Cognism Alternatives Hub

The impact of switching to Cognism

Cognism delivers phone-verified data, improving the accuracy of mobile contact data and reducing wasted outreach across global revenue teams.

Customers report higher first-connect rates and fewer unproductive dials, enabling more efficient execution at scale.

“We previously used ZoomInfo and saw contact information accuracy rates of around 50%.” “When we tested Cognism’s data, we recorded data accuracy of around 85%.” Justin, Bright Network

22% growth in quarterly pipeline

Cognism’s governed data model supports more reliable outbound engagement, helping teams connect with decision-makers earlier and reduce leakage at the top of the funnel.

This consistency underpins stronger pipeline performance across regions.

“Price is irrelevant; it’s all about ROI, and Cognism won the battle. The decision to move from Lusha was a very easy one.” Louis, Team Sunday

60% increase in deals closed

Teams switching to Cognism consistently see stronger match rates and cleaner CRM records.

This improves confidence in forecasting, routing and downstream automation without introducing compliance risk.

“We did an evaluation, and Cognism’s EMEA data was 10x better than ZoomInfo’s. Secondly, Cognism’s highly compliant B2B data saved us a lot of hassle when explaining to prospects where we obtained their contact details from.” Paul, Keboola

With ZoomInfo, access to international data and certain capabilities may require additional licensing, increasing cost and complexity as teams expand beyond the US.

Cognism provides deep European B2B data, alongside international coverage, as part of a single, consistent data foundation. This allows teams to scale confidently into Europe without managing incremental upgrades or fragmented entitlements.

Cognism includes:

A leading European dataset, built and maintained locally
Phone-verified mobile numbers, refreshed continuously
GDPR and CCPA-aligned data governance, including intent data and extensive do-not-call screening

ZoomInfo requires the purchase of a separate Global Data Passport, priced at $10,000, to prospect outside the United States. Cognism provides global data access as standard across all packages, supporting international growth without additional barriers.

See the supporting data below

Best for

Cognism

Larger sales, marketing, RevOps and GTMOps teams looking to drive customer revenue growth in Europe.

ZoomInfo

Enterprises requiring B2B contact databases with good US coverage and a suite of advanced data intelligence tools.

Compliance

Cognism

GDPR and CCPA compliant, SOC 2 accredited, with TPS and DNC screening across 15 countries and a notified database.

ZoomInfo

GDPR & CCPA compliant with DNC list checking in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, UK and US. ISO 27701 certified.

Integrations

Cognism

Core CRM and engagement integrations included across all packages, including Salesforce, HubSpot, Microsoft Dynamics, Pipedrive, Salesloft, Bullhorn, Outreach and Zapier.

ZoomInfo

Supports a range of integrations through its App Marketplace.

AI Offering

Cognism

Tailored sales intelligence and AI search are included in all packages for every user.

ZoomInfo

AI email writer and Copilot at an additional per-seat charge.

Pricing

Cognism

Two tiers. Transparent pricing with a generous, straightforward credit allowance, designed to support continuous prospecting, with integrations included.

ZoomInfo

Individual pricing tiers for sales, marketing, and recruitment. Credit-based with expensive add-ons like advanced integrations and global data.

“We previously used ZoomInfo and saw contact information accuracy rates of around 50%.” “When we tested Cognism’s data as part of the procurement process, we recorded data accuracy of around 85%.”

Read the full case study

10-15%

improvement in contact data deliverability

Justin Humphreys
Head of Revenue Operations @Bright Network

“Because ZoomInfo takes so long to update accurate contacts, you might have the right contact information for an individual, but that individual hasn’t been at the company for six months. This doesn’t happen with Cognism." "Cognism helps us proactively reach some of our highest-value targets. Quality outbound has led to some of our most exciting opportunities.”

Read the full case study

100-200

new opportunities per week.

Darren Zawada
Operations Manager @demandDrive

Many Cognism customers started with Lusha but moved on when usage limits and uneven coverage introduced friction into their growth plans. With Cognism, data access scales through a transparent, generous credit allowance, supporting consistent prospecting as teams grow.

Leading European data coverage, built and maintained locally
Significantly broader contact depth to support account expansion
Over 10 million phone-verified contacts globally
A research on demand service for contact verification
GDPR and CCPA-aligned data governance, with global do-not-call screening included as standard across all packages
(Lusha offers DNC filtering only on its highest tier and does not screen against European DNC lists)
All Cognism plans include the core capabilities required for reliable prospecting and customer relationship management workflows.

By contrast, Lusha restricts several foundational capabilities to higher-tier plans or paid add-ons, including contact access, credits and technographic data. This can introduce variability in cost and coverage as teams scale.

See the supporting data below

Best for

Cognism

Larger sales, marketing, RevOps and GTMOps teams looking to drive customer revenue growth in Europe.

Lusha

Smaller sales teams that need access to contact details and add-on features like email sequence automation.

Pricing

Cognism

Two tiers. Transparent pricing with a generous, straightforward credit allowance, designed to support continuous prospecting, with integrations included.

Lusha

Credit-based & dependent on team size & features. Pick from three paid packages.

Integrations

Cognism

Core CRM and engagement integrations included across all packages, including Salesforce, HubSpot, Microsoft Dynamics, Pipedrive, Salesloft, Bullhorn, Outreach and Zapier.

Lusha

Integrations include Outreach, Salesloft, HubSpot, MS Dynamics and Salesforce. Zapier integration is only included in the Scale plan.

Compliance

Cognism

GDPR and CCPA compliant, SOC 2 accredited, with TPS and DNC screening across 15 countries and a notified database.

Lusha

GDPR & CCPA compliant. DNC lists are only included in the higher-priced tiers.

Phone-verification/ research on-demand service

Cognism

Phone-verified mobile numbers, with an on-demand verification service.

Lusha

Not available.

“Cognism brought back three times the number of phone numbers compared to Lusha and more than double the number of contacts.”

Read the full case study

200%

increase in leads and contacts.

Jack Brewster
Digital Marketing Manager @Sparta Global

“Cognism’s data quality was about 30% better than everything else we were looking at.” “With ZoomInfo, the data quality in Europe isn’t what we would need. With Lusha, we get something, but when we dial, it’s not at all where we would expect it to be.”

Read the full case study

80%

improved connect rates

Dave Smallwood
Managing Director @Mollie

Prospecting shouldn’t cost you more. With Apollo.io’s recent increases on mobile data, teams may face rising costs as usage grows.

Cognism provides phone-verified mobile numbers as standard, supported by a transparent model with a generous credit allowance. This gives organisations consistent access to high-quality European data as prospecting scales, including:

Phone-verified mobile numbers to reach senior decision-makers, alongside a 16-step email verification process
Mobile number accuracy supporting higher connect rates and more efficient use of time
2x the number of B2B contacts to support account expansion and TAM growth
GDPR and CCPA-aligned data governance, with extensive do-not-call screening
A strong compliance and security track record, designed for use in regulated European markets. Apollo has experienced two substantial data breaches (2018 & 2021), compromising over 130 million records.
The most complete European dataset available

See the supporting data below

Best for

Cognism

Mid-market and enterprise sales, marketing, RevOps and GTMOps teams operating across Europe.

Apollo.io

Start-ups and SMEs seeking an all-in-one platform for US prospecting.

Pricing

Cognism

Two tiers. Transparent pricing with a generous, straightforward credit allowance, designed to support continuous prospecting, with integrations included.

Apollo.io

Credit-based subscription plans with limited mobile and export credits. Add-on credits are available.

Data Coverage

Cognism

Leading European data coverage, included as standard across all packages.

Apollo.io

Global database. Coverage not mentioned on site.

Compliance

Cognism

GDPR- and CCPA-compliant, with SOC 2 accreditation, proactive TPS and DNC screening across 15 countries, and a continuously notified database.

Apollo.io

GDPR & CCPA compliant with DNC list checking in the UK & US. ISO 27001 and SOC II certified.

Browser extension

Cognism

Compatible with LinkedIn, Sales Navigator, Recruiter, Salesforce, HubSpot, Outreach and company websites.

Apollo.io

Chrome extension works across Salesforce, HubSpot, Gmail, and more.

“I wanted to keep costs down at SUB1, so I was happy to get good deals with TAMI and Apollo. However, they both lacked accurate contact data." “It took me 6 months to realise that I should have implemented Cognism straight away.”

Read the full case study

Helped generate

7-figure opportunities

Stevie Howlett
Director of Business Development @SUB1

“We trialled Apollo, which didn’t produce adequate results. We evaluated ZoomInfo but found the data to be too US-centric, which is why we went with Cognism”

Read the full case study

60%

closed deals with Cognism’s mobile numbers