Cognism is a popular sales intelligence platform with features that help you streamline your prospecting, enrichment, marketing, and sales workflows. The platform stands out from many data providers due to its exceptional European coverage and large mobile dataset.
While it’s undeniable that Cognism boasts impressive options, it doesn’t mean it’s flawless, and one of the best ways to get a real feel for a platform’s value is to explore user reviews.
To save you the trouble of going through thousands of Cognism reviews, we’ve:
- Compiled up-to-date user reviews from credible platforms
- Explored the tool’s features ourselves to obtain a first-hand experience
- Tapped into our network of industry experts and influencers to gather their valuable opinions on Cognism’s pros and cons
Finally, we put together the puzzle pieces to give you an objective, in-depth overview of the platform. 🧩
Cognism Review at a Glance
Before exploring Cognism reviews, let’s quickly go over the platform’s core features. Cognism groups its functionalities into separate categories (Products). You can combine categories depending on your company’s needs to create a unique platform and avoid wasting money on unnecessary functionalities.
Check the following table for more info on key features:
Cognism gets its data from various sources, including:
- Public records 🧾
- Proprietary methods ⚙️
- Partnerships 🤝
It performs rigorous checks to ensure data is accurate and up-to-date. Still, before you commit to a payment, it’s worth checking out what real-life users say about the platform.
Cognism Reviews—How Do Customers Rate the Platform?
User opinions on Cognism vary greatly—some praise it, others dislike it. Still, positive reviews prevail, and here are the ratings on the most popular platforms:
Generally, users praise Cognism for its stellar customer service and intuitiveness. They also like the efficient Chrome integration that lets you tap into Cognism’s database while browsing websites. You can easily get the desired info without switching tabs and apps.
If we flip the other side of the coin, we see that users have frequently criticized a few areas in which Cognism could improve:
- Data accuracy
- Integrations
- Data availability
🎯 Data Accuracy
Perhaps the biggest issue with Cognism that bothered many users is data accuracy. The platform may boast millions of records, but that becomes irrelevant if the data isn’t accurate or up-to-date.
One user mentioned that mobile number data is wrong 10%–20% of the time, which you can’t really attribute to a statistical error or a bug. No platform can claim their data is 100% accurate, but this high percentage isn’t admirable. The same user pointed out another drawback—some numbers listed in the database are personal. Dialing them could lead to unpleasant situations, as many people don’t enjoy getting business calls on their private phones.
Another user mentioned outdated lead info, which could affect your campaign’s performance.
Cognism claims it verifies all data for accuracy and reliability, but some users disagree. They say that, sometimes, contact details labeled as verified may not have undergone a thorough verification process.
⚒️ Integrations
Cognism offers integrations with Zapier, Salesforce, Outreach, Salesloft, Pipedrive, and other popular platforms and apps. While this should be an advantage that helps you streamline work, some Cognism reviews mention issues with integrations.
A user states that the Salesforce integration can be buggy, which could slow you down, cause data misplacement or loss, and tank your campaign’s performance.
While people enjoy the automated enrichment process they get by integrating Cognism with their CRM, there’s an issue, at least according to one user—you can only enrich new leads, not the existing ones.
📄 Data Availability
When you’re paying for a data provider like Cognism, the last issue you want to have is related to data availability. While some users enjoy Cognism for its extensive database, some mention it’s flawed.
For example, one user mentioned that Cognism isn’t the best tool for finding contact data for smaller organizations. Another user pointed out that Cognism wasn’t able to find any company data on some occasions.
Paying for a data provider that can’t actually provide data is pointless and can lead to additional expenses, as you’ll need to invest in another platform.
💡 Bonus read: See what users had to say about other similar platforms:
How Much Does Cognism Cost?
Cognism’s pricing structure isn’t transparent, but this is justified to some degree because the platform tailors packages according to your needs and unique workflows. On the other hand, this means you’ll need to take an extra step to learn about pricing. You fill out the form on Cognism’s website and provide details like your name and contact info, and someone from the company will reach out to talk to you about pricing.
Regardless of your package, you’ll need to pay a flat platform access fee, which encompasses the following:
- Setup and onboarding 🎒
- Data maintenance 🔧
- 24/7 support 📞
There’s no info on how much you’ll need to pay for the fee.
Cognism’s website also mentions two service levels—Platinum and Diamond. Here’s a quick walkthrough of their features:
While Cognism doesn’t state its pricing publicly, some users mention the service might be too expensive for startups and smaller businesses.
💡 Bonus read: See how Cognism compares to other solutions and check out their pricing structures:
The Verdict—Is Cognism Worth It?
Cognism may be popular and valued among users, but it has its drawbacks, most notably concerning data availability and accuracy. These issues stem from the fact that Cognism relies on a limited database to extract the desired data—if the database doesn’t contain the required info, you’ll be left without it. Simply put, you’ll be paying for a platform that doesn’t fulfill its purpose.
This means you’ll need to invest in another data provider whose efficiency is again uncertain or make peace with the fact that using Cognism is a hit-or-miss, depending on the data you need.
Luckily, there’s a powerful Cognism alternative that gives you access to dozens of data providers and doesn’t give up until you get the desired data—Clay. It replaces multiple tools to streamline your outbound campaign initiatives, save resources, and boost performance. 🚀
How Does Clay Fit Into the Cold Outreach Puzzle?
Clay combines prospecting, enrichment, and outbound marketing automation capabilities that streamline everything from gathering leads to personalizing emails.
The platform guarantees maximum data coverage thanks to its integration with 50+ data providers. So, instead of relying on a single provider with limited databases, Clay will tap into dozens to extract the necessary data. 👌
The platform uses waterfall enrichment to go through databases one by one until it finds the required info (like emails or phone numbers). As soon as Clay gets the missing data, it will stop searching, so you’ll pay only for the information you get, minimizing resource waste.
The platform has a unique AI web scraper—Claygent. Instead of manually researching companies, let Claygen visit every website to find the required info, summarize its findings, and report back. Besides saving time, it saves your resources, as you don’t need as many people on board to run campaigns. 🤖
The list of impressive features doesn’t end here—see what else you can get with Clay:
- Integrations—Take advantage of 100+ built-in integrations to expand functionality
- AI email builder—Use the valuable data you’ve collected on your leads to write highly personalized emails with the help of AI
- AI enrichment—Use ChatGPT to qualify leads, make interferences, and even train AI in Clay using prompts
- Templates—Streamline your outbound campaigns with Clay’s templates for contact info enrichment, AI email writing, contact sourcing, and other use cases
While Clay doesn’t have a built-in email sender, it seamlessly integrates with sending tools and cold outreach platforms like Smartlead, Outreach, and Salesloft. When your emails are ready, all it takes is a single click to send them to a tool of choice.
The best part is you can enjoy Clay’s advanced features without compromising on ease of use—the platform’s known for its intuitiveness.
Transparent Pricing, No Uncertainty
Clay’s pricing models are clear and transparent—you don’t have to fill out forms just to get basic pricing info. Get a feel of the platform with the free plan, and if you like what you see, opt for one of the four paid options:
Within each plan, you can choose the number of credits—the higher the plan, the less expensive price per credit. The good news is that all plans come with unlimited users and campaigns, so you don’t have to upgrade to accommodate growth.
Create Your Clay Account
If you want to manage data from a single platform and enjoy fantastic prospecting and enrichment features, Clay is the way! Set up your account in only three steps:
- Visit the Clay signup page
- Enter the required info
- Press “Sign Up,” and you’re good to go!
If you want to know more about Clay, visit its Learn hub or join the Slack community. We also recommend signing up for the platform’s newsletter—it’s a valuable source for everyone in the cold email industry.
💡 Keep reading: To compare Clay to more prospecting, data enrichment, and cold outreach solutions, check out our alternative pages for:
Or find some of our direct comparison pages:
Cognism is a popular sales intelligence platform with features that help you streamline your prospecting, enrichment, marketing, and sales workflows. The platform stands out from many data providers due to its exceptional European coverage and large mobile dataset.
While it’s undeniable that Cognism boasts impressive options, it doesn’t mean it’s flawless, and one of the best ways to get a real feel for a platform’s value is to explore user reviews.
To save you the trouble of going through thousands of Cognism reviews, we’ve:
- Compiled up-to-date user reviews from credible platforms
- Explored the tool’s features ourselves to obtain a first-hand experience
- Tapped into our network of industry experts and influencers to gather their valuable opinions on Cognism’s pros and cons
Finally, we put together the puzzle pieces to give you an objective, in-depth overview of the platform. 🧩
Cognism Review at a Glance
Before exploring Cognism reviews, let’s quickly go over the platform’s core features. Cognism groups its functionalities into separate categories (Products). You can combine categories depending on your company’s needs to create a unique platform and avoid wasting money on unnecessary functionalities.
Check the following table for more info on key features:
Cognism gets its data from various sources, including:
- Public records 🧾
- Proprietary methods ⚙️
- Partnerships 🤝
It performs rigorous checks to ensure data is accurate and up-to-date. Still, before you commit to a payment, it’s worth checking out what real-life users say about the platform.
Cognism Reviews—How Do Customers Rate the Platform?
User opinions on Cognism vary greatly—some praise it, others dislike it. Still, positive reviews prevail, and here are the ratings on the most popular platforms:
Generally, users praise Cognism for its stellar customer service and intuitiveness. They also like the efficient Chrome integration that lets you tap into Cognism’s database while browsing websites. You can easily get the desired info without switching tabs and apps.
If we flip the other side of the coin, we see that users have frequently criticized a few areas in which Cognism could improve:
- Data accuracy
- Integrations
- Data availability
🎯 Data Accuracy
Perhaps the biggest issue with Cognism that bothered many users is data accuracy. The platform may boast millions of records, but that becomes irrelevant if the data isn’t accurate or up-to-date.
One user mentioned that mobile number data is wrong 10%–20% of the time, which you can’t really attribute to a statistical error or a bug. No platform can claim their data is 100% accurate, but this high percentage isn’t admirable. The same user pointed out another drawback—some numbers listed in the database are personal. Dialing them could lead to unpleasant situations, as many people don’t enjoy getting business calls on their private phones.
Another user mentioned outdated lead info, which could affect your campaign’s performance.
Cognism claims it verifies all data for accuracy and reliability, but some users disagree. They say that, sometimes, contact details labeled as verified may not have undergone a thorough verification process.
⚒️ Integrations
Cognism offers integrations with Zapier, Salesforce, Outreach, Salesloft, Pipedrive, and other popular platforms and apps. While this should be an advantage that helps you streamline work, some Cognism reviews mention issues with integrations.
A user states that the Salesforce integration can be buggy, which could slow you down, cause data misplacement or loss, and tank your campaign’s performance.
While people enjoy the automated enrichment process they get by integrating Cognism with their CRM, there’s an issue, at least according to one user—you can only enrich new leads, not the existing ones.
📄 Data Availability
When you’re paying for a data provider like Cognism, the last issue you want to have is related to data availability. While some users enjoy Cognism for its extensive database, some mention it’s flawed.
For example, one user mentioned that Cognism isn’t the best tool for finding contact data for smaller organizations. Another user pointed out that Cognism wasn’t able to find any company data on some occasions.
Paying for a data provider that can’t actually provide data is pointless and can lead to additional expenses, as you’ll need to invest in another platform.
💡 Bonus read: See what users had to say about other similar platforms:
How Much Does Cognism Cost?
Cognism’s pricing structure isn’t transparent, but this is justified to some degree because the platform tailors packages according to your needs and unique workflows. On the other hand, this means you’ll need to take an extra step to learn about pricing. You fill out the form on Cognism’s website and provide details like your name and contact info, and someone from the company will reach out to talk to you about pricing.
Regardless of your package, you’ll need to pay a flat platform access fee, which encompasses the following:
- Setup and onboarding 🎒
- Data maintenance 🔧
- 24/7 support 📞
There’s no info on how much you’ll need to pay for the fee.
Cognism’s website also mentions two service levels—Platinum and Diamond. Here’s a quick walkthrough of their features:
While Cognism doesn’t state its pricing publicly, some users mention the service might be too expensive for startups and smaller businesses.
💡 Bonus read: See how Cognism compares to other solutions and check out their pricing structures:
The Verdict—Is Cognism Worth It?
Cognism may be popular and valued among users, but it has its drawbacks, most notably concerning data availability and accuracy. These issues stem from the fact that Cognism relies on a limited database to extract the desired data—if the database doesn’t contain the required info, you’ll be left without it. Simply put, you’ll be paying for a platform that doesn’t fulfill its purpose.
This means you’ll need to invest in another data provider whose efficiency is again uncertain or make peace with the fact that using Cognism is a hit-or-miss, depending on the data you need.
Luckily, there’s a powerful Cognism alternative that gives you access to dozens of data providers and doesn’t give up until you get the desired data—Clay. It replaces multiple tools to streamline your outbound campaign initiatives, save resources, and boost performance. 🚀
How Does Clay Fit Into the Cold Outreach Puzzle?
Clay combines prospecting, enrichment, and outbound marketing automation capabilities that streamline everything from gathering leads to personalizing emails.
The platform guarantees maximum data coverage thanks to its integration with 50+ data providers. So, instead of relying on a single provider with limited databases, Clay will tap into dozens to extract the necessary data. 👌
The platform uses waterfall enrichment to go through databases one by one until it finds the required info (like emails or phone numbers). As soon as Clay gets the missing data, it will stop searching, so you’ll pay only for the information you get, minimizing resource waste.
The platform has a unique AI web scraper—Claygent. Instead of manually researching companies, let Claygen visit every website to find the required info, summarize its findings, and report back. Besides saving time, it saves your resources, as you don’t need as many people on board to run campaigns. 🤖
The list of impressive features doesn’t end here—see what else you can get with Clay:
- Integrations—Take advantage of 100+ built-in integrations to expand functionality
- AI email builder—Use the valuable data you’ve collected on your leads to write highly personalized emails with the help of AI
- AI enrichment—Use ChatGPT to qualify leads, make interferences, and even train AI in Clay using prompts
- Templates—Streamline your outbound campaigns with Clay’s templates for contact info enrichment, AI email writing, contact sourcing, and other use cases
While Clay doesn’t have a built-in email sender, it seamlessly integrates with sending tools and cold outreach platforms like Smartlead, Outreach, and Salesloft. When your emails are ready, all it takes is a single click to send them to a tool of choice.
The best part is you can enjoy Clay’s advanced features without compromising on ease of use—the platform’s known for its intuitiveness.
Transparent Pricing, No Uncertainty
Clay’s pricing models are clear and transparent—you don’t have to fill out forms just to get basic pricing info. Get a feel of the platform with the free plan, and if you like what you see, opt for one of the four paid options:
Within each plan, you can choose the number of credits—the higher the plan, the less expensive price per credit. The good news is that all plans come with unlimited users and campaigns, so you don’t have to upgrade to accommodate growth.
Create Your Clay Account
If you want to manage data from a single platform and enjoy fantastic prospecting and enrichment features, Clay is the way! Set up your account in only three steps:
- Visit the Clay signup page
- Enter the required info
- Press “Sign Up,” and you’re good to go!
If you want to know more about Clay, visit its Learn hub or join the Slack community. We also recommend signing up for the platform’s newsletter—it’s a valuable source for everyone in the cold email industry.
💡 Keep reading: To compare Clay to more prospecting, data enrichment, and cold outreach solutions, check out our alternative pages for:
Or find some of our direct comparison pages:
