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Cognism vs LinkedIn Sales Navigator

Prospecting is easier with clean, high-quality data. With Cognism, you get a leading B2B contact database that's verified and compliant for stronger outreach.

How does Cognism match up?
LinkedIn Sales Navigator
Contact database
Verified data
DNC lists in 14 countries
Contact enrichment

Why thousands of brands have switched to Cognism

01

80% better mobile data quality

Cognism is known for its leading EMEA dataset and US mobile coverage. 

“In the last 30 days, we’ve booked 4 meetings that have turned into qualified opportunities, all thanks to using Cognism’s data. Given that we typically close 1 or 2 deals per year in this industry, that is a brilliant result.” Stevie, Sub1

02

30-40% tech overhead costs cut

Credit ceilings force throttle outreach and force extra spending.

Cognism has no credit ceilings! 

“20% of our revenue now comes from Cognism, and we see a significant ROI on the tool with the results it generates.” Antoine, Toucan

03

ROI in 8 weeks

Cognism does what it says on the tin: quality B2B data that connects you with the prospects you want to do business with.

“Our sales cycle is typically 6-8 months long. At Cognism, we saw ROI in 8 weeks from intent data and direct dials. One deal pays for a year’s Cognism subscription.” George, Ultima

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What’s the difference between LinkedIn Sales Navigator and Cognism?

LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a good tool if you’re looking for prospects who are registered on LinkedIn. The tool helps teams find and connect with decision-makers in their ICP and provides emails and phone numbers if they have been made public on the platform. 

This is different from Cognism, a sales intelligence solution and data provider. Cognism provides teams with cell phone numbers, direct dials, and emails across the US, EMEA, NAM, and APAC. Its browser extension works across all corporate websites, including LinkedIn.

Even better, its phone-verified mobile number accuracy helps you connect with up to 87% of your list. In contrast, LinkedIn has to rely on user data input, which, according to Sales Navigator reviews, can often lead to data inaccuracy and frustration

Here’s a side-by-side comparison of Cognism vs Sales Nav:

Cognism
LinkedIn Sales Navigator
Best for
Cognism
Larger sales, marketing, RevOps and GTMOps teams looking to drive customer revenue growth in Europe.
LinkedIn Sales Navigator
Recruiters looking for new talent & network focused prospecting.
Pricing
Cognism
Two tiers to choose from to suit your needs best. Unrestricted views/ individual and page-level exporting on all packages.*
LinkedIn Sales Navigator
Not available publicly.
Integrations
Cognism
Included in all packages: Salesforce, HubSpot, MS Dynamics, Pipedrive, Salesloft, Bullhorn, Outreach & Zapier.
LinkedIn Sales Navigator
Oracle, Bullhorn, Greenhouse, Zoho & other talent CRMs.
Compliance status
Cognism
GDPR & CCPA compliant, SOC 2 accreditations, TPS & DNC screening across 14 countries & a notified database.
LinkedIn Sales Navigator
CCPA & GDPR compliant & a notified database.
Browser extension
Cognism
Compatible with LinkedIn, Sales Navigator, Recruiter, Salesforce, HubSpot, Outreach, and company domains.
LinkedIn Sales Navigator
Works across LinkedIn.
Intent data
Cognism
Bombora intent data with 12 topics included in the Elevate package. Add more topics as an add-on.
LinkedIn Sales Navigator
Intent signals based on users interactions across LinkedIn.
Phone-verification/ research on-demand service
Cognism
Exclusive phone-verified Diamond Data® mobiles & on-demand-verification service.
LinkedIn Sales Navigator
Not available.

Alternatively, see other Cognism comparisons👇

Key features of Cognism vs LinkedIn Sales Navigator

Cognism equips teams with everything they need to exceed quota month over month. It focuses on supplying accurate global B2B data compliant with GDPR and CCPA regulations.

LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a prospecting tool that can be used to build prospect lists on LinkedIn. It has one of the largest professional databases for recruiters and SDRs.

Users can research prospects and companies in their target markets and send them InMails. However, this shouldn’t be confused with a data vendor.

Here’s a list of both tools’ features, side by side:

Cognism

Sales Companion

For personalised access to in-depth account data to ensure fresh and fast outreach.

Phone-verified cell phone numbers

To help you connect with 87% of your list.

Diamond Data®

Exclusive on-demand verified cell phone and email data set.

Unrestricted access to person and company-level data*

Subject to a generous fair usage policy.

Enrich

API enrichment and on-demand CSV enrichment.

Intent & Signal data

Intent data by Bombora. Real time signal data for hiring trends, funding rounds, and technographic insights.

International coverage

EMEA, NAM, APAC.

Integrations at no extra cost

Salesforce, HubSpot, MS Dynamics, Pipedrive, Salesloft, Outreach & Zapier.

GDPR and CCPA-compliant

SOC 2 accreditations, TPS & DNC screening across 14 countries & notified database.

AI Search

Find prospects using ChatGPT-style textual or voice prompts.

LinkedIn Sales Navigator

Advanced search filters

Job title, company size, location, and industry.

Personalised lead recommendations

Based on a user’s search history and LinkedIn activity.

InMail messaging

Helps you reach prospects outside your network.

Buyer interest alerts

Notifies users when prospects or accounts engage with company content.

Buyer intent capabilities

Intent signals based on users' interactions across LinkedIn.

CRM integrations

Syncs LinkedIn profile insights and activities with connected CRMs

Why Cognism?

“Thanks to Cognism, we’ve saved an estimated 5-7 hours per week that were previously spent searching for the right contact information.”  “With Cognism, what used to be a time-consuming manual process is now instant with just a few clicks.”
Helped generate
7-figure opportunities
Stevie_SUB1
Stevie Howlett
Director of Business Development @SUB1
“Thanks to Cognism, my BDR team now saves 8 hours per week. The team became frustrated with the time it took to build contact lists, only to get two email addresses back. It’s not sustainable to work in that way. It’s much better to have quality data.”
100%
opportunity generation
Dan Orbach_Case Study
Dan Orbach
Head of Sales & Partnerships @UpCloud

LinkedIn Sales Navigator versus Cognism: Compliance

Sales Navigator is CCPA & GDPR compliant. The tool also holds a number of  ISO certifications.

However, some companies, like Formation Tech, switched from Sales Navigator to Cognism because of the personal emails included with Sales Navigator.

Personal emails require additional levels of consent and compliance obligations.

They said:

“We used another provider, but it was not replenished or in real-time. We worked with LinkedIn Sales Navigator but found the emails were often personal addresses and, therefore, non-compliant. There was obviously a real issue with data accuracy.”
100+
webinar sign ups
Carl Hardie - Formation Tech
Carl Hardie
Director of Business Development @Formation Tech

Cognism is a globally compliant B2B data provider. Customers praise Cognism as a company that goes above and beyond to ensure customers aren’t violating privacy laws.

While being GDPR and CCPA compliant, Cognism also scrubs all mobile numbers against:

  • TPS/CTPS lists in the UK.
  • Do-Not-Call lists in the USA, Canada, Australia and European countries, including Germany, France, Spain, Ireland, Belgium, Croatia, Portugal, Sweden, Italy and more. 

If a number is marked as TPS or DNC, it means that the user has opted out of receiving unsolicited phone calls by applying to the national do-not-call registry. 

Cognism allows admins to choose whether to hide or show contacts that are on DNC lists from reps. Meaning that its customers have complete confidence in the legality of its outreach.

The Cognism platform follows these compliance-based actions: 

  • A stringent B2B data verification process. 
  • Ensures all data is legally sourced and of the utmost quality.
  • Is regulated by the ICO and provides users with a notified database.

LinkedIn Sales Navigator vs Cognism: Usability & Integrations

LinkedIn Sales Navigator reviews mention that the tool syncs easily with most tools like Oracle, Bullhorn, Greenhouse and Zoho. Users praise its ease of use and find there’s no learning curve when implementing it for the first time. 

Cognism customers speak highly of its interface, usability and support. Integrations are included in all packages. They include Salesforce, Hubspot, MS Dynamics, Pipedrive, Salesloft, Bullhorn, Outreach, and Zapier.

Then there’s Cognism’s AI advantages: 

  • Web app & extension: Build targeted lists in the Cognism web app, while the Sales Companion extension delivers compliant data directly from LinkedIn, corporate websites, and CRMs.

  • AI Search: Filter companies and contacts with natural language prompts, such as “Show me CMOs at FinTech companies in Germany.”

  • Sales Companion: Get a territory-ready dashboard with AI-powered recommendations, enriched by intent surges, funding alerts, hiring signals, and company events.

  • Smart Personas: Describe your business once, and Cortex builds persona-driven filters, instantly recommending the right contacts, intent topics, and technographics.

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Sounds great, but...

Sales Navigator gets me in contact with prospects. 

Sales Navigator is great for discovering and engaging people on LinkedIn, but it isn’t a contact database.

Cognism adds the missing piece: verified mobiles and emails (with DNC checks) plus enrichment and Signals, so reps can reach decision-makers outside LinkedIn and move from profile view to live conversation faster.

0%

Better conversion rates (Lead Forensics)

0%

Time saved each week (UpCloud)

LinkedIn Sales Navigator vs Cognism: Databases & Data Coverage

LinkedIn Sales Navigator allows users to tap into its 1+ billion global user network.

It’s a great tool to use with a sales intelligence solution like Cognism because where there’s no user data, Cognism can fill in the blanks. 

For example, Axys uses Cognism to prospect on LinkedIn:

“Cognism provides an interface that allows us to take data from LinkedIn in volume and reconcile it with the CRM. The level of targeting is very detailed and precise in the search, which allows us to import both volume and quality.”

“Very quickly, we can offer our business units high-quality, enhanced and recent contact databases. We no longer have any limitations in terms of account identification sources.”

Cognism’s dataset offers the most complete coverage in the EMEA. The tool has EU and US research teams, making it a great option for anyone looking to find highly-targeted global leads, including NAM and APAC.

Quality is of utmost importance to Cognism, with phone-verified numbers, the most complete data in Europe and next-level mobile number coverage in the United States.

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Where does Cognism get its data?

Cognism gathers data via its proprietary sources and fills in the gaps from third-party data providers, publicly available sources, manual research and strategic partnerships. 

Machine learning processes check millions of data points daily, and a team of researchers verifies the data. This ensures accuracy and compliance, and the stringent verification process applies to Cognism’s entire database.

However, Cognism takes data verification to the next level through its exclusive data asset, Diamond Data®.

Diamond Data® comprises phone-verified mobile numbers that make it 3x more likely you’ll connect with your ideal customer. The team phone verifies mobile numbers and includes contacts specifically requested by customers leveraging the Diamonds-on-Demand® service.

Diamond Data® allows sales teams to connect with 87% of prospecting lists. Companies are seeing a 54% increase in mobile coverage, and ROI is increasing due to 70% of outbound meetings booked from Cognism mobiles. 

Here’s how Cognism mobile phone numbers differ from standard mobile numbers. 👇

How standard mobile numbers compare to Cognism's phone-verified numbers.

Sounds great, but...

I know an email will be correct on Sales Nav because the user added it themselves.

Some users list a public email, but many don’t, and those emails aren’t verified or governed for outreach.

Cognism provides verified emails and phone-verified mobiles with built-in compliance, giving revenue teams dependable contact data they can use across channels, not just on LinkedIn.

0%

increase in meetings booked (Lockton)

0%

Better mobile accuracy than competitors (Docfield)

0%

Influenced closed/won deals (Openprise)

Cognism vs LinkedIn Sales Navigator pricing

**Cognism and LinkedIn Sales Navigator pricing information is dependent on your company’s needs. For accurate pricing, please contact your preferred data provider.

Cognism Pricing

Cognism’s main packages allow reps unrestricted data views and exports of 25 records at a time.

Cognism’s pricing model is split into two tiers: 

  • Grow gives you the essential quality data you need for your prospecting. With contact and company data, including Cognism’s phone verified Diamond Data®.
  • Elevate gives you all the benefits of Grow with the added benefit of combining Cognism’s high-quality data with advanced intelligence and actionable signals.

In addition to this, users can add more intent data topics (12 are included in the Elevate package) and Diamonds-on-Demand® to their package.

LinkedIn Sales Navigator Pricing

LinkedIn Sales Navigator pricing includes three packages - Core, Advanced and Advanced Plus. 

Each package includes: 

  • Extended network access for saved searches and profile view tracking.
  • InMail reach out.
  • Advanced search, relationship builder, buyer persona segmentation, etc. 
  • Lead/account tracking.
  • Sales tool integrations.
  • Relationship map, saved leads/accounts, custom lists, alerts, etc. 

TeamLink, SmartLink, reporting, advanced CRM integrations, Enterprise tools and Premium Business access all come with higher-tier packages. 

Loved by Revenue Teams

From Reddit to G2: Discover why sales, marketing and GTM teams trust Cognism for verified contact data, quality coverage, and measurable results.

FAQs: LinkedIn Sales Navigator vs Cognism 

Cognism is one of the best LinkedIn Sales Navigator alternatives. Cognism provides teams with cell phone numbers, direct dials and emails across the US, EMEA, NAM and APAC. Its browser extension works across all corporate websites, including LinkedIn.

Sales Navigator does not include B2B contact data, making Cognism the better choice for businesses looking for a sales intelligence platform that offers high-quality, reliable B2B data in an easy-to-use interface. 
If you’re looking for the best tool to help you reach out to potential leads and target customers, Cognism is the winner.

Yes, Cognism is an excellent alternative when comparing Sales Nav competitors. 

Cognism provides high-quality and up-to-date contact information that helps RevOps leaders find the information they need to make fewer calls, contact the most relevant people, and hit quota faster. 

Furthermore, Cognism has received overwhelmingly positive reviews from its users. Many praise its user-friendly interface, accurate data, and excellent customer service.

Sales Navigator’s Buyer Intent offers sellers valuable insights on accounts demonstrating intent based on actions taken across LinkedIn. 

Industry leader Bombora has partnered with Cognism to provide users with consent-based intent data. It’s collected from a cooperative of 5,000 B2B sites, where B2B buyers actively research a topic when they’re ready to make a purchase. 

  • It considers the historical baseline or typical content consumption when calculating intent.
  • It considers the context and the length of each interaction.
  • Bombora’s dataset is 70% exclusive.

Combining Bombora’s buyer intent with Cognism’s contact data allows you to find, prioritise, and connect the right prospects at the right time. This shortens the sales cycle, improves targeting, and creates a more relevant buyer journey.

Yes, you can! 

A number of companies use LinkedIn Sales Navigator in tandem with Cognism. Here’s how Centelli does it:

“We use the Chrome Extension to double-check the accuracy of the data and also see how our prospect is moving around the company. Have they left the company?  Are they still in a relevant position for what we’re trying to do? We also like that we can easily import the leads from Sales Navigator into Cognism. The integration and capabilities within the platform have been great for us.”

Or you can choose to use these tools together like Lee does at a global SaaS company:

“I spend much of my day prospecting in LinkedIn Sales Navigator. Targeting businesses that have a $50 million revenue or above is a vital sales qualification criteria for us. In LinkedIn Sales Nav, you can filter and search accounts based on revenue.” 

“Once I’ve found the most relevant contacts that match our criteria, I’ll then use Cognism’s Chrome Extension to acquire the contact details.” 

“I no longer have to individually type lead details one by one into Salesforce. Now, I can import contacts directly to Salesforce and Outreach from the Chrome Extension, removing the bottleneck of manually doing it myself.”

Try Cognism, a LinkedIn Sales Navigator alternative

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