UK B2B Data Providers Compared: Which One Actually Works for SMEs?

UK B2B data providers sell business contact records in four forms: annual platform licences, per-seat browser tools, broker lists priced per 1,000, and per-record lists or signal feeds. For a small firm, the right choice depends on how many records you need, not the brand. A two-person team reaching one profession rarely needs a five-figure licence.

This page gives you the shortlist first, then the maths. Every competitor price below links to the public page it came from. Where a vendor publishes no price, we say so rather than guess. For definitions of each provider type, see our companion guide to every type of B2B data provider.

How we compiled this: we checked each vendor’s own website, and the third-party pricing guides linked inline, between 13 September and 2 October 2026. B2B Data Scout is one of the providers listed, which the vendor-written “best UK providers” lists tend not to tell you. Prices change, so confirm the current figure with each vendor before you buy.

UK B2B data providers at a glance (2026)

Read the table in two halves. The top six are platforms and tools you rent by the seat or the year: strong on search and integrations, and priced for teams that use them every day. The bottom six sell you the records themselves, by the list or by the record, which suits a firm that wants a file once a quarter rather than a login. Cognism and ZoomInfo are built for a sales floor; according to Salesmotion, Cognism’s platform fee alone is reported at $15,000 to $25,000 a year before any seat is added.

Of the UK brokers, Market Location says every business record and decision-maker contact is validated by a real person. Corpdata publishes an average record age of 94 days and a 2-for-1 goneaway guarantee on its own site, the most specific freshness claim any UK broker makes. TAMI advertises 36 million UK contacts on its UK data page. Marketscan sells UK lists on a quote basis; its site is live as of 2 October 2026. Dealfront positions itself as a European go-to-market platform rather than a UK specialist.

How much does B2B data cost in the UK?

UK B2B data is sold in four units, and the unit decides your bill more than the vendor does:

• Per year (platform licence). ZoomInfo starts at roughly $14,995 a year, and most teams end up paying $30,000 to $60,000 once seats and credits are added, according to Cleanlist. Cognism is quote-based.
• Per user per month (browser tools). Lusha starts around $29 to $37 per user per month; Kaspr starts around $49, according to Prospeo. Each plan caps how many contacts you can reveal.
• Per 1,000 records (UK brokers). The UK going rate is around £275 to £350 per thousand records, according to RD Marketing. Data Bubble is one of the few UK brokers that publishes a rate: £300 per 1,000 plus VAT.
• Per record (per-lead lists). Our published rate card is 5p (business name, website, verification status, Google rating), 8p (adds verified email, direct phone and social pages) or 12p (adds owner or director name, owner email and, where available, a direct mobile).

In short: a small UK firm can expect to pay hundreds of pounds for a one-profession list bought per record or per 1,000, around $29 to $49 per user per month for a browser tool (Cleanlist, Prospeo), and five figures a year for an enterprise platform. The table in the next section shows what that means for a real target market. If you only need a few hundred records, every model except per-record forces you to buy more than you use.

What it costs to reach every active firm in one UK profession

Vendors price by the seat, the credit or the thousand. A small firm thinks in markets: “I sell to architects. What does it cost to reach all of them?” Nobody else on page one answers that, so here it is. The counts are active firms on the Companies House register, as published on our UK email lists pages on 5 October 2026.

Reaching all 21,436 active UK architects at 5p a record costs about £1,072. With a verified email and direct phone on each (8p), it is about £1,715. The same count bought from a broker at RD Marketing’s quoted range costs roughly £5,900 to £7,500. An enterprise licence costs the same whether you sell to 12,518 solicitors or 63,069 accountants, which makes it good value for a team working several markets and poor value for a firm working one.

Method note: the counts are active firms on the Companies House register, filtered by profession, as shown on /email-lists on 5 October 2026. They are not verified email addresses. After verification, the number of usable emails you receive will be lower than the firm count, so price your campaign on what is delivered, not on the register total. Per-record figures use our rate card on the same date; broker figures use RD Marketing’s per-1,000 range; the platform figure is ZoomInfo’s entry price per Cleanlist, in US dollars, and the number of contacts it reveals depends on the credits in your plan.

Two practical points follow. First, you rarely need the whole profession: a regional slice of 2,000 architects at 8p is £160. Second, run the same sum on any quote you get. Divide the price by the records you can actually use, and compare that number across providers, not the headline.

Free UK B2B data: what Companies House gives you and what it doesn’t

The cheapest UK B2B data provider is the government. The Companies House register is free to search, and the Companies House API and monthly bulk download are free to use. For every registered company you get:

• company name, number and status (active, dissolved, in liquidation);
• registered office address and incorporation date;
• SIC codes, which tell you what the company says it does;
• officers (directors and secretaries) and people with significant control;
• filing history, including accounts.

What it doesn’t give you is a way to reach anyone. The register holds no email addresses and no phone numbers, the registered office is often an accountant’s address rather than the trading premises, and SIC codes are self-declared, so a search on one code both misses firms and catches ones that don’t fit. Sole traders aren’t on it at all.

So Companies House tells you who exists; it doesn’t tell you how to contact them. If you have the time, you can build a list from the register and research contacts yourself. If you don’t, our Companies House data guide compares the free API, the bulk file and a ready-made list filtered by SIC code with contact details added.

PECR: why sole traders change which list you can buy

Most UK provider pages say their data is “GDPR compliant” and stop there. For email marketing, the rule that matters is PECR, and it splits your target market in two.

Corporate subscribers are limited companies, LLPs and public bodies. Under PECR, the consent requirement for marketing emails does not apply to corporate subscribers, according to the ICO’s business-to-business marketing guidance. You can email them without prior consent, provided you say who you are and give an easy way to opt out.

Individual subscribers include sole traders and some partnerships. The same ICO guidance treats them like members of the public: you need their consent before you send marketing email. That matters for SMEs buying trade lists, because many builders, cleaners and sole-practitioner accountants are not limited companies.

What a good provider should do about it:

• flag each record as a company or a sole trader / partnership, so you can remove the ones you can’t email;
• tell you where each record came from;
• honour opt-outs across every list it sells (see our anti-spam policy).

Our own approach is set out on our data compliance page. This section is guidance, not legal advice; if your campaign is borderline, read the ICO guidance in full.

5 questions to ask any UK B2B data provider before you buy

1. Where did each record come from? Ask for the source class per record: a public register, the company’s own website, a licensed partner. “Our proprietary database” is not an answer.
2. When was it last verified? The verification date matters, not the collection date. Corpdata publishes a 94-day average record age; ask every other provider to match that with a number.
3. Are sole traders flagged? If not, you can’t tell which records you can email under PECR without consent.
4. What happens to records that bounce? Ask for the replacement or refund policy in writing, before you pay.
5. What is the price per usable record? Divide the quote by the records that will actually have the field you need, such as a verified email. That is the only number worth comparing.

A provider that answers all five clearly is worth a sample order. One that gets vague on question one or four is telling you something. You can also compare these answers with our guide to buying a B2B email database.

Which UK B2B data provider fits your business?

If you have a 10+ person sales team working several markets from a CRM, use Cognism or ZoomInfo. They are expensive because they are built for that team, and a flat licence spread across many seats and markets is good value.

If you prospect on LinkedIn and your buyers work in offices, try Lusha, Kaspr or Apollo’s free plan. A monthly per-seat plan is a fair trial. Don’t expect much on trade businesses whose owners aren’t on LinkedIn.

If you want a one-off campaign file and value a human-checked or freshness guarantee, use Market Location or Corpdata. Both are UK-native, and Corpdata publishes the freshness figure you should hold it to. Use the data within weeks.

If you are a 1–10 person firm reaching one profession or trade, buy per record. That is where our lead lists and profession lists sit, and if timing matters more than volume, a signal feed such as Lift Signal (£45 a month for two regions, £75 national, first 7 days free) sends you jobs as they appear. If none of these fits, our B2B data providers guide covers every type in more depth.

UK B2B data providers: FAQ

Which B2B data provider is the best in the UK?

There is no single best UK B2B data provider; the right one depends on how many records you need and how you will use them. A 10+ seat sales team suits an annual platform such as Cognism or ZoomInfo. A one-off campaign suits a UK list broker. A small firm reaching one profession is usually cheapest buying per record. Test any provider on a free sample first.

How much does B2B data cost?

In the UK, broker lists run at around £275 to £350 per 1,000 records according to RD Marketing. Per-seat tools such as Lusha start around $29 to $37 per user per month, and ZoomInfo starts at roughly $14,995 a year according to Cleanlist. B2B Data Scout lists cost 5p, 8p or 12p per record depending on the fields you need.

Can I get UK B2B data for free?

Partly. The Companies House register is free to search and download: company name, number, status, registered office, SIC code and officers. It holds no email addresses or phone numbers, and it does not cover sole traders. Free data tells you who exists; you still need a provider, or your own research, to reach them.

Is it legal to email UK businesses?

Usually, yes. Under PECR the consent rule for marketing emails does not apply to corporate subscribers such as limited companies and LLPs, according to the ICO. Sole traders and some partnerships count as individuals, so you need their consent first. Every email must identify you and offer an easy opt-out. This is guidance, not legal advice.

Where does B2B Data Scout’s data come from?

We compile our data from public records and licensed providers, then verify and enrich it before delivery. Our profession counts start from the Companies House register. Each file shows which fields every record contains, and our data compliance page sets out how the data is sourced and how anyone can opt out.

Sources

1. Cleanlist — ZoomInfo pricing guide: https://www.cleanlist.ai/blog/2026-03-19-zoominfo-pricing-guide
2. Cleanlist — Lusha pricing guide: https://www.cleanlist.ai/blog/2026-03-19-lusha-pricing-guide
3. Salesmotion — Cognism pricing: https://salesmotion.io/blog/cognism-pricing
4. Prospeo — Kaspr pricing: https://prospeo.io/s/kaspr-pricing
5. Apollo — Pricing: https://www.apollo.io/pricing
6. RD Marketing — How much does B2B data typically cost: https://rdmarketing.co.uk/knowledge-hub/how-much-does-b2b-data-typically-cost/
7. Data Bubble — B2B data: https://www.databubble.co.uk/b2b-data/
8. Companies House — Find and update company information: https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/
9. ICO — Business-to-business marketing (PECR): https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/direct-marketing-and-privacy-and-electronic-communications/business-to-business-marketing/