Best Intent Data Providers in 2026
Short answer: Bombora is the intent data provider to license in 2026 when the Company Surge file has to land in tools you already run, and it publishes no list price. G2 Starter is $299/mo in year one, and Buyer Intent stays a quote-only add-on. Common Room Essential is $2,500/mo, billed annually, for six Bombora topics you cannot retune without support. Apollo Basic is $49/user/mo, billed annually, when a printed seat matters more than owning the co-op.
10 tools compared on price, features and fit, with prices checked on vendor pages in September 2026.
Bombora is the license to sign when one research file has to feed a CRM, an ad platform, and a warehouse you already operate. The screen a seller opens on Monday is a separate purchase, and that ranking lives in the buyer intent tools guide.
The contract on this page is who observed the research, how many topics the order form turns on, and whether the rows can leave the vendor. G2 fits a software vendor whose buyers compare products on public review sites. Apollo and Common Room fit a team that wants a short Bombora allowance at a price finance can type into a sheet. 6sense, ZoomInfo, and Demandbase fit a team that will score accounts and advertise from one quoted platform.
Toolradar data: 61 of the 107 sales intelligence tools we track are paid only (57%), while 41% have a free or freemium plan (9 free and 35 freemium). A free row in the sales intelligence category is often a people search, and a people search will not hand you a weekly topic file.
How we chose: these 10 were ranked for a US data or RevOps buyer licensing research signals into a stack that already exists, out of the 107 tools in that category. Prices are USD from each vendor's own pages in September 2026. No paid placement. The scoring method is on how we rate.
Top Picks
Picked by editorial review, informed by G2 and Capterra review volume and rating and by media mentions, the signals behind our category rankings. How we rate
| Tool | Starting price | Rating | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bombora | No public list price | 4.4161 reviews | Teams that will drop one weekly score into several systems. |
| 6sense | No public list price | 4.21,104 reviews | Teams that will score and advertise from the same 6sense contract. |
| G2 | Starter $299/mo; intent extra | 4.310,396 reviews | Software vendors whose buyers compare products in public. |
| ZoomInfo | Lite free; intent is quoted | 4.116 reviews | Teams already buying ZoomInfo contacts who will add the feed only if the quote clears. |
| TrustRadius | No public list price | n/a | Vendors who already know buyers research on TrustRadius. |
| Demandbase | No public list price | 4.42,005 reviews | Teams that want Demandbase data inside systems they already run. |
| Cognism | Pro from $17,000 | 4.51,634 reviews | Teams that need verified mobiles and a short topic list on one quote. |
| DemandScience | No public list price | 4.3934 reviews | Marketers who want intent inside an audience they will activate, not install. |
| Apollo | $49/user/mo on Basic | 4.111,273 reviews | Teams that need a USD seat price and will live inside Apollo. |
| Common Room | $2,500/mo, billed annually | 4.5114 reviews | Teams that want Bombora topics without a separate Bombora contract. |
Teams that will drop one weekly score into several systems.
This lack of transparency often suggests a premium, enterprise-focused offering that is likely expensive and negotiated on a case-by-case basis.
Teams that will score and advertise from the same 6sense contract.
6sense's pricing model, with custom quotes for paid plans, suggests it's on the expensive side, typical for enterprise-grade AI platforms.
Watch out
Custom pricing implies high minimums
Software vendors whose buyers compare products in public.
Teams already buying ZoomInfo contacts who will add the feed only if the quote clears.
It's best for established businesses with significant budgets and a critical need for extensive B2B intelligence.
Watch out
Minimum seat requirements often apply
Vendors who already know buyers research on TrustRadius.
Teams that want Demandbase data inside systems they already run.
Demandbase's 'Contact Us' pricing for its ABX Cloud suggests a high-end, enterprise-focused solution.
Watch out
Onboarding and training costs
Teams that need verified mobiles and a short topic list on one quote.
While the Diamond tier offers advanced features like intent data, the per-user annual cost can quickly add up for larger teams.
Watch out
Potential minimum seat requirements
Marketers who want intent inside an audience they will activate, not install.
Teams that need a USD seat price and will live inside Apollo.
This makes it highly competitive compared to many sales intelligence platforms.
Teams that want Bombora topics without a separate Bombora contract.
While it offers robust features for customer intelligence, these entry points are high compared to some market alternatives.
What an intent data provider sells
An intent data provider licenses a list of companies researching a topic, a category, or a named product, so another system can prioritize or advertise to them. The provider is the source of that list, and a rep's daily login is optional. If the rows cannot leave, you bought a screen rather than a file.
Three contracts show up in the same demo, and they are not interchangeable. A co-op license measures content consumption against each company's own history, which fits a team that will drop the same accounts into more than one system. A review-site license records comparisons, pricing views, and profile visits, which fits a software vendor whose buyers shortlist in public. An OEM allowance turns on a handful of the co-op's topics inside someone else's product, which fits a team that refuses a second vendor.
Buying the allowance and expecting the full taxonomy pays for a shortlist a second contract has to widen. Buying the platform and expecting a scheduled extract pays for scores you can see and may not be allowed to ship on a timer. The inbox that turns a domain into a person is the B2B data providers guide. A hit on your own domain is a different signal, covered in the signal-based selling tools guide.
Why the contact seat is not the research file
The number on a people-search card is the seat that finds a name. The file that says a company is reading your category is the next line, a topic cap, or a credit block that has no unit price. A model that stops at the contact seat will miss the research the team hired the vendor to catch, and finance will treat that seat as if the file were included.
G2 prints a year-one monthly Starter price, or $2,999 for the year, and keeps Buyer Intent off that card. The add-on starts on Professional and Enterprise, and neither package prints a dollar, so the research file is a second conversation. Year two of Starter rises to $599/mo, or $6,000/year, which renews the profile rather than the research file. Starter's own footnote limits that card to companies of 1 to 100 employees, which already rules a larger vendor out.
Apollo's comparison dated July 31, 2026 lists a Basic annual seat with six intent topics, then two higher seats, and a three-user minimum on the top plan. That seat fits work inside Apollo, not a license to the co-op. Cognism lists Standard from $12,750, five seats included, and puts Bombora intent only on Pro, while the pricing page still says talk to sales. ZoomInfo says paid plans are custom-quoted and billed annually. 6sense, Demandbase, TrustRadius, and DemandScience print no list price for the file, so those rows stay off a spreadsheet until the quote is written.
Key Features to Look For
Source, or a capped resale (Essential)
Bombora collects the co-op. Apollo, Cognism, and Common Room turn on a slice of it, and that slice is what the contract allows. Bombora's Apollo allowance gives free accounts 1 topic, Basic and Professional 6, and Organization 12. Common Room gives Essential 6 topics, Advanced 12, and Enterprise 25.
A direct license is the buy when two systems need the same weekly score. An OEM is the buy when one product is where the work happens and a wider topic list is a later argument.
What behavior was observed (Essential)
Bombora watches research across a publisher and brand-site co-op, then scores the newest three weeks against that account's prior twelve weeks, on more than 21,600 topics. A spike is that company's own change, which a national hot list would hide. G2 Buyer Intent is built from profile, category, comparison, competitor, and pricing activity on G2, Capterra, Software Advice, and GetApp.
TrustRadius sells the same late motion on its own site: pricing, comparisons, and demos, for the category you purchase. A topic surge and a pricing-page view are different hours of the deal, and stacking them without a reason doubles the file.
Whether the rows can leave (Essential)
A license you can land in Salesforce, a marketing platform, and a second tool is a different asset from a score that lives in one login. Bombora says the signals deploy into the advertising, marketing, sales, and CRM platforms you already use. Apollo limits the published plans to internal use, and resale needs a separate agreement.
Common Room includes auto-recurring exports on Enterprise, which is custom, and sells them as an add-on on Essential and Advanced, so Essential is a view inside that product. Read 6sense vs Demandbase before you assume either quote includes a warehouse schedule.
Topic count versus taxonomy (Important)
The library is not the allowance. Apollo draws on Bombora and LeadSift topics, then the plan decides how many you may switch on. Cognism lets an admin pick up to 12 topics from a library of more than 11,000, and only on Pro.
As of September 23, 2026, Common Room says a saved topic set changes through support, not a toggle. A demo that scrolls a huge taxonomy is showing the catalog, not your order form.
A person, or only a domain (Important)
Bombora's persona layer adds role, seniority, and decision-maker status on the domain. That is a buying-group sketch, not a verified email you can export. G2 routes company-level activity into Salesforce, HubSpot, and Marketo, and also names 6sense, Demandbase, and Outreach as activation partners.
DemandScience's Audience Builder shows account-level topics and intensity scores on top of a contact file it says holds 247 million verified people. The email, when you need one, is still the B2B data providers guide.
The second meter (Important)
As of July 7, 2026, ZoomInfo gives Lite 10 monthly credits, or 25 with Community Edition, and up to 10 company-visitor reveals a day, and each paid export costs one credit. Intent sits at a paid capability and is quoted, not drawn from that free pool.
Apollo meters reveals on an annual credit pool that is separate from the topic cap. 6sense prints no per-credit rate for contact reveals. A file you cannot refresh in the week it spikes is a report.
A number finance can type (Important)
Apollo, G2's Starter card, Common Room Essential, and Cognism's published starts are the rows with a USD figure. Bombora, 6sense, ZoomInfo's Streaming Intent, Demandbase, TrustRadius, and DemandScience are quotes.
Take the printed plan when the feed is a small topic allowance and the sheet has to close this week. Wait for the quote when you need the co-op itself, a buying stage, or ads on the same contract. The contact-graph fork is Apollo vs ZoomInfo.
What to settle before the order form
Name the behavior first. A Bombora topic, a G2 comparison, a TrustRadius pricing view, and a DemandScience intensity score are different hours of a deal, and the right contract for one is wasted spend on the others.
Ask where the rows are allowed to land, and how often. A direct Bombora license is built to travel. Common Room Essential shows the score in product, and recurring exports are an add-on unless you buy the custom Enterprise package.
Separate the domain from the person you will email. Persona fields and review-site accounts still need a contact license, and that bill belongs in the same budget.
Leave Bombora, 6sense, ZoomInfo Streaming Intent, Demandbase, TrustRadius, and DemandScience out of the spreadsheet until each quote is in writing. The published starts on Cognism are planning numbers, not the order form.
Evaluation Checklist
Ask the vendor to name the collection method in the order form: co-op consumption, review-site behavior, or an OEM topic cap. A demo taxonomy is not the allowance.
Count the topics you may turn on, the refresh (Bombora's resellers say weekly), and whether a change needs support.
Ask for the delivery list in writing: CRM objects, ad audiences, API, or a scheduled export. Common Room's recurring export is an add-on below the custom Enterprise tier.
Confirm the file is company-level, then price the contact license separately if someone has to email.
Reject any model that uses Starter, Lite, or a free topic as if it were the full feed.
For Apollo, confirm the plan is internal use. A product you resell needs the separate agreement.
Pricing Overview
Direct co-op
Bombora when the same weekly score should land in tools you already pay for.
No public list price
Review-site file
G2 or TrustRadius when buyers compare vendors in public, and you will quote the intent line.
Starter printed; intent extra
Published OEM slice
Common Room when six Bombora topics and a printed platform price are enough.
Essential, billed annually
Seat with a topic cap
Apollo or Cognism Pro when the topics should sit on a contact file you already plan to buy.
Basic, billed annually
Platform quote
6sense, ZoomInfo Streaming Intent, Demandbase, or DemandScience when the feed is part of a larger quote.
No public list price
Pricing Comparison
| Provider | Best for | Entry price | File that starts | How it leaves |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Bombora | The co-op itself | No public list price | 21,600+ topics, own baseline | CRM, ads, and other tools |
Network plus partner feeds | No public list price | 3rd-party intent on Sales Intelligence | Inside the platform quote | |
Review-site evaluation | Starter $299/mo, intent extra | Add-on on Professional and Enterprise | Salesforce, HubSpot, Marketo | |
Contacts, then the feed | Lite is free | Streaming Intent is an add-on | One credit per export | |
A second review site | No public list price | Pricing, comparisons, demos | CRM, ABM, paid media | |
Demandbase | Data without the flagship | No public list price | Data solutions sold on their own | Platform fee plus per user |
Cognism | Bombora on a phone file | Pro from $17,000 | Up to 12 topics, Pro only | API is a separate quote |
Intent on an audience | No public list price | Topics and intensity scores | Prepaid credits, no unit price | |
Apollo | A priced topic cap | $49/user/mo Basic, annual | 1 topic free, 6 on Basic | Internal use on published plans |
Six topics, printed price | $2,500/mo Essential | 6, 12, or 25 topics by tier | Recurring export is an add-on below Enterprise |
Verified September 24, 2026 on vendor pages: Bombora intent, Bombora in Apollo, 6sense intent, 6sense sales pricing, 6sense free-plan note, G2 plans, G2 Buyer Intent, ZoomInfo cost, ZoomInfo pricing, Demandbase pricing, Apollo pricing comparison, Apollo topics, Cognism pricing, Cognism package starts, TrustRadius downstream intent, TrustRadius pricing, DemandScience Audience Builder, Common Room pricing, Common Room Bombora docs.
Mistakes to Avoid
- ×
Signing Bombora and a reseller for the same topics. Apollo, Cognism, and Common Room are slices of that co-op, and a second score of the same research is a second bill.
- ×
Modeling G2's year-one Starter price and then discovering Buyer Intent starts on a quote. The Starter footnote also limits that card to 1 to 100 employees.
- ×
Treating 6sense's closed free plan as a way to sample the network. New Sales Intelligence free registrations ended on August 12, 2026.
- ×
Assuming Demandbase's data line is the flagship price. The pricing page offers data on its own and still prints no dollar for either door.
- ×
Using Cognism's published Standard start as the order form. The pricing page is still a sales conversation, and intent is Pro, not Standard.
Expert Tips
- →
License Bombora when two or more systems must share one weekly score. Pay an OEM when a single product is where reps work and six to twelve topics cover the category.
- →
Buy G2's add-on when the deal is a public software shortlist. Buy TrustRadius when that shortlist also happens on TrustRadius, and do not assume the two files are the same accounts.
- →
Put Streaming Intent on the ZoomInfo quote as its own line, next to keyword count and account universe. The contact credits are a different meter.
- →
If the rows must reach a warehouse on a schedule, ask Common Room for Enterprise before you celebrate the Essential price, and ask Demandbase for the data-only line before you accept the flagship.
- →
After the file lands, the send still lives somewhere else. The sequence is the sales engagement platforms guide, and the account ads are the ABM platforms guide.
Red Flags to Watch For
- !
A proposal that prices G2 Starter, including the year-two renewal, and calls that Buyer Intent is selling the profile under the name of the research file.
- !
An OEM of 6 or 12 topics described as the full Bombora co-op. The library and the allowance are different numbers.
- !
A ZoomInfo Lite login treated as Streaming Intent. The free credits reveal contacts, and the feed is quoted.
- !
A DemandScience credit block described as a platform you install. The terms are prepaid credits that expire, with no published unit price.
The Bottom Line
License Bombora when the research file itself is the product and several tools must consume it, and expect a quote rather than a card. Buy G2 when the behavior is a public comparison, knowing the year-one Starter price does not include that file. Buy Common Room when six topics and the printed Essential price are enough and the score can live in that product. Buy Apollo when the priority is a printed seat.
6sense, ZoomInfo Streaming Intent, Demandbase, TrustRadius, and DemandScience belong on the short list and not in the spreadsheet until the quote arrives. Cognism's published starts are a planning number, and the pricing page can still change them. Prices above were checked on vendor pages in September 2026, against the 107 tools in the sales intelligence category, with no paid placement. Cite this: Toolradar, "Best intent data providers 2026", September 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best intent data provider in 2026?
Bombora is the default when you want the Company Surge file itself, scored over three weeks against a twelve-week baseline across more than 21,600 topics, and you can wait for a quote. G2 is the better license when buyers compare software in public, and Buyer Intent is an add-on rather than Starter. Common Room is the better license when you want six Bombora topics on the printed Essential plan, without a separate Bombora contract. Apollo is the better license when the annual Basic seat should include a six-topic cap. 6sense is the network-plus-platform quote, also without a printed price.
How much do intent data providers cost?
Published USD figures in September 2026 are G2 Starter at $299/mo or $2,999 in year one, rising to $599/mo or $6,000/year in year two, without Buyer Intent. Common Room Essential is $2,500/mo, billed annually, for a fixed topic set rather than the co-op. Apollo Basic is $49/user/mo, Professional is $79/user/mo, and Organization is $119/user/mo, all billed annually. Cognism lists Standard from $12,750 and Pro from $17,000. Bombora, 6sense, ZoomInfo Streaming Intent, Demandbase, TrustRadius, and DemandScience publish no list price for the file. ZoomInfo says paid plans are custom-quoted and billed annually.
Is there a free intent data provider?
Several doors are free, and the full file usually is not. Apollo's free plan includes one Bombora topic and 900 credits a year, not the six topics on Basic. G2 offers a free look at companies that researched you over the past 30 days, while Buyer Intent remains an add-on. ZoomInfo Lite includes 10 monthly credits, or 25 with Community Edition, and up to 10 visitor reveals a day, which is a contact sample rather than Streaming Intent. 6sense ended new free Sales Intelligence registrations on August 12, 2026. Bombora, TrustRadius, Demandbase, and DemandScience do not publish a free feed.
How does Bombora compare with 6sense as a data license?
Bombora sells the co-op, with 86% of those signals exclusive to Bombora for intent, and no published price. The file is meant to land in tools you already run, and the persona layer still is not an email. 6sense sells its own network plus partner feeds, including Bombora, inside Sales Intelligence, and the sales pricing page prints no dollar. Choose Bombora when the weekly score should be portable. Choose 6sense when one team will score accounts and advertise from the same quote. The other quote in that shape is 6sense vs Demandbase.
Is G2 Buyer Intent included in the Starter plan?
No. Year one of Starter is $2,999 for the year, or the monthly figure on the card, for companies of 1 to 100 employees, and year two is $599/mo or $6,000/year. Buyer Intent, the file of profile, category, comparison, and pricing activity, is an add-on on Professional and Enterprise. Professional includes profile visitor data and 10 users, and the Buyer Intent add-on raises that seat count to 30, still without a printed add-on price. A free 30-day company look is not that add-on.
Can I buy Bombora topics without a Bombora contract?
Yes, as a capped OEM, not as the co-op. Apollo's free plan includes 1 topic, Basic and Professional include 6, and Organization includes 12, on the annual Basic seat. Common Room Essential includes 6 topics on its published annual plan, and you do not need your own Bombora subscription, but a topic change goes through support. Cognism puts up to 12 topics on Pro only. Buy the direct license when more than one system must share the full score. The day-to-day tools that consume a feed are in the buyer intent tools guide.
Cite this page: Toolradar, "Best Intent Data Providers in 2026", updated September 2026, https://toolradar.com/guides/best-intent-data-providers