# Crustdata API + MCP vs RocketReach API

> Crustdata scores 53.4 (D) to RocketReach's 51.2 (D) for lead search. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crustdata-vs-rocketreach
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crustdata-vs-rocketreach.md (~2,600 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crustdata-vs-rocketreach.min.md (~630 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crustdata-vs-rocketreach.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: 2026-10-09

Crustdata API + MCP scores 53.4 (D) on agent readiness against RocketReach API's 51.2 (D), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. RocketReach API leads on reliability and payments & pricing. Both do lead search.

- Crustdata API + MCP: grade D, 53.4/100, rank #708 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/crustdata.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/crustdata.json
- RocketReach API: grade D, 51.2/100, rank #755 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/rocketreach.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/rocketreach.json
- Best lead, contact and company data APIs for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/lead-data/index.md
- All 120 leads comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lead-data/index.md

## Which one, for what

### Crustdata API + MCP (D)

Good for: Agents that monitor companies, people, jobs or posts over time and need change notifications.

Ahead on:
- Schema & documentation, 89 against 72
- Security & auth, 56 against 34
- Maintenance & community, 67 against 31

Watch for: No status page and no SLA

### RocketReach API (D)

Good for: Teams that already hold a RocketReach plan and want an agent to search people and companies, reveal emails and phones, and verify single addresses over MCP.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 64 against 45
- Payments & pricing, 10 against 5

Also in its favour:
- No incidents deducted, where Crustdata API + MCP loses 3 points for them

Watch for: The pricing page is drawn by script and was not read, and the docs tell users without a paid plan to email for an API plan


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Crustdata API + MCP | RocketReach API | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 45 | 64 | RocketReach API +19 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 89 | 72 | Crustdata API + MCP +17 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 73 | 72 | Crustdata API + MCP +1 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 56 | 34 | Crustdata API + MCP +22 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 5 | 10 | RocketReach API +5 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 67 | 31 | Crustdata API + MCP +36 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 55 | 58 | RocketReach API +3 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -3 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **53.4 · D** | **51.2 · D** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Crustdata API + MCP | RocketReach API |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Crustdata | RocketReach, LLC |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.crustdata.com` | `https://api.rocketreach.co/api/v2` |
| Transports | HTTP, Streamable HTTP | HTTP, Streamable HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Pay per use | Paid |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | none | Proprietary service under RocketReach's Terms of Service. The Python SDK on GitHub is MIT |
| Tools exposed | none | 9 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Terms last updated | no date given | 2024-01-31 |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2025-05-19 | 2026-09-30 |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | yes |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | yes |
| Agent reviews | 2.5/5 (2) | none |

## Verdicts

**Crustdata API + MCP.** Per-field credit prices, readable per account from `/account/endpoints`, and `X-Credits-Used` on every response. No status page and no SLA.

**RocketReach API.** The hosted MCP server has nine documented tools, OAuth 2.1 with dynamic client registration and machine-readable error codes, and searches cost no credits. Plan prices were not readable, the docs send API plan requests to email, the terms require a human account holder, and the `account` tool returns the account's API key to the model.

## Before you call either

### Crustdata API + MCP

1. Always send `x-api-version: 2025-11-01`. Unpinned calls get the latest version
2. Call `/account/endpoints` first to see what your plan enables and what each field costs
3. Ask only for the premium field groups you need, since each one bills
4. Poll `GET /batch/{id}` before submitting more batch jobs. Active jobs count against a cap of 5 to 30
5. Read the `crustdata://catalog` resource before calling MCP tools

### RocketReach API

1. Search first with `person_search` or `company_search`, which cost no credits, then look up only the profile IDs needed
2. Treat `status: "pending"` as normal. Poll `check_person_status` after at least 3 seconds, and polling is free
3. Do not echo the `account` tool's output to users or logs. It includes the account's API key
4. Send the key in the `Api-Key` header. The `api_key` query parameter is deprecated
5. Bulk lookup takes 1 to 100 queries and needs a webhook. Results arrive at the webhook, signed in `X-RocketReach-Signature`
6. Do not loop on `unknown` from `email_verify`, or on `lookup_failed` and `not_found`. The last two are terminal

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Crustdata API + MCP or RocketReach API?

Crustdata API + MCP scores 53.4 (D) on agent readiness against RocketReach API's 51.2 (D), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. RocketReach API leads on reliability and payments & pricing.

### Do Crustdata API + MCP and RocketReach API need an API key?

Both take an API key or an OAuth sign-in.

### Can an agent call Crustdata API + MCP and RocketReach API without installing anything?

Yes. Crustdata API + MCP has a hosted endpoint at https://api.crustdata.com and RocketReach API at https://api.rocketreach.co/api/v2.


## For agents

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

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