Use a direct provider API when the job is narrow and you explicitly want one source. Use a waterfall when coverage and reliability matter more than source purity.
02Curated answer1 response
Direct answer
Use a direct provider API when:
- you only need one source
- the lookup is narrow and predictable
- you want maximum control over the exact request
Use a waterfall when:
- coverage matters
- the list is large
- you do not want to hand-build fallback logic
- missing data in one source would create downstream gaps
The tradeoff
Direct APIs are clean but brittle at scale. A waterfall adds orchestration overhead, but it is usually the right answer for real enrichment workflows because no single provider covers every contact or company well.
Source-backed reference
GTM StackCurated use case