Capability · 8 solutions compared
Research prospects and accounts
Gather context about target companies and people — what they do, recent news, fit signals — to qualify and personalise outreach.
People ask: “I need to research 500 sales prospects per month”
Buy nothing: Clay, Apollo.io do this well on a free plan.
Every way to do it
Scored on what matters most for this job: quality, batch, reliability.
| Tool | Fit | Quality | Batch | Reliability | Skill | Cheapest plan with it | Limits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clay | Core feature | basic | Free$0/mo | Steep learning curve · Costs scale with rows and providers used | |||
| LinkedIn Sales Navigator | Core feature | none | Core$89.99/seat/mo | Bulk export is not supported; automated extraction violates LinkedIn's terms · Profiles can be incomplete or outdated if people don't maintain them | |||
| ZoomInfo | Core feature | — | none | Not listed | Intent and scoring need Copilot Advanced or Enterprise | ||
| Apollo.io | Strong | — | none | Free$0/seat/mo | AI research uses credits | ||
| Perplexity | Strong | none | Pro$17/mo | No verified contact emails or phone numbers · One company at a time unless using the API | |||
| ChatGPT | Partial | — | none | Free$0/mo | No verified emails or phone numbers · One account at a time unless you script it | ||
| Claude | Partial | — | none | Free$0/mo | No verified contact data · Manual, one account at a time | ||
| Grok | Partial | — | — | none | Free$0/mo | No contact database · Coverage limited for companies not active on X |
Fit and scores are editorial judgements; prices show their verification status. Methodology