ListKit vs Scrubby: Lead Database vs Catch-All Validator
You exported 5,000 leads, ran them through your verifier, and 1,200 came back as "catch-all." Now what? The ListKit vs Scrubby question comes up a lot in cold email circles, but it's the wrong comparison - these tools solve completely different problems. One's a fishing rod, the other's a fish scale.
30-Second Verdict
ListKit is a lead sourcing database with 731M+ triple-verified email contacts. You use it to build prospect lists from scratch.
Scrubby is a catch-all email validator. You use it after your main verifier flags risky emails, to figure out which ones are actually deliverable.
Skip both if you want one platform that handles lead sourcing and catch-all verification natively. Prospeo covers 300M+ profiles with 98% email accuracy and a 5-step verification process that includes catch-all handling - no second subscription required.
What Each Tool Does
ListKit
ListKit is a B2B lead database built for cold email teams. You search using company attributes and intent signals, then export sales-ready lists. One credit per business email, five per mobile number, and you're never charged for invalid leads. It's your list-building engine - where prospects come from before outreach begins.
Scrubby
Scrubby handles one thing: catch-all and risky email validation. Catch-all domains accept any email address sent to them, whether the specific mailbox exists or not. Depending on your niche, roughly 20-40% of B2B lists come back as catch-all.
Standard SMTP validators can't confirm deliverability on these domains, so Scrubby runs as an extra layer after your main verification and returns results in 24-72 hours. It doesn't find emails. It doesn't build lists.
Key Differences at a Glance
| Feature | ListKit | Scrubby |
|---|---|---|
| Primary function | Lead sourcing | Catch-all validation |
| Database size | 731M+ contacts | None (validator only) |
| What it verifies | Emails pre-export | Catch-all/risky emails |
| Turnaround | Instant export | 24-72 hours |
| Starting price | Free (100 credits) | Free trial (7 days) |
| G2 rating | 4.7/5 (388 reviews) | 4.8/5 (45 reviews) |
Running ListKit plus Scrubby costs $124+/month and adds 72 hours of wait time per batch. Prospeo's 5-step verification handles catch-all domains during export - 300M+ profiles, 98% email accuracy, $0.01/email.
Replace your two-tool stack with one search-and-verify platform.
Pricing Breakdown
ListKit
| Plan | Monthly Cost | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 100 |
| Professional (Annual) | $83/mo | 24,000/yr |
| Professional (Monthly) | $97/mo | 2,000/mo |
| Scale | $253/mo (annual) | 120,000/yr |
| Ultimate | $508/mo (annual) | 600,000/yr |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom |
Scrubby
| Plan | Monthly Cost | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Free trial | $0 (7 days) | 100 |
| Starter | $27/mo | 1,000 |
| Basic | $127/mo | 5,000 |
| Growth | $247/mo | 10,000 |
Scrubby also offers pay-as-you-go at $0.037/credit (up to 1,000 credits), dropping to $0.01 at 10M credits. Running both tools at moderate volume - say 2,000 leads sourced plus 800 catch-all validations - costs $124+/month minimum.
When to Use Which
Use ListKit when you need to build prospect lists from scratch. No leads yet? Start here.
If you're still building your outbound motion, start with a clear Ideal Customer Profile so your exports are actually usable.
Use Scrubby when your primary verifier already flagged 20-40% of a list as catch-all and you want to salvage deliverable addresses from that pile.
Use both when you source with ListKit, run standard verification, then pass catch-all leftovers through Scrubby. Reddit users in r/coldemail describe exactly this two-tool stack.
Here's the thing: if catch-all domains make up less than 15% of your list, Scrubby probably isn't worth the subscription. You're better off skipping those addresses entirely or using a platform that handles catch-all verification during the sourcing step.
What Real Users Say
ListKit holds a 4.7/5 (388 reviews) on G2 across 388 reviews. Users praise the ease of use and responsive support. The most common complaint? Pricing - it shows up in 16 separate G2 reviews. ListKit's triple-verification is designed to catch bad emails before export, which can reduce how many risky addresses you deal with downstream.
Scrubby scores a 4.8/5 on G2 but with only 45 reviews - a much smaller sample. One G2 reviewer calls it a "scammy tool that returns false results," and a Reddit user reported 700 out of 1,700 emails flagged as invalid when manual checks suggested many were fine. Another Reddit thread sums up the value tension perfectly: "awesome but very expensive" for a single-purpose tool. That's a real frustration when you're already paying for a lead database on top of it.
Skip the Two-Tool Stack
Paying for a lead database and a separate catch-all validator is a workflow tax most teams don't need. We've run both stacks - the two-tool approach works, but it adds friction and cost that's hard to justify once you see the alternative.
If you're optimizing for deliverability, it's worth understanding email bounce rate benchmarks and what actually drives them.
Let's be honest about what the ListKit-plus-Scrubby combo actually looks like in practice: you export from ListKit, run a primary verifier, wait for results, isolate the catch-all batch, upload to Scrubby, wait another 24-72 hours, then merge the clean list back together. That's a lot of steps for something that should happen automatically.
Prospeo handles this in one pass. Its 300M+ profiles and 143M+ verified emails run through a 5-step verification process that includes catch-all handling, spam-trap removal, and honeypot filtering - all before you export. No 72-hour wait for catch-all results. Data refreshes every 7 days (the industry average is 6 weeks), so you aren't emailing stale contacts in the first place. Lead sourcing and verification in one platform, starting free with 75 emails/month. Paid plans run about $0.01 per email.
If you're sending at scale, keep an eye on email velocity so you don't burn your domain.
Every 24-72 hours you wait on catch-all validation is pipeline you're not building. Prospeo verifies catch-all, spam-trap, and honeypot emails before export - with data refreshed every 7 days, not 6 weeks.
Zero wait time. Zero second subscriptions. 98% accuracy out of the box.
FAQ
Can ListKit replace Scrubby?
Partially. ListKit triple-verifies before export, which reduces catch-all volume, but it doesn't re-validate catch-all addresses after the fact. If catch-all rates exceed 25% in your niche, you'd still need a dedicated validator or a platform that handles catch-all verification during sourcing.
Does Scrubby find email addresses?
No. Scrubby only validates emails you already have. For lead sourcing, you need a separate database like ListKit or a platform with built-in search filters and verification.
Is Scrubby's 24-72 hour wait normal?
Yes. Catch-all validation requires monitoring delayed bounce signals that standard SMTP checks miss. Scrubby returns results in 24-72 hours because some deliverability signals don't surface until hours after the initial send attempt.
What's a cheaper alternative to running both tools?
Prospeo combines lead sourcing (300M+ profiles, 30+ search filters) with built-in catch-all verification at roughly $0.01 per email. That replaces a $124+/month two-tool stack with a single subscription and zero wait time on validation results.