Updated

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

Short answer
Hunter vs Apollo vs Derrick: Hunter is a email finder, verifier and lightweight cold-email platform, Apollo is a b2b sales intelligence and outreach. 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 Apollo) 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 Apollo 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 Apollo 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

Apollo

  • Starting price: Free / $49 annual or $59 monthly /seat (post-2026 price increase)
  • Free plan: Yes (Free forever)
  • Founded: 2015
  • HQ: San Francisco, CA
4.7/5 G2 4.5/5 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 Apollo

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

01

Save time with native Google Sheets enrichment without CSV exports

Hunter and Apollo can struggle with native Google Sheets workflows, forcing manual exports or separate enrichment steps that break momentum. Derrick delivers 100% native Google Sheets enrichment, eliminating CSV exports and complex integrations while staying inside Sheets. This saves 5-10 hours per month by streamlining data into a single, actionable sheet with 50+ enrichment attributes and real-time validation. With Derrick, you keep prospect data inside Sheets for faster, turn-key outreach without leaving your workflow.

02

Real-time data quality without manual verification overhead

Real-time data quality without manual verification overhead highlights a clear gap: hunter and Apollo often require manual checks or supplementary data to ensure accuracy. Derrick differs by delivering real-time validation and enrichment directly within Google Sheets, eliminating separate verification steps. Teams save measurable time and reduce bounce risk, with up to 5-10 hours saved per month and more reliable contact data as you prospect. A practical use case is instant email validation during list building, ensuring only verified records move to outreach.

03

Unified multi-channel enrichment with AI-driven profiling

Unified multi-channel enrichment with AI-driven profiling requires more than basic contact data; hunter and Apollo fall short when it comes to cohesive, multi-channel context and automated profiling at scale. Derrick delivers a 100% native Google Sheets workflow with AI-driven scoring, segmentation, and profile summarization, unifying signals across channels without leaving Sheets. This results in measurable efficiency gains and richer, ready-to-use profiles, improving targeting accuracy by up to 25% in fast-moving campaigns. For quick wins, Derrick’s AI-assisted profiling enables immediate multi-channel outreach readiness, eliminating the need for separate enrichment steps.

Honest Comparison

What each tool does better

We're upfront - every tool has strengths. Here's where Hunter, Apollo, 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 →
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 Apollo Derrick
Starting price (monthly) Free 50 credits/mo · Starter €34/mo (annual) Free / $49 annual or $59 monthly /seat (post-2026 price increase) €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 Yes (Free forever) ✓ 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 Apollo vs Derrick: full feature comparison

hunter Derrick App apollo
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 59$/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 Apollo vs Derrick pricing breakdown

Sales Intelligence

Apollo

Free / $49 annual or $59 monthly /seat (post-2026 price increase)

Best for: SMB & mid-market outbound

Apollo pricing starts with a free tier including limited credits, with paid plans scaling for larger teams and usage; details appear on the pricing page for full breakdown and options. See full pricing breakdown for complete 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 Apollo if…

  • You specifically need smb & mid-market outbound
  • Massive 250M+ contact database
  • All-in-one stack at SMB price
  • You're already invested in the Apollo ecosystem
Read full Apollo 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 Apollo

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

Derrick vs hunter: which is better for email enrichment?

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For email enrichment specifically, Hunter excels at pure email discovery and verification with strong accuracy rates and simplicity, making it ideal if email finding is your sole priority. However, Hunter lacks broader enrichment depth beyond contact information. Derrick App offers a more comprehensive approach by combining email validation with 50+ enrichment attributes per contact, real-time verification, and integrated AI scoring-all directly within Google Sheets without requiring external platforms or CSV exports. If you need email enrichment as part of a complete prospecting workflow, Derrick's native Google Sheets integration and rollover credits provide better flexibility and efficiency than Hunter's email-focused approach.

Is Derrick a good alternative to hunter for data accuracy?

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Yes, Derrick is an excellent alternative to Hunter for data accuracy, particularly if you need more than just email verification. While Hunter excels at email discovery with strong verification rates, Derrick provides 50+ enrichment attributes per contact including real-time email validation, company intelligence, and decision-maker insights-all directly within Google Sheets without CSV exports or complex setup. Derrick's integrated AI scoring and segmentation capabilities also help you qualify prospects more effectively than Hunter's email-only approach, making it ideal for teams requiring comprehensive prospect profiling alongside accurate contact data.

Derrick vs hunter vs apollo: which offers seamless pricing?

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Derrick offers the most flexible pricing model with rollover credits that don't expire monthly, meaning you only pay for what you actually use without losing unused credits. Hunter operates on a straightforward subscription basis with limited plan flexibility, while Apollo requires higher commitments for access to their full database and features. Derrick's pricing starts at zero with a free tier requiring no credit card, and scales affordably up to enterprise needs. Additionally, Derrick integrates directly into Google Sheets with no CSV exports or complex setup required, reducing hidden operational costs that competitors often demand through mandatory tool integrations or LinkedIn Sales Navigator subscriptions.

How does hunter compare to apollo for outreach features?

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Hunter focuses on email finding and verification with strong accuracy and a clean workflow, but its enrichment is fairly limited beyond basic company data and job titles. Apollo, by contrast, offers a broader B2B outreach suite with a large contact database, multi-channel campaigns, and more extensive lead intelligence, though data freshness and enrichment depth can vary. Derrick sits between them by delivering native Google Sheets enrichment with 50+ attributes per contact, real-time email validation, and AI-powered scoring and segmentation, all without CSV exports or LinkedIn Navigator, plus flexible, roll-over credits. If you need pure email discovery, Hunter is solid; for scaled outbound with integrated intelligence, Apollo is strong; for a tightly integrated,Sheet-native, feature-rich prospecting toolbox, Derrick provides distinctive value.

What’s the Derrick pricing advantage over hunter and apollo?

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Derrick offers significantly lower entry costs with its free tier requiring no credit card and rollover credits that don't expire monthly, whereas Hunter and Apollo both require paid subscriptions for meaningful usage. Derrick's integrated Google Sheets native approach eliminates expensive third-party tools like LinkedIn Sales Navigator, saving teams up to 1200 euros annually compared to Hunter and Apollo alternatives. Additionally, Derrick includes built-in AI scoring and enrichment across 50+ attributes per contact at lower price points, making it more cost-effective for teams seeking comprehensive data enrichment without vendor lock-in or complex integrations.

Can Derrick replace both hunter and apollo for your workflow?

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Derrick cannot literally replace both Hunter and Apollo in every workflow, but it can cover many gaps they leave behind, depending on your needs. For email finding and verification, Derrick offers real-time validation and a 100% Google Sheets-native experience, which reduces data handoffs and speeds up enrichment. While Hunter excels at precise email discovery and Apollo excels at scale and multi-channel workflows, Derrick adds deep enrichment (50+ attributes), AI scoring, and broad integrations, while keeping costs predictable with credits that roll over. If your workflow relies on heavy multi-source enrichment and automated outreach, you may still supplement with Apollo or Hunter, but Derrick often handles core prospecting and enrichment efficiently.
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