The short answer
Pick ZoomInfo if you sell mostly to US companies at scale and use intent, org charts and visitor tracking.
Pick Cognism if you sell into the UK and Europe, call mobiles every day and want compliance checks built in.
Pick neither if you are a small team that needs verified emails and sending, not an enterprise platform. Sendsets starts at $29 a month.
Side by side
| ZoomInfo | Cognism | Sendsets | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | an enterprise go-to-market platform: contact and company data, intent signals, org charts and website visitor tracking, sold on annual contracts | a sales intelligence provider known for European coverage, GDPR-focused data and phone-verified mobile numbers | B2B contact data, email verification and cold email sending in one tool, priced as a flat monthly plan |
| Pricing model | Quote only. Credits and seats are set per contract | Quote only: platform fee plus seats, with credits per seat | Flat monthly plan with a lead allowance; no per-seat pricing |
| Cheapest paid entry | About $15,000 a year (reported, Professional) | About $15,000 a year and up (reported) | $29 a month |
| Free option | ZoomInfo Lite: about 10 credits a month (reported) | A free data sample, no free plan | Free search and preview before you pay |
| Contract | Annual, paid upfront | Annual, paid upfront | Monthly, cancel anytime |
| Seats | Priced per seat, usually with a multi-seat minimum | Standard and Pro each include 5 seats | Unlimited plan includes 5 team members |
Where ZoomInfo wins
- Deep US company coverage with org charts, hierarchy and technographics
- Intent data and website visitor identification (WebSights) in the higher tiers
- Mature CRM integrations and admin controls for large sales teams
Where Cognism wins
- Strong UK and European coverage with compliance checks against do-not-call lists
- Phone-verified mobile numbers on the Pro plan
- Intent data, hiring and funding signals
Pricing
Neither vendor publishes prices. ZoomInfo quotes every deal, so these are figures buyers have reported, not list prices. Seats, credits and add-ons move the total. Cognism does not publish prices. Third-party reports describe a yearly platform fee of about $15,000 plus a per-seat cost.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| ZoomInfo Lite | $0 | About 10 contact credits a month; 25 if you share your own contacts through Community Edition (reported) |
| ZoomInfo Professional | About $15,000/year | Contact and company data, typically 3 seats and about 5,000 credits (reported) |
| ZoomInfo Advanced | About $25,000–$30,000/year | Adds account prioritization, hierarchy data and more credits (reported) |
| ZoomInfo Elite | About $36,000–$40,000/year | Adds intent and the full platform (reported) |
| Cognism Standard | Quote | Core prospecting, 5 seats included, credits per seat |
| Cognism Pro | Quote | Adds verified mobiles, on-demand verification and intent, 5 seats included |
More detail: ZoomInfo pricing, ZoomInfo alternative, Cognism alternative.
What you get with Sendsets
- 420M+ B2B contacts with work emails and phone numbers, searchable by job title, industry, company size and location. See the full breakdown of the data.
- Verification before you send. Emails get a live SMTP check with catch-all detection, so a stale address does not bounce and hurt your sender reputation (how verification works).
- Sending in the same tool. Connect mailboxes, warm them up and run sequences without a second subscription (cold email).
- One flat monthly price. No annual contract and no per-seat fee on top.
What Sendsets does not have: intent data, a built-in dialer or org charts. If those are central to how your team sells, weigh that before switching.
Cognism vs ZoomInfo FAQ
Is Cognism cheaper than ZoomInfo?
Usually, at the entry level. Buyer reports put Cognism around $15,000 a year and up, and ZoomInfo Professional around $15,000 with a median contract near $31,875. Both quote every deal, so seats, credits and add-ons decide the real number.
Which has better data, Cognism or ZoomInfo?
ZoomInfo is generally stronger on US companies, org charts and technographics. Cognism is known for UK and European coverage and phone-verified mobile numbers. Test both on a sample of your own target accounts before signing.
Do Cognism and ZoomInfo have free plans?
Cognism: a free data sample, no free plan. ZoomInfo: zoomInfo Lite: about 10 credits a month (reported).
Do I need either one for cold email?
Not necessarily. If you need verified emails for a defined list of companies and want to send from the same tool, Sendsets covers that from $29 a month on a monthly plan.
Other comparisons
- ZoomInfo alternativeAbout $15,000 a year (reported, Professional)
- Lusha alternative$49.90 a month (Starter, 400 credits)
- Clearbit alternativeRequires a paid HubSpot plan
- Seamless.AI alternativeAbout $147 per user a month, billed yearly (reported, Basic)
- Cognism alternativeAbout $15,000 a year and up (reported)
- Apollo alternative
- ZoomInfo pricing
- Lusha pricing
- Cognism vs ZoomInfo
- B2B email lists