Cognism
- Starting price: Custom (~$15K platform + $1.5K/seat)
- Free plan: No (demo + custom quote only)
- Founded: 2015
- HQ: London, United Kingdom
Updated
Cognism vs Apollo vs Derrick: Which Is Better in 2026?
- Short answer
- Cognism vs Apollo vs Derrick: Cognism is a gdpr-compliant b2b contact data with mobile coverage, Apollo is a b2b sales intelligence and outreach. Derrick is a B2B enrichment platform with three surfaces - a Google Sheets add-on, a REST API, and an MCP server (Claude and ChatGPT drive enrichment for you). Hit rates are noticeably higher (more emails + phone numbers returned per query than Cognism or Apollo) and pricing is lower - free forever with 100 credits/month, paid plans from €9/month. Most teams pair Derrick for the data layer with Cognism or Apollo for outreach.
Where Cognism commits you to enterprise contracts and minimum seats, Derrick offers month-to-month credits with rollover. The side-by-side comparison below covers Cognism's database depth, contract structure and per-seat scaling against Derrick's pay-for-what-you-use Sheets-native model.
Free plan Yes - 100 credits/mo
Starts at €9/mo
Setup time 30 seconds
Where it lives Google Sheets
✓ Free forever · ✓ No credit card · ✓ Cancel anytime · ✓ Your data stays in your Sheet
Trusted by 31,000+ users worldwide.
CURSOR Quick Facts
Cognism vs Apollo vs Derrick at a glance
Apollo
- Starting price: Free / $49 annual or $59 monthly /seat (post-2026 price increase)
- Free plan: Yes (Free forever)
- Founded: 2015
- HQ: San Francisco, CA
Derrick
★ Recommended- Starting price: Free · Paid from €9/mo
- Free plan: Yes - 100 credits/mo permanent
- Founded: 2023
- HQ: Marseille, FR
Why Derrick wins 01
02
03
Why teams pick Derrick over Cognism and Apollo
3 core reasons SDRs and ops teams switch to Derrick. Click to expand each.
01 Save time with native Google Sheets enrichment instead of CSV exports
Cognism and Apollo both rely on external workflows to deliver data enrichment, which typically requires CSV exports or separate tools rather than seamless in-sheet updates. Derrick delivers 100% native Google Sheets enrichment, eliminating CSV exports and extra steps, so teams stay in Sheets without switching apps. This directly saves 5-10 hours per month per user by avoiding manual import-export cycles and reformatting, making prospect records fresher and more actionable. With Derrick, you enrich 50+ fields per contact directly inside Sheets, plus real-time validation, reducing back-and-forth and speeding outreach.
02 Real-time data quality without manual verification required
Cognism and Apollo both struggle with real-time data verification at scale, often requiring manual checks to maintain accuracy. Derrick delivers real-time data quality directly within Google Sheets, eliminating separate verification steps. By validating contacts and company details on the fly and leveraging native automation, Derrick reduces wasted outreach and improves deliverability, saving up to 15% of time spent on validation monthly. A quick use case: enrich and verify records instantly during list-building, with credits tracking and no extra CSV exports.
03 Accelerated Prospecting with AI-Driven Lead Scoring and Segmentation
Cognism and Apollo deliver strong data and verification, but they fall short on AI-driven, scalable lead scoring and segmentation that power accelerated prospecting. Derrick uniquely combines integrated AI (Claude and ChatGPT) with 50+ enrichment attributes and real-time segmentation to auto-prioritize prospects without manual triage. This results in faster, more accurate pipeline building and higher meeting rates, with measurable gains in efficiency and precision. Derrick turns raw data into action-ready segments at scale for rapid outbound outreach.
Honest Comparison 
derrick
What each tool does better
We're upfront - every tool has strengths. Here's where Cognism, Apollo, and Derrick each genuinely win.
What Cognism does better
- Best EU mobile-phone coverage
- GDPR-compliant by design
- Strong intent + technographic data
What Apollo does better
- Massive 250M+ contact database
- All-in-one stack at SMB price
- Intuitive list-builder
What Derrick does better
- Free forever - €0/mo with 100 credits permanent in Google Sheets
- 100+ data points per lead - verified emails, phones, LinkedIn, tech stack, SIRET
- Zero LinkedIn ban risk + real-time email verification built in
- Pair with any sequencer - LaGrowthMachine, Smartlead, Lemlist, HeyReach
Real Annual Cost
True cost over 12 months
Headline pricing rarely tells the whole story. Here's the real cost of running each tool for a year.
| Cognism | Apollo | Derrick | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting price (monthly) | Custom (~$15K platform + $1.5K/seat) | Free / $49 annual or $59 monthly /seat (post-2026 price increase) | €0 (free) · €9/mo paid |
| Annual cost (base) | ~€180/yr | ~€588/yr | €0/yr free · ~€108/yr paid |
| Free plan? | No (demo + custom quote only) | Yes (Free forever) | ✓ Forever - 100 credits/mo |
| Setup cost | Hours to days | Hours to days | 30 seconds via Marketplace |
| Switching cost | CSV export + retraining | CSV export + retraining | Zero - works alongside any stack |
💡 Most teams pay 2-5x more on add-ons (extra seats, phone credits, integrations) than on the headline base price. Derrick keeps everything in one transparent tier.
Feature-by-Feature
Cognism vs Apollo vs Derrick: full feature comparison
| Cognism | Derrick App | apollo | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Works natively in Google Sheets | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ |
| Requires LinkedIn Sales Navigator ($100/month) | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ |
| Sales Navigator 1-click import | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Email finder with real-time validation | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Phone finder from LinkedIn | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Company tech stack lookup | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| SimilarWeb & G2 insights integrated | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ |
| AI integration (Claude & ChatGPT) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Automatic AI Lead Scoring | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Data cleaning & normalization | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Multi-platform scraping (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook) | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ |
| Zapier, Make, n8n integrations | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Public API available | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Native CRM integrations (HubSpot, Salesforce) | ✓ | ✕ | ✓ |
| Entry price (paid plan) | 1000$/mois | 9€/mois | 59$/mois |
| Permanent free plan | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Rollover credits to next month | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ |
| Simple and transparent credit system | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ |
| Simple setup & onboarding | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ |
| Complete documentation | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Pricing in a nutshell Sales Intelligence (EU/EMEA) derrick
best value for money
Results first.
Discover Derrick →
Sales Intelligence
Cognism vs Apollo vs Derrick pricing breakdown
Sales Intelligence (EU/EMEA) Cognism
Custom (~$15K platform + $1.5K/seat)
Best for: EU/EMEA enterprise sales
Cognism offers premium B2B sales intelligence with pricing that starts above entry-level tiers, featuring real-time verification and multi-channel outreach; a dedicated pricing page provides full details on plans, add-ons, and enterprise options, see full pricing breakdown for details.
Results first.
Complexity removed.
Free · Paid plans from €9/mo
While other tools pile on features, complex setups, and pricing tiers that grow faster than your results, Derrick focuses on what actually matters:
getting usable leads, directly in Google Sheets.
No heavy workflows, No endless configuration. No learning curve.
Sales Intelligence Apollo
Free / $49 annual or $59 monthly /seat (post-2026 price increase)
Best for: SMB & mid-market outbound
Apollo offers a scalable pricing model with an entry-level plan and paid tiers; exact pricing details are listed on the pricing page. See full pricing breakdown for all plan options and usage limits.
Migration Guide
How to switch from Cognism to Derrick in 3 steps
Derrick is a Google Workspace app - no formulas to learn, no pipelines to migrate, no engineering work. Add it to Google Sheets and you're enriching in under a minute.
1
~30 sec Install Derrick from Google Workspace Marketplace
Click the install button on our Marketplace listing and grant Google Sheets access. No credit card required - you start with 100 free credits per month.
2
~30 sec Open any Google Sheet → Extensions → Derrick
Open a Sheet with your prospect list (paste a CSV from Cognism, scrape from LinkedIn Sales Navigator, or import from your CRM). Click Extensions → Derrick and the sidebar opens with all enrichment features ready to use.
3
~1 min Enrich your list with one click
Select the column with names, LinkedIn URLs, or company domains. Pick what you want - emails, phone numbers, LinkedIn data, company info, tech stack - and click "Enrich". Derrick fills the columns directly in your Sheet. No exports, no pipelines, no waiting.
Install Derrick free →
100 free credits / month · No credit card · Cancel anytime
Decision in 60 seconds
Which one is right for you?
Pick Cognism if…
- You specifically need eu/emea enterprise sales
- Best EU mobile-phone coverage
- GDPR-compliant by design
- You're already invested in the Cognism ecosystem
Pick Apollo if…
- You specifically need smb & mid-market outbound
- Massive 250M+ contact database
- All-in-one stack at SMB price
- You're already invested in the Apollo ecosystem
Pick Derrick if…
- You want B2B enrichment directly in Google Sheets
- You need a usable free plan (100 credits/mo, no card)
- You don't want long contracts, lock-in, or sales calls
- You need 100+ data points per lead in one tool
What teams say after switching from Cognism vs Apollo
See what our customers say about Derrick.
"This app saved me so much time and effort. Great for anyone looking to build a contact list or network at scale quickly. As a start-up it's been invaluable."
Alex Clark
Director | SaaS GTM Leader
"Working pretty nifty compared to Snov.Io. Price wise it does give a fair shake, and IMO better interface since it's google sheets."
David Sire
Mortgage Broker at Zero Point Mortgage
"Derrick is a very simple and user-friendly app to enrich your contacts database. Best thing: you can test it for free. And then the price is so low, it's a no brainer."
Etienne Grange
CEO Form'actions
"Super easy to enrich linkedin urls using this tool. Both personal and company url data can be easily enriched with a click of a button."
Zaid Bilal
RevOps Professional
"Amazing Tool, I would like to advocate this to my colleagues. So that you can get more users. Keep it Up. 5 Stars!"
Asif Hanzala
Lead Generation Specialist at IdeaPeel
"This app is fantastic. Brilliantly created to help small and mid sized businesses."
Dan Hughes
Founder/CEO, AlmanacIO
"I have been using other expensive apps or freemium like phantombuster, but Derrick has replaced them all. I love the simplicity of the Google sheet add-in, but what is best is the efficiency it delivers."
Julien Walon Cohen
CEO & Co-founder @ Diffly | B2B Sales Advisor
"The LinkedIn scraping and email finder combo is incredibly powerful. I can build a complete prospect list with contact info in under an hour. Absolute must-have for outbound."
Michael Kim
SDR Team Lead at CloudScale
"Have tested over 10+ LI scraper apps, Derrick beats them all. Simple to use, accurate data, and affordable price."
AJ Alexander
Opportunity Prospector
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the Derrick vs Cognism difference for data quality?
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Derrick prioritizes data quality through real-time email validation and 50+ enrichment attributes per contact, ensuring accuracy directly within Google Sheets without external exports. Cognism excels at intent signals and EMEA coverage but requires separate platform access and higher investment. Derrick's integrated AI scoring with Claude and ChatGPT enables automatic data qualification and segmentation, while Cognism focuses primarily on lead intelligence. For teams valuing both accuracy and operational efficiency, Derrick delivers comprehensive enrichment at lower cost with monthly rollover credits and no upfront commitment required.
Is Derrick a better Cognism alternative for teams?
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Derrick serves as a strong alternative to Cognism for teams prioritizing ease of use and cost efficiency. Unlike Cognism's standalone platform requiring data exports, Derrick operates natively within Google Sheets, eliminating workflow friction and saving teams five to ten hours monthly. While Cognism excels at intent signals and EMEA coverage, Derrick offers fifty plus enrichment attributes, real-time email validation, and integrated AI with Claude and ChatGPT for automated scoring and segmentation. Derrick's rollover credits and free tier without credit card requirements provide greater flexibility for teams with variable prospecting volumes, making it particularly valuable for mid-market organizations seeking streamlined, cost-effective data enrichment without platform switching.
Derrick vs Cognism vs Apollo: which is best overall?
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The best choice depends on your specific needs. Cognism excels at data accuracy and EMEA coverage with strong intent signals, making it ideal for enterprise teams prioritizing premium contact quality. Apollo offers broader global reach with 250 million contacts and integrated outreach tools, perfect for high-volume prospecting at scale. Derrick stands out for teams already working in Google Sheets, delivering 50+ enrichment attributes, built-in AI scoring with Claude and ChatGPT, real-time email validation, and rollover credits starting at just nine dollars monthly with no credit card required for the free tier. If you value seamless spreadsheet workflows and cost efficiency without complex integrations, Derrick delivers exceptional value compared to both competitors.
Cognism vs Apollo pricing: which is cheaper?
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Cognism and Apollo pricing generally position as premium B2B prospecting tools, with Cognism typically at a higher price point due to its emphasis on data quality, compliance, and enterprise-grade capabilities, while Apollo tends to offer more scalable outbound features at a slightly more approachable price for mid-market teams. In practice, Cognism often costs more on higher tiers, especially for extensive data enrichment and intent features, whereas Apollo provides strong value for rapid prospecting and multi-channel outreach. Derrick, by contrast, emphasizes native Google Sheets integration, credits that roll over, and AI-powered scoring and segmentation at transparent tiered prices, making it a cost-effective complement for teams already using Derrick for enrichment and automation. If your priority is cheapest access to broad contact data, Apollo may edge Cognism on upfront cost, but for depth of enrichment, compliance rigor, and tighter workflow integration, Cognism can be pricier. Derrick offers a clear, accessible price structure with no credit card required for the free tier, and credits that carry over, which can reduce total cost of ownership when used alongside Cognism or Apollo.
How does Cognism compare to Apollo in features and review?
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Cognism and Apollo both excel as B2B intelligence platforms but serve slightly different needs. Cognism prioritizes data accuracy and EMEA market coverage with strong intent signals, while Apollo emphasizes scale with its 250 million contact database and streamlined outreach automation. Both face limitations in niche industry coverage and data enrichment depth. However, teams seeking integrated enrichment directly in Google Sheets without complex configurations or external platforms might find Derrick App's native spreadsheet approach, combined with real-time email validation and AI-powered segmentation, offers superior workflow efficiency while maintaining comparable data quality at significantly lower operational overhead.
Can Derrick replace both Cognism and Apollo for enrichment?
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Derrick cannot fully replace Cognism and Apollo for enrichment, as Cognism and Apollo specialize in expansive, verified B2B data, intent signals, and multi-channel outreach at scale. Derrick excels as a native Google Sheets enrichment and automation layer, offering 50+ enrichment attributes, real-time email validation, AI-driven scoring, and broad integrations, but it focuses more on enrichment workflow within Sheets and automation rather than delivering the broad, enterprise-grade lead intelligence and deep company insights that Cognism or Apollo provide out of the box. In practice, many teams pair Derrick with Cognism or Apollo to cover both enrichment depth and outbound capabilities.
One-on-one
Cognism vs Derrick - solo duel
Drop the third-party context and see how Cognism compares to Derrick alone.
Open the head-to-head → One-on-oneapollo vs Derrick - solo duel
Drop the third-party context and see how apollo compares to Derrick alone.
Open the head-to-head → Curated stackAll B2B sales tools we reviewed in depth
Step back from the duel - see our hand-picked sales-tool selection and how every category fits together.
See the full curation → Keep Exploring
