Pick AI Ark if you build prospect lists in bulk and want every email verified before it reaches your sequencer, with no yearly export cap. Pick RocketReach if your reps look people up one at a time and want a Chrome extension, CRM sync and sequences included. Most teams seeking a RocketReach alternative are the first group.
Key takeaways
Export ceilings. AI Ark exports up to 10,000 records per batch, as many batches as your credits cover. RocketReach's annual plans include unlimited lookups but cap exports at 1,200, 3,600 or 20,000 a year for one seat, and those exports do not refill monthly.
Verification at export. AI Ark checks every email with BounceBan at the moment you export and delivers only addresses that pass, with an expected bounce rate under 1.5%. RocketReach grades each email instead: A grade is about 98% deliverable, A- about 90%.
File vs workspace. AI Ark hands a verified file to the tools you already run, through CSV, an API and an MCP server. RocketReach bundles lookup with a Chrome extension, CRM integrations and sequences inside its own app.
Cost per contact. At 5,000 valid contacts a month, AI Ark costs $12.63 per 1,000 on its $758 annual plan. RocketReach's self-serve plans stop at 20,000 exports a year, so that volume needs a team plan quoted from $6,000 a year: at least $100 per 1,000, including pooled credits and a dedicated account manager.
Contract terms. AI Ark runs monthly from $49 or annually from $470, and unused credits roll over up to 2x the monthly plan. RocketReach plans renew automatically and its subscription agreement makes all amounts paid non-refundable.
AI Ark vs RocketReach at a glance
Feature | AI Ark | RocketReach |
Category | B2B people and company database with email verification at export | Contact lookup tool with Chrome extension, sequences and CRM sync |
Database size | 400M+ people, 70M+ companies, 100M+ profiles with verified mobiles | 700M professionals, 60M companies |
Email validation | BounceBan, in real time at export (SMTP and catch-all) | Graded A to F at lookup |
Published accuracy | Only addresses that passed verification are delivered; bounce rate under 1.5% expected | 98% accuracy |
Catch-all addresses | Validated individually, delivered only when confirmed, labeled "Catch-All Valid" | Not publicly stated |
Database refresh | Entire database every 30 days | 85M+ profiles refreshed a month |
Pricing model | Credits: 0.5 per profile, +0.5 per valid email, 5 per mobile, 0.1 per company | Per-seat plans with lookup and export allowances |
Published entry price | $49/month for 5,000 credits; $470/year for 60,000 | $19/month billed annually ($229/year); $39 billed monthly |
Credit rollover | Up to 2x the monthly plan | Unused lookups expire after 12 months or on cancellation; annual exports do not refill |
Free tier | 100 credits a month, no card | 5 lookups |
Invalid-email charge | None; the 0.5-credit email charge applies only when a valid email is found | No charge for B or F grade emails |
API | Same credit pricing as the web app; 300 requests per minute; people, company, lookalike, email, mobile and reverse lookup endpoints | All plans; 15 to 100 person lookups a minute by plan |
MCP server | Yes, in Claude, Cursor and Windsurf | Yes, all plans |
Export ceiling | 10,000 records per batch; repeat with the Net New filter | 1,200 / 3,600 / 20,000 a year on annual plans; 100 / 250 / 1,000 a month on monthly |
Duplicate protection | Net New vs Saved Records; re-exporting a saved record is free | Not publicly stated |
Seats included | 3 up to 30k credits, 5 on 60k to 300k, 10 on 450k+ | Priced per seat |
What Teams Say About AI Ark
Since using AI Ark, pulling leads for specific accounts has become much easier and we’ve been able to cut a lot of the Clay processes we previously relied on to build our client’s TAM. AI Ark simplifies the whole workflow, reduces manual steps, and gets us to a clean, usable list faster
Thibault Garcia
Founder @ Reachly
What is AI Ark? A RocketReach alternative for bulk list building
AI Ark is a B2B prospect and company discovery database. Outbound teams, agencies and recruiters use it to build lists from 400M+ people and 70M+ companies, with verified mobiles on more than 100M profiles.
It assumes you already own your outreach stack, whether a sequencer, a CRM or a Clay table, and its job is to hand that stack a verified file. Every email is checked with BounceBan at the moment of export, you pay for an email only when it passes, and credits are pooled across the team rather than split by seat.
Company Lookalike takes up to five customer URLs and finds companies that do the same thing. Net New vs Saved Records hides everyone you have already exported, so you never pay twice for a contact. Filters cover headcount growth, employees by department, time in role separately from time at the company, and company HQ separately from where the person sits.
What is RocketReach?
RocketReach is a contact lookup tool sold per seat, with plans aimed at individuals doing email outreach up to teams with prospecting and automation needs. Its plans cover contact and company search with 50+ filters, a Chrome extension, CSV enrichment, lists, built-in messages and sequences with up to 500 emails a day, an AI email writer, and Autopilot, with 5, 10 or 25 active jobs by plan. Pro adds mobile and direct phone numbers, technographics, news and org charts, plus integrations with Salesforce, HubSpot, Outreach, Salesloft and Bullhorn; Ultimate adds intent topics and healthcare data. Every plan includes an API and an MCP server.
RocketReach verifies contact details when you look someone up. A lookup reveals a person's details inside RocketReach; an export moves them out to a CSV or CRM, and if nothing verified is found, no credit is used. Each email carries a grade from A to F. Its privacy policy says its search technology scans the web for publicly available information and may also draw on third parties such as business partners.
Self-serve prices are published per seat, with monthly and annual views. Team plans with pooled credits and company exports are quoted, starting at $6,000 a year. It suits individual reps and small teams who work inside its app, want email, phone and sequences in one place, and export a few hundred to a few thousand contacts a year.
Data quality: where validation happens
How AI Ark does it
AI Ark verifies at the point of export. Each address goes through BounceBan in real time, at SMTP and catch-all level, and invalid, unknown and risky results are left out of the file. Catch-all domains are validated one address at a time, and an address ships only when BounceBan confirms it, labeled "Catch-All Valid" (how Catch-All Valid works). The expected bounce rate is under 1.5%.
Because nothing unverified ships, about 70% of exported contacts come back with a valid email. The other 30% still arrive as full profiles with LinkedIn URL, title and company, charged at 0.5 credits and usable for LinkedIn outreach. Underneath, the whole database is refreshed every 30 days.
How RocketReach does it
RocketReach verifies at lookup and grades the result. Its API documentation puts A grade at about 98% deliverability, A- at about 90% and B at 75 to 85%, and marks F as invalid. You are not charged for B or F grade emails; choosing which grades go into a campaign stays with you. Its help center says 85M+ profiles are refreshed each month; catch-all handling is not publicly documented.
Reviews are mixed on freshness. RocketReach holds 4.4 on G2 and 4.1 on Capterra from 140 reviews. On Capterra, one reviewer found leads "very accurate and fast" (1 April 2026), a five-star reviewer noted information is sometimes outdated (21 July 2026), and another listed "occasional data inaccuracies" with high pricing (29 March 2026). A test by Pin, a recruiting platform that buys from several data vendors, ran 1.3M+ lookups from March to May 2026 and recorded a 29.8% hit rate for RocketReach. Pin counts a hit as any email returned and did not measure bounces, so it is a coverage figure, not an accuracy score.
The trade-off, stated fairly
Both vendors check an email when you pull it; the difference is what reaches your file. RocketReach gives you a graded address and leaves the threshold to you, which suits reps who review each contact. AI Ark makes the call: the file holds only addresses that passed, ready for a sequencer. Neither vendor's headline number is an independent test, ours included, so run your own: export a sample on AI Ark's free tier, send it from the tool you use today with no verifier in between, and compare bounces.
True cost: what a valid lead actually costs
List price is the wrong comparison. RocketReach's entry price is $19 a month billed annually, but on annual plans it meters exports, not lookups, so what decides cost at volume is how many contacts you can move into a campaign. The useful figure is cost per valid contact delivered, at the plan that covers your volume.
Published pricing
RocketReach, one seat, checked 12 October 2026:
Plan | Annual billing | Monthly billing | Exports |
Essentials (email only) | $19/month, $229 billed annually | $39/month | 1,200 a year (annual); 100 a month (monthly) |
Pro (email and phone) | $52/month, $619 billed annually | $79/month | 3,600 a year (annual); 250 a month (monthly) |
Ultimate (email and phone) | $115/month, $1,379 billed annually | $169/month | 20,000 a year (annual); 1,000 a month (monthly) |
Team plans | From $6,000 a year | Not publicly stated | Pooled, quoted |
Annual figures are from RocketReach's pricing page with the annual toggle on; monthly figures are as read by Overloop on 28 September 2026. On annual plans lookups are unlimited, subject to a fair-use cap of 10,000 searches and 10,000 lookups in a rolling 30 days. Vendr puts the median buyer at $6,750 a year, and SpendHound's data from 160 customers averages $1,798 for SMB and $10,664 for enterprise buyers.
AI Ark plans:
Plan | Credits per month | Monthly billing | Annual billing (credits per year) | Seats included |
Free | 100 | $0 | $0 | 1 |
Starter | 5,000 to 30,000 | $49 to $119 | $470 for 60,000 to $1,142 for 360,000 | Up to 3 |
Builder | 60,000 to 300,000 | $219 to $879 | $2,102 for 720,000 to $8,438 for 3,600,000 | Up to 5 |
Scale (Agency & Enterprise) | 450,000 to 5,000,000 | $1,249 to $9,999 | $11,990 for 5,400,000 to $95,990 for 60,000,000 | 10 |
AI Ark charges 0.5 credits per person profile, 0.5 more per valid email (only when one is found), 5 per mobile number and 0.1 per company record. RocketReach charges one lookup and, to move it out, one export per contact in the app; its API bills 2 credits for a profile with a professional email and 6 for one with phones.
Worked scenario: 5,000 valid contacts a month
Method, applied to both: total annual spend at the cheapest plan covering the volume, divided by 60,000 valid contacts a year, with RocketReach's own 98% accuracy figure applied to every export.
AI Ark. At the find rate described in the data quality section, 60,000 valid emails take about 72,900 credits a year. The annual 180,000-credit plan covers that for $758, which is $12.63 per 1,000 valid contacts, with three seats included. Paid monthly on the 15,000-credit plan, it is $948 a year, or $15.80 per 1,000.
RocketReach. At 98%, 60,000 valid contacts need about 61,200 exports. The largest self-serve plan, Ultimate, includes 20,000 exports a year for one seat. Above that, RocketReach sells team plans with pooled credits, quoted from $6,000 a year. At that floor, the cost is at least $100 per 1,000 valid contacts, a price that also covers pooled credits, company exports, higher API limits and a dedicated account manager.
Feature | AI Ark | RocketReach |
Plan covering 5,000 a month | 180,000 credits a year for $758, three seats | Team plan, quoted from $6,000 a year |
Cost per 1,000 valid contacts | $12.63 ($15.80 billed monthly) | At least $100 at the quoted floor, with pooled credits and account management included |
What sets the ceiling | Credits; 10,000 records per batch | Exports per plan and seat |
At the narrow end, one rep needs 250 valid contacts a month, 3,000 a year. Essentials stops at 1,200 exports, so RocketReach's cheapest fit is Pro annual at $619, or $206.33 per 1,000 with phones. AI Ark's is the $470 annual plan, or $156.67 per 1,000.
The counterpoint, stated honestly
If RocketReach counts exports per seat, four Ultimate seats at $1,379 each would cover 60,000 valid contacts for $5,516 a year before its 5% added-seat saving, or $91.93 per 1,000, with sequences, CRM sync and intent topics on every seat.
At the smallest volumes, a single rep who needs fewer than about 1,200 email exports a year fits RocketReach Essentials at $229, against $470 for AI Ark's smallest annual plan. Phone-first teams should price mobiles on both sides: RocketReach Pro and Ultimate include phones in each export, while a mobile costs 5 credits on AI Ark. If all 60,000 contacts above also took a mobile, AI Ark would need about 372,900 credits, which fits the 720,000-credit plan at $2,102, or $35.03 per 1,000.
The hidden line item is the second check. A team that re-verifies graded exports before sending pays for it separately: at budget rates of $89 per 50,000 and $39 per 10,000, about $128 a year for 60,000 addresses, plus the hours spent uploading and re-importing files. AI Ark runs that step inside the export and charges nothing when an address fails. Check your own volume on the pricing page.
Features side by side
Finding the right accounts
Feature | AI Ark | RocketReach |
Company search | Industry, location, revenue, headcount, technology, funding and keyword filters | Contact and company search |
Company Lookalike | Up to 5 seed URLs; matched on description, SEO description, products and keywords; add results with "+" to tighten matches | Not listed |
Headcount growth | Minimum growth percentage over 6 months, 1 year or 2 years | Not listed |
Department structure | Employees by department, e.g. a large engineering team and a small sales team | Org charts on Pro and Ultimate |
Company size accuracy | Filters on actual headcount, not the self-reported range | Not publicly stated |
Technographics | Technology filter on company search | Pro and Ultimate |
Bulk company lookup | Paste up to 10,000 domains or LinkedIn company URLs | Company exports need separate Company Export Credits |
Exclusion lists | Upload a CSV blacklist or exclude past exports | Suppression lists on Ultimate |
RocketReach looks up the accounts you already know; AI Ark finds the ones you have not thought of, through Lookalike, headcount growth and department filters.
Finding the right people
Feature | AI Ark | RocketReach |
Title matching | Smart, Word and Strict match modes; batch paste up to 300 titles | 50+ search filters |
Tenure signals | Time in role separate from time at company, e.g. recent internal promotions | Not listed |
Location | Person location separate from company HQ; city, state, region or economic zone | Location filter; separate person and HQ location not publicly stated |
Keyword scope | Search headline, summary or skills separately | Not publicly stated |
Profile badges | Open to Work, Premium | Not listed |
Multiple current roles | Searches all active positions, or the primary role only | Not publicly stated |
Per-company cap | "Max. People Per Company" at selection | Not publicly stated |
Mobile numbers | 100M+ verified profiles, 5 credits each | Mobile and direct dials on Pro and Ultimate |
Personality analysis | 4 credits per profile, in bulk via API | Not listed |
Tenure, keyword-scope and location filters carry most of the targeting difference.
Getting data out and using it
Feature | AI Ark | RocketReach |
Email verification | BounceBan at export; only passing addresses delivered | Graded A to F at lookup |
Export ceiling | 10,000 records per batch, repeat with Net New; no yearly cap | 1,200 / 3,600 / 20,000 a year on annual plans |
Export layout | Saved export templates with chosen columns | Not publicly stated |
Re-export | Saved records free; real-time re-verify for 0.1 credits | Not publicly stated |
CSV enrichment | Upload a CSV, map columns, enrich | Enrich CSV on all plans |
API | 300 requests per minute, same credit pricing as the web app (enrichment API) | All plans; 10 requests a second overall |
MCP server | Claude, Cursor and Windsurf (MCP docs) | All plans |
Automation | Zapier, Make, n8n and Clay via API (Clay templates) | Yes |
Team workspace | Shared lists, pooled credits, 3 to 10 seats included | Shared team tags on Pro and Ultimate |
Agency and client lists | Unbranded CSV exports for client delivery | Exports licensed solely for the subscriber's personal use |
Verified batches with Net New mean each weekly file goes straight into your sequencer, with no export allowance to ration.
Compliance and data sourcing
We operate as a B2B data search engine and process data on the basis of legitimate interests for B2B purposes, under GDPR Article 6(1)(f). Our records come from public sources, community contributions and partner networks, cleaned by validation algorithms, under GDPR and CCPA. Anyone can ask to be removed through our opt-out page. Our terms prohibit automated extraction and scraping, and data you upload for enrichment or exclusion lists stays in your workspace; we don't fold it back into the database.
RocketReach's security page states that it holds SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 certifications, assessed at least annually by independent auditors. Its privacy policy names RocketReach as controller, relies on its own and its customers' legitimate interests, and takes deletion requests through a remove-profile page. Its terms bar customers from reselling lookup information or disclosing it to anyone else. Several recent Trustpilot reviews come from people objecting to their own data being listed, a reminder that opt-out handling matters for every vendor in this category, us included.
Choose RocketReach if
You want contact details while you browse, from a Chrome extension.
You want records synced straight into Salesforce, HubSpot, Outreach, Salesloft or Bullhorn through native integrations.
You want sequences, an AI email writer and up to 500 sends a day in the same tool as your search.
You want personal email addresses alongside work emails, or direct dials with every export on Pro and Ultimate.
You want intent topics or healthcare data from the same vendor as your contact data.
You are one rep who exports fewer than about 1,200 email contacts a year, which Essentials covers for $229.
Choose AI Ark if
You want to build lists in bulk from 400M+ people and 70M+ companies, with filters such as Company Lookalike, headcount growth and time in role.
You already run a CRM, sequencer or Clay table and want verified files, an API or an MCP server.
You want every email checked with BounceBan at export, catch-alls delivered only when confirmed, and an expected bounce rate under 1.5%.
You want 100M+ verified mobiles priced per number found, at 5 credits each, only when you ask for them.
You want no export allowance, at $12.63 per 1,000 valid contacts on the $758 annual plan.
You want to start free with 100 credits a month, no card.
RocketReach is built for reps who look contacts up inside its app; AI Ark is built for teams that pull verified lists into their own stack. If that is your team, run your next list through the free tier and count what bounces.
Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Is RocketReach worth it?
RocketReach can be worth it for a rep who looks up a few hundred contacts a year and wants a Chrome extension, sequences and CRM sync in one tool; check the export allowance first, since annual plans cap exports at 1,200, 3,600 or 20,000 a year. AI Ark is worth it if you export verified lists in bulk into a stack you already run.
2. How much does RocketReach cost?
RocketReach's annual plans cost $229, $619 and $1,379 a year for one seat; billed monthly, third-party captures put them at $39, $79 and $169 a month. Team plans start at $6,000 a year, and Vendr puts the median buyer at $6,750 a year. AI Ark costs $49 a month for 5,000 credits, or $470 a year for 60,000, with a free tier of 100 credits a month.
3. What is RocketReach's export limit?
RocketReach's annual plans allow 1,200, 3,600 or 20,000 exports a year for one seat, and its monthly plans 100, 250 or 1,000 a month; on annual plans, exports do not refill monthly. AI Ark exports up to 10,000 records per batch and has no yearly export cap; you repeat batches with the Net New filter for as long as your credits last.
4. Is AI Ark cheaper than RocketReach at volume?
At 5,000 valid contacts a month, AI Ark costs $12.63 per 1,000 on its $758 annual plan, with verification at export and three seats included. RocketReach's largest self-serve plan includes 20,000 exports a year, so that volume needs a team plan quoted from $6,000 a year, or at least $100 per 1,000, a price that also covers pooled credits, company exports and a dedicated account manager. On AI Ark the same volume costs $758.
5. How accurate is RocketReach's email data?
RocketReach advertises 98% accuracy and grades each email: A about 98% deliverable, A- about 90%, B 75 to 85%; Capterra reviewers in 2026 are mixed, from "very accurate and fast" to "occasional data inaccuracies", so test both on your own list before committing. AI Ark delivers only addresses that passed BounceBan verification at export, with an expected bounce rate under 1.5%.
6. Can I get a refund from RocketReach?
RocketReach plans renew automatically for the same period, and its subscription agreement states that all amounts paid are non-refundable; you can cancel from your account page, but must do so before renewal to avoid the next charge. AI Ark plans run monthly or annually, and canceling ends access at the end of your billing cycle, with no notice period.
7. How does AI Ark handle catch-all emails compared with RocketReach?
AI Ark validates each catch-all address individually with BounceBan at export and delivers it only when confirmed, labeled "Catch-All Valid"; risky and unknown addresses never reach the file. RocketReach grades emails from A to F and does not publicly document how it handles catch-all domains, so the sending threshold is left to you. With AI Ark, the file can go straight into your sequencer, with a bounce rate under 1.5% expected.
8. Can I try both before deciding?
Yes. AI Ark's free tier gives 100 credits a month with no card, enough to export a sample from your own ICP search. RocketReach's free plan gives 5 lookups. Look up the same handful of contacts in both, send both from the same tool with no verifier in between, and compare bounces at day seven.
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