Intent Data Platforms vs Reddit Buying Signals (2026)

Intent data platforms tell you which companies are researching a topic right now, so sales can call them before a competitor does. Most of the big names (Bombora, 6sense, ZoomInfo, Demandbase, G2 Buyer Intent) sell it on an annual contract and don't put a price on the website. The cheaper tools that identify your own website visitors do publish prices, which run from free up to about $30,000 a year. Most teams skip a third source entirely: public Reddit threads where a named person asks, in their own words, which tool to buy.

Below: what intent data is, its three types, what the main platforms publish about price (checked on 13 November 2026), and how Reddit works as a buying signal you can act on today.

What intent data is

Intent data is a record of research behavior that suggests a company or a person is in the market for something. A visit to your pricing page counts. So does a spike in a company's employees reading articles about "SOC 2 automation" across business publishers, or a buyer comparing you with a competitor on a review site.

What it buys you is timing. Most of your market isn't buying this quarter. Intent data tries to tell you which accounts are, so the sales team spends its week on them.

First party, second party and third party intent data

First party intent data is the most accurate and covers the fewest accounts, because it only sees people who have already found you. Third party data covers the most and guesses the most. It works at the company level, and you rarely know who inside the account did the reading.

The main intent data platforms and what they publish about price

We read each vendor's own pricing or product page on 13 November 2026. Where a vendor publishes no number, we say so instead of repeating a figure from a review site.

Here is what the vendors say about their own data:

• Bombora describes its source as "Hundreds of publishers and brands, and thousands of B2B sites" in a consent-based co-op, and says it tracks 25,300+ intent topics.
• G2 says Buyer Intent "is based on verified buyer evaluation, not modeled or inferred behavior." Its signals are product and category page views, competitor comparisons, pricing page views and reading or writing reviews.
• Warmly's core plans use first party signals such as website visits and CRM fields. Research intent is a separate add-on.

Account-level third party intent is sold on custom contracts. Website visitor tools publish their prices, but they only see people who are already on your site.

How intent data for lead generation actually gets used

Every platform above produces a list, and a list doesn't sell anything. Teams that get value from intent data for lead generation usually do three things with it:

1. Narrow the list to your ICP first. A surge from a company you can't sell to is noise.
2. Pair the signal with a reason to reach out. "Your company is researching X" is an odd thing to say to a stranger, and a message about the problem behind the topic works better.
3. Act within days, because topic surges and site visits go stale fast.

Step 2 is where this breaks down. Third party intent tells you an account is reading about a topic. It doesn't tell you who is reading, what they're stuck on, or which competitor they already tried.

Reddit threads as a public buying signal

A Reddit post asking "what's a good alternative to X for a 20-person team?" covers all three gaps. You see the person, the problem in their own words, the tools they've ruled out, and often their budget or stack. The post is public and free to read, and the replies show you what the competition is saying.

Reddit doesn't replace an intent data platform. There's no account identification, and most posters are anonymous. But in categories where buyers talk on Reddit, a thread is often the clearest intent signal you'll get:

The last row matters most. A good answer in a buying thread keeps working after the original poster has decided, because the thread stays public and often ranks in Google. Our post on Reddit lead generation tools covers which tools find these threads and how they differ.

How to act on Reddit buying signals

1. Write down the phrases a buyer would use: "alternative to", "recommend a", "is X worth it", "switching from".
2. Search the subreddits where your buyers post. Or describe your product in our free Reddit lead finder and it returns recent threads asking for something like it.
3. Set up Reddit keyword alerts so new threads land in your inbox each day while they're still fresh.
4. Reply as a person, disclose that you work on the product, and answer the question before you mention it. Most business subreddits limit or ban promotion, so read the rules first.
5. Don't move the conversation to DMs uninvited. Our post on whether Reddit DMs work explains why.

If you want this running every week without the busywork, our Reddit monitoring app ranks new threads by fit and drafts a reply that you edit and post yourself. If you'd rather hand the whole channel to a team, that's our Reddit lead generation service. For B2B buyers, see Reddit marketing for B2B.

FAQ

What is first party intent data?

First party intent data is behavior on properties you own: website visits, pricing page views, demo requests, product usage and email engagement. You collect it directly, so it's the most accurate kind, but it only covers people who already know you.

How much do intent data platforms cost?

Most account-level platforms, including Bombora, 6sense, ZoomInfo and Demandbase, don't publish prices and quote per contract. Website visitor tools do: on 13 November 2026, RB2B ran from a free plan to $199 a month, Leadfeeder from a free plan to €599 a month, and Warmly from $10,000 a year.

Is Reddit a source of intent data?

Not in the vendor sense, because it doesn't identify accounts. But a public thread where someone asks which tool to buy is a direct buying signal, and it carries more context than a topic surge.

Describe your product in the Reddit lead finder and see this month's threads where people are asking for it.