Updated

Hunter vs AeroLeads vs Derrick: Which Is Better in 2026?

Short answer
Hunter vs AeroLeads vs Derrick: Hunter is a email finder, verifier and lightweight cold-email platform, AeroLeads is a b2b email and phone finder pulling data from linkedin, crunchbase, angellist and xing. Derrick is a B2B enrichment platform with three surfaces - a Google Sheets add-on, a REST API, and an MCP server (Claude and ChatGPT drive enrichment for you). Hit rates are noticeably higher (more emails + phone numbers returned per query than Hunter or AeroLeads) and pricing is lower - free forever with 100 credits/month, paid plans from €9/month. Most teams pair Derrick for the data layer with Hunter or AeroLeads for outreach.

Hunter competes on hit rate, accuracy and waterfall fallback when one source is blank. The side-by-side comparison below isolates Hunter's per-find cost (email vs mobile vs direct-dial), real-world deliverability of what comes back, and how it fits into Derrick's 10-source waterfall enrichment workflow.

Free plan Yes - 100 credits/mo
Starts at €9/mo
Setup time 30 seconds
Where it lives Google Sheets

✓ Free forever · ✓ No credit card · ✓ Cancel anytime · ✓ Your data stays in your Sheet

Trusted by 31,000+ users worldwide.

Quick Facts

Hunter vs AeroLeads vs Derrick at a glance

Hunter

  • Starting price: Free 50 credits/mo · Starter €34/mo (annual)
  • Free plan: Yes - 50 credits/mo, 500 recipients/sequence
  • Founded: 2015
  • HQ: Wilmington, DE (US entity) - team distributed (Paris, remote-first)
4.4/5 G2 4.4/5 Capterra

AeroLeads

  • Starting price: Free trial · Take Off $49/mo (2K credits)
  • Free plan: Free trial available (no credit card)
  • Founded: 2015
  • HQ: Bangalore, India
4/5 G2 3.9/5 Capterra

Derrick

★ Recommended
  • Starting price: Free · Paid from €9/mo
  • Free plan: Yes - 100 credits/mo permanent
  • Founded: 2023
  • HQ: Marseille, FR
4.8/5 G2 4.8/5 Capterra
Why Derrick wins

Why teams pick Derrick over Hunter and AeroLeads

3 core reasons SDRs and ops teams switch to Derrick. Click to expand each.

01

Real-time email validation with broad enrichment, without extra tools

Real-time email validation with broad enrichment highlights a key gap for Hunter and AeroLeads, which excel at email discovery or verification but lack integrated, real-time validation coupled with expansive enrichment within a single platform. Derrick differs by natively delivering real-time email validation and 50+ enrichment attributes directly in Google Sheets, without extra tools. This combination reduces bounce risk while enriching contacts on the fly, saving 5-10 hours per month for teams already using Derrick. For rapid workflows, Derrick’s real-time checks eliminate manual cross-checks and keeps prospect lists ready for immediate outreach.

02

30+ integrations, zero data lock-in for agility

Hunter and AeroLeads often trap users in limited data streams or single-source enrichment, hindering agility when switching tools or scales are needed. Derrick differs by offering 30+ native integrations and zero data lock-in, so teams aren’t stranded by a vendor or format change. With Derrick, you connect 30+ apps and keep all data portable, saving up to 5–10 hours per month on reformatting and migrations. For example, you can reuse the same enriched profiles across workflows without exporting to CSV or redoing work.

03

Unified, real-time AI-led prospect scoring for prioritization

Hunter and AeroLeads excel at finding and verifying emails, but they lack unified real-time AI-led prospect scoring to prioritize across multi-attribute profiles. Derrick differentiates by embedding AI-driven lead scoring and automatic segmentation directly within 100% native Google Sheets, enabling real-time prioritization without exporting data. This yields faster qualification and a 15–35% lift in meeting rates due to higher-fit leads surfacing first. Derrick also provides explainable AI summaries for each prospect to accelerate rep outreach in practical use cases.

Honest Comparison

What each tool does better

We're upfront - every tool has strengths. Here's where Hunter, AeroLeads, and Derrick each genuinely win.

What Hunter does better

  • Outstanding email accuracy + verification
  • No charge if Hunter can't find it
  • Strong free tier + simple onboarding
Read full Hunter review →

What AeroLeads does better

  • Guaranteed phone numbers per tier (unique positioning)
  • Multi-source prospect data (LinkedIn + Crunchbase + AngelList + Xing)
  • Solid CRM integration ecosystem
Read full AeroLeads review →
Real Annual Cost

True cost over 12 months

Headline pricing rarely tells the whole story. Here's the real cost of running each tool for a year.

Hunter AeroLeads Derrick
Starting price (monthly) Free 50 credits/mo · Starter €34/mo (annual) Free trial · Take Off $49/mo (2K credits) €0 (free) · €9/mo paid
Annual cost (base) ~€600/yr ~€588/yr €0/yr free · ~€108/yr paid
Free plan? Yes - 50 credits/mo, 500 recipients/sequence Free trial available (no credit card) ✓ Forever - 100 credits/mo
Setup cost Hours to days Hours to days 30 seconds via Marketplace
Switching cost CSV export + retraining CSV export + retraining Zero - works alongside any stack

💡 Most teams pay 2-5x more on add-ons (extra seats, phone credits, integrations) than on the headline base price. Derrick keeps everything in one transparent tier.

Feature-by-Feature

Hunter vs AeroLeads vs Derrick: full feature comparison

hunter Derrick App AeroLeads
Works natively in Google Sheets
Requires LinkedIn Sales Navigator ($100/month)
Sales Navigator 1-click import
Email finder with real-time validation
Phone finder from LinkedIn
Company tech stack lookup
SimilarWeb & G2 insights integrated
AI integration (Claude & ChatGPT)
Automatic AI Lead Scoring
Data cleaning & normalization
Multi-platform scraping (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook)
Zapier, Make, n8n integrations
Public API available
Native CRM integrations (HubSpot, Salesforce)
Entry price (paid plan) 49$/mois 9€/mois 39$/mois
Permanent free plan
Rollover credits to next month
Simple and transparent credit system
Simple setup & onboarding
Complete documentation
Pricing in a nutshell

Hunter vs AeroLeads vs Derrick pricing breakdown

B2B Email + Phone Finder (LinkedIn-First)

AeroLeads

Free trial · Take Off $49/mo (2K credits)

Best for: Solo SDRs needing guaranteed phone numbers + email finder bundle

AeroLeads offers entry-level pricing with a starting paid tier after a free or limited credits option, plus scalable plans-discover the full pricing breakdown on the AeroLeads pricing page to compare features and volumes. See full pricing details.

Migration Guide

How to switch from Hunter to Derrick in 3 steps

Derrick is a Google Workspace app - no formulas to learn, no pipelines to migrate, no engineering work. Add it to Google Sheets and you're enriching in under a minute.

1
~30 sec

Install Derrick from Google Workspace Marketplace

Click the install button on our Marketplace listing and grant Google Sheets access. No credit card required - you start with 100 free credits per month.

2
~30 sec

Open any Google Sheet → Extensions → Derrick

Open a Sheet with your prospect list (paste a CSV from Hunter, scrape from LinkedIn Sales Navigator, or import from your CRM). Click Extensions → Derrick and the sidebar opens with all enrichment features ready to use.

3
~1 min

Enrich your list with one click

Select the column with names, LinkedIn URLs, or company domains. Pick what you want - emails, phone numbers, LinkedIn data, company info, tech stack - and click "Enrich". Derrick fills the columns directly in your Sheet. No exports, no pipelines, no waiting.

Install Derrick free →

100 free credits / month · No credit card · Cancel anytime

Decision in 60 seconds

Which one is right for you?

Pick Hunter if…

  • You specifically need solo sdrs and small teams doing email-first outbound
  • Outstanding email accuracy + verification
  • No charge if Hunter can't find it
  • You're already invested in the Hunter ecosystem
Read full Hunter review →

Pick AeroLeads if…

  • You specifically need solo sdrs needing guaranteed phone numbers + email finder bundle
  • Guaranteed phone numbers per tier (unique positioning)
  • Multi-source prospect data (LinkedIn + Crunchbase + AngelList + Xing)
  • You're already invested in the AeroLeads ecosystem
Read full AeroLeads review →

Pick Derrick if…

  • You want B2B enrichment directly in Google Sheets
  • You need a usable free plan (100 credits/mo, no card)
  • You don't want long contracts, lock-in, or sales calls
  • You need 100+ data points per lead in one tool
Try Derrick free →

What teams say after switching from Hunter vs AeroLeads

See what our customers say about Derrick.

"This app saved me so much time and effort. Great for anyone looking to build a contact list or network at scale quickly. As a start-up it's been invaluable."

Alex Clark

Director | SaaS GTM Leader

Reviewed on Product Hunt

"Working pretty nifty compared to Snov.Io. Price wise it does give a fair shake, and IMO better interface since it's google sheets."

David Sire

Mortgage Broker at Zero Point Mortgage

Reviewed on Product Hunt

"Derrick is a very simple and user-friendly app to enrich your contacts database. Best thing: you can test it for free. And then the price is so low, it's a no brainer."

Etienne Grange

CEO Form'actions

Reviewed on Capterra

"Super easy to enrich linkedin urls using this tool. Both personal and company url data can be easily enriched with a click of a button."

Zaid Bilal

RevOps Professional

Reviewed on Capterra

"Amazing Tool, I would like to advocate this to my colleagues. So that you can get more users. Keep it Up. 5 Stars!"

Asif Hanzala

Lead Generation Specialist at IdeaPeel

Reviewed on Capterra

"This app is fantastic. Brilliantly created to help small and mid sized businesses."

Dan Hughes

Founder/CEO, AlmanacIO

Reviewed on Product Hunt

"I have been using other expensive apps or freemium like phantombuster, but Derrick has replaced them all. I love the simplicity of the Google sheet add-in, but what is best is the efficiency it delivers."

Julien Walon Cohen

CEO & Co-founder @ Diffly | B2B Sales Advisor

Reviewed on G2

"The LinkedIn scraping and email finder combo is incredibly powerful. I can build a complete prospect list with contact info in under an hour. Absolute must-have for outbound."

Michael Kim

SDR Team Lead at CloudScale

Reviewed on Capterra

"Have tested over 10+ LI scraper apps, Derrick beats them all. Simple to use, accurate data, and affordable price."

AJ Alexander

Opportunity Prospector

Reviewed on Capterra

Frequently Asked Questions

What’s the Derrick vs Hunter difference for email enrichment?

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Hunter specializes purely in email finding and verification with strong accuracy rates, while Derrick offers comprehensive email enrichment as part of a broader data enrichment platform native to Google Sheets. Hunter excels at identifying valid business emails from domain names, but lacks deeper contact and company attributes. Derrick provides 50+ enrichment attributes per contact including real-time email validation, firmographic data, and AI-powered scoring directly within your spreadsheet, eliminating the need for external tools or CSV exports. For teams needing quick email discovery alone, Hunter works well, but those requiring richer prospect context and seamless workflow integration find Derrick's all-in-one approach more efficient and cost-effective.

Is Derrick a better alternative to Hunter for teams?

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Derrick works better for most teams than Hunter because it operates natively within Google Sheets, eliminating export friction and saving five to ten hours monthly on data management. While Hunter excels at email discovery alone, Derrick enriches fifty plus contact and company attributes directly in your spreadsheet alongside real-time email validation. Derrick's rollover credits, integrated AI scoring with Claude and ChatGPT, and zero credit card requirement for the free tier provide more flexibility than Hunter's straightforward email-only approach, making it ideal for teams needing comprehensive enrichment alongside email accuracy.

Derrick vs Hunter vs AeroLeads: which wins on pricing?

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Derrick offers the most flexible pricing model with rollover credits that don't expire monthly, eliminating waste from unused allocations. Hunter charges per search with higher cumulative costs for teams running frequent campaigns, while AeroLeads uses a credit system but charges for all extractions regardless of data quality, forcing users to repurchase invalid contacts. Derrick's free tier requires no credit card and includes 100 credits, making it accessible for testing. For teams prioritizing cost efficiency and data accuracy, Derrick's transparent pricing combined with real-time email validation and 50+ enrichment attributes delivers better value than competitors requiring external tools or generating unusable data requiring replacement searches.

Which has better features, Derrick or Hunter?

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Derrick and Hunter serve different core needs, so which has better features depends on your priorities. Hunter excels at precise email discovery and verification with a clean, intuitive interface and strong CRM integrations, making it ideal for teams focused on building accurate email lists quickly. Derrick, however, offers a broader feature set tailored to B2B enrichment within Google Sheets: 100% native to Sheets, no CSV exports, real-time email validation, 50+ enrichment attributes per contact, built-in AI scoring and segmentation with Claude and ChatGPT, plus extensive automation via 3000+ integrations. If you need deep, multi-attribute enrichment and AI-driven workflows directly in Sheets with cost-efficient credits and no credit card for the free tier, Derrick provides more comprehensive capabilities. For pure email finding and verification speed with straightforward outreach, Hunter remains strong.

Does Hunter offer a better review than Derrick?

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Both Hunter and Derrick excel at email discovery, but they serve different needs. Hunter specializes purely in email finding and verification with strong accuracy rates, making it ideal if email is your only requirement. However, Derrick offers broader B2B enrichment with fifty-plus contact and company attributes, integrated AI scoring with Claude and ChatGPT, and operates natively within Google Sheets without requiring CSV exports or external platforms. For teams needing comprehensive prospect research beyond email alone, Derrick's all-in-one approach with rollover credits and no credit card requirement for the free tier provides greater flexibility and value than Hunter's email-focused solution.

Can Derrick replace both Hunter and AeroLeads effectively?

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Derrick can replace some functions of Hunter and AeroLeads, but not as a full one-to-one swap for every use case. Derrick excels in deep enrichment within Google Sheets, real-time email validation, AI-powered scoring and segmentation, and a broad 3000+ integrations ecosystem, all while staying native to Sheets and offering rollable credits and no credit card required on the free tier. Hunter specializes in accurate email discovery and verification, with strong CRM integrations but limited multi-dimensional prospect profiling. AeroLeads provides fast contact discovery and verification with solid data but has notable data accuracy and privacy concerns. If your needs center on rapid, cost-efficient lead sourcing with rich enrichment, Derrick adds value; if you require pristine email finding with minimal enrichment or rely on deep firmographic/intent data in a standalone tool, you’ll likely need additional solutions.
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