What is a B2B sales intelligence platform?
A B2B sales intelligence platform is software that answers three questions before you contact anyone: who fits, why now, and how to reach them. A contact database answers the first and the last. The "intelligence" part is the middle one: signals such as a job change, a funding round, a hiring post or a company reading about your topic.
| Job | What it looks like on a pricing page | Example, checked 5 Nov 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Who fits | Search filters, company and contact profiles | Sales Navigator's plan page lists 50+ advanced search filters. |
| Why now | Signals, alerts, intent topics, website visitors | ZoomInfo's Copilot Advanced lists buyer intent signals, website visitors, champion tracking and job posting changes. |
| How to reach them | Emails and phone numbers, paid for in credits | Apollo charges 1 credit for an email and 8 for a phone number. |
| Where it goes | CRM sync, CSV export, sequences | Apollo lists CRM integrations and unlimited sequences from its Basic plan. |
If you already know who you want and only need their emails, you need a contact data tool instead. Our guide to B2B marketing data and what it costs covers that job. This post compares the platforms that also tell you when to reach out.
Which sales intelligence tools are there, and what do they cost?
Eight tools, as each vendor's own pricing page showed them on 5 November 2026, in US dollars:
| Tool | Pricing basis | Lowest paid price shown | Free option |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apollo | Per seat; credits pooled across the team | Basic: $49 a seat a month billed annually, or $65 billed monthly | Free plan: 75 credits a seat a month |
| Lusha | Per plan with a credit slider; seats included; 1 credit an email, 5 a phone number | Starter: $37.45 a month billed yearly, 4,800 credits a year, 1 seat | Free plan: 40 credits a month, 1 seat |
| LinkedIn Sales Navigator | Per licence | Core: $119.99 a month or $1,079.88 a year. Advanced: $159.99 a month or $1,799.88 a year; LinkedIn calls these prices estimates | Free trial for members with no paid LinkedIn plan and no free trial in the past 365 days |
| Crunchbase | Pro for individuals, Business for teams | Pro: $49 a month billed annually (first year), or $99 billed monthly. Business: from $199 a month billed annually | Free account with usage limits; 7-day free trial on Pro |
| Clay | Actions plus data credits; unlimited seats | Launch: $167 a month billed annually, or $185 billed monthly | Free plan: 100 data credits and 500 actions a month |
| UpLead | Credits, one per contact (email and mobile direct dial); Free, Essentials and Plus are single-user | Essentials: $74 a month billed annually, with 2,040 credits a year, or $99 billed monthly for 170 credits a month | Free trial: 5 credits for 7 days |
| ZoomInfo | Licences, features and credit usage | Not shown; contact sales | Free trial button |
| Cognism | Standard or Pro package, 5 seats included | Not shown; personalised quote | Free data sample offered |
Three details change the real cost. Apollo's FAQ says unused credits expire at the end of each billing cycle, including add-on credits you bought. Lusha's FAQ says credits on monthly plans roll over up to twice the plan's limit (its comparison table shows this on Pro and Premium only), while annual credits reset at the end of the year. Cognism's FAQ says a credit is used again only if a revealed contact changes jobs. Apollo's own page disagrees with itself: its credit table charges 1 credit for an email, while its FAQ says entry-level plans include unlimited email addresses, so ask Apollo which applies to your plan. For credit-by-credit maths on the cheaper tools, read our Lusha, Apollo and Hunter credit comparison.
Which signals does each platform list?
Signals are where these platforms differ most, and where pricing pages say least. This table lists only what each pricing page names, checked 5 November 2026. "Not listed" means the page doesn't name it, not that the product can't do it.
| Tool | Signals named on the pricing page | Which plans |
|---|---|---|
| Apollo | Intent topics and intent filters; website visitors (20 companies a month on Free, 100 on paid plans) | 1 intent topic on Free, 6 on Basic and Professional, 12 on Organization |
| Lusha | Buying intent topics; job change, promotion, new job listing, headcount growth and news signals; website visitors | Signals ticked on every plan in its comparison table, though only the Pro card lists them; 5 intent topics from Starter, 25 on Scale |
| ZoomInfo | Buyer intent, website visitors, champion tracking, job posting changes; real-time intent, earnings call signals and competitor alerts | Copilot Advanced; the second group on Copilot Enterprise |
| Cognism | Hiring, funding and M&A, job changes, intent data (Bombora Company Surge, up to 12 topics) | Its FAQ names intent data as a Pro feature |
| Sales Navigator | Alerts on job changes and new content; Buyer Intent, when buyers show interest in your company | Alerts on every plan; Buyer Intent on Advanced and Advanced Plus only |
| Clay | Job changes, promotions, new hires, company news and social; web intent signals | Launch; web intent on Growth |
| Crunchbase | Current signals; growth and heat scores; funding and growth forecasts | Current signals on Pro and Business; historical on custom plans |
| UpLead | Company news alerts; buyer intent data | Company news on annual Essentials and Plus; buyer intent on Professional (annual only) |
The table holds two kinds of signal. Account signals, such as intent topics and website visitors, name a company that is reading about a subject, not a person. Our post on whether buyer intent data is worth paying for works out how many customers it has to win to pay back. Person signals, such as a job change, a new hire or a post, name someone you can write to today and hand you the first line of the message.
What would a three-person team pay in a year? A worked example
Sample case: Northwind Ltd, an example three-person B2B team, wants all three people searching for prospects and sending outreach. At list prices on 5 November 2026:
| Stack | Arithmetic | Year one |
|---|---|---|
| Apollo Basic, 3 seats, billed annually | 3 × $49 × 12 | $1,764, with 30,000 credits a seat a year (90,000 in all) |
| Apollo Basic, 3 seats, billed monthly | 3 × $65 × 12 | $2,340, with 2,500 credits a seat a month |
| Lusha Premium, billed yearly (5 seats included) | $299.95 × 12 | $3,599.40, with 40,800 credits a year |
| Sales Navigator Core, 3 licences, yearly | 3 × $1,079.88 | $3,239.64, with no email or phone credits |
| Sales Navigator Core ×3 plus Apollo Basic ×3, both yearly | $3,239.64 + $1,764 | $5,003.64 |
| Crunchbase Pro (1 seat, yearly, first-year price) plus Clay Launch (yearly) | ($49 × 12) + ($167 × 12) | $588 + $2,004 = $2,592 |
What the arithmetic shows: Apollo is the cheapest way here to give three people search, emails and sequences, as long as 30,000 credits a seat covers your year. At 1 credit an email address, that is about 2,500 addresses per person a month on average. Sales Navigator costs nearly twice as much for three people and comes with no email credits, but it searches LinkedIn itself and includes 50 InMails a month on every plan; we weigh that trade in whether Sales Navigator is worth it for a solo founder. ZoomInfo and Cognism can't be costed this way because neither shows a price.
Which sales intelligence platform fits which team?
Pick by the job you need done most, then check the deciding fact on the vendor's page before you buy:
| If your team is | Start with | The deciding fact (checked 5 Nov 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| A founder needing up to 40 contacts a month | Apollo Free or Lusha Free | 75 credits a seat a month, or 40 credits a month |
| Two to five people doing email outbound | Apollo Basic | $49 a seat a month billed annually, with unlimited sequences and 30,000 credits a seat a year |
| Selling to people who are active on LinkedIn | Sales Navigator Core | 50+ search filters, alerts on job changes, 50 InMails a month |
| Selling to startups or recently funded companies | Crunchbase Pro | Private company profiles, funding data and current signals, $49 a month billed annually in the first year |
| Someone who enjoys building workflows | Clay Launch | Job change and signal tracking, multi-provider waterfalls, billed on actions and data credits |
| A phone-led team that needs mobile numbers | Cognism (quoted) | Verified mobile numbers, with on-demand mobile verification on Pro |
| A larger team running account-based plays | ZoomInfo (quoted) | Intent, website visitors and buying group filters on Copilot Advanced |
There is a third route if what you want is a short list of people with a reason to buy, not a database to search. Siela's Lead Finder starts from your website, looks for people asking how to solve the problem you solve, hiring for the work you automate or changing role, and scores every lead hot, warm or cold with a one-line reason. You can read how the AI SDR picks its leads and compare it with the tables above.
How do you trial a sales intelligence platform in two weeks?
Test the signals, not the size of the database: what matters is whether the tool finds your buyers and gives you a reason to write. Apollo and Clay offer 14-day trials of paid plans (Apollo's FAQ says its trial includes 75 credits), and UpLead's trial is 5 credits for 7 days, so plan the test before you start the clock.
List 20 accounts you want to win
Use real names from your pipeline or wish list. Search each one and count how many the tool has, and how many show the role you sell to.
Log every signal on those accounts
Each morning, note each job change, hire, funding round, intent surge or alert the tool raises. Mark whether it names a person or only a company.
Write one first line per person signal
If a signal doesn't give you a first line you would send, it isn't worth paying for. Count the ones that do.
Time ten leads end to end
Minutes from opening the tool to a sent message, including finding the email. This is the number your team will live with.
Price the year from your usage
Multiply the credits you used by the number of trial periods in a year, then find the plan that covers it, with seats, on yearly and monthly billing.
Run two tools side by side on the same 20 accounts and the scorecard makes the choice for you.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between sales intelligence and a CRM?
A CRM stores the people and deals you already have and tracks what happened with them. A sales intelligence platform finds new people and companies, adds data such as emails and company size, and flags signals like job changes. Most platforms push records into a CRM, so small teams usually run both: the platform to find and time outreach, the CRM to manage the conversation after it starts.
Is LinkedIn Sales Navigator a sales intelligence tool?
Yes, for search and timing. Its compare page, checked 5 November 2026, lists 50+ advanced search filters, AI account and lead insights, alerts on job changes and new content, and 50 InMails a month. It doesn't list email or phone credits, so teams that send email usually pair it with a contact data tool. Core costs $119.99 a month or $1,079.88 a year per licence.
Is there a free sales intelligence platform?
Several have free plans with small limits, as of 5 November 2026. Apollo Free gives 75 credits a seat a month and one intent topic. Lusha Free gives 40 credits a month for one seat. Clay Free gives 100 data credits and 500 actions a month with unlimited seats. These are enough to test coverage on 20 to 50 accounts, not to run outbound for a team.
What signals should a small sales team track?
Start with signals that name a person and give you something to say: a new role, a hiring post for the work you help with, a funding round, or a post asking how to solve your problem. Company-level intent topics are harder to act on because you still have to find the right person and a reason. Track five to ten signals well rather than every signal a tool offers.
How much does a sales intelligence platform cost for a small team?
For three people at list prices checked 5 November 2026, Apollo Basic costs $1,764 a year billed annually, three Sales Navigator Core licences $3,239.64 a year, and Lusha Premium, which includes five seats, $3,599.40 a year. ZoomInfo and Cognism quote prices only, so ask for a written year-one total, including any onboarding fee, before you compare them.
Sources
- Apollo pricing (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Lusha pricing (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- LinkedIn Sales Navigator plans and pricing (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Crunchbase product pricing (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Clay pricing (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- UpLead pricing (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- ZoomInfo pricing (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Cognism pricing (checked 5 Nov 2026)