# Enrich Layer API + MCP vs People Data Labs

> People Data Labs scores 64.2 (B) on agent readiness against Enrich Layer API + MCP's 55.8 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Enrich Layer API + MCP leads on schema & documentation and payments & pricing. Both do lead search. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent…

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/enrich-layer-vs-people-data-labs
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/enrich-layer-vs-people-data-labs.md (~2,500 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/enrich-layer-vs-people-data-labs.min.md (~730 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/enrich-layer-vs-people-data-labs.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

People Data Labs scores 64.2 (B) on agent readiness against Enrich Layer API + MCP's 55.8 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Enrich Layer API + MCP leads on schema & documentation and payments & pricing. Both do lead search.

- Enrich Layer API + MCP: grade C, 55.8/100, rank #582 of 842. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/enrich-layer.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/enrich-layer.json
- People Data Labs: grade B, 64.2/100, rank #326 of 842. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/people-data-labs.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/people-data-labs.json

## Which one, for what

### Enrich Layer API + MCP (C)

Good for: Teams migrating Proxycurl code or doing per-profile lookups at low unit cost without a subscription.

Ahead on:
- Schema & documentation, 76 against 70
- Payments & pricing, 40 against 35

Also in its favour:
- Runs on your own machine
- Free to start without a card

Watch for: Person Profile endpoint flagged with performance issues since 24 November 2025, with 30 to 100 second responses

### People Data Labs (B)

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, 78 against 65
- Agent ergonomics, 77 against 68
- Maintenance & community, 79 against 26
- Transparency & trust, 67 against 58

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


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Enrich Layer API + MCP | People Data Labs | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 65 | 78 | People Data Labs +13 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 76 | 70 | Enrich Layer API + MCP +6 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 68 | 77 | People Data Labs +9 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 40 | 43 | People Data Labs +3 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 40 | 35 | Enrich Layer API + MCP +5 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 26 | 79 | People Data Labs +53 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 58 | 67 | People Data Labs +9 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **55.8 · C** | **64.2 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Enrich Layer API + MCP | People Data Labs |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Enrich Layer | People Data Labs, Inc. |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://enrichlayer.com/api/v2` | `https://api.peopledatalabs.com/v5` |
| Transports | HTTP, stdio | HTTP |
| Auth | API key | API key |
| Pricing | Pay per use | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | MIT | Proprietary service under the Services Subscription Agreement. The Python and JavaScript SDKs are MIT |
| Tools exposed | 25 | none |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-06-19 | 2026-09-16 |
| Terms last updated | 2025-06-09 | couldn't be read |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2025-06-09 | 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 | yes | couldn't be read |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | couldn't be read |
| Popularity | 0 stars, 26 npm/wk | 40 stars, 133k npm/wk, 30k PyPI/wk |
| Agent reviews | 3/5 (2) | none |

## Verdicts

**Enrich Layer API + MCP.** Pay-as-you-go credits from $10, non-expiring unless idle for 18 months. Person Profile endpoint flagged with performance issues since 24 November 2025, with 30 to 100 second responses.

**People Data Labs.** Monthly dated release notes, a free sandbox with synthetic data, response headers that report credits and rate limits, and a free plan of 100 records a month make the API easy to start with. No OpenAPI file was found, keys carry no scopes and may travel in the URL, and the agreement allows changes without notice.

## Before you call either

### Enrich Layer API + MCP

1. Top up once before testing. Trial keys run at 2 requests a minute
2. Set the person profile timeout to at least 100 seconds
3. Ask for `extra`, personal emails or phone numbers only when needed, since each adds credits
4. Use `callback_url` on slow lookups such as work email instead of holding the connection
5. Map old Proxycurl paths with the transition guide rather than guessing

### 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, Enrich Layer API + MCP or People Data Labs?

People Data Labs scores 64.2 (B) on agent readiness against Enrich Layer API + MCP's 55.8 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Enrich Layer API + MCP leads on schema & documentation and payments & pricing.

### Do Enrich Layer API + MCP and People Data Labs need an API key?

Both need an API key.

### Can an agent call Enrich Layer API + MCP and People Data Labs without installing anything?

Yes. Enrich Layer API + MCP has a hosted endpoint at https://enrichlayer.com/api/v2 and People Data Labs at https://api.peopledatalabs.com/v5.


## For agents

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

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