Head to head
ContactOut vs Lusha
As a data enrichment API, Lusha rates higher on the APIbenchmarks Index, 73.7 to 55, a 18.7-point gap. Here is how they compare on each criterion.
Criterion by criterion
| Criterion | ContactOut | Lusha |
|---|---|---|
| Documentation & DX | ||
| Reliability | ||
| Ecosystem & SDKs | ||
| Accessibility | ||
| APIbenchmarks Index | 55.0 | 73.7 |
Specifications
| ContactOut | Lusha | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | LinkedIn-based email and phone lookup for recruiters and sales | Contact reveal inside sales workflows |
| Free tier | 5 emails, 5 phones, 5 exports/day in the app; API not included | 40 credits/mo (API key on every plan, 100 req/day cap) |
| Pricing | Credits (search, email, phone) on a quoted API plan | Per credit (email 1, phone 5) |
| Official SDKs | 4 languages | 5 languages |
Is ContactOut better than Lusha?
On the APIbenchmarks Index, Lusha rates higher (73.7 vs 55). It leads on the four weighted criteria, but price is reported separately, so the best choice still depends on your budget.
Verdict in one line
Lusha leads by 18.7 points (73.7 vs 55) and wins 4 of 4 criteria.
Winner by criterion
| Criterion | Winner | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Documentation & DX | 70 | 76 | |
| Reliability | 58 | 78 | |
| Ecosystem & SDKs | 50 | 68 | |
| Accessibility | 35 | 72 |
Choose ContactOut if… / choose Lusha if…
- →your use case matches its focus: linkedin-based email and phone lookup for recruiters and sales
- →documentation & dx matters most to you (76 vs 70)
- →reliability matters most to you (78 vs 58)
- →ecosystem & sdks matters most to you (68 vs 50)
- →accessibility matters most to you (72 vs 35)
- →you need broad SDK coverage (5 official SDKs vs 4)
- →your use case matches its focus: contact reveal inside sales workflows
Pricing side by side
- Model
- Credits (search, email, phone) on a quoted API plan
- Free tier
- 5 emails, 5 phones, 5 exports/day in the app; API not included
- Free$0
- Email~$49-$99/mo (sources conflict)
- Email + Phone~$99-$199/mo (sources conflict)
- Team / APICustom quote
- Model
- Per credit (email 1, phone 5)
- Free tier
- 40 credits/mo (API key on every plan, 100 req/day cap)
- Free$0/mo
- Starter$49.90/mo ($37.45/mo annual)
- Professional$69.90/mo ($52.45/mo annual)
- Premium$399.90/mo ($299.95/mo annual)
- Scale / customCustom
Vendor-published pricing, verified 2026-10-07 (ContactOut) and 2026-10-07 (Lusha).
SDK and language coverage
Both · 0
None
Only ContactOut · 4
REST API (token header auth)Webhooks for async bulk v2Third-party MCP via Composio and viaSocketNo official SDKs or OpenAPI spec found
Only Lusha · 5
REST API v3 (HTTPS/JSON)MCP serverNative connectors: HubSpot, Salesforce, n8nBrowser extensionNo official language SDKs found
Strengths and weaknesses
- +Public API reference with auth, endpoint credit rules and per-endpoint rate limits
- +Bulk enrichment up to 1,000 profiles per v2 job with webhook delivery
- +Boolean search, decision-maker and company endpoints plus email and phone verification
- –API is not on self-serve plans; Team/API requires a custom quote
- –Free app plan (5/5/5 per day) does not include API access
- –962 outages tracked by StatusGator over the past year, with a minor outage on the verification date
- +API key on every plan including Free per official docs
- +Published per-plan rate limits and credit costs
- +Broad endpoint set: person, company, prospecting, signals, lookalike
- –Free and Starter plans capped at 100 API requests/day
- –No official language SDKs found
- –Phone reveals cost 5 credits and phone accuracy is a frequent complaint
ContactOut vs Lusha: questions
- Which has better documentation, ContactOut or Lusha?
- Lusha scores higher on documentation and developer experience: 76 vs 70 out of 100.
- Which is more reliable, ContactOut or Lusha?
- Lusha scores higher on reliability: 78 vs 58 out of 100.
- Do ContactOut and Lusha have a free tier?
- ContactOut: yes (5 emails, 5 phones, 5 exports/day in the app; API not included). Lusha: yes (40 credits/mo (API key on every plan, 100 req/day cap)).
- How are ContactOut and Lusha priced?
- ContactOut: Credits (search, email, phone) on a quoted API plan. Lusha: Per credit (email 1, phone 5).
- Which has more official SDKs?
- Lusha lists 5 official SDKs, ContactOut lists 4.