The 7 best telemarketing databases for B2B in 2026

A telemarketing database is a B2B contact list where each person carries a phone number your reps can dial. Anyone who cold calls for a living needs one: outbound sales teams, appointment-setting agencies and lead-gen shops.

Most teams leave their first provider for one of three reasons. The phone numbers are wrong, the price is hidden behind a sales call, or the credits run out before the call list does. We read the pricing pages, API docs and phone claims of seven providers in September 2026. This is not a call-connect test: we did not dial a sample, and nobody should trust a vendor's connect rate until they have dialed their own. If you are leaving one of these tools, we have alternative pages for Cognism, ZoomInfo, Seamless.AI, Lusha, Apollo and Lead411.

TL;DR

What we evaluated

• Phone data. How many direct dials or mobiles the vendor claims, and whether anyone verifies them. Claims are the vendor's own and we mark them as such.
• Calling tools. Whether the product includes a dialer, a Chrome extension or Do Not Call checks, or whether it is data only.
• API and MCP. Whether you can pull numbers in code or from an agent, on which plan, and the published rate limit.
• Price model and cost at 1M. What a million records a month costs on public prices. If the vendor publishes no price at that volume, we say so and do not multiply a rate out.
• Coverage. Which countries the list covers, and how the vendor describes its size.

1. Cognism: best for phone-verified mobiles in Europe

Cognism is the one provider here that sells verified mobiles as the core product. Its Diamond Data page claims over 10M phone-verified contacts, on-demand verification in under 48 hours and Do Not Call cross-referencing in 15 territories (Cognism Diamond Data, September 2026). Those are Cognism's claims. We did not test them.

The Pro plan adds higher-quality mobile data and on-demand verification on top of Standard (Cognism pricing, September 2026). One credit reveals one contact, and viewing a contact you already revealed is free. Cognism publishes no dollar price for any plan.

The API allows 500 requests a minute per operation, with 100 records a page (Cognism rate limits, September 2026). Its MCP server has 15 tools and uses the same tokens as the API (Cognism MCP docs, September 2026).

Pros

• Publishes a phone-verification claim: 10M+ phone-verified contacts.
• Do Not Call cross-referencing in 15 territories.
• API and MCP on both current plans.
• Strong fit for UK and European outbound.

Cons

• No public price, so you cannot budget before a sales call.
• Credits are per seat. Extra credits are quote only.
• The verified set is 10M+ contacts, small next to the databases below.

Best for: dialing teams in the UK and Europe that value a verified mobile over list size. Pricing: quote only, no public price (Cognism pricing, September 2026).

2. ZoomInfo: best for large sales floors

ZoomInfo is the default name for direct dials in North America. Its Sales page claims 120M+ direct dials and, elsewhere on the page, over 70M phone numbers. It gives no accuracy rate (ZoomInfo Sales, October 2026). Treat both figures as marketing until you test a sample.

You can also buy data through GTM AI, ZoomInfo's pay-as-you-go product. Credits start at $20 and fall from $0.45 to $0.25 each as the pack grows, and the slider stops at 100,000 credits for $25,000 (GTM AI pricing, September 2026). Search is free. A record is charged once per 12 months.

Above 100,000 credits you talk to sales. We found no public price at 1M. The full ZoomInfo platform shows no dollar price: its pricing page is a quote form (ZoomInfo pricing, October 2026). GTM AI includes API and MCP access, and the Builder package allows 5 requests a second (GTM AI rate limits, September 2026).

Pros

• The largest direct-dial claim of the group.
• Self-serve credits from $20, no contract on GTM AI.
• Official MCP server on a free GTM AI account.
• Free search, and no repeat charge for 12 months.

Cons

• No public price at 1M or for the full platform.
• Phone accuracy is a marketing claim.
• Builder rate limit is 5 requests a second.

Best for: large North American sales floors and teams already inside ZoomInfo. Pricing: GTM AI credits from $20 (GTM AI pricing, September 2026).

3. LeadOcean: best for call lists pulled in volume

LeadOcean is a data API and a hosted MCP server, not a calling app. It holds 693M people, and 166M of them have a phone number. We place it third for telemarketing because it has no dialer, no Chrome extension and no phone verification by call. We make no accuracy claim against Cognism or ZoomInfo.

What it does well is volume and price. Phone lookup is GET /v2/people/phone, and the MCP tool is leadocean_find_phone. Build the list with /v1/people/search, size it for free with leadocean_count_leads, then download a CSV from the Exports page of the app at app.leadocean.io. Bulk CSV export is not on Free.

Plans are Free ($0, 1,000 records for life, no card), Solo $97 a month, Agency $497 a month and Platform $1,997 a month (LeadOcean pricing, October 2026). Phones and CSV export are included from Solo. Paid plans have a fair-use pace, not credits. Agency covers 1M enrichments a day.

Pros

• Flat public price. No credits, no per-record price, no overage invoice.
• 166M people with a phone number, over REST and MCP.
• Free count calls size a call list before you spend a record.
• Free plan includes the API and MCP, so you can test a sample.

Cons

• No dialer, Chrome extension or sequencer. Bring your own.
• No phone-call verification and no Do Not Call checks.
• A phone lookup that finds nothing still costs one record on the v2 endpoints.

Best for: agencies and RevOps teams that pull phone lists in code or through an agent. Pricing: Free, Solo $97, Agency $497 a month (LeadOcean pricing, October 2026).

4. Seamless.AI: best for reps who want a dialer in the app

Seamless.AI sells a prospecting app with a Chrome extension, a dialer and emailing. It claims 2.2B+ verified contacts and 448M+ verified mobile numbers (Seamless.AI API page, September 2026). The mobile claim is the largest in this article. It is also Seamless.AI's own number.

One credit researches one contact and covers the email and the phone together. Search costs 1 credit per 10 results (Seamless.AI docs, September 2026). A Pro license holds 10,000 credits a month. The pricing page is a demo form, so no dollar price is public.

Contracts are annual, with 60 days' notice needed before renewal or it renews for 12 months (Seamless.AI terms, September 2026). The API defaults to 60 requests a minute per endpoint. The MCP server has 57 tools (Seamless.AI MCP docs, September 2026).

Pros

• Chrome extension and dialer in one screen.
• Phone and email on one credit.
• Largest mobile claim of the seven.
• Hosted MCP with 57 tools.

Cons

• No public dollar price.
• Annual contract with a 60-day cancellation notice.
• 60 requests a minute limits bulk pulls.

Best for: reps who find a person on LinkedIn and call from one screen. Pricing: quote only (Seamless.AI pricing, September 2026).

5. Lusha: best for small teams buying a few hundred numbers

Lusha is the easiest paid plan to start. Free gives 40 credits a month with no card. Starter is $49.90 a month billed monthly (400 credits) and Premium is $399.90 a month (3,400 credits), or $299.95 billed yearly (Lusha pricing, September 2026). The homepage claims 515M+ verified contacts and gives no phone count (Lusha, October 2026).

Phones are the expensive item. An email costs 1 credit and a phone number costs 5. Through one API request, a contact with both costs 7 credits (Lusha API guide, September 2026). Premium monthly is therefore 3,400 emails, or 680 phone numbers.

The top public plan holds 10,000 credits a month, so we found no public price at 1M. Lusha's MCP server has 50 tools (Lusha MCP tools, September 2026).

Pros

• Free and low-cost plans with a published price.
• Credit counts and plan prices are public.
• API key on every plan, including Free.
• MCP server with 50 tools.

Cons

• Phones cost 5 credits each, so cost climbs fast.
• Top public plan is 10,000 credits a month.
• Rate limits are low on Free and Starter.

Best for: small teams and solo callers who need hundreds of numbers a month. Pricing: Free, Starter $49.90, Pro $69.90, Premium $399.90 a month monthly (Lusha pricing, September 2026).

6. Apollo: best when the list, dialer and sequences live together

Apollo is a sales platform with a contact database, sequences and a US dialer. Plans are priced per seat: Free, Basic $65, Professional $99 and Organization $149 a month, or $49, $79 and $119 billed yearly (Apollo pricing, September 2026).

A phone number costs 8 credits and an email costs 1 (Apollo API pricing, September 2026). The dialer bills 1 credit per 30 seconds in the US. Credits belong to the seat, so volume means more seats. For 1M work-email lookups the cheapest list-price route is 250 Professional seats at $24,750 a month, or $19,600 a month on Basic billed yearly. Phones cost eight times that credit count.

Every plan includes API access, and paid plans get 200 requests a minute on general endpoints (Apollo rate limits, September 2026). The official MCP server works on any plan (Apollo MCP docs, September 2026).

Pros

• Dialer, sequences and database in one product.
• Free plan with a published price ladder.
• API and MCP on every plan.
• Public seat prices, monthly and yearly.

Cons

• A phone number costs 8 credits, against 1 for an email.
• Per-seat credits make 1M a month expensive.
• Add-on credit price is only visible after you log in.

Best for: teams that want to find, call and email from one product. Pricing: Free, then $65 per seat a month, $49 billed yearly (Apollo pricing, September 2026).

7. Lead411: best for US and Canada lists on a mid-priced plan

Lead411 covers 13 countries: the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, Ireland and several European markets (Lead411 FAQ, September 2026). It is a good fit for North American calling and a weak one for global lists.

Spark is $49 a month for 1,000 exports, with verified emails but no direct phone numbers and no API. Direct phones and API access start on Ignite, "starting at" $150 a month, or $1,500 billed yearly (Lead411 pricing, September 2026). Unlimited exports sit on Blaze, priced by quote.

The API is documented with an OpenAPI spec, but no rate limit number is published (Lead411 API docs, September 2026). MCP access is switched on by Lead411 Support for approved customers. We found no public price at 1M.

Pros

• Direct phones and API on a $150 plan.
• Free trial with 50 exports, no card.
• Published OpenAPI spec and Postman collection.
• One-click sync to more than 25 CRMs.

Cons

• Only 13 countries.
• No phones on the $49 plan.
• No published rate limit or database size.
• MCP needs approval from support.

Best for: US and Canada callers who want direct dials and an API under a few hundred dollars a month. Pricing: Spark $49, Ignite from $150 a month (Lead411 pricing, September 2026).

Comparison table

How to choose

• You call Europe and need verified mobiles. Cognism. Pay for the verification, and use its Do Not Call cross-referencing.
• You run a large US sales floor. ZoomInfo. Start on GTM AI credits, then talk to sales.
• You build call lists in code or with an agent. LeadOcean. Size the list free, then pull phones on a flat plan.
• Your reps want a dialer and extension in one app. Seamless.AI or Apollo. Apollo has a public price, Seamless.AI does not.
• You buy a few hundred numbers a month. Lusha. The free and Starter plans are enough to start.
• You call the US and Canada on a modest budget. Lead411 Ignite.
• You need Do Not Call suppression. Cognism covers 15 territories. For the rest, check your own scrub list before dialing.

Verdict

Cognism wins for European, phone-verified mobiles, and ZoomInfo wins for a large US sales floor that wants direct dials and can sign a contract. LeadOcean wins when the list is pulled through an API or an agent, because Agency at $497 a month has no per-record price and covers the volume. Seamless.AI and Apollo win for reps who want the dialer inside the same app. Lusha suits a small team on a card. Lead411 suits North American calling at a mid price. Whatever you pick, dial 100 numbers from each shortlisted tool before you buy.

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