BlitzAPI vs Lusha (2026): Data, Pricing and API Compared

BlitzAPI is a data API sold as one flat monthly fee. Lusha is a contact data platform sold in credits, with a browser extension, an API and an MCP server. BlitzAPI suits engineers pulling verified work emails at volume. Lusha suits reps who reveal contacts by hand and agents that need records.

All prices and limits below were checked in September 2026, each with its source link. Where a vendor publishes nothing, the page says so.

Verdict

• Pick BlitzAPI if you mostly need verified work emails from LinkedIn profile URLs, in code, at a bill you can predict. One flat fee, no credits. The $499 Plus price and 50 requests per second apply to accounts opened by September 30, 2026, and newer prices are not published.
• Pick Lusha if reps work in LinkedIn and a CRM, you need more phones than BlitzAPI's US-only set, or an agent must search records over MCP. It also publishes email and phone counts, and BlitzAPI's MCP server does not return data.
• Pick neither if you want volume through an API, an MCP server that returns records and a CSV export on one flat plan. BlitzAPI has no documented export and its phones stop at the US. Lusha has no public price at 1M. LeadOcean is one option.

Side by side

All figures checked September 2026.

Data and coverage

Lusha lists fewer people but more of them with an email and a phone. BlitzAPI lists 550M+ profiles and 65M+ companies (BlitzAPI docs, September 2026). Lusha lists 525M+ contacts and 29M+ companies (Lusha homepage, September 2026). Both are the vendors' own numbers.

Email is where the units differ. BlitzAPI counts 65M+ verified work emails, proven against live mail servers and re-tested at least every 30 days. An address it cannot prove comes back as not found (BlitzAPI pricing, September 2026). Lusha claims 165M+ emails, which is about 31% of its contacts.

Phones separate them most. BlitzAPI holds 45M+ phone numbers, all in the US, and only on the $599 Full plan (BlitzAPI pricing, September 2026). Lusha claims 117M+ direct dials, about 22% of its contacts, at 5 credits each (Lusha homepage, September 2026).

The products differ beyond the rows. BlitzAPI lists 100M+ job postings and turns them into hiring signals (BlitzAPI pricing, September 2026). Lusha lists 26 buying signals refreshed weekly, plus a Chrome extension and CRM apps (Lusha homepage, September 2026).

Test both on your own list before you buy. Both have a free entry: 1,000 credits at BlitzAPI, 40 credits a month at Lusha. Run the same 40 LinkedIn profiles through each and compare hit rates.

API and developer experience

Both are REST APIs with a key in a header. BlitzAPI has a narrow, simple lookup. Lusha has more match inputs and a two-step flow.

BlitzAPI's work email lookup takes a LinkedIn URL and returns found, the verified email and an all_emails array. It counts one record on the trial and nothing extra on a paid plan (BlitzAPI docs, September 2026).

curl --request POST \
  --url https://api.blitz-api.ai/v2/enrichment/email \
  --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
  --header "x-api-key: $BLITZAPI_API_KEY" \
  --data '{"person_linkedin_url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/jane-doe"}'

Lusha's V3 API passes the key in an api_key header. Search takes a batch of contacts by name and domain, LinkedIn URL or email (Lusha API overview, September 2026):

curl --request POST \
  --url https://api.lusha.com/v3/contacts/search \
  --header "api_key: $LUSHA_API_KEY" \
  --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
  --data '{
    "contacts": [
      { "clientReferenceId": "my-ref-1", "firstName": "Jane", "lastName": "Doe", "companyDomain": "acme.com" }
    ],
    "options": { "includePartialProfiles": true }
  }'

Search returns matches. You then pass the returned contact id to the enrich endpoint, and that reveal is the step that spends credits (Lusha API overview, September 2026).

Misses cost differently, and Lusha's docs disagree. The API guide says a request costs at least 1 credit even with no data. The V3 billing FAQ says no credit is deducted for a no-match request (Lusha billing FAQ, September 2026). Ask Lusha support before you budget for misses. At BlitzAPI a call that finds nothing counts nothing (BlitzAPI pricing, September 2026).

Rate limits scale in opposite ways. BlitzAPI's are per endpoint and per second: 50 for accounts opened by September 30, and a standard 5 (BlitzAPI pricing, September 2026). Lusha's are per key by plan. Free and Starter get 40 a minute and 100 a day. Pro gets 50 a minute and 1,500 a day. Premium gets 300 a minute and 18,000 a day (Lusha API guide, September 2026). A separate page sets a default of 25 requests a second per account (Lusha rate limits, September 2026).

For agents, only Lusha returns records. Its MCP server has 50 tools and draws from the same credit pool as the REST API (Lusha MCP docs, September 2026). BlitzAPI's MCP server answers questions about its docs and cannot search people (BlitzAPI docs, September 2026).

Pricing

BlitzAPI charges a flat fee per month, whatever you pull. Lusha charges for credits. To compare them, convert Lusha to credits per record.

At 10,000 records a month. BlitzAPI needs Plus, because Core has no verified emails. Plus is $499 a month. Only emails it finds count as results, so 10,000 lookups return at most 10,000 (BlitzAPI pricing, September 2026).

For Lusha, 10,000 work emails by bulk API is 10,000 email credits plus 10,000 / 25 = 400 request credits. That is 10,400 credits (Lusha API guide, September 2026). The largest public monthly step is Premium at 10,000 credits for $977.40, so this pull sits 400 credits above it. Lusha publishes no price for that.

As an illustration only, the top monthly step costs $977.40 / 10,000 = $0.09774 a credit. At that rate 10,400 credits is about $1,016. At this size a launch-offer BlitzAPI account is cheaper by about $517 a month. Phones change the sum: at 5 credits each, 10,000 numbers are 50,000 credits at Lusha, and BlitzAPI needs the $599 Full plan for US numbers (Lusha pricing, September 2026).

At 1M records a month. For an account opened by September 30, 2026, BlitzAPI at 1M is $499 a month at list. 1,000,000 results sit under the 15,000,000 a month fair use line, so one Plus plan covers it: $499 x 1 month = $499 (BlitzAPI pricing, September 2026).

For Lusha: no public 1M price. The same pull is 1,000,000 email credits plus 1,000,000 / 25 = 40,000 request credits, or 1,040,000 credits. The top public step holds 10,000 credits a month, so 1M is 104 times the largest listed plan. Scale is custom, and Lusha gives no per-credit figure for it (Lusha pricing, September 2026). We do not multiply a rate out to 1M and call it a quote.

One caution on BlitzAPI. Those prices, the 50 requests per second and the 15,000,000 fair use line belong to accounts opened by September 30, 2026. The offer closed to new accounts after that day. Prices for later accounts are not published, and the standard rate is 5 requests per second (BlitzAPI Terms, September 2026).

Time matters at 1M too. On BlitzAPI, 1,000,000 / 50 per second is 20,000 seconds, about 5.6 hours. At 5 per second it is 200,000 seconds, about 2.3 days. On Lusha, 1,000,000 contacts at 100 per request is 10,000 bulk requests (Lusha API guide, September 2026).

Where BlitzAPI wins

• A price you can predict. One flat fee covers up to 15,000,000 results a month for accounts opened by September 30. No credit balance to watch.
• Cheaper work emails at volume, on launch-offer accounts. $499 a month for Plus, against a credit meter that has no public price at 1M.
• Hiring signals. 100M+ job postings are in every plan, from Core at $399 a month (BlitzAPI pricing, September 2026).
• Misses cost nothing. A call that finds no email counts no result.

Where Lusha wins

• More phones on paper. It claims 117M+ direct dials. BlitzAPI's 45M+ numbers are US only, and need the $599 plan.
• MCP that returns records. 50 tools, on the same credit pool as the REST API (Lusha MCP docs, September 2026).
• Reps in a browser. The Chrome extension and native CRM apps put a reveal one click from LinkedIn (Lusha homepage, September 2026).
• Published coverage and signals. It states 165M+ emails and 117M+ direct dials, and 26 buying signals refreshed weekly.
• A plan for small teams. Starter is $49.90 a month. BlitzAPI starts at $399.

If you need volume through an API

We build LeadOcean, so weigh this section accordingly. LeadOcean holds 693M people and 63M companies, reachable over REST and an MCP server with 12 tools that returns records. Free is 1,000 records, one-off, with no card. Pro is $499 a month, flat, with no credits and a limit of 100 requests per second per key (LeadOcean pricing, September 2026).

For bulk work, POST /v1/exports returns up to 50,000 rows per request. The app also has an Exports page with a filter builder and CSV download (LeadOcean exports docs, September 2026). There is no sequencer, dialer or Chrome extension, so keep Lusha if reps need those. See the BlitzAPI alternative page for a line-by-line version.

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