One thing before the list. Every tool below answers the same question: "what is this person's email address?" None of them answer the question that actually blocks most job seekers: "who is the right person to email about this posting?" That step is on you (here is the manual method), or on FindHR, which does both steps at once. With that said, the finders, best free allowance first.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Free tier | Paid starts at | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apollo.io | ~100 email credits/month | ~$49/user/month | Biggest database, LinkedIn extension |
| GetProspect | 50 valid emails/month | $49/month ($34 annual) | Only paying for verified addresses |
| Hunter.io | 50 credits/month (~25 searches) | $49/month ($34 annual) | Domain patterns and verification |
| FindHR | No free searches | $9.99 one-time (5 lookups) | Finding WHO is hiring for a posting, not just the address |
All third-party numbers come from the tools' public pricing pages as of July 2026 and can change. Free tiers in this space get trimmed regularly (Apollo cut its free plan sharply in late 2025), so treat allowances as approximate.
Apollo.io: the biggest database
Apollo is a full sales platform with an enormous contact database, and its free plan currently includes around 100 email credits a month plus a Chrome extension that reveals emails directly on LinkedIn profiles. For a job seeker that extension is the killer feature: find the hiring manager on LinkedIn, click, get the address without leaving the page.
The catch: Apollo is aggressive about pushing you to paid, the interface is built for sales teams running sequences (most of which you do not need), and free credits have been cut before and may be cut again.
GetProspect: pay only for valid emails
GetProspect's free plan gives you 50 valid emails a month, and "valid" is the operative word: unverifiable catch-all addresses do not burn your quota. It also has a LinkedIn extension. For a focused job search where you email a handful of carefully chosen people a week, 50 verified addresses a month is genuinely plenty.
The catch: the database is smaller than Apollo's, so more lookups come back empty, especially for smaller companies.
Hunter.io: patterns and verification
Hunter's free plan gives 50 credits a month, which works out to roughly 25 searches. Its standout feature for job seekers is the domain search: give it a company domain and it shows the email pattern the company uses, so you can construct any employee's address yourself. Its verifier is also a reliable last check before you hit send.
The catch: the free allowance is the smallest here, and Hunter is the most sales-oriented of the three in both features and pricing. We compare it with FindHR in depth in FindHR vs Hunter.io.
FindHR: a different tool for a different problem
Full disclosure: this is our site. FindHR is not a bulk email finder and has no free tier. It does one thing: you paste a job posting link, and it identifies the two most likely hiring managers and two most likely recruiters for that exact role, with verified emails and LinkedIn profiles, in under 2 hours. It also drafts a personalized first email from your profile and the posting.
Pricing is one-time packs instead of subscriptions: $9.99 for 5 lookups, $29.99 for 20, $59.99 for 45. Credits never expire, which fits the shape of a job search: intense for a while, then over.
The honest playbook
- If your budget is zero: Apollo's extension plus GetProspect's 50 valid emails cover a full month of targeted outreach. Add Hunter for pattern lookups. Budget 20 to 30 minutes per posting for the who-is-the-hiring-manager detective work.
- If your time is the scarce thing: use FindHR for the roles you care most about, and the free tools for the long tail.
- Either way: verify every address before sending, and make the email itself worth reading. The templates and the Cold Email Playbook are free.
Email finders need a name. FindHR starts from the job posting and finds the names for you, with verified emails included.
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