Clearbit is Custom ($99+/mo). Prospector is a self-hosted alternative at $0.99/mo. Here's when each makes sense.
| Prospector | Clearbit | |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting | Self-hosted, your infra | Managed SaaS (cloud only) |
| Data location | Your server, your disk | Clearbit's cloud |
| Free tier | 100 leads | Paid only |
| Pro pricing | $0.99/mo | Custom ($99+/mo) |
| Dependencies | None (single binary + SQLite) | N/A (managed) |
| Setup time | ~30 seconds | Account signup |
| Dashboard | Built-in at /ui | Cloud dashboard |
| License | BSL 1.1 | Proprietary SaaS |
Prospector is a single Go binary with embedded SQLite. Install it with one command, and you are running in under a minute. Your data stays on your server.
curl -fsSL https://stockyard.dev/prospector/install.sh | sh
Clearbit is a strong product. There is no point pretending otherwise. Where Prospector earns its place is in situations where Clearbit cannot be used — airgapped environments, regulated industries, teams with strict data sovereignty requirements, or simply developers who prefer tools they can inspect end to end. If none of those constraints apply, Clearbit may genuinely be the better choice.
Prospector runs as a single static binary with an embedded SQLite database. There is no application server, no cache layer, no background worker. One process handles HTTP requests and reads from and writes to the database file directly. This simplicity is the entire point — fewer moving parts means fewer things that can break at 2 AM.
The migration path from Clearbit depends on how much history you need to bring over. If you only need active records, a manual re-entry through Prospector's dashboard might be faster than writing a migration script. If you need full history, export from Clearbit and use Prospector's POST API to import records. Either way, the process is measured in hours, not weeks.
Single binary. Free to start. $0.99/mo for Pro.