TL;DR – ContactOut Pricing
- Free Plan: 5 emails/day, 5 phones/day / $0
- Sales Plan (Email): “Unlimited” (2,000 emails/month actual limit) / $79/month
- Recruiters Plan: 12,000 emails/year + recruiting features / $199/month
- Team/API Plan: Custom pricing (quote-based)
- Model: Monthly/annual subscription with “hidden” caps in terms of service
- Key Details: Marketed as “unlimited” but capped at 2,000 emails/month and 1,000 phones/month in TOS, no rollover mentioned
💡 Looking for a more transparent alternative with credit rollover? Derrick offers plans starting at $10/month with email costs 3.3x lower and no hidden limits. Try it free →
What is ContactOut?
ContactOut is a B2B data enrichment platform specializing in finding professional email addresses and phone numbers. The tool provides access to a database of over 300 million profiles across 30 million companies.
The platform stands out with its Chrome extension that allows direct extraction of contact information from LinkedIn profiles, streamlining workflows for sales teams and recruiters. ContactOut also offers email campaign features, an advanced search portal with 20+ filters, and native integrations with major CRMs (Salesforce, HubSpot).
ContactOut positions itself as an email enrichment tool designed for sales, marketing, and recruiting professionals who need to quickly contact qualified prospects.
ContactOut Pricing Plans
Based on multiple third-party sources (FullEnrich, Swordfish AI, UpLead, BookYourData) analyzed in December 2026, here’s ContactOut’s pricing structure:
| Plan | Emails/month | Phones/month | Monthly Price | Exports/month | Commitment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | 5/day (~150/month) | 5/day (~150/month) | $0 | 5/day | – |
| Sales (Email) | 2,000* | – | $79 | 300 | Annual |
| Email + Phone | 2,000* | 1,000* | $99 | 600 | Annual |
| Recruiters | 12,000/year | Included | $199 | Unlimited | Annual |
| Team/API | Custom | Custom | Quote-based | Custom | Negotiable |
*Critical Point: ContactOut markets its paid plans as offering “unlimited” emails and phones, but according to their terms of service (TOS), the real limits are 2,000 emails/month and 1,000 phones/month. This information isn’t prominently featured in their marketing communications, which can create frustration for teams needing high volumes.
Plan Descriptions
Free Plan: Limited to 5 lookups per day (emails, phones, exports). This plan essentially serves as a trial version and is suitable only for very occasional needs. Chrome extension access is available but advanced features are locked.
Sales (Email) Plan: Billed at $79/month with annual commitment ($948/year). Provides up to 2,000 emails per month maximum, 300 monthly exports, plus email campaigns, list builder, and AI Email Writer. Designed for sales professionals doing light prospecting.
Email + Phone Plan: At $99/month ($1,188/year), this plan combines 2,000 emails and 1,000 phone numbers per month. Ideal for sales teams needing to contact prospects through multiple channels quickly.
Recruiters Plan: Priced at $199/month annually, it offers 12,000 emails per year (approximately 1,000/month) with dedicated recruiting features (advanced search, ATS integrations). This plan is tailored for recruiters conducting regular candidate searches.
Team/API Plan: Quote-based pricing with full API access, team management, list sharing, and dedicated support. Pricing depends on number of users and desired credit volume.
ContactOut Pricing Model Explained
ContactOut uses a classic subscription model with monthly or annual billing. Unlike tools that sell credits individually, ContactOut charges “flat-rate” access to a certain volume of emails and phones per period.
What 1 ContactOut Lookup Includes
A ContactOut lookup (search) consumes:
- 1 email lookup = finding a contact’s email address
- 1 phone lookup = finding a contact’s phone number
- 1 export = exporting contact data to your CRM or CSV file
The “Hidden Limits” Problem
Major attention point: ContactOut uses the term “unlimited” in its marketing communications for paid plans, but the terms of service impose strict limits:
- Sales Plan: Maximum 2,000 emails/month (approximately 91 per business day)
- Email + Phone Plan: Maximum 2,000 emails + 1,000 phones/month
- Exports: 300 to 600 exports/month depending on plan
According to user feedback on Reddit and third-party analyses, these limits can quickly become problematic for active sales teams. One user testified: “They claim unlimited but stop you at 2,000 emails. Apollo gives you 10,000 credits for the same price.”
This “unlimited with asterisk” marketing approach contrasts with tools like Derrick that clearly display their available credits and allow accumulation through unlimited rollover on paid plans.
Expiration Policy
ContactOut doesn’t publicly communicate a rollover policy. Unused credits in the month appear to expire, which represents waste for teams whose activity varies month to month (unlike Derrick which keeps all unused credits).
Cost Per Action Comparison
To evaluate ContactOut’s real cost, let’s calculate the price per action based on the chosen plan.
Real Cost Per Action Table
| Action | ContactOut Plan | ContactOut Unit Cost | Derrick Plan | Derrick Unit Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Email lookup | Sales ($79/month) | $0.0395/email | SMALL ($10/month) | $0.0125/email |
| Email lookup | Sales ($79/month) | $0.0395/email | SMALL+ ($22/month) | $0.011/email |
| Phone lookup | Email+Phone ($99/month) | $0.099/phone | SMALL ($10/month) | $0.375/phone |
| Export | Sales (300/month) | $0.26/export | SMALL (unlimited) | $0 (free) |
Detailed Calculations:
- ContactOut Sales: $79 ÷ 2,000 emails = $0.0395/email
- ContactOut Email+Phone: $99 ÷ 1,000 phones = $0.099/phone
- Derrick SMALL email: 5 credits × $0.0025 = $0.0125/email (3.3x cheaper)
- Derrick SMALL phone: 150 credits × $0.0025 = $0.375/phone
Comparative Analysis
For email finding: Derrick offers a cost per email 3.3x lower than ContactOut ($0.0125 vs $0.0395 with SMALL plan). If you enrich 1,000 emails/month, the savings are $27/month or $324/year.
For phone finding: ContactOut is more competitive on this feature with $0.099/phone versus $0.375 at Derrick. However, this apparent savings must be put in perspective with:
- Lack of rollover at ContactOut (credits lost if unused)
- Hidden 1,000 phones/month maximum limit
- Overall plan cost ($99/month vs $10 at Derrick for SMALL plan)
For data exports: ContactOut limits exports (300-600/month by plan) while Derrick offers unlimited exports via its native Google Sheets integration, completely eliminating this cost item.
Typical Use Case: 1,000 Leads/Month Enrichment (Email Only)
ContactOut Sales Plan:
- Price: $79/month
- Capacity: 2,000 emails/month (more than sufficient)
- Total cost: $79/month = $948/year
- Limits: 300 exports/month, no rollover
Derrick SMALL Plan:
- Price: $10/month
- Capacity: 4,000 credits/month = 800 emails (5 credits/email)
- Total cost: $10/month = $120/year
- Bonus: Unlimited rollover, unlimited exports, native Google Sheets
For this use case, you’d need to upgrade to Derrick SMALL+ (10,000 credits = 2,000 emails for $22/month or $264/year), which remains 3.6x cheaper than ContactOut ($264 vs $948).
ROI: Save $684/year by switching to Derrick for a 1,000 emails/month email finding workflow.
What’s Included in Each ContactOut Plan
Free Plan ($0)
- ✅ 5 emails/day
- ✅ 5 phones/day
- ✅ 5 exports/day
- ✅ Chrome extension
- ❌ No CRM integrations
- ❌ No email campaigns
- ❌ No priority support
Best for: Tool testing, ultra-occasional needs
Sales / Email Plan ($79/month)
- ✅ 2,000 emails/month (real limit)
- ✅ 300 exports/month
- ✅ Email campaigns with AI Email Writer
- ✅ List builder
- ✅ Zapier integrations
- ✅ CRM integrations (Salesforce, HubSpot)
- ❌ No phones included
- ❌ No advanced search
Best for: Sales professionals primarily doing email prospecting
Email + Phone Plan ($99/month)
- ✅ 2,000 emails/month
- ✅ 1,000 phones/month
- ✅ 600 exports/month
- ✅ All Sales plan features
- ✅ Access to direct dial numbers
- ❌ No advanced recruiting features
Best for: Multi-channel sales teams (email + calls)
Recruiters Plan ($199/month)
- ✅ 12,000 emails/year (~1,000/month)
- ✅ Phones included
- ✅ Unlimited exports
- ✅ Advanced search with 20+ filters
- ✅ ATS integrations (Applicant Tracking System)
- ✅ Boolean search on LinkedIn
Best for: Professional recruiters, recruitment agencies
Team/API Plan (Custom)
- ✅ Custom volume
- ✅ Full API access
- ✅ Team management and permissions
- ✅ List sharing
- ✅ Dedicated support and onboarding
- ✅ Custom reports
Best for: Large teams, agencies, technical integrations
ContactOut vs Alternatives: Which Solution to Choose?
If you’re hesitating between ContactOut and other enrichment tools, here are some comparison points:
ContactOut Advantages:
- Extensive database (300M+ profiles)
- Practical Chrome extension for LinkedIn
- Native CRM integrations
- Email campaigns included in paid plans
ContactOut Disadvantages:
- Misleading “unlimited” marketing (hidden limits in TOS)
- High cost per email compared to competitors ($0.0395)
- No rollover of unused credits
- Opaque pricing for upper plans (custom)
- Limited exports by plan (300-600/month)
Why Consider an Alternative Like Derrick?
- Total transparency: Available credits are clearly displayed, no surprises
- Unlimited rollover: Your credits accumulate each month on paid plans, zero waste
- 3.3x lower cost per email: $0.0125/email versus $0.0395 at ContactOut
- Native Google Sheets: No need for manual CSV exports, everything happens where you already work
- Unlimited exports: Unlike ContactOut’s 300-600 exports/month
To discover other B2B prospecting tools, check out our comparison of the best LinkedIn scraping tools or our selection of the best email finders.
FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions About ContactOut Pricing
What is the price of ContactOut for a small team?
For a small sales team (2-5 people), ContactOut offers two options:
- Individual plans: Each user subscribes to their own Sales ($79/month) or Email+Phone ($99/month) plan. For 3 users, this represents $237-297/month, or approximately $2,844-3,564/year.
- Custom Team plan: Quote-based, with volume pricing depending on number of users. ContactOut doesn’t publish a precise pricing grid for this plan.
In comparison, alternatives like Hunter or Derrick offer credits shared across the entire team, which is often more economical than per-seat pricing.
Does ContactOut offer a free plan?
Yes, ContactOut offers a free plan limited to 5 emails, 5 phones, and 5 exports per day (approximately 150 of each per month). This plan allows testing the Chrome extension and search portal, but advanced features (email campaigns, CRM integrations, advanced search) are only accessible with paid plans.
For continuous professional use, the free plan will quickly become insufficient and you’ll need to upgrade to a paid plan starting at $79/month.
Do ContactOut credits expire?
ContactOut doesn’t publicly communicate a rollover policy. According to user feedback and terms of service analysis, credits (emails/phones) allocated each month do not appear to roll over to the next month.
This means if you only use 1,000 emails out of the 2,000 available in January, the 1,000 unused are lost in February. This system can create waste for teams whose activity fluctuates.
Tools like Derrick offer unlimited rollover on paid plans: all your unused credits accumulate from month to month, giving you total flexibility to manage your activity peaks.
Can you pay ContactOut monthly?
Most ContactOut plans are billed annually ($79/month × 12 = $948/year for Sales plan). Some sources mention the possibility of paying monthly but at a slightly higher rate.
ContactOut favors annual commitment, which can be restrictive if you want to test the tool for a short period. The free plan (5 lookups/day) remains the only option without commitment, but very limited for professional use.
Is ContactOut really “unlimited”?
No, despite the marketing. ContactOut markets its Sales and Email+Phone plans as offering “unlimited” emails and phones, but their terms of service (TOS) impose strict limits:
- Sales Plan: 2,000 emails/month maximum
- Email+Phone Plan: 2,000 emails + 1,000 phones/month maximum
These caps are not prominently featured in commercial communications, which has generated frustration from users who subscribed thinking they had truly unlimited access. According to a Reddit testimonial: “They claim unlimited but stop you at 2,000 emails.”
This “unlimited with asterisk” marketing practice contrasts with tools that clearly display their quotas from the pricing page.
Which ContactOut plan to choose for 500 enrichments/month?
For 500 enrichments per month (emails only), the Sales plan at $79/month is more than sufficient since it offers up to 2,000 emails/month.
Real cost: $79/month for 500 emails = $0.158/email.
More economical alternative: Derrick SMALL ($10/month, 4,000 credits) allows 800 emails (5 credits/email) for $10, or $0.0125/email — approximately 13x cheaper than ContactOut for this volume.
ROI: By switching to Derrick for 500 emails/month, you save $69/month or $828/year.
Does ContactOut work with LinkedIn Sales Navigator?
Yes, ContactOut’s Chrome extension works on standard LinkedIn profiles and also on LinkedIn Sales Navigator. However, unlike some scraping tools that absolutely require Sales Navigator to function, ContactOut can extract data from free LinkedIn profiles.
If you’re looking for a tool that works without a LinkedIn Sales Navigator subscription ($1,200/year saved), Derrick enriches your B2B prospecting data autonomously via its Google Sheets integration, with no dependency on LinkedIn.
Conclusion: Is ContactOut Worth the Price?
ContactOut pricing sits in the mid-high range of the B2B data enrichment market ($79 to $199/month for standard plans). The tool offers an extensive database and a practical Chrome extension, but suffers from two major problems:
- Misleading marketing: Using the term “unlimited” while plans have strict caps (2,000 emails/month) hurts transparency.
- High cost per action: At $0.0395/email, ContactOut is 3.3x more expensive than alternatives like Derrick ($0.0125/email).
ContactOut is suitable if:
- You need less than 2,000 emails/month
- Native CRM integrations are critical for you
- You value the Chrome extension for LinkedIn
- Budget is not a major constraint
Consider an alternative like Derrick if:
- You’re looking for more pricing transparency
- Your activity fluctuates and you need credit rollover
- You want to optimize your cost per lead (3.3x savings on email finding)
- You already work in Google Sheets and want to avoid manual exports
💡 Try Derrick for free (200 credits/month, no credit card required) and compare for yourself: derrick-app.com
ContactOut pricing verified in December 2026 via third-party sources (FullEnrich, Swordfish AI, UpLead, BookYourData). Information may change. For an accurate and up-to-date quote, we recommend contacting ContactOut’s sales team directly.
Jonathan Maurin
