Updated January 15, 2026

TL;DR: Most "free" email finders block exports or skip verification, turning lead discovery into busywork. After testing eight platforms, three offer usable free tiers with real CSV export: Hunter.io (25 searches + verification), Apollo.io (unlimited searches + 10 exports/month), and Skrapp (100 rollover credits). Instantly SuperSearch has no free tier but starts at $9/month with waterfall verification across 5+ providers and direct campaign integration, removing the export-upload loop. The hidden cost of free tools is not the subscription fee but the 15-30 percent bounce rates that damage sender reputation and force domain recovery. Verification matters more than volume when your KPIs depend on inbox placement.

Finding 50 perfect leads on a "free" plan means nothing if the Export button is locked behind a paywall. I tested eight email finders to separate usable free tiers from lead-generation bait, focusing on three criteria: export capability, verification accuracy, and real-world deliverability. Research comparing 20,000 leads across multiple platforms shows verified lists maintain bounce rates below 2 percent, while unverified lists routinely hit 15 to 30 percent. That gap is the difference between inbox placement and spam folders.

Note: Instantly has no free tier but is included because its $9 entry point and unified workflow compete directly with the "free-to-paid" friction of other tools.

What to look for in a free email finder (and what to avoid)

Free tiers fall into three buckets: genuinely useful, fake free (search-only with no export), and trial-disguised-as-free. The features that separate these buckets are verification, export capability, and data freshness.

• Verification status included: The best free tiers verify emails before you download them. Skrapp achieved a 97 percent success rate in accuracy testing, the highest among tools evaluated. Without verification, expect 15 to 30 percent bounce rates that damage sender reputation and trigger spam filters.

"I like the deliverability of the emails (it's not the only tool I use and I can compare). I like the integration with Hubspot and the ease with which I can import lists of leads and also the ease of export." - Verified user review of Instantly

• Export limits that matter: A tool that finds emails but blocks CSV download is a demo, not a solution. Check whether the free tier allows exports and how many per month. For typical workflows of 100-200 emails per week, a 10-export cap means you hit the limit by Tuesday.
• Data freshness and source transparency: Stale databases return addresses that bounced months ago. Tools that scrape live (like Hunter.io) or use waterfall enrichment across 5+ providers (like Instantly's SuperSearch) deliver fresher results than single-source databases.

Best 8 email finders tested for accuracy and export limits

I tested these tools for free tier utility: credits per month, verification included, export allowed, and accuracy.

1. Instantly SuperSearch

Instantly does not offer a traditional free tier. Plans start at $9/month for 150 credits. The SuperSearch Growth plan at $47/month provides 1,500 credits, targeting 750 to 1,000 verified contacts at approximately 1.5 credits per verified email.

What sets SuperSearch apart is the unified workflow. Finding a lead, verifying it, and launching a campaign happen in the same interface. Waterfall enrichment across 5+ data providers delivers higher discovery rates than single-source tools, and direct connection to Instantly's warmup infrastructure removes the CSV export and re-upload loop that adds 2+ hours per week to other workflows.

Cost per verified lead: At $47 for 1,500 credits (approximately 1,000 contacts), you pay $0.047 per verified lead with no export friction. For teams sending 200 emails per week, this covers one month of prospecting with built-in verification and warmup.

Best for: Teams who need verified data and immediate campaign deployment without switching platforms.

2. Hunter.io

Hunter.io's free plan includes 25 monthly email searches and 50 total credits covering searches and verification. Each verification consumes 0.5 credits. CSV exports are allowed but capped at 10 emails per domain, which limits bulk downloads.

Hunter.io excels at domain search. Enter a company domain and it maps email patterns ([email protected]), then applies those patterns to find specific contacts. The platform also offers campaigns with one connected email account and reach up to 500 recipients per campaign on the free tier. Paid plans start at $49/month.

Weekly capacity: 25 searches cover 5-6 leads per week, suitable for founders or SDRs testing messaging before scaling. Beyond that threshold, credit exhaustion forces an upgrade or workflow pause.

Best for: Low-volume prospecting, domain pattern discovery, and testing email patterns before scaling.

3. Apollo.io

Apollo.io's free plan offers unlimited email credits (subject to Fair Use Policy), 5 mobile credits per month, and 10 export credits per month. Export credits are charged when you download verified emails to CSV, push to Salesforce or Outreach, or extract via API. The free plan also includes 2 sequences and a 250 emails-per-day send limit.

Apollo's Fair Use Policy caps free accounts at 10,000 monthly credits. Since email searches consume 1 credit each, this translates to 10,000 email lookups, but the 10 CSV export limit creates a discovery-to-deployment bottleneck. The Basic plan starts at $49/month per user when billed annually.

Weekly capacity: 10 exports per month means 2-3 small batches per week maximum. For teams running consistent outreach above 40 leads per month, this cap forces manual workarounds or upgrade.

Best for: Mid-volume prospecting (under 100 exports/month), teams who need sequences plus data in one tool, and multichannel outreach combining email with LinkedIn.

4. Snov.io

Snov.io's free trial includes 50 credits to find emails and 100 recipients for campaigns. Each prospect found, email verified, and company profile viewed costs 1 credit. Follow-ups to each prospect contacted that month are unlimited.

The critical limitation: Snov.io blocks data exports on the free trial. CSV export requires paid plans starting at $39/month, making the free tier a feature demo rather than a working tool. Your credits and recipients renew every 30 days with no rollover.

Weekly capacity: 50 credits cover 12-13 leads per week if used for prospecting only. Without export capability, data stays locked in Snov.io's interface, blocking integration with most outbound workflows.

Best for: Testing drip campaign features in-app before committing to a paid plan, not for teams needing portable data.

5. RocketReach

RocketReach's free plan provides 5 lookups per month. A credit is consumed only when a verified email or phone number is successfully revealed. Lookups reveal data in-app, but exports (CSV download or CRM/API push) consume separate credits.

RocketReach excels at finding mobile numbers and direct dial phone numbers alongside emails. The Essentials plan at $399/year includes Email-Only contact data, while phone numbers require the Pro plan at $899/year for 3,600 annual lookups.

Weekly capacity: 5 lookups per month (1-2 per week) will not support regular outreach. Better suited for high-value target research than volume prospecting.

Best for: Finding contact details for specific high-value targets, not for building large lead lists.

6. Skrapp

Skrapp.io offers a forever-free plan with 100 email credits per month that roll over. The platform's Lead Finder achieved a 97 percent success rate in accuracy. Skrapp's database covers over 200 million contacts, and the Chrome extension enables LinkedIn extraction.

Skrapp's rollover credits provide flexibility. If you use only 60 credits in January, the remaining 40 carry into February, giving you 140 total. This makes Skrapp one of the most generous free tiers for occasional prospecting.

Weekly capacity: 100 monthly credits cover 25 leads per week, suitable for consistent small-batch prospecting. Rollover credits smooth uneven monthly usage without forcing upgrades.

Best for: Small-batch prospecting with flexible monthly usage, LinkedIn extension users, and teams testing before upgrading.

7. Lusha

Lusha's free plan includes 40 credits per month: email credits and phone credits combined. The credit-based model charges 1 credit for an email.

API access, CRM integrations, and bulk data exports are locked behind Premium or Scale plans. The free tier offers credits but blocks the workflows that make data actionable. Lusha's browser extension works across LinkedIn and CRMs, making it useful for in-app lookups during live prospecting.

Weekly capacity: 40 credits per month cover 10 leads per week. Anyone doing regular outreach will exhaust this within days and hit the paywall.

Best for: In-app lookups during live prospecting, not for building portable lead lists or running campaigns.

8. FindThatLead

FindThatLead provides a free tier focused on hyper-targeted outreach based on job title, company size, or location. The platform is described as affordable, easy to use, and perfect for growing businesses targeting niche markets. FindThatLead allows CSV exports and includes email verification.

For teams with ambitious outreach needs, the limitations mean upgrading is almost inevitable. The free tier is fine for small-scale testing.

Best for: Hyper-targeted niche prospecting, ICP-based filtering, and small businesses testing before scaling.

Comparison table: Free credits, export limits, and verification

Note: Tools marked "Not specified" do not publish verified accuracy rates. For critical campaigns, test a small batch (25-50 leads) and measure bounce rate before scaling.

Is email scraping legal?

B2B email prospecting is legal under CAN-SPAM and GDPR when you collect publicly available professional addresses and follow three rules: include a working unsubscribe link in every email, add your physical mailing address, and honor opt-outs within 10 days (CAN-SPAM) or immediately (GDPR). The tools in this guide source data from public web pages and professional directories, not stolen databases or hacked accounts.

What crosses the line: buying stolen lists, scraping personal emails from consumer social media (Facebook, Instagram), using deceptive subject lines, or ignoring opt-out requests. Violations carry fines up to $51,744 per email (CAN-SPAM) or 4 percent of global revenue (GDPR).

Your compliance checklist: Use tools that document data sources and provide verification, indicating professional B2B contacts. Avoid sending to personal domains like @gmail.com or @yahoo.com unless the recipient is a verified solopreneur. Keep targeting records (industry, job title, company size) to demonstrate legitimate interest if audited. The platforms tested here focus on professional contacts, but legality depends on how you use the data.

How to verify contacts from free lists to protect your domain

Free tools without verification often deliver 20 to 30 percent bounce rates, while verified lists maintain bounce rates below 2 percent. That 18 to 28 percent gap determines whether emails land in primary inboxes or spam folders.

Email providers (Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo) monitor bounce rates to assess sender reputation. A bounce rate above 5 percent triggers spam filters. Above 10 percent, providers may block your domain entirely. One bad list can damage sender reputation for months, requiring 4-8 weeks of consistent clean sending to repair.

"I love Instantly's deliverability tools, which are the best I've encountered. Having used Salesloft, Apollo, and other tools, Instantly gives me the highest reply rate by far... I also appreciate Instantly's excellent warming tools." - Verified user review of Instantly

Email verification tests deliverability without sending an email. The process includes syntax validation, domain validation, and SMTP handshake. Catch-all domains return "unknown" status because the server does not confirm individual mailbox existence.

Instantly's SuperSearch waterfall enrichment cross-references 5+ data providers and filters out risky addresses automatically. This approach delivers higher discovery rates than single-source verification because if one provider returns "unknown," another provider may have fresher data. The system also flags disposable email services (temporary addresses that self-destruct) and role-based addresses (info@, support@) that typically have 20-40 percent lower engagement rates.

Verifying an email list takes 15 to 30 minutes for typical list sizes. Domain recovery after a high-bounce campaign takes 4-8 weeks. Verification is not optional.

When to upgrade from free tools to a paid growth engine

Free tiers test data quality before you commit. Paid plans execute the strategy. The moment your outreach volume or reply requirements exceed free tier limits, the math shifts in favor of paid plans.

Signals you have outgrown free tiers:

• You exhaust monthly credits in under 7 days: If you prospect 50 leads per week (200/month) and your free tier gives 25-50 credits, you hit the cap by day 3-7 of the month.
• Manual CSV exports cost more in labor than a subscription: Downloading, cleaning, and uploading lists between tools takes 2+ hours per week (8 hours/month). At typical labor rates, that is $200+ in time for a process a $47/month platform automates.
• Bounce rates above 5 percent damage sender reputation: One unverified list with 20 percent bounces can trigger spam filters and require 4-8 weeks of warmup to repair, delaying your entire quarter's pipeline target.
• You need valid A/B tests: Free tiers rarely include spin syntax, send-window optimization, or reply classification. Without these, you cannot run clean experiments to move reply rates from 2 percent to 5 percent.

Free tools test the hypothesis. Paid tools execute the strategy. Hunter, Apollo, and Skrapp offer the most usable free tiers with real exports and verification. When your outreach volume exceeds 100 verified leads per month or you are spending 2+ hours per week on CSV gymnastics, move to a unified platform that combines data discovery, verification, warmup, and sending. The return is faster iteration, cleaner data, and inbox placement that converts. Try Instantly free to compare SuperSearch and waterfall verification against the tools in this guide, or explore agency pricing if you are managing multiple clients.

FAQs

What is the difference between Hunter.io and Hunter College email?

Hunter.io is a B2B email finder for sales professionals. Hunter College is a CUNY institution using Microsoft 365 for student and employee email accessed via CUNYfirst credentials.

How many free searches does Hunter.io provide?

Hunter.io's free plan includes 25 monthly email searches and 50 total credits covering searches and verification, with CSV exports limited to 10 emails per domain.

Which free email finder has the best accuracy?

Skrapp's Lead Finder achieved a 97 percent success rate in testing, the highest among free tiers evaluated. Hunter.io's verification accuracy is documented at 89.1 percent.

Can I export CSV files from Apollo.io's free plan?

Yes, Apollo allows 10 export credits per month on the free plan, covering CSV downloads and CRM pushes. Export credits are consumed when you download verified emails to CSV or push to integrations.

When should I upgrade from a free email finder to a paid plan?

Upgrade when you exhaust monthly credits in under 7 days, spend more than 8 hours per month on manual CSV exports, or see bounce rates above 5 percent that risk your domain health and delay pipeline targets.

Key Terms Glossary

Domain Search: A feature that identifies the email pattern used by a company (e.g., [email protected]) by analyzing publicly available addresses.

Email Verification: The process of testing whether an email address exists and can receive mail, using syntax validation, domain validation, and SMTP handshake without sending an actual email.

Bounce Rate: The percentage of sent emails that are returned as undeliverable. Rates above 5 percent trigger spam filters and damage sender reputation.

Waterfall Enrichment: A method that queries multiple data providers sequentially to find verified contact information when one source returns no results or low-confidence data.

Spin Syntax: A method of creating multiple email variants from a single template by rotating words or phrases (e.g., {Hi|Hello|Hey} becomes three versions), used for A/B testing without manually drafting each variant.

Catch-All Domain: A mail server configured to accept emails sent to any address at that domain, making it impossible to verify whether a specific mailbox exists.