Best Investor Databases for Startups (2026): 8 Compared
Quick answer
There is no single best investor database: it depends on whether you want a free tool, a subscription or a file you keep. Free: OpenVC (18,513 investors in its search), Signal NFX and VC Sheet cost nothing. Subscriptions: Crunchbase Pro is $49 per month billed annually, InvestorLists.vc is listed at $997 a year, shown discounted to $497 a year when checked on 10 Nov 2026, and PitchBook is quoted on request. One-time files: PitchBuilder sells 661 UK investors for £69, and The Investor Database sells 3,019 US investors for $197 or all 4,178 investors for $297.
Prices checked on the dates in the table, most of them on 10 Nov 2026.
Which investor database fits which need?
We do not rank these tools. "Best" depends on the job, so this table starts from the need and names the tool that fits it.
| If you want to | Look at |
|---|---|
| Search for free and send your deck through a platform | OpenVC |
| Find a warm introduction to a named investor | Signal NFX |
| Get a short hand-picked list for one theme | VC Sheet |
| Research one company's funding history | Crunchbase |
| Work with deal terms and valuations at an institution | PitchBook |
| Use an AI agent over a large US database all year | InvestorLists.vc |
| Buy a low-cost UK-only spreadsheet | PitchBuilder |
| Keep a US, UK and Europe spreadsheet after one payment | The Investor Database |
How do they compare on price, coverage and export?
Order: free tools first, then subscriptions, then one-time files. Our own product is last.
| Tool | Best for | Coverage count | Price and billing period | Contacts included | Export | Free tier | Data source | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenVC Free directory, paid Premium | Free search across a global directory, with deck submission built in | 18,513 investors in its search | Free. Premium: $99 per month or $299 per year | Outreach runs through the platform. Premium allows up to 5 investors per day | Not published | Unlimited investor search, deck sharing and CRM on the free plan | Not published | price page, checked 10 Nov 2026 |
| Signal NFX Free investor network | Browsing individual investors by sector and stage, with warm intro paths | 32,821 investors added (its own counter) | Free. Its FAQ says NFX will never charge for it | No contact details on list pages. Intro paths appear after you sign in with Gmail | Not published | Everything. A list page loads 8 investors, then a load-more button | Investor profiles with community edits (477,526 edits on its counter) | price page, checked 10 Nov 2026 |
| VC Sheet Free curated directory | Short curated lists of funds by theme, with a fund contact email on fund pages | 2,601 fund pages, 9,126 investor pages and 86 curated sheets in its sitemap | Free | A fund contact email is shown free on fund pages | Not published | Everything on the site | Sheets are put together by named curators | price page, checked 10 Nov 2026 |
| Crunchbase Subscription platform | Researching a named company or investor and its funding history | Not published | Pro: $49 per month billed annually (first-year offer, shown against $79) or $99 per month billed monthly. Business: from $199 per month billed annually | "People and contacts" is listed as part of the Pro plan | 2,000 rows per month on Pro | Free trial of Pro | Not published | price page, checked 10 Nov 2026 |
| PitchBook Institutional platform, quote only | Institutional teams that need deal, fund and valuation data | Not published | Not published. Quote on request, set by seats and firm type | Not published | Excel and PowerPoint plugins are named on its pricing page | No free tier shown. Pricing is by request | Its own data operations team, per its pricing page | price page, checked 10 Nov 2026 |
| InvestorLists.vc Annual plan with a free account | A larger US database with an AI agent, on an annual plan | 8,400 US VCs and startup investors, 16,339 decision-makers and 9,389 verified work emails (its own figures) | Listed at $997 a year, shown discounted to $497 a year when checked on 10 Nov 2026. Annual only, renews | Decision-makers, work emails and LinkedIn profiles on the paid plan | Unlimited CSV exports on the paid plan, no exports on the free account | Free account: top 15 firms per search and 10 firms unlocked in full | SEC filings, news and announcements, checked by a person (its own description) | price page, checked 10 Nov 2026 |
| PitchBuilder One-time UK spreadsheet | A low-cost spreadsheet of UK investors only | 661 UK startup investors | £69 one-time (regular price shown as £99) | Public contact email, LinkedIn and how to apply for each investor | Excel (.xlsx) file | 30-row sample on its site | Public sources, verified in Q2 2026 (its own description) | price page, checked 10 Nov 2026 |
| The Investor Database One-time file | A one-time spreadsheet of US, UK and European startup investors, with a checked date on every row | 4,178 investors: 3,019 in the US, 416 in the UK, 725 in Europe, 18 elsewhere | One-time: $197 US file, $149 UK, $99 Europe, $297 all three, $49 for a single list | 14,148 named decision-makers at 3,520 firms, and 1,290 firm email addresses | Excel and CSV download | 25 rows free on every list page, and a 100-investor sample file | SEC Form D and Form ADV filings, UK and EU registers, and each firm's own website | our method, data as of November 2026 |
"Not published" means the seller's own page did not show the figure when we checked. Counts marked "its own figure" are the seller's claims, which we have not verified.
Which one should you pick?
Pick OpenVC if
- You want to search investors for free before you spend anything
- You are happy to send your deck through a platform and track replies there
- You raise outside the US, UK and Europe: its country filter is global
Pick Signal NFX if
- You want named individual investors, not firms
- Your Gmail network may hold a warm introduction and you want the tool to find it
- You do not need a spreadsheet
Pick VC Sheet if
- You want a short, hand-picked list for one theme
- You want a fund email without paying or signing up
- You would rather browse than filter a spreadsheet
Pick Crunchbase if
- You research specific companies and want each one's funding history in one place
- You will use it all year for sales or market research as well as fundraising
- You want saved searches and lists inside a platform
Pick PitchBook if
- Your firm, accelerator or university already has a seat
- You need deal terms, valuations or fund data, not a contact list
- You have an institutional budget and a year-round use for it
Pick InvestorLists.vc if
- You want the larger US count: 8,400 firms by its own figure
- You want an AI agent that works inside Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor
- You will search all year, so an annual plan suits you
Pick PitchBuilder if
- You only raise in the UK
- You want the lowest price for a whole-country UK file
- You also want pitch deck help from the same firm
Pick The Investor Database if
- You want a file you keep: one payment, no renewal
- You want US firms tied to SEC filings: 2,390 of the 3,019 US investors carry a Form D filing date
- You raise in the UK or Europe too: 416 UK and 725 European investors are in the same file, with SEIS and EIS funds tagged
- You want to see 25 rows of any list before you pay
Skip it if you need the largest count: several tools on this page list more investors than we do.
One-time payment. No subscription. No account.
Or get the free sample file (100 investors) first.
Head-to-head pages
- InvestorLists.vc alternative
- PitchBuilder alternative
- OpenVC alternative
- Signal NFX alternative
- Crunchbase alternative
- OpenVC vs Signal NFX
- VC Sheet vs OpenVC
- Crunchbase vs PitchBook
How this comparison was made
- What we compared
- 8 tools that a founder is likely to meet when looking for an investor list. It is not every tool on the market.
- Where the facts come from
- Each seller's own pricing, product or home page, opened on the date shown beside it. We did not use review sites or third-party estimates.
- What we did not do
- We did not buy or test the other products, so nothing here is a judgment on their data.
- Our own figures
- Counted from our records at build time. Data as of November 2026.
- Corrections
- Email hello@theinvestordatabase.com.
Questions
What is the best investor database for startups?
It depends on the job. For free search, OpenVC, Signal NFX and VC Sheet cost nothing. For company research, Crunchbase Pro is $49 per month billed annually. For a spreadsheet you keep, The Investor Database is a one-time download from $49 for one list to $297 for all 4,178 investors. Prices checked 10 Nov 2026.
What is the best free VC database in 2026?
Three tools on this page are free: OpenVC (18,513 investors in its search), Signal NFX (32,821 investors added (its own counter)) and VC Sheet (2,601 fund pages, 9,126 investor pages and 86 curated sheets in its sitemap). Not one of the three publishes a spreadsheet export. The Investor Database shows 25 rows of every list free and sends a 100-investor sample file.
How much does Crunchbase Pro cost?
Pro: $49 per month billed annually (first-year offer, shown against $79) or $99 per month billed monthly. Business: from $199 per month billed annually. Source: the Crunchbase pricing page, checked 10 Nov 2026.
How much does InvestorLists.vc cost?
Listed at $997 a year, shown discounted to $497 a year when checked on 10 Nov 2026. Annual only, renews. Source: its pricing page, checked 10 Nov 2026.
Which investor databases let me export to a spreadsheet?
Crunchbase Pro allows 2,000 rows per month. InvestorLists.vc allows unlimited CSV exports on its paid plan. PitchBuilder and The Investor Database are spreadsheets to begin with. OpenVC, Signal NFX and VC Sheet do not publish an export option.
Is there an investor database with no subscription?
Yes. PitchBuilder (UK only, £69) and The Investor Database ($197 for the US file) are one-time purchases. OpenVC, Signal NFX and VC Sheet are free to use.
Is it worth buying an investor list?
It is worth it when the list saves you more research time than it costs and every row shows when it was checked. Before you buy, look at free rows, the date on each row, the fill rate for contacts and the refund terms. Our buyer guide lists what to check.
Related
OpenVC vs Signal NFXVC Sheet vs OpenVCCrunchbase vs PitchBookWhere to buy an investor listWhat is in the investor databaseInvestor email list: fill ratesHow to build an investor listHow many VC firms are in the USInvestor matching toolVenture capital firms in the US (2,975)Active venture capital firms in the US (1,574)Startup investors in the UK (416)InvestorLists.vc alternativePitchBuilder alternativeOpenVC alternativeSignal NFX alternativeCrunchbase alternative
Sources and check dates
Every fact about another tool on this page comes from that tool's own website on the date shown. "Not published" means its page did not show the figure when we looked.
- OpenVC, coverage: 18,513 investors in its search. https://www.openvc.app/, checked 10 Nov 2026.
- OpenVC, price: Free. Premium: $99 per month or $299 per year. https://www.openvc.app/pricing, checked 10 Nov 2026.
- OpenVC, contacts included: Outreach runs through the platform. Premium allows up to 5 investors per day. https://www.openvc.app/pricing, checked 10 Nov 2026.
- OpenVC, export: Not published. https://www.openvc.app/pricing, checked 10 Nov 2026.
- OpenVC, free tier: Unlimited investor search, deck sharing and CRM on the free plan. https://www.openvc.app/pricing, checked 10 Nov 2026.
- OpenVC, data source: Not published. https://www.openvc.app/, checked 10 Nov 2026.
- Signal NFX, coverage: 32,821 investors added (its own counter). https://signal.nfx.com/investor-lists, checked 10 Nov 2026.
- Signal NFX, price: Free. Its FAQ says NFX will never charge for it. https://signal.nfx.com/faq, checked 10 Nov 2026.
- Signal NFX, contacts included: No contact details on list pages. Intro paths appear after you sign in with Gmail. https://signal.nfx.com/investor-lists/top-saas-seed-investors, checked 9 Nov 2026.
- Signal NFX, export: Not published. https://signal.nfx.com/investor-lists, checked 10 Nov 2026.
- Signal NFX, free tier: Everything. A list page loads 8 investors, then a load-more button. https://signal.nfx.com/investor-lists/top-saas-seed-investors, checked 9 Nov 2026.
- Signal NFX, data source: Investor profiles with community edits (477,526 edits on its counter). https://signal.nfx.com/investor-lists, checked 10 Nov 2026.
- VC Sheet, coverage: 2,601 fund pages, 9,126 investor pages and 86 curated sheets in its sitemap. https://www.vcsheet.com/sitemap.xml, checked 10 Nov 2026.
- VC Sheet, price: Free. https://www.vcsheet.com/, checked 10 Nov 2026.
- VC Sheet, contacts included: A fund contact email is shown free on fund pages. https://www.vcsheet.com/fund/01-advisors-fund, checked 9 Nov 2026.
- VC Sheet, export: Not published. https://www.vcsheet.com/, checked 10 Nov 2026.
- VC Sheet, free tier: Everything on the site. https://www.vcsheet.com/, checked 10 Nov 2026.
- VC Sheet, data source: Sheets are put together by named curators. https://www.vcsheet.com/sheet/fintech-funds, checked 9 Nov 2026.
- Crunchbase, coverage: Not published. https://www.crunchbase.com/buy/select-product, checked 10 Nov 2026.
- Crunchbase, price: Pro: $49 per month billed annually (first-year offer, shown against $79) or $99 per month billed monthly. Business: from $199 per month billed annually. https://www.crunchbase.com/buy/select-product, checked 10 Nov 2026.
- Crunchbase, contacts included: "People and contacts" is listed as part of the Pro plan. https://www.crunchbase.com/buy/select-product, checked 10 Nov 2026.
- Crunchbase, export: 2,000 rows per month on Pro. https://www.crunchbase.com/buy/select-product, checked 10 Nov 2026.
- Crunchbase, free tier: Free trial of Pro. https://www.crunchbase.com/buy/select-product, checked 10 Nov 2026.
- Crunchbase, data source: Not published. https://www.crunchbase.com/buy/select-product, checked 10 Nov 2026.
- PitchBook, coverage: Not published. https://pitchbook.com/pricing, checked 10 Nov 2026.
- PitchBook, price: Not published. Quote on request, set by seats and firm type. https://pitchbook.com/pricing, checked 10 Nov 2026.
- PitchBook, contacts included: Not published. https://pitchbook.com/pricing, checked 10 Nov 2026.
- PitchBook, export: Excel and PowerPoint plugins are named on its pricing page. https://pitchbook.com/pricing, checked 10 Nov 2026.
- PitchBook, free tier: No free tier shown. Pricing is by request. https://pitchbook.com/pricing, checked 10 Nov 2026.
- PitchBook, data source: Its own data operations team, per its pricing page. https://pitchbook.com/pricing, checked 10 Nov 2026.
- InvestorLists.vc, coverage: 8,400 US VCs and startup investors, 16,339 decision-makers and 9,389 verified work emails (its own figures). https://investorlists.vc/, checked 10 Nov 2026.
- InvestorLists.vc, price: Listed at $997 a year, shown discounted to $497 a year when checked on 10 Nov 2026. Annual only, renews. https://investorlists.vc/pricing, checked 10 Nov 2026.
- InvestorLists.vc, contacts included: Decision-makers, work emails and LinkedIn profiles on the paid plan. https://investorlists.vc/pricing, checked 10 Nov 2026.
- InvestorLists.vc, export: Unlimited CSV exports on the paid plan, no exports on the free account. https://investorlists.vc/pricing, checked 10 Nov 2026.
- InvestorLists.vc, free tier: Free account: top 15 firms per search and 10 firms unlocked in full. https://investorlists.vc/pricing, checked 10 Nov 2026.
- InvestorLists.vc, data source: SEC filings, news and announcements, checked by a person (its own description). https://investorlists.vc/pricing, checked 10 Nov 2026.
- InvestorLists.vc: Refunds: none for a paid period. You can cancel at any time and keep access until the period ends. https://investorlists.vc/faq, checked 10 Nov 2026.
- PitchBuilder, coverage: 661 UK startup investors. https://pitchbuilder.io/products/uk-investor-database-2026, checked 10 Nov 2026.
- PitchBuilder, price: £69 one-time (regular price shown as £99). https://pitchbuilder.io/products/uk-investor-database-2026, checked 10 Nov 2026.
- PitchBuilder, contacts included: Public contact email, LinkedIn and how to apply for each investor. https://pitchbuilder.io/products/uk-investor-database-2026, checked 10 Nov 2026.
- PitchBuilder, export: Excel (.xlsx) file. https://pitchbuilder.io/products/uk-investor-database-2026, checked 10 Nov 2026.
- PitchBuilder, free tier: 30-row sample on its site. https://pitchbuilder.io/pages/free-uk-investor-list-for-pre-seed-seed-series-a, checked 9 Nov 2026.
- PitchBuilder, data source: Public sources, verified in Q2 2026 (its own description). https://pitchbuilder.io/products/uk-investor-database-2026, checked 10 Nov 2026.
- PitchBuilder: Refunds: none on digital downloads. https://pitchbuilder.io/policies/refund-policy, checked 9 Nov 2026.
Disclosure: The Investor Database publishes this page and sells one of the products on it, which is why it is listed last. We have not tested the other tools' data, so this page says nothing about their accuracy. If a fact here is out of date, email hello@theinvestordatabase.com and we will correct it.