We sell a family office database, so read this comparison knowing that. Dakota is one of the most respected data companies in fundraising, and buyers comparing the two of us are usually deciding between a platform subscription and a one-time list. Everything below about Dakota comes from Dakota's own published pages as of July 2026, with sources at the end. Offerings change, so confirm on their site before deciding.
What Dakota does brilliantly
Dakota's tagline is "Built for Fundraisers, by Fundraisers," and their pages back it up with a rare combination: allocator data plus a free education layer that has become a fixture in the industry. Dakota Marketplace covers, per their own pages, 250,000+ LP accounts and 386,000+ verified contacts across the institutional universe, updated daily by a 60-person research team. On family offices specifically, their family office page describes 4,000+ verified offices with 8,000+ contacts, with an emphasis on separating offices that allocate to outside managers from those that do not. Around the data, Dakota runs the free monthly Dakota Live! call (200+ episodes), sales coaching content, and community programs. Dakota also deserves credit for pricing transparency: their cost is published plainly on their own site, which is uncommon in this market.
The Dakota model, in their own words
Dakota Marketplace is an annual, per-seat subscription: $16,500 per year for the first user and $1,000 per year for each additional user, per Dakota's published pricing guide as of July 2026, with a week-long free trial described in their FAQ. Delivery is platform plus integrations (Salesforce, HubSpot, DealCloud, and others), an API, and a flat-file option. It is a model built for teams that fundraise continuously across many allocator channels and want live data in their CRM every day.
Choose Dakota if you are an investment sales team raising across institutional channels all year, you live in Salesforce or a similar CRM, and family offices are one of several allocator types you cover. Their platform and community were made for you.
The other job: one channel, one campaign, one file
If family offices are your channel and your raise is a defined campaign rather than a continuous operation, the arithmetic changes. A $16,500 annual seat buys a universe of pensions, RIAs, and broker-dealers that a family-office-focused raise may not use (that figure is Dakota's published first-seat price as of July 2026; it assumes you need only what a family office campaign uses).
Active Family Offices covers more than 2,700 active family offices (the live count is on each product page), every line reviewed by a human, sold as a one-time Excel purchase you own forever. Listings include the office website, LinkedIn page, investment domains, and named top decision makers, on average 2 per office; most listings include at least one decision maker's personal work email and LinkedIn profile, where privacy law allows (coverage details are on each product page). The Full USA Database is $1,800 as of July 2026, regional lists start at $100, and a 95% accuracy guarantee is published on each product page. The free sample lets you inspect the data first.
Side by side
| Dakota Marketplace | Active Family Offices | |
|---|---|---|
| Model | Annual per-seat subscription platform | One-time purchase, Excel file included |
| Published pricing | $16,500/yr first seat, $1,000/yr each additional seat, per their pages | $100 to $3,000, one payment, on every product page |
| Scope | Full allocator universe; family offices are one channel | Family offices are the entire product |
| Family office coverage (as each provider states it) | 4,000+ offices, 8,000+ contacts | 2,700+ offices, human-reviewed |
| Updates | Daily, per their pages | You own a reviewed snapshot; updated editions sold separately |
| Best for | Teams fundraising continuously across channels | A defined family office outreach effort |
The bottom line for a capital raiser choosing now
If you raise across the institutional universe all year, Dakota's platform, published pricing, and free education layer make it a strong subscription to own. If your campaign is family offices specifically and you want the whole file, human-reviewed, in Excel for one payment, the Full USA Database is $1,800, human-reviewed, and guaranteed. Start with the free sample and check our standards on the FAQ page.
Sources
Facts about Dakota are from dakota.com as of July 2026: pricing guide, Dakota Marketplace, family office page, family office database page, FAQ blog, Dakota Live!. Facts about Active Family Offices are from activefamilyoffices.com as of July 2026. Offerings and prices change; see each provider's site for current details. If you represent Dakota and something here is out of date, contact us and we will correct it promptly.
All product names, logos, and brands are the property of their respective owners and are used for identification purposes only. Active Family Offices is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by any company mentioned.