Database Companies vs Market Intelligence Platforms [updated 2025]

Database companies are radically transforming how organizations find and leverage business opportunities.  

However, selecting the right platform can be overwhelming. We have thoroughly researched the four leading market solutions to help you understand the unique benefits each platform offers.  

Apollo

Apollo stands out as a comprehensive B2B sales and marketing platform that has revolutionized how businesses find and connect with potential customers. With over 500,000 companies using its services, Apollo has established itself as one of the most effective database companies in the market.  

Key Features of Apollo

The platform distinguishes itself by offering a complete set of tools designed to optimize every stage of the sales process:  

• Extensive database: Apollo boasts over 260 million contact profiles, enabling highly specific searches based on criteria such as geographic location, industry sector, company size, and annual revenue.  
• Advanced search engine: Allows precise definition of the ideal customer using more than 50 different filters, making it easier to identify prospects that truly match the desired profile.  
• Task automation: The platform enables scheduling email sends, setting up phone calls, and managing contact sequences, increasing the sales team’s efficiency.  
• Data enrichment: Apollo provides tools to access additional prospect information, including over 30 data points per profile, facilitating message personalization.  
• CRM integration: Easily integrates with systems like HubSpot and Salesforce, allowing data synchronization and avoiding duplicates, simplifying lead and contact management from a single platform.  
• Pipeline Builder: Helps build a sales pipeline faster with better data, smarter AI, and simpler automation.  
• Call Assistant: Includes features like call recording, meeting scheduling, and AI analysis to help close more deals.  
• LinkedIn integration: Through a Google Chrome extension, it simplifies obtaining detailed information about companies and individuals directly from LinkedIn profiles.  

Benefits of Using Apollo for B2B Prospecting

Implementing Apollo as a B2B prospecting tool provides significant advantages that transform sales teams’ efficiency and results:  

• Significant time savings: Automating repetitive tasks frees up valuable time that teams can dedicate to higher-value activities.  
• Increased contact effectiveness: Companies report double the email open rates and four times more scheduled meetings when using Apollo.  
• Data centralization: Unifying all information in a single platform facilitates team coordination and results analysis.  
• Advanced personalization: Having updated data allows tailoring communication to each prospect’s specific needs, increasing message relevance and success likelihood.  
• Improved lead generation: Its extensive database and data enrichment tools help identify and qualify leads more effectively.  
• Reduced operational costs: Apollo replaces multiple tools (such as ZoomInfo, Outreach, Salesloft) with a single platform, significantly lowering costs while improving results.  
• Always-updated data: The system automatically keeps CRM and marketing automation information current, ensuring teams always work with the latest data.  

Dun & Bradstreet

With over 180 years of experience, Dun & Bradstreet has established itself as a global leader in providing commercial, financial, and risk information. Founded in 1841, it was the first company dedicated to this activity and currently holds data on over 587 million businesses worldwide.  

Key Features of Dun & Bradstreet

The D-U-N-S (Data Universal Numbering System) is one of Dun & Bradstreet’s fundamental pillars. This nine-digit numerical identifier provides a unique identity to each business while linking corporate family structures. Currently, it is recognized and required by over 200 global companies, industries, and trade associations, including the United Nations and governments like the U.S.  

Additionally, Dun & Bradstreet offers:  

• Risk management solutions: Tools like D&B Finance Analytics and D&B Risk Analytics assess the creditworthiness and financial stability of clients and suppliers.  
• Data analysis platforms: CIAL360 Credit automates credit decision processes, while D&B Ask Procurement provides deep supplier analysis using advanced AI technology.  
• Supplier validation services: CIAL360 Supplier and Supplier+ facilitate certification, management, and supply chain risk assessment.  
• Regulatory compliance solutions: Compliance Onboard and Compliance Watch help mitigate financial, legal, and reputational risks.  
• ESG analysis: ESG Risk Essentials and ESG Registered evaluate environmental, social, and governance criteria for clients and suppliers.  

Furthermore, Dun & Bradstreet uses a rigorous process called DUNSRight to aggregate, standardize, and enrich business data, ensuring the highest quality of provided information.  

Benefits of Using Dun & Bradstreet for Business Decisions

Implementing Dun & Bradstreet solutions offers significant advantages for business decision-making:  

• Global data access: Users can access data from anywhere in the world, facilitating international operations.  
• Real-time visibility: Reporting allows verifying a company’s health in real time, enabling immediate data-driven decisions.  
• Security and accessibility: Cloud storage ensures secure information backup while keeping it accessible when needed.  
• Full operational control: The tools provide clear visibility and total control over a company’s most critical operations.  
• Operational efficiency: Some companies report credit decisions up to 12 times faster with tools like CIAL360 Credit.  
• Cost reduction: A 90% decrease in credit investigation costs has been documented for some organizations.  
• Process automation: Companies implementing these solutions achieve 100% elimination of manual data collection, significantly increasing efficiency.  
• Faster supplier evaluation: The systems enable evaluating new suppliers 50% faster, streamlining the supply chain.  
• Growth acceleration: Using precise, updated data can generate 11% more new business.  

ZoomInfo

ZoomInfo emerges as a powerful commercial data intelligence platform that has transformed how businesses identify and connect with potential customers. Founded in 2000, this solution has become essential for sales, marketing, and hiring teams seeking accurate, updated information on companies and professionals.  

Key Features of ZoomInfo

ZoomInfo stands out for its vast database, which includes:  

• Over 600 million professional profiles  
• 1.3 billion company profiles worldwide  

This extensive data collection enables users to:  

• Advanced lead segmentation: The platform filters and segments leads based on specific criteria like industry, size, location, and other relevant factors, simplifying the identification of high-potential prospects.  
• Predictive AI: ZoomInfo incorporates advanced AI tools that analyze behaviors and predict potential customer actions, allowing teams to adapt strategies proactively.  
• Real-time updates: The system keeps information constantly updated, ensuring sales teams always work with accurate, relevant data.  
• Advanced search: Search functionalities include filters for specific criteria, making it easy to create highly segmented prospect lists.  
• CRM and marketing platform integration: ZoomInfo seamlessly integrates with popular systems like Salesforce, HubSpot, and Outreach, enabling real-time data synchronization.  

Additionally, ZoomInfo offers four main services:  

• SalesOS for sales prospecting  
• MarketingOS for account-based sales and marketing integration  
• OperationsOS for data management  
• TalentOS for talent sourcing  

Benefits of Using ZoomInfo for Sales and Marketing

Implementing ZoomInfo as a central business intelligence tool provides significant advantages:  

• Qualified prospect identification: Easily locate high-quality potential customers with precise, updated information that facilitates lead generation and effective prospecting.  
• Improved efficiency: Task automation and instant access to relevant data drastically reduce research time—from hours or days to minutes.  
• Deep customer insights: The platform provides information on business backgrounds, financial data, recent trends, and target account organizational structures.  
• Strategy personalization: Identifying prospects’ specific needs and challenges allows teams to tailor value propositions more effectively.  
• Sales-marketing alignment: Integrating both departments into a unified system improves collaboration and provides a more complete view of potential customers.  

xNova International

Among today’s most prominent database companies, xNova distinguishes itself as a platform specialized in business intelligence for exporting companies. Unlike traditional tools, xNova doesn’t just store information—it analyzes millions of international trade data points, positioning itself as a market intelligence platform.  

Key Features of xNova

xNova offers a suite of tools specifically designed to manage and optimize export strategies. Its main functionalities include:  

• Smart importer/exporter search engine: The platform helps identify international potential clients through searches by product or tariff code. Users can apply filters by country, time, or status for more precise results matching their product’s specific characteristics.  
• Advanced OR/AND filters: This functionality transforms platform searches, enabling highly specific queries. For export managers working with specific product lines, this system drastically reduces market prospecting time.  
• Excel data download: Users can extract all available tables in Excel format, providing flexibility to analyze information offline. This enables complex transaction analysis, report generation, and valuable insights without an internet connection.  
• Product filtering on company pages: This feature allows users to narrow down information exactly to what interests them. By applying product descriptions and tariff code filters within any company, users can focus their research on products directly affecting their business.  
• Complete importer data access: The platform provides exhaustive details on each importer, including transaction history, current and past suppliers, and purchase frequency—critical for assessing each client’s potential.  
• Direct contact with purchasing managers: xNova provides access to the right contact’s information (name, email, phone number) without leaving the platform.  

Benefits of Using xNova as a Business Intelligence Platform

Implementing xNova as a business intelligence tool delivers multiple competitive advantages for exporting companies:  

• Significant client increase: Companies experience an average 22% growth in client numbers after 12 months of using xNova.  
• Higher revenue per client: An average 36% increase in revenue per client is recorded after one year of use.  
• Substantial time savings: xNova’s new functionalities cut user prospecting time in half.  
• Comprehensive market knowledge: The platform identifies potential clients in each market and reveals their current suppliers, providing a significant competitive edge.  
• Faster decision-making: With correct, updated market data, companies can make quicker, more accurate decisions.  

Moreover, the platform combines millions of international trade data points with cutting-edge technology, analyzing global trade data to provide a comprehensive view of international market evolution.  

Conclusion

After analyzing these four database companies, it’s clear that each offers specific advantages depending on your organization’s needs.  

• xNova excels in international trade, providing crucial insights for exporters looking to expand globally.  
• Apollo shines with its extensive B2B database and automation tools, doubling commercial communication effectiveness.  
• Dun & Bradstreet, with 180+ years of experience, delivers unmatched value for businesses needing precise financial and commercial risk assessment.  
• ZoomInfo stands out for providing real-time updated data and seamless integration with sales and marketing platforms.  

The choice depends on your specific goals:  

• Exporters will find xNova ideal.  
• B2B prospecting-focused businesses will benefit most from Apollo.  
• Financial risk analysis-driven organizations should prioritize Dun & Bradstreet.  
• Sales teams needing accurate, real-time data will value ZoomInfo’s capabilities.  

All share one common denominator: they transform static data into actionable business intelligence, enabling smarter decisions, time savings, and, ultimately, maximized financial performance.