- Oct 5, 2026
Cognism
This page reads Cognism against Clay, factor by factor, with a source on every claim. Beats Clay on own verified data; trails on public pricing and many data sources.
What Cognism is
“Prospecting or CRM enrichment — powered by verified, compliance-first data that drives higher ROI”
- Reps want mobile numbers that actually connect instead of dead dials — the page sells “phone-verified contact numbers designed to help sales teams connect with the right decision-makers more reliably” (https://www.cognism.com/pricing).
- Ops wants the CRM to stay accurate without hand-cleaning records: “Keep your CRM accurate and ready to act on” (https://www.cognism.com/pricing).
- Teams want to know which accounts are in-market before they dial — intent data “helps teams prioritise accounts that may be in-market and time outreach more effectively” (https://www.cognism.com/pricing).
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- Buyers want contact data they can use without a compliance fight: “verified, compliance-first data” (https://www.cognism.com/pricing).
Cognism against Clay
Beats Clay on own verified data; trails on public pricing and many data sources.
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Own verified data
Whether contact data comes from the vendor’s own verified database, so one company stands behind a dead number. Clay is at 1 of 4, on high evidence. Cognism is at 4 of 4, on high evidence.
Autonomous outreach
Whether the tool works outreach end to end on its own, or hands over a canvas to wire up first. Clay is at 1 of 4, on high evidence. Cognism is at 1 of 4, on medium evidence.
Built-in CRM
Whether the deal data lives here, or the tool writes into a CRM somebody else owns. Clay is at 1 of 4, on high evidence. Cognism is at 1 of 4, on low evidence.
Public buying signals
Whether the tool watches public activity — GitHub, web visits, job changes — and names the person behind it. Clay is at 2 of 4, on high evidence. Cognism is at 1 of 4, on low evidence.
Usage-based billing
Whether the bill tracks actions and credits consumed, or multiplies by every seat the team adds. Clay is at 4 of 4, on high evidence. Cognism is at 2 of 4, on high evidence.
Agents in the plan
Whether AI agents switch on inside the current contract, or arrive as a second line on the invoice. Clay is at 3 of 4, on medium evidence. Cognism is at 1 of 4, on low evidence.
Many data sources
Whether one subscription routes a lookup through several providers until the field fills, or ships a single source. Clay is at 4 of 4, on high evidence. Cognism is at 1 of 4, on medium evidence.
Public pricing
Whether the entry price sits on the public pricing page, or only arrives after a sales conversation. Clay is at 4 of 4, on high evidence. Cognism is at 0 of 4, on high evidence.
Cognism’s candidate moves for Clay: four, sorted into eliminate, reduce, raise and create.
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Seat minimums
Seat minimums. Cognism bundles ‘5 seats included’ on both prospecting tiers, so small ops teams pay for chairs nobody fills.
Sales-gated pricing
Sales-gated pricing. Cognism routes both prospecting tiers to ‘Talk to sales’ and publishes no amount, so buyers can’t size spend alone.
Published coverage proof
Published coverage proof. Cognism sells ‘verified, compliance-first data’ with no hit rate on the page; buyers want numbers they can check pre-purchase.
A per-record receipt
A per-record receipt: where each phone number came from, which provider, what consent basis — so compliance review doesn’t stall the list.
Cognism’s moves: three dated, newest first.
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“MCP & API access” listed on both Standard and Pro, marked “New”
- Cognism
- Sep 29, 2026
- changelog
- “MCP & API access” listed on both Standard and Pro, marked “New”
Dominic Allon as CEO and Chris Evans as CRO
- Cognism
- Sep 9, 2025
- leadership
- Pete Daffern, Interim CEO
- Dominic Allon as CEO and Chris Evans as CRO
“$87.5m (£64m)” Series C led by Viking Global Investors
- Cognism
- Jan 13, 2022
- funding
- “$87.5m (£64m)” Series C led by Viking Global Investors
Cognism’s facts: six, each with its source.
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“$87.5m (£64m)” Series C led by Viking Global Investors, reported Jan 13, 2022
““$87.5m (£64m)” Series C led by Viking Global Investors, reported Jan 13, 2022”
Unknown: no reason recorded
Unknown: no reason recorded
Unknown: Reported pricing string “”Cognism pricing is tailored based on the product you need, your team setup and how you plan to use the platform.” Both prospecting tiers read “5 seats included” and route to “Talk to sales”
Unknown: Reported pricing string “”Cognism pricing is tailored based on the product you need, your team setup and how you plan to use the platform.” Both prospecting tiers read “5 seats included” and route to “Talk to sales”; no amount appears on the page.” was not found verbatim in this run’s fetched text.
Dominic Allon is CEO and Chris Evans is CRO
“Dominic Allon is CEO and Chris Evans is CRO; Allon succeeded interim CEO Pete Daffern, announced Sep 9, 2025”
Unknown: no reason recorded
Unknown: no reason recorded
“Prospecting or CRM enrichment
““Prospecting or CRM enrichment — powered by verified, compliance-first data that drives higher ROI””
Cognism’s craft read: seven observations on how it is built and sold.
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Credits only burn again when a contact changes jobs, per the pricing FAQ
Credits only burn again when a contact changes jobs, per the pricing FAQ.
An MCP endpoint ships on both tiers, so agents can query the data directly
An MCP endpoint ships on both tiers, so agents can query the data directly.
Only Cognism and D&B Hoover’s publish European registered filings, says one independent analyst
Only Cognism and D&B Hoover’s publish European registered filings, says one independent analyst.
No price appears anywhere
No price appears anywhere; both tiers just say “5 seats included” and route to “Talk to sales”.
Each plan bundles five seats, which is more than a one-person ops team needs
Each plan bundles five seats, which is more than a one-person ops team needs.
CRM Enrichment sits outside both tiers as an add-on, so cleaning records costs extra
CRM Enrichment sits outside both tiers as an add-on, so cleaning records costs extra.
Intent data is Bombora’s Company Surge, and admins pick up to 12 topics
Intent data is Bombora’s Company Surge, and admins pick up to 12 topics.
Cognism’s confidence: multiple independent sources, fetched live, agree.
- Sources, confirmed
- Independent, confirmed
- Recent, confirmed
- Agreement, confirmed
Two tiers, Standard and Pro, each “5 seats included”, with segment language naming “SMBs”, “Mid-Market” and “Enterprise”. No amounts published; the page routes to “Talk to sales”. Pro adds “intent data” and “on-demand mobile verification”.
Same page on the apex host, fetched this run; text identical to the www copy. Not an independent second source.
Independent trade press, fetched this run. Confirms “$87.5m (£64m)” Series C led by Viking Global Investors with Blue Cloud Ventures, AXA Venture Partners, Swisscom Ventures and Volution, and that Cognism “provides tools to sales teams for generating data on sales leads” for “over 1,000 customers in over 40 countries”. Stale by four years.
Independent analyst newsletter (RevTech Intelligence), fetched this run. Confirms Dominic Allon as CEO and Chris Evans as CRO, Allon succeeding interim CEO Pete Daffern; states “a database of 440 million contacts and 100 million mobile numbers” and that “only Cognism and D&B Hoover’s provide European registered filings” among top sales-intelligence vendors.
Attempted marketplace listing returned HTTP 404; no listing evidence gathered. Not retried.