email finderHunter.io Alternative: CampaignKit's Email Finder Compared

If you're looking for a Hunter.io alternative because you mainly look up named people at companies you already know, CampaignKit's email finder is worth a test. You enter a name and a company domain, pay 5 credits only when an address is found, and the credits never expire. There's no subscription. We're biased, since it's our product, so this page shows the numbers and lets you check them.

It isn't a full Hunter replacement. If you need Domain Search (every address at a company), the browser extension or built-in email sequences, stay on Hunter. CampaignKit doesn't offer any of those.

What Hunter.io does well

Hunter is a mature, well-rounded tool. Salesforge, which sells a competing product, calls it "one of the cleanest email finders" (Salesforge, checked 2026-10-05). Here's what it offers, from Hunter's own pages (checked 2026-10-05):

• Domain Search. Lists the addresses Hunter has for a company domain. In Bulk Domain Search, 1 credit covers up to 10 emails found (Hunter pricing).
• Email Finder and Bulk Email Finder. 1 credit per email found, and "if the email address can't be found, it's free" (Hunter pricing).
• Email Verifier. 0.5 credit per verification, from the same credits on its all-in-one plans.
• Browser extensions on every plan, including Free (Hunter help center). They use your plan's credits.
• Sequences. Send outreach from connected inboxes: 1, 3, 10 or 20 inboxes on Free, Starter, Growth and Scale.
• Integrations. API, MCP, a Google Sheets add-on and the browser extension are listed on the pricing page.
• Discover. Find companies by filters before you search for people.
• A free plan with 50 credits a month, and repeat searches are counted once per billing period.

Why people look for a Hunter.io alternative

Hunter's pricing is built around plans. That suits steady users, but it's less of a fit if you look up addresses in bursts.

Every paid option is a subscription. As of October 2026, Starter is EUR 49 a month (2,000 credits), or EUR 34 a month billed yearly (EUR 408 for 24,000 credits). Growth and Scale follow at EUR 149 and EUR 299 a month (Hunter pricing, checked 2026-10-05). Hunter does say you can take a plan for one month and cancel.

Unused credits don't carry over. According to Hunter's help article on unused credits (checked 2026-10-05):

• On monthly plans, credits reset at the end of each billing cycle, and unused credits don't carry over.
• On yearly plans, credits are valid for 12 months, then any unused ones expire.
• Credit packs are valid for 3 months from purchase.

The smallest paid plan is 2,000 credits a month. If you need 40 addresses this quarter and 300 next spring, you're paying for capacity you may not use.

None of this is a flaw if you prospect every week. It matters when your volume is irregular.

Hunter.io vs CampaignKit email finder: side by side

	CampaignKit	Hunter.io
Price per found email	5 credits, $0.006 to $0.012 depending on pack	1 credit, about EUR 0.008 to EUR 0.025 depending on plan (see below); Free plan: 50 found emails a month at no cost
Charged when nothing is found	No	No ("if the email address can't be found, it's free")
Plans	Pay-as-you-go packs from $6 (2,500 credits), no subscription	Free, Starter, Growth, Scale (monthly or yearly), Enterprise
Free tier	Free web finder, 5 searches an hour, no signup; 200 free credits on signup, no card	50 credits a month
Credit expiry	Never	Monthly plans reset each cycle; yearly credits expire after 12 months; packs after 3 months
Search by name and domain	Yes	Yes (Email Finder)
Search a whole domain	Not offered	Yes (Domain Search)
Browser extension	Not offered	Yes, on all plans
Sequences / outreach	Not offered	Yes, 1 to 20 connected inboxes
Bulk upload	CSV or Excel up to 20MB, name and domain columns	Bulk Email Finder and Bulk Domain Search
API	Yes, up to 20 lookups per request, larger lists as a job	Yes
MCP	Yes, for email validation	Yes
Verification cost	1 credit per address ($1.20 to $2.40 per 1,000)	0.5 credit per address

Hunter details as of October 2026, from Hunter pricing and Hunter's plan FAQ, checked 2026-10-05. CampaignKit details from our pricing page and the Email Finder API docs.

Price per found email, worked out

CampaignKit charges 5 credits per found address. Our packs run from $2.40 per 1,000 credits ($6 for 2,500) down to $1.20 per 1,000 ($120 for 100,000):

• 2,500 credits for $6 cover 500 found emails: $0.012 each.
• 10,000 credits for $15 cover 2,000 found emails: $0.0075 each.
• 100,000 credits for $120 cover 20,000 found emails: $0.006 each.

Hunter charges 1 credit per found email. Dividing each plan's price by its credits, as of October 2026:

Hunter plan	Billed monthly	Billed yearly
Starter	EUR 49 / 2,000 = EUR 0.0245	EUR 408 / 24,000 = EUR 0.017
Growth	EUR 149 / 10,000 = EUR 0.0149	EUR 1,248 / 120,000 = EUR 0.0104
Scale	EUR 299 / 25,000 = EUR 0.012	EUR 2,508 / 300,000 = EUR 0.0084

Three caveats keep this honest:

• The currencies differ. Hunter lists EUR, we list USD. We haven't converted either.
• Both assume you use every credit. Hunter's monthly credits reset and yearly ones expire, so unused credits raise its real cost per found email. Ours don't expire.
• The searches aren't identical. Hunter's credit also covers Domain Search, where Bulk Domain Search finds up to 10 emails per credit. Ours covers a name-and-domain lookup only.

So the list prices are $0.006 to $0.012 per found email with CampaignKit and about EUR 0.008 to EUR 0.025 with Hunter, in different currencies. The bigger difference is the model: Hunter's credits come with a subscription and reset or expire, while CampaignKit's packs are one-off and never expire.

Where CampaignKit is the better fit

If you're weighing an alternative to Hunter.io for name-and-domain lookups, these are the cases where CampaignKit fits.

You look up named people, not whole domains. You already know who you want to reach and where they work. Enter the name and the company domain, and the finder shows the address once a live mailbox check confirms it.

You search occasionally and don't want a subscription. Buy a pack when you need it. Credits never expire, so a quiet quarter doesn't cost you anything.

You want finding and verification on one credit pool. The same credits cover the finder (5 per found address) and email validation (1 per address). If you also clean lists before sending, that's one balance. Our roundup of the best email verification tools compares the verification side.

You work from files or code. The bulk finder takes a CSV or Excel file (up to 20MB) with name and domain columns. The REST API takes up to 20 lookups per request, and larger lists run as a job. See the Email Finder API docs.

You want to try it without an account. The free web finder needs no signup and gives you 5 searches an hour.

If data location matters to you, CampaignKit processing runs on Hetzner servers in Germany. Our data processing agreement also allows temporary transfers to US infrastructure, so we don't call it EU-only. Details are on our security page.

When Hunter.io is the better fit

These are real cases where we'd tell you to stay on Hunter:

• You want every address at a company. Domain Search lists them; CampaignKit needs a name.
• You prospect in your browser. Hunter's extension works on every plan, including Free. We don't have one.
• You want to send outreach from the same tool. Hunter's Sequences connect your inboxes. CampaignKit doesn't send campaigns.
• You build lists by company filters. Discover helps you find companies before you look for people.
• You prospect a steady amount every month. A fixed plan is easy to budget, and on the larger yearly plans the cost per found email is close to ours.
• Your team already works in Hunter. Switching tools has a cost of its own.

Is there a free Hunter.io alternative?

Hunter itself has a free plan: 50 credits a month, enough for 50 found emails, plus the browser extension.

CampaignKit's free options work differently:

• The free email finder on our website needs no signup and gives you 5 searches an hour.
• A new account gets 200 free credits with no credit card. At 5 credits per found address, that's 40 found emails, and the credits don't expire.

So if you need a handful of addresses now and then, either free option may be enough. For lists, the 200 signup credits let you test a batch before you pay anything.

Other Hunter.io alternatives worth comparing

We'd rather you choose with the full picture:

• Anymail Finder: monthly plans from EUR 26 (400 credits) to EUR 719 (100,000), and it says you "pay only when we find a verified email". Credits build up while you're subscribed and expire after you cancel, at the end of the billing period. It also sells one-off credit packs valid for 12 months with no subscription, such as 100,000 credits for EUR 980 (Anymail Finder pricing, as of October 2026, checked 2026-10-05).
• Apollo.io: a prospect database with outreach built in, sold as Free, Basic, Professional and Custom plans with credits pooled across the team (Apollo pricing, checked 2026-10-05). A better match if you want a full sales suite rather than a finder.
• For verification only: our comparison of the best email verification tools covers nine tools, Hunter included. If you're also moving off a verifier, see our NeverBounce alternative comparison.

How to try it in 10 minutes

1. Pick 10 contacts you already found with Hunter, with their full names and company domains.
2. Run them through the free email finder. No signup needed for up to 5 searches an hour.
3. Compare the results with what Hunter gave you. Look at which addresses each tool returned.
4. For a list, sign up for 200 free credits and upload a CSV or Excel file with name and domain columns.

If you'd rather work out a single address by hand, our guide to how company email formats work shows the manual method.

Finding and contacting business addresses is subject to rules such as GDPR and CAN-SPAM, so use found addresses for legitimate business purposes. This is general information, not legal advice.

Frequently asked questions

Is Hunter.io free? Hunter has a free plan with 50 credits a month, which covers 50 found emails, and its browser extension works on it. Paid plans start at EUR 34 a month billed yearly or EUR 49 billed monthly (as of October 2026).

Do Hunter credits expire? Yes. On monthly plans, credits reset at the end of each billing cycle and don't carry over. On yearly plans, they're valid for 12 months, then expire. Credit packs are valid for 3 months. CampaignKit credits never expire.

How much does Hunter.io cost? As of October 2026: Free (50 credits a month), Starter EUR 49 a month or EUR 34 billed yearly (2,000 credits a month), Growth EUR 149 or EUR 104 (10,000), Scale EUR 299 or EUR 209 (25,000), and Enterprise on request. See Hunter pricing for current figures.

Is there a free Hunter.io alternative? CampaignKit's web email finder is free with no signup, for 5 searches an hour. New accounts also get 200 free credits, no card, which covers 40 found emails.

Does the CampaignKit finder work on catch-all domains? No. A catch-all domain accepts mail for any address, so the mailbox can't be confirmed, and the finder returns no address for those domains. Our guide to catch-all emails explains what that means for your list.

Is CampaignKit cheaper than Hunter? It depends on your volume. As of October 2026, CampaignKit's list price is $0.006 to $0.012 per found email and Hunter's plans work out to about EUR 0.008 to EUR 0.025 per found email, in different currencies and before any unused Hunter credits reset or expire. Hunter's Free plan covers 50 found emails a month, and its larger yearly plans used in full come close. Hunter also includes Domain Search, the extension and Sequences, which we don't offer.

Try it on your own contacts

You can check this comparison without spending anything. Run a few names through the free email finder: 5 searches an hour, no signup. For a whole list, sign up for free to get 200 credits, no credit card required, and upload a file with names and company domains.

If it works for you, credit packs start at $6, never expire, and come with a 30-day money-back guarantee. See the full table on our pricing page.