UpLead vs Hunter.io: contact database or email finder for a small team

UpLead vs Hunter.io: what each one is for

Pick Hunter if your team needs emails only, and pick UpLead if it also needs mobile direct dials. Hunter's help center says it began in 2015 as an email finder and now calls itself an all-in-one cold outreach platform.

UpLead is a contact database. One UpLead credit unlocks a contact for download or CRM export and includes the email and a mobile direct dial, a direct phone number that is not a headquarters line.

As read on October 30, 2026, UpLead Essentials is $99 a month, billed monthly, or $74 a month, billed annually, for one user. Hunter's paid-plan prices are on its own pricing page.

What a credit buys: a found email or a full contact

A Hunter credit pays for a found email. One credit finds an email, and half a credit verifies one. Hunter says no credits are used when it cannot find or verify an email, and a duplicate request in the same billing period does not use credits again.

Hunter's credits reset monthly and do not roll over. On yearly plans, all credits are available up front for the whole year.

An UpLead credit pays for a whole contact and is spent on the first unlock, export or download of that contact. The download setting Valid Only charges credits for valid emails only. Per UpLead's terms, credits do not roll over.

Prices: UpLead's dollar plans and Hunter's plan page

UpLead Essentials gives 170 credits a month at $99 a month, billed monthly. Billed annually it is $74 a month, and the annual card shows 2,040 credits. Plus gives 400 credits at $199 a month, billed monthly, or 4,800 credits at $149 a month, billed annually. Professional is billed annually only, with price on request. The pricing page prints no yearly total.

Hunter's pricing page lists Free, Starter, Growth, Scale and Enterprise. Free gives 50 credits a month. Starter gives 2,000 credits a month, Growth 10,000 and Scale 25,000. Enterprise is custom, through sales. A credit means a different thing at each vendor, so compare the unit before the count.

Seats: unlimited users at Hunter, one user on UpLead Essentials

Hunter lists unlimited users on all plans, and its help center says the free plan lets a team share tools and credits. UpLead's Essentials and Plus cover one user each. The team account is Professional, billed annually only, with custom seats and price on request.

Who should pick Hunter, and who should pick UpLead

• Hunter for a team that needs emails only. The free plan gives 50 credits a month with no time limit and no credit card, and every plan has unlimited users. See best email finder tool for other options.
• UpLead for a team that also needs mobile direct dials in the same credit. UpLead pricing has the plan-by-plan costs, and how to find B2B leads covers the search side.

UpLead's 7-day trial gives 5 credits to unlock contacts, and its help center says not every contact has a verified phone number. The help center also says payment details are entered at activation, and an account not canceled by day 7 is billed for the Essentials annual plan.

Hunter says canceling a paid plan moves the account to the Free plan at the end of the billing cycle, with no refund for an early cancellation.