The live Coresignal alternative
Today's LinkedIn page on demand, not a stored database.
How CrustAPI compares to Coresignal
Both read public data. The real split is stored versus live: a refreshed database that hands you the last snapshot it took, versus an API that reads the current page the moment you ask.
Coresignal is a capable, multi-source data vendor. It sells a stored database of company and employee records, refreshed on a schedule, so a record is as current as its last refresh.
People look for a Coresignal alternative for two reasons: they want the record to match the page right now, or they do not want credits that reset monthly. CrustAPI answers both. It reads the current logged-out page at call time, and credits never expire.
| Coresignal | CrustAPI | |
|---|---|---|
| How the data is sourced | A stored, multi-source database, refreshed on a schedule | A live read of the current logged-out page, on demand |
| Record freshness | As current as the last scheduled refresh | Today's page, read at the moment of the request |
| Collection posture | Public web data, EWDCI-certified collection | Public, logged-out pages only. No fake accounts, no logins |
| Credit expiry | Monthly plans expire monthly, no rollover on the base tiers (some rollover on higher tiers); annual plans valid 12 months | Credits never expire |
| Free to try | 7-day trial with 2,000 credits that expire when the trial ends | 3,000 credits every month, free, no card |
| Billing | Credits consumed per record; about $5 to $10 per 1,000 employee records at the Elite tier | One credit per successful call. An empty or inaccessible result is free |
| LinkedIn numeric ids | Delivered as fields inside the stored record | companyId and schoolId via opt-in, plus memberIdentifier, the permanent member id |
Coresignal facts reflect their public plan terms and documentation as of August 2026. Their strengths are in the table on purpose. Check their site for current specifics.
If you want a warehouse, not a live read, Coresignal is built for that. Bulk-download millions of company and employee records into your own store, join across the firmographic and job-posting sources they stitch together, and query offline. CrustAPI is the better fit when you want the record to match the page right now and would rather pay per successful call.
How do you use it?
Public LinkedIn data lives at GET /v1/linkedin. Pass a profile URL, get the current public record back as clean JSON.
- 1
Create a free account. You get 3,000 credits a month, no card needed.
- 2
Copy your key from the dashboard. Signup issues one automatically.
- 3
Run the curl below. Swap in any public profile URL. Add companyId=true and schoolId=true for the numeric ids.
What does a response look like?
This is the exact JSON the curl above returned for Aaron Levie, CEO of Box, trimmed for width. It came back in 759 ms and cost 1 credit. A role change shows up the next time you call, with no refresh cycle to wait on.
Three fields worth noticing. accessible tells you whether the profile has a public page at all. When it is false, profile is null, a note explains why, and the call is not charged.
companyLinkedInId and schoolLinkedInId are LinkedIn's own numeric ids, here 54178 for Box and 3084 for USC, returned with the opt-in flags. memberIdentifier is the permanent member id. It survives name and vanity-URL changes, so it is the right join key.
What data do you get?
The whole public record, structured. Same shape on every call, so your parser is written once.
The numeric ids are opt-in: add companyId=true and schoolId=true and the current company and school come back with their numeric LinkedIn ids attached.
Email is opt-in too. Add email=true and the response appends workEmail and an emailStatus of verified, pattern-likely, or unknown. Keep the confirmed addresses; treat the rest as guesses.
Fields that only exist behind a login stay out, on purpose. A person's connection list or who viewed a profile never appears on the logged-out page, so it is not in the response. That boundary lets the API run with no accounts and nothing of yours at risk. Logged-in fields need a tool on your own session, at that account's risk.
How much does CrustAPI cost?
Every successful call is one credit, whatever the type. A private or empty profile returns a null result with a note and is not charged.
| Pack | Credits | You pay |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier, every month | 3,000 | $0, no card needed |
| 25,000 calls | 25,000 | $49 ($1.96 per 1,000) |
| 100,000 calls | 100,000 | $149 ($1.49 per 1,000) |
| 500,000 calls | 500,000 | $549 ($1.10 per 1,000) |
| 2.5 million calls | 2,500,000 | $1,999 ($0.80 per 1,000) |
Packs continue up to 250 million credits for $100,000, which is $0.40 per 1,000. Prices ex-tax.
Credits are prepaid and never expire, so a slow month does not burn what you already bought. No seat license, no annual contract, no trial clock.
Who uses this API?
- Recruiting tools. Check a candidate's current role at call time, not at the last database refresh.
- Sales and enrichment teams. Fill rows in Clay or n8n with today's title, company, and numeric ids.
- Data teams. Join on memberIdentifier, the permanent id that survives name and URL changes.
- Teams leaving stored databases. Pay per successful call instead of holding a large refreshed corpus.
Related: LinkedIn API · Proxycurl alternative · ZoomInfo alternative · Apollo alternative · Clearbit alternative
Common questions
Coresignal sells a stored, multi-source database that is refreshed on a schedule, so a record is as current as its last refresh. CrustAPI reads the current logged-out page when you make the call, so you see today's page instead of the last snapshot. Both collect public data; the split is stored corpus versus live read.
No. CrustAPI credits are prepaid and never expire. Coresignal's monthly plans expire monthly with no rollover on the base tiers, some higher tiers roll over, and its annual plans are valid for 12 months; its 7-day trial gives 2,000 credits that expire when the trial ends.
CrustAPI reads the live logged-out page at request time, so the record reflects the page as it stands that moment, including a fresh job change. A stored database like Coresignal's reflects whenever it was last refreshed on its schedule.
Yes. Add companyId=true and schoolId=true and the current company and school come back with their numeric LinkedIn ids. Every profile also carries memberIdentifier, the permanent numeric member id, which is a stable join key because it survives name and vanity-URL changes.
Yes. The free tier is 3,000 credits every month with no card, and those credits reset monthly at no cost. Coresignal offers a 7-day trial with 2,000 credits that expire when the trial ends.
We read only public, logged-out pages and never use fake accounts or logins, and fields that exist only behind a login are deliberately excluded. A site's own terms may restrict automated access on their side. What you receive is data that is public for anyone to see.
Clay
Read the page as it is today
Start on the free 3,000 credits a month, no card needed. One GET returns the current public profile as clean JSON, a profile that is not accessible costs you nothing, and the credits you buy never expire. No account of yours is ever part of the request.
Get 3,000 free credits