Head to head

Hunter vs ZeroBounce

Same facts, side by side: starting price, free tier, MCP, API and what each one is actually built for.

Hunter

$49/mo Free tier Free trial

Name-plus-domain email search with a verifier, API and MCP. Free tier, then $49/mo monthly or $34/mo on annual billing.

Where Hunter fits

  • Recruiters doing name-plus-domain lookup
  • Teams that need a finder API
  • Buyers who want a free tier plus MCP
  • Desks that live in Chrome or Google Sheets

ZeroBounce

$39/2,000 credits Free tier

Email validation and scoring. Free 100 credits; ZeroBounce ONE starts at $99/mo for 10,000 validations.

Where ZeroBounce fits

  • Recruiting and sales teams cleaning lists before send
  • Ops that want validation as an API
  • Desks that need scoring, not only deliverable/undeliverable
  • Buyers who want a no-commitment free 100 credits

At a glance

DetailHunterZeroBounce
Starting price$49/mo$39/2,000 credits
Free tier✓Yes✓Yes
Free trialYesNot on record
MCP server✓Yes✓Yes
Public API✓Yes✓Yes
Listed underEmail finders, Verification, Lead generationVerification
Capterra4.6 from 711 reviews4.8 from 591 reviews

Where they pull apart

Hunter

Stands out: The default finder API, with MCP and a widely used free Chrome extension.

Watch out: Built around work email, so it is not a mobile-number product.

Not the right fit for

  • Teams that need mobiles as the core product
  • Buyers who want a sequencer in the same login

ZeroBounce

Stands out: Validation plus quality scoring on one meter, with a real free 100-credit allowance and a public $99/month subscription.

Watch out: Pay-as-you-go starts at $39 for 2,000 validations if you do not want a subscription. Heavy lists will burn the 10,000-credit ONE cap.

Not the right fit for

  • Teams that needed a finder, not a verifier
  • High-volume senders who will outgrow 10k/month immediately

Pros and cons

Hunter

  • Public $49 monthly Starter, cheaper annually
  • Free browser extensions
  • MCP plus REST API
  • Work email rather than mobile numbers
  • No sequencer
  • Credit caps on the entry plan

ZeroBounce

  • Public $99/mo ONE plan for 10k validations
  • 100 free credits, no trial needed
  • API plus MCP
  • ONE's 10k cap is easy to blow on a big agency list
  • Does not find emails, only validates them
  • Pay-as-you-go $39 pack is easy to miss if you only look at $99

What each one costs

Hunter

$49/mo

Free, paid from ~$49/mo. Confirm current terms on the vendor site.

Checked 7 Sep 2026

ZeroBounce

$39/2,000 credits

Business domain sign-ups get 100 free validations a month. Pay as you go starts at $39 for 2,000 email validations, the minimum purchase. The ZeroBounce ONE subscription is $99 per month, and unused credits roll over. Confirm current terms on the vendor site.

Checked 20 Sep 2026

Common questions

Is Hunter cheaper than ZeroBounce?
ZeroBounce starts lower, at $39/2,000 credits against $49/mo for Hunter. That is the entry plan on each side, so the real number depends on seats and the tier you land on.
Can you try Hunter or ZeroBounce for free?
Hunter and ZeroBounce carry a free tier on our listing. Hunter offers a free trial.
Does Hunter or ZeroBounce have an MCP server?
Hunter and ZeroBounce ship a first party MCP server, so an AI assistant can work the product directly.

Not the pair you wanted?

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Editorial listings, never paid rankings. Prices checked 7 Sep 2026. Confirm current terms on the vendor site. Spot an error?