Head to head
Bright Data vs ContactOut
As a data enrichment API, Bright Data rates higher on the APIbenchmarks Index, 80.3 to 55, a 25.3-point gap. Here is how they compare on each criterion.
Criterion by criterion
| Criterion | Bright Data | ContactOut |
|---|---|---|
| Documentation & DX | ||
| Reliability | ||
| Ecosystem & SDKs | ||
| Accessibility | ||
| APIbenchmarks Index | 80.3 | 55.0 |
Specifications
| Bright Data | ContactOut | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Bulk public people and company datasets for data teams | LinkedIn-based email and phone lookup for recruiters and sales |
| Free tier | Free dataset samples; new-account credits (unconfirmed for datasets) | 5 emails, 5 phones, 5 exports/day in the app; API not included |
| Pricing | Per 1,000 records ($2.50 CPM), plans/commits | Credits (search, email, phone) on a quoted API plan |
| Official SDKs | 5 languages | 4 languages |
Is Bright Data better than ContactOut?
On the APIbenchmarks Index, Bright Data rates higher (80.3 vs 55). It leads on the four weighted criteria, but price is reported separately, so the best choice still depends on your budget.
Verdict in one line
Bright Data leads by 25.3 points (80.3 vs 55) and wins 4 of 4 criteria.
Winner by criterion
| Criterion | Winner | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Documentation & DX | 82 | 70 | |
| Reliability | 80 | 58 | |
| Ecosystem & SDKs | 82 | 50 | |
| Accessibility | 76 | 35 |
Choose Bright Data if… / choose ContactOut if…
- →documentation & dx matters most to you (82 vs 70)
- →reliability matters most to you (80 vs 58)
- →ecosystem & sdks matters most to you (82 vs 50)
- →accessibility matters most to you (76 vs 35)
- →you need broad SDK coverage (5 official SDKs vs 4)
- →your use case matches its focus: bulk public people and company datasets for data teams
- →your use case matches its focus: linkedin-based email and phone lookup for recruiters and sales
Pricing side by side
- Model
- Per 1,000 records ($2.50 CPM), plans/commits
- Free tier
- Free dataset samples; new-account credits (unconfirmed for datasets)
- Dataset Marketplace (one-time)$250 for 100K records
- Dataset subscriptionDiscounted refresh
- Scraper API (pay-as-you-go)About $1.50 per 1,000 records
- EnterpriseCustom
- Model
- Credits (search, email, phone) on a quoted API plan
- Free tier
- 5 emails, 5 phones, 5 exports/day in the app; API not included
- Free$0
- Email~$49-$99/mo (sources conflict)
- Email + Phone~$99-$199/mo (sources conflict)
- Team / APICustom quote
Vendor-published pricing, verified 2026-10-07 (Bright Data) and 2026-10-07 (ContactOut).
SDK and language coverage
Both · 1
REST API
Only Bright Data · 4
Python (brightdata-sdk)JavaScript SDKMCP server (remote, OAuth)Snowflake / S3 / GCS delivery
Only ContactOut · 3
Webhooks for async bulk v2Third-party MCP via Composio and viaSocketNo official SDKs or OpenAPI spec found
Strengths and weaknesses
- +Self-serve Search (sync, up to 1,000 records) and Filter (async snapshots) APIs
- +Published $2.50 per 1,000 records with no charge for zero-match queries
- +669M+ LinkedIn people profiles plus company and jobs datasets
- –Public profile fields only; no verified emails or direct dials by default
- –No free API tier for datasets; $250 minimum for 100K-record packages
- –Enrichment emails/phones depend on a third-party partner
- +Public API reference with auth, endpoint credit rules and per-endpoint rate limits
- +Bulk enrichment up to 1,000 profiles per v2 job with webhook delivery
- +Boolean search, decision-maker and company endpoints plus email and phone verification
- –API is not on self-serve plans; Team/API requires a custom quote
- –Free app plan (5/5/5 per day) does not include API access
- –962 outages tracked by StatusGator over the past year, with a minor outage on the verification date
Bright Data vs ContactOut: questions
- Which has better documentation, Bright Data or ContactOut?
- Bright Data scores higher on documentation and developer experience: 82 vs 70 out of 100.
- Which is more reliable, Bright Data or ContactOut?
- Bright Data scores higher on reliability: 80 vs 58 out of 100.
- Do Bright Data and ContactOut have a free tier?
- Bright Data: yes (Free dataset samples; new-account credits (unconfirmed for datasets)). ContactOut: yes (5 emails, 5 phones, 5 exports/day in the app; API not included).
- How are Bright Data and ContactOut priced?
- Bright Data: Per 1,000 records ($2.50 CPM), plans/commits. ContactOut: Credits (search, email, phone) on a quoted API plan.
- Which has more official SDKs?
- Bright Data lists 5 official SDKs, ContactOut lists 4.