C 
Cognism
European phone-verified data, still valuable, still expensive.
KINDA
why this verdict
Downgrade — pay for the workflow, not the AI
Apollo.io covers the headline feature free, so the $1,250/mo is now paying for the workflow around it.
- A named launch, not a vibe named, unlinked
- Research agents plus cheaper data providers. OpenAI, February 2, 2025 — no announcement link recorded yet.
- How much of the job it covers headline only editorial call
- The headline feature, but not the workflow, data or integrations around it.
- Is there a free way to do it? yes
- 1 of 2 listed replacements have a usable free tier: Apollo.io.
- What the call is worth $15,000/yr
- $1,250/mo at the entry paid tier — $15,000 a year per seat.
Reason composed from the fields above missing: announcement linked recorded: free replacement listed recorded: two or more escape hatches
- Threatened by
- OpenAI
- Since
- February 2, 2025
- List price
- $1250/mo
- Per year
- $15,000
The backstory
Cognism's strength is compliant, phone-verified European contact data — genuinely harder to source than US emails and defensible for that reason. It is wounded rather than killed: the enterprise price tag draws scrutiny when a research agent can find a prospect's role, priorities and recent posts free.
Escape hatches
switching could free up $15,000/yr A 
Apollo.io Cheaper, weaker European coverage.
apollo.io open_in_new C 
Clay Combine providers as needed.
clay.com open_in_new1 of 2 replacements have a usable free tier.