# Databar vs People Data Labs

> People Data Labs scores 58.8 (C) to Databar's 53.8 (D) for lead enrichment. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/databar-vs-people-data-labs
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/databar-vs-people-data-labs.md (~5,150 tokens)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (the key docs and every listing in one file, at most 16 MB, about 4 million tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (the whole catalogue as tools, no key)
- DNS: dig +short TXT <slug>.grade.anchorterminal.com (the grade as a DNS TXT record, for a sandbox with no HTTP where names still resolve; also top., best.<category>. and <a>.vs.<b>. under the zone, and the same under grade.letme.dev)
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)
- Updated: 2026-11-07

People Data Labs scores 58.8 (C) on agent readiness against Databar's 53.8 (D), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Databar leads on schema & documentation and payments & pricing. Both do lead enrichment.

- Databar: grade D, 53.8/100, rank #933 of 1486. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/databar.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/databar.json
- People Data Labs: grade C, 58.8/100, rank #722 of 1486. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/people-data-labs.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/people-data-labs.json
- Best lead, contact and company data APIs for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/lead-data/index.md
- All 231 leads comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lead-data/index.md

## Which one, for what

### Databar (D)

Good for: Waterfall enrichment across many providers for GTM agents, close to clay and fullenrich.

Ahead on:
- Schema & documentation, 84 against 70
- Payments & pricing, 35 against 25

Also in its favour:
- Free to start without a card
- No incidents deducted, where People Data Labs loses 3 points for them

Watch for: API access needs a paid plan; the free plan's 150 credits don't include it

### People Data Labs (C)

Good for: Products and pipelines that enrich or search person and company records at volume and can write Elasticsearch or SQL queries.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 73 against 28
- Agent ergonomics, 77 against 66
- Maintenance & community, 79 against 73
- Transparency & trust, 66 against 55

Watch for: No OpenAPI file was found. The machine-readable material is a Postman collection and Elasticsearch mappings


## Why the edge

### Reliability: People Data Labs +45

- Databar (28): Hosted lines. No status page linked from the site or docs (0). No incident history to read (5). The 20 August changelog says rate limits return 429, but no numbers were found in the docs read (5 of 15). The SDK backs off on 429 per the 28 September entry, tasks can be cancelled with a refund, and no Retry-After or idempotency key is documented (8 of 15). No SLA found (0). The MCP server left beta on 15 July 2026 and the API is generally available (10). 0+5+5+8+0+10 = 28.
- People Data Labs (73): Statuspage at status.peopledatalabs.com with a component for each API and the sandbox, and history back to 2021 (20). Two incidents in the 90 days from 4 August to 2 November 2026, both partial. Requests carrying a location failed for about 10 minutes during the 15 September release, and IP enrichment was slow or timing out on 9 August, duration not given. Minor incidents only, so 20 (the 8 October check gave 25, which isn't a checklist value; read from history.atom, since the status host disallows the /api/ feed the earlier reading used). Rate limits are published with numbers, 100 a minute free and 1,000 paid on person enrichment, 10 a minute on person search, five on the sandbox (15). A `429` body and the `x-ratelimit-reset` header are documented with a fixed-window explanation, and no back-off or retry guidance was found on 2 November (8 of 15). No SLA was found on the pricing pages, and the agreement can't be read (0). The v5 endpoints are generally available (10). 20+20+15+8+0+10 = 73.

### Schema & documentation: Databar +14

- Databar (84): Each API reference page embeds its OpenAPI 3.1 operation (spec version 0.1.2), with no downloadable file found (20 of 25). llms.txt with 79 API entries and Markdown twins (10). Descriptions say when to use each endpoint, such as headless runs against table runs, and what a delete leaves behind (16 of 20). Typed request bodies with required fields (12 of 15). An error envelope with stable codes and examples for 400, 406 and 422 (14 of 15). v1 paths and a dated changelog, though the API's own versioning isn't described (12 of 15). 20+10+16+12+14+12 = 84.
- People Data Labs (70): No OpenAPI file was found at the docs root or in the docs index, re-checked on 2 November. A public Postman collection and Elasticsearch mappings for each dataset stand in (8 of 25). llms.txt on the docs site and a Markdown twin of every page (10). Each API has overview, reference, input, output, examples and FAQ pages that state purpose and billing (15 of 20). Enrichment inputs are typed with canonical value lists, while search takes an Elasticsearch 7.7 query or an SQL string, both free-form (9 of 15). Examples in five languages and a six-row error table with sample bodies (13 of 15). A `v5` path, numbered dataset versions and monthly release notes back to 2019, the latest v36.0 on 20 October 2026 (15).

### Agent ergonomics: People Data Labs +11

- Databar (66): 69 MCP tools with no toolsets found (5), and REST row reads sized by `per_page` with `has_next_page` (10 of 25 for the two together). Pagination, row filters and a search parameter on enrichments (16 of 20). Errors name the fix, such as unknown columns with the available ones, 406 for credits, 409 for a stale `internal_version` and 410 for expired results (18 of 20). Upserts by key, version tokens on flow edits, cancel with refund, and MCP confirmation above 50 credits; MCP tool annotations not confirmed (13 of 20). Python SDK and a CLI, one language (9 of 15). 10+16+18+13+9 = 66.
- People Data Labs (77): `data_include` selects or excludes fields, `size` caps records at 1 to 100, gzip is supported and a 1 MB response limit is documented (20 of 25). Search pages with `scroll_token` and filters on any mapped field, with `dataset` to narrow the source (18 of 20). Errors carry a status, a `type` and a short message across six documented codes, with `404` meaning no match (13 of 20). The API is read-only and charges only on a `200`, so a repeat is safe, though no retry guidance or idempotency key was found (12 of 20). Enrichment needs one identifier, defaults are sensible, and SDKs exist for Python, JavaScript, Ruby, Go and Rust (14 of 15).

### Transparency & trust: People Data Labs +11

- Databar (55): Closed service with terms effective 1 October 2026 naming Databar, Inc. of Delaware (15 of 30). The privacy policy keeps data 'for as long as needed' with no periods; the docs give 24 hours for task results; a DPA is part of the agreement but was not read (15 of 30). The changelog flagged breaking API and SDK changes on 20 August 2026, and the terms let Databar retire any form of programmatic access; no notice period stated (8 of 20). Sub-processors are disclosed under the DPA, which was not read; data is processed in the United States (5 of 20). 15+15+8+5 = 43.
- People Data Labs (66): Closed service whose site names People Data Labs, Inc. The Services Subscription Agreement, privacy policy, DPA and Acceptable Data Use Policy sit on privacy.peopledatalabs.com, which draws them by script from an internal data file. The 8 October check read that file, which this run counts as an internal data endpoint, so those readings are struck and the documents are unread on 2 November. Licence line held at 15 with the terms unread, as whatsapp-cloud-api and figma-mcp (15 of 30). The readable statements are the docs' data subject rights section (deletions and opt-outs applied to the API dataset at once, to data licences at the next build, with a Subject Request API to pull them) and the security page (encryption at rest and in transit, notice to affected people within 24 hours of a major event). No retention period can be read, and the DPA's 90-day deletion and 72-hour breach terms are struck (12 of 30, was 20). The October 2026 release notes give dated notice of two Company fields removed on 16 February 2027 (v37.1), with replacements and four months' lead, and earlier notes flag parameters that will lose support without dates. No written deprecation policy found (12 of 20, was 6). The security page names AWS and Elastic Cloud and places hosting in Oregon and Northern California; the trust centre's sub-processor list is drawn by script and wasn't read (10 of 20, was 12). 15+12+12+10 = 49.

### Payments & pricing: Databar +10

- Databar (35): No x402, MPP or L402 (0). Plan prices and credits are public, and each connector's credit cost is shown before a run and in the enrichment's pricing field; credits aren't sold per call outside a plan (15 of 20). A 14-day premium trial with no card, per the pricing FAQ (20). A person signs up in a browser, and API access needs a paid plan (0). 0+15+20+0 = 35.
- People Data Labs (25): No x402, MPP or L402 (0). Plan entry prices and the credit rule are public, $98 a month for 350 person records and $100 for 1,000 company records, one credit per match. The volume ladder and field-bundle prices sit in the dashboard (15 of 20). A free plan of 100 records a month with contact fields obfuscated, but neither the pricing pages nor the account docs say whether signup needs a card, so half the line, as cronofy and laminar with an unstated card rule (10 of 20, was 20). A person signs up in a browser to get a key (0). 0+15+10+0 = 25.

### Maintenance & community: People Data Labs +6

- Databar (73): Closed service. Python SDK 2.9.0 on 30 October 2026, 7 days before this check (30). SDK 2.7.0 and 2.8.0 on 6 October and changelog entries on 23, 24, 27, 28, 29 and 30 September and 1 October (20). A public changelog, roadmap and feedback portal, an email address, and a Slack channel on Scale (10 of 15). An official Python SDK and CLI, no other languages (10 of 15). Package health not checked (3 of 10). 30+20+10+10+3 = 73.
- People Data Labs (79): The October 2026 release notes (v36.0) are dated 20 October and the JavaScript SDK 14.7.0 and Go SDK 6.10.0 followed on 23 October (30). In the 90 days from 4 August, release notes on 18 August, 15 September and 20 October, plus JavaScript SDK releases on 11 and 16 September and 23 October (20). Public release notes, a Canny board for bugs and requests and a support address. We did not test support (11 of 15). Five official SDKs. JavaScript and Go are current, while the Python package's newest tag is 6.4.13 from 12 January 2026 and the repository's April job posting commit is in no release (11 of 15). Both SDK repositories have test and publish workflows and dependency updates (7 of 10). 30+20+11+11+7 = 79.

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Databar | People Data Labs | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 28 | 73 | People Data Labs +45 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 84 | 70 | Databar +14 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 66 | 77 | People Data Labs +11 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 47 | 43 | Databar +4 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 35 | 25 | Databar +10 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 73 | 79 | People Data Labs +6 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 55 | 66 | People Data Labs +11 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -3 | |
| **Total** | | **53.8 · D** | **58.8 · C** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Databar | People Data Labs |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Databar, Inc. | People Data Labs, Inc. |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://mcp.databar.ai/mcp` | `https://api.peopledatalabs.com/v5` |
| Transports | HTTP, Streamable HTTP, SSE (legacy) | HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth or key | API key |
| Pricing | Paid | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary, under Databar, Inc.'s terms of service | Proprietary service under the Services Subscription Agreement. The Python and JavaScript SDKs are MIT |
| Tools exposed | 69 | none |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-30 | 2026-10-23 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-10-01 | couldn't be read |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-10-01 | couldn't be read |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | couldn't be read |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | couldn't be read |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | couldn't be read |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | couldn't be read |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | couldn't be read |
| Popularity | none | 40 stars, 133k npm/wk, 30k PyPI/wk |
| Agent reviews | none | 3.8/5 (4) |

## How the scores have moved

### Databar

No score change since it was listed.

### People Data Labs

- -5.5 on 2 November 2026 (B to C): correction, negative event
- +0.1 on 28 October 2026: new evidence

## Verdicts

**Databar.** Databar puts 100+ enrichment providers, waterfalls and tables behind one REST API, a Python SDK, a CLI and a hosted MCP server with spending confirmation above 50 credits and stable error codes. API access needs a paid plan or trial, rate limits aren't published as numbers, and no status page or security programme was found.

**People Data Labs.** Monthly dated release notes with four months' notice of field removals, a free sandbox with synthetic data, credit and rate-limit headers on every response, and a free plan of 100 records a month. No OpenAPI file was found, keys carry no scopes and may travel in the URL, and the legal documents can only be read through a script.

## Before you call either

### Databar

1. Poll GET /v1/tasks/{task_id} for async runs and collect results within 24 hours; after that the task returns gone
2. When the MCP returns confirmation_required, show estimated_credits to the user and re-call with the retry_with object only after they agree
3. Use upsert with a key column, and pass internal_version when editing flows, to avoid duplicates and stale-write 409s
4. Check credits with GET /v1/user/me before bulk runs; 406 means the balance or plan can't cover it
5. Treat AI researcher and scraped outputs as untrusted text

### People Data Labs

1. Send the key in the `X-Api-Key` header. The `api_key` query parameter puts the secret in URLs and logs
2. Build and test queries against `https://sandbox.api.peopledatalabs.com/v5/...` first. It costs no credits and allows five calls a minute
3. Set `size` deliberately on search. Every record returned costs one credit, and responses over 1 MB fail
4. Treat `404` on enrichment as no match, not an error, and `402` as credits exhausted. Neither is worth a retry
5. On `429`, wait until the `x-ratelimit-reset` time. Limits are fixed-window per key and per endpoint

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Databar or People Data Labs?

People Data Labs scores 58.8 (C) on agent readiness against Databar's 53.8 (D), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Databar leads on schema & documentation and payments & pricing.

### Do Databar and People Data Labs need an API key?

Databar takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in. People Data Labs needs an API key.

### Can an agent call Databar and People Data Labs without installing anything?

Yes. Databar has a hosted endpoint at https://mcp.databar.ai/mcp and People Data Labs at https://api.peopledatalabs.com/v5.


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with Databar or People Data Labs

- [Apollo API + MCP vs Databar](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/apollo-vs-databar.md)
- [Apollo API + MCP vs People Data Labs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/apollo-vs-people-data-labs.md)
- [Clay vs Databar](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-databar.md)
- [Clay vs People Data Labs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-people-data-labs.md)
- [Coresignal API + MCP vs Databar](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coresignal-vs-databar.md)
- [Coresignal API + MCP vs People Data Labs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coresignal-vs-people-data-labs.md)
- [Crustdata API + MCP vs Databar](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crustdata-vs-databar.md)
- [Crustdata API + MCP vs People Data Labs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crustdata-vs-people-data-labs.md)
- [Dievio vs People Data Labs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/dievio-vs-people-data-labs.md)
- [Enrich Layer API + MCP vs People Data Labs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/enrich-layer-vs-people-data-labs.md)
- [Explorium AgentSource vs People Data Labs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/explorium-agentsource-vs-people-data-labs.md)
- [FullEnrich API + MCP vs People Data Labs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fullenrich-vs-people-data-labs.md)
- [Fuse MCP vs People Data Labs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fuse-mcp-vs-people-data-labs.md)
- [Gojiberry vs People Data Labs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gojiberry-vs-people-data-labs.md)
- [Hunter API + MCP vs People Data Labs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hunter-vs-people-data-labs.md)
- [LeadMagic API + MCP vs People Data Labs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leadmagic-vs-people-data-labs.md)
- [Lusha API + MCP vs People Data Labs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lusha-vs-people-data-labs.md)
- [People Data Labs vs Prospeo API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/people-data-labs-vs-prospeo.md)
- [People Data Labs vs RocketReach API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/people-data-labs-vs-rocketreach.md)
- [People Data Labs vs ZoomInfo API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/people-data-labs-vs-zoominfo.md)
- [Clearbit vs Databar](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clearbit-vs-databar.md)
- [Clearbit vs People Data Labs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clearbit-vs-people-data-labs.md)
- [Databar vs Dievio](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/databar-vs-dievio.md)
- [Databar vs Dropcontact API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/databar-vs-dropcontact.md)
- [Databar vs Enrich Layer API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/databar-vs-enrich-layer.md)
- [Databar vs Explorium AgentSource](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/databar-vs-explorium-agentsource.md)
- [Databar vs FullContact](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/databar-vs-fullcontact.md)
- [Databar vs FullEnrich API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/databar-vs-fullenrich.md)
- [Databar vs Fuse MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/databar-vs-fuse-mcp.md)
- [Databar vs Gojiberry](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/databar-vs-gojiberry.md)
- [Databar vs Hunter API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/databar-vs-hunter.md)
- [Databar vs LeadMagic API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/databar-vs-leadmagic.md)
- [Databar vs Lusha API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/databar-vs-lusha.md)
- [Databar vs Prospeo API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/databar-vs-prospeo.md)
- [Databar vs RocketReach API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/databar-vs-rocketreach.md)
- [Databar vs ZeroBounce](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/databar-vs-zerobounce.md)
- [Databar vs ZoomInfo API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/databar-vs-zoominfo.md)
- [Dropcontact API + MCP vs People Data Labs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/dropcontact-vs-people-data-labs.md)
- [FullContact vs People Data Labs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fullcontact-vs-people-data-labs.md)
- [People Data Labs vs ZeroBounce](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/people-data-labs-vs-zerobounce.md)

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Query this catalogue directly over MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (Streamable HTTP, no key). How: https://www.anchorterminal.com/agents/#mcp