Finding the right people to pitch your product to has never been easier, thanks to the many lead gen platforms available today. For me, Hunter.io is undeniably one of the best email outreach tools.
The platform lets you find, search, and verify email addresses. Equipped with intent data and various campaign tools, you can send targeted and timely emails your prospects will ACTUALLY want to read. It doesn’t have the biggest database (~100 million), but the data quality makes up for it.
While effective and user-friendly, Hunter.io may not be the right solution for everyone. Perhaps the pricing is too steep for your small-business budget, or you just want to see what else is out there—whatever the case, I’ve got you covered. I’ll introduce you to my top 10 picks of the best-rated Hunter.io alternatives.
Stick around to the end as I’ll share a simple trick to help you expand your prospect list regardless of the platform you use (Hint: it takes a few minutes and is 100% FREE).
To select viable alternatives to Hunter.io, I prioritized the following qualities:
I’ll give my uncensored opinion on each platform, presenting both its advantages and disadvantages. I’ll also share their pricing, but make sure to check out the official websites for the most current and accurate information.
Now, let’s see which platforms made the cut:
Like Hunter.io, Snov.io is an all-in-one sales platform with a focus on email. It aims to simplify and automate as much of the sales process as possible, offering capabilities like:
If you’re an avid LinkedIn user like me, you’ll appreciate that Snov.io can scrape email addresses from profiles. You can even run email drip campaigns that trigger based on the leads’ platform activity.
From my experience, Snov.io is reliable and successful in its attempt to make sales easy, even though the sheer number of features took some getting used to. It helps that the customer support is responsive and can help resolve any issues quickly.
What I didn’t like is the pricing. Snov.io is less expensive than Hunter.io on paper, but the credit system isn’t the most balanced. The LinkedIn Automation feature is also charged separately.
*All prices pertain to the yearly billing model
Apollo is a sales platform that offers many of the same benefits as Hunter.io, including contact search, outreach automation, and campaign analytics. However, Apollo has a ton more features in its arsenal, such as:
Another perk of choosing Apollo is the database, which is twice as large as Hunter.io’s (275 as opposed to 107 million contacts).
Unsurprisingly, all these features overwhelmed me at first. But once I got the hang of the platform, it became easy to use and a major time-saver. I love the fact that it can automate many of my mundane tasks, such as data enrichment and cleaning.
As expected, the price reflects Apollo’s impressive scope. The number of mobile and export credits is limited, and it can get expensive to purchase more.
*All prices pertain to the yearly billing model
Bonus read: Read our in-depth Apollo vs. ZoomInfo comparison to see how these industry giants stack up.
Cognism, as a sales intelligence platform, is a solid Hunter.io alternative. While it lacks email campaign capabilities, it makes up for it by FOCUSING SOLELY on providing high-quality international B2B data.
Besides email addresses, Cognism can source phone numbers and intent data. To ensure the info is correct and up-to-date, it uses a verification system that combines AI and human input. It even checks Do Not Call lists in several European countries, which is rare.
The platform is intuitive and could be integrate seamlessly into my workflow thanks to the:
Besides occasional outdated info (that most platforms face, TBH), the only real negatives are the contact enhancing and exporting limit and the small number of pre-built integrations.
While not transparent about the costs, Cognism offers flexible licenses with unrestricted access options.
Like Cognism, UpLead can’t boast a large set of functionalities—but it prioritizes data quality instead. The features it does offer are highly useful. I particularly enjoyed the advanced search that includes over 50 filters. The platform also offers:
UpLead’s database is larger than Hunter.io’s, counting over 155 million contacts and 14 million business profiles.
What truly impresses me is UpLead’s dedication to ensuring data quality. The platform verifies contacts as you search them and even discloses the degrees of confidence. The best part—UpLead will refund you for any bounces and data inaccuracies!
I found the platform user-friendly and frictionless, but it’s worth noting that some users have reported technical issues. On the upside, there’s 24/7 customer support to help you in case you run into issues yourself.
Bonus read: Use our ZoomInfo vs UpLead comparison to learn more about these platforms.
Clearbit is a B2B data provider that was recently acquired by HubSpot. I believe this partnership has the potential to elevate this somewhat modest platform to new heights, but that remains to be seen.
One of my favorite things about Clearbit is its advanced company analysis and granular categorization. You can also create a custom standardized set of roles for easier ICP-matching. Other features include:
Clearbit’s database is half the size of Hunter.io’s (~50 million), but it does have global coverage, and I found the email addresses to be generally up-to-date.
I like the platform’s simple and intuitive UI and the fact that it has an API for third-party integrations. What I don’t like is that they aren’t open about the pricing. Like other users, I also think the credit system is unbalanced—I depleted mine in no time.
Instantly has chosen an appropriate name—they’ve done everything in their power to accelerate and streamline the sales process. For example, the platform has an automated email deliverability network tool and even one-click bulk domain testing for list cleaning. Other features I liked include:
Much like its feature offering, Instantly’s database is huge, boasting over 280 million contacts. The validation seems to be solid as most of the data I’ve received was excellent.
Instantly is easy to navigate despite some minor bugs. It also has great customer support, especially if you’re on the Hypergrowth/leads plan or up.
The only gripe I have with Instantly is its cost. The basic plans are limiting, and you have to pay separate subscriptions for leads and outreach.
Sending & Warmup:
Leads:
*All prices pertain to the yearly billing model
ZoomInfo is likely the best-known B2B sales platform out there. It’s an all-in-one operating system suitable for sales, marketing, Ops, and HR teams. The sheer number of features it provides is INSANE. Here are some of my favorites:
I can safely say that ZoomInfo’s database is among the best available. It counts over 250 million profiles, and, drawing from collective experience, the data is mostly reliable.
ZoomInfo’s comprehensiveness comes at the expense of usability, though. The UI is overwhelming, and the learning curve is steep.
The pricing is what bugs me the most, though. The platform is outright unaffordable for small businesses, often reaching into the tens of thousands.
Bonus read: Check out my ZoomInfo review and top picks for the best ZoomInfo alternative.
VoilaNorbert is a simple email finder that combines real-time search with its database of over 100 million prospects. Despite a few bounces, I found its data quality satisfactory, and I applaud it for providing certainty scores for results.
Besides prospecting, VoilaNorbert offers the following features:
I enjoyed VoilaNorbert’s clear, no-frills interface—the platform required virtually no setup.
The pricing is flexible and fair, allowing you to purchase additional credits if you run out. Besides being free for up to 2,500 monthly emails and 1,000 active leads, the platform won’t charge you if it doesn’t find an email.
Prospecting:
Sequences:
RocketReach is a sales and recruiting intelligence platform with a database of a whopping 700 million profiles. While I find its claim of being the most accurate platform a reach, I was generally pleased with its data quality. Among my favorite features are:
I had no problems setting up or learning to use the platform, though I must admit it isn’t that pleasing to the eye. Other reviewers reported technical difficulties, especially with exporting and integrations.
The pricing is where RocketReach misses the mark. It’s expensive, arguably even inaccessible for up-and-coming businesses, and charges for each user separately.
Individual plans:
Team plans:
*All prices pertain to the yearly billing model
Bonus read: Want to know how RocketReach measures up to ZoomInfo? Our ZoomInfo vs. RocketReach article is for you.
With Lusha, you can fetch global B2B contact and intent data with ease. You can use the advanced filters to build lists, enrich them in one click, and then score and route them. Among other useful features are:
Lusha’s database counts around 45 million contacts and, like any other platform, occasionally delivers outdated info.
I found the setup quick and painless and the overall platform intuitive. When I first tried Lusha, I remember being annoyed by the extension pop-up, but I’m happy to report that a new version has since come out.
Still, I’ll let you decide whether these benefits justify Lusha’s cost.
To recap, I chose Snov.io as the number one alternative to Hunter.io because it offers the same features, plus MANY more. I love its integration with LinkedIn and various automation capabilities. Chronically busy people like me can always appreciate time-saving efforts like these.
And if Snov.io doesn’t meet your needs or budget, there’s a world of other features you can explore.
Looking for a more comprehensive solution? Perhaps Apollo or ZoomInfo could do the trick.
Need data quality above all? Then Cognism and UpLead are the way to go.
You get the gist.
Regardless of the platform you choose, you can improve your lead gen process with RB2B. This simple but powerful tool provides Person-Level Website Visitor Identification, delivering the info straight to your Slack channel. Oh, and it’s FREE!
While some platforms, such as ZoomInfo, give you insight into your website visitors, these usually end at the company level. This means that you have to jump through dozens of hoops to get to the key decision-makers worth reaching out to.
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The RB2B setup process is simple—you only need to:
The basic version is free forever, but if you want additional features, credits, and integration options, you can upgrade to the Pro plan. It has a free 30-day trial, so you can explore what it has to offer before committing.
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Keep reading: Want to explore more? We have many other practical guides for you:
Featured image source: Thirdman
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