Head to head
ContactOut vs Crustdata
As a ai candidate sourcing tools API, Crustdata rates higher on the APIbenchmarks Index, 95.7 to 55, a 40.7-point gap. Here is how they compare on each criterion.
Criterion by criterion
| Criterion | ContactOut | Crustdata |
|---|---|---|
| Documentation & DX | ||
| Reliability | ||
| Ecosystem & SDKs | ||
| Accessibility | ||
| APIbenchmarks Index | 55.0 | 95.7 |
Specifications
| ContactOut | Crustdata | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | LinkedIn-based email and phone lookup for recruiters and sales | Real-time data for AI agents and sourcing |
| Free tier | 5 emails, 5 phones, 5 exports/day in the app; API not included | Free trial credits + free-forever tier |
| Pricing | Credits (search, email, phone) on a quoted API plan | Per credit (additive) |
| Official SDKs | 4 languages | 5 languages |
Is ContactOut better than Crustdata?
On the APIbenchmarks Index, Crustdata rates higher (95.7 vs 55). It leads on the four weighted criteria, but price is reported separately, so the best choice still depends on your budget.
Verdict in one line
Crustdata leads by 40.7 points (95.7 vs 55) and wins 4 of 4 criteria.
Winner by criterion
| Criterion | Winner | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Documentation & DX | 70 | 96 | |
| Reliability | 58 | 95 | |
| Ecosystem & SDKs | 50 | 95 | |
| Accessibility | 35 | 97 |
Choose ContactOut if… / choose Crustdata if…
- →your use case matches its focus: linkedin-based email and phone lookup for recruiters and sales
- →documentation & dx matters most to you (96 vs 70)
- →reliability matters most to you (95 vs 58)
- →ecosystem & sdks matters most to you (95 vs 50)
- →accessibility matters most to you (97 vs 35)
- →you need broad SDK coverage (5 official SDKs vs 4)
- →your use case matches its focus: real-time data for ai agents and sourcing
Pricing side by side
- Model
- Credits (search, email, phone) on a quoted API plan
- Free tier
- 5 emails, 5 phones, 5 exports/day in the app; API not included
- Free$0
- Email~$49-$99/mo (sources conflict)
- Email + Phone~$99-$199/mo (sources conflict)
- Team / APICustom quote
- Model
- Per credit (additive)
- Free tier
- Free trial credits + free-forever tier
- Free tier$0/mo
- Real-time API AccessCredit-based / not publicly listed
- Flat File DatasetsCustom
- EnterpriseCustom (contact sales)
Vendor-published pricing, verified 2026-10-07 (ContactOut) and 2026-06-27 (Crustdata).
SDK and language coverage
Both · 1
REST API (token header auth)
Only ContactOut · 3
Webhooks for async bulk v2Third-party MCP via Composio and viaSocketNo official SDKs or OpenAPI spec found
Only Crustdata · 4
Official MCP server (Model Context Protocol)crustdata-mcp (community pip package)crustdata-screener-mcp (community package)Composio toolkit (Claude Code, Vercel AI SDK, OpenAI Agents SDK, Mastra AI)
Strengths and weaknesses
- +Public API reference with auth, endpoint credit rules and per-endpoint rate limits
- +Bulk enrichment up to 1,000 profiles per v2 job with webhook delivery
- +Boolean search, decision-maker and company endpoints plus email and phone verification
- –API is not on self-serve plans; Team/API requires a custom quote
- –Free app plan (5/5/5 per day) does not include API access
- –962 outages tracked by StatusGator over the past year, with a minor outage on the verification date
- +Genuine real-time / live web indexing, returns data for untracked companies within minutes rather than serving stale batch data
- +Watcher API + webhooks push change signals (job changes, funding, promotions) the moment they're detected
- +Clean, fast, well-documented REST API that reviewers say makes integration 'almost effortless'
- –Paid plan pricing is opaque, no named tiers or list prices published; heavier endpoints gated behind enterprise/demo requests
- –Credit-based model can create unpredictable costs without active monitoring
- –No first-party SDKs, integration is raw REST (client libraries are community/third-party only)
ContactOut vs Crustdata: questions
- Which has better documentation, ContactOut or Crustdata?
- Crustdata scores higher on documentation and developer experience: 96 vs 70 out of 100.
- Which is more reliable, ContactOut or Crustdata?
- Crustdata scores higher on reliability: 95 vs 58 out of 100.
- Do ContactOut and Crustdata have a free tier?
- ContactOut: yes (5 emails, 5 phones, 5 exports/day in the app; API not included). Crustdata: yes (Free trial credits + free-forever tier).
- How are ContactOut and Crustdata priced?
- ContactOut: Credits (search, email, phone) on a quoted API plan. Crustdata: Per credit (additive).
- Which has more official SDKs?
- Crustdata lists 5 official SDKs, ContactOut lists 4.