Clearbit vs Hunter: One Tool Is Gone, the Other Has an Accuracy Problem
You're comparing two tools, but one doesn't exist the way it used to. Clearbit got absorbed into HubSpot in late 2023, rebranded as Breeze Intelligence, and pushed into a HubSpot-first model. Hunter's still standing as an independent product - but its accuracy numbers fall apart under scrutiny. Let's break down what actually matters if you're making this decision right now.
Clearbit Is Gone
HubSpot acquired Clearbit in December 2023 and launched Breeze Intelligence at INBOUND 2024 as the unified future of Clearbit-style enrichment inside HubSpot.
The sunset schedule for Clearbit's legacy free tools has already played out:
- April 30, 2025: Free Clearbit Platform, Weekly Visitor Report, TAM Calculator, Clearbit Connect, and the Free Slack integration all went dark.
- December 1, 2025: Clearbit Logo API followed.
Visit clearbit.com today and you'll see one message: "Clearbit has joined HubSpot!" So if you're searching for this comparison, you're really asking about Breeze Intelligence vs Hunter - a very different matchup.
30-Second Verdict
| Hunter | Breeze Intelligence | Prospeo | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Email-only, budget | HubSpot enrichment | Accuracy + mobiles |
| Starting price | Free (50 credits) | ~$75/mo minimum | Free (75 emails/mo) |
| Email accuracy | 87% (benchmarked) | Not independently tested | 98% |
| Data depth | Emails only | 40+ attributes | 50+ enrichment data points |
| Standalone? | Yes | No (HubSpot required) | Yes |
Hunter - Strengths and Gaps
Use this if you need a dead-simple email finder with transparent pricing. Hunter's domain search crawls 76M+ websites and indexes 107M+ emails. The Chrome extension works well, and the pricing page is refreshingly clear:
| Plan | Monthly | Annual (per mo) | Credits/mo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | - | 50 |
| Starter | $49 | $34 | 2,000 |
| Growth | $149 | $104 | 10,000 |
| Scale | $299 | $209 | 25,000 |
Email verification costs 0.5 credits each, which eats into your allocation faster than you'd expect. On G2, Hunter holds a 4.4/5 across 634 reviews, with a 9.4 for Ease of Use and 9.5 for Ease of Setup. Hard to argue with those numbers for a single-purpose tool.
Here's the thing, though: skip Hunter if you care about email deliverability at scale. Hunter claims 95% accuracy, but an independent benchmark measured 87%. The Reddit discussion is worse - practitioners on r/SaaS report bounce rates of 20-25% even after using Hunter's built-in verification. We've seen the same pattern in our own testing: Hunter finds emails quickly, but you need a second verification layer before loading them into sequences. One r/coldemail thread flagged Hunter marking a known-working email as invalid - false negatives are a real problem when you're paying per credit.
A 20% bounce rate doesn't just waste credits. It torches your sender reputation, which takes weeks to rebuild.
Hunter’s 87% benchmark accuracy creates bounces that damage deliverability. Prospeo verifies emails at 98% accuracy, refreshes data every 7 days, and charges about $0.01 per valid email.
Protect your sender reputation with verified data - then scale outreach.
Breeze Intelligence - What Clearbit Costs Now
The enrichment data is genuinely good - over 40 firmographic, demographic, and technographic attributes per record. HubSpot positions Breeze Intelligence as being built on trusted data for over 200 million company and buyer profiles. For HubSpot-native teams, enrichment flows directly into your CRM without middleware, which is a real workflow advantage.
If you're evaluating vendors beyond HubSpot's ecosystem, compare options in our guide to data enrichment services.
The problem is cost predictability. The Breeze Intelligence add-on starts at $45/mo (annual) or $50/mo (monthly) for 100 credits, on top of your HubSpot subscription. A common minimum setup is HubSpot Starter (~$30/mo) plus Breeze Intelligence at $45/mo annual, landing around $75/mo.
Need volume? Expect around $400-$500/mo for 1,000 credits and roughly $4,000-$4,500/mo for 10,000. Credits reset monthly with no rollover.
One documented case worth flagging: a team had auto-enrichment enabled by default and got hit with $11,000 in unexpected charges in a single billing cycle. HubSpot's overage system can auto-upgrade you to the next tier, with usage alerts only at 75%, 85%, and 90%. If you're not watching your dashboard, the bill spirals fast. On G2, Clearbit holds a 4.4/5 across 629 reviews - praise for enrichment quality, recurring complaints about cost.
Head-to-Head Comparison
| Category | Winner | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Ease of Use (G2) | Hunter (9.4 vs 9.1) | Simpler product, faster setup |
| Ease of Setup (G2) | Hunter (9.5 vs 9.0) | No CRM dependency |
| Support (G2) | Hunter (8.7 vs 8.5) | Slight edge |
| Standalone use | Hunter | Breeze requires HubSpot |
| Enrichment depth | Breeze Intelligence | 40+ attributes vs emails only |
| Cost transparency | Hunter | Published tiers vs credit-based overages |
Hunter wins the budget email-only use case. If you need 2,000 emails a month and don't care about firmographics, $34/mo on the annual Starter plan is hard to beat. Breeze Intelligence wins when you need enrichment depth baked into HubSpot - job titles, tech stack, revenue, headcount - without stitching together three tools.
Our take: most teams searching this comparison don't actually need either. They need accurate emails, direct dials, and enrichment that works outside a single CRM. Neither tool delivers all three. We've run enrichment through both platforms, and the depth difference is real - but so is the gap they both leave on mobile numbers and standalone flexibility.
If you're shopping around, start with our ranked list of Hunter alternatives and a broader view of SDR tools that cover prospecting end-to-end.
Other Tools Worth a Look
Apollo.io offers a generous free tier with an all-in-one approach - email finder, sequences, and a basic CRM. The catch is that email accuracy benchmarks consistently lag behind dedicated tools, and data quality on smaller companies drops off fast. Usable plans run around $49-$79/mo.
Lusha focuses on direct dials and integrates well with CRMs, but the free tier caps at 50 credits/month and paid plans start around $49/mo per user. Good for phone-first outreach teams, less useful if email deliverability is your priority.
If your main issue is list quality, use a dedicated verifier (see our picks for Bouncer alternatives) and track your email bounce rate before scaling.
The Bottom Line
This comparison comes down to three scenarios.
If you only need emails on a tight budget and can tolerate bounce rates north of 20%, Hunter's free or Starter tier gets the job done - just verify through a second source before hitting send. For teams already running HubSpot who need native data enrichment without leaving the platform, Breeze Intelligence is the path of least resistance, provided you watch credit consumption like a hawk.
Breeze Intelligence works inside HubSpot - until credits and overages spike. Prospeo stays standalone with CRM enrichment (50+ data points, 92% API match) plus 125M verified mobiles for real conversations.
Get enrichment + direct dials without platform lock-in or surprise bills.
FAQ
Is Clearbit still available as a standalone tool?
No. HubSpot acquired Clearbit in December 2023 and rebranded it as Breeze Intelligence. Clearbit's legacy free tools were sunset on April 30, 2025, with the Logo API following on December 1, 2025. You now need a HubSpot subscription to access Clearbit-style enrichment.
How accurate is Hunter.io for finding emails?
Hunter claims 95% accuracy, but an independent benchmark measured 87%. Reddit practitioners report 20-25% bounce rates even after using Hunter's built-in verification. Always run emails through a dedicated verification tool before sending cold outreach.
What's a good free alternative to both Clearbit and Hunter?
Prospeo's free tier includes 75 verified emails per month at 98% accuracy - more credits than Hunter's 50 and no CRM requirement like Breeze Intelligence. Apollo.io also offers a free plan, though its email accuracy benchmarks are lower. Compare deliverability rates before committing.
How much does Breeze Intelligence cost compared to Hunter?
Hunter starts at $34/mo (annual) for 2,000 credits with published pricing. Breeze Intelligence starts at ~$75/mo minimum, combining a HubSpot subscription with 100 enrichment credits, and scales to $4,000+/mo for 10,000 credits. Hunter is significantly cheaper for email-only use cases.