A Crunchbase API alternative
you can start today, no sales call
ProspectAPIs is a self-serve funding data API: it returns company funding rounds over a REST API and an MCP server, billed per record from a prepaid balance, with the source of every round. Sign up, create a key and make your first call in a few minutes, with no sales call.
What makes it an alternative
ProspectAPIs is a self-serve funding data API: you search funding rounds by date, round, amount, company, domain, investor and country, and pay $0.02 for each record returned. Crunchbase sells its API through its team and no longer offers its free Basic API, so a developer who wants to test funding data in an afternoon has no self-serve way in. That is the gap ProspectAPIs fills.
How fast is self serve in practice? Per our own test run on October 20, 2026, a brand-new account went from the signup form to its first successful API call in 3 minutes 7 seconds, with no call and no card.
ProspectAPIs and the Crunchbase API, side by side
Our column is read from our live price list. The Crunchbase column quotes only Crunchbase's own pages, read on October 25, 2026; where they publish nothing we could cite, it says so.
| Topic | ProspectAPIs | Crunchbase API |
|---|---|---|
| Price per funding record | $0.02 per record returned. A search that matches nothing is free. | Not published. API access is available through their sales team. Crunchbase API essentials |
| Free allowance | A $1 starting balance, about 50 funding records, no card. | The free Basic API is no longer offered. Crunchbase Basic API docs |
| Signup | Self serve: create an account and an API key, then make the first call. | A form, then a conversation with their team. Crunchbase API page |
| Source on each round | Every record carries source_url, the announcement it was read from. | Not stated on the Crunchbase API pages we read. |
| Freshness | News feeds, wire releases and SEC Form D filings are read every two hours. | Not stated on the Crunchbase API pages we read. |
| Seats | None. One key, one prepaid balance, no subscription. | MCP is bought per workspace, and each MCP user needs the Crunchbase Business base product. Crunchbase MCP access docs |
| Alerts to a webhook | Watchlists POST each new matching round to your webhook, signed, at $0.02 per delivered record. | Not stated on the Crunchbase API pages we read. |
| MCP for AI agents | A hosted MCP server and the npm package prospectapis-mcp, on the same key and balance. | An MCP server with seats, as above. Crunchbase MCP access docs |
| Rate limit | Published on our rate limits page. | 200 requests per minute per key, 3 in progress at a time. Crunchbase API essentials |
Crunchbase is a trademark of its owner. This page compares public information and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Crunchbase. Our limits are on the rate limits page.
When Crunchbase is the better fit
Crunchbase offers company profiles, firmographics, prediction models and data licensing for teams that want the whole database under one license (see the Crunchbase API page). If you need those, talk to them. ProspectAPIs does one job: the funding rounds themselves, as they are announced, with the source of each one, plus watchlists to a webhook and cited research briefs on the companies you are about to call.
What teams use it for
- Outbound to newly funded companies. Pull the seed and Series A rounds of the last week in your market and reach the company while the budget is fresh.
- Alerts inside your own tools. Save a search as a watchlist and each new matching round arrives at your webhook, so a CRM or a Slack channel hears about it first.
- Investor and market research. Filter by investor, country and round size to see who is backing what, with the announcement behind every row.
- AI agents that prospect. Give an agent the MCP server and it can search rounds, set alerts and request a cited brief on a company, on one key and one balance.
Your first request
Seed and Series A rounds announced since October 1 for US companies, 25 per page. Each record lists the company, its domain, the round, the amount in USD, the investors and the source URL.
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \ "https://api.prospectapis.com/v1/funding?since=2026-10-01&round=seed,series_a&country=US&limit=25"
Every filter is listed in the funding API reference. To be told about new rounds instead of polling, save the search as a watchlist. For a brief on one company, use the research API, and for agents, the MCP server. Prices are on the pricing page, and our guide to prospecting with funding signals shows how sales teams use the records.
Questions
- Is the Crunchbase Basic API still available?
- No. Crunchbase's own docs say they are no longer offering the Basic API (read October 25, 2026). Full API access is arranged with their team.
- Does ProspectAPIs have a free tier?
- Every account starts with a $1 balance and no card, enough for about 50 funding records. A search that matches nothing costs nothing.
- Do I need a sales call to get an API key?
- No. You sign up, create a key in the dashboard and call the API. Funding records cost $0.02 each from your prepaid balance.
- Can an AI agent use it?
- Yes. The hosted MCP server and the npm package prospectapis-mcp give an agent the same funding search, watchlists and research briefs on the same key.
- Where does ProspectAPIs get its funding data?
- From public announcements: funding news and their feeds, press release wires, SEC Form D filings and a curated list of venture financings. Each record keeps the link it was read from.