# CB Insights Alternatives (2026): 6 Platforms Compared

> CB Insights contracts are reported at $40k-$100k/yr. Compare it with Harmonic, PitchBook and other alternatives on coverage, price, and features

- Canonical: https://multiples.vc/compare/cb-insights-alternatives
- Facts last verified: 2026-08-17
- Method: https://multiples.vc/compare/methodology (estimates labelled *; corrections: hi@multiples.vc)

## What is CB Insights?

CB Insights is a market intelligence platform that tracks private companies, VC rounds, angel investments, and emerging technology trends. To help enterprises analyze competitors and market dynamics, CB Insights uses proprietary metrics such as the "Mosaic Score" for company health and exit probabilities.

CB Insights does not publish official list pricing or self-serve tiers. All packages require an annual commitment and a custom quote via a sales demo. Customer reports and procurement data indicate that annual contracts are very expensive, and run $40,000 to $100,000, scaling higher depending on seats and selected modules.

CB Insights has several built-in productivity extensions, like Browser Analyst for quick on-page company insights, Strategy Terminal for deeper database access and AI chat tools.

CB Insights was founded in 2008 in New York and remains an independent private company.

There are many alternatives that can replace CB Insights. PitchBook carries significantly deeper deal and fund data. Multiples delivers public company data, and a full coverage across M&A and funding rounds. Crunchbase covers basic startup discovery at very low monthly subscription price. Tracxn’s sector feeds are the closest match to CB Insights’ market maps. Harmonic and Specter cover signal-based startup sourcing.

## CB Insights alternatives

|  | CB Insights | Multiples | PitchBook | Gain.pro | Tracxn | Harmonic | Specter |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Best for | VC and growth capital firms, startups, governments | Small to mid-size M&A boutiques, VC/PE firms, corp dev teams and CFOs | Enterprise clients, bulge bracket investment banks, mega funds | PE funds, M&A firms, in particular Europe-focused | M&A, PE and VC firms, governments, in particular India-focused | VC and growth funds sourcing startups programmatically | VC and growth funds sourcing startups by traction signals |
| Price per seat | $40k-$100k/yr* | $239-499/mo | $25k-$70k+/yr* | Quoted, $15k+/yr | ~$550/mo* | $10-30k/yr* | $500+/mo* |
| Contract | Annual | Monthly or annual | Annual | Annual | Annual | Annual | Annual |
| Free trial | Partial (Needs demo) | Yes (Self sign-up) | Partial (Needs demo) | Partial (Needs demo) | Partial (Needs demo) | Partial (Needs demo) | Partial (Needs demo) |
| Public comps | Partial (No estimates) | Yes (With estimates) | Yes (With estimates) | No | Partial (No estimates) | No | No |
| M&A multiples | Yes (Included) | Yes (Included) | Yes (Included) | Partial (Limited) | Yes (Included) | No | No |
| VC multiples | Yes (Included) | Yes (Included) | Yes (Included) | Partial (Limited) | Yes (Included) | No | Partial (Estimates only) |
| Fund & LP data | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Contact data | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Real-time stock data | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Excel add-in | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| API | Yes (Enterprise pricing) | Yes (From $1,499/mo) | Yes (Enterprise pricing) | Yes (Enterprise pricing) | Yes (Enterprise pricing) | Yes (Enterprise pricing) | Yes (Credit-metered) |
| MCP server | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes |

_* = reported figure, vendor does not officially publish pricing. Published prices and reported ranges are stated as they stand in August 2026._

## Also worth considering

- **Gain.pro:** Gain.pro covers European private companies universe. It features analyst-researched profiles (claimed to be spending 12+ hours on each), ownership and private company financials. Choose it if you need European PE coverage.
- **Grata:** Grata covers founder-owned US mid-market companies by crawling websites. It claims 21M+ companies with verified executive contacts, reported pricing at $15k-$40k per year. Choose Grata if your use case is US mid-market sourcing rather than pure tech research.

## CB Insights pricing, features and coverage vs. alternatives

### Multiples

Multiples is a private and public comps valuation database, with 165,000+ M&A transactions, 330,000+ funding rounds (with revenue and EBITDA multiples where financials were disclosed), plus 19,000+ public companies with consensus estimates.

Multiples and CB Insights are both market intelligence platforms serving investors/bankers, but they focus on different use cases. Multiples specializes in valuations - public comparables, private M&A valuation multiples, VC rounds. Its data is licensed and powered by FactSet, so expect high-quality, concrete data sets. CB Insights functions as a broader tech market intelligence platform. It tracks global private companies using predictive algorithms like the Mosaic Score. It mines unstructured data sources including patents, earnings calls, regulatory filings, and media to map technology trends and competitive landscapes.

Compared to CB Insights, Multiples sells data, not research. Multiples is a lean, affordable ($239–$499/mo) financial data platform that delivers high-quality valuation data. CB Insights is a heavy, enterprise-grade market intelligence and trend-prediction platform, with significantly higher annual contract costs ($40k+/yr).

**Pricing:** Pro: $239/mo (billed annually) or $299 (monthly). Pro Max: $399/mo (billed annually) or $499 (monthly). API: from $1,499/mo. Free 3-day trial.

**Strengths:**
- Extensive valuation data across M&A and VC deals
- Public comps licensed from FactSet and Morningstar
- Affordable $239/mo entry price
- Excel add-in, API, MCP server

**Limitations:**
- No fund performance or LP data
- No investor contacts or BD tooling
- Private coverage is tied to deals - no profiles for companies that never transacted

**Best for:** Teams that look for high-quality data on valuations and public/private comps.

### PitchBook

PitchBook and CB Insights are both premier private markets intelligence platforms, but they sell different core products. PitchBook is a raw data powerhouse: VC and PE deals, fund performance, LP relationships and investor contacts. CB Insights is more of a research-focused tool built on top of its company database. It delivers niche market maps, briefs and proprietary "Mosaic" scores.

Data depth favors PitchBook vs. CB Insights. It is reported PB has more datapoints, significantly better coverage outside of North America, and is much better in tracking early stage startups.

PitchBook reported pricing is $25,000-$40,000 per year - usually bit below a CB Insights contract. API access for PitchBook is expensive, reported at $70,000+/yr. Both platforms are annual-contract only.

What to choose? Teams that need deal-level data, valuations and email contacts lean toward PitchBook. Teams that want ready-made research (especially around tech), stay with CB Insights.

**Pricing:** Custom quote. Reported $25k-$40k+/yr for a base license. $70k+ for API

**Strengths:**
- Deepest private-market deal and fund data
- Investor and M&A contacts
- Reported pricing usually below CB Insights

**Limitations:**
- No packaged research output
- Reported $25k-$40k/yr, quote-only
- Annual contracts with seat minimums

**Best for:** Full-stack private markets coverage, enterprise clients with large budgets.

### Crunchbase

Crunchbase and CB Insights both track startups and funding rounds, but they sit at opposite ends of the price range. Crunchbase is a self-serve database used by startups, angel investors and BD teams. CB Insights is a (much more expensive) enterprise product with better data depth and proprietary research.

Crunchbase started in 2007 as part of TechCrunch and was spun out as its own company in 2015. It covers a claimed 4M+ companies with funding rounds, investors and news.

Crunchbase is a cheap platform: it has a free tier, then Pro at $49 per user per month billed annually ($99 monthly), Business at $199. Compared to a reported $40,000+ annual for CB Insights, it's a very different price point.

Choose Crunchbase if you need basic startup discovery, and you're budget limited. It has no institutional research layer, no proprietary market mapping or valuation data. For public and private comps specifically, look at Multiples as an alternative.

**Pricing:** Pro: $49/user/mo (billed annually) or $99 (monthly). Business: $199/user/mo, billed annually. API: custom quote, reported $30K+/yr.

**Strengths:**
- Published pricing, self-serve, free tier
- Broad early-stage coverage
- Easy to use; most people already know it

**Limitations:**
- No valuations, multiples or deal terms
- API moved to enterprise-only
- Data quality varies for smaller companies

**Best for:** Funding rounds tracking, startup discovery. Teams with very limited budget.

### Tracxn

Tracxn and CB Insights are often compared together, but they solve different problems. Tracxn is built around breadth and taxonomy: millions of companies mapped into thousands of (analyst-maintained) sector feeds, with unusually strong coverage of India, Southeast Asia and other ecosystems that Western vendors don't cover well. CB Insights however, is a research product with a database underneath it. The value sits in the proprietary market maps, company scores and analyst commentary. CBI coverage is strongest across the US and Western Europe.

Tracxn was founded in 2013 by Neha Singh and Abhishek Goyal, both former VC analysts, and has been listed on the NSE and BSE since October 2022.

Pricing is the big difference between Tracxn and CB Insights. A single-user plan is reported at around $550 per month, team licenses at $6,500-$15,000 per year - a fraction of a CB Insights contract.

Choose Tracxn for sector mapping on a smaller budget, especially if you are looking for emerging markets coverage. CB Insights wins on the "finished" research: its written briefs and scoring have no full Tracxn equivalent.

**Pricing:** Single-user plans at around $550/mo, team licenses reported $6.5k-$15k/yr.

**Strengths:**
- Better emerging-markets coverage than the US-centric platforms
- Mid-range price

**Limitations:**
- Weak valuation and deal terms data
- No public comps or analyst estimates

**Best for:** Sector research and coverage across India and emerging markets of Asia.

### Harmonic

Harmonic and CB Insights answer different questions about the same companies. CB Insights tells you what a market looks like (proprietary maps, briefs, scores). Harmonic focuses on actual company signals: headcount growth, founder departures, stealth incorporations, web and social traction.

Harmonic claims 35M+ companies and 195M+ people profiles, with priority companies refreshed daily. Scout, the built-in AI agent, is an AI layer of Harmonic, it answers plain-language questions and enhances analyses.

Pricing is quoted per team and reported at $10,000-$30,000 per year - expensive, but still a fraction of a CB Insights contract.

Choose Harmonic if the goal is pure deal sourcing/company discovery: finding companies before rounds are announced.

**Pricing:** Custom quote. API plans scoped to usage.

**Strengths:**
- Find stealth startups
- API-first and AI-native platform
- Extensive people data and analytics

**Limitations:**
- Limited valuations, deal or fund data
- Web app is thinner than the API

**Best for:** VC funds that source startups programmatically.

### Specter

Specter, like Harmonic, competes with CB Insights on the data rather than the research. Like Harmonic, it tracks measured signals - headcount changes, web traffic, app rankings, funding, M&A events. It claims a huge database of 55M+ companies, 550M+ people profiles and 330K+ investors.

Pricing is not openly advertised. Access starts with a sales demo.

Data delivery is broad for Specter: customers can use a web platform with natural-language AI search, a credit-based API, bulk export, a Chrome extension, CRM integrations and an MCP server.

**Pricing:** Custom quote. API access approval-based, metered in credits.

**Strengths:**
- Traction signals: headcount, web traffic, app ranks
- Valuation estimates on private companies
- API, Chrome extension, CRM sync and MCP server

**Limitations:**
- No disclosed deal multiples or financials
- No research reports or market maps
- Pricing not published; reported from ~$500/mo

**Best for:** Startup discovery measured by live signals.

## Which CB Insights alternative fits your use case?

| Platform | Best For | Public markets data depth | M&A data depth | VC data depth | Ease of use | Tools Integration |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| CB Insights | Tech market maps and industry research | Medium | Medium | High | Medium | Medium |
| Multiples | Public comps and transaction data | High | High | High | High | High |
| PitchBook | Extensive sourcing, contact data | Medium | High | High | Medium | High |
| Crunchbase | Basic startup discovery | Low | Low | High | High | Low |
| Tracxn | Deal sourcing, India-focused | Low | Medium | Medium | Medium | High |
| Harmonic | VC startup sourcing | Low | Medium | High | Medium | High |
| Specter | Signal-based startup sourcing | Low | Medium | Medium | High | High |

## Should you choose CB Insights or look for an alternative?

**CB Insights strengths:**
- Ready-made research: market maps, briefs, Mosaic scores
- Very detailed classification across emerging tech
- Lots of tools: Excel add-in, Salesforce, Snowflake integrations
- Huge coverage: 12 million companies
- Established brand among enterprise teams

**CB Insights trade-offs:**
- One of the most expensive options, pricier than PitchBook
- Annual contracts only, with seat minimums
- Limited public companies data
- Weaker than PitchBook or Multiples as a raw deal database
- No fund performance, LP or contact data

## Why teams look for CB Insights alternatives

- **As expensive (or more) than PitchBook:** Reported CB Insights contracts run $40,000-$100,000 per year. G2 and Reddit users report figures at or above PitchBook. For most teams it is the most expensive option in this category.
- **It is not a true "data" platform:** The underlying company and funding data overlaps much cheaper databases. By buying CB Insights, you pay premium for the market mapping, proprietary analyses and curated analyst coverage.
- **Thin early-stage coverage:** Coverage of very early, pre-institutional companies is limited. For early stage coverage choose Harmonic or Specter.
- **Limited public companies coverage:** Weak data on public comps. If you are looking for high-quality public comps coverage, CB Insights is not for you.

## FAQ

### How much does CB Insights cost?

CB Insights publishes no price list. Reported contracts run $40,000-$100,000 per year depending on seats and modules, billed annually - so even more expensive than PitchBook.

### What is the cheapest CB Insights alternative?

Crunchbase ($49/mo) for discovery. Multiples ($239/mo) for high-quality public comps and deal data. Tracxn (reported $6.5k-$15k/yr) for sector mapping and research.

### Is PitchBook better than CB Insights?

It depends entirely what are you looking for. For deal data, private markets depth, investor coverage - yes. For tech research, niche emerging technologies mapping, industry trends - CB Insights is a winner.

### Does CB Insights show valuation multiples?

On deals, yes - M&A and VC multiples are included where disclosed, although users report mixed quality. Public comps come without consensus estimates, and feature set is inferior to FactSet, Capital IQ and Multiples.

### Which CB Insights alternative covers Europe best?

Gain.pro, in particular for PE intelligence (ownership, financials, sponsors). Multiples for European M&A and VC rounds coverage across its 500,000+ deals.

### Does CB Insights offer a free trial?

Yes, but it requires a sales demo first. Among the alternatives compared here, Multiples and Crunchbase offer self-serve trials.

### Who owns CB Insights?

CB Insights is a privately-owned, venture-backed private company, founded in 2008 and headquartered in New York.

## The bottom line

Buy CB Insights if you are a price-insensitive enterprise customer that cares about finished proprietary research. Nothing replaces CB Insights on output quality directly. Tracxn comes close, at a lower reported price, yet research quality is incomparable.

If you buy it for the raw data underneath (deals, valuation multiples), cheaper (and better) alternatives exist: PitchBook, Multiples, Mergermarket are all great alternatives for M&A and funding round data. For public comps, choose either an enterprise provider like FactSet or Capital IQ, or Multiples for a lightweight, modern experience.

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