Head to head
ContactOut vs RocketReach
As a ai candidate sourcing tools API, RocketReach rates higher on the APIbenchmarks Index, 67.8 to 55, a 12.8-point gap. Here is how they compare on each criterion.
Criterion by criterion
| Criterion | ContactOut | RocketReach |
|---|---|---|
| Documentation & DX | ||
| Reliability | ||
| Ecosystem & SDKs | ||
| Accessibility | ||
| APIbenchmarks Index | 55.0 | 67.8 |
Specifications
| ContactOut | RocketReach | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | LinkedIn-based email and phone lookup for recruiters and sales | Email and phone lookup for sales and recruiting |
| Free tier | 5 emails, 5 phones, 5 exports/day in the app; API not included | 5 lookups/mo, no API access |
| Pricing | Credits (search, email, phone) on a quoted API plan | Plan lookups plus overage credits |
| Official SDKs | 4 languages | 6 languages |
Is ContactOut better than RocketReach?
On the APIbenchmarks Index, RocketReach rates higher (67.8 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
RocketReach leads by 12.8 points (67.8 vs 55) and wins 4 of 4 criteria.
Winner by criterion
| Criterion | Winner | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Documentation & DX | 70 | 76 | |
| Reliability | 58 | 74 | |
| Ecosystem & SDKs | 50 | 66 | |
| Accessibility | 35 | 50 |
Choose ContactOut if… / choose RocketReach if…
- →your use case matches its focus: linkedin-based email and phone lookup for recruiters and sales
- →documentation & dx matters most to you (76 vs 70)
- →reliability matters most to you (74 vs 58)
- →ecosystem & sdks matters most to you (66 vs 50)
- →accessibility matters most to you (50 vs 35)
- →you need broad SDK coverage (6 official SDKs vs 4)
- →your use case matches its focus: email and phone lookup for sales and recruiting
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
- Plan lookups plus overage credits
- Free tier
- 5 lookups/mo, no API access
- Free$0
- Essentials~$33-$80/mo (sources conflict)
- Pro~$75-$150/mo (sources conflict)
- Ultimate~$2,099/yr (about $175/mo)
- Team / CustomQuoted
Vendor-published pricing, verified 2026-10-07 (ContactOut) and 2026-10-07 (RocketReach).
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 RocketReach · 5
RocketReach MCP serverPyPI Python binding (rocketreach)llms.txt documentation indexThird-party toolkits (Composio)No confirmed OpenAPI spec
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
- +Documented REST API with search, lookup, bulk jobs, webhooks and email verification
- +Public status page covering API, MCP and Verify components
- +Official MCP server and Claude Code setup guide
- –Free plan is 5 lookups per month and excludes API access
- –API reportedly requires the Ultimate plan (about $2,099/year) or custom Team plans
- –Trustpilot about 1.2/5 from 1,000+ reviews, dominated by billing, auto-renewal and cancellation complaints
ContactOut vs RocketReach: questions
- Which has better documentation, ContactOut or RocketReach?
- RocketReach scores higher on documentation and developer experience: 76 vs 70 out of 100.
- Which is more reliable, ContactOut or RocketReach?
- RocketReach scores higher on reliability: 74 vs 58 out of 100.
- Do ContactOut and RocketReach have a free tier?
- ContactOut: yes (5 emails, 5 phones, 5 exports/day in the app; API not included). RocketReach: yes (5 lookups/mo, no API access).
- How are ContactOut and RocketReach priced?
- ContactOut: Credits (search, email, phone) on a quoted API plan. RocketReach: Plan lookups plus overage credits.
- Which has more official SDKs?
- RocketReach lists 6 official SDKs, ContactOut lists 4.