Show me your data, and I’ll show you how efficient your sales and marketing campaigns will be.
Modern sales teams need the best company research solutions so that reps can know who to focus on and how to engage in a way that drives qualified meetings.
The landscape has evolved, so we explored dozens of popular B2B account platforms, testing them firsthand and interviewing real users.
Solutions that can help you:
- Discover companies that match your ICP.
- Enrich them with firmographics and intent data.
- Find the right contacts at those companies.
- Capture buying signals to help you understand how likely they are to want to buy your product (and why).
- Uncover other actionable insights that help reps craft tailored outbound strategies.
Below is the result of our search. The 11 best Company research tools for 2024.
We broke down each solution’s key features, strengths, weaknesses, price, etc.
Before we begin, a few pointers to help you make the best decision.
What Makes a Good Company Research Tool?
This question has no simple answer, as it all depends on your goals and requirements.
However, regardless of your specific use case, there are a few things to keep in mind when buying a company research tool.
1. Is it accurate and has the data coverage you need?
Some company research tools cover international data, while others focus on specific regions.
Make sure that the platform you choose is optimized for your market and the regions where most of your customers are based.
Also, high accuracy and matching rates are a must. There is nothing worse than a good campaign wasted on leads that have outdated information.
2. Can you filter records precisely enough?
Good filtering capabilities are vital for targeted company research, especially when dealing with more specific markets or ICPs.
This is especially important if you want to automate some of your processes without using generic criteria.
Focus on tools that can be tailored to fit your needs and fine-tuned to your ICP.
3. Do you have the insights you need?
Tools that go beyond basic B2B contact data can provide a huge competitive advantage.
For example, Keyplay (listed below) can tell you if an account has a free trial or a product tour available on their site, which can be used by reps to hyper-personalized campaigns and stand out from the noise
4. Can it power the rest of your tech stack?
Once prospecting accounts is done, you’ll likely want to do something with the accounts you’ve identified.
Make sure that your company research software connects easily with your existing stack.
5. Can it scale with you?
Look for a tool that:
- Provides good value for money (e.g., includes a wide range of features regardless of your plan, has native integrations with various CRMs and SEPs, etc.).
- Doesn’t break the bank at large data volumes.
For example, solutions like Dirft and Cognism start at appealing price points, but costs will rise exponentially as you scale.
Now that you’re equipped with all the basics, time to start reviewing our 11 best company research tools.
What Are the Best Company Research Tools in 2024?
1. Warmly - Reveals and enriches leads on your website.
2. Zoominfo - Sales operating system with a large B2B database.
3. Crunchbase - Vast database of private company data.
4. Cognism - Sales intelligence platform with international coverage.
5. UpLead - B2B database with email verification capabilities.
6. SalesIntel - B2B contact and intelligence provider with human-verified data.
7. LinkedIn Sales Navigator - Native LinkedIn prospecting solution with advanced filters.
8. Keyplay - Enriches contacts with relevant data and lets you set up custom lead scoring.
9. LeadIQ - B2B prospecting solution with real-time tracking of key accounts and data.
10. Apollo - Sales intelligence and engagement platform.
11. Dealfront - B2B database with GDPR-compliant data.
1. Warmly
Warmly is a revenue orchestration platform that identifies website visitors, enriches them with granular data, and helps you convert them.
It has a wide range of features, including automated prospecting and outreach, live engagement capabilities, etc., but three features are vital in the context of efficient company research:
- Website traffic deanonymization.
- B2B data enrichment.
- Intent data enrichment.
Let’s break them down one by one.
Reveal accounts and leads visiting your site
When designed to attract your target audience, your website can be a rich source of potential customers.
You can use it to capture B2B accounts who come to you - as the fact they’re on your website alone can signal that they’re interested in your offering - instead of relying solely on outbound sales. It’s a must-have for any B2B sales strategy.
Warmly can reveal about 65% of companies and 15% of individuals that visit your website. Try it below ⬇️
As a result, your SDRs can design highly personalized outreach.
All it takes is pasting a snippet of Warmly’s code into your website, and new website-generated leads will start trickling down your pipeline in no time.
If you want to identify the companies that interacted with your cold email campaigns as well, you can add Warmly’s code to emails just as easily.
Enrich visitors with B2B data
Warmly goes beyond basic website visitor identification, enriching each visitor with detailed B2B data, like:
- Contact details (phone numbers, email addresses, job titles, etc.).
- Firmographic data (industry, size, employee count, location, and other company data).
- Technographic data (software tools and technology a company uses).
- CRM data (ongoing and closed deals, account owners, previous interactions with your reps, etc.).
- SEP data (engagement with other sales and marketing campaigns, chatbot interactions, etc.).
- And more.
Leverage intent data and buying signals
Warmly comes included with 2 types of intent data.
Firstly, the platform delivers first-party intent data by monitoring how website visitors interact with your site, and capturing key buying signals such as:
- Pages they visited, with a focus on high-intent pages (e.g., pricing).
- Time spent on each page (the longer they stayed on high-intent pages, the better).
- Asking high-intent questions in the chatbot.
- Downloading relevant content (such as whitepapers, playbooks, etc.) or filling out forms.
In addition to monitoring website sessions, Warmly pulls third-party intent data from tools such as Bombora, 6Sense, HumanDataLabs, and more.
Insights like:
- Recently researched topics on the web.
- Interactions with ads and social media posts.
- Job change intent.
- Visits to competitors’ websites.
By uncovering both first- and third-party intent, you better understand which accounts are most likely to convert right now.
Moreover, this approach lets you qualify and score leads more accurately and efficiently allocate sales and marketing resources. Here’s one example ⤵️
Pricing
Warmly offers a free forever plan that lets you reveal up to 500 people and companies visiting your website. It’s the perfect plan for getting a taste of one of the platform’s key features.
If you expect higher traffic volumes and need more advanced capabilities, you can upgrade to one of three paid plans:
- Startup: $700/mo, includes 3 users, up to 10,000 monthly visitors.
- Business: From $1,440 to $1,740 per month, depending on the number of visitors you expect to have. It includes 10 seats.
- Enterprise: Custom plan. Created for users with an estimated traffic of 100,000+ visitors per month who need more customization. Includes 20 seats, advanced AI personalization, custom integrations, etc.
Note: All paid plans provide access to all of Warmly’s features and include deep integrations with sales intelligence tools such as Clearbit, Bombora, and 6Sense, allowing you to get a bundle of products at the price of one.
Integrations
In addition to these data platforms, Warmly integrates with OpenAI and most modern SEP and CRM software, which will easily fit into any business’s tech stack.
Pros & Cons
✅ Identifies both companies and individual website visitors.
✅ Enriches each visitor with detailed B2B data.
✅ Reveals first- and third-party intent.
✅ Provides options for engaging and routing leads.
✅ Includes all features in all paid plans.
❌ Annual pricing only.
❌ No static B2B database.
2. Zoominfo
Best for: Finding North American B2B data.
Zoominfo is a sales operating system with a wide range of features for handling various sales processes, from prospecting to engagement.
It’s most widely known for its massive B2B database with solid accuracy rates.
Features
- Large B2B database with over 260M professional and 100M company profiles and 135M verified phone numbers.
- Provides detailed org charts for companies in its database to help you pinpoint vital stakeholders more easily.
- Tracks buying intent signals, such as researched topics and keywords relevant to your business, letting you uncover potential customers.
Who is it for?
Enterprise-level businesses whose target market is primarily NAM-based.
Pricing
Zoominfo has separate plans for Sales, Marketing, and Talent teams.
No prices are disclosed, so you’ll have to contact its sales team for a custom quote.
The final price depends on:
- Features and functionality you need.
- Number of licenses.
- Credit usage.
- Other factors.
Pros & Cons
✅ Massive B2B database with good matching rates.
✅ CRM enrichment.
❌ Expensive.
❌ Regions outside of North America aren’t covered as well.
3. Crunchbase
Best for: Researching private company data, especially financial information.
Crunchbase has one of the largest B2B intelligence databases for private companies, with a special focus on financial data (funding rounds, investors, etc.).
This makes it a valuable tool not only for B2B sales and marketing teams but also for investors looking for good investment options or startups looking for eligible investors.
Features
- Holds data on more than 2M companies.
- Provides a wide range of valuable insights, from a company’s financial health to industry trends and good investment opportunities.
- Browser extension for collecting data from company websites and LinkedIn search results.
Who is it for?
B2B teams that focus their sales and marketing efforts on the North American private sector.
Pricing
Crunchbase has 2 pricing packages:
- Pro: $99 per user per month when billed monthly or $49 on the annual plan
- Enterprise: Custom pricing
The Pro plan has a 7-day free trial.
Pros & Cons
✅ Accurate data.
✅ More detailed financial information than any other B2B database.
❌ Most of its data is on North American companies, EMEA is not covered that well.
❌ Real-time updates and automated CRM enrichment are available only on the Enterprise plan.
4. Cognism
Best for: International B2B sales prospecting.
Cognism boasts a solid database of B2B data with good international coverage.
This makes it a great option for conducting company research and finding relevant contact data for businesses worldwide.
Features
- B2B database with 70M verified mobile phone numbers (47 million cell phone numbers in the US alone) and global data coverage.
- Diamond Data Verification is used to verify phone numbers via calls, ensuring accuracy.
- Several CRM enrichment options for keeping your data fresh and accurate.
Who is it for?
Large teams with an internationally based target audience.
Pricing
Cognism doesn’t have one-size-fits-all pricing packages. Instead, the price is tailored to each customer’s needs.
However, there are several things we can tell you about the price:
- There are two types of data to choose from: Platinum and Diamond, with the latter being more accurate as it goes through several verification layers.
- The price comes with a flat platform fee that includes support, maintenance, onboarding, and initial setup.
For more details, it’s best to contact Cognism’s sales.
Pros & Cons
✅ Global data coverage with high matching rates.
✅ Chrome extension for LinkedIn prospecting.
✅ More verified phone numbers than most B2B intelligence tools.
❌ Non-transparent pricing.
❌ You need a more advanced data package to access phone-verified phone numbers.
5. UpLead
Best for: Real-time B2B email verification.
UpLead is a B2B database and business contact provider with a real-time email verifier and an email finder tool.
It also has a handy Chrome extension for 1-click prospecting and company research anywhere on the web.
Features
- 155M+ B2B contacts with email addresses and 16M+ company profiles.
- Real-time email address verification to ensure you’ll get only valid addresses.
- Tracks 16,000 technology data points, providing insights into a company’s tech stack.
Who is it for?
Smaller teams who rely primarily on cold email outreach and need verified email addresses.
Pricing
UpLead has a 7-day free trial with 5 credits for revealing a contact or exporting it.
After the trial expires, there are 3 plans to choose from:
- Essentials: $99 per user per month with 170 monthly credits
- Plus: $199 per user per month with 400 monthly credits
- Professional: Custom pricing
Since the paid plans offer limited reveal/export credits, you’ll probably have to buy more. One extra credit costs $0.60 per credit on the Essentials plan and $0.50 on the Plus plan.
Pros & Cons
✅ One credit unlocks both the email address and the phone number of an account, so you won’t have to spend two to reveal the entire contact profile.
✅ Advanced filtering for more detailed company searches.
❌ The most advanced features, such as buyer intent data and advanced filtering, are available only on the Professional plan.
❌ Limited international coverage.
6. SalesIntel
Best for: Human-verified B2B contact info.
SalesIntel is a B2B data provider that boasts high accuracy rates thanks to having each contact run through a layer of human verification every 90 days.
If you need highly accurate and double-checked data, SalesIntel might be a good option.
Features
- Large database of 90M+ contacts with 17M+ contacts that are human-verified.
- Research On Demand provides human-verified contact information on any company you need on request.
- In-depth technographic and firmographic filters.
Who is it for?
GTM teams working with specific or difficult-to-access markets that need verified contact data they can’t find anywhere else.
Pricing
SalesIntel has three pricing plans:
- Individual: $69 per month, 1 user only
- Teams: $199 per user per month, up to 5 users
- Professional: Custom pricing, custom number of users
Pros & Cons
✅ User-friendly.
✅ High data accuracy.
❌ Intent data is available on its highest tier only.
❌ Issues with integrations.
7. LinkedIn Sales Navigator
Best for: LinkedIn-based company research.
Sales Navigator is LinkedIn’s designated sales prospecting tool.
As such, it provides nuanced filters and insights, allowing you to deep-dive into company and individual profiles.
Features
- 14+ account filters that let you run segmented and precise searches across industries.
- Account IQ provides Artificial Intelligence-generated profile summaries packed with actionable insights.
- Data validation ensures that you get only up-to-date contact information.
Who is it for?
Businesses that mainly use LinkedIn for prospecting and company research.
Pricing
LinkedIn Sales Navigator is one of LinkedIn’s most expensive solutions.
It has three pricing tiers:
- Core at $74.31 per month when billed annually.
- Advanced at $125.87 per month when billed annually.
- Advanced Plus at a custom price.
If you need access to features such as CRM integrations, data verification, etc., you'll have to upgrade to the Advanced Plus plan.
Pros & Cons
✅ Optimized for LinkedIn prospecting.
✅ Nuanced filtering for more advanced searches.
✅ CRM integrations that let you enrich CRMs and view LinkedIn info about leads, contacts, and accounts directly in your CRM app.
❌ Can be used on LinkedIn only.
❌ Key features are hidden behind a paywall.
❌ Too expensive given its limited use case.
8. Keyplay
Best for: Finding companies that match your ICP through custom scoring systems.
Keyplay is an account-based sales and marketing platform that lets you build targeted lead lists, find ICPs across the market, and track relevant buying signals.
It’s an excellent tool if you need a customizable solution that can be tailored to your specific ICP, letting you run highly targeted searches.
Features
- AI Lookalike helps you find accounts that match your best-performing clients and deals.
- Lets you build custom account-scoring systems for better account prioritization.
- Provides a wide range of advanced filters for highly specific searches, including online presence, tech stack, recruiting velocity, industry categories, etc.
Who is it for?
Account-based sales and marketing teams looking to optimize lead generation and prospecting for target companies.
Pricing
Keyplay doesn’t have a free trial for its paid plans.
However, it has a free forever plan that provides access to its basic features, and subscribing to the PeerSignal community lets you access a more limited number of records.
If you need more records and advanced features, you can subscribe to one of two paid plans:
- Growth: $12,000/year
- Scale: Custom pricing
Pros & Cons
✅ Advanced filtering options.
✅ Lets you track custom signals relevant to your ICP and business objectives.
✅ Enables you to create custom ICP scoring systems to identify matching companies more easily.
❌ Offers only annual paid plans.
❌ Doesn’t deliver contact data.
9. LeadIQ
Best for: Tracking relevant contacts and sales triggers in real-time.
LeadIQ is a B2B prospecting platform that lets you find contact data on LinkedIn searches and sync it with your CRM.
Its key strength, however, is its ability to track buying signals and sales-relevant changes in key accounts.
Features
- Lets you track relevant insights and changes in important prospects’ profiles, such as job changes, promotions, etc.
- Monitors buying signals, including funding rounds, company news, web searches, etc.
- Covers millions of verified profiles, emails, and mobile numbers aggregated from various sources.
Who is it for?
Smaller teams more interested in tracking buying signals than gaining access to a static B2B database.
Pricing
Lead IQ has a free forever plan that provides:
- 20 verified work emails per week
- 10 mobile phone numbers
- 40 email generations per month
- 10 accounts tracked
There are three paid plans for users who need more:
- Essential: $45 per user per month
- Pro: $89 per user per month
- Enterprise: Custom pricing, annual subscription only
Pros & Cons
✅ User-friendly interface.
✅ Lets you monitor relevant changes and other important factors, allowing you to pounce on leads while they’re still hot.
❌ Emphasis on North America, limited European coverage.
❌ Contact tracking is an add-on whose price starts at $5,000 per year.
10. Apollo
Best for: B2B sales intelligence combined with sales engagement options.
Apollo is a B2B database and sales engagement platform with solid international coverage of B2B data.
Its wide range of features makes it attractive for users looking for an all-in-one sales solution.
Features
- B2B database with 275M contacts and 73M companies with solid international coverage.
- Robust filtering options for running precise searches.
- Apollo Chrome extension for researching companies anywhere on the web.
Who is it for?
Sales teams of various sizes that need a well-rounded prospecting solution with additional features for managing other parts of the sales cycle.
Pricing
Apollo has a free forever plan that includes unlimited email finder credits, 5 phone number credits, and 10 contact export credits.
If you need more, you can upgrade to one of three paid plans:
- Basic: $59 per user per month
- Professional: $99 per user per month
- Organization: $149 per user per month
Note: Professional and Basic plans come with a 14-day free trial.
Pros & Cons
✅ Advanced filtering options for more targeted prospecting.
✅ Good data accuracy.
❌ Dual credit system (you spend one credit for revealing an email address and another for getting a phone number), which scales badly.
❌ Best features available only on its higher tiers.
11. Dealfront
Best for: Researching European companies.
Dealfront is a B2B sales intelligence tool built for sales and marketing teams focused on the European market.
The platform was created by merging Echobot (sales intelligence software) and Leadfeeder (website visitor identification software), combining their key features into a single solution.
Features
- Provides data on 40M+ companies and 180M+ contacts, with 30M+ companies and 83M+ contacts in Europe alone.
- In-depth data from specific European regions, such as DACH, Benelux, Nordics, etc.
- Identifies companies visiting your website.
Who is it for?
GTM teams whose target companies are located in Europe.
Pricing
Dealfront has separate pricing for its sales intelligence and website traffic deanonymization.
Dealfront's sales intelligence plan does not have flat fees, so you’ll need to contact its team for precise pricing details.
When it comes to website visitor identification, there’s a limited free plan that only lets you identify up to 100 monthly website visitors, omitting all other Dealfront features.
The paid plan starts at €99 per month, with the final price depending on the number of identified companies.
You also get 25 free credits for revealing contact details like email addresses and phone numbers. If you exceed the limit, you’ll pay extra.
Note: The website visitor identification plan has a 14-day free trial.
Pros & Cons
✅ Solid international coverage.
✅ GDPR-compliant data.
✅ 30+ trigger events you can set up to alert you when a relevant change in a prospect’s profile occurs (e.g., job changes, bankruptcy notices, etc.).
❌ Separate and non-transparent pricing plans for sales intelligence and website visitor identification.
❌ Issues with website traffic deanonymization, as users report frequent inaccuracies.
Next Steps: Identify Who Your Hottest Leads Are Right Now
By now, you should have a clearer idea of what company research tool is good for you.
Zoominfo and Apollo are good options if you need massive B2B databases, while platforms like Keyplay and LeadIQ deliver a more dynamic company research experience.
Some are focused on a single channel only—like LinkedIn Sales Navigator—while others, like SalesIntel and UpLead, can tackle any lead source on the web.
In the end, it’s up to you to make the call.
If you decide that you need a solution that goes beyond basic company research and prospecting, then Warmly’s the ideal choice, as it allows you to detect companies that:
- Best fit your ICP.
- Are most likely to convert right now.
Why take just our word for it?
Sign up for Warmly’s free plan and experience its capabilities firsthand.
Or, book a personalized demo with our team to see it in action first.