ContactOut vs LimeLeads: Which B2B Data Tool Is Worth Your Budget?
30-Second Verdict
ContactOut wins for most teams. It covers 300M+ professionals globally, carries a 4.4/5 on G2 from 109 reviews, and offers a free tier to test before committing. LimeLeads makes sense only if you prospect exclusively in the US and want straightforward credit billing - but its thin review footprint and 90-day data refresh cycle are real concerns.
If you're weighing ContactOut vs LimeLeads, the breakdown below covers pricing, coverage, freshness, and the gaps both leave open.
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ContactOut | LimeLeads | Prospeo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free / $29+/mo (plans vary) | $99/mo | Free (paid plans scale to ~$0.01/email) |
| Per-lead cost | ~$0.33 per export on the $99/300-export tier | ~$0.20/credit on Pro ($99/500) | ~$0.01 |
| Database size | 300M+ profiles | "Millions" (US) | 300M+ profiles |
| Coverage | Global | US only | Global |
| Data refresh | Hourly via API | Every 90 days | Every 7 days |
| G2 reviews | 109 (4.4/5) | 1 (4.0/5) | Used by 15,000+ companies |
| Export limits | 300-600 exports/mo on common tiers | Credit-based | No caps |
| Chrome extension | Yes | Yes | Yes (40K+ users) |
| CRM integrations | Salesforce (plus others) | CSV export | Salesforce, HubSpot, Smartlead, Instantly, Lemlist, Clay, Zapier, Make |
ContactOut - What You Get
Use this if you need global coverage and a mature product with real user validation. ContactOut's database spans 300M professionals and 30M companies, and the Chrome extension pulls contact data fast while browsing professional profiles and company websites. In our testing, results surface within seconds - though export caps hit quickly on lower plans. Those 109 G2 reviews at 4.4/5 give you something LimeLeads simply can't: actual social proof from people who've used the product in production.
Pricing is frustratingly opaque. Based on widely cited plan breakdowns: Free gets you 5 emails, 5 phone numbers, and 5 exports per day. The Email plan runs $99/mo for 300 exports, and Email+Phone is $199/mo for 600 exports. ContactOut also advertises a free plan that includes 10 credits/month. The "unlimited" labels on emails and phone numbers are governed by fair-use caps around 2,000 emails and 1,000 phones monthly.
Skip this if you need high-volume exports. Credit and export limits are a common complaint across G2, alongside occasional stale contacts and slow loading.
Paying $0.20-$0.33 per lead with export caps? Prospeo delivers 300M+ global profiles at ~$0.01 each - with 98% email accuracy and a 7-day refresh cycle that makes LimeLeads' 90-day updates look prehistoric.
Stop rationing leads. Start pulling verified contacts without limits.
LimeLeads - What You Get
Use this if you prospect only in the US and want a simple credit system. One credit equals one contact (email + mobile direct dial), credits that fail verification aren't charged, and unused credits never expire - a genuine advantage for teams with uneven prospecting volume.
Current pricing runs Pro at $99/mo (500 credits, 1 user), Business at $150/mo (1,500 credits, 2 users), and Enterprise at $400/mo (5,000 credits, 5 users). Annual billing saves 35%. You'll still find a 2022 blog post on LimeLeads' site claiming a $29/mo starting price - that doesn't reflect the current pricing page. Their G2 profile claims "no seat limit," but the pricing page caps seats at 1-5 depending on plan. When a vendor's own pages contradict each other, that's a red flag worth paying attention to.
Skip this if you sell outside the US. LimeLeads provides US-based contacts only. The 90-day data refresh means contacts go stale between updates. And the trust signal problem is hard to ignore: one G2 review from February 2022, with an inactive profile notice. We couldn't find usable Reddit threads discussing either tool, which tells its own story about LimeLeads' market presence.
What Actually Matters
Geographic coverage is the dealbreaker. If even 20% of your pipeline sits outside the US, LimeLeads is disqualified. Done.
ContactOut's global database makes it the default for any team with international prospects. Per-lead economics favor LimeLeads at small scale - roughly $0.20 vs. $0.33 per contact on comparable entry tiers. LimeLeads also offers overage credits at $0.03-$0.10 depending on plan, giving more flexibility when campaigns spike. ContactOut locks you to your export cap with no overage option.
Data freshness is a hidden cost. LimeLeads refreshes every 90 days. ContactOut's API supports hourly data updates, though real-world freshness varies by record. Here's the thing: stale data means bounced emails, which means damaged sender reputation. Once bounce rates push past ~5%, nothing else about your data provider matters - your domain is cooked.
If you want to go deeper on bounce thresholds and remediation, see our guide to bounce rates and how to improve sender reputation.
The trust gap is real. 109 G2 reviews vs. 1. An active product profile vs. an inactive one. When you're betting your outbound pipeline on a data provider, review volume isn't vanity. It's risk mitigation.
If Neither Tool Fits
Both tools leave gaps that frustrated us during testing. ContactOut caps your exports. LimeLeads locks you into the US with 90-day-old data. Neither offers intent data or advanced filtering beyond basic firmographics.
Prospeo fills those gaps: 300M+ profiles with global coverage, 98% email accuracy, a 7-day refresh cycle, and no export caps at roughly $0.01 per lead. Its 30+ search filters - including buyer intent powered by Bombora across 15,000 topics, technographics, job changes, and headcount growth - go well beyond what either ContactOut or LimeLeads offers for targeting. Native integrations push directly into Salesforce, HubSpot, Lemlist, Instantly, and Clay, with no contracts required.
Let's be honest: most teams comparing these two providers are actually underserved by both. If your average deal size is under $15k, you don't need a tool that charges $0.20-$0.33 per lead and then caps how many you can pull. You need volume at verified accuracy - and that math points somewhere else entirely.
If you're evaluating broader options, compare against other sales prospecting databases and outbound lead generation tools before you commit.
Neither ContactOut nor LimeLeads offers intent data or advanced targeting. Prospeo gives you 30+ filters - buyer intent across 15,000 Bombora topics, technographics, job changes, headcount growth - so you reach in-market buyers, not just names in a database.
Find buyers who are actively searching - not contacts who changed jobs 90 days ago.
FAQ
Is LimeLeads really $29/month?
No. That figure comes from a 2022 blog post still live on their site. The current pricing page shows $99/mo as the entry point for 500 credits. Always check the actual pricing page before buying.
Does ContactOut work outside the US?
Yes. ContactOut covers 300M+ professionals globally - its biggest advantage over LimeLeads. Export caps of 300-600/mo apply on common tiers regardless of region.
Which tool has better data freshness?
ContactOut claims hourly API updates, though real-world freshness varies by record. LimeLeads refreshes every 90 days. Prospeo refreshes all records every 7 days - the fastest cycle among the three, and well ahead of the 6-week industry average.