Comparison
Programmable vs ZoomInfo
Both help you find the companies and people worth selling to. ZoomInfo is a large data platform for sales, marketing and operations teams. Programmable is an agent a founder or small team can set up with one sentence, which researches each company and waits for you before anything goes out. Here is what each is built for, where each is stronger, and how to bring a list over if you want to.
ZoomInfo's side describes how ZoomInfo works as a product, as of October 2026. ZoomInfo changes often; check its own site for prices and limits.
Built for
What each is built for
ZoomInfo
A go-to-market data platform for business-to-business teams. Its core is a verified database of contacts and companies, with org charts, the technology companies use and signals about who may be buying. Teams use it to build target lists, score accounts, route leads and keep their CRM up to date, and AI agents work on top of that data. Sales, marketing, operations and recruiting teams can all work from the same source.
Programmable
A prospecting agent you supervise. You describe who you sell to in a sentence; it finds new companies each run, the right people, researches each company, drafts the outreach and asks before it sends. It rewards founders and small teams who want the list and the leads without a data platform to run.
An example
The same job, both ways
Each week, find new dental groups in Texas that are hiring, reach the owner, and add them to a campaign with an opener about why now.
Working in ZoomInfo
- Talk to its sales team and agree a package for your seats, credits and features.
- Build a search for the industry, state and job titles, and save it.
- Set an alert so new matches come to you, and use its buying signals to rank the accounts.
- Export the people you want to your CRM or sales engagement tool. Each export uses a credit.
- Draft the opener, with GTM Workspace's AI email tool if you have it.
- Start the campaign from the tool you send with.
Describing an agent
“Find dental groups in Texas with five or more locations that are hiring. Reach the owner, write an opener about why now, and add them to Instantly every Monday.”
- It's read into a plan: who it finds, what it researches, who it reaches, where results go and when. Anything unclear gets a question, not a guess.
- You confirm the plan, with the cost of each lookup and its source.
- Each Monday it runs the stored plan on companies it hasn't covered, and the leads wait paused for you.
Compared
Side by side
| Programmable | ZoomInfo | |
|---|---|---|
| Who it suits | Founders and small sales teams. Start the same day, with no sales call and no card. | Business-to-business teams across sales, marketing and operations, from fast-growing startups to large enterprises. |
| How you start | Write one sentence: who you sell to, what to find out, who to reach, where leads go and when it runs. It's read into a plan you confirm once. | Paid plans start with its sales team. Then you search the database, build lists, or use AI agents in GTM Workspace. |
| What runs each time | The stored plan. Later runs don't re-plan, take only companies the agent hasn't covered, and behave the same way every time. | The searches, scores and workflows you've set up, and Agent Teams, which run plays within limits your team sets. |
| Data | Up to 486 columns a row, 468 of them from 56 included sources with no keys of your own; 23 public sources to find companies from. People come from public profiles, company sites, email pattern checks and any provider you connect. | A very large database of contacts and companies, built from the public web, company sites, filings, job postings and a contributor network, then checked with AI and human researchers. |
| Buying signals | Public events only: for example new government contracts and company filings. It doesn't track what companies are researching online. | Intent data and AI scoring that point to the accounts most likely to buy. |
| Your own keys | Bring keys for 20 providers (Apollo, Hunter, People Data Labs and more) and your own AI. Set the order they're tried in. Your keys add no credits here. | Runs on ZoomInfo's own data. If you have ZoomInfo API access, its company facts can feed your rows here too. |
| Pricing model | Credits per researched row: one a row, plus one for each heavier group asked for. AI questions on included AI add credits; your own AI key doesn't. 500 included to start; Starter $19/month with 20,000 credits, Growth $49/month with 75,000 credits, Scale $149/month with 300,000 credits. Unused plan credits lapse at renewal; credits from a pack never expire. | Packaged around licenses, credits and features, with no price list on its pricing page: you ask its sales team. It also lists an entry plan, ZoomInfo Lite, at no cost. |
| What's stored | Your lists and results aren't stored. Only receipts, agent settings and which companies an agent has covered are kept. | Searches and lists you save stay in your ZoomInfo account, and connected CRM records can be kept enriched automatically. |
| Sending | Asks before it sends by default: leads land paused in Instantly, Smartlead, Lemlist, Woodpecker, Reply.io or Apollo, with an optional AI reviewer and one Approvals screen. Your tool does the sending. | Audiences can go to sellers, ad platforms, email tools or data warehouses, and it connects to sales engagement tools such as Outreach and Salesloft. |
| From other tools | Every agent has a link: one HTTP step in Zapier, n8n or Make, a Google Sheets formula, or the API. | Direct links with Salesforce, HubSpot and Microsoft Dynamics 365, many other integrations, and developer access through an API. |
Trade-offs
Where each is stronger
ZoomInfo is stronger when
- You want a deep database of contacts to work from, with direct phone numbers and org charts.
- You want intent data: signs of which companies are researching what you sell.
- Several teams need one shared source of data, with lead routing and scoring across them.
- You want your CRM records cleaned and enriched automatically, all the time.
- You sell to people in the EU, the EEA or the UK. ZoomInfo covers that region; Programmable skips people there altogether.
- You need certifications for a buyer: ZoomInfo's trust center lists ISO 27001 among others. Programmable holds none.
- You also want call and meeting review: ZoomInfo offers conversation intelligence through Chorus.
Programmable is stronger when
- You're a founder or a small team and want to start today, without a sales conversation.
- You want to see the price first: 500 credits are included to start, and the plans are on the pricing page.
- You'd rather describe who you sell to in a sentence than learn a platform.
- You want each company researched from public sources during the run: 468 columns are included with no keys of your own.
- You want outreach to wait for you by default, with one screen to approve or discard.
- You don't want your lists and results stored by the tool that built them.
- You sell to online stores: platform, apps, payments, shipping and returns, and speed measured during the run.
Questions
Can I bring my ZoomInfo list?
Yes. Export it from ZoomInfo as a CSV and upload it under Data, or start an agent from Your list. The website, email or LinkedIn column is found on its own, every column you brought is kept in order, and the research is added alongside. The file isn't stored. It's worth checking what your ZoomInfo agreement says about using exported data elsewhere.
Do I need a sales call or a contract to start?
No. Sign up and start with 500 credits included, with no card. You can then choose a monthly plan or buy a credit pack.
Does Programmable have the same data as ZoomInfo?
No. There's no contact database here, and it won't match ZoomInfo's depth on people or phone numbers. Programmable works out each row during the run from public sources, email pattern checks and any provider you connect, and it's at its best on researching companies.
Can I use ZoomInfo and Programmable together?
Yes. If you have ZoomInfo API access, connect it and its company facts (revenue, employees, industry and phone) are added to your rows. Your key adds no credits here. You can also upload anything you've exported.
Is Programmable a cheaper ZoomInfo?
It's a different shape of tool. ZoomInfo is a data platform for teams who need depth and coverage across a whole company. Programmable is for people who want an agent to find and research the next companies to contact. If you're paying for much more data than you use, an agent may be enough. If your team relies on that depth, it won't replace it.
Is Programmable SOC 2 certified?
No. We don't hold SOC 2 or another certification. What we keep and don't, how keys are encrypted and which services are involved is all on the security page.