How to find B2B leads: contact databases, LinkedIn lists and free plans

How to find B2B leads: start with the buyer you want

To find B2B leads, define the buyer first: the industry, company size, job title and location of the person you want to reach. Then search a contact database with those filters and unlock only the contacts you will email or call.

Write those filters down before you open any tool, and plan to combine several of them: one broad filter returns too many people to check.

Search a contact database

Whichever database you use, run the search in this order:

1. Filter by job title, job function and management level.
2. Set a range for company size, and add industry or location if they matter.
3. Cap how many contacts each company shows, so one large account does not fill the list.
4. Add filters one at a time and check the result before the next.
5. If you plan to call, keep only contacts with a phone or mobile number.

Read what each result shows before you spend a credit, and unlock only the contacts that fit. UpLead's help center documents these steps for its Contact Search, where company details and limited contact details show before a credit is spent.

LinkedIn and Sales Navigator for finding people

Sales Navigator finds people by role. As read on October 30, 2026, LinkedIn's compare page lists 50+ advanced search filters, CSV upload and CRM import, and describes no export of contact emails, so the emails come from elsewhere. Sales Navigator Core starts at $119.99 per license a month, or $1,079.88 per license a year.

Treat LinkedIn as a manual list-building route: look people up yourself, one profile at a time, and add each one to your list by hand. LinkedIn's help page says it does not permit third-party software or browser extensions that scrape its site.

Free plans for a first list

These rivals publish a free plan, as read on October 30, 2026:

• Apollo.io Free: $0, 75 credits per seat per month on the monthly view.
• Lusha Free: $0, 40 credits a month, one seat, no credit card.
• Prospeo Free: $0, 100 credits a month.
• Hunter Free: 50 credits a month, no time limit, no credit card required, unlimited team members.

Start on Apollo.io's free plan for a first set of leads. Use Sales Navigator when you need people found by role and will get their emails elsewhere.

Each free plan caps its credits, so a free list stays short. The B2B contact database free page sets the free routes and their limits side by side.

Before the first email to a new lead

Read three official texts before the first email to a new lead. These summaries are general information as read on October 30, 2026, not legal advice.

• CAN-SPAM: a commercial email must carry a clear opt-out notice (15 U.S.C. 7704), and 16 CFR Part 316 bars charging a fee to opt out.
• GDPR, for EU contacts: Article 21(2) gives a person the right to object to direct marketing at any time, and Article 21(3) says the data may then no longer be processed for it.
• CCPA: California's Attorney General says the exemption for business-to-business personal information expired on December 31, 2022.

If your list should hold no EU contacts, filter out EU and EEA countries before you unlock anyone. The how to build a B2B prospect list template page keeps the longer checklist.

UpLead has no free plan. If you want mobile numbers too, its 7-day trial gives 5 credits to unlock leads, though not every contact has a verified phone number. The help center says the trial is activated with payment details, and an account not canceled by day 7 is billed for the Essentials annual plan.