Comparison
6sense and Demandbase are the two leading enterprise ABM platforms. Both offer intent data, account identification, and advertising. This guide breaks down the real differences so you can choose the right platform for your team.
| Feature | 6sense | Demandbase |
|---|---|---|
| Core Strength | AI-powered predictive intent modeling | Unified ABM advertising + intelligence |
| Intent Data | Proprietary AI intent network | Bombora partnership + proprietary signals |
| Advertising | 6sense Ads (display + social) | Pioneer in B2B account-based advertising |
| Sales Tools | Conversational email, account scores | Sales intelligence, engagement minutes |
| Pricing | Typically $60K-$250K+/year | Typically $50K-$200K+/year |
| Best For | Predictive account prioritization | ABM advertising with account intelligence |
6sense is an account-based marketing (ABM) and sales intelligence platform that uses AI and big data to predict which accounts are actively in-market to buy. Its Revenue AI platform analyzes anonymous buying signals across the web to surface accounts showing intent before they fill out a form or contact sales.
6sense captures intent data from its proprietary network of B2B publisher sites, combined with web activity tracking, and uses AI models to assign accounts to buying stages. This allows marketing and sales teams to prioritize outreach to accounts most likely to convert.
The platform has expanded beyond intent data to include advertising (6sense Ads), conversational email (6sense Conversational Email), and sales intelligence features. It is positioned as an enterprise ABM platform for large B2B organizations running sophisticated go-to-market motions.
Best for: Enterprise B2B marketing and sales teams that need AI-powered intent data to identify and prioritize in-market accounts
G2 rating: 4.4/5
Pricing: Custom enterprise pricing only. Typically starts around $60,000-$100,000/year for mid-market. Enterprise deals commonly range from $100,000-$250,000+/year. Multi-year contracts are standard.
Demandbase is an enterprise ABM platform that combines account intelligence, B2B advertising, and sales tools into a unified go-to-market suite. Originally known as a pioneer in B2B advertising, Demandbase expanded through its acquisition of Engagio and InsideView to offer a comprehensive ABM solution.
The platform provides account identification, intent data, firmographic and technographic intelligence, and advertising capabilities. Its Demandbase One product unifies these into a single platform where marketing and sales teams can identify target accounts, understand their buying signals, and engage them across channels.
Demandbase differentiates from 6sense with stronger advertising roots, its acquisition-driven breadth of features, and a focus on providing both first-party and third-party intent signals. It is particularly strong for teams that want ABM advertising tightly integrated with account intelligence.
Best for: Enterprise marketing and sales teams that want unified ABM advertising, account intelligence, and sales engagement in one platform
G2 rating: 4.4/5
Pricing: Custom enterprise pricing only. Typically starts around $50,000-$80,000/year for mid-market. Full platform deals for enterprise commonly reach $100,000-$200,000+/year. Pricing varies based on modules selected.
How 6sense and Demandbase stack up across key capabilities.
| Feature | 6sense | Demandbase |
|---|---|---|
| Intent Data | Proprietary AI model, buying-stage prediction | Bombora intent + proprietary account signals |
| Account Identification | AI-powered deanonymization | IP-based + cookie-based identification |
| B2B Advertising | Display and social ad targeting | Industry-leading B2B display advertising |
| Predictive Scoring | AI buying-stage model (Awareness → Decision) | Qualification scores and engagement minutes |
| Technographics | Available via integrations | Built-in via InsideView acquisition |
| Sales Engagement | Conversational email AI | Sales intelligence alerts and insights |
| CRM Integration | Salesforce, HubSpot, Dynamics | Salesforce, HubSpot, Marketo |
| Reporting | Revenue AI dashboards, pipeline attribution | Journey analytics, engagement reporting |
Both 6sense and Demandbase are enterprise-priced platforms with opaque, custom-only pricing. Neither publishes pricing publicly. Based on market research, 6sense typically starts around $60,000-$100,000/year for mid-market deployments, with enterprise deals ranging from $100,000 to $250,000+ annually. Multi-year contracts are standard.
Demandbase pricing tends to start slightly lower, around $50,000-$80,000/year for mid-market, with enterprise deals reaching $100,000-$200,000+. Pricing varies significantly based on which modules are selected (advertising, sales intelligence, data, etc.) and the volume of accounts being tracked.
Both platforms represent a significant investment, and ROI depends heavily on how well the platform is implemented and adopted. Teams should evaluate based on which platform's specific features align with their ABM strategy rather than price alone, as the total cost of ownership is comparable.
6sense and Demandbase are powerful ABM platforms for identifying and prioritizing in-market accounts. However, they focus on the marketing side of the funnel — telling you which accounts to target with ads and campaigns. When it comes to helping individual sales reps prepare for conversations, both platforms fall short.
Neither platform provides the kind of deep, account-level intelligence that sellers need to run great discovery calls, personalize outreach, or build compelling business cases for individual accounts.
Both platforms provide account scores and intent signals, but neither delivers comprehensive account briefs synthesized from 1,000+ sources that a rep can use to prepare for a call in minutes.
Neither 6sense nor Demandbase monitors earnings calls, strategic announcements, or leadership changes and translates them into actionable talking points for sales conversations.
Both platforms excel at account prioritization but leave a gap between 'this account is in-market' and 'here is exactly what to say when you reach them.' Reps still spend hours researching each account manually.
“It's not even just about saving time — it's about uncovering things we otherwise might not research. Salesmotion helps us connect Guild to what's already publicly important to the company.”
Derek Rosen
Director, Strategic Accounts, Guild Education
Salesmotion gives your reps the account intelligence they need to book more meetings and close bigger deals.
6sense is generally considered to have stronger intent data due to its proprietary AI models that predict buying stages. Demandbase relies on a Bombora partnership for much of its intent data. However, the best choice depends on your use case — 6sense excels at predictive scoring while Demandbase provides a broader range of account signals.
Demandbase is the pioneer in B2B account-based advertising and generally offers more mature ad capabilities. 6sense Ads has caught up significantly, but Demandbase's deeper advertising roots and broader ad network integrations give it an edge for teams where advertising is a primary use case.
Both platforms have added sales-facing features, but they were designed primarily for marketing-led ABM. 6sense offers conversational email and account scores for sales. Demandbase provides sales intelligence alerts. Neither replaces a dedicated sales intelligence tool for individual rep-level research and outreach preparation.
At $50,000-$250,000/year, both platforms require significant pipeline impact to justify the investment. They tend to deliver the best ROI for organizations with dedicated ABM teams, mature go-to-market operations, and enough target accounts to benefit from intent-based prioritization. Smaller teams may find the cost disproportionate.
Salesmotion complements ABM platforms by focusing on seller-level account intelligence. While 6sense and Demandbase tell marketing which accounts to target, Salesmotion gives individual reps the deep research, real-time signals, and talking points they need to actually convert those accounts into pipeline.
Join the top-performing sales teams using Salesmotion to build more pipeline and close more deals.
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