Lodestone as an IDI alternative.
IDI competes hard on match logic and speed, and idiCORE is a capable product with a real following among investigators and collections shops. Here is where we differ, and where we do not.
Broader bureau coverage, and provenance on every field.
Both platforms start from premium credit header data from the nationwide credit bureaus and public record files. We go further on the alternative bureaus layered above that base — the files that carry thin-file and no-file subjects, recent immigrants, young debtors and people living largely in cash. Easy subjects resolve on any platform. Those are the ones that decide a matter.
If linkage quality is your deciding factor, it is measurable: run a set of subjects you already know through both and compare not just hit rates but how many results are wrong. A confident wrong answer is worse than a no-hit, which is why we rate confidence and attribute sources on every material field instead of presenting a single merged identity as fact.
Published terms, and a purpose record per search.
You can price it before you talk to anyone
Our rate card is published: $5 per user seat per month, then per search at rates anyone can read. No quote, no discovery call, no negotiated tier that depends on how the conversation went.
No search minimum, $5 seats, no term
Seats are $5 per user per month and that is the only fixed cost — not a spend commitment, and it does not convert into search credit. The access agreement you sign carries no term, no volume commitment and no termination fee — it exists to set out permissible purpose and data-handling obligations, not to lock you in.
Confidence is rated, never asserted as verification
One source is single; two or more agreeing is corroborated. Neither is called verified, because neither is. Nothing in this category is verified until a person confirms it, and platforms that use the word are setting their clients up for a bad day in a deposition.
Purpose recorded per search
Each search carries its own permissible-purpose code and matter reference. Uncredentialed combinations do not run, are not billed, and are still logged. When a subject complains or opposing counsel asks, you answer with a per-search file rather than a policy document.
Bank and brokerage location is not offered
Not at any price, and no product code returns it. Say so early if that is part of your workflow.
IDI is the closest of the four on commercial terms.
We are not going to pretend otherwise. Third-party comparisons put idiCORE at roughly $0.50 to $2.00 per record with no monthly minimum, which is a genuinely reasonable shape and closer to ours than TLOxp or IRBsearch manage. If a minimum is the thing you are escaping, IDI already solves it.
| idiCORE | Lodestone | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly minimum | Reported none | None — $5 per seat |
| Rates published | No — quoted on request | Every rate, on the site |
| Per-record cost | ~$0.50–$2.00, reported | $0.15–$9.75, published |
| Permissible purpose | Credentialed at account level | Declared per session, recorded on every search |
| Audit export | On request | Self-serve CSV |
Per-record figures are third-party reporting, not IDI’s own published rates — they do not publish any. Treat them as indicative and get a quote.
So what is the actual difference?
Price transparency and the compliance record. You can read our entire rate card without speaking to anyone, and the platform bills from that same table. Every search carries the permissible purpose you declared for that session, and you can export the whole log yourself without opening a support ticket. If those do not matter to your practice, IDI is a capable platform and we would not argue hard against it.
Reasons to stay where you are.
If your team is fast in idiCORE and your close rate depends on that fluency, switching has a real cost that a lower rate may not cover. And if you already hold a negotiated volume agreement, compare the actual effective numbers rather than list prices.
We are newer, with a shorter operating record. Run us alongside what you have rather than in place of it, and let your own subjects settle it.
Common questions
How does Lodestone Data compare with idiCORE?
IDI is the closest of the major platforms on commercial terms, reported by third parties at roughly $0.50 to $2.00 per record with no monthly minimum. The differences are published pricing, permissible purpose declared per session and written onto every search, and self-serve audit export.
Run both on the same subjects.
$5 plus only what you actually search.