly billing: Startup is $600 a month on an annual term, and Growth and Elite are custom-quoted.
- Startup includes 2 users; extra users cost more at a price the page does not publish.
- Duo Voice starts on Growth, Duo Inbox is an add-on on Growth and included on Elite, and SSO needs Elite.
- Duo Inbox drafts every reply for a rep to send; the product page says nothing is sent automatically.
Starting price: From $600 a month, billed annually (Startup). 7-day trial on Startup, requested with a company email; Growth and Elite start with a demo. Prices checked Oct 17, 2026 on Amplemarket's pricing page.
7. UpLead
In short One credit buys a verified email plus a mobile direct dial, invalid emails are not charged, and Essentials and Plus bill monthly without a sales call.
UpLead is a B2B contact database that sells verified emails and mobile direct dials by the contact, with technographics, enrichment and intent data on higher plans.
Best for: solo users buying emails and mobiles per credit.
Strengths:
- One credit buys a full contact: a verified email plus a mobile direct dial.
- Emails are verified in real time at download, invalid emails are not charged, and UpLead advertises a 95% accuracy guarantee for valid emails.
- Says it has 200M+ B2B contacts with email addresses and 19M+ company profiles.
- Technographic search across 16,000+ technologies on Plus and up.
- Integrates with Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoho, Pipedrive and Dynamics 365, plus sales tools such as Outreach, Salesloft and Lemlist.
Limits:
- Essentials and Plus are single-user; team seats need the custom, annual-only Professional plan.
- Buyer intent data, full API access and two-way CRM sync are on Professional only.
- No free plan: the trial lasts 7 days with 5 credits.
- No built-in email outreach; contacts go to a CRM or a separate sales tool.
Starting price: From $99 a month, or $74 billed annually (Essentials). 7-day free trial with 5 credits. Prices checked Oct 17, 2026 on UpLead's pricing page.
8. RocketReach
In short Uses a lookup credit only when it finds a verified email or phone number, with phone numbers from Pro and sequences on every plan.
RocketReach is a contact lookup tool that finds verified emails and phone numbers for professionals, used by sellers and recruiters through its web app, Chrome extension, API and MCP server.
Best for: reps looking up contacts one at a time.
Strengths:
- Says it finds email, phone and social media for 700M+ professionals.
- Annual plans include unlimited lookups under a 10,000-a-month fair use cap, from $33 a month billed annually ($399 a year).
- A lookup credit is used only when a verified email or phone number is found, and never twice for the same profile.
- Unused lookups on monthly plans roll over for up to 12 months while the subscription is active.
- Every plan includes sequences, an AI email writer, Autopilot, the Chrome extension, MCP and API access.
Limits:
- Annual plans cap exports at 1,200, 3,600 or 20,000 a year, and CSV downloads, list uploads, CRM syncs, API and MCP calls all use export credits.
- Essentials is email only; phone numbers start on Pro at $119 a month, or $75 a month billed annually.
- CRM integrations start on Pro, and intent data, SSO and Salesforce custom mapping are Ultimate only.
- Free accounts get 5 lookups in total, not a monthly allowance.
Starting price: From $69 per seat a month, or $33 billed annually (Essentials). Free account with 5 lookups, no card. Prices checked Oct 17, 2026 on RocketReach's pricing page.
How Did We Pick and Rank These Tools?
In short Ken is first because it is ours. The others can replace Cognism, ranked in Ken's view on the criteria below, with facts from each vendor's public pages on the dates shown.
- Coverage of your market: run a sample search on your real ICP before you buy.
- What one credit buys, whether you pay for missing or invalid data, and whether credits expire.
- Seat pricing: a fee per user or one plan for the whole team.
- Whether emails are verified before you pay for them.
- Phone data: included, extra credits or not offered.
- What happens after the list: CRM sync, export limits and built-in outreach.
- Facts come from each vendor's public pages on the dates shown in Sources.
- We did not test these tools hands-on, and we do not copy third-party ratings.
FAQ
What is the best Cognism alternative?
Ken (our product) is the top Cognism alternative for free search and no seat fees. Next: Lusha for reps who want phone numbers on monthly plans, then Apollo.io for teams that want data, sequences and a dialer.
What is the best free Cognism alternative?
Ken's Free plan gives 1,000 credits once, no card. Of the others, Lusha's Free plan gives 40 credits a month with no card, Apollo's Free plan gives 75 credits per seat a month, and ZoomInfo Lite gives 10 credits a month. Seamless.AI gives 50 credits once, and Amplemarket and UpLead offer 7-day trials.
Is there a cheaper alternative to Cognism?
Cognism publishes no prices, so you need its quote to compare. Lusha Starter is $49.90 a month, or $37.45 billed annually, and Apollo Basic is $65 per seat a month, or $49 billed annually, and both sell phone numbers. For comparison, Ken's Platform plan is $200/month ($160/month billed annually) for unlimited seats. Ken Search: search and enrichment are free; emails Ken finds cost 1 credit each, only when found.
Which Cognism alternatives include email sequences?
Apollo has sequences on every plan, Lusha's Engage sends email sequences from Gmail or Outlook up to 1,000 emails a day, and Amplemarket mixes email, LinkedIn and phone steps in one sequence. RocketReach and Seamless.AI also send email from the same tool.
Which Cognism alternatives have buyer intent data?
ZoomInfo sells buyer intent across 4,500+ topics on Copilot Advanced and up, Apollo includes Bombora intent topics on every plan, and Lusha lists 26 dated buying signals. UpLead keeps intent data for its Professional plan.
Do This in Ken
Find the Same Contacts in Ken Search
Ken Search covers 250M people and 24M companies, searchable by title, seniority, company and location.
- Search people by title, seniority, company and location. Searching is free.
- Find valid emails at 1 credit ($0.02) each, charged only when found.
- Add the list to an email and LinkedIn campaign.
- Module
- Ken Search
- Open in Ken
- /waitlist
- API
POST /v1/search/people- MCP tool
search_search_people- Cost
- Search and enrichment are free; emails Ken finds cost 1 credit each, only when found
The new Ken opens to the waiting list in batches.
Related
Sources
Changelog
- Page published.