---
title: "Crunchbase API in 2026: access, pricing and alternatives"
category: "comparisons"
url: https://keirolabs.cloud/blog/crunchbase-api
---

## The 60-second version

**The Crunchbase API is now sold as an enterprise data license, priced by quote. The free Basic API is a legacy product that new users can no longer get.** Buyers report paying around $17,000 to $20,000 a year, and more for the financial data packages.

- **Basic API:** legacy, limited organization fields, closed to new users ([Crunchbase docs](https://data.crunchbase.com/docs/crunchbase-basic)).
- **Enterprise API:** sold in packages (Firmographics, Core Financials, Advanced Financials, Predictions and Insights) through sales. Third-party buyer data: median about $20,000 a year ([Vendr](https://www.vendr.com/marketplace/crunchbase)), average about $17,400 ([SpendHound](https://www.spendhound.com/marketplace/crunchbase-pricing)).
- **The Pro and Business web plans don't include API access.**
- **If you need funding data on companies you already know**, a per-lookup API is cheaper: [browserfoundry by Keirolabs](https://www.browserfoundry.cloud/?utm_source=keirolabs&utm_medium=blog&utm_campaign=crunchbase-api) returns a company's latest round, total raised and investors with sources for 4 credits, about $0.01 per company on the Essential plan.

## What the Crunchbase API includes

**Crunchbase's strength is a structured, historical database of companies, rounds, investors and people, built up since 2007.** The API exposes it as entities you query by ID or search:

| Package | What you get |
|---|---|
| Firmographics | Company profiles: description, location, categories, size, links |
| Core Financials | Funding rounds, investors, acquisitions, IPOs |
| Advanced Financials | Deeper financial history and investor detail |
| Predictions and Insights | Crunchbase's own scores and growth signals |

Requests use an API key header (`X-cb-user-key`) against the v4 REST API, with endpoints for entity lookup (`/entities/organizations/{permalink}`), search (`/searches/organizations`) and autocomplete. Exact fields depend on the package you license, so request the field list from sales before signing.

## How much does the Crunchbase API cost?

**Crunchbase doesn't publish API prices.** What's known in October 2026:

| Option | Price | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Basic API | Free, but closed to new users | [Crunchbase docs](https://data.crunchbase.com/docs/crunchbase-basic) |
| Enterprise / data license, median | about $20,000 a year | [Vendr, 70 purchases](https://www.vendr.com/marketplace/crunchbase) |
| Enterprise / data license, average | about $17,400 a year | [SpendHound](https://www.spendhound.com/marketplace/crunchbase-pricing) |
| Large licenses with financial packages | $30,000 to $50,000+ a year reported | third-party estimates |

**The license terms matter as much as the price.** Data licenses usually restrict how you display, store and redistribute the data. If you plan to show funding data inside your own product, read the license agreement before you build on it.

## Crunchbase API alternatives

| Alternative | What it is | Price | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| **Crunchbase Enterprise** | Structured database of rounds and investors | quote, ~$17k to $20k+ a year | Investment research, market maps, historical analysis |
| **PitchBook** | Private market database | enterprise quote, typically higher | VC, PE and M&A teams |
| **Dealroom** | European-strong startup database | enterprise quote | Ecosystem and EU coverage |
| **People Data Labs** | Company records via API | $0.10 down to $0.05 per record ([pricing](https://www.peopledatalabs.com/pricing/company)) | Bulk firmographics |
| **browserfoundry company API** | Live lookup from public sources, with citations | 4 credits a company for funding, about $0.01 on Essential | Funding facts for companies you already have |

**Pick by the question you ask.** "Every Series A fintech in Europe in 2025" is a database query: Crunchbase, PitchBook or Dealroom. "How much has this company raised, and who led the last round?" is a lookup: an API that searches public sources answers it for cents.

## Look up a company's funding in one call

```bash
curl -X POST https://api.keirolabs.cloud/api/v2/company \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $KEIRO_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"company": "linear.app", "fields": ["funding"]}'
```

A real response, October 27, 2026 (trimmed):

```json
{
  "domain": "linear.app",
  "name": "Linear",
  "funding": {
    "status": "found",
    "summary": "Linear's latest funding round is a Series C announced on June 10, 2025, raising $82 million at a $1.25 billion valuation. The round was led by Accel, with continued participation from Sequoia Capital and 01A ... Across all funding rounds, Linear has raised a total of $134 million over 4 rounds.",
    "sources": [
      {
        "title": "Building our way: Announcing our Series C - linear.app",
        "url": "https://linear.app/now/building-our-way",
        "snippet": "Today, I'm happy to share that we've raised an $82M Series C at a $1.25B valuation ..."
      }
    ]
  }
}
```

**Every answer links to where it came from**, often the company's own announcement. When the sources don't say, `status` is `not_disclosed` or `unknown` instead of a guess.

## Pull specific funding fields with custom questions

**The funding summary is text. For structured columns, ask for exactly the fields you want** with `custom_fields`. Each answer returns a value, the source URL and the quote that supports it:

```python
import os, requests

r = requests.post(
    "https://api.keirolabs.cloud/api/v2/company",
    headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['KEIRO_API_KEY']}"},
    json={
        "company": "linear.app",
        "fields": [],
        "custom_fields": [
            {"name": "last_round", "description": "Stage of the most recent funding round, e.g. Series C"},
            {"name": "last_round_amount_usd", "description": "Amount raised in the most recent round, in US dollars"},
            {"name": "lead_investor", "description": "Lead investor of the most recent round"},
            {"name": "total_raised_usd", "description": "Total funding raised to date, in US dollars"},
        ],
    },
    timeout=120,
)
for k, v in r.json()["custom"].items():
    print(k, "=", v.get("value"), "|", v.get("source"))
```

Each custom field costs 2 credits, so four columns are 8 credits per company.

## Where Crunchbase is still the better choice

Be clear about the trade. **A live lookup is only as good as what the company and the press have published.** Crunchbase wins when you need:

- **Screening across the market:** filtering thousands of companies by round, date, sector and geography.
- **Investor-side data:** every portfolio company of a fund, co-investment graphs.
- **History in a consistent schema:** every round since founding as rows you can chart.
- **Undisclosed rounds** that Crunchbase's analysts and data partners have sourced.

For enriching companies you already have, such as CRM accounts, inbound leads or an agent's research targets, per-lookup pricing avoids a five-figure contract. The same call can add tech stack, hiring, news and pain points ([company enrichment APIs compared](/blog/clearbit-alternatives)). New accounts get 750 free credits with no card.