Expert network comparisons
Intro.co and Clarity.fm alternatives: 10 ways to reach people who aren't listed
The best Intro.co and Clarity.fm alternatives for reaching people who aren't listed: expert networks, research panels, Minnect and direct paid invitations.
The best Intro.co and Clarity.fm alternatives depend on one question: is the person you want already listed somewhere? Intro and Clarity can only book people who signed up and posted a price. If the person you need never did, you have three other routes: an expert network that recruits for you, a research panel of people who signed up for studies, or a paid invitation sent straight to the person.
Below are ten alternatives, grouped by which of those routes they take. One of them is Instant Expert, which is our product, so weigh our description of it accordingly.
Intro and Clarity run out when the right person isn't in the catalog
Both sites are catalogs. On Intro, each expert sets a price per session; the listings on its homepage ran from $79 to $2,500 when we checked, and Intro offers your money back if your first session isn't worth it. On Clarity, you pick a listed expert, propose three times with a reason for the call, the expert has 72 hours to respond, and you pay their per-minute rate after the call.
That works well when the person you want has chosen to sell their time there. It stops working when you need, say, a procurement director at a regional hospital system, who has never heard of either site. Our side-by-side pages cover each one in more detail: Instant Expert vs Intro.co and Instant Expert vs Clarity.fm.
The ten alternatives at a glance
Prices are the ones each company publishes. "Not published" means you have to ask for a quote.
| Alternative | Who you can reach | Published pricing | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Instant Expert | Anyone you can name or describe, listed anywhere or not | You set what each person receives; our fee is added on top; you pay only if they book or answer | One specific person, or a handful of people in a specific role |
| GLG | GLG's network, plus people it recruits for your project | Not published | Teams that want recruiting and compliance handled for them |
| AlphaSights | Experts it searches for against your brief | Not published | Teams that want an account team to source each project |
| Guidepoint | Its network, which it says has 2 million+ advisors | Not published | Research teams that also want a transcript library |
| Maven | Maven's expert network | Ad Hoc Access from $150 for 30 minutes | Trying an expert network without an annual contract |
| NewtonX | ID-verified B2B professionals it recruits for you | Not published | A B2B study designed and run with research support |
| CleverX | Participants on its platform, which it puts at 10 million+ | Free to start; no prices on its homepage | Surveys and interviews with AI help on setup and analysis |
| Respondent | Its panel, which it puts at 4.3 million+ people | $40 per consumer session, $80 per B2B session, pay as you go; incentives extra | User and market research sessions |
| User Interviews | Its panel of 7.5 million participants | From $49 per session, pay as you go; incentives extra | Recruiting participants for ongoing research |
| Minnect | Professionals on Minnect | Each expert sets a price; you are charged only when they respond | Quick paid answers from people who are on Minnect |
1. Instant Expert reaches people who never signed up for anything
Instant Expert starts from the person instead of a catalog. You paste a LinkedIn URL or a name and company, or describe the people you want ("heads of procurement at US hospital systems"). We find their contact details and send your note with a paid offer for a call or a written answer. The offer is what the person receives, and our fee is added on top for you. You pay only if they book or answer, so a no or no reply costs nothing (how it works).
The tradeoff: nobody has agreed in advance to talk to you. Some people will decline or ignore the invitation, and there is no recruiting team chasing them for you. If you want someone else to run the search, look at the expert networks below.
2. GLG, AlphaSights and Guidepoint do the recruiting for you
Expert networks find people for each project. GLG pairs a matching engine with client teams that suggest experts and often custom recruit, and offers a self-serve search called myGLG. AlphaSights says it searches for experts against each client's brief rather than relying on a fixed database, and assigns an account team (AlphaSights services). Guidepoint assigns each client a dedicated team and says it has 2 million+ vetted advisors.
None of the three publishes prices; you fill in a form and get a quote. They fit teams that run many calls and want someone else to handle compliance and scheduling. For one or two conversations, they are a lot of machinery. More detail: expert networks compared, vs GLG, vs AlphaSights and vs Guidepoint.
3. Maven and NewtonX sit between a network and a self-serve tool
Maven is the rare expert network with public starting prices: Ad Hoc Access from $150 for 30 minutes, Shared Credits from $25,000 a year, and Consulting Projects from $5,000. That makes it the easiest network to try for a single call (vs Maven).
NewtonX recruits ID-verified B2B professionals by role, industry and seniority, and offers phone consultations, video interviews, focus groups and advisory boards, with help designing and reporting the study. It does not list prices. Pick it when you want a study run for you (vs NewtonX).
4. CleverX, Respondent and User Interviews are panels for studies
Research panels are made of people who signed up to take part in studies. They are good for volume: ten usability sessions with accountants, or a survey of 200 marketers. They are a poor fit for one particular executive, because that executive is probably not on the panel.
- Respondent charges $40 per consumer session and $80 per B2B session on pay as you go, only for sessions that complete. Incentives are separate.
- User Interviews lists pay-as-you-go recruiting from $49 per session, with participant incentives on top.
- CleverX offers surveys and AI-moderated or human-moderated interviews, says it has 10 million+ verified participants, and is free to start.
See Instant Expert vs research panels for when each makes sense.
5. Minnect is the closest thing to Intro and Clarity
Minnect lets you get answers from professionals by text, video or call. Experts set their own prices and you are charged only when an expert responds. Like Intro and Clarity, it covers the people who are on Minnect. If your person isn't, it has the same limit.
Pick by the person you need
- The person is listed on a marketplace: book them on Intro, Clarity or Minnect. It's the shortest path.
- You need many calls and someone else to run recruiting or compliance: ask GLG, AlphaSights or Guidepoint for a quote.
- You need a study with dozens of participants: use Respondent, User Interviews or CleverX.
- You need a specific person, or a specific kind of person, who isn't on any of these sites: send them a paid invitation directly with Instant Expert.
Write down the exact person or role you need before you compare tools. Most of the decision falls out of that one line.