Best Sales Prospecting Tools in 2026: 10 Compared
Key facts10 tools compared: Apollo, LinkedIn Sales Navigator, Lusha, Kaspr, Amplemarket, ZoomInfo…
- 10 tools compared: Apollo, LinkedIn Sales Navigator, Lusha, Kaspr, Amplemarket, ZoomInfo, Hunter, Seamless.AI, Clay, Artisan
- Apollo (best for: Find, reveal and sequence in one tool): Free; Basic $49/user/mo billed annually
- LinkedIn Sales Navigator (best for: Finding people and tracking job changes on LinkedIn): Core $119.99/mo
- Lusha (best for: Revealing one profile at a time in the browser): Free; Starter $49.90/mo
- Kaspr (best for: LinkedIn-first prospecting with phone numbers): Free; Starter $49/user/mo billed annually
Sales prospecting is the daily work of finding the right person at the right account, getting a working email or phone number, and sending a first message. The short answer: Apollo is the best all-round prospecting tool, because it finds contacts, reveals their details and sequences the outreach, and it has a free plan. LinkedIn Sales Navigator is the best way to find people on LinkedIn, and Lusha or Kaspr add the contact details on top of it.
I compared ten tools based on their documentation, pricing pages and public product pages, and the prices below are what each vendor listed on October 4, 2026. I ranked them on how fast a rep goes from a name to a sent message, how much the contact data costs per reveal, and how clear the price is before a demo.
If you are building a full outbound motion and need more than a prospecting seat, the guide to best sales engagement platforms covers sequencing at scale.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Best for | Price | Standout |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apollo | Find, reveal and sequence in one tool | Free; Basic $49/user/mo billed annually | 240M+ contacts with a Chrome extension |
| LinkedIn Sales Navigator | Finding people and tracking job changes on LinkedIn | Core $119.99/mo | 50 InMail credits per user per month |
| Lusha | Revealing one profile at a time in the browser | Free; Starter $49.90/mo | Emails cost 1 credit, phones cost 5 |
| Kaspr | LinkedIn-first prospecting with phone numbers | Free; Starter $49/user/mo billed annually | Unlimited B2B email credits on paid plans |
| Amplemarket | Reps who want AI help with research and copy | Startup $600/mo on an annual term | Duo copilot and signals |
| ZoomInfo | Large teams that want a deep database | Custom quote | ReachOut extension and AI-driven dialing |
| Hunter | Finding and verifying emails cheaply | Free; Starter €34/mo billed yearly | Chrome extension and Google Sheets add-on |
| Seamless.AI | Free extension on any website | Free; paid by custom quote | Credit refund when an email is invalid |
| Clay | Deep account research at scale | Free; Launch from $167/mo on annual billing | Claygent AI agent for web research |
| Artisan | Letting an AI BDR run first touch | Custom quote | Ava writes, sends and books meetings |
Apollo
Apollo covers the whole prospecting loop. You search a database of 240M+ contacts and 30M+ accounts, reveal emails and phone numbers with the Chrome extension, then enroll people in a sequence and call them from the same workspace. Email campaigns are included on every account, and waterfall enrichment fills missing fields.
It fits SDRs and founders who want one login for finding, revealing and contacting.
Pricing: Free is $0 with 900 credits a year. Basic is $49 per user per month billed annually, with 30,000 credits a year. Professional is $79 per user per month billed annually (48,000 credits a year, with AI research and call recording) and $99 on monthly billing.
The catch: the Free plan connects Gmail only, and credits are shared across the team, reset every billing cycle and never roll over. Spend them before the cycle ends.
LinkedIn Sales Navigator
LinkedIn Sales Navigator is where prospecting research starts for many reps. You get lead and account recommendations, alerts on job changes and company news, saved searches and CSV upload for account lists, and each user receives 50 InMail credits a month to message people without their email address.
It fits reps working a named list of accounts, especially in enterprise and mid-market sales.
Pricing: Core is US$119.99 per license per month or US$1,079.88 per license per year. Advanced is US$159.99 per month or US$1,799.88 per year. Advanced Plus is a custom quote.
The catch: it finds people but does not hand you their email addresses or phone numbers. Most reps run Lusha, Kaspr or Apollo on top of it, and CRM-embedded profiles are limited to Advanced Plus.
Lusha
Lusha reveals a contact's details with one click from a profile page. Its site claims 515M+ contacts and 26 buying signals, and the data is also available inside Claude, ChatGPT, its API and MCP.
It fits individual reps and very small teams that prefer a monthly credit pack to a seat contract.
Pricing: Free is $0 with 40 credits a month. Starter is $49.90 per month billed monthly (400 credits, 1 seat) or $37.45 per month billed annually (4,800 credits a year). Professional is $69.90 monthly (600 credits, 2 seats) or $52.45 per month billed annually. Premium is $399.90 monthly (3,400 credits, 5 seats) or $299.95 per month billed annually. A revealed email costs 1 credit and a phone number costs 5.
The catch: phone numbers are the expensive part. Starter's 400 credits stretch to at most 80 phone reveals a month.
Kaspr
Kaspr is a LinkedIn Chrome extension and web app that gives you B2B contact data in seconds. It is built for the rep who lives on LinkedIn profiles, and the paid tiers work on top of Sales Navigator (Starter) or LinkedIn Recruiter Lite (Business).
It fits LinkedIn-first prospectors who need phone numbers and have a modest volume.
Pricing: Free is $0 with 15 B2B email credits, 5 phone credits and 5 direct email credits a month. Starter is $49 per user per month billed annually or $65 billed monthly, with unlimited B2B email credits, 100 phone credits a month and 12,000 exports a year. Business is $79 billed annually or $99 billed monthly, with 200 phone credits, 200 direct email credits and API access. Enterprise is custom.
The catch: phone and direct email credits are capped on every self-serve plan. Starter includes only 5 direct emails a month.
Amplemarket
Amplemarket adds AI to the prospecting workflow. You search with 30+ filters, then its Duo tools research prospects, write the copy, catch buying signals and run multichannel sequences. An add-on lets you prospect from inside Claude or ChatGPT.
It fits outbound teams that want AI assistance across research and writing and have the budget for it.
Pricing: Startup is $600 a month on an annual term, with 2 users included and 600 phone credits per user per year. Growth (4 users) and Elite (10 users) are custom quotes. Every plan includes a free trial.
The catch: 600 phone credits a year is about 50 a month per user, so heavy callers will want a higher tier. The entry price is also $7,200 a year.
ZoomInfo
ZoomInfo is the deepest database here. The ZoomInfo Professional plan covers search and export, mobile numbers and business emails, prospect lists and alerts, a Chrome extension and mobile app, AI email generation and intelligent dialing. Intent and website visitors start at Copilot Advanced.
It fits larger sales teams that prospect across many accounts and want one contact source for everyone.
Pricing is a custom quote based on features, licenses and credit usage. Each export costs one credit. A free trial is available.
The catch: you cannot see the price before a sales call, so a small team has no way to budget for it up front, and the intent features sit a tier above Professional.
Hunter
Hunter finds and verifies business emails. The Chrome extension shows the addresses behind the site you are browsing, Domain Search lists a company's addresses, and a Google Sheets add-on enriches a list. Sequences sends cold emails from your own accounts, and every plan has unlimited team members.
It fits solo prospectors and small teams that mainly work by email.
Pricing is listed in euros. Free is €0 with 50 credits a month. Starter is €49 a month, or €34 a month billed yearly, with 2,000 credits. Growth is €149 monthly or €104 a month billed yearly (10,000 credits). Scale is €299 monthly or €209 a month billed yearly (25,000 credits). Verifying an email costs half a credit.
The catch: Hunter is an email tool. If your reps also need mobile numbers, pair it with another source.
Seamless.AI
Seamless.AI pitches a free Chrome extension that finds cell phones, emails and direct dials for any B2B professional on any website, including LinkedIn Sales Navigator. It also offers Buyer Intent and Job Changes products, and it refunds a credit automatically when an email is invalid.
It fits reps who want to test a prospecting tool before any commitment.
Pricing: Free gives 50 credits that do not replenish. Basic gives 250 credits a month and Pro gives 10,000 credits a month. Paid plans are priced by custom quote, because Seamless says there is no fixed rate. One credit researches one contact.
The catch: with no published paid price, you cannot compare it with a $49 Apollo seat until a salesperson answers.
Clay
Clay is for prospecting research that a person would never do by hand. It runs waterfalls across 150+ data providers and uses its Claygent AI agent to read the web for a custom data point, such as which companies have a free trial button.
It fits ops-minded reps and revenue teams that want rich account research before the first message.
Pricing: Free includes 100 data credits and 500 actions a month, with unlimited seats. Launch starts at $167 a month and Growth at $446 a month on annual billing, which is 10% below monthly. Enterprise is custom, and data credits start at $0.05 each.
The catch: Clay is a workbench, not a one-click extension. Expect to build tables before reps see value.
Artisan
Artisan replaces the manual first touch with an AI BDR named Ava. She searches 250M+ contacts, enriches them from 22+ sources, writes and sends the outreach, answers replies and books meetings. Reps join for the calls, with a dialer sold per seat.
It fits teams that want to add prospecting capacity without hiring another SDR.
Pricing is scoped to your plan: Team covers about 2,500 leads contacted a month, Scale about 6,000 and Enterprise is custom. There is no published dollar figure.
The catch: it is a managed outbound program, not a rep tool, so you hand over first contact. Review the copy and the sending setup before you scale.
How to choose
Pick by how your reps already work.
- You research accounts on LinkedIn. Sales Navigator, plus Lusha or Kaspr for the contact details.
- You want one tool and a free start. Apollo.
- You mostly send email. Hunter, at €34 a month billed yearly.
- You call prospects. Lusha, Kaspr or ZoomInfo, and check the phone credit allowance first.
- You want AI to do the legwork. Amplemarket for reps in the loop, Artisan for an agent that runs first touch.
- You need deep account research. Clay.
Budget by the cost of a reveal, not the headline plan price. A phone number costs 5 credits on Lusha and credit-capped allowances on Kaspr and Amplemarket, so the cheapest seat can become the most expensive once reps start dialing. Dupple X briefs vendor price changes like these each week.
FAQ
What are sales prospecting tools?
They are software that helps sellers find potential buyers, get their contact details and start a conversation. That covers databases (Apollo, ZoomInfo), LinkedIn research (Sales Navigator), contact reveal extensions (Lusha, Kaspr, Hunter) and AI outbound (Amplemarket, Artisan).
What is the best free sales prospecting tool?
Apollo's Free plan gives 900 credits a year with sequencing included, and Seamless.AI's free extension gives 50 credits once. Kaspr's Free plan gives 15 B2B email credits and 5 phone credits a month, Lusha gives 40 credits a month, and Hunter gives 50 credits a month.
Do I need Sales Navigator if I have Apollo?
Not necessarily. Apollo covers search, reveal and sequencing by itself. Sales Navigator earns its $119.99 monthly Core price when your buyers are easier to find on LinkedIn, or when you want its job-change and company-news alerts. Many teams use both, with Apollo for outreach.
What is the difference between prospecting and lead generation?
Prospecting is the rep-level task of researching and contacting individual buyers. Lead generation is the broader system that also includes inbound capture, enrichment at scale and intent data. Several tools here, Apollo among them, do both.
How much do sales prospecting tools cost?
From $0 on free plans to $119.99 a month per license for Sales Navigator Core. Apollo Basic is $49 per user per month billed annually, and Kaspr Starter matches that on annual billing. Amplemarket Startup is $600 a month on an annual term, while ZoomInfo and Artisan are custom quotes.
Bottom line
Start on Apollo. It gives a rep a database, a reveal extension and sequences on a free plan, and Basic is $49 per user per month billed annually when the credits run out. Add Sales Navigator if your accounts live on LinkedIn, and add Lusha or Kaspr if phone numbers are what your reps are missing.
Across our whole catalogue the median is $24 a month and 33% of tools advertise a free tier. Figures are the lowest recurring monthly price quoted in our own review of each tool, read on 2026-08-19. Full method and every category.
