Head to head
Crustdata vs People Data Labs
As a ai candidate sourcing tools API, Crustdata rates higher on the APIbenchmarks Index, 95.7 to 84.9, a 10.8-point gap. Here is how they compare on each criterion.
Criterion by criterion
| Criterion | Crustdata | People Data Labs |
|---|---|---|
| Documentation & DX | ||
| Reliability | ||
| Ecosystem & SDKs | ||
| Accessibility | ||
| APIbenchmarks Index | 95.7 | 84.9 |
Specifications
| Crustdata | People Data Labs | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Real-time data for AI agents and sourcing | Bulk person/company data for builders |
| Free tier | Free trial credits + free-forever tier | 100 person/company lookups/mo (emails/phones obfuscated) |
| Pricing | Per credit (additive) | Per enrichment credit |
| Official SDKs | 5 languages | 7 languages |
Is Crustdata better than People Data Labs?
On the APIbenchmarks Index, Crustdata rates higher (95.7 vs 84.9). 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 10.8 points (95.7 vs 84.9) and wins 4 of 4 criteria.
Winner by criterion
| Criterion | Winner | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Documentation & DX | 96 | 88 | |
| Reliability | 95 | 82 | |
| Ecosystem & SDKs | 95 | 80 | |
| Accessibility | 97 | 90 |
Choose Crustdata if… / choose People Data Labs if…
- →documentation & dx matters most to you (96 vs 88)
- →reliability matters most to you (95 vs 82)
- →ecosystem & sdks matters most to you (95 vs 80)
- →accessibility matters most to you (97 vs 90)
- →your use case matches its focus: real-time data for ai agents and sourcing
- →you need broad SDK coverage (7 official SDKs vs 5)
- →your use case matches its focus: bulk person/company data for builders
Pricing side by side
- 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)
- Model
- Per enrichment credit
- Free tier
- 100 person/company lookups/mo (emails/phones obfuscated)
- Free$0/mo
- ProFrom ~$98/mo
- EnterpriseCustom (commonly $20k-$100k+/yr)
Vendor-published pricing, verified 2026-06-27 (Crustdata) and 2026-06-27 (People Data Labs).
SDK and language coverage
Both · 0
None
Only Crustdata · 5
REST API (HTTP, primary interface)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)
Only People Data Labs · 7
PythonJavaScript / TypeScript (Node + browser)GoRubyRustcURL / RESTOpenAPI (Swagger) specification
Strengths and weaknesses
- +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)
- +Pay only for successful matches (HTTP 200), missed lookups are not billed
- +Very large breadth: 3B+ person profiles across 200+ countries and ~70M company profiles
- +Developer-first REST API with Elasticsearch-style search queries praised as flexible and well-documented
- –Data refreshes roughly monthly, so job titles and employers can be weeks-to-months stale
- –Heavy reliance on LinkedIn means non-LinkedIn people are under-represented and some self-reported titles leak through
- –Verified emails and direct-dial phones often require extra Person Identify calls at higher per-match cost
Crustdata vs People Data Labs: questions
- Which has better documentation, Crustdata or People Data Labs?
- Crustdata scores higher on documentation and developer experience: 96 vs 88 out of 100.
- Which is more reliable, Crustdata or People Data Labs?
- Crustdata scores higher on reliability: 95 vs 82 out of 100.
- Do Crustdata and People Data Labs have a free tier?
- Crustdata: yes (Free trial credits + free-forever tier). People Data Labs: yes (100 person/company lookups/mo (emails/phones obfuscated)).
- How are Crustdata and People Data Labs priced?
- Crustdata: Per credit (additive). People Data Labs: Per enrichment credit.
- Which has more official SDKs?
- People Data Labs lists 7 official SDKs, Crustdata lists 5.