Overview

The Self-Signup API allows people to get started using our products in minutes for free. It enables users to create and manage their API keys, sign up for subscriptions to our various products, and view their usage history across their different subscriptions. This quickstart guide will walk you through how to sign up for an account, how to use the self-serve dashboard, and provide an overview of the different products available for self-service.

Signing Up for an Account

In order to use any PDL product, all users must create an account, which can be done using the signup form here: People Data Labs - Sign Up. Simply fill out the form on the page (we recommend using your business email address to speed up the approval process), and submit to create your account.

Screenshot of API key sign up form.

Sign Up Approval Process

To combat spam and other suspicious activity, every account sign up is validated through a combination of automated and manual approval processes. During this time, you will not have access to an API key or account dashboard. Once you’ve been approved, you will receive an activation link through your email. Clicking the verification link will automatically create your account and API key. 

Screenshot of a sign up awaiting approval.

API Dashboard

Once your account has been approved and created, logging in to People Data Labs - API Dashboard will take you to your account dashboard where you will be able to view/modify your API keys, signup/manage your subscriptions, review your API usage history, as well as a few other things.

Screenshot of API dashboard homepage after successfully logging in.

The main page has several tabs on the left hand side navigation bar and some quick links to the most relevant pages in the main view display.

API Keys Page

Clicking the “API Keys” tab on the navigation bar (or the “Copy your API Key” icon on the main page) will take you to the API Keys page.

Screenshot of API Keys tab.

This page is where you can view your API key (see screenshot above), which enables you to use any product that has an active subscription. Note that this API key is private for your account and should not be shared across accounts. Multiple API keys are available in enterprise plans. In the event your API Key has been compromised, you can generate a new API key by clicking on the “Roll This Key” button. NOTE: you are responsible for any calls made on your API key.

Usage Page

The Usage page is where you can view your monthly API usage across each of your different product subscriptions.

Screenshot of API Usage tab displaying Person Enrichment API usage.

At the top of the page are several tabs corresponding to the different PDL products. Selecting one of these tabs populates the main display area with information about your usage for the selected product. In the main display area, the top section shows some summary statistics for the total number of requests, number of successful matches, and the match rate over a certain time period (e.g. 1 year in the screenshot above). Below these statistics is a bar chart for the API usage each month, broken down by the response type (i.e. successful match, bad request, and unsuccessful match). Finally, the bottom of the display page displays information about your current plan status, including the start and end date, and the number of matches used and remaining. 

Subscriptions

Screenshot of Subscriptions tab showing Person Enrichment API self-service options.

The subscriptions tab is where you can sign up for and manage your subscriptions to each of the products. Selecting the tabs at the top of the central display area displays the subscription options for each product. Note that the bottom of the page contains answers to a few common questions.

Self-Service Subscription Options

PDL offers tiered packaging for all of our self-service products.

Person Enrichment API

Person Enrichment API self-service options.

The Person Enrichment API is charged on a per-match basis (so unsuccessful matches or failed requests do not count towards the monthly usage count). PDL offers a free-tier that includes 1 month of 1000 free matches, and tiered monthly packages for up to 5,000 matches per month. Beyond that, we encourage you to speak to our data consultants for bulk data packages.

Company Enrichment API

Company Enrichment API self-service options.

Similar to the Person Enrichment API, the Company Enrichment API also charges on a per-match basis (so only successful matches count towards your usage limits). For this product, PDL offers a free tier package for 100 free matches per month as well as tiered package results up to 25,000 matches per month. Once again, we encourage you to speak to one of our data consultants for match rates beyond the self-service options.

Person Search API

Person Search API self-service options.

The Person Search API is charged on a per-record-retrieved basis (responses from this API endpoint contain multiple profile matches so each successful match in the response is charged as 1 credit). Currently, there is no free tier for the Person Search API, but self-service options up to 5000 credits per month are available as well as bulk packages for higher usage rates, which you can sign up for through speaking with a data consultant. 

Non Self-Serve Packages

Currently, we have several products that are not yet available for self-service, including the Cleaner API and Data License products. To learn more about whether these products are right for you, please speak to our data consultants. 

Status Page

The Status page displays the status of our various API endpoints over the past 90 days. This page is useful to confirm whether you are experiencing any service interruptions. 

API endpoint status page.

Documentation

The last tab on the API dashboard takes you to our documentation page. This is our recommended resource for getting up to speed on our products as well as working through some hands-on examples to get started quickly. Additionally, you can check out the People Data Labs Blog for some more in-depth tutorials on specific use cases with code examples (such as our B2B Audience Generation and Investment Research tutorials).

Conclusion

The Self-Signup API is an easy, low-commitment way to get yourself started with our tools on your own. Sign up for your account at People Data Labs - Sign Up, and give our API products a spin! 

P.S. If you’re looking for some inspiration on what you can do with our tools, checkout our B2B Audience Generation and Investment Research tutorials!

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