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12 Best ZoomInfo Alternatives For Intent Data, Contacts & More (Including Salesmotion)

Explore zoominfo alternatives (including salesmotion) and compare top options, features, and pricing to pick the best fit for your sales team.


→ TL;DR

ZoomInfo is a powerful B2B database, but it’s not for everyone. High costs, rigid contracts, and data gaps are common reasons teams look for alternatives. This list breaks down the best options for different needs.

  • For Strategic Outreach: Salesmotion is best for account intelligence and knowing why to reach out now. It tracks buying signals, not just contacts.
  • For Enterprise Data: Databook excels at providing deep C-suite insights and account plans for large, strategic deals.
  • For SMBs & All-in-One: Apollo.io combines a large contact database with a sales engagement platform, making it a budget-friendly powerhouse.
  • For Quick Contact Lookups: Lusha and LeadIQ are great for SDRs who need fast, accurate direct dials and emails, especially from LinkedIn.

→ Who This List Is For

This guide is for sales and marketing leaders (CROs, VPs of Sales, RevOps) and practitioners (AEs, SDRs) who find ZoomInfo is:

  • Too expensive for the value they're getting.
  • Too complex for their team's needs.
  • Lacking the contextual insights needed for strategic, account-based selling.
  • Locking them into inflexible multi-year contracts.

If you need a tool that fits your specific sales motion—whether it's high-volume outbound or strategic enterprise selling—you'll find a strong alternative here.

→ Scenarios (Not Categories)

The "best" tool depends entirely on your situation. Here are the common scenarios we've based our recommendations on:

  1. "I need to know why I should reach out now." You're tired of cold outreach. You need timely, relevant buying signals and context to personalize your messaging for key accounts.
  2. "I need to sell to the C-suite at F500 companies." Your deals are complex and require deep knowledge of a company's strategic priorities, financials, and executive pain points.
  3. "I just need a ton of verified emails and phone numbers, fast." Your team runs a high-volume outbound motion and needs a reliable, easy-to-use tool to source contact data without breaking the bank.
  4. "I want an all-in-one platform for prospecting and outreach." You're a startup or SMB and want to avoid juggling multiple tools for finding leads and engaging them.

→ Quick Picks

  • Salesmotion: Best for timing and relevance.
    • It monitors 1,000+ public sources (earnings calls, SEC filings, job posts) for buying signals.
    • AI auto-generates account briefs and messaging points, so reps know exactly what to say and why.
  • Databook: Best for enterprise C-suite selling.
    • Connects your solution directly to a target company's financial reports and strategic initiatives.
    • Generates tailored points of view for executive conversations.
  • Lusha: Best for fast contact lookups on LinkedIn.
    • Simple browser extension provides accurate direct dials and emails with one click.
    • Generous free plan makes it easy to try.
  • LeadIQ: Best for streamlining SDR workflows.
    • Captures and sequences contact data from LinkedIn Sales Navigator with minimal friction.
    • Focuses on making reps more efficient at high-volume prospecting.
  • Apollo.io: Best for all-in-one prospecting and engagement.
    • Combines a massive B2B database with an email sequencer and dialer.
    • Offers a free tier and affordable plans, making it perfect for SMBs.

→ The 5 Best ZoomInfo Alternatives in Detail

1. Salesmotion

Salesmotion isn't a traditional contact database; it’s an AI-powered account intelligence platform. It focuses on the "why now" by continuously scanning over 1,000 public sources for buying signals—like new strategic initiatives announced on an earnings call, key executive hires, or new product launches. This transforms hours of manual account research into instant, actionable insights.

Salesmotion

It’s built for revenue teams practicing value-selling or ABM. Instead of just giving you a name and number, Salesmotion auto-generates account briefs, SWOT analyses, and personalized messaging points tied to a specific signal. This helps reps craft highly relevant outreach that resonates with a prospect's immediate priorities. It integrates natively with Salesforce, HubSpot, and Slack to deliver alerts where your team already works.

  • G2 Rating: 4.8 out of 5 stars
  • Best For: Account Executives and ABM teams needing timely, contextual reasons to engage with target accounts.
  • Pricing: Custom pricing based on team size and needs. Request a demo for details.
  • Website: https://salesmotion.io

2. Databook

Databook is a strategic intelligence platform designed for complex enterprise sales. It connects your company’s solutions to the strategic priorities of your target accounts, using their public financial reports (like 10-Ks) and investor presentations as a primary source. This allows AEs to build a strong business case and speak the language of the C-suite.

The platform excels at creating tailored points of view for specific executives, showing how your product can directly impact their KPIs. It’s less about finding a direct dial and more about arming your senior sellers with the deep insights needed to close seven-figure deals.

  • G2 Rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars
  • Best For: Enterprise sales teams targeting Fortune 500 companies and selling directly to the C-suite.
  • Pricing: Enterprise-level pricing, available upon request.
  • Website: Visit Databook

3. Lusha

Lusha is all about speed and simplicity. It's famous for its browser extension that lets reps grab accurate email addresses and direct-dial phone numbers from LinkedIn profiles and company websites with a single click. This makes it a favorite among SDRs who need to build lists quickly.

Lusha

While it doesn't offer the deep account intelligence of Salesmotion or Databook, it excels at its core function: providing reliable contact data on demand. Its generous free plan and transparent credit-based system make it highly accessible for individuals and small teams to get started without a hefty upfront investment.

  • G2 Rating: 4.3 out of 5 stars
  • Best For: SDRs and sales teams needing a quick, simple way to find direct contact details while prospecting on LinkedIn.
  • Pricing: Offers a free plan with monthly credits. Paid plans start around $29/user/month.
  • Website: Lusha's website

4. LeadIQ

LeadIQ is built to make sales prospecting more efficient. Like Lusha, it focuses on capturing contact data, but it’s specifically designed to streamline the workflow between LinkedIn Sales Navigator and your CRM or sales engagement tool. Reps can capture leads, find their contact info, and push them to an outreach sequence in just a few clicks.

Its value proposition is rooted in eliminating the tedious, manual tasks that slow SDRs down. By automating data entry and verification, LeadIQ allows reps to spend more time selling. It’s a great tool for teams that live in Sales Navigator and need to operate at scale.

  • G2 Rating: 4.3 out of 5 stars
  • Best For: High-volume prospecting teams who want to reduce friction and automate data capture from LinkedIn.
  • Pricing: Starts with a free plan. Paid plans are based on credits and features, starting around $39/user/month.
  • Website: Visit LeadIQ

5. Apollo.io

Apollo.io is an aggressive competitor to ZoomInfo, offering an all-in-one solution that combines a massive B2B database with sales engagement tools. You can find prospects, verify their contact information, and enroll them in email sequences all within one platform. This integrated approach makes it incredibly popular with SMBs and startups.

Its accessibility is a major draw. With a free-to-start model and transparent pricing, teams can get up and running without talking to a sales rep. While data accuracy can sometimes be a concern compared to more premium providers, its sheer volume of contacts and breadth of features provide immense value for the cost.

  • G2 Rating: 4.8 out of 5 stars
  • Best For: SMBs and sales teams wanting a unified platform for both prospecting data and sales engagement.
  • Pricing: Offers a free plan with limited credits; paid plans start at $49/user/month (billed annually).
  • Website: Apollo.io's website

→ Comparison Grid

→ When Our Tool (Salesmotion) Is Not a Fit

We're focused on helping you find the right solution, even if it's not us. Salesmotion may not be the best fit if:

  • You just need a massive list of contacts for high-volume cold calling. Tools like Lusha or Apollo.io are built for pure contact acquisition and will likely be a better and more cost-effective choice for that specific need.
  • You are a single user or a very small team just getting started. Our platform is designed for established revenue teams (SDRs, AEs, CSMs) at mid-market and enterprise companies that need to coordinate on key accounts.
  • You don’t have a defined Ideal Customer Profile (ICP). Salesmotion works best when you know which accounts to target. Its power is in providing deep intelligence on those specific accounts, not in helping you discover your market from scratch.

→ Ready to Try a Smarter Approach?

If you're tired of guessing and want to reach out with relevance, Salesmotion can help. We turn public information into your competitive advantage, telling you who to contact, when, and why.

  • Get a Demo of Salesmotion
  • Talk to us if you’re running an account-based sales motion and need to equip your AEs with better intelligence to break into and expand key accounts.

→ FAQs

1. What is the main difference between ZoomInfo and Salesmotion?
ZoomInfo is primarily a contact database—it tells you who to contact. Salesmotion is an account intelligence platform—it tells you why you should contact them now by tracking real-time buying signals and events.

2. Can any of these tools completely replace ZoomInfo?
Yes. For contact data, tools like Apollo.io, Lusha, and LeadIQ can be direct replacements, often at a lower cost. For strategic intelligence, platforms like Salesmotion and Databook offer a different kind of value that goes beyond what a simple database provides. Many teams use a combination: Salesmotion for "why" and a tool like Lusha for the "who."

3. Are there free alternatives to ZoomInfo?
Yes, several tools offer generous free plans. Lusha, LeadIQ, and Apollo.io all have free tiers that give you a monthly allowance of credits to find emails and phone numbers. They are great for trying before you buy.

4. What should I look for in a ZoomInfo alternative?
Focus on your primary need. Is it data accuracy? Timeliness of information? Ease of use? Integration with your CRM? Price? Define your most critical requirement first, then evaluate tools based on how well they solve that one problem.

5. How important is data compliance (GDPR, CCPA)?
Extremely important, especially if you sell globally. Reputable providers like Salesmotion and others on this list are compliant with major regulations. Always verify a vendor's compliance policies before signing a contract to avoid legal risks.

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