Sales prospecting software: 12 tools mapped to each step of prospecting

This page is for founders, sales leaders and small teams choosing software to find and reach new B2B customers. It maps 12 widely used tools to the steps of prospecting, with prices taken from each vendor's own pages. Have three numbers ready before you read: how many new accounts you want to reach a month, how many people at each, and how many of those you'll phone rather than email.

How we compared

Bebop, made by Blackpearl Group, wrote this page and is one of the 12 options in it. Our rules:

• Selection. We started from the tools named in the prospecting software roundups ranking on Google for this search on 26 October 2026 (Apollo, ZoomInfo, Cognism, Lusha, Sales Navigator, Outreach, Salesloft and Clay appeared most), then added Hunter, UpLead and lemlist as published-price options for email finding, phone data and sequencing. CRMs, standalone dialers and intent-only suites are separate purchases and are left out.
• Facts. Every price, allowance and credit rule comes from the vendor's own pricing page, help center, API docs or terms, read on 26 October 2026 and listed in the sources. Where a vendor publishes no prices, we say "quote only". Prices are US list prices before tax.
• No hands-on scores. We haven't run head-to-head tests, so there are no star ratings. The test at the end is the one we'd want you to run on your own accounts.
• Fairness. Every tool gets its limits as well as its strengths, Bebop included.

The five steps of prospecting, and which tools cover them

Prospecting is a short chain. If one link is weak, buying more of another doesn't help: a bigger contact database won't fix emails that say nothing specific.

Here is what each tool's own pricing and product pages say it covers, as of 26 October 2026:

The pattern: data tools (Apollo, ZoomInfo, Cognism, Lusha, UpLead) cover steps 1 to 3, engagement tools (Outreach, Salesloft) cover step 5, and step 4 is usually done by hand. A typical small-team stack is one data tool plus one sending tool, with research added when reps reach the right people but don't know what to say.

Prices and limits at a glance

Published plans as listed on each vendor's pricing page on 26 October 2026. "Annual" means the monthly equivalent when billed annually, which is the default view on most of these pages; monthly billing costs more (Apollo advertises 24% off for annual billing, Lusha 25%).

A credit means something different at each vendor, so convert every allowance into your own mix of emails and phones before comparing. The credit-by-credit table in Apollo alternatives shows what one credit buys at Apollo, Lusha, UpLead, Hunter, Cognism, ZoomInfo and Clay.

Best fit and limits for each tool

Apollo. Best for: small teams that want contact data, sequences and a US dialer in one subscription with published prices. Limits: its API docs charge 1 credit for an email and 8 more when a mobile number comes back, so phone-heavy work uses credits fast, and the Organization plan needs three seats on annual billing.

ZoomInfo. Best for: larger teams that want broad contact and company data plus buyer intent (from Copilot Advanced) under one contract. Limits: quote only. ZoomInfo says price depends on features, licenses and credit usage, and each export costs a credit, including exports through its Chrome extension and integrations.

Cognism. Best for: teams of five or more that phone mobiles, including in Europe. Its terms say it checks a select list of do-not-call registries and flags matching numbers. Limits: quote only; both plans include five seats, more than a one- or two-person team needs; intent, the premium mobile filter and on-demand mobile verification are Pro only.

Lusha. Best for: reps who look up contacts one at a time from LinkedIn or a company site and want a free tier to start. Monthly plans roll unused credits over, up to twice the monthly cap. Limits: a phone number costs 5 credits, so Starter's 4,800 credits a year buy 4,800 emails or 960 phones.

UpLead. Best for: small teams that call as much as they email, because one credit covers a contact's email and mobile direct dial. UpLead states a 95% email accuracy rate (its own figure). Limits: allowances are small (170 contacts a month on Essentials), technographics and suppression lists start on Plus, and Professional is annual only.

LinkedIn Sales Navigator. Best for: finding the right people and keeping track of them: lead and account search, alerts on job changes, TeamLink introductions and 50 InMails a month. Limits: its plans list InMail and messaging, not email addresses or phone numbers, so most teams pair it with a finder. Advanced Plus is quote only.

Hunter. Best for: email-first prospecting from company domains, with unlimited team members and basic sequences on every plan. Limits: no phone numbers, and monthly credits reset rather than roll over.

Clay. Best for: ops-minded teams that chain many data providers and run AI research (Claygent) across thousands of rows, with unlimited seats. Limits: someone has to build and maintain the tables, cost depends on which providers your workflows call, and phone enrichment isn't on the Free plan.

Outreach. Best for: mid-sized and larger sales teams that want sequences, a dialer, conversation intelligence, deal management and forecasting on one platform. Limits: quote only, priced on seats plus AI credits, so the bill grows with AI use as well as headcount.

Salesloft. Best for: teams that want cadences, conversation intelligence and Clari forecasting from one vendor. Limits: no published prices or plan details, so you can't compare it until a quote arrives.

lemlist. Best for: small teams that want multichannel sequences with a lead database and email and phone finder included. Limits: Multichannel is priced per user, and extra contact data comes as a credit add-on.

Bebop (we make it). Best for: the research step. You describe the companies you want in plain language; Bebop finds matching companies and contacts, explains why each fits, researches each account and writes a playbook (who to talk to, what's happening, the angle to open with, objections to expect) and draft outreach. Limits: it doesn't send sequences or dial, so you still need a sending tool.

Worked example: a two-person consultancy selling to banks

Illustrative example. The firm, volumes and research times are invented. The bank count is real, and prices are annual list prices published on 26 October 2026.

The firm: Northgate Risk Partners (northgate.example) is two partners who run regulatory exam readiness reviews for community banks. They target US banks with $500 million to $5 billion in total assets.

Step 1 costs nothing. The FDIC's BankFind Suite lists every insured institution with its assets, location and charter, free to filter and download. On 26 October 2026 it listed 1,499 active institutions in Northgate's size band, using balance sheets as of 30 June 2026. The list of banks guide shows how to pull and segment it.

Steps 2 and 3: the partners want to reach 100 new banks a month (so the whole list takes 15 months), two people at each: the chief risk officer and the CFO. That's 200 contacts a month, all needing a verified email; 50 of them also need a direct phone number for follow-up calls.

Credits needed each month:

• Hunter: 200 emails × 1 = 200 credits, plus re-verifying 100 older contacts × 0.5 = 50, so 250 of Starter's 2,000. No phones.
• Apollo: 200 emails × 1 + 50 mobiles × 8 = 200 + 400 = 600 credits, inside two Basic seats' 5,000.
• Lusha: 200 × 1 + 50 × 5 = 450 credits a month, or 5,400 a year, inside Pro's 7,200.
• UpLead: 200 contacts × 1 = 200 credits, with a mobile for every contact. Essentials' 170 falls short, so Plus (400).

Cost per contact is the monthly price divided by 200: for example, $98 ÷ 200 = $0.49. Sales Navigator Core is $1,079.88 a year per license, or $89.99 a month.

Step 4 is the real cost. Before each first email, the partners read the bank's latest financials and news and decide which of its exam findings or growth plans to open with: about 20 minutes a bank. At 100 banks a month, that's 2,000 minutes, or 33 hours, close to a full working week every month. Data for the cheapest stacks costs $34 to $98 a month; the research costs far more in partner time. That's the step to fix next, by hand with a repeatable method (see the account research guide) or with a tool that does it for each account in the list.

What changes the answer:

• More phones. If all 200 contacts need a number, Apollo needs 200 + 1,600 = 1,800 credits and Lusha 200 + 1,000 = 1,200 a month (14,400 a year, past Pro's 7,200), while UpLead's cost doesn't change.
• LinkedIn-heavy buyers. If your buyers answer InMail and ignore email, Sales Navigator earns its higher price.
• A bigger team. Seat-priced tools scale with headcount; Hunter's and lemlist Email's unlimited users don't.

Which tool to start with

If you're comparing tools for marketing-led lead capture as well as outbound, the lead generation software comparison covers website visitor and inbound tools that this page leaves out.

Questions to ask before you sign

• What uses a credit? Ask what an email, a phone number, an export and a re-view each cost. Cognism charges once per contact and never again unless the person changes jobs; Apollo charges 8 extra credits for a mobile.
• Do unused credits roll over? Hunter's monthly credits reset; Lusha's monthly plans roll over up to twice the monthly cap.
• How many seats must you buy? Cognism includes five seats in both plans, and Apollo's Organization plan needs three.
• How does renewal work? Cognism's standard terms renew automatically for the initial term or one year, whichever is longer, unless you give 60 days' written notice, and let it raise fees by up to 10% at renewal. Put the notice date in your calendar the day you sign.
• What can you keep if you leave? Cognism's terms let you keep using contact data already stored in your own systems, subject to the law. Ask every vendor the same question.
• How are opt-outs and do-not-call numbers handled? Ask whether the vendor flags numbers on do-not-call registries and how it passes on people who asked to be removed.
• Where does the data come from, and how often is it refreshed? Get the answer in writing, not as a percentage on a slide.

Run a two-week test on accounts you know

Vendor accuracy figures describe someone else's market. This protocol measures yours.

1. Days 1 and 2: build a truth set. Pick 30 accounts you know well (customers, recent lost deals, researched targets) and write down the buyer you'd want at each, with an email or phone you know is right because they replied or answered in the last six months.
2. Set pass marks first. For example: at least 70% of buyers found, under 3% hard bounces, and a maximum cost per usable contact.
3. Days 3 and 4: run the same lookups in each tool. Same accounts, same roles, no names supplied, on free tiers or one paid month.
4. Days 5 and 6: score every record. +1 for the right person in their current role with working details, 0 for a plausible record you can't confirm, -1 for a wrong person, someone who has left, a bounce or a wrong number. GTM-Bench, Blackpearl Group's June 2026 benchmark of AI prospecting systems, scores records the same way so that volume can't hide wrong answers; several general-purpose AI agents finished with negative net scores.
5. Days 7 to 9: test the research. For ten accounts, ask each tool what changed in the last 90 days and who to contact first. Check every claim against the company's own site or filings, and score an unsupported claim -1.
6. Days 10 to 14: send and count. Email the +1 contacts from a warmed-up mailbox and call the numbers. Count bounces, right-person connects and replies, then work out cost per usable contact: monthly price ÷ contacts scored +1.

Tool and plan:                         Dates:
Step it's meant to fix: [accounts / people / contact details / research / outreach]

PASS MARKS (set before testing)
Buyers found: at least ___%     Hard bounces: under ___%
Cost per usable contact: under $___

RESULTS (truth set of ___ accounts, ___ contacts)
Scored +1: ___   Scored 0: ___   Scored -1: ___   Net: ___
Research claims checked: ___   supported: ___   unsupported: ___
Emails sent: ___   hard bounces: ___   replies: ___
Calls: ___   right-person connects: ___

Monthly price at our volume: $___
Cost per usable contact: $___ ÷ ___ = $___

Keep, drop or test longer, and why:

Next step: with a tool shortlisted, build the list it will work from using how to build a prospect list.