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Waterfall Enrichment Tools
Waterfall Enrichment Tools

Persana Team

Enrichment

Aug 2, 2025

Persana Team

Enrichment

Aug 2, 2025

Persana Team

Enrichment

Aug 2, 2025

Persana Team

Enrichment

Aug 2, 2025

8 Waterfall Enrichment Tools: Maximize Contact Data Coverage in 2025

You start with a list of 100 prospects but realize you need 250 contacts instead. Waterfall enrichment tools can solve this common challenge. Traditional enrichment methods leave 150 potential customers untouched.

Our experience shows the power of this layered approach. Tools like Cleanlist stack multiple providers to boost data coverage, accuracy, and deliverability. This means better email match rates, fewer bounces, and more verified phone numbers that enhance your B2B lead enrichment.

Let's look at the 8 best waterfall enrichment tools for 2025 that will change your contact data strategy and help you connect with more prospects effectively.

What is waterfall enrichment?

Waterfall enrichment works as a step-by-step data verification system that flows through multiple providers to build complete contact profiles. Traditional enrichment depends on just one source, but this system uses several data vendors in a planned sequence to verify and fill in missing information.

The term "waterfall" captures the essence of this process perfectly. Data flows down through different sources and becomes more accurate at each step. You can think of it as a layered verification system instead of a one-time lookup.

Your existing contact information starts its journey through a primary data provider. The system moves to a secondary provider if the first source can't fill all gaps, then to a third, and continues. Here's how it works:

  1. First provider tries to find missing details but doesn't get everything

  2. Second provider takes over and might find some data (like an email without a phone number)

  3. Third provider checks or completes information from earlier steps

  4. More providers join until your data is complete or all sources have been checked

Persana

Persana waterfall enrichment

Are you searching for a way to access multiple data sources at once? Persana stands above other waterfall enrichment tools because of its unique approach that maximizes contact data coverage. The platform checks your preferred providers one after another and moves to the next source only if previous ones don't give results.

Persana Key Features

Persana's waterfall enrichment system connects to over 75 data providers and delivers better contact information than single-source solutions. The platform's core capabilities are:

  • Waterfall Configuration Control: You can build your own data waterfall by choosing enrichment providers and setting their sequence.

  • Rule-Based Enrichment Logic: You decide what makes a "successful" result and control the timing of enrichment—during list upload, CRM update, or manual runs.

  • PersanaVector™ Technology: The system uses semantic intent recognition instead of simple keyword matching and achieves 76% higher relevance scores than traditional search methods.

  • Signal-Based Selling: The platform tracks over 75 buying intent indicators such as job changes, funding rounds, and website visits to spot high-potential prospects.

The platform's AI agent Nia takes care of up to 90% of sales development tasks. Teams can create automated workflows to find, engage, and nurture prospects without much manual work.

Persana Pros and Cons

Pros:

  • Match rates for contact information are better than Apollo and ZoomInfo combined

  • All paid plans come with unlimited team members

  • Teams cut down 8-10 hours of prospecting work each week

  • The platform connects smoothly with major CRM systems like Salesforce and HubSpot

  • Immediate job change alerts help you spot new opportunities

Cons:

  • New users face a steep learning curve

  • The platform's documentation needs work

  • Small and medium businesses benefit more than enterprise operations

  • High-volume users might hit scaling limits

Persana Pricing

The platform uses a simple credit-based pricing model. Most actions cost 1 credit, but phone numbers need 10 credits:

  • Free: $0/month with 50 credits (50 emails, 5 phones)

  • Starter: $68/month billed annually with 24,000 credits/year

  • Growth: $151/month billed annually with 60,000 credits/year

  • Pro: $400/month billed annually with 216,000 credits/year

  • Unlimited: $600/month billed annually with 600,000 credits/year

Persana's updated "Pricing 2.0" lets you roll over credits and add more without changing plans. This makes it easy to adapt to different usage patterns.

Persana Best Use Case

Persana excels at combining data enrichment with smart analysis. The platform works best for:

  • SDRs and BDRs who want to spend less time on lead research

  • Sales managers and RevOps teams that need to scale outreach

  • B2B/SaaS founders running solo sales operations

  • Growth and marketing teams looking for AI-powered customized outreach

Companies that use Persana see a 95% jump in qualified leads and save three weeks each month by dropping manual scoring. Teams practicing consultative selling find it especially useful because they need deep prospect insights for customized outreach.

Persana gives you a complete solution to maximize contact data coverage through waterfall enrichment. You won't need multiple subscriptions, and you'll get better quality lead data.

BetterContact

BetterContact

BetterContact ranks as one of the quickest ways to enrich contact data. The platform simplifies data acquisition processes. It handles over 150,000 secure data enrichments each day for more than 1,000 companies and gives remarkable results through its detailed approach to b2b data enrichment.

BetterContact Key Features

BetterContact shines with its multi-source waterfall enrichment system that links to all but one of these 20 premium data providers like Apollo and Hunter. This setup brings impressive results:

  • Exceptional Accuracy: Delivers 99.5% email verification accuracy through multi-layer verification, including SMTP and catch-all validation

  • Massive Database Access: Gives you access to more than 3 billion global contact points

  • Intelligent Integration: Connects natively with Clay, HubSpot, and Make platforms

  • Google Sheets App: Lets you find lead data right from your spreadsheets

  • Website Visitor Identification: Uses RB2B integration to track and identify website visitors precisely

The platform runs on credits - you only pay when it finds and verifies valid data. This transparency runs through their entire service. Email verification through Bouncer comes included in the credit costs to ensure optimal deliverability.

BetterContact Pros and Cons

Pros:

  • Superior Data Aggregation: Multiple data sources boost your chances of finding accurate contact details

  • Cost-Efficiency: You pay only for verified data that works

  • Process Improvement: Smooth integration with popular platforms speeds up your workflow

  • Credit Rollover: Unused credits move to next month (up to your subscription amount)

  • Compliance Assurance: Complete GDPR, CCPA, and EU-DSGVO compliance keeps data processing secure

Cons:

  • Limited Free Trial: Original free credits might not let you evaluate enough

  • External Dependencies: Relying on external data providers could affect consistency

  • Feature Accessibility: You might need higher-tier subscriptions for advanced features

  • Data Variability: Find rates average between 30-60% for emails or mobile phone numbers

BetterContact Pricing

The platform has clear, simple pricing that fits different business needs:

  • Starter: USD 15.00/month – Has 200 email credits (or 20 phone number credits)

  • Pro: USD 49.00/month – Comes with 1,000 email credits (or 100 phone number credits)

  • Enterprise: Custom pricing based on your business needs

One credit equals one email (with verification), while phone numbers need 10 credits each. The platform charges only when it finds and verifies data. Failed searches cost nothing.

Companies using BetterContact see real improvements in their contact rates. Users report 37% more pipeline generation, 21% better connect rates, and 27% higher meeting-to-customer conversion through cold calling.

BetterContact is a great solution for teams who want to find contacts without juggling multiple subscriptions or API keys. Sales teams often don't deal very well with traditional providers like ZoomInfo that can't deliver mobile numbers or complete contact details. This makes it especially useful for b2b lead enrichment projects that need detailed data coverage.

Clay

Clay home page

Clay stands out from other waterfall enrichment tools as a marketplace that unifies over 75 data providers in one platform. This "all-in-one" solution helps you avoid multiple subscriptions and maximizes your data coverage through smart provider sequencing.

Clay Key Features

Clay shines with its detailed waterfall enrichment system that checks data sources in sequence until it finds what you need. The platform's best features include:

  • Multi-provider waterfall access: You get access to 50+ trusted data sources like SMARTe, ZoomInfo, Clearbit, and People Data Labs without juggling separate subscriptions

  • Claygent AI assistant: The AI finds data points that traditional providers miss, such as certifications, podcast appearances, and company details

  • Custom waterfall configuration: You can build your own data waterfalls by picking which providers to check first, which helps you get better coverage at lower costs

  • Automated CRM enrichment: You can set up workflows that update your CRM data whenever you want

The platform enriches records with firmographics (industry, company size, revenue), technographics (tools used, software spend), demographics (role, seniority), and verified contact details. Any unused credits roll over to next month, and you can save up to double your monthly amount.

Clay Pros and Cons

Pros:

  • You save thousands each year by avoiding multiple data provider subscriptions

  • You get better data coverage through 75+ enrichment tools in one place

  • The platform works great for sales prospecting, account-based marketing, and CRM data cleanup

  • The credit system charges you only when enrichment succeeds—no results means no charge

Cons:

  • The learning curve is steep and it takes several weeks to learn all features

  • The complex credit system might cost more than direct API services in some cases

  • The outreach templates are basic and need extra time to personalize

  • Some integration issues pop up, especially with popular CRMs like HubSpot

Clay Pricing

Clay uses a credit-based system where each enrichment action uses credits from your monthly allowance:

The Pro plan gives you the best value at about $16 per 1,000 credits, while the Starter plan costs $75 per 1,000 credits. Every plan includes unlimited users, and you get a 10% discount with annual billing plus all credits upfront.

Clay's marketplace approach makes it special—they buy credits in bulk from various providers and pass the savings to you, which helps companies triple their enrichment rates compared to their old solutions.

Cognism

Cognism

Cognism stands out in the waterfall enrichment ecosystem by using its proprietary verification system that combines AI technology with human validation. The company manages to keep its own extensively verified database with a focus on quality over quantity, unlike tools that simply chain together third-party sources.

Cognism Key Features

The company's approach to b2b data enrichment centers around their proprietary database that internal teams maintain. Their key capabilities are:

  • Diamond Data®: Phone-verified mobile numbers help users reach decision-makers three times more effectively than standard contact methods

  • Diamonds-on-Demand®: Premium feature lets users submit strategic prospects to verify contact information accuracy, including mobile numbers

  • Multiple Enrichment Methods: Users can choose from Instant CRM Enrichment to improve inbound lead responses, Scheduled CRM Enrichment to keep data accurate at regular intervals, and On-Demand CSV Enhancement to enrich uploaded lists

  • Extensive Integration Support: The platform combines smoothly with Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive, Microsoft Dynamics, Outreach, and Salesloft

  • Intent Data: Users get access to Bombora's Company Surge® data to spot accounts that actively research relevant topics. Administrators can pick up to 12 intent topics from over 11,000 options

The platform's machine learning algorithms check millions of data points daily. A team of researchers verifies this information to ensure consistent data quality.

Cognism Pros and Cons

Pros:

  • The platform leads in EMEA region data coverage and outperforms competitors like ZoomInfo

  • The system was built from the ground up to comply with GDPR and CCPA regulations

  • Plans come with unlimited views and exports instead of credits (subject to fair use policy)

  • Customer support scores high with 20-second average response time and 99% satisfaction

  • Chrome extension works well with LinkedIn and Sales Navigator

Cons:

  • Small and medium-sized businesses internationally might find data quality lacking

  • Company details and revenue estimates can be outdated

  • Setting up and mapping fields takes time at first

  • Large data list downloads can be slow

Cognism Pricing

The platform offers two main pricing tiers without public pricing:

  • Grow: Basic package with contact and company data for prospecting, including Diamond Data® contacts

  • Elevate: Premium tier that adds advanced intelligence and useful signals to everything in Grow

Both packages give users unlimited data views, individual and page-level exports (up to 25 records at once), and full integration options. The platform doesn't use credits like its competitors. Prices change based on user count, features, contract length, and data volume needs.

Different sources suggest annual costs range from $15,000-$25,000 for Platinum tier and $25,000-$100,000 for Diamond tier, though these numbers vary based on its coverage sources.

Lemlist

Lemlist provides a complete waterfall enrichment system that runs your data through top 8 providers at once. This makes it perfect for businesses looking to combine multichannel outreach with data enrichment. The system delivers high verification rates and needs minimal user input.

Lemlist Key Features

Lemlist's waterfall enrichment technology excels by bringing multiple data sources together without API keys or technical setup. The platform delivers these core features:

  • High-performance verification: Finds 80% of emails and 50% of phone numbers on average

  • Automated sequential checking: The system moves to other providers if one can't find contact details

  • Credit efficiency: You only pay for data that's successfully found—not failed searches

  • LinkedIn enrichment: The Chrome extension pulls profile data directly

  • Multichannel integration: You get enrichment with email, LinkedIn, and calling features in one place

The platform goes beyond simple enrichment. You get a unified inbox to manage all prospect interactions. AI-powered personalization tools help you create engaging outreach campaigns with enriched data points.

Lemlist Pros and Cons

Pros:

  • Unused credits roll over to next month, so no resources go to waste

  • Double-checking each email reduces bounce rates

  • You won't need multiple tools since enrichment connects to several providers

  • One platform handles enrichment, campaign creation, and outreach

  • You can prospect effectively from any location worldwide

Cons:

  • The platform's rich feature set takes time to master

  • Lower tiers support fewer email accounts

  • Prices run higher than single-purpose enrichment tools

  • High-volume campaigns sometimes face sending delays

Lemlist Pricing

The platform's pricing is straightforward with waterfall enrichment in all plans:

Lemlist Pricing

Extra credits cost about USD 0.05 per email and USD 0.20 per phone number. The platform uses pay-for-success pricing—charges apply only when valid contact details are found.

Lemlist creates simplified processes for teams that want enrichment and outreach capabilities together. You won't need to switch between multiple tools, and data quality stays high.

Cleanlist

Cleanlist

Cleanlist raises waterfall enrichment quality by utilizing 15+ premium data sources in a single accessible interface. The platform provides accurate contact information that helps sales teams get better coverage while you retain control over verification standards.

Cleanlist Key Features

The platform's foundation is a complete waterfall enrichment process that sequences multiple data providers. These features make it stand out:

  • One-Click LinkedIn Extraction: Extract targeted lead lists directly from LinkedIn Sales Navigator with a single click

  • Contact Data Scraper: Find missing phone numbers and emails to build complete directories from incomplete lead lists

  • AI-Powered Contact Cleaner: Apply customizable cleaning filters for data precision and business readiness

  • Triple Email Verification: Each contact goes through validation and catch-all detection to protect sender reputation

  • Waterfall Data Enrichment: Cross-references multiple data sources to select the most reliable contact details

Cleanlist works as more than just a tool. It becomes your partner throughout the sales process and ensures your outreach time delivers maximum results.

Cleanlist Pros and Cons

Pros:

  • Better open rates through targeted, verified audience selection

  • Reduced bounce rates protect email deliverability and domain reputation

  • Conversational-style data presentation increases prospect involvement

  • Sales teams no longer need manual data cleaning

  • Campaign-ready leads with automatic updates for stale information

Cons:

  • Higher pricing than single-source enrichment tools

  • Few direct integrations with popular CRM platforms

  • Credit usage varies by data type (emails vs. phones)

Cleanlist Pricing

The platform offers three pricing tiers with annual billing discounts:

Email verification needs 1 credit, while phone numbers need 10 credits. Every plan includes complete waterfall enrichment access to 15+ data sources and triple email validation.

LeadMagic

LeadMagic

LeadMagic uses a credit-based approach to waterfall enrichment that focuses on verified data to improve B2B lead enrichment results. The platform charges you only when it works—you won't pay anything if no valid data is found.

LeadMagic Key Features

LeadMagic strengthens your data enrichment with these core capabilities:

  • Email Finder: Delivers 99% accuracy with catch-all validation system

  • Mobile Finder: Uses waterfall mobile enrichment and charges only for discovered mobile numbers

  • Company Insights: Reveals company ad spend, technographics, and competitor information

  • B2B Profile Enrichment: Monitors job changes and social engagement posts with up-to-the-minute data analysis

  • Jobs Finder: Pulls data directly from company job boards with customizable alerts

The platform includes API access (docs.leadmagic.io) that works with your existing tools.

LeadMagic Pros and Cons

Pros:

  • Accuracy-driven approach with 99% email accuracy rates

  • Success-based payment model means you pay only for valid data

  • Smooth integration with Clay, SmartLead, and other automation tools

  • G2 High Performer award for data quality

  • Freedom from long-term contracts

Cons:

  • Not much clarity on high-volume pricing

  • Small-scale users with basic enrichment needs might find it pricey

  • API adjustments might be needed for some automation tools

  • Certain integration options come with rate limits

LeadMagic Pricing

LeadMagic keeps it simple with a credit-based subscription model:

  • 10,000 Credits: USD 99.99/month ($0.01 per credit)

  • 30,000 Credits: USD 259.99/month ($0.01 per credit)

Here's how credits work:

  • Valid Email: 1 credit (catch-all emails are free)

  • Email Validation: 1 credit per 20 emails

  • Valid Mobile: 5 credits

  • Profile/Company Search: 1 credit each

AnyMailFinder

AnyMailFinder

AnyMailFinder excels at one specific task in the waterfall enrichment ecosystem. The service helps users find verified professional email addresses through a simple process. This UK-based company's service delivers a 97%+ success rate for completely verified contacts.

AnyMailFinder Key Features

  • Single-purpose efficiency: The platform focuses only on email finding instead of trying to be a detailed B2B database

  • Verification-first approach: The system checks deliverability with spam trap detection and catch-all validation

  • Pay-for-success model: Users pay only for completely verified emails while partially verified ones come free

  • LinkedIn integration: A Chrome extension makes email extraction from profiles simple

  • Bulk processing: The system processes CSV uploads up to 100,000 rows

  • Developer-friendly API: Users get both synchronous (single lookups) and asynchronous (bulk) endpoints

AnyMailFinder Pros and Cons

Pros:

  • Monthly credits roll over to prevent waste

  • The pricing stays transparent without charges for failed searches

  • The system detects catch-all domains effectively

Cons:

  • Processing takes longer (155 minutes for 1,000 leads in tests)

  • Email finding rate needs improvement (476 emails found from 1,000 test leads)

  • The system only finds emails without additional data enrichment

AnyMailFinder Pricing

The monthly plans begin at USD 14.00 for 50 credits. The most affordable annual option costs USD 9.00 monthly for 600 yearly credits. Enterprise customers can get rates as low as USD 10.00 per 1,000 emails.

Conclusion

B2B teams have completely changed how they get contact data thanks to waterfall enrichment tools. Platforms that utilize multiple providers in sequence now offer better coverage than traditional single-source enrichment. Each tool brings something unique to the table. Persana connects to 75+ data providers. BetterContact achieves 99.5% accuracy in email verification. Clay takes a marketplace approach. Cognism offers Diamond Data®. Lemlist excels at multichannel outreach. Cleanlist uses triple verification. LeadMagic works on a pay-per-success model. AnyMailFinder specializes in email discovery.

Your choice depends on your budget, team size, and needs. These tools deliver real results. Teams using them report 37-45% more revenue. Their bounce rates drop substantially. They save 8-10 hours each week on prospecting work.

Most providers use credit-based pricing. You only pay when data enrichment succeeds instead of keeping multiple expensive subscriptions. This affordable approach makes detailed data coverage available to smaller teams with tight budgets.

Waterfall enrichment helps sales and marketing teams reach more prospects with accurate, verified contact details. Check out Persana.ai to see how connecting to 75+ data providers can reshape your prospecting and save hours of manual research.

Quality data and coverage will shape B2B outreach going forward. Waterfall enrichment tools give you both. Your team can focus on building real relationships with prospects that matter instead of spending time on research.

FAQ

What is the best data enrichment tool?

Your specific business needs determine the ideal b2b data enrichment tool. Tools with waterfall capabilities work better than single-source solutions. Companies focused on EMEA data should look at Cognism. BetterContact might work well if you need an economical solution - they charge just USD 49 for 1,000 monthly credits. The best tool should give you:

  • Multiple data sources (minimum 15-20 providers)

  • Pay-for-success pricing model

  • Integration with your existing CRM

  • Compliance with regulations like GDPR/CCPA

Clay and Persana deliver better results with their 75+ data providers when you need complete coverage.

What is a Persana waterfall?

A Persana waterfall is a step-by-step enrichment method that checks multiple data providers (50+) in a specific order. The system moves to the next provider automatically if one source doesn't find results. Persana's AI-powered system makes it special. It starts with budget-friendly providers and moves to premium sources only when needed. This approach streamlines processes and saves money. Users typically see three times better data coverage and quality, and they only pay for new emails they receive.

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