Lusha vs Apollo vs Hunter: what does each one do?
Lusha, Apollo.io and Hunter (hunter.io) all sell B2B contact data on credits, but each is built around a different first job. Lusha reveals verified emails and phone numbers, Apollo pairs a contact database with outreach, and Hunter finds and verifies email addresses. Here is what each does well, in each vendor's own terms, checked 20 October 2026:
- Lusha lists verified emails and phones, basic and advanced filters and automated email sequences on its Free plan. Its comparison table lists a browser extension that works on LinkedIn, CRMs and any website. It charges fewer credits for a phone number than Apollo.
- Apollo says its database covers 240 million contacts and 30 million companies, and every account can send email campaigns. Its paid plans add deal management and a US dialer (credits apply), so one tool covers finding, emailing and calling.
- Hunter spends credits on finding and verifying email addresses, charges nothing when a search finds no email, and includes unlimited team members on every plan. Its Sequences tool sends from your connected mailboxes. Its pricing page lists no phone number data.
What does one credit buy in Lusha, Apollo and Hunter?
An email costs 1 credit in all three tools; the differences are phone numbers, verification, exports and what happens to unused credits. From each pricing page on 20 October 2026:
| What you spend credits on | Lusha | Apollo | Hunter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work email | 1 credit per verified email revealed | 1 credit | 1 credit per email found; up to 10 emails per credit in Bulk Domain Search |
| Phone number | 5 credits | 8 credits | Not listed |
| Verifying an email you already have | Not listed separately | Not listed separately | 0.5 credit; free if verification fails |
| Search that finds nothing | Not stated | Not stated | Free |
| Exporting | CSV: 1 credit per batch of up to 25 records. CRM: 1 credit per record | CSV export on every plan; no export cost listed | CSV export on every plan; no export cost listed |
| Unused credits | Monthly Pro and Premium plans roll over up to 2× the plan limit; yearly credits reset at the end of the year | Expire each billing cycle, add-ons included | Monthly credits reset and don't roll over; yearly plans get all credits up front |
| Who shares the credits | 1 seat on Free and Starter, 2 on Pro, 5 on Premium | Pooled across all seats | Unlimited team members share one pool |
Hunter spells out its counting rules most fully: the same search or verification counts once per billing period, and credits count the same way in the web app, API, browser extension and Google Sheets add-on. Lusha's export charge is the one to plan for. Exporting 300 contacts to a CSV file costs 12 credits (300 ÷ 25), but pushing the same 300 to your CRM costs 300 credits, as much again as revealing their emails.
How much do Lusha, Apollo and Hunter cost? Prices checked 20 October 2026
The entry paid plans cost $34 to $49 a month for one user when billed yearly: Hunter Starter $34, Lusha Starter $37.45 and Apollo Basic $49 a seat. The full picture, in US dollars, checked 20 October 2026:
| Plan | Price | Credits | Users |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lusha Free | $0 | 40 a month | 1 |
| Lusha Starter | $37.45 a month, billed yearly | 4,800 a year, up front | 1 |
| Lusha Pro | From $52.45 a month, billed yearly | 7,200 a year, up front | 2 included |
| Lusha Premium | $299.95 a month, billed yearly | 40,800 a year, up front | 5 included |
| Apollo Free | $0 | 75 a seat a month | Per seat |
| Apollo Basic | $49 a seat a month billed yearly; $65 monthly | 2,500 a seat a month (30,000 a year up front on yearly billing) | Per seat |
| Apollo Professional | $79 a seat billed yearly; $99 monthly | 4,000 a seat a month | Per seat |
| Hunter Free | $0 | 50 a month | Unlimited |
| Hunter Starter | $34 a month billed yearly ($408 a year); $49 monthly | 2,000 a month (24,000 a year up front on yearly billing) | Unlimited |
| Hunter Growth | $104 a month billed yearly; $149 monthly | 10,000 a month | Unlimited |
Lusha's plan cards show only yearly billing for paid plans; we found no monthly price on the page. Pro's price moves with a credit slider, and seats cost extra: adding a third seat to Pro raised the displayed price from $52.45 to $89.85 a month. Apollo's yearly toggle says it saves 24%, and Hunter's about 30%.
If every credit went on emails, the entry plans work out like this on yearly billing: Hunter Starter $408 ÷ 24,000 = 1.7 cents an email, Apollo Basic $588 ÷ 30,000 = 2.0 cents, and Lusha Starter $449.40 ÷ 4,800 = 9.4 cents. A phone number comes to about 16 cents in Apollo Basic (8 credits) and 47 cents in Lusha Starter (5 credits). These are list prices per credit; we did not test how often each tool finds a correct email or number.
Which is cheapest for a few hundred contacts a month?
For a few hundred contacts a month, Hunter is cheapest when you need emails only, and Apollo is cheapest once you add phone numbers. Three common cases, priced on 20 October 2026:
| Need | Lusha | Apollo | Hunter |
|---|---|---|---|
| One person, 300 emails a month | Starter, $37.45 billed yearly (3,600 of its 4,800 yearly credits) | Basic, one seat: $49 billed yearly or $65 monthly (Free's 75 credits fall short) | Starter: $34 billed yearly or $49 monthly |
| One person, 300 emails and 30 phone numbers a month | 450 credits a month (300 + 30 × 5), 5,400 a year: above Starter, so Pro at $52.45 | 540 credits (300 + 30 × 8): Basic, $49 or $65 | Starter covers the emails; phone numbers need another tool |
| Three people sharing 300 emails a month | Pro with a third seat: $89.85 billed yearly | Basic, three seats: $147 billed yearly or $195 monthly | Starter, shared: $34 billed yearly or $49 monthly |
Hunter wins on emails: it has the lowest entry price, and every team member shares one plan. Apollo wins once phones come in, at these volumes and on yearly billing ($49 against Lusha Pro's $52.45). Lusha costs more per credit at entry level, but it charges the fewest credits per phone number, and at lower volumes its Starter plan, at $37.45 billed yearly, is the cheapest paid plan here that includes phone numbers.
How do the free tiers and export limits compare?
All three have a free tier, and Apollo's gives the most credits per user. Here is what each free plan includes, and how exports are limited, as of 20 October 2026:
- Apollo Free: 75 credits a seat a month, so 75 emails or 9 phone numbers. Two sequences per team, Gmail mailboxes only, 250 email sends a day and CSV export. You can select 25 records at a time, against 1,000 on Basic, 2,500 on Professional and 10,000 on Organization. Apollo's FAQ says that without a limit you can select and export up to 10,000 leads in one click.
- Lusha Free: 40 credits a month for one seat, so 40 emails or 8 phone numbers. CSV export is ticked on every plan but costs 1 credit per batch of up to 25 records, and the comparison table shows no rollover on Free.
- Hunter Free: 50 credits a month, so 50 emails found or 100 verifications, shared by unlimited team members. CSV export, one connected email account and up to 500 recipients per sequence are included. The comparison table shows no auto-verification or lead enrichment on Free.
Free tiers are enough to test each tool's data on your own market. They are not enough for a few hundred contacts a month: even three Apollo Free seats pool only 225 credits (3 × 75).
Where do the three pricing pages contradict themselves?
Each of the three pricing pages contradicts itself somewhere, checked 20 October 2026:
- Hunter. The header promises "auto-verified Hunter lead data on all plans", while the comparison table marks auto-verification as not included on Free. The table's tooltip defines auto-verification as re-verifying saved leads every month for free; the page doesn't say whether the header means the same thing.
- Lusha. The comparison table ticks the AI assistant and lookalikes for Free, while the Starter card lists both as additions to Free. The FAQ also explains rollover on monthly plans, but the plan cards show only yearly billing for paid plans.
- Apollo. The pricing page lists no credit cost for exports, while its help centre says export credits "may only apply to certain plans or legacy configurations".
Before you pay, check in the app, or ask the vendor in writing, which reading applies to your plan.
Lusha, Apollo or Hunter: which fits your team?
Hunter fits teams that need emails only, Apollo fits teams that also call, and Lusha fits one person who wants phone numbers on the fewest credits. Our recommendations, by use case:
- A founder who needs under 50 emails a month: Hunter Free or Apollo Free. Hunter charges nothing for searches that find no email; Apollo's 75 credits also stretch to a few phone numbers.
- A team of two to five that needs a few hundred verified emails a month: Hunter Starter at $34 a month billed yearly, shared by everyone, with sequences from three connected mailboxes.
- A team that also calls prospects: Apollo Basic, at about 16 cents a phone number at list price billed yearly, plus a US dialer (credits apply).
- One person who works from LinkedIn profiles and wants phones on the fewest credits: Lusha Starter, at 5 credits a phone number. Read our guide to finding leads on LinkedIn without Sales Navigator to build the list first.
Pick 30 names you want to reach
Thirty emails fit inside every free plan: Lusha's 40, Hunter's 50 and Apollo's 75 credits.
Run the same 30 through all three
Note how many emails and phone numbers each returns and how many credits it used.
Send from one mailbox and count bounces
Use one short message from our cold email templates for every address, so the only difference is the data.
If you would rather not run a data tool at all, Siela's AI SDR finds and verifies each person's work email and emails only deliverable addresses.
Frequently asked questions
How many credits does a phone number cost in Lusha, Apollo and Hunter?
As of 20 October 2026, Lusha charges 5 credits per phone number and Apollo charges 8, while an email costs 1 credit in both. Hunter's pricing page lists credits only for finding and verifying email addresses and shows no phone number data. At entry-level list prices billed yearly, a phone number works out at about 47 cents in Lusha Starter and 16 cents in Apollo Basic.
Which free plan gives the most contacts: Lusha, Apollo or Hunter?
Apollo Free gives 75 credits a seat a month, Hunter Free 50 credits a month shared by unlimited users, and Lusha Free 40 credits a month for one seat, checked 20 October 2026. For emails only, that is 75, 50 and 40 a month. For phone numbers, Apollo's 75 credits buy 9 and Lusha's 40 buy 8; Hunter lists no phone data.
Does exporting contacts use Lusha credits?
Yes. Lusha's credit breakdown, checked 20 October 2026, charges 1 credit to export each batch of up to 25 contacts or companies to CSV, and 1 credit for each record exported to a CRM. Revealing an email costs another credit and a phone number five, so exporting 300 contacts to a CRM adds 300 credits on top of the reveals.
Do Lusha credits roll over?
On monthly plans, Lusha's FAQ says unused credits roll over while you stay subscribed, up to twice your plan's credit limit, and its comparison table shows that rollover on Pro and Premium only. On annual plans, all credits arrive up front and unused ones reset at the end of the year. The Free plan shows no rollover.
Can a whole team share one Hunter plan?
Yes. Hunter's pricing page, checked 20 October 2026, includes unlimited team members on every plan, and everyone shares the plan's credits. Starter costs $34 a month billed yearly, or $49 monthly, for 2,000 credits a month. Credits are counted the same way in the web app, the API, the browser extension and the Google Sheets add-on.
Sources
- Lusha pricing (checked 20 Oct 2026)
- Apollo.io pricing (checked 20 Oct 2026)
- Apollo Knowledge Base: Review Credit Usage in Apollo (updated 15 Oct 2026; checked 20 Oct 2026)
- Hunter pricing (checked 20 Oct 2026)