6sense is the ABM intent data platform that promises to reveal which accounts are actively researching solutions like yours before they ever fill out a form. The pitch is compelling: identify anonymous buying signals across the web, score accounts by purchase readiness, and prioritize your sales and marketing efforts on the accounts most likely to buy. Forrester named it a Wave Leader. Enterprise B2B companies have adopted it aggressively. But the price tag starts at $60K/year and climbs fast, and the accuracy of intent signals is a persistent question that every RevOps team needs to interrogate before signing.
6sense is an account-based marketing platform built around intent data. It tracks buying signals across a network of publisher sites, review platforms, and content sources to identify which accounts are actively researching topics related to your product category. The platform scores these accounts by buying stage (awareness, consideration, decision) and surfaces them for sales and marketing prioritization. For RevOps, the core value is turning anonymous web behavior into actionable account intelligence.
The platform goes beyond basic intent scoring. 6sense identifies individual visitors from target accounts on your website (even before they fill out a form), orchestrates multi-channel ABM campaigns, and provides predictive analytics on account engagement and pipeline likelihood. The data feeds into Salesforce or HubSpot so sales reps see buying signals directly in their CRM workflow.
For RevOps teams running account-based motions, 6sense fills a real gap. Traditional lead scoring only works after someone raises their hand. 6sense claims to surface accounts during the 70% of the buying journey that happens before a prospect contacts you. The question RevOps leaders need to answer is how accurate those signals are for their specific market and whether the $60-120K+ annual investment generates enough incremental pipeline to justify the cost.
Intent data accuracy varies significantly by industry and buying behavior. 6sense works best for categories with substantial online research activity (SaaS, cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure). Niche verticals with limited online research footprints see weaker signal quality. Request a proof-of-concept with your target accounts before committing.
6sense uses custom enterprise pricing with no published rate card. Contract sizes vary widely based on database size, modules, and team count. The figures below are based on market intelligence from mid-market and enterprise buyers.
| Plan | Price | What’s Included |
|---|---|---|
| Free (Revenue AI) | Free | Basic account identification, limited intent signals, community features Limited |
| Team | Custom | Intent data, account scoring, basic orchestration, CRM integration |
| Growth | ~$60-80K/yr | Full intent data, predictive analytics, ABM orchestration, visitor identification, display advertising Most Common |
| Enterprise | $100-200K+/yr | Everything in Growth plus advanced AI models, custom integrations, premium support, dedicated CSM |
Tracks account-level research activity across 6M+ company sources. Scores accounts by buying stage (awareness, consideration, decision, purchase) so RevOps can prioritize outreach timing.
De-anonymizes website visitors by matching IP and behavioral signals to target accounts. Reveals which companies are on your site before they fill out a form. Accuracy varies but is directionally useful.
AI models that score accounts based on fit, intent, and engagement signals. Combines firmographic data with behavioral signals for a composite score that feeds into CRM and routing workflows.
Multi-channel campaign orchestration across display ads, email, and sales outreach. Automates account-based plays triggered by intent signals and buying stage changes.
Analytics on how intent signals correlate with pipeline creation and deal outcomes. Helps RevOps measure ABM program effectiveness and attribute revenue to account-based campaigns.
Deep integrations with Salesforce, HubSpot, Marketo, and Outreach. Intent scores and account insights surface directly in rep workflows rather than living in a separate dashboard.
No tool is perfect. Here are the real trade-offs you should know about:
6sense's intent signals rely on tracking research behavior across its publisher network. For well-covered categories like SaaS and cybersecurity, the signals are strong. For niche industries, regulated markets, or categories where buyers don't do extensive online research, the data has meaningful gaps. You need to validate signal quality for your specific market before committing $60K+.
At $60-120K+ per year, 6sense is a significant investment that typically takes 3-6 months to generate measurable pipeline impact. RevOps teams need to integrate it with CRM, build account scoring workflows, train reps on using intent signals, and iterate on targeting. Quick wins are rare.
Intent data only creates value if reps actually use it to prioritize accounts and personalize outreach. Many sales teams default to their existing habits and ignore the intent signals in their CRM. RevOps needs to build the intent data into routing rules and reporting, not just surface it as optional context.
6sense's anonymous visitor identification relies on tracking technologies that are under increasing regulatory scrutiny. Cookie deprecation, GDPR enforcement, and evolving privacy norms could impact the accuracy and legality of some identification methods over time. Monitor how 6sense adapts its data collection practices.
6sense delivers the most value for B2B organizations with account-based sales motions, average deal sizes above $50K, and the resources to integrate intent data into CRM workflows and rep behavior.
If your pipeline comes primarily from inbound leads, your deals are under $25K, or you don't have the ops resources to integrate and operationalize intent data, 6sense won't generate a positive ROI.
| Tool | Starting Price | Strength | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Demandbase | Custom ($50K+/yr) | ABM platform with advertising built in | Teams that want ABM + display advertising from one vendor |
| Bombora | Custom | Intent data that integrates with your existing stack | Organizations wanting intent data as a standalone feed, not a full platform |
| ZoomInfo | From $15K+/yr | Contact data with intent signals included | Teams prioritizing contact-level data with intent as an add-on |
RevOps teams use 6sense to build account prioritization into the revenue workflow. That means integrating intent scores into Salesforce so reps see buying-stage signals directly in their account views, building routing rules that prioritize in-market accounts for outbound sequences, and creating dashboards that track intent-to-pipeline conversion rates. The operational work is connecting 6sense's account scores to territory assignments, lead routing, and pipeline reporting so intent data drives action rather than sitting in a standalone dashboard nobody checks.
For enterprise B2B companies with average deal sizes above $50K running true account-based motions, 6sense is worth it. The math: if the platform costs $80K/year and helps you close two additional $50K deals you wouldn't have found otherwise, it pays for itself. The caveat is that intent data accuracy varies by industry. SaaS, cybersecurity, and cloud infrastructure see strong signals. Niche verticals with limited online research behavior see weaker data. Start with the free tier to validate signal quality before committing. If the intent data doesn't correlate with your actual pipeline, no pricing tier fixes that.
6sense has no published pricing, and the sales team won't quote numbers until deep in the process. Based on market data: the Growth tier starts around $60-80K/year. Premier/Enterprise contracts run $100-200K+ annually. Display advertising through the platform is additional, typically $20-50K/year. Multi-year commitments (2-3 years) get 15-25% discounts. Renewal increases of 5-10% are standard. Total year-one cost including implementation and ad spend for a real deployment is often $100-200K+. The free Revenue AI tier is genuinely useful for evaluation.
Intent data accuracy is the fundamental limitation. 6sense tracks research behavior across its publisher network, but coverage is uneven. Well-covered categories (SaaS, security) get strong signals. Niche industries see gaps. Beyond accuracy, sales adoption is a persistent problem: reps ignore intent scores unless they're embedded in routing rules and territory assignments. The platform takes 3-6 months to generate measurable pipeline impact, which makes the $60K+ annual cost feel painful in the early months. Privacy regulations also create long-term uncertainty around the tracking methods that power intent data.
Both are enterprise ABM platforms, but they emphasize different strengths. 6sense leads on intent data depth and buying-stage prediction. Demandbase leads on integrated display advertising and account-based ad targeting. If your primary need is knowing which accounts are in-market and when to engage them, 6sense has stronger predictive models. If you want ABM advertising and account-based campaigns managed in one platform, Demandbase is more integrated. Pricing is comparable ($60K+ annually for both). Most RevOps teams choose based on whether intent intelligence or ad orchestration is the bigger gap in their stack.
6sense is the most capable ABM intent platform on the market and it fills a gap that no other tool category addresses: identifying which accounts are actively buying before they raise their hand. For enterprise B2B organizations with account-based motions and deal sizes that justify the investment, 6sense provides a real competitive edge in account prioritization and outreach timing. The trade-off is cost, complexity, and the operational effort required to integrate intent data into your revenue workflows. It's a powerful tool that only pays for itself if you commit to operationalizing it fully.
But know the trade-offs:
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