Hunter.io and Snov.io both find a work email from a name and a domain, and both sell it in credits. Hunter is the tighter email API, with a free API key and a public price at 1M. Snov.io is the wider suite, with a CRM, LinkedIn automation and a phone finder. Neither one lets you filter a market by title and industry at volume.
Verdict
- Pick Hunter.io if you call an email API from code, want a free API key and an MCP server on every plan, or need a published price at 1M. A found email is 1 credit, and 1,000,000 Search credits cost $6,900 on its Data Platform.
- Pick Snov.io if you want finding, verifying, sequences, a CRM and LinkedIn automation in one login. Its Pro M plan gives 20,000 credits for $189 a month, which is a lower credit rate than Hunter's Growth plan.
- Pick neither if you need to build a list by title, seniority, industry or country, or you need phones at volume. Both start from a name and a domain you already hold. LeadOcean searches 693M people for a flat $499 a month.
Side by side
All prices are USD list prices. Monthly price first, billed-yearly figure after it. Hunter facts were checked in September 2026 and Snov.io facts in October 2026.
| Hunter.io | Snov.io | |
|---|---|---|
| Data size | No database size published. The homepage counter shows 150,430,313 email addresses verified (homepage) | Claims 500M+ verified contacts and 60M+ companies. Its Database Search guide says 50M+ prospects (lead finder; guide) |
| Email coverage | Email Finder returns the most likely address, verified on each find (API docs) | Finder charges 1 credit for a valid or unknown email (API docs) |
| Phone coverage | A phone_number field when one is held. No phone finder or count published (API docs) | Phone Number Finder on tokens: 10 or 22 per number found. No count published (knowledgebase) |
| API | REST v2. Key in the query, an X-API-KEY header or a Bearer token. Free API key (API docs) | REST. Client credentials exchanged for a Bearer token that lasts 3,600 seconds. Free plans book a demo for test access (API docs) |
| MCP | mcp.hunter.io/mcp, API key in a header, included in all plans (Hunter MCP) | mcp.snov.io/mcp, OAuth by default, listed on every paid plan (setup guide; pricing) |
| Rate limit | 15 a second and 500 a minute on Email Finder (API docs) | 60 requests a minute across the API (API docs) |
| Bulk export | Bulk Email Finder, 50,000 rows per file (help center) | Bulk domain search of up to 20,000 domains. Unlimited export on paid plans (lead finder; pricing) |
| Price model | Monthly or yearly credit plans, plus Data Platform credits bought once (pricing) | Monthly, 3-month or annual credit plans, plus separate phone and enrichment tokens (pricing) |
| Entry price | Free, 50 credits a month. Starter $49 a month, or $34 billed yearly (pricing) | Starter $39 a month, or $29.25 billed annually, for 1,000 credits. Email Finder extension free at 50 lookups a month (pricing; Email Finder) |
| Cost at 1M records | $6,900, Data Platform, bought once (Data Platform) | No public 1M price. Top public plan is 100,000 credits for $738 a month (pricing) |
Data and coverage
Hunter is an email index with a verifier on top, and Snov.io is a prospect database with a suite around it. Hunter publishes no database size. Its homepage shows a counter of 150,430,313 email addresses verified (Hunter, September 2026). Snov.io's marketing pages claim 500M+ verified contacts and 60M+ companies (Snov.io lead finder, October 2026).
Treat the Snov.io headline with care. Its own Database Search guide says the database holds more than 50 million prospects, updated monthly (Snov.io guide, October 2026). The two numbers are not measured the same way, and neither vendor publishes a find rate on the pages we read.
The tools answer a lookup differently. Hunter's Email Finder returns the most likely address with a status of valid, accept_all or unknown. It also lists the public pages where it saw the address (Hunter API docs, September 2026). Snov.io charges 1 credit for each email with a valid or unknown status (Snov.io API docs, October 2026).
Search is where Snov.io goes further. Database Search filters prospects by job title, skills, location, management level and department, and companies by six more fields (Snov.io guide, October 2026). Hunter's Discover lists companies by industry, headcount and location, then Domain Search finds the people at each one.
Phones are the clearest split. Hunter's responses carry a phone_number field, usually null in its own examples, and it sells no phone finder. Snov.io sells one through enrichment tokens at $0.02 each. A number costs 10 tokens from Wiza or 22 from Zeliq, so $0.20 or $0.44 per number found (Snov.io knowledgebase, October 2026; pricing). If you need phones, Snov.io is the only one of the two that sells them.
API and developer experience
Hunter is one GET request. Snov.io is a token call, a start call and a result call. Both take a name plus a domain.
Hunter Email Finder, from its API docs.
curl "https://api.hunter.io/v2/email-finder?domain=acme.com&first_name=Jane&last_name=Doe" \
-H "X-API-KEY: $HUNTER_API_KEY"It returns data.email, a score and a verification status. A found email costs 1 credit and a miss costs nothing (Hunter help center, September 2026).
Snov.io emails by domain and name, from its API docs. First you exchange a client ID and secret for a token, then you start a task of up to 10 rows.
curl -X POST "https://api.snov.io/v2/emails-by-domain-by-name/start" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $SNOV_TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"rows":[{"first_name":"Jane","last_name":"Doe","domain":"acme.com"}]}'You then read the answer with GET /v2/emails-by-domain-by-name/result?task_hash=..., or pass a webhook_url and have Snov.io post the result to you.
The limits decide which one fits a pipeline. Hunter allows 15 requests a second and 500 a minute on Email Finder and Domain Search, 10 and 300 on Email Verifier, and 5 and 50 on Discover. It returns 403 when you hit the rate limit and 429 when you hit your usage limit (Hunter API docs, September 2026).
Snov.io caps the whole API at 60 requests a minute, and a batch holds 10 rows. That is 600 lookups a minute at best, so 1M lookups take about 28 hours of nonstop calls with webhooks, and longer if you poll for results. Hunter's 500 a minute means about 33 hours for the same 1M on Email Finder. Neither suits a one-shot pull, which is why both sell bulk files.
Both have a remote MCP server. Hunter's is at mcp.hunter.io/mcp with the API key in a header, and its MCP page says it is included in all plans (Hunter MCP, September 2026). Snov.io's is at mcp.snov.io/mcp, signs in with OAuth and reaches beyond data into CRM deals and LinkedIn actions (Snov.io MCP, October 2026).
Pricing
Hunter is cheaper at 10,000 emails a month, and Snov.io is cheaper per credit from 20,000. Both charge about 1 credit per email found, so the examples assume every lookup finds one. A lower find rate lowers both bills.
10,000 emails a month
- Hunter Growth: $149 a month for 10,000 credits, or $104 a month billed yearly ($1,248 a year, 120,000 credits) (Hunter pricing, September 2026). Cost per email: $149 / 10,000 = $0.0149.
- Snov.io Pro M: $189 a month for 20,000 credits, or $141.75 a month billed annually (Snov.io pricing, October 2026). There is no 10,000-credit plan. Pro S is 5,000 credits for $99. Cost per email at 10,000 used: $189 / 10,000 = $0.0189.
Hunter is $40 a month cheaper at 10,000, about 21%. Snov.io flips at 20,000. Pro M at 20,000 credits is $189 / 20,000 = $0.00945 a credit. Hunter would need Scale at $299 for 25,000 credits, or $0.01196 a credit.
1M emails
- Hunter Data Platform: 1,000,000 Search credits at $0.0069 each is $6,900, paid once and valid 12 months (Hunter Data Platform, September 2026).
- Snov.io: No public 1M price. The top self-serve plan is Ultra at $738 a month for 100,000 credits. Custom Ultra starts at 200,000 credits and is sold through sales (Snov.io pricing, October 2026).
We do not multiply Snov.io's Ultra rate out to 1M, because Snov.io sells no such plan. Ask Snov.io for a quote at your volume. The Hunter figure is a one-off purchase, not a monthly bill.
Hunter's subscription route costs more at this size. Scale is $299 a month for 25,000 credits, and the other 975,000 would come from packs at up to $0.02 a credit. That is $299 + $19,500, about $19,799, and a pack purchase caps at 180,000 credits (Hunter help center, September 2026).
Two details change the totals. Hunter's monthly credits reset and do not carry over, while Custom Ultra on Snov.io lists unused credits rolling over (Hunter help center, September 2026; Snov.io pricing, October 2026). Snov.io phones run on a second meter, tokens at $0.02 each, in packages valid 90 days.
Where Hunter.io wins
- A free API key and a public 1M price. You can test the API on the Free plan, and 1,000,000 credits cost $6,900. Snov.io's free plans book a demo for API access, and its 1M price is a quote.
- A higher API ceiling. Email Finder takes 500 requests a minute, against 60 across the Snov.io API, and each Hunter call is a single GET.
- Cheaper at small volume. Growth at $149 beats Pro M at $189 when you need 10,000 emails and no more.
- Sources on each email. Hunter returns the public pages where it found an address, with dates, which helps when you must explain why an address is in the file.
Where Snov.io wins
- One suite. Snov.io pairs finding with a CRM, unlimited senders, LinkedIn automation and warm-up, with unlimited team seats (Snov.io pricing, October 2026). Hunter adds Sequences and a Chrome extension, and its homepage lists CRM syncs, not a built-in CRM or LinkedIn automation (Hunter, September 2026).
- Phones. It is the only one of the two with a phone finder, even if the token price is steep.
- Search by filters. Database Search lets you build a list by title, department and company size, before any email is spent.
- A lower credit rate in the middle. At 20,000 credits and above, Pro M and Pro L cost less per credit than Hunter's all-in-one plans.
If you need volume through an API
Both tools meter every email, and both start from a name and a domain. LeadOcean starts from the audience. It holds 693M people, 366M with an email and 166M with a phone number, plus 63M companies, behind REST and a 12-tool MCP server. Pro is $499 a month flat with no credits, and Free gives 1,000 records one-off with no card.
POST /v1/exports returns up to 50,000 rows per request, and the rate limit is 100 requests per second per key. LeadOcean has no sequencer, CRM or extension, so it replaces the data source, not the sending tool. See the Hunter.io alternative and the Snov.io alternative for line-by-line views, or LeadOcean pricing.
FAQ
Is Hunter.io or Snov.io cheaper?
It depends on volume. At 10,000 emails a month Hunter Growth is $149 and Snov.io Pro M is $189. At 20,000 credits Snov.io Pro M is $189, against $299 for Hunter Scale. At 1M, Hunter publishes $6,900 and Snov.io publishes no price.
Which has the bigger database?
Snov.io claims more, at 500M+ contacts, but its own guide says 50M+ prospects. Hunter publishes no size, only a homepage counter of 150,430,313 email addresses verified. The numbers are not measured alike, so test both on a sample of your own list.
Does either tool return phone numbers?
Snov.io does, through a Phone Number Finder that costs 10 or 22 tokens per number found, at $0.02 a token. Hunter sells no phone finder. Its responses carry a phone_number field, usually empty in its examples.
Do Hunter.io and Snov.io have an MCP server?
Yes, both. Hunter's is at mcp.hunter.io/mcp, takes your API key and is included in all plans. Snov.io's is at mcp.snov.io/mcp, uses OAuth and also covers CRM and LinkedIn actions.
Which is better for cold email?
Both send sequences, so the choice is the rest of the stack. Snov.io adds a CRM, LinkedIn automation and unlimited senders. Hunter is simpler and cheaper at small volume. If you only need the list, pull it from a data API and send from either one.
What are the API rate limits?
Hunter allows 15 requests a second and 500 a minute on Email Finder. Snov.io allows 60 requests a minute across its API, with up to 10 rows per request.
Related: Prospeo vs Snov.io, Hunter.io vs Wiza and Hunter.io vs Kaspr.
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