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Cognism

Verified data for B2B prospecting

Data & Discovery
For AI agents
APICapable readiness
About

What is Cognism

Cognism pulls verified contact and company data from multiple vendors, refreshes it on a 30-day cycle, and delivers it via a web app, API, or bulk export. It's built for SDR and BDR teams, RevOps, and GTM leads at mid-market and enterprise companies who need accurate mobile numbers and emails before they pick up the phone or hit send. The standout capability is phone-verified mobile data — numbers are checked against live carrier records, not just scraped and stored — which meaningfully reduces the dead-number problem that plagues most prospecting databases. Intent signals layer on top, letting teams prioritize accounts showing active buying behavior rather than working a flat list. Pricing is custom and contact-sales only, so smaller teams or early-stage companies without procurement bandwidth will find the buying process slow and the cost hard to forecast.

Data & Discovery
Capabilities

Key features

Prospecting database

searchable B2B contact + company directory

Native CRM integration

first-party connectors, no middleware required

Data

verified emails, mobile phones, intent signals, firmographic + tech-stack data

No-code automation support

works with major iPaaS platforms

Our verdict

Vanderbuild take

Cognism is a serious prospecting database and enrichment layer for SDR/BDR teams and RevOps at mid-market and enterprise scale — if your team is burning time on bad mobile numbers or stale CRM records, this is the category of tool that addresses it directly. On the agentic side, the REST API is available and documented, meaning you can wrap Cognism's data into your own MCP layer or agent orchestration stack without too much friction — it's capable, though MCP-native status is unconfirmed, so you'll be doing that plumbing yourself. Budget-wise, this is enterprise-priced with a contact-sales-only model, so expect procurement involvement and a negotiation cycle before you're live. The honest limitation: coverage and data freshness vary by region, and teams prospecting heavily outside North America and Western Europe may find hit rates lower than expected — worth running a sample test against your ICP before committing.

Mateusz Sekta
Founder, vanderbuild
Learn more

Our Resources

The wedge

Agentic stack profile

API
REST

Programmatic access available.

REST API — straightforward to call from any agent or workflow tool. Rate limits and auth vary by plan.

API docs →
Agentic readiness
Capable

Solid API access — wraps cleanly for agent use.

Solid REST or SDK access. No MCP server yet, but easy to wrap in custom agent tooling. Most modern SaaS tools land here.

Stack role
Data source · Enricher · Signal source

Where this tool slots into an agentic pipeline.

Plays the role of Data source + Enricher + Signal source in an agentic pipeline. Use it to source contacts, companies, and the raw inputs an agent needs to act; add firmographic, technographic, and signal data to a lead row on the fly.

Compare

Cognism alternatives

Tools that solve a similar problem — compared at a glance.

Cognism(this tool)
Pricing
Custom
Budget
$$$$
Best for
SDR / BDR, RevOps
Readiness
Capable
API
REST
Apollo
Pricing
Freemium
Budget
$$
Best for
SDR / BDR, Account Executive
Readiness
Native
MCP
Yes
API
REST
Lusha
Pricing
Freemium
Budget
$$
Best for
SDR / BDR, RevOps
Readiness
Native
MCP
Yes
API
REST
Answers

Frequently asked questions

Does Cognism have a public API?

Yes — Cognism ships a REST API. Docs: https://developers.cognism.com/.

How much does Cognism cost?

Cognism: pricing is custom, expect enterprise tier ($$$$) spend. Full pricing page: https://www.cognism.com/pricing.

Who is Cognism best for?

Cognism is built for SDR / BDR, RevOps, GTM Lead. Fits Mid-market (50-500), Enterprise-sized teams.

How well does Cognism fit an agentic sales stack?

Tier: Capable. Solid public API, no MCP yet — straightforward to wrap in your own agent tooling.