In today’s fast-paced market, relying on manual research or outdated contact lists is a significant liability. Every minute your team spends searching for prospects or verifying candidate data is a minute your competitors are using to engage leads and hire top talent, leveraging the latest in recruitment strategies. A people search API automates this entire process, embedding the ability to find and verify individuals directly into your applications and workflows.
The right API can transform your operations, whether you’re building targeted lead lists, enriching your CRM, or powering sophisticated AI agents. However, not all APIs are created equal. Many providers advertise “real-time” data but deliver information from static databases that are only updated periodically. This guide offers a detailed comparison of 2026’s leading people search APIs, highlighting their strengths, weaknesses, and ideal use cases to help you choose the right partner for your data needs.
What is a People Search API?
A People Search API is a programmatic interface that allows your software to query a large, external database for information about individuals. Instead of manually searching on platforms like LinkedIn, you can send a request with known details—such as a name, company, job title, or email—and receive a structured data profile in return.
This enables teams to automate and scale tasks that were previously slow and manual. For instance, a sales team can build a highly targeted list of decision-makers matching specific criteria, while a recruiting team can instantly find and verify candidates with niche skills. A powerful person lookup API eliminates data silos and provides on-demand access to high-quality people data.
People Search vs. Data Enrichment: What’s the Difference?
While often used interchangeably, “people search” and “data enrichment” serve two distinct functions.
- People Search is about discovery. It helps you find new contacts who match a set of criteria. For example: “Find all software engineers with Python experience working at fintech companies in New York.”
- Data Enrichment is about augmentation. It takes a piece of data you already have (like an email or phone number) and adds more information to it. For example: “I have the email
jane.doe@example.com; find her full name, job title, company, and social profiles.”
The best modern data platforms, such as Nyne.ai, provide both search and enrichment capabilities through a unified enrichment API for CRM and other systems. This allows you to not only discover new leads but also maintain a complete and up-to-date picture of your existing customers and prospects.
Key Features of a High-Quality People Data API
When evaluating the best contact data providers, look beyond simple contact information. The most valuable APIs provide deep, reliable, and flexible data.
- Search Depth & Filtering: The ability to query using multiple attributes (name, title, company, skills, location) and combine them with advanced filters (company size, industry, seniority) is crucial for building precise segments.
- Data Freshness & Accuracy: This is the most critical factor. A
best real-time people data APIverifies information at the moment of the request, not from a stale database refreshed weeks or months ago. This dramatically reduces wasted outreach due to outdated roles or contact details. - Data Model & Coverage: A robust API offers more than just names and emails. Look for comprehensive profiles that include career history, educational background, social handles, and behavioral signals (like recent job changes or online activity) to provide valuable context.
- Developer Experience (DX): A well-documented, RESTful API with clear schemas, SDKs, and responsive support is essential for fast and painless integration. Look for providers who are API-first, not just treating their API as an afterthought.
- Compliance: The provider must be fully compliant with data privacy regulations like GDPR and CCPA, with clear processes for handling data and honoring opt-out requests.
The 8 Best People Search APIs of 2026
1. Nyne.ai
Nyne.ai is a real-time people and company intelligence platform built from the ground up for AI-driven applications. Unlike traditional data providers that rely on static lists, Nyne.ai converts fragmented online activity into a unified knowledge graph, providing API-first access to verified profiles, behavioral signals, and relationship intelligence.
Key Features
- AI-Native Architecture: Purpose-built for LLMs, AI agents, and automated workflows that require high-confidence, fresh data at scale.
- Real-Time Data Engine: Leverages a continuous data ingestion and verification process to provide live information on people and companies, not data that’s days or weeks old.
- Unified Knowledge Graph: Resolves identities across multiple sources to create a single, high-confidence profile with deep firmographic, demographic, and behavioral attributes.
- Behavioral & Intent Signals: Captures buying signals, job changes, and other life events to enable timely and context-aware outreach.
Data Coverage & Freshness
Nyne.ai’s data is continuously updated in real-time. It processes billions of public data points to build and refresh its identity graph, ensuring unparalleled accuracy and freshness for every API call. The focus is on quality and confidence-scoring for every data attribute.
Best For
Enterprises and startups building AI agents, needing a best real-time people data API for AI agents and LLM workflows, or developing data-driven applications that depend on accurate, on-demand intelligence.
Tradeoffs & Risks
The platform’s API-first and developer-centric approach may present a steeper learning curve for non-technical teams looking for a simple point-and-click interface or Chrome extension.
Pricing
Offers flexible, consumption-based pricing plans designed to scale with your usage, from early-stage development to enterprise-level deployment.
2. ZoomInfo
ZoomInfo is one of the largest and most well-known players in the B2B data space, offering a massive database of contacts and company profiles.
Key Features
- Massive Data Scale: One of the most extensive B2B databases, with hundreds of millions of professional profiles and tens of millions of company profiles.
- Deep Platform Integrations: Offers native integrations with major CRM and sales automation platforms like Salesforce, HubSpot, and Outreach.
- Intent Data: Provides signals on companies that are actively researching solutions like yours.
Data Coverage & Freshness
ZoomInfo uses a combination of technology and human verification to update its database. While they process a high volume of data daily, it’s not a truly real-time system, and data freshness can vary.
Best For
Large enterprise sales teams that are deeply embedded in the Salesforce ecosystem and require a broad, all-in-one platform for prospecting and account management.
Tradeoffs & Risks
As one of the leading ZoomInfo alternatives, many users seek other options due to ZoomInfo’s high costs, rigid annual contracts, and data that can sometimes be outdated compared to real-time providers. Its accuracy can be inconsistent, especially outside of North America.
Pricing
Custom enterprise-level pricing, which is not publicly listed and typically requires a significant annual commitment.
3. Apollo.io
Apollo.io has grown into a popular all-in-one sales intelligence and engagement platform, combining a large B2B database with tools for sequencing, calling, and analytics.
Key Features
- Unified Platform: Combines a large contact database with sales engagement tools, reducing the need for multiple separate products.
- Advanced Filtering: Offers over 65 filters for building highly specific lead lists.
- API for Workflows: Allows for programmatic management of sequences and contact enrichment.
Data Coverage & Freshness
Apollo’s database includes over 210 million contacts, sourced from public data, third-party partners, and a contributor network. They perform monthly database checks to maintain accuracy.
Best For
SMBs and mid-market sales teams looking for an affordable, all-in-one platform for prospecting and outreach.
Tradeoffs & Risks
The data is a composite from various sources, which can lead to variable quality and freshness. It is more of a sales application with an API rather than a true API-first data infrastructure provider.
Pricing
Offers a free tier and flexible usage-based paid plans starting from $49/user/month (billed annually).
4. Cognism
Cognism is a global sales intelligence provider with a strong reputation for data quality and compliance, particularly within the European market.
Key Features
- Diamond Data®: A premium feature where contacts are phone-verified, providing high confidence in direct-dial numbers.
- Strong European Coverage: Known for having one of the best databases for accurate European mobile numbers and contact details.
- Compliance Focus: SOC 2 certified and fully GDPR and CCPA compliant, making it a safe choice for global companies.
Data Coverage & Freshness
The platform has over 400 million B2B profiles, with data refreshed through a combination of web crawling and verification cycles. Diamond Data® is re-verified frequently to ensure accuracy.
Best For
Sales and marketing teams that heavily rely on phone outreach and require high-quality, compliant data for the EMEA market.
Tradeoffs & Risks
The most valuable data (Diamond Data® and intent signals) is often locked behind premium add-ons. The pricing model, based on custom quotes, can lack transparency.
Pricing
Custom packages are provided based on company needs, with credits required for certain API usage.
5. Clearbit (by HubSpot)
Acquired by HubSpot, Clearbit is a well-regarded data enrichment and marketing intelligence platform focused on B2B audiences.
Key Features
- Real-Time Enrichment: Excellent at enriching new leads in real-time as they enter your system.
- Anonymous Visitor Identification: Unmasks anonymous website traffic to identify companies showing interest.
- HubSpot Native: Now deeply integrated into the HubSpot ecosystem, making it a natural fit for HubSpot users.
Data Coverage & Freshness
Clearbit’s dataset is rebuilt every 30 days. While this ensures a baseline level of freshness, it is not a real-time system and can miss very recent job changes or company updates.
Best For
Marketing teams, particularly those using HubSpot, who need to enrich inbound leads and understand website traffic.
Tradeoffs & Risks
The 30-day refresh cycle is a significant drawback compared to real-time providers. Its future development will likely prioritize the HubSpot ecosystem, which may limit its utility as a standalone, platform-agnostic API.
Pricing
Uses a credit-based model for enrichment tasks, with flexible pay-as-you-go options and scalable plans.
6. Lusha
Lusha is a popular tool for sales representatives, known for its browser extension that makes it easy to find contact information on social profiles and company websites.
Key Features
- Ease of Use: The Chrome extension is simple and intuitive, making it a favorite among individual sales reps for quick lookups.
- AI Recommendations: The platform suggests relevant prospects based on user activity.
- Free Tier: Offers a limited free plan, allowing users to test the service before committing.
Data Coverage & Freshness
Lusha’s data is largely crowdsourced from its user community, which contributes contact details from their email signatures and networks. This data is then cross-referenced.
Best For
Individual sales reps and small teams needing a quick, easy-to-use tool for finding direct dials and emails.
Tradeoffs & Risks
The crowdsourced data model raises concerns about accuracy, context, and compliance. The data often lacks the depth of firmographic or behavioral attributes found in more comprehensive B2B platforms.
Pricing
Offers a free plan with 5 credits/month, with paid plans starting at $49.90/month for more credits and features.
7. Trestle IQ
Trestle IQ is a highly specialized people API focused on identity resolution, particularly through its proprietary address graph.
Key Features
- Address Graph: Excels at linking names to physical addresses with high accuracy, which is useful for identity verification.
- High QPS: Engineered to handle a high volume of queries (up to 1,000 per second), making it suitable for enterprise-scale applications.
- Compliance-Ready: Designed for use cases where identity verification must align with GDPR and CCPA.
Data Coverage & Freshness
Data freshness varies by attribute; some details are updated within minutes, while others like address changes are refreshed monthly. Its strength is in North American and European identity data.
Best For
Businesses in industries like finance, insurance, or e-commerce that require precise address and demographic verification for compliance or risk assessment.
Tradeoffs & Risks
This is not a general-purpose B2B prospecting tool. Its focus on address-based identity makes it a poor fit for sales or recruiting teams looking for professional profiles, job histories, or intent signals.
Pricing
Transparent tiered pricing, starting at $220/month for 1,000 queries.
8. Searchbug
Searchbug provides a U.S.-focused people search and identity verification API, often used for due diligence, skip tracing, and background checks.
Key Features
- Compliance-Focused: Includes built-in DNC (Do Not Call) list checks and tools for TCPA compliance.
- Background Check API: Offers enriched screening services like SSN validation and criminal record checks.
- Pay-per-use Pricing: A straightforward, volume-tiered pricing model without subscriptions.
Data Coverage & Freshness
Focuses exclusively on U.S. public records. It performs real-time validation on queries for certain data types to ensure freshness.
Best For
U.S.-based businesses needing to perform background checks, verify identities for compliance, or conduct skip tracing.
Tradeoffs & Risks
Its scope is limited to U.S. consumer data and public records. It is not suitable for B2B prospecting or recruiting, as it lacks professional data like job titles, company information, or LinkedIn data.
Pricing
Pay-as-you-go pricing that decreases with volume, starting around $0.77 per match.
People Search API Feature Comparison
| Provider | Best For | Real-Time Data? | Key Differentiator | Pricing Model |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nyne.ai | AI agents, LLM workflows, real-time enrichment | Yes, continuously verified | AI-native architecture, unified knowledge graph | Consumption-based |
| ZoomInfo | Enterprise sales teams in the Salesforce ecosystem | No (periodic updates) | Massive database scale, deep platform integration | Custom Annual Contract |
| Apollo.io | SMB sales teams needing an all-in-one platform | No (periodic updates) | Unified sales engagement and data platform | Tiered SaaS, Usage-based |
| Cognism | Teams targeting the European market via phone | Partially (phone-verified data) | High-quality European mobile numbers (Diamond Data®) | Custom Quote |
| Clearbit | Marketing teams using HubSpot for lead enrichment | No (30-day refresh cycle) | Anonymous website visitor identification | Credit-based, Pay-as-you-go |
| Lusha | Individual reps needing quick contact lookups | No (crowdsourced) | Simplicity and ease of use (Chrome extension) | Tiered SaaS, Free plan |
| Trestle IQ | Identity and address verification | Partially (varies by attribute) | Proprietary address-name linkage graph | Tiered SaaS |
| Searchbug | U.S. compliance and background checks | Partially (real-time validation) | DNC/TCPA compliance checks, U.S. public records | Pay-per-match |
Conclusion: Choosing the Right API for Modern Workflows
The market for people data is crowded, but a clear distinction has emerged between legacy data brokers and modern intelligence platforms. While many APIs offer access to large datasets, their value is often diminished by stale information. For teams building next-generation applications, the choice of a people search API is critical. Using an outdated list is no longer sufficient when the goal is to power semantic search or automated decision-making.
For businesses that need to move faster and with greater precision, the future is real-time. Platforms that provide live, verified data are essential for personalizing outreach, automating workflows, and enabling AI to operate with confidence.
If your strategy depends on having the most accurate, up-to-date information about people and companies delivered programmatically, Nyne.ai offers a clear advantage. As the leading best real-time people data API for AI agents and LLM workflows, it is purpose-built to provide the high-fidelity intelligence that modern enterprise and AI applications demand.