How to Find Email Addresses: Methods, Tools, and Best Practices
Learn how to find verified email addresses using proven tools, methods, and best practices to improve deliverability and outreach.
Finding verified email addresses remains one of the most persistent challenges in B2B outreach. According to Validity's 2024 Email Deliverability Benchmark, roughly one in six emails never reach the inbox, with global inbox placement averaging around 84%. The wrong email means bounced messages, damaged sender reputation, and wasted effort.
This guide compares leading email lookup tools to help you find email addresses for your lead generation needs.
How We Evaluate Email Finder Tools
Our methodology prioritizes neutral, criteria-driven analysis: 90% objective feature comparisons, 10% strategic insights from GTM experience.
Key evaluation factors:
- Accuracy and verification rates: Verified email discovery rates range from 20% to 77% across tools
- Data source quality: LinkedIn profiles, company websites, domain patterns, and real-time web signals
- Integration ecosystem: CRM connections (Salesforce, HubSpot), API access for workflow automation
- Automation capabilities: Manual lookup, semi-automated bulk processing, or continuous autonomous prospecting
- GDPR compliance: SOC 2 Type II, CASA Tier 3, and data handling practices
- Pricing transparency: Free tiers, per-email costs, subscription models
Tools that verify deliverability before sending reduce bounce rates below 1.5%, which correlates with 10-12% higher inbox placement.
Email Lookup Tools Comparison
Tool Profiles
11x
11x provides autonomous AI sales agents that manage research, outreach, lead engagement, and qualification without human intervention, functioning as digital workers for sales teams.
Key Features:
• Alice (AI SDR): Conducts outbound prospecting across email and LinkedIn, combining 21+ premium data providers with real-time signals and live web search
• Autonomous Operation: Completes research, contact discovery, email verification, outreach, follow-ups, and lead qualification independently to find email addresses at scale
• CRM Integration: Syncs bi-directionally with Salesforce, HubSpot, and Pipedrive for seamless contact information management
• Deliverability Infrastructure: AI-powered email warming, inbox rotation, spam protection, and bounce rate monitoring ensure consistent inbox placement for cold email campaigns
Pros: Reduces manual SDR tasks with continuous execution, 30% more meetings per AE, 80% higher meeting-to-opportunity conversion
Cons: Requires enterprise-level setup, custom pricing only
Best Fit: 11x is ideal for GTM teams replacing SDR and contact-center tasks with continuous AI execution. The platform autonomously identifies decision-makers, discovers verified email addresses, personalizes cold email outreach, manages follow-ups, and books meetings.
Pricing: Custom enterprise plan with usage-based tiers. SOC 2 Type II, CASA Tier 3, GDPR, and CCPA compliant.
Hunter.io
Hunter.io specializes in domain-based searches and email format pattern detection. The Chrome extension integrates with LinkedIn for quick lookups.
Features: Domain search by company name, email pattern detection, email verification API, Gmail and Outlook integrations, bulk email discovery with CSV uploads.
Pricing: Free tier (25 searches/month), paid plans from €49/month for 500 searches
Testing with 5,000 LinkedIn contacts found Hunter.io returned 1,882 verified email addresses (37.6% success rate). The platform charges credits for all results including unverifiable emails, and credits don't roll over.
Pros: Clean interface, includes basic enrichment (job titles, company names)
Cons: Charges for unverified emails, low verified match rate, no credit rollover
Best for: Occasional manual prospecting with light lookup volumes. Unlike 11x's continuous autonomous prospecting, Hunter.io requires manual searches and separate outreach tools.
GetProspect
GetProspect focuses on LinkedIn-based email discovery with a Chrome extension for extracting professional email addresses from profiles. The platform emphasizes lead enrichment, returning detailed job titles, company information, and LinkedIn profile data.
Features: LinkedIn profile email extraction, company-wide email discovery, email verifier included, CRM export, job titles and contact info enrichment with social media profile data and phone numbers.
Pricing: Free tier (50 emails/month), paid plans from $49/month for 1,000 credits
Benchmark testing showed GetProspect returned 3,096 business email addresses from 5,000 contacts (61.9% success rate). The platform charges for all results including catch-all addresses. Credits roll over for one month.
Pros: Strong LinkedIn integration, accurate business emails, best-in-class enrichment
Cons: Charges for unverifiable and catch-all emails, processing bugs, no results summary
Best for: Teams prioritizing complete lead enrichment over pure email accuracy. Compared to 11x's autonomous prospecting that handles research, verification, and outreach in one workflow, GetProspect requires manual LinkedIn navigation and separate campaign tools.
AnyMailFinder
AnyMailFinder takes a verification-first approach with transparent success rates and pay-per-result pricing. The platform emphasizes deliverability quality, validating catch-all domains that most competitors flag as risky.
Features: Name + domain name email lookup, email verifier with catch-all validation, bulk CSV processing up to 100,000 rows, API integration for workflow automation, credits only charged for verified valid email addresses.
Pricing: Pay-per-email ($0.10-0.15 per verified result), unused credits roll over indefinitely
Testing with 5,000 contacts showed AnyMailFinder delivered the highest verified email rate among standalone email lookup tools at 77.5% (3,875 correct email address results). Only charges for confirmed valid results.
Pros: Highest accuracy (77.5% verified rate), advanced catch-all validation, pay only for valid email address results with credit rollover
Cons: Higher per-email cost at high volume, no enrichment features (by design)
Best for: Teams with precise targeting needs prioritizing deliverability and correct email address discovery. Unlike 11x's continuous prospecting that autonomously discovers contacts, verifies emails, and executes multi-channel outreach, AnyMailFinder operates per-query requiring manual CSV uploads.
VoilaNorbert
VoilaNorbert is one of the older email finding platforms with straightforward full name plus company name searches. The tool uses a proprietary deliverability score system rather than standard valid/risky/invalid labels.
Features: Full name + company name searches, proprietary deliverability scoring (0-100 scale), basic email verification, Gmail and CRM integrations.
Pricing: From $49/month (1,000 leads), no free plan, credits don't roll over
Testing found VoilaNorbert returned 1,800 personal email addresses from 5,000 contacts (36% success rate). The platform charges for all results regardless of verification status.
Pros: Straightforward bulk processing
Cons: Charges for all results including unverifiable emails, outdated interface, no self-serve cancellation, no credit rollover
Best for: Teams familiar with legacy workflows seeking to find email addresses manually. VoilaNorbert's 36% verified rate makes it unsuitable for serious deliverability-focused email outreach.
Conclusion
Email discovery accuracy varies dramatically across tools, with verified rates ranging from 20% to 77%. Your choice depends on volume needs, integration requirements, and automation preferences. Verification remains non-negotiable: maintaining bounce rates under 1.5% directly impacts inbox placement and campaign ROI. Modern sales teams increasingly shift from manual lookup tools to integrated AI prospecting solutions that combine discovery, verification, and autonomous outreach in a single workflow, delivering measurable improvements in meetings booked and cost per lead.
Frequently Asked Questions
Start with LinkedIn profiles, company websites, and professional directories. Email lookup tools combine the person's name with their company domain to predict email formats like [email protected]. Industry benchmarks show bounce rates above 1.5% reduce inbox placement by 10-12%. For continuous prospecting at scale, AI sales agents like 11x Alice automate the entire process: researching prospects, discovering verified email addresses through 21+ premium data providers, and initiating personalized outreach to find anyone's email address and reach the right person without manual email search steps.
You'll need additional context: company name, job titles, or domain name work best. Email finder tools use this information to search databases and predict email formats based on company patterns. Testing shows tools with company domain input achieve 40-60% higher verified email address rates. Google search operators and search engines can help locate contact form pages and contact info when you know the person's name. 11x Alice goes beyond basic lookup by autonomously researching prospects across LinkedIn profiles, company websites, and real-time signals, discovering verified addresses through multi-source validation.
Several email lookup tools offer free tiers with limited monthly searches. Hunter.io provides 25 free searches monthly, GetProspect offers 50 emails per month. Free options become limiting for regular lead generation due to monthly caps, lack of bulk processing, and missing CRM integrations. Free tools typically don't validate catch-all domains, which account for 20-30% of B2B email addresses. For consistent email outreach, paid tools or autonomous solutions provide better ROI.
Your existing email list typically lives in your CRM, email client contacts, or marketing automation platform. In Gmail, access contacts through Google Contacts. Outlook stores addresses in your People directory. To expand your list with new prospects, use email finder tools to discover professional email addresses by company domain, company websites, or LinkedIn profiles. AI agents like 11x Alice build contact lists autonomously by continuously prospecting target accounts and syncing verified contact information directly to your CRM.
No comprehensive public email address directory exists due to privacy regulations and GDPR compliance requirements. Professional email addresses scatter across LinkedIn profiles, company websites, social media platforms, and proprietary databases maintained by email lookup tools. Effective email search combines multiple data sources and verification methods. Autonomous AI agents like 11x Alice access multiple contact databases simultaneously, cross-reference sources, and verify accuracy in real-time as part of continuous prospecting workflows.
