Ask three GTM teams what "intent data" means and you'll get three different products recommended, because the category actually contains three different jobs wearing the same label. Bombora is the raw signal underneath most of the industry. 6sense is a full operating system built on top of signals like that. ZoomInfo bundles a version of intent directly into the contact database most reps already have open. Comparing their price tags without knowing which job each one does is comparing three different purchases.
Here's what each one actually is, what it costs once the real contract terms are counted, and which kind of team it fits.
What Each Platform Actually Is
Bombora doesn't sell you a platform to log into every day. It sells a feed: Company Surge, a score built from a co-op of B2B publishers tracking when an account's content consumption on a given topic spikes. Most other intent products, including a chunk of what ZoomInfo sells, license or resell Bombora's data underneath their own interface. It's the deepest third-party topic catalog in the category, but it's an ingredient, not a finished meal.
6sense builds a full ABM operating system on top of signals like that. It combines third-party intent, anonymous website visitor de-anonymization and predictive account-stage scoring, then adds audience building, multichannel orchestration and advertising on top. It's been named a Leader in Gartner's Magic Quadrant for ABM Platforms five years running. Its Signalverse technology processes over a trillion buying signals a day across 40-plus languages.
ZoomInfo takes a third approach entirely. It layers Bombora-powered topic intent and first-party signals (its own "Scoops" on hiring, funding and leadership changes) directly into the same platform reps already use for contact search, so intent shows up as one more filter next to a name and a phone number instead of a separate tool to check.
Real Pricing, Not Sticker Prices
None of these three publish list pricing. All three run on annual, quote-based contracts with no monthly option. That's the first real cost most buyers miss: even the entry tier is a full-year commitment.
Bombora's Company Surge typically starts around $25,000 to $30,000 a year for weekly-refreshed data with no contact information bundled in. Mid-market deals commonly land near $100,000. Enterprise contracts covering more topics and faster refresh cycles can reach $300,000.
ZoomInfo's SalesOS runs three tiers. Professional starts near $14,995 a year for three seats and 5,000 credits, but intent data isn't included at that tier. Advanced, at roughly $24,995 to $30,000 a year with 10,000 credits, is where intent, org charts and real-time alerts actually unlock. Elite starts around $39,995 and adds ZoomInfo's Copilot AI layer on top.
6sense doesn't publish figures at all. Industry reporting places enterprise ABM platforms like 6sense in the five-to-six-figure range annually. Given the orchestration and advertising layers bundled on top of the raw signal, it's priced closer to Bombora's mid-market and enterprise tiers than to ZoomInfo's entry point.
Signal Depth Isn't Identical Either
Bombora's advantage is breadth on a single axis: topic-level third-party intent across its publisher network, refreshed weekly, with nothing else layered in to dilute or interpret it. 6sense's advantage is synthesis: it doesn't just show a spike, it scores where an account sits in a buying journey using that spike plus de-anonymized visits and other behavioral data. ZoomInfo's advantage is proximity: whatever intent signal it surfaces sits next to the actual contact record a rep needs to act on it, with no second login required.
Who Each One Actually Fits
- Teams building their own scoring or orchestration logic on top of raw intent generally fit Bombora better. It's a feed meant to be piped into whatever stack already exists, not a destination on its own.
- Marketing and sales teams running a mature, dedicated ABM motion generally fit 6sense better. The orchestration and advertising layers only pay for themselves once account-based plays are already a core part of how the team operates.
- Teams already living inside ZoomInfo for prospecting generally fit ZoomInfo's bundled intent better, since upgrading an existing seat is a smaller lift than standing up a second platform just for signal data. Teams instead routing multiple providers through one enrichment workflow may find Clay's waterfall approach a better fit than committing to a single intent vendor.
6sense vs. Bombora vs. ZoomInfo: Which One Should You Actually Use?
- You need the rawest, most flexible intent feed to build custom logic against. Bombora. No platform to learn, just a signal to route wherever it's needed.
- You're running dedicated account-based marketing at real scale. 6sense, for the scoring and orchestration nothing else in this comparison bundles together.
- Your reps already prospect inside ZoomInfo daily. ZoomInfo's own intent tier, since the signal shows up exactly where the contact record already lives.
- Budget is the deciding constraint, not feature depth. ZoomInfo's Advanced tier is the cheapest entry point among the three that actually includes intent data, well below Bombora's or 6sense's typical minimums.
FAQ
Can I use more than one of these at once?
Yes. It's common. A team can run Bombora as a raw feed into its own scoring model while separately using ZoomInfo for contact search, since the two solve different problems rather than competing for the identical use case.
Is 6sense worth it if we're not already doing account-based marketing?
Usually not yet. Its orchestration and advertising layers are built to extend an existing ABM motion, not create one from scratch, so teams without that motion in place tend to pay for capability they aren't positioned to use.
Why doesn't ZoomInfo's cheapest plan include intent data?
Because ZoomInfo prices intent as an upsell on top of its core contact database rather than a default feature, so Professional-tier buyers are paying for contacts and search first, with signal data reserved for the Advanced tier and up.
If you're trying to figure out which intent setup actually fits your GTM stack, get in touch.