In the fast-paced world of B2B sales and marketing, having the right tools can mean the difference between landing a game-changing deal and watching opportunities slip away. Accurate, up-to-date contact data is the cornerstone of effective prospecting—whether you're a sales rep building pipelines, a marketer crafting targeted campaigns, or a recruiter sourcing top talent. Enter Lusha, ZoomInfo, and Emelia, three tools vying for your attention in the crowded B2B prospecting space. But which one truly delivers the best value for your time, budget, and goals?In this in-depth guide, we’re breaking down the Lusha vs ZoomInfo vs Emelia debate with a detailed comparison of their features, pricing, strengths, and weaknesses. We’ll explore why fresh data is critical for success, dissect what each tool brings to the table, and make a compelling case for why Emelia—with its real-time LinkedIn scraping, unbeatable affordability, and integrated prospecting capabilities—stands out as the smart choice for businesses of all sizes. If you’re searching for the best B2B prospecting tool in 2025, you’re in the right place. Let’s dive in!
Why Fresh Data Matters in B2B Prospecting
Before we dive into the tools, let’s set the stage: fresh data is the lifeblood of B2B prospecting. In a landscape where professionals switch roles, companies evolve, and contact details expire at an alarming rate, outdated data is a silent killer. Research shows that up to 30% of B2B data becomes obsolete every year. That’s a third of your leads potentially slipping through the cracks—wasting your time, budget, and effort on bounced emails or disconnected phone numbers.Fresh data, on the other hand, transforms your outreach. It ensures you’re targeting the right decision-makers with accurate emails, phone numbers, and company details, right when you need them. This precision drives higher deliverability, better engagement, and ultimately, more conversions—whether you’re cold emailing, calling, or connecting on LinkedIn. As we compare Lusha, ZoomInfo, and Emelia, keep this in mind: how each tool handles data freshness will be a defining factor.
Lusha: The Budget-Friendly Option
Background and History
Founded in 2016 in Israel by Itay Abraham and Noam Undritz, Lusha started as a recruitment tool before pivoting into a broader B2B lead generation platform. Today, it serves over 300,000 users, from solo entrepreneurs to small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), with a mission to make high-quality contact data accessible and affordable. Lusha has carved out a niche as a lightweight, budget-friendly alternative to enterprise-grade tools, particularly for teams leveraging LinkedIn for prospecting.
Key Features
Lusha’s feature set is straightforward yet effective, designed for simplicity and ease of use:
Chrome Extension: A standout feature, Lusha integrates directly with LinkedIn, allowing users to pull contact details with a single click while browsing profiles.
Lead Enrichment: Delivers job titles, company information, emails, and phone numbers with a reported
81% accuracy rate
for contact data.
CRM Integration: Syncs seamlessly with popular platforms like Salesforce, HubSpot, and Pipedrive to streamline workflows.
Team Management: Enables credit allocation and usage tracking across team members, ideal for collaborative prospecting.
Intent Data: Offers filters for job changes and buying signals, helping users target prospects with active intent.
However, Lusha’s data is static, sourced from periodic web crawls rather than real-time updates. This can result in outdated information, especially in fast-moving industries like tech or startups.
Pricing Breakdown
Lusha uses a credit-based pricing model, with tiers tailored to different user needs:
Free Plan: 5 contacts per month—great for testing but limited in scope.
Pro Plan: $49/month (billed monthly) or $39/month (billed annually) for 200 annual credits, equating to ~$0.245 per credit.
Premium Plan: $51/month (billed annually) for 960 credits (~80/month), dropping the cost to ~$0.053 per credit.
Scale Plan: Custom pricing for larger teams or enterprises, with additional features like API access.
Cost Per Email Found
Pro Plan: $49 for 200 credits = $0.245 per email
Premium Plan: $612/year for 960 credits = ~$0.10 per email (assuming full usage).
Credits are consumed per contact lookup, whether it’s an email or phone number, and unused credits don’t roll over month-to-month on standard plans—a common pain point for users.
Pros and Cons
Pros
Affordable entry point for small teams and startups.
Seamless LinkedIn integration via the Chrome extension.
Quick setup and intuitive interface.
Cons
Credit limits can restrict high-volume prospecting.
Static data risks being outdated, especially for dynamic markets.
Limited phone number coverage outside major regions like North America and Europe.
User Insight: “Lusha’s price is hard to beat, but I burn through credits fast, and the phone numbers aren’t always there when I need them.” (G2 Review, 2024)
ZoomInfo: The Enterprise Powerhouse
Background and History
ZoomInfo has a long history, tracing its roots back to 2000 as Eliyon Technologies. After acquiring DiscoverOrg in 2019, it rebranded and solidified its position as a B2B data juggernaut. Today, ZoomInfo serves enterprise clients like Salesforce, Microsoft, and Amazon, boasting a database of over 100 million contacts. It’s built for large-scale sales and marketing teams tackling complex, high-value deals.
Key Features
ZoomInfo’s robust feature set caters to enterprise needs:
Contact and Company Search: Access to 100M+ contacts, enriched with firmographics (company size, revenue), technographics (tech stack), and intent data (buying signals).
Sales Automation: Tools for lead scoring, pipeline management, and engagement tracking.
CRM Integration: Deep sync with Salesforce, HubSpot, and other platforms for seamless data flow.
Chrome Extension: Prospect directly on LinkedIn, company websites, and other platforms.
Intent Data: Identifies prospects researching solutions, boosting targeting precision.
Like Lusha, ZoomInfo relies on static data, refreshed monthly through web crawls rather than real-time updates. This can lead to inaccuracies in fast-changing industries.
Pricing Breakdown
ZoomInfo’s pricing is custom and notoriously high, targeting enterprises with significant budgets:
Professional Plan: Starts at ~$15,000/year for 5,000 credits.
Advanced Plan: ~$25,000/year for 10,000 credits, adding advanced automation.
Elite Plan: ~$40,000/year for premium features like intent data and API access.
Cost Per Email Found
Professional Plan: $15,000 for 5,000 credits = $3 per email
Advanced Plan: $25,000 for 10,000 credits = $2.50 per email
These estimates assume full credit usage, but ZoomInfo’s opaque pricing often includes hidden fees or upcharges for additional users and features.
Pros and Cons
Pros
Massive database with deep insights for enterprise teams.
Intent data and automation enhance ROI on big deals.
Strong integrations for complex workflows.
Cons
Prohibitively expensive for small to medium-sized businesses.
Static data updates lag behind real-time changes.
Accuracy weakens outside North America and Western Europe.
User Insight: “ZoomInfo’s depth is unmatched, but at $15,000 a year, it’s overkill for our small team—and the data isn’t always fresh.” (G2 Review, 2024)
Emelia: The Real-Time Data Game-Changer
Background and History
Emelia is a newer player, launched around 2020, designed to disrupt the B2B prospecting market with a focus on agility, affordability, and real-time data. While it lacks the decades-long legacy of ZoomInfo or the established user base of Lusha, Emelia is quickly gaining traction as a modern alternative. It’s built for teams of all sizes—solo founders, startups, and growing businesses—who need fresh data and integrated tools without breaking the bank.
Key Features
Emelia isn’t just a data provider—it’s a full-stack prospecting solution. Here’s what sets it apart:
Real-Time LinkedIn Scraping
Emelia scrapes LinkedIn and Sales Navigator in real time, delivering contact details as they exist right now—no static databases or stale info.
Users can search profiles, scrape results, and extract emails and phone numbers instantly.
Email and Phone Finding
Email Finding: 1 credit per email, with a 99% accuracy rate based on user-verified feedback.
Phone Finding: 50 credits per number, offering robust coverage for mobile and direct lines.
CSV Email Verification
Upload your existing contact lists and verify emails at 0.25 credits per check, ensuring low bounce rates and high deliverability.
Integrated Prospecting Tools
Email Campaigns: Build drip sequences, track opens/clicks, and detect replies—all within Emelia.
LinkedIn Outreach: Automate profile visits, connection requests, and personalized messages to scale your networking.
CRM Sync: Integrates with HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, and more for a unified workflow.
Additional Perks
Non-Expiring Credits: One-time purchases never expire, and subscriptions offer rollover options.
Top-Notch Support: Fast, human-led customer service stands out in a sea of automated responses.
Emelia’s real-time scraping and all-in-one approach make it a powerhouse for modern prospecting, eliminating the need for multiple tools.
Pricing Breakdown
Emelia’s credit-based pricing is transparent, flexible, and budget-friendly:
1,000 credits: $19
5,000 credits: $49
10,000 credits: $99
50,000 credits: $299
100,000 credits: $449
Cost Per Action
Email Found: 1 credit = $0.019
Phone Number: 50 credits = $0.95
Email Verification: 0.25 credits = $0.00475
Compare that to Lusha’s $0.10 or ZoomInfo’s $3 per email—Emelia’s pricing is a steal, especially with credits that don’t expire on one-time purchases.
Pros and Cons
Pros
Unmatched affordability at $0.019 per email.
Real-time data via LinkedIn scraping ensures freshness.
Integrated email and LinkedIn campaign tools.
Flexible, non-expiring credits.
Exceptional customer support.
Cons
Full functionality may require a LinkedIn Sales Navigator subscription (not explicitly confirmed but inferred).
Newer brand with less market recognition.
User Insight: “Emelia’s real-time data and low cost have transformed our outreach—no more outdated lists or crazy expenses.” (Hypothetical testimonial based on feature set)
Head-to-Head Comparison
Let’s put Lusha, ZoomInfo, and Emelia side by side across five key categories:
Pricing Comparison
Tool | Cost Per Email | Best For |
Lusha | ~$0.10 | Small teams, startups |
ZoomInfo | ~$3.00 | Enterprises |
Emelia | $0.019 | All team sizes |
Winner: Emelia—its pricing is a fraction of Lusha’s and ZoomInfo’s, making it accessible to everyone.
Data Freshness
Lusha: Static data from periodic crawls—prone to staleness.
ZoomInfo: Static, monthly updates—lags in dynamic markets.
Emelia: Real-time LinkedIn scraping—always fresh.
Winner: Emelia—live data trumps static databases every time.
Campaign Capabilities
Lusha: Basic CRM sync, no built-in campaign tools.
ZoomInfo: Limited automation, focused on data over outreach.
Emelia: Full email and LinkedIn campaign automation—drip sequences, tracking, and more.
Winner: Emelia—its all-in-one prospecting suite saves time and tools.
Ease of Use
Lusha: Simple and intuitive, though credits can complicate workflows.
ZoomInfo: Complex, enterprise-grade—steep learning curve.
Emelia: User-friendly, designed for speed and simplicity.
Winner: Emelia—powerful yet accessible for all users.
Customer Support
Lusha: Mixed reviews—slow responses reported.
ZoomInfo: Solid for enterprises, less so for smaller clients.
Emelia: Fast, human-led support—highly responsive.
Winner: Emelia—its support shines in a crowded field.
Why Emelia Stands Out for Modern B2B Prospecting
Let’s cut to the chase: Lusha and ZoomInfo have their strengths, but Emelia is the future of B2B prospecting. Here’s why it’s the smart choice for 2024 and beyond:
Real-Time Data That Keeps You Ahead
Unlike Lusha and ZoomInfo, which rely on static databases updated periodically, Emelia scrapes LinkedIn and Sales Navigator in real time. That means you’re getting emails, phone numbers, and job titles as they exist right now—not last month or last quarter. In a world where 30% of data goes stale annually, Emelia’s live scraping ensures you’re always targeting the right people with the freshest info. No more bounced emails, no more chasing ghosts—just precision outreach that delivers results.
Unbeatable Affordability
At $0.019 per email (~$0.02 USD), Emelia obliterates the competition. Lusha’s $0.10 per email is budget-friendly until you hit credit limits, while ZoomInfo’s $3 per email is a luxury only enterprises can afford. Emelia’s pricing scales effortlessly—whether you’re a solo founder buying 1,000 credits for $19 or a growing team grabbing 100,000 credits for $449, you’re getting insane value. Plus, credits don’t expire on one-time purchases, and subscriptions offer rollover flexibility. It’s cost-effective prospecting without the catch.
Integrated Prospecting Powerhouse
Why juggle multiple tools when Emelia does it all? From finding leads to launching campaigns, Emelia streamlines your workflow:
Find Emails and Phones: Scrape LinkedIn live and get accurate contact details in seconds.
Verify Existing Lists: Upload CSVs and clean your database at $0.005 per check.
Launch Campaigns: Build email drip sequences or automate LinkedIn outreach with tracking and personalization built in.
Sync with CRMs: Keep your data flowing to HubSpot, Salesforce, or Pipedrive.
Lusha gives you data but no outreach tools. ZoomInfo offers automation but at a premium. Emelia integrates everything into one platform, saving you time, money, and headaches.
Exceptional Support
In a SaaS world full of chatbots and slow replies, Emelia’s fast, human-led customer support is a breath of fresh air. Whether you’re troubleshooting a scrape or optimizing a campaign, real people are there to help—quickly. Compare that to Lusha’s mixed reviews or ZoomInfo’s enterprise-first focus, and Emelia’s commitment to every user shines through.
Who’s It For?
Solo Entrepreneurs: Affordable pricing and real-time data level the playing field.
Startups: Scale prospecting without scaling costs.
Growing Businesses: Integrated tools and flexibility support expansion.
Even Enterprises: Why pay ZoomInfo prices when Emelia delivers comparable results for less?
Emelia isn’t just a tool—it’s a prospecting partner that adapts to your needs, delivers fresh data, and empowers your team to close more deals. If you’re tired of overpriced, outdated solutions, Emelia is the disruptor you’ve been waiting for.
Conclusion: The Future of B2B Prospecting
In the Lusha vs ZoomInfo vs Emelia showdown, each tool has a role to play—but Emelia takes the crown for modern B2B prospecting. Lusha is a solid pick for small teams needing affordable LinkedIn enrichment, though its static data and credit limits hold it back. ZoomInfo dominates for enterprises with big budgets and complex needs, but its steep costs and monthly updates can’t keep pace with today’s demands. Then there’s Emelia: real-time LinkedIn scraping, pricing that starts at €0.019 per email, and a full suite of prospecting tools that make it a no-brainer for businesses of all sizes.If you’re ready to ditch stale data, cut costs, and streamline your outreach, Emelia is the way forward. It’s not just about finding leads—it’s about connecting with the right people, at the right time, with the right message. Give Emelia a try today, and see why it’s the future of B2B prospecting. Your pipeline will thank you.
