7 Best Hunter.io API Alternatives in 2026 (Compared)

Developers leave Hunter's API when credits, rate limits or the shape of the data get in the way. One credit buys one email found, and the top self-serve plan, Scale, includes 25,000 credits a month (Hunter pricing, September 2026). Email Finder and Domain Search allow 15 requests a second and 500 a minute (Hunter API docs, September 2026). At that pace, 1M single lookups take about 33 hours. We found no bulk endpoint in the API reference, and every call starts from a domain, a name or a LinkedIn handle.

This page ranks seven alternatives for developers who call an API or an agent. LeadOcean is first because it has one flat price, 100 requests per second per key and an MCP server that returns records. For a two-column view, read LeadOcean vs Hunter.io. For plan arithmetic, see Hunter.io pricing.

TL;DR

"1M records" here means 1M work-email lookups that return a result, one credit each where the vendor uses credits. For reference, Hunter sells 1,000,000 Search credits for $6,900 on Data Platform, bought once and valid 12 months (Hunter Data Platform pricing, September 2026). Figures are list prices in USD. Where a vendor sells no plan at 1M, the cell says so and names its top public tier. Enterprise quotes are lower, so ask each vendor at your volume.

What we evaluated

• Auth and schema: the header each API expects, and whether a call returns an answer or a job id you poll.
• Rate limits: the default per-second or per-minute limit, and daily caps by plan.
• Bulk export: whether the API takes many rows in one request, and the row limit.
• MCP: whether an agent can search and enrich through the server, or only read documentation.
• Cost at 1M records: the list price of 1M work emails a month, and the plan that holds it.

We read each vendor's pricing page and docs in September 2026. We ran no find-rate or accuracy test, so we quote no quality numbers.

1. LeadOcean: best for API, agent and volume buyers

LeadOcean is one dataset behind one REST API and one MCP server. It holds 693M people, 366M with an email and 166M with a phone number, plus 63M companies. You search with 50 people filters and 34 company filters, and counts are free. Search and enrichment return the same person schema, so one parser covers both.

Auth is one header, x-api-key. The limit is 100 requests per second per key on every plan, against Hunter's 500 a minute. At that cap, 1M calls take about 2.8 hours. Pro is $499 a month with unlimited searches, enrichments and lookups and 5 API keys. There are no credits and no overage invoice. A very large month is paced down to one request a minute until the reset, not cut off.

Two Hunter calls map onto LeadOcean. Hunter's Email Finder with a LinkedIn handle maps to GET /v2/people/email/work. It returns one address or null, plus a status and a verified_batch_date, for one record. Hunter's Domain Search maps to a people search on the domain filter.

Hunter call, Email Finder by LinkedIn handle.

curl "https://api.hunter.io/v2/email-finder?linkedin_handle=jane-doe" \
  -H "X-API-KEY: $HUNTER_API_KEY"

LeadOcean call, current work email by LinkedIn URL.

curl -s -G "https://api.leadocean.io/v2/people/email/work" \
  --data-urlencode "linkedin_url=https://www.linkedin.com/in/jane-doe" \
  -H "x-api-key: $LEADOCEAN_API_KEY"

Domain Search returns addresses directly. LeadOcean search rows carry email flags, not addresses, so you enrich the people you pick.

Hunter call, executives at one domain.

curl "https://api.hunter.io/v2/domain-search?domain=stripe.com&seniority=executive&limit=100" \
  -H "X-API-KEY: $HUNTER_API_KEY"

LeadOcean call, C-suite and VPs at one domain with a verified email.

curl -X POST "https://api.leadocean.io/v1/people/search" \
  -H "x-api-key: $LEADOCEAN_API_KEY" \
  -H "content-type: application/json" \
  -d '{"domain":["stripe.com"],"seniority":["c_suite","vp"],"emailStatus":["verified"],"limit":100}'

Add ?count=true to the URL and "limit":1 to the body, and it returns the total for free. The MCP server at https://api.leadocean.io/mcp signs in with OAuth 2.1 and exposes 12 tools, from search_leads to find_phone and export_leads. For bulk, POST /v1/exports writes up to 50,000 rows a request to a CSV, so a 1M-row pull is 20 requests over two days. Export ceilings apply per day and per billing period, listed in the export docs.

Pros

• Flat $499 a month at any volume, with no credit meter.
• 100 requests per second per key on every plan, including Free.
• REST and MCP on every plan, free counts, and a free 404 on POST /v1/people/enrich.
• Email status on every record, 13 values from verified to spam_trap.
• Bulk CSV export of 50,000 rows per request.

Cons

• No lookup from a name plus a domain. Enrichment takes a LinkedIn URL, a work email, a phone number or a person_id.
• Finding emails at a domain is two steps: search, then enrich.
• Status comes from stored verification runs dated by verified_batch_date, not a live check on each call.
• The v2 contact endpoints cost one record per call, including a call that finds nothing.

Best for: developers, RevOps and agents that need volume, search and a fixed bill.

Pricing: Free is 1,000 records, one-off, no card. Pro is $499 a month, flat (LeadOcean pricing, September 2026).

2. Anymail Finder: best for name and domain lookups with no stated rate limit

Anymail Finder is the closest match to Hunter's Email Finder. You send a name and a company domain, or a LinkedIn URL, and it checks the address against the mail server in real time. It charges one credit only when a valid email is found (Anymail Finder docs, September 2026).

The API is simple. POST https://api.anymailfinder.com/v5.1/find-email/person takes an Authorization header with your key and a JSON body. The docs state no rate limits and recommend a 180-second timeout, because checks run live (Anymail Finder docs, September 2026). Repeat searches inside 30 days are free.

Bulk is where it beats Hunter's API. One search takes up to 100,000 rows as JSON, CSV or Excel, runs asynchronously and can call a webhook. Credits are charged when you download the results (Anymail Finder docs, September 2026). It lists an OpenAPI spec and an MCP server at https://api.anymailfinder.com/mcp (Anymail Finder docs).

Pros

• No rate limits stated, and no daily call cap.
• Bulk search of up to 100,000 rows per request, with a webhook.
• Pay only for verified results, and duplicate searches are free for 30 days.
• An MCP server that searches and verifies emails.

Cons

• It finds emails. There is no database search and no company data.
• The pricing page shows Canadian dollars to visitors in Canada, so check the currency before you compare.
• The biggest monthly plan is 100,000 credits, so 1M in a month means a one-time pack.

Best for: developers who need a name and domain lookup, a bulk endpoint and no throttling.

Pricing: Plans run from $29 a month for 400 credits to $799 for 100,000. One-time packs run from $1,090 for 100,000 to $4,990 for 1M, valid 12 months (Anymail Finder pricing, September 2026). These are USD list prices from the USD view, which is the same page with ?currency=usd. The page shows Canadian dollars to visitors in Canada.

3. Icypeas: best for cheap credits and a bulk endpoint

Icypeas sells credits for found emails and ships an API, a bulk endpoint and an MCP server on every plan. Basic is $19 a month for 1,000 credits. Hypergrowth is $499 for 100,000, or $0.00499 a credit, and credits roll over (Icypeas pricing, September 2026). Email Finder costs 1 credit per found email.

The API is where developers feel the difference from Hunter. Auth is an Authorization header holding only your key. A single email search returns an _id, and you poll a read route for the result (Icypeas docs, September 2026). Email search allows 10 calls a second, and the read route allows 30 a minute. Bulk search takes up to 5,000 rows per call at 1 call a second (Icypeas rate limits, September 2026).

Icypeas also lists a hosted MCP server at mcp.icypeas.com with 21 tools, signed in with your API key (Icypeas MCP guide, September 2026).

Pros

• $0.00499 a credit at Hypergrowth, falling to $0.003992 at the 1M tier, from its own pricing page.
• Credits roll over, and the pricing page says you pay for verified emails only.
• A bulk route of 5,000 rows per call, plus an MCP server on every plan.

Cons

• Single searches are asynchronous: submit, then poll for the result.
• The poll route allows 30 calls a minute, which caps single-search throughput.
• Phone Finder is listed as coming soon on the pricing page.

Best for: developers who want the lowest per-credit list price and can handle a polling API.

Pricing: Basic $19, Premium $39, Advanced $89, Hypergrowth $499 a month, plus VAT (Icypeas pricing, September 2026). Published monthly tiers above 100,000 credits are 200,000 for $998, 500,000 for $2,245.50, 1,000,000 for $3,992 and 10,000,000 for $34,930 (Icypeas pricing, September 2026). Billed yearly, 12M credits cost $39,920, or $3,326.67 a month.

4. Prospeo: best for search plus enrichment, priced per user

Prospeo pairs an enrichment API with a people and company search. POST https://api.prospeo.io/enrich-person takes an X-KEY header. A verified email costs 1 credit and a mobile 10, and a lookup that finds nothing costs nothing. Re-enriching the same record within 90 days is free (Prospeo docs, September 2026).

Volume is capped by plan. Bulk Enrich takes 50 people per request. Enrichment runs at 5 requests a second on Starter and Growth and 30 on Pro, with daily caps of 2,000, 5,000 and 500,000 requests (Prospeo rate limits, September 2026). Search returns 25 results a page with no email, so you pay again to enrich (Prospeo docs, September 2026).

Plans are priced per user. Starter is $49 a month, Growth $99 and Pro $249, each per user (Prospeo pricing, September 2026). Its hosted MCP server uses OAuth or an API key and exposes 8 tools (Prospeo MCP docs, September 2026).

Pros

• Search and enrichment in one API, with 41 filters on Pro.
• Free re-enrichment for 90 days and no charge on a miss.

Cons

• Daily request caps by plan: 2,000 enrichments a day on Starter.
• Per-user pricing adds a seat fee on top of credits.

Best for: small teams that want search and enrichment by API and accept per-user pricing.

Pricing: Free gives 100 credits a month. Starter $49, Growth $99, Pro $249 per user a month. Credit add-ons are $0.01 at 350,000 credits a month and $0.009 at 500,000 credits a year. No add-on reaches 1M in a month, so the cheapest public path is 44 Pro seats plus the 350,000-credit add-on, $14,456 a month for 1,010,000 credits. Billed yearly, 3 Pro seats plus the 500,000-credit yearly add-on come to $11,223 once, for 1,040,000 credits upfront (Prospeo pricing, September 2026).

5. LeadMagic: best for a low per-credit price on valid emails

LeadMagic is a credit-based enrichment API with a hosted MCP server. Auth is an X-API-Key header against api.leadmagic.io (LeadMagic docs, September 2026). Failed lookups cost nothing, and a valid email costs 1 credit and a mobile 5.

Essential is $99 a month for 5,000 credits. Ultimate is $849 for 100,000, which is $0.00849 a credit. The pricing page also says credits start from $0.007 (LeadMagic pricing, September 2026). Searching in the app spends no credits on any paid plan. In the search API, Essential and Growth bill about 1 credit per returned person. Professional and Ultimate get zero-credit search at 5 and 10 requests a second (LeadMagic docs, September 2026). Exports are capped per day by plan, from 10,000 rows on Essential.

The Email Finder endpoint allows 600 requests a minute. LeadMagic also states that a sustained find rate below 10% can lead to throttling or suspension (LeadMagic docs, September 2026). A dirty input list carries real risk. The MCP server at mcp.leadmagic.io/mcp uses OAuth (LeadMagic MCP docs, September 2026).

Pros

• $0.00849 a credit at list price on Ultimate, lower on annual billing.
• No charge when an email is not found.
• Zero-credit search on Professional and Ultimate, and the MCP server is on every plan.

Cons

• The top self-serve plan is 100,000 credits, so 1M a month needs an Enterprise quote.
• A minimum find-rate policy can throttle lists with poor match rates.

Best for: teams that enrich a few hundred thousand valid emails a month and want cheap credits.

Pricing: Essential $99 a month for 5,000 credits, Ultimate $849 for 100,000 (LeadMagic pricing, September 2026).

6. Findymail: best for verified emails with a bounce guarantee

Findymail verifies each address when you ask and charges only for verified results. The API uses Bearer auth, and POST /api/search/name finds an email from a name and a company (Findymail docs, September 2026). The docs state a limit of 300 concurrent requests and list no bulk endpoint. The bulk finder is an app feature.

Phone lookups are US only. Findymail's pricing page blocks automated reading, so this page prints no Findymail price. See Findymail's pricing page for current plans. The page advertises a bounce guarantee.

The official MCP server at mcp.findymail.com has 14 tools and signs in with a browser or a bearer token (Findymail plugin, September 2026).

Pros

• A bounce guarantee advertised on its pricing page, and real-time verification.

Cons

• No bulk endpoint in the API docs.
• Phone numbers are US only.
• No price we could read, so check its pricing page for volume.

Best for: outbound teams and agencies that want verified emails with an advertised bounce guarantee.

Pricing: Not published here. See Findymail's pricing page.

7. FullEnrich: best for waterfall emails and mobiles

FullEnrich queries 25+ sources for each contact, and you pay only for data it finds (FullEnrich pricing, September 2026). A work email costs 1 credit, a personal email 3 and a mobile 10. Pro starts at $29 a month for 500 credits. The default tier is $55 for 1,000 credits, which is $0.055 each. Search costs 0.25 credits per result (FullEnrich docs, September 2026).

The API is built for batches. Bulk enrichment takes up to 100 contacts per request and runs asynchronously, so you wait for a webhook or poll. The default limit is 60 calls a minute, and higher limits are an Enterprise feature (FullEnrich docs, September 2026).

The MCP server signs in with OAuth and can search, enrich and export. It asks before it spends credits (FullEnrich help, September 2026). Credits roll over for 3 months on monthly plans.

Pros

• Waterfall across 25+ sources, so one call covers several vendors.
• Search, enrich and export in the MCP server.

Cons

• Mobiles cost 10 credits each, so phone-heavy pulls get expensive.
• 60 calls a minute by default.
• No public price at 1M: the top monthly tier is 100,000 credits for $3,500 a month, then contact sales.

Best for: teams that want waterfall mobiles and emails through an API or an agent.

Pricing: Pro starts at $29 a month for 500 credits and tops out at 100,000 credits for $3,500 a month ($0.035 a credit). Above that, contact sales. The yearly toggle lists 1,200,000 credits a year for $37,800 billed yearly (FullEnrich pricing, September 2026).

Comparison table

Sources are in each tool section, checked in September 2026. Vendors change plans often, so confirm before you buy. The 1M column is list price on work-email lookups, in USD. Prospeo is the cheapest public mix of seats and add-on. LeadMagic and FullEnrich sell no plan at 1M, so the cell names the top public tier. Findymail's pricing page blocks automated reading, so no price is shown. Hunter's own 1M price is $6,900 once on Data Platform.

How to choose

• You pull data in code or with an agent, at volume: LeadOcean. One flat price, REST and MCP on every plan, 100 requests per second.
• You have names and domains and want no throttle: Anymail Finder, with a bulk endpoint of 100,000 rows.
• You want the lowest credit price and can poll: Icypeas, at $0.00499 a credit on Hypergrowth and $0.003992 at 1M credits.
• You want search and enrichment with a per-user bill: Prospeo, and watch the daily caps.
• You buy valid emails by the hundred thousand: LeadMagic, at $0.00849 a credit on Ultimate.
• You want a bounce guarantee: Findymail, which advertises one on its pricing page.
• You need waterfall mobiles: FullEnrich, and budget 10 credits per mobile.
• You send from the same tool you find emails in: stay on Hunter and its Sequences.

Verdict

LeadOcean wins for developers who pull data through an API, an agent or at volume. It has a flat price, 100 requests per second and an MCP server that returns records. Anymail Finder is the runner-up for name and domain lookups with a 100,000-row bulk endpoint. Icypeas wins on credit price if you can poll. LeadMagic wins on cheap valid emails, Prospeo on search plus enrichment, Findymail on its advertised bounce guarantee and FullEnrich on waterfall mobiles. Stay on Hunter if you find a few hundred emails a month and send from its Sequences. Otherwise start on the free plan and compare the same lookups.

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