Best intent data provider for a small B2B team (2026)
Bombora and 6sense are built for enterprise budgets and headcount. Here is what a small team should use instead, what each option is good at, and the reported costs, including where the sources disagree.
On this page
- For most small B2B teams, the best starting point is intent bundled into an affordable prospecting tool such as Apollo, paired with a first-party source, rather than a standalone enterprise provider.
- Bombora does not publish pricing, and third-party reports put its median contract at about $25,000 a year before onboarding and other tools.
- 6sense is reported to start around $50,000 a year, and one source puts the SMB average near $148,000, so it rarely fits a small budget.
- Account-level intent tells you a company is researching a topic but not which person, so a small team still has to find, score and contact the buyer.
- Many 'best intent data' lists are written by vendors who rank themselves first, so check who wrote a list before trusting its pick.
For most small B2B teams, the best intent data provider is not an enterprise platform like Bombora or 6sense, which are reported to start around $25,000 and $50,000 a year. Start with intent bundled into a prospecting tool you can afford, such as Apollo, plus a first-party source that shows who is on your website or engaging with your market. Add a paid third-party feed only when your deal size can carry the contract and someone on the team has time to run it.
The short version
There is no single best provider, because vendors mean different things by "intent." Most independent sources reach the same conclusion. Small teams should skip the standalone enterprise platforms and start with something cheap that a rep can act on the same day. TechnologyAdvice names ZoomInfo its overall top pick, but calls Apollo its pick "for smaller sales teams that want to experiment with intent without committing to an enterprise data contract."
Here is the shortlist. The full comparison is further down.
| Option | Type of intent | Good fit for | Reported cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saava | LinkedIn engagement signals, person-level | Teams whose buyers are active on LinkedIn | Not covered in this research |
| Apollo | Intent bundled in a prospecting database | Small teams trying intent for the first time | Not covered in this research |
| Leadfeeder / Dealfront | First-party website visitor ID | Teams whose pipeline touches the website | Not covered in this research |
| G2 Buyer Intent | Second-party marketplace research | Software sellers with enough deal value | Not covered in this research |
| Bombora | Third-party topic surge, account-level | Enterprise ABM with dedicated headcount | Vendr median about $25K a year |
What counts as intent data?
The four types are not interchangeable. Pick the type before you pick the vendor.
- Third-party topic or surge data. Bombora, 6sense and ZoomInfo intent. A co-op of publisher sites reports that a company is reading more than usual about a topic.
- Second-party marketplace data. G2 and TrustRadius. You see which companies are researching your category or your competitors on that review site.
- First-party and visitor ID. Leadfeeder/Dealfront, Warmly, VisiLead, RB2B. These tools tell you who came to your own website.
- Bundled intent. Apollo includes intent alongside its contact database, so you can find a contact and send in one place.
If the terms run together, our intent data glossary defines 36 of them. For the argument about which type predicts a sale, see first-party vs third-party intent data.
One mechanic matters most for a small team. Bombora is account-level only. It tells you a company is researching a topic, not which person is doing the research. A competitor-authored page says the data refreshes weekly on standard plans. So someone still has to find the buyer at that account, check fit, and write to them. Enterprise teams pay people to do that. A team of three usually can't.
What do intent data providers actually cost in 2026?
None of the quote-based vendors publish list prices. Every figure below comes from third-party reports or estimates gathered in our 2026 research, and the sources often disagree. We show the range rather than pick the flattering number.
| Provider | Reported figure | Source | Caveat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bombora | Median about $25K a year, range $13K to just over $80K | Vendr | No public price page or self-serve trial |
| Bombora | From $30K, most pay $50K to $100K+ | fullenrich | Higher than the Vendr median |
| Bombora | $500 to $2,000 per basic topic a year, $5,000 to $25,000 per premium topic | Third-party report | Per-topic, so cost grows with coverage |
| Bombora | Onboarding about $5K to $20K, escalation 3% to 7% a year | Third-party report | Added on top of the contract |
| 6sense | About $50K for smaller deployments to $300K+ for enterprise | Vendr | Pricing is opaque |
| 6sense | Median $58,333 across 335 purchases | Costbench citing Vendr | Close to the $55,211 median Vendr reported via Warmly |
| 6sense | SMB (50 to 1,000 employees) average $147,856 a year | SpendHound, 160 customers | Far above the Vendr medians. We don't know why. |
Two warnings. First, the 6sense numbers conflict. Vendr's median sits around $55K to $58K while SpendHound's SMB average is nearly $148K. Treat both as rough. Second, some cost claims come from competitors. SyncGTM, which sells a competing product, estimates Bombora at $54K+ a year once you add enrichment and outreach tools. MarketBetter claims you need $40K to $170K in extra tools before reps can act. Both may be directionally right, but they are not neutral.
We found no verified pricing for Apollo, G2, Leadfeeder/Dealfront, Warmly, RB2B or Cognism, so we have not listed any.
The options, one by one
Saava
Saava watches LinkedIn for buying signals: people engaging with competitors, commenting on relevant posts, changing jobs. It scores each person against your ICP and sends outreach from a LinkedIn account or email address you connect yourself. It gives you people, not accounts, which removes the step where you hunt for the right contact.
Good fit if your buyers are active on LinkedIn and you want a rep to act on a signal the same day. Not a good fit if your buyers rarely use LinkedIn, or you need topic-level research data across the open web. Bombora covers that and Saava does not. For what these signals look like, see 7 LinkedIn engagement signals that predict buying intent.
Apollo
Apollo is the most common small-team recommendation. TechnologyAdvice, Miniloop ("Start with Apollo.io") and DevCommX all point to it or to a similar all-in-one tool. You get a contact database, intent and sequencing together, so there is no gap between spotting a signal and sending a message. Pick Apollo over us if you mainly sell by email to a broad list and want the database. Our Saava vs Apollo post covers the trade-off in detail.
Leadfeeder / Dealfront and other visitor ID tools
Visitor ID tells you which companies, and with some tools which people, visited your site. VisiLead argues that if most of your pipeline touches your website, you should start here. VisiLead sells this category, but the logic holds. DevCommX suggests pairing an all-in-one tool with a low-cost visitor-reveal tool such as Warmly or RB2B. We compare that approach in Saava vs RB2B.
G2 Buyer Intent
RevPartners recommends G2 to see who is researching your competitors, paired with HubSpot to see who visits your site. This only works if you sell software and have a G2 presence. The consensus across sources is that it pays off when deal values are high enough.
Bombora
Bombora is the reference third-party co-op. Miniloop says it suits enterprise ABM stacks. It is account-level, sold by topic, and has no self-serve trial. Pick it if you run ABM across a defined account list and have someone to turn surge scores into outreach.
6sense and ZoomInfo
6sense is a predictive ABM platform. DevCommX notes that enterprise ABM platforms need dedicated headcount to run well. ZoomInfo is TechnologyAdvice's overall top pick because it combines intent with company and contact data. We have no verified ZoomInfo pricing. Both suit larger teams. See Saava vs ZoomInfo for that comparison.
Full comparison
| Option | Person or account | Public pricing | Needs dedicated headcount | Acts on the signal itself |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saava | Person | Not covered here | No | Yes, from your connected LinkedIn or email |
| Apollo | Person and account | Not covered here | No | Yes, sequencing included |
| Leadfeeder / Dealfront | Mostly account | Not covered here | No | No, separate outreach tool needed |
| G2 Buyer Intent | Account | Not covered here | No | No |
| Bombora | Account only | No | Usually | No |
| 6sense | Account | No | Yes, per DevCommX | Partly |
| ZoomInfo | Person and account | Not covered here | Usually | Partly |
How should a small team choose?
Autobound's advice is the most practical we found. Start with free first-party data, such as Google Analytics and HubSpot lead scoring, then add one focused third-party source. In order:
- Use what you already have. Turn on website tracking and lead scoring in your CRM. This costs nothing extra.
- Pick the one channel where your buyers show intent. Your website, LinkedIn, or G2. Choose one, not three.
- Make sure someone can act within a day. A signal is worth less the longer it sits. Our post on speed to lead for buying signals covers timings.
- Add a paid third-party feed last. Only add one when deal size justifies a contract in the $25K+ range and you have the headcount to work it.
One more check before you trust any ranking. Abmatic AI ranks itself first. Warmly, Landbase and SyncGTM publish pricing pages that favour their own products. Abmatic's own Bombora tier table lists the entry tier at $36K and the mid-market tier at $30K, which doesn't add up. Read who wrote the list.
Where Saava fits
Saava is not a topic-surge provider and does not replace Bombora or 6sense. It covers one source of intent: LinkedIn engagement. It scores the people behind those signals against your ICP and sends outreach from an account you connect yourself. If your buyers live on LinkedIn, it handles the person-level step that account-level feeds leave to you. If they don't, Apollo or a visitor ID tool will serve you better.
FAQ
Is Bombora worth it for a team of five?
Usually not. Reported contracts center around $25K a year before onboarding of $5K to $20K, and the data is account-level only. Without someone to research each surging account, most of that spend goes unused.
What is the cheapest way to start with intent data?
Use the first-party data you already own: website analytics and CRM lead scoring. Then add one low-cost source matched to where your buyers show up, such as Apollo, a visitor ID tool, or LinkedIn signals.
Why do 6sense price estimates vary so much?
6sense does not publish pricing, so every figure comes from purchase data. Vendr-based sources report medians around $55K to $58K. SpendHound reports an SMB average of $147,856 from 160 customers. We don't know which sample better represents a small team.
Do I need account-level or person-level intent?
A small team almost always needs person-level, because it has no time to research every account a surge feed flags. Account-level data suits ABM teams with dedicated researchers. Our LinkedIn intent data guide explains the difference in practice.
If you want LinkedIn buying signals scored against your ICP and ready to act on, start a trial