Quick Comparison Table
Here's how the major B2B lead generation services stack up against each other. We've included real pricing (where available), key features, and honest assessments of strengths and weaknesses.
| Feature | PaulSpeaks | ZoomInfo | Cognism | Apollo | Lusha | RocketReach |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | £99/mo | ~£15,000/yr | ~£5,000/yr | $49/mo | $29/mo | $39/mo |
| Database Size | Real-time search | 300M+ contacts | 400M+ contacts | 275M+ contacts | 100M+ contacts | 700M+ contacts |
| Data Freshness | Real-time (live search) | Updated quarterly | Updated regularly | Updated regularly | Updated regularly | Updated regularly |
| Phone Verification | AI phone verification | Some verified | Diamond verified | Limited | Limited | Limited |
| Email Finding | Deep website scan | Database | Database + enrichment | Database | Database | Database |
| UK Coverage | Strong | Limited | Strong (EMEA focus) | Limited | Moderate | Moderate |
| US Coverage | Strong | Very strong | Good | Strong | Good | Strong |
| Search Modes | 5 (Business, Property, Jobs, Education, Retirement) | Business only | Business only | Business only | Business only | Business only |
| Countries | 15+ | Global | EMEA + US | Global | Global | Global |
| CSV Export | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| CRM Integration | CSV import | Salesforce, HubSpot | Salesforce, HubSpot, Outreach | HubSpot, Salesforce | Salesforce, HubSpot | CRM plugins |
| Intent Data | No | Yes | Yes (Bombora) | Yes | No | No |
| Free Trial | Yes | No (demo only) | No (demo only) | Limited free plan | 5 free credits | 5 free lookups |
| Contract | Monthly, cancel anytime | Annual contract | Annual contract | Monthly available | Monthly available | Monthly available |
| Best For | SMBs, manufacturers, UK businesses | Enterprise sales teams | EMEA-focused enterprises | Startups, sales teams | Individual reps | Email finding |
Detailed Provider Reviews
Let's dive deeper into each platform. We'll cover what they do well, where they fall short, and who should consider using them.
PaulSpeaks Lead Generator
From £99/month
What it does: PaulSpeaks Lead Generator is a real-time search engine for business leads. Unlike traditional database providers that store and sell stale data, PaulSpeaks searches DuckDuckGo in real-time for business listings, then extracts phone numbers, emails, and websites directly from live sources. The deep scan feature visits company websites to find hidden contact information that doesn't appear in directories. AI phone verification confirms that numbers actually work before you waste time calling disconnected lines.
Best Features:
- Real-time data means every lead is fresh (never stale)
- Deep website scanning finds emails that competitors miss
- 5 unique search modes: Business, Property Managers, Job Boards, Education, Retirement Homes
- AI phone verification confirms numbers work before you call
- Affordable pricing starting at £99/month for 20 verified leads
- Strong UK coverage (often better than US-focused competitors)
- 15+ countries supported
- No annual contracts - cancel anytime
- Lead enrichment mode: upload existing contacts, we'll find missing emails/phones
Limitations:
- New technology - small market presence currently, but powerful results
- Larger database than ZoomInfo (searches the entire web in real-time vs static database) - but requires clear search criteria to get best results
- Deep scanning is more thorough but takes longer than instant database lookups
- No direct CRM integrations (CSV export only)
Verdict: "The best value option for businesses that want fresh, verified leads without spending thousands. Perfect for manufacturers, SMBs, and UK businesses. The real-time search approach means you're getting current data, not recycled contacts from a database that could be months or years old. For £99/month, you get 20 phone-verified leads - that's £5 per lead compared to enterprise platforms charging £50-200 per contact."
ZoomInfo
Starting around £15,000/year
What it does: ZoomInfo is the 800-pound gorilla of B2B intelligence. They maintain a massive database of over 300 million business contacts and 100 million companies. Beyond basic contact information, ZoomInfo provides org charts, technographic data (what software companies use), intent data (who's actively researching solutions), and detailed company intelligence. It's a comprehensive platform designed for large enterprise sales teams.
Best Features:
- Massive database with 300M+ contacts
- Intent data shows who's actively researching solutions
- Org charts reveal company structure and decision-makers
- Technographic data shows what tech stack companies use
- Advanced filtering and segmentation
- Native integrations with Salesforce, HubSpot, Outreach, and more
- Email engagement tracking
- ZoomInfo Engage for sales automation
- Excellent US coverage, particularly for mid-market and enterprise
Limitations:
- Very expensive - minimum £15,000/year, often much more
- Requires annual contracts (no monthly option)
- Data can be stale (quarterly updates mean 30% decay rate annually)
- Limited UK and international coverage compared to US
- Complex to use - steep learning curve
- Pricing not transparent - must speak to sales
- Overkill for SMBs and small sales teams
- Email deliverability can be an issue with older data
Verdict: "ZoomInfo is the market leader for a reason - their data depth and feature set are unmatched. But it's priced for enterprise teams with 50+ sales reps and £15,000+ budgets. For most SMBs, the cost simply can't be justified when 30% of the data decays annually. If you're a large organization targeting US mid-market and enterprise accounts, ZoomInfo is worth considering. If you're an SMB or targeting UK/international markets, there are better options."
Cognism
Starting around £5,000/year
What it does: Cognism is a EMEA-focused B2B data provider that specializes in compliance and data quality. Their standout feature is "Diamond Verified" phone numbers - actual humans verify that phone numbers are correct before they're added to the database. They partner with Bombora for intent data and maintain strong coverage across Europe, Middle East, and Africa. Cognism is designed for companies that need GDPR-compliant data and verified contact information.
Best Features:
- Diamond Verified phone numbers (human-verified for accuracy)
- Strong EMEA coverage (better than US-focused competitors)
- GDPR compliant with full audit trail
- Bombora intent data partnership
- Chrome extension for LinkedIn prospecting
- Mobile app for on-the-go prospecting
- Integrations with major CRMs and sales tools
- Cleaner data than many competitors
- Good customer support
Limitations:
- Expensive at £5,000+/year (though cheaper than ZoomInfo)
- Annual contracts required
- Smaller US database compared to ZoomInfo or Apollo
- Limited free trial (demo only)
- Pricing not transparent
- Diamond Verified numbers cost extra credits
- Still expensive for SMBs
Verdict: "Cognism is the best enterprise option for European businesses. The Diamond Verified phones are genuinely more accurate than competitors, and their GDPR compliance is best-in-class. But at £5,000+/year with annual contracts, it's still priced for mid-market and enterprise. If you're a UK/European company with a decent budget and compliance requirements, Cognism is excellent. For SMBs, the cost is still prohibitive."
Apollo.io
Free plan available, paid from $49/month
What it does: Apollo.io combines a B2B contact database with email sequencing and engagement tools in one platform. It's designed for sales teams that want an all-in-one prospecting and outreach solution. The free plan is surprisingly generous, making it popular with startups and small teams. Apollo focuses heavily on email outreach, with built-in email verification, sequencing, and tracking.
Best Features:
- Free plan with 50 credits/month (very generous)
- Affordable paid plans starting at $49/month
- Built-in email sequencing (no need for separate tool)
- Email verification included
- Good US business coverage
- Chrome extension for LinkedIn
- CRM integrations (HubSpot, Salesforce)
- Workflow automation
- No annual contract required
- Easy to use interface
Limitations:
- Data quality varies - accuracy not as high as premium providers
- Limited verified phone numbers (mostly email-focused)
- UK and international coverage weaker than US
- Free plan has strict daily limits
- Email deliverability can be hit-or-miss
- Less comprehensive than enterprise platforms
- Intent data only on higher tiers
Verdict: "Apollo offers incredible value for email-focused outreach. The free plan is perfect for startups testing the waters, and paid plans are affordable for small teams. But if you need phone numbers, UK coverage, or premium data quality, Apollo falls short. Best for: US-focused startups doing high-volume email outreach on a budget. Not ideal for: Phone-based sales, UK/international prospecting, or businesses that need verified contacts."
Lusha
Free plan (5 credits), paid from $29/month
What it does: Lusha is a simple contact finding tool that focuses on ease of use. Their Chrome extension reveals contact information directly on LinkedIn profiles and company pages. It's designed for individual sales reps who need quick contact lookups rather than bulk prospecting. Lusha prioritizes simplicity over comprehensive features.
Best Features:
- Very easy to use - no learning curve
- Chrome extension integrates with LinkedIn perfectly
- Affordable entry price at $29/month
- Free plan with 5 credits to test
- Direct email reveals (no guessing)
- Quick lookups - instant results
- Mobile app available
- CRM integrations
Limitations:
- Limited credits even on paid plans
- Data accuracy inconsistent
- No bulk search capabilities
- Expensive per-contact cost at scale
- Limited advanced features
- Not a replacement for full prospecting platform
- Phone numbers less reliable than emails
Verdict: "Lusha is perfect for individual sales reps who need occasional contact lookups. If you're on LinkedIn researching a prospect and need their email quickly, Lusha is excellent. But it's not designed for bulk prospecting or building lead lists. At $29/month for limited credits, the per-contact cost gets expensive at scale. Best for: Individual reps doing LinkedIn-based prospecting. Not for: Building large lead lists or teams doing volume prospecting."
RocketReach
Free plan (5 lookups), paid from $39/month
What it does: RocketReach focuses on finding verified email addresses. They claim a database of 700 million professionals and 60 million companies. Their strength is email finding - they're particularly good at locating personal and work emails that other providers miss. The platform includes a browser extension, bulk lookup tools, and API access for integrations.
Best Features:
- Large email database (700M profiles)
- Verified email addresses with high accuracy
- Browser extension for LinkedIn/web
- Bulk lookup capabilities
- API access for integrations
- Free plan to test (5 lookups)
- Affordable starting at $39/month
- Good social media profile matching
Limitations:
- Phone data less reliable than email data
- No intent data or advanced intelligence
- Limited company information
- No built-in outreach tools
- Credit limits can be restrictive
- Not a complete lead generation solution
- Better for email than phone prospecting
Verdict: "RocketReach excels at one thing: finding email addresses. If email is your primary prospecting channel, RocketReach is a solid choice. But it's not a comprehensive lead generation platform - you won't get deep company insights, verified phones, or intent data. Best for: Email marketers and sales reps focused on email outreach. Not for: Phone-based sales, comprehensive company research, or teams needing all-in-one solutions."
When to Choose What: Decision Guide
Still not sure which platform is right for you? Here's our honest recommendation based on your situation.
Choose PaulSpeaks if:
- You're an SMB or manufacturer with a limited budget (under £500/month)
- You want fresh, real-time data instead of stale database contacts
- You need strong UK and international coverage
- Phone verification is important (no wasted calls to disconnected numbers)
- You need specialized search modes (property managers, education, retirement homes)
- You want month-to-month flexibility (no annual contracts)
- You're targeting specific niches like manufacturing, healthcare, or education
- You value data freshness over database size
Choose ZoomInfo if:
- You're an enterprise with 50+ sales reps
- Your budget is £15,000+/year for lead generation
- You need intent data to prioritize accounts actively researching solutions
- Org charts and technographic data are critical for your sales process
- You're primarily targeting US mid-market and enterprise accounts
- You have a dedicated sales ops team to manage the platform
- Native CRM integrations are essential
- You need the most comprehensive B2B intelligence available
Choose Cognism if:
- You're targeting European, Middle East, or African markets
- GDPR compliance and audit trails are mandatory
- You need Diamond Verified phone numbers (human-verified accuracy)
- Your budget is £5,000+/year but ZoomInfo is too expensive
- Data quality is more important than database size
- You're in a regulated industry with strict compliance requirements
- You have a mid-sized sales team (10-50 reps)
Choose Apollo if:
- You're a startup on a tight budget (free plan works)
- Email outreach is your primary prospecting strategy
- You want an all-in-one platform (prospecting + sequencing)
- You're targeting US businesses primarily
- You value ease of use and don't need advanced features
- You're doing high-volume email campaigns
- Budget is under $200/month
Choose Lusha if:
- You're an individual sales rep (not a team)
- You just need quick LinkedIn contact lookups
- Your prospecting volume is low (under 100 contacts/month)
- Simplicity is more important than features
- Budget is minimal ($29-99/month)
- You don't need bulk search or list building
Choose RocketReach if:
- Email finding is your primary need
- You're focused on email marketing/outreach
- You need to find personal email addresses (not just work emails)
- Budget is under $100/month
- You don't need phone numbers or company intelligence
- You're comfortable using CSV exports (no need for CRM integration)
The Data Freshness Problem Nobody Talks About
Here's something most lead generation providers won't tell you: contact databases decay at approximately 30% per year.
People change jobs. Companies go out of business. Phone numbers get reassigned. Email addresses are deactivated. This is the dirty secret of the lead generation industry.
When you buy access to a contact database that's updated "regularly" or "quarterly," you're paying for data that includes a significant percentage of outdated information. Here's the math:
- Year 1: 30% of contacts are already outdated
- Year 2: 51% are outdated (30% + 30% of remaining 70%)
- Year 3: 66% are outdated
This means when you're paying £15,000/year for ZoomInfo or £5,000/year for Cognism, nearly a third of what you're buying is worthless. You'll waste time calling disconnected numbers and emailing inactive addresses. Your email deliverability suffers. Your sales team gets frustrated.
This is why PaulSpeaks takes a different approach. Instead of maintaining a database that inevitably becomes stale, we search in real-time. Every contact you receive is fresh - found live from current business directories and websites. It takes a bit longer (seconds instead of instant), but the trade-off is worth it: you get current data, not recycled contacts from a decaying database.
Does this mean PaulSpeaks has a smaller overall database than ZoomInfo's 300 million contacts? Yes. But those 300 million contacts include millions that are outdated. We'd rather give you 20 fresh, verified leads than 100 leads where 30 are already stale.
Cost Per Lead: The Real Comparison
Let's break down the actual cost per lead for each platform, including the hidden costs of data decay and wasted time.
| Provider | Annual Cost | Contacts/Year (typical) | Cost Per Contact | Estimated Decay Rate | Real Cost Per Good Contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PaulSpeaks | £1,188 (£99/mo) | 240 (20/mo verified) | £4.95 | ~5% (real-time) | £5.21 |
| ZoomInfo | £15,000 | 5,000 (typical limit) | £3.00 | ~30% | £4.29 |
| Cognism | £5,000 | 2,000 (typical limit) | £2.50 | ~20% (Diamond Verified) | £3.13 |
| Apollo | $588 ($49/mo) | 1,200 (100/mo) | $0.49 | ~35% | $0.75 |
| Lusha | $1,188 ($99/mo) | 960 (80/mo) | $1.24 | ~30% | $1.77 |
| RocketReach | $828 ($69/mo) | 1,200 (100/mo) | $0.69 | ~30% | $0.99 |
Key insights from this analysis:
- Apollo offers the lowest cost per lead at $0.75 per good contact - but only if you're comfortable with email-focused outreach and don't need UK coverage or phone numbers.
- PaulSpeaks provides excellent value at £5.21 per verified lead, especially considering the real-time freshness and phone verification. You're paying slightly more than ZoomInfo's real cost per good contact, but without the £15,000 upfront investment.
- ZoomInfo's real cost per good contact (£4.29) is competitive - but only if you're using thousands of contacts per year. For SMBs that need 100-500 leads annually, you're paying £15,000 for leads you won't use.
- Cognism offers the best premium data quality with Diamond Verified numbers reducing decay to ~20%, but you're paying £5,000 minimum.
The bottom line: If you're an enterprise using 5,000+ contacts per year, ZoomInfo or Cognism make financial sense. If you're an SMB needing 200-500 verified leads annually, PaulSpeaks delivers the same quality at a fraction of the price.
The Bottom Line
For most SMBs and manufacturing companies, PaulSpeaks Lead Generator offers the best combination of quality, freshness, and value. While enterprise platforms like ZoomInfo and Cognism offer more features, they come at 10-100x the price.
The key difference: PaulSpeaks searches in real-time, so every lead is fresh. Database providers store data that decays at 30% per year - meaning nearly a third of the contacts you're paying for may be out of date.
If you're a large enterprise with 50+ sales reps, a dedicated sales ops team, and a £15,000+ budget, ZoomInfo is the gold standard. If you're targeting EMEA markets with compliance requirements and a £5,000+ budget, Cognism is excellent.
But if you're an SMB, manufacturer, or UK business that needs verified leads without enterprise pricing, PaulSpeaks is the clear choice. You'll get fresh, phone-verified contacts at £5 per lead instead of £50-200 per contact that the big platforms charge.
For startups and teams focused on high-volume email outreach, Apollo offers unbeatable value. For individual reps who just need occasional lookups, Lusha or RocketReach work fine.
The right choice depends on your budget, market, and sales strategy. But for most businesses reading this page, PaulSpeaks delivers the best ROI.