# Clearbit vs ZoomInfo API + MCP

> ZoomInfo scores 72.2 (BB) to Clearbit's 13.5 (F) for lead enrichment. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clearbit-vs-zoominfo
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clearbit-vs-zoominfo.md (~2,650 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clearbit-vs-zoominfo.min.md (~680 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clearbit-vs-zoominfo.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-14

ZoomInfo API + MCP scores 72.2 (BB) on agent readiness against Clearbit's 13.5 (F), and leads in every scored category. Both do lead enrichment.

- Clearbit: grade F, 13.5/100, rank #1056 of 1076. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/clearbit.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/clearbit.json
- ZoomInfo API + MCP: grade BB, 72.2/100, rank #113 of 1076. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/zoominfo.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/zoominfo.json
- Best lead, contact and company data APIs for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/lead-data/index.md
- All 171 leads comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lead-data/index.md

## Which one, for what

### Clearbit (F)

Good for: Only for teams that already hold a Clearbit contract.

Watch for: No public API or MCP server an outside agent can call

### ZoomInfo API + MCP (BB)

Good for: Sales and marketing agents that need company, contact, intent and business-event data from one vendor, with free search before paid enrichment.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 87 against 30
- Schema & documentation, 84 against 0
- Agent ergonomics, 71 against 0
- Security & auth, 65 against 8
- Payments & pricing, 40 against 0
- Maintenance & community, 76 against 4
- Transparency & trust, 75 against 66

Also in its favour:
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better
- A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install

Watch for: The Licence Terms and Conditions bar disclosing benchmark results and automated access outside ZoomInfo's own tools without written approval


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Clearbit | ZoomInfo API + MCP | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 30 | 87 | ZoomInfo API + MCP +57 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 0 | 84 | ZoomInfo API + MCP +84 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 0 | 71 | ZoomInfo API + MCP +71 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 8 | 65 | ZoomInfo API + MCP +57 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 0 | 40 | ZoomInfo API + MCP +40 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 4 | 76 | ZoomInfo API + MCP +72 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 66 | 75 | ZoomInfo API + MCP +9 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **13.5 · F** | **72.2 · BB** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Clearbit | ZoomInfo API + MCP |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | HubSpot, Inc. | ZoomInfo Technologies LLC |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | `https://api.zoominfo.com/gtm` |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP, Streamable HTTP |
| Auth | API key | OAuth |
| Pricing | Paid | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary service under the Clearbit Terms of Service (30 May 2025), provided by HubSpot, Inc. under the Clearbit brand | Proprietary service under ZoomInfo's Licence Terms and Conditions. The GTM CLI on GitHub is MIT |
| Tools exposed | none | 26 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| Last release | 2025-12-08 | 2026-10-02 |
| Terms last updated | 2025-05-30 | no date given |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-08-31 | 2025-10-13 |
| Customer content may train models | yes | yes, with an opt-out |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | yes |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | yes |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | yes |
| Popularity | none | 534 npm/wk |

## Verdicts

**Clearbit.** There is no public API or MCP server an outside agent can call today. Clearbit's APIs still run for existing customers behind a login, and its free tools and Logo API were retired in 2025. HubSpot's Breeze Intelligence is the route for new buyers, through HubSpot rather than Clearbit.

**ZoomInfo API + MCP.** Search, lookup and similar-record calls cost no credits, and a free account with 1,000 data and 1,000 AI credits needs no card. OAuth carries 20 scopes and limits are published per package. The Licence Terms and Conditions bar disclosing benchmark results, and the two documentation sites disagree on batch sizes and rate-limit headers.

## Before you call either

### Clearbit

1. Don't plan to call Clearbit. Hand the task to a person with an existing Clearbit account, or use HubSpot's Breeze Intelligence through HubSpot
2. Replace logo.clearbit.com links, which stopped working after 8 December 2025

### ZoomInfo API + MCP

1. Call Lookup first and pass the returned IDs to Search. Unknown industry, metro or topic strings are rejected with a 422
2. Search before Enrich. Search is free, and each newly enriched record costs one data credit
3. Request only the scopes the task needs in the `scope` parameter of the token call. Omitting it grants every scope configured on the app
4. On 429 read `X-RateLimit-Rejected-Bucket` and wait for `Retry-After`. An exhausted hourly window can mean a wait of several hundred seconds
5. Turn off model training in the AI client before connecting the MCP server. ZoomInfo prohibits MCP data being used for training

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Clearbit or ZoomInfo API + MCP?

ZoomInfo API + MCP scores 72.2 (BB) on agent readiness against Clearbit's 13.5 (F), and leads in every scored category.

### Do Clearbit and ZoomInfo API + MCP need an API key?

Clearbit needs an API key. ZoomInfo API + MCP uses an OAuth sign-in.

### Can an agent call Clearbit and ZoomInfo API + MCP without installing anything?

No hosted endpoint is listed for Clearbit. ZoomInfo API + MCP has a hosted endpoint at https://api.zoominfo.com/gtm.


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clearbit-vs-zoominfo.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clearbit-vs-zoominfo.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "clearbit", "b": "zoominfo"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare clearbit zoominfo`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/clearbit.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/zoominfo.json

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