> Enrich.chat gives AI agents verified work emails and mobiles. To use it from an agent, read https://enrich.chat/agents.md . This is the Markdown version of https://enrich.chat/blog/best-lead-generation-tools/

# The best B2B lead generation tools in 2026, grouped by job and compared on price

Lead generation takes four jobs: finding people, getting their contact details, reaching them and tracking replies. We read twelve vendors' pricing pages on October 15, 2026 to show who does which job and what each costs.

By Enrich.chat Editorial. Updated October 15, 2026.

**Short answer:** B2B lead generation software does four jobs: finding people, getting their contact details, reaching them and tracking replies. You can buy one tool per job, such as [Enrich.chat](https://enrich.chat/pricing/) from $29 a month, [Instantly](https://instantly.ai/pricing) from $47 and [HubSpot's free CRM](https://www.hubspot.com/products/crm), or a bundle such as [Apollo](https://www.apollo.io/pricing) from $49 a seat a month billed yearly.

## Key takeaways

- The nine picks cover four jobs. Find: Enrich.chat, Apollo, ZoomInfo and Sales Navigator. Enrich: Enrich.chat, FullEnrich and Clay. Reach: Instantly and lemlist. Track: HubSpot.
- Published entry plans, billed monthly, run from $29 a month on Enrich.chat to $185 on Clay Launch. ZoomInfo, Cognism and Outreach quote prices, and Vendr's buyer data puts the median ZoomInfo contract at $33,500 a year and the median Outreach contract at $45,600.
- Seats and sends drive the bill. Apollo and Sales Navigator charge per seat, Instantly and Smartlead scale with email volume, and Enrich.chat and FullEnrich sell credits with unlimited seats.
- Eight of the nine picks list an MCP server or connector. Enrich.chat's needs no signup for the first 10 lookups a day.
- Two sellers who add 600 prospects a month, with a work email each and a mobile for 100, need 34,000 Enrich.chat credits, which fits the Growth plan at $29 a month.

## The verdict

For finding and enriching leads from an AI agent or app, **Enrich.chat** is the pick: one prompt, unlimited seats, and credits spent only on the emails and mobiles it finds. It does not send email or hold your pipeline, so pair it with a sender and a CRM, or choose Apollo for finding and sending in one seat.

- Best to find and enrich from an agent: Enrich.chat (One prompt, plans from $29, unlimited seats)
- Best all-in-one seat: Apollo (Data, sequences and MCP from $49 a seat billed yearly)
- Best for enterprise intent data: ZoomInfo (Buyer intent and website visitors, priced by quote)
- Best for cold email at volume: Instantly (Unlimited email accounts from $47 a month)
- Best free CRM: HubSpot (Free for up to 2 users, no expiration date)

## The best lead generation tools at a glance

|  | Enrich.chat | Apollo | ZoomInfo | Sales Navigator | Clay | FullEnrich | Instantly | lemlist | HubSpot |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Main job | Find and enrich | Find, enrich and reach | Find, with intent data | Find on LinkedIn | Enrich | Enrich | Reach | Reach | Track |
| Entry price, billed monthly | Free, then $29 a month | Free, then $65 a seat | Quote; GTM AI top-ups from $20 | $119.99 a license | Free, then $185 | Free trial, then $29 | $47 | $69 | Free CRM; Starter seat $20 |
| Free tier | Yes: 10 lookups a day, no signup | Yes: 75 credits a seat a month | Partial: 1,000 GTM AI data credits once | Partial: free trial | Yes: 100 data credits a month | Partial: 50 trial credits | Not published | Partial: 14-day trial | Yes: free CRM |
| No annual contract required | Yes: billed monthly | Yes: monthly billing | Not published: quote | Yes: monthly billing | Yes: monthly billing | Yes: monthly billing | Yes: monthly billing | Yes: monthly billing | Partial: Professional needs a yearly commitment |
| Mobile or phone numbers | Yes: 250 credits a mobile | Yes: 8 credits a phone number | Yes: on its sales plans | No: not listed | Yes: from Launch | Yes: 10 credits a mobile | No: not listed | Yes: phone finder | No: not in its enrichment |
| Sends email sequences | No | Yes: unlimited from Basic | Partial: workflows on Copilot Advanced | No: not listed | Partial: Clay Sequencer | No: not listed | Yes: its core product | Yes: email, LinkedIn, calls, SMS | Partial: Sales Hub Professional |
| API access | Yes: key optional | Yes: from the Free plan | Yes: GTM AI API | No: not listed | Partial: HTTP API calls from Growth | Yes: Pro plan | Yes: API keys in settings | Yes: Email plan | Yes: CRM APIs |
| MCP or AI agent access | Yes: keyless MCP server | Yes: OAuth, no extra fee | Yes: GTM AI MCP | No: not listed | Yes: ChatGPT, Codex, Claude | Yes: MCP server | Yes: API key | Yes: MCP and CLI | Yes: open to all accounts |
| Start without signing up | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |

## The 9 best lead generation tools, grouped by job

Listed by the job each tool does best: finding leads, enriching them, reaching them and tracking them. Prices come from each vendor's own site, checked October 15, 2026. Smartlead, Lusha, Cognism and Outreach appear in the job table further down.

### Enrich.chat

Find and enrich. Contact and company data for AI agents and apps: search for people, then get work emails and mobiles with a status on each, through an MCP server, one prompt or a plain HTTPS API.

- Best for: Finding and enriching leads from an AI agent, app or workflow, with no per-seat fees
- Pricing: Monthly plans from $29: 10 credits per work email, 250 per mobile, 5 per tech stack or profile
- Strength: Credits are spent only on matches: a lookup that finds nothing uses 0 credits
- Strength: Unlimited seats on every plan, billed monthly, cancel anytime
- Strength: Each work email comes back as verified, catch_all or unknown, and each mobile with a line type
- Strength: Works in any AI agent through a keyless MCP server or one prompt, and takes a LinkedIn URL as a lookup key without logging in to LinkedIn
- Watch out for: No sending, sequencing or CRM: it finds people and returns contact details only
- Watch out for: No Chrome extension or intent data, and SDKs are still planned

### Apollo

Find, enrich and reach. A sales platform that puts a contact database, email sequences, a dialer add-on and an MCP server in one seat.

- Best for: Small and mid-size teams that want finding and sending in one tool
- Pricing: Basic $49 a seat a month billed yearly, or $65 billed monthly; Professional $79 or $99 ([Apollo pricing](https://www.apollo.io/pricing), Oct 15, 2026)
- Strength: Unlimited sequences and CRM integrations from Basic, plus a 14-day trial on Basic and Professional
- Strength: Monthly billing on Basic and Professional
- Strength: MCP server over OAuth with no extra fee, though credits and plan limits still apply
- Watch out for: A phone number costs 8 credits, and unused credits expire each billing cycle
- Watch out for: Priced per seat, and Organization needs 3 seats on annual billing

### ZoomInfo

Find. Enterprise sales intelligence with contacts, mobiles, buyer intent and website visitors, plus GTM AI, a prepaid credit plan for API, MCP and CLI use.

- Best for: Large sales teams that sell on intent and accept a quoted contract
- Pricing: Sales plans by quote; [Vendr's buyer data](https://www.vendr.com/marketplace/zoominfo) shows a $33,500 median a year. GTM AI data credits cost $0.38 each at its $1,000 tier ([GTM AI pricing](https://gtm.ai/pricing), Oct 15, 2026)
- Strength: Copilot Advanced lists buyer intent signals, website visitors and champion tracking
- Strength: GTM AI has no contract or seat fees, and search, lookup and find similar never cost credits
- Watch out for: Sales plan prices are not published
- Watch out for: Mobile phone data on GTM AI sits in Enterprise packages

### LinkedIn Sales Navigator

Find on LinkedIn. LinkedIn's selling tool for lead and account search, alerts and CRM sync.

- Best for: Reps who sell through relationships and warm introductions on LinkedIn
- Pricing: Core $119.99 a license a month or $1,079.88 a year; Advanced $159.99 a month or $1,799.88 a year; Advanced Plus by quote ([LinkedIn plans and pricing](https://business.linkedin.com/sell/sales-navigator/compare-plans), Oct 15, 2026)
- Strength: 50+ advanced search filters, plus lead and account alerts such as job or role changes
- Strength: Adds leads and accounts to your CRM directly, with integrations for Salesforce, HubSpot, Microsoft Dynamics and Oracle
- Watch out for: The plan page lists search, alerts and CRM sync, but no email or phone data
- Watch out for: Priced per license, and Advanced Plus needs a sales call

### Clay

Enrich. A data and workflow platform that enriches leads across providers in waterfalls, tracks job changes and runs AI research with Claygent.

- Best for: GTM engineers and RevOps teams that build their own enrichment tables
- Pricing: Launch $185 a month, or $167 billed yearly; Growth $495 or $446; Enterprise custom ([Clay pricing](https://www.clay.com/pricing), Oct 15, 2026)
- Strength: An enrichment that returns no result costs no data credits or actions
- Strength: Unused data credits roll over up to 2x on Launch and Growth
- Strength: MCP lets ChatGPT, Codex or Claude use Clay
- Watch out for: Cost depends on two meters, actions and data credits
- Watch out for: The Free plan has no phone number enrichment, and the HTTP API column starts on Growth

### FullEnrich

Enrich. Waterfall enrichment sold by credits: a work email costs 1 credit, a mobile 10, and nothing found costs nothing.

- Best for: Teams that want waterfall emails and mobiles without building a table
- Pricing: Pro from $29 a month for 500 credits, or from $26 a month billed yearly; Enterprise custom ([FullEnrich pricing](https://fullenrich.com/pricing), Oct 15, 2026)
- Strength: Unlimited users on every plan, with no per-seat charge
- Strength: Unused credits roll over for 3 months on monthly plans
- Strength: MCP server and API access listed on the Pro plan
- Watch out for: A mobile costs 10 credits, about $0.58 on the smallest Pro plan (our arithmetic)
- Watch out for: Its plan features list enrichment, search and CRM pushes, not email sending

### Instantly

Reach. A cold email platform with unlimited email accounts and warmup, plus a separate credit plan for its B2B lead database.

- Best for: Teams that send cold email at volume from many mailboxes
- Pricing: Outreach plans: Growth $47 a month ($37.60 billed yearly), Hypergrowth $97 ($77.60), Light Speed $358 ($286.30). Lead database credits are sold separately from $47 a month ([Instantly pricing](https://instantly.ai/pricing), Oct 15, 2026)
- Strength: Unlimited email accounts and warmup on every Outreach plan
- Strength: Growth covers 5,000 emails and 1,000 uploaded contacts a month
- Strength: MCP server included with your subscription, using an API key
- Watch out for: Finding leads and sending are billed as two separate plans
- Watch out for: Each plan caps emails and uploaded contacts a month

### lemlist

Reach. An outbound platform that runs email, LinkedIn, call and SMS sequences, with a built-in lead database and an MCP server.

- Best for: Teams that want multichannel sequences with some lead data built in
- Pricing: Email $69 a month, or $55 billed yearly; Multichannel $109 or $87, priced by users; Enterprise custom. Data add-ons start at $20 a month for 2,000 credits ([lemlist pricing](https://www.lemlist.com/pricing), Oct 15, 2026)
- Strength: The Email plan lists unlimited users and senders, 50,000 emails a month, an API and an MCP server
- Strength: Multichannel adds LinkedIn, SMS and a built-in call dialer
- Strength: Unused credits roll over while your subscription stays active
- Watch out for: $20 a month of lead credits buys 400 emails or 100 phones
- Watch out for: Multichannel pricing depends on the number of users

### HubSpot

Track. A CRM with a free tier for contacts, deals and email tracking, and paid Sales Hub seats that add sequences and forecasting.

- Best for: Teams that need one place to track leads, deals and follow-ups
- Pricing: Free CRM; Core Seats $20 (Starter), $50 (Professional) and $75 (Enterprise) a month, and Sales Seats $100 and $150 ([HubSpot catalog](https://legal.hubspot.com/hubspot-product-and-services-catalog), Oct 15, 2026)
- Strength: The free CRM has no expiration date
- Strength: Official MCP server, open to all HubSpot accounts since April 13, 2026
- Strength: Sales Hub Professional adds sequences, forecasting and conversation intelligence
- Watch out for: Built-in enrichment lists no email address or contact mobile ([HubSpot knowledge base](https://knowledge.hubspot.com/records/enrich-your-contact-and-company-data))
- Watch out for: Professional and Enterprise Sales Hub need a one-time onboarding fee

## What is B2B lead generation software, and what jobs does it do?

B2B lead generation software helps a business find, reach and track the companies and people who might buy. [Salesforce's guide](https://www.salesforce.com/marketing/lead-generation-guide/best-lead-generation-tools/) describes these tools as software that identifies, attracts and engages potential customers, and groups them into CRM, prospecting and enrichment, email automation, website chat and lead scoring. [Cognism's guide](https://www.cognism.com/blog/lead-generation-tools) uses five groups: data providers, communication tools, on-page capture, email marketing and sales tools.

This page covers the outbound side, where you go and find buyers. Website forms and chat, which wait for buyers to arrive, are a separate category: [HubSpot's free tools](https://www.hubspot.com/products/crm) list a form builder and live chat for that side. Outbound work splits into four jobs. Figure 1 shows them in order, with the tools in this guide under each job.

**Figure 1: The four jobs of outbound lead generation.** Four jobs in order, with the tools in this guide under each. Find: Apollo, ZoomInfo, Sales Navigator, Lusha and Cognism. Enrich: FullEnrich and Clay. Reach: Instantly, lemlist, Smartlead and Outreach. Track: HubSpot. Enrich.chat covers find and enrich and has no sending or CRM features, so it pairs with a sender and a CRM.

*The four jobs of outbound lead generation and the tools that do each. The job groups follow the Salesforce and Cognism guides above, and where each tool sits is our reading of its own pricing page: [Apollo](https://www.apollo.io/pricing), [ZoomInfo](https://www.zoominfo.com/pricing), [Sales Navigator](https://business.linkedin.com/sell/sales-navigator/compare-plans), [Lusha](https://www.lusha.com/pricing/), [Cognism](https://www.cognism.com/pricing), [FullEnrich](https://fullenrich.com/pricing), [Clay](https://www.clay.com/pricing), [Instantly](https://instantly.ai/pricing), [lemlist](https://www.lemlist.com/pricing), [Smartlead](https://www.smartlead.ai/pricing), [Outreach](https://www.outreach.ai/pricing), [HubSpot](https://www.hubspot.com/pricing/sales). Enrich.chat has no sending, sequencing or CRM features.*

Enrich.chat covers the first two jobs. It searches for people and returns work emails and mobiles, each with a status, plus company profiles. It has no sending or CRM features, so you pair it with a sender and a CRM, or choose a bundle. [Apollo](https://www.apollo.io/pricing), for example, lists a contact database, unlimited sequences and CRM integrations on its Basic plan. Our guides to [data enrichment](https://enrich.chat/blog/what-is-data-enrichment/) and [ideal customer profiles](https://enrich.chat/blog/ideal-customer-profile/) explain the first two jobs in more depth, and the free [lead list builder](https://enrich.chat/tools/lead-list-builder/) runs a first search.

## Which lead generation tool should you buy first?

Buy the tool for the job you still do by hand. If you know your market but have no names, start with finding. If you have names but no emails, start with enrichment. If you have emails and send nothing yet, start with a sender. Figure 2 matches eight starting points to a tool.

**Figure 2: Which lead generation tool to buy first.** A decision tree from what you have today to a tool. A market but no names points to Enrich.chat or Apollo. Names without emails or mobiles point to Enrich.chat or FullEnrich. Selling through LinkedIn points to Sales Navigator, intent data on big accounts to ZoomInfo, data and sending in one seat to Apollo, custom enrichment tables to Clay, emails ready to send to Instantly or lemlist, and nowhere to log replies to HubSpot free CRM.

*Our recommendation by starting point, based on what each vendor lists on its own pages: [Apollo](https://www.apollo.io/pricing), [ZoomInfo](https://www.zoominfo.com/pricing), [Sales Navigator](https://business.linkedin.com/sell/sales-navigator/compare-plans), [Clay](https://www.clay.com/pricing), [FullEnrich](https://fullenrich.com/pricing), [Instantly](https://instantly.ai/pricing), [lemlist](https://www.lemlist.com/pricing), [HubSpot](https://www.hubspot.com/products/crm). Enrich.chat is the pick where it is listed first, and it finds and enriches only.*

The table maps each job to the picks on this page and the focused guide for that job. Tools outside the nine picks, such as Lusha, Cognism, Smartlead and Outreach, appear in the third column with the prices we read on October 15, 2026.

| Job | Picks on this page | Also consider | Focused guide |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Find leads | Enrich.chat, Apollo, ZoomInfo | [Lusha](https://www.lusha.com/pricing/): Starter $49.90 a month. [Cognism](https://www.cognism.com/pricing): quote only | [Best B2B data providers](https://enrich.chat/blog/best-b2b-data-providers/), [best sales intelligence tools](https://enrich.chat/blog/best-sales-intelligence-tools/) |
| Find on LinkedIn | Sales Navigator | A contact source to go with it: its [plan page](https://business.linkedin.com/sell/sales-navigator/compare-plans) lists no email or phone data | [Sales Navigator pricing](https://enrich.chat/blog/linkedin-sales-navigator-pricing/), [LinkedIn email finders](https://enrich.chat/blog/best-linkedin-email-finder/) |
| Enrich contacts | Enrich.chat, FullEnrich, Clay | [Apollo](https://www.apollo.io/pricing) and [lemlist](https://www.lemlist.com/pricing) also find emails and phones inside their apps | [Best data enrichment tools](https://enrich.chat/blog/best-data-enrichment-tools/), [best email finders](https://enrich.chat/blog/best-email-finder-tools/), [best direct dial providers](https://enrich.chat/blog/best-direct-dial-providers/), [waterfall enrichment](https://enrich.chat/blog/waterfall-enrichment/) |
| Reach out | Instantly, lemlist | [Smartlead](https://www.smartlead.ai/pricing): Base $39 a month. [Outreach](https://www.outreach.ai/pricing): quote only | [Cold email data and sender rules](https://enrich.chat/blog/cold-email/), [best AI SDR tools](https://enrich.chat/blog/best-ai-sdr-tools/) |
| Track and follow up | HubSpot | Any CRM you already use. Enrich.chat can fill its missing emails and mobiles | [HubSpot data enrichment](https://enrich.chat/integrations/hubspot/), [HubSpot MCP](https://enrich.chat/blog/hubspot-mcp/), [CRM data enrichment](https://enrich.chat/blog/crm-data-enrichment/) |

### Should you buy one all-in-one seat or a stack of tools?

An all-in-one seat means fewer logins and one bill. [Apollo's Basic plan](https://www.apollo.io/pricing) lists a contact database, unlimited sequences and CRM integrations per seat, and [lemlist's Email plan](https://www.lemlist.com/pricing) lists a lead database, an email and phone finder and 50,000 emails a month with unlimited users. A stack asks you to connect the parts. In return you can swap one without rebuilding the rest, and each part can run from an AI agent. Our guides to [AI SDR tools](https://enrich.chat/blog/best-ai-sdr-tools/) and [building your own AI SDR](https://enrich.chat/blog/how-to-build-an-ai-sdr/) show where the stack route leads.

## How much does lead generation software cost?

Published entry plans, billed month to month, run from $29 a month on Enrich.chat to $185 on [Clay Launch](https://www.clay.com/pricing). [FullEnrich Pro](https://fullenrich.com/pricing) starts at $29, too. ZoomInfo, Cognism and Outreach quote prices instead. Figure 3 charts the cheapest paid plan of each tool that publishes one, as we read it on October 15, 2026. The units differ, so read the label under each name.

**Figure 3: Cheapest paid plan per month, by tool.** Bar chart of the cheapest paid plan of each tool, billed month to month, checked October 15, 2026. Enrich.chat costs $29 with unlimited seats. FullEnrich Pro costs $29 for 500 credits. Smartlead Base costs $39, Instantly Growth $47, Lusha Starter $49.90 and lemlist Email $69. Apollo Basic costs $65 a seat. Sales Navigator Core costs $119.99 a license. Clay Launch costs $185. ZoomInfo sales plans, Cognism and Outreach do not publish a plan price.

*Cheapest paid plan per month, billed month to month, checked October 15, 2026. Yearly billing lowers most of these: Apollo $49, Lusha $37.45, Smartlead $32, Instantly $37.60, lemlist $55 and Clay $167. Sales Navigator is $89.99 a month on its $1,079.88 yearly price, our arithmetic. Sources: [Enrich.chat](https://enrich.chat/pricing/), [FullEnrich](https://fullenrich.com/pricing), [Smartlead](https://www.smartlead.ai/pricing), [Instantly](https://instantly.ai/pricing), [Lusha](https://www.lusha.com/pricing/), [Apollo](https://www.apollo.io/pricing), [lemlist](https://www.lemlist.com/pricing), [LinkedIn](https://business.linkedin.com/sell/sales-navigator/compare-plans), [Clay](https://www.clay.com/pricing). [ZoomInfo](https://www.zoominfo.com/pricing), [Cognism](https://www.cognism.com/pricing) and [Outreach](https://www.outreach.ai/pricing) do not publish a plan price.*

Quote-only tools cost far more. [Vendr's buyer data](https://www.vendr.com/marketplace/zoominfo) puts the median ZoomInfo contract at $33,500 a year across 1,577 purchases. [Vendr's Outreach page](https://www.vendr.com/marketplace/outreach) shows a $45,600 median across 919 purchases, with deals from $8,660 to $215,400. [Outreach's own page](https://www.outreach.ai/pricing) says its pricing combines per-user access with consumption-based AI credits, and it gives no figures. Our guides to [ZoomInfo pricing](https://enrich.chat/blog/zoominfo-pricing/), [Apollo pricing](https://enrich.chat/blog/apollo-pricing/), [Clay pricing](https://enrich.chat/blog/clay-pricing/) and [FullEnrich pricing](https://enrich.chat/blog/fullenrich-pricing/) cover each plan in detail.

How a tool bills matters as much as its entry price. The table groups the tools by what makes the bill grow.

| How it bills | Tools | What grows the bill |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Per seat | [Apollo](https://www.apollo.io/pricing), [Sales Navigator](https://business.linkedin.com/sell/sales-navigator/compare-plans), [HubSpot paid seats](https://legal.hubspot.com/hubspot-product-and-services-catalog), [lemlist Multichannel](https://www.lemlist.com/pricing) | Each extra user. Apollo also meters credits inside each seat |
| By email volume | [Instantly](https://instantly.ai/pricing), [Smartlead](https://www.smartlead.ai/pricing), [lemlist Email](https://www.lemlist.com/pricing) | Emails sent and contacts stored each month |
| By credits | Enrich.chat, [FullEnrich](https://fullenrich.com/pricing), [Clay](https://www.clay.com/pricing), [Lusha](https://www.lusha.com/pricing/) | Each email, mobile or enrichment you pay for |
| By quote | [ZoomInfo sales plans](https://www.zoominfo.com/pricing), [Cognism](https://www.cognism.com/pricing), [Outreach](https://www.outreach.ai/pricing) | Seats, features and contract length |

### What does a two-person stack cost each month?

Take two sellers who add 600 prospects a month, with a work email for each and a mobile for 100. Say each prospect gets three emails, or 1,800 sends. The table prices two ways to cover the first jobs, using the plans we read on October 15, 2026.

| Setup and what it covers | Monthly cost |
| --- | --- |
| **Enrich.chat, Instantly Growth and the free HubSpot CRM.** Find and enrich, send, track | [$29](https://enrich.chat/pricing/) for the Growth plan, using 34,000 credits, plus [$47](https://instantly.ai/pricing) for Instantly (5,000 emails and 1,000 uploaded contacts a month) and $0 for [HubSpot's free CRM](https://www.hubspot.com/products/crm) (up to 2 users) |
| **Apollo Basic, 2 seats.** Find, enrich and send, with CRM integrations | [$130 billed monthly, or $98 billed yearly](https://www.apollo.io/pricing). The work uses 1,400 credits at 1 per email and 8 per phone |

Mailboxes and sending domains cost extra. [Smartlead's SmartSenders add-on](https://www.smartlead.ai/pricing) lists Google mailboxes at $4.5 each a month and domains at $13 a year. Seats add up too. Five [Sales Navigator Core](https://business.linkedin.com/sell/sales-navigator/compare-plans) licenses cost about $450 a month billed yearly (5 × $1,079.88 ÷ 12), and [five Apollo Basic seats](https://www.apollo.io/pricing) cost $245 a month billed yearly. Every Enrich.chat plan has unlimited seats. See [Enrich.chat pricing](https://enrich.chat/pricing/) for the plan table.

## Which lead generation tools work inside AI agents?

Eight of the nine picks list an MCP server or connector, so an AI agent can run several jobs from one prompt. [Sales Navigator's plan page](https://business.linkedin.com/sell/sales-navigator/compare-plans) lists none. The tools differ in what you need first.

- **Nothing first.** The Enrich.chat MCP server at `enrich.chat/mcp` needs no key, and the first 10 lookups a day need no signup. The [install page](https://enrich.chat/install/) lists the steps for each app.
- **OAuth to your account.** [Apollo](https://docs.apollo.io/docs/apollo-mcp) and [HubSpot](https://developers.hubspot.com/changelog/remote-hubspot-mcp-server-is-now-generally-available) use OAuth. Apollo says there is no extra cost to connect, and HubSpot says its server is open to all accounts since April 13, 2026.
- **An API key.** [Instantly](https://help.instantly.ai/en/articles/12980002-instantly-mcp-model-context-protocol) asks you to create an API key and says its MCP server is free with your subscription.
- **Listed on a product or plan page.** [Clay](https://www.clay.com/mcp) names ChatGPT, Codex and Claude. [FullEnrich](https://fullenrich.com/pricing) and [lemlist](https://www.lemlist.com/pricing) list an MCP server on their plans, and ZoomInfo [GTM AI](https://gtm.ai/pricing) lists MCP, API and CLI access.

Our guide to the [best MCP servers for sales](https://enrich.chat/blog/best-mcp-servers-for-sales/) compares them in depth. With Enrich.chat connected, one prompt can cover the first two jobs. Paste this one into ChatGPT, Claude or Cursor:

```text
Use www.enrich.chat to find 20 VPs of Operations at US logistics companies with 200 to 1,000 employees. Add each person's work email with its status, list catch_all and unknown emails separately, and return a table I can paste into my sender. Do not send anything. Report the total credits_used.
```

The agent reads [agents.md](https://enrich.chat/agents.md), searches for the people and looks up each work email. Every email comes back as `verified`, `catch_all` or `unknown`, and a lookup that finds nothing uses 0 credits. Hold back `catch_all` and `unknown` addresses until you check them: see our guide to [cold email data](https://enrich.chat/blog/cold-email/) and the free [catch-all checker](https://enrich.chat/tools/catch-all-checker/). To go past the free lookups, log in at [enrich.chat/account](https://enrich.chat/account/) with your email and a one-time code, then pick a plan. Your key appears on that page.

## What should you check before you buy lead generation software?

Check four things before you pay: the job you are missing, how the bill grows with your team, what sending will cost you, and how the data performs on your own records.

1. **The job you are missing.** Write down what your team does by hand today. A sender will not fix a thin list, and a database will not fix a weak message. Buy for the gap.
2. **How the bill grows.** Seat-based tools multiply with each seller, while credit plans grow with the contacts you reveal. Work out your own month, as in the table above, before you compare list prices.
3. **What sending requires.** [Google's sender guidelines](https://support.google.com/a/answer/81126?hl=en) ask anyone who sends more than 5,000 messages a day to Gmail accounts to set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC, offer one-click unsubscribe and keep the spam rate below 0.30%. Google advises staying below 0.10%. Verify every address first: see our guide to [email bounce rate](https://enrich.chat/blog/email-bounce-rate/).
4. **How the data performs on your records.** Every vendor measures quality its own way. Run 100 to 200 contacts you already know through each free tier or trial, and score every field. [Apollo](https://www.apollo.io/pricing), [Lusha](https://www.lusha.com/pricing/) and [Clay](https://www.clay.com/pricing) have free plans, [FullEnrich](https://fullenrich.com/pricing) gives 50 trial credits, and Enrich.chat gives 10 lookups a day. Our guide to [B2B data providers](https://enrich.chat/blog/best-b2b-data-providers/) walks through a blind sample. Repeat the test before you renew, because people change jobs: see [B2B data decay](https://enrich.chat/blog/b2b-data-decay/).

You also stay responsible for the rules on your own calls and emails. See [TCPA rules for B2B cold calling](https://enrich.chat/blog/tcpa-b2b-cold-calling/) and [whether LinkedIn scraping is legal](https://enrich.chat/blog/is-linkedin-scraping-legal/). This is not legal advice.

## When is Apollo, HubSpot or another tool the better choice?

Another tool is the better choice when you need something Enrich.chat does not do: sending email, holding your pipeline, showing intent data or working inside LinkedIn. Prices below were checked on October 15, 2026.

- **Apollo** when reps want finding and sending in one seat. Its plans list unlimited sequences from Basic, and the Advanced Dialer add-on costs $119 a team a month billed yearly ([Apollo pricing](https://www.apollo.io/pricing)). See [Apollo alternatives](https://enrich.chat/alternatives/apollo/).
- **ZoomInfo** when you sell on intent. Its [Copilot Advanced plan](https://www.zoominfo.com/pricing) lists buyer intent signals, website visitors and champion tracking. See [ZoomInfo alternatives](https://enrich.chat/alternatives/zoominfo/).
- **LinkedIn Sales Navigator** when reps sell through relationships. Its [plans](https://business.linkedin.com/sell/sales-navigator/compare-plans) list 50+ search filters, and its product page lists lead alerts such as job or role changes. See [Sales Navigator alternatives](https://enrich.chat/alternatives/linkedin-sales-navigator/).
- **Clay** when you want to build your own enrichment tables. Its [Free plan](https://www.clay.com/pricing) lists multi-provider waterfalls and unlimited seats. See [Clay alternatives](https://enrich.chat/alternatives/clay/) and [Enrich.chat inside Clay](https://enrich.chat/integrations/clay/).
- **FullEnrich** when you want a managed waterfall across providers, with a work email at 1 credit and a mobile at 10 ([FullEnrich pricing](https://fullenrich.com/pricing)). See [waterfall enrichment](https://enrich.chat/blog/waterfall-enrichment/).
- **Instantly, Smartlead or lemlist** when you need to send. [Instantly](https://instantly.ai/pricing) lists unlimited email accounts from $47 a month, [Smartlead](https://www.smartlead.ai/pricing) from $39, and [lemlist](https://www.lemlist.com/pricing) adds LinkedIn, SMS and calls on its Multichannel plan.
- **Outreach** when a large team wants one platform for engagement, deals and forecasting. Its [pricing page](https://www.outreach.ai/pricing) lists packages with sequencing, forecasting and conversation intelligence, and prices come by quote.
- **HubSpot** when you need one place to track leads and deals. Its [CRM](https://www.hubspot.com/products/crm) is free with no expiration date, and [Sales Hub Professional](https://www.hubspot.com/pricing/sales) adds sequences.
- **Cognism or Lusha** when you want a dedicated phone data provider. [Cognism Pro](https://www.cognism.com/pricing) lists on-demand mobile verification, and [Lusha](https://www.lusha.com/pricing/) lists an extension for LinkedIn, CRMs and any website. See [Cognism alternatives](https://enrich.chat/alternatives/cognism/) and [Lusha alternatives](https://enrich.chat/alternatives/lusha/).

Enrich.chat has two honest gaps. It has no sequencing, sending or CRM: it finds people and returns contact details. It also has no Chrome extension or intent data, and its only list builder is the free lead list builder. If those matter more than agent access or unlimited seats, pick a tool from the list above.

## Frequently asked questions

### What are the main types of lead generation tools?

B2B lead generation tools do four jobs: finding people (databases and search such as Apollo, ZoomInfo and Enrich.chat), enriching them with emails and mobiles (FullEnrich, Clay), reaching them (Instantly, lemlist) and tracking them (HubSpot). [Salesforce's guide](https://www.salesforce.com/marketing/lead-generation-guide/best-lead-generation-tools/) also lists website chat and lead scoring. Our guide to [AI lead generation](https://enrich.chat/blog/ai-lead-generation/) shows how the jobs connect.

### How much does lead generation software cost?

Published entry plans, billed monthly, run from $29 a month for Enrich.chat to $185 for [Clay Launch](https://www.clay.com/pricing). [FullEnrich Pro](https://fullenrich.com/pricing) starts at $29, and [Sales Navigator Core](https://business.linkedin.com/sell/sales-navigator/compare-plans) costs $119.99 a license. ZoomInfo, Cognism and Outreach quote prices, and [Vendr](https://www.vendr.com/marketplace/zoominfo) puts the median ZoomInfo contract at $33,500 a year. All prices were checked October 15, 2026.

### Is there a free lead generation tool?

Several tools have free tiers, though none gives full access. Enrich.chat gives 10 lookups a day with no signup, [Apollo's free plan](https://www.apollo.io/pricing) 75 credits a seat a month, [Lusha](https://www.lusha.com/pricing/) 40 credits a month, [Clay](https://www.clay.com/pricing) 100 data credits and 500 actions a month, and [HubSpot](https://www.hubspot.com/products/crm) a CRM with no expiration date. FullEnrich gives 50 trial credits, as of October 15, 2026. The free [lead list builder](https://enrich.chat/tools/lead-list-builder/) runs a first search.

### Do I need separate tools for data, sending and a CRM?

No. [Apollo](https://www.apollo.io/pricing) bundles a contact database, sequences and CRM integrations in one seat, and [lemlist](https://www.lemlist.com/pricing) adds a lead database to its sequences. Separate tools take more setup, but you can swap one part without rebuilding the rest, and a data tool can run from an AI agent. Our guide to [AI lead generation](https://enrich.chat/blog/ai-lead-generation/) lays out a five-layer stack.

### Can lead generation tools run inside ChatGPT or Claude?

Yes. Eight of the nine picks list an MCP server or connector, including Apollo, Clay, FullEnrich, Instantly, lemlist and HubSpot. The Enrich.chat MCP server at enrich.chat/mcp needs no key, and the first 10 lookups a day need no signup. Most others connect through OAuth or an API key from a vendor account. See our list of the [best MCP servers for sales](https://enrich.chat/blog/best-mcp-servers-for-sales/).

### What sender rules apply when I email leads in bulk?

Google asks anyone sending more than 5,000 messages a day to Gmail accounts to set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC, offer one-click unsubscribe, and keep the spam rate below 0.30%, with a goal of 0.10%, per [Google's sender guidelines](https://support.google.com/a/answer/81126?hl=en). Verify addresses before you send. Our guide to [cold email data](https://enrich.chat/blog/cold-email/) has the detail. This is not legal advice.

## Sources

1. [Apollo pricing plans (annual and monthly views)](https://www.apollo.io/pricing)
2. [Apollo MCP](https://docs.apollo.io/docs/apollo-mcp)
3. [ZoomInfo pricing and plans](https://www.zoominfo.com/pricing)
4. [GTM AI pricing](https://gtm.ai/pricing)
5. [ZoomInfo Software Pricing and Plans](https://www.vendr.com/marketplace/zoominfo)
6. [Outreach Software Pricing and Plans](https://www.vendr.com/marketplace/outreach)
7. [Outreach pricing and packages](https://www.outreach.ai/pricing)
8. [LinkedIn Sales Navigator plans and pricing](https://business.linkedin.com/sell/sales-navigator/compare-plans)
9. [Clay pricing (monthly and annual views)](https://www.clay.com/pricing)
10. [Clay MCP](https://www.clay.com/mcp)
11. [FullEnrich pricing](https://fullenrich.com/pricing)
12. [Instantly pricing (monthly and yearly views)](https://instantly.ai/pricing)
13. [Instantly MCP Server](https://help.instantly.ai/en/articles/12980002-instantly-mcp-model-context-protocol)
14. [Smartlead pricing (monthly and yearly views)](https://www.smartlead.ai/pricing)
15. [lemlist pricing (monthly and yearly views)](https://www.lemlist.com/pricing)
16. [Lusha pricing (monthly and yearly views)](https://www.lusha.com/pricing/)
17. [Cognism pricing](https://www.cognism.com/pricing)
18. [HubSpot Sales Hub pricing](https://www.hubspot.com/pricing/sales)
19. [HubSpot product and services catalog](https://legal.hubspot.com/hubspot-product-and-services-catalog)
20. [Free CRM software](https://www.hubspot.com/products/crm)
21. [Remote HubSpot MCP server is now generally available](https://developers.hubspot.com/changelog/remote-hubspot-mcp-server-is-now-generally-available)
22. [Enrich your contact and company data](https://knowledge.hubspot.com/records/enrich-your-contact-and-company-data)
23. [The 23 best lead generation tools](https://www.salesforce.com/marketing/lead-generation-guide/best-lead-generation-tools/)
24. [31 best B2B lead generation tools](https://www.cognism.com/blog/lead-generation-tools)
25. [Email sender guidelines](https://support.google.com/a/answer/81126?hl=en)

## Try this prompt

Build a first lead list from your agent

```text
Use www.enrich.chat to find 20 VPs of Operations at US logistics companies with 200 to 1,000 employees. Add each person's work email with its status, list catch_all and unknown emails separately, and return a table I can paste into my sender. Do not send anything. Report the total credits_used.
```

## Related

- [Best B2B data providers (2026): 10 compared on price and terms](https://enrich.chat/blog/best-b2b-data-providers/)
- [Best data enrichment tools (2026): 10 compared, with prices](https://enrich.chat/blog/best-data-enrichment-tools/)
- [AI lead generation: what actually works](https://enrich.chat/blog/ai-lead-generation/)