SalesQL Pricing Breakdown: What You Actually Pay in 2026
B2B contact data decays at roughly 30% per year. SalesQL's pricing makes this worse by mixing monthly, semiannual, and annual billing language in a way that's genuinely hard to parse. Here's the real math.
SalesQL Plans and Costs
We've cleaned up SalesQL's pricing page so you can actually compare:
| Free | Basic | Professional | Organization | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | $0 | $39 | $79 | $119 |
| Annual price | $0 | $29/mo ($351/yr) | $59/mo ($711/yr) | $89/mo ($1,071/yr) |
| Credits/mo (monthly) | 100 | 2,000 | 5,000 | 12,000 |
| Annual credits (total) | 1,200 | 288,000 | 720,000 | 1,728,000 |
| Seats | 1 | 1 | 3 | 15 |
| Email verifier (monthly) | 100 | 5,000 | 10,000 | 20,000 |
| Email verifier (annual) | 100 | 60,000 | 120,000 | 240,000 |
| Cost per credit (monthly) | - | $0.0195 | $0.0158 | $0.0099 |
| Cost per credit (annual) | - | $0.0012 | $0.00099 | $0.00062 |
The credit jump between monthly and annual billing is the elephant in the room. Basic monthly gives you 2,000 credits. Basic annual issues 288,000 credits upfront for the full 12-month cycle - listed as a 24,000/mo equivalent - a 12x increase for a 25% discount on the sticker price. That's not a discount. That's a completely different product. The monthly plans feel deliberately hobbled to push annual commitments.
If you're on a monthly plan, you're paying about 16x more per contact than annual subscribers. That cost gap is the single biggest hidden factor when evaluating what SalesQL actually costs.
One thing that trips people up: the pricing page sometimes shows "billed semiannually" amounts in the UI. This isn't a third billing option - it's just how the math displays in some views. Confusing? Absolutely.
How SalesQL Credits Work
The credit system is straightforward in theory but has gotchas worth knowing:
- 1 credit = 1 profile. SalesQL charges 1 credit each time it successfully retrieves at least one email address for a profile, regardless of how many emails it finds. Phone numbers don't cost extra on paid plans.
- Credits only charge on success. If SalesQL can't find at least one email, no credit is deducted. API rate limits, however, count every call whether it returns data or not.
- Duplicate protection exists. Adding the same contact twice won't burn a second credit.
- No rollover. Monthly credits expire at the end of each billing cycle. Annual credits are issued upfront and expire after 12 months. No refunds either way.
- API access is a mess. The pricing page lists "API Access" under Basic, but SalesQL's help center says Basic has no API access. Even GetApp's Q&A section says SalesQL has no API at all - that's how confusing the messaging is. The operational truth: Professional gets 5,000 API calls/day, Organization gets 20,000.
- "Accept all" emails burn credits. If a domain accepts all incoming mail (a catch-all), SalesQL still charges a credit even though that email is essentially unverified. In reviews, this is a major source of credit waste.
SalesQL burns credits on catch-all emails. Prospeo's 5-step verification - including catch-all handling, spam-trap removal, and honeypot filtering - delivers 98% email accuracy. That means fewer wasted credits and zero domain reputation damage. Plans start at ~$0.01/email with no annual lock-in.
Stop paying for emails that bounce. Get 75 free verified emails today.
What Users Actually Say
SalesQL carries a 4.6/5 on G2 across 164 reviews but only a 3.8/5 on Software Advice across 46 reviews. That gap matters. G2 skews toward quick "it works" reviews while Software Advice captures more detailed billing complaints.
Users consistently praise the extension for speed and simplicity - for solo prospectors pulling emails from professional profiles, it does the job. The complaints follow a pattern, though. One reviewer described paying hundreds for a 6-month plan, being refused a refund, and having support go dark. Another warned about profiles getting restricted after extension use. Customer support scores 3.3/5, and "aggressive" appears more than once in reviews. Value for money sits at 3.5/5.
Here's the thing: these billing complaints align perfectly with SalesQL's actual policies. Credits don't roll over. Refunds aren't offered. If you buy more than you can use, that's your problem.
SalesQL vs Alternatives
| SalesQL | Prospeo | Apollo.io | Lusha | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $39/mo | Free; ~$39/mo paid | Free; $49/user/mo | Free; $29.90/user/mo |
| Credits (entry paid) | 2,000/mo | 75 emails free | 1,000 exports + 75 mobile/mo | 250/mo |
| Phone credits | Included | 10 credits/number | 75 mobile/mo | 10 credits/phone |
| Email accuracy | Unspecified | 98% | ~85-90% | ~85-90% |
| Credit rollover | No | No expiration traps | No | Up to 2x limit |
| Data refresh cycle | Unknown | 7 days | 4-6 weeks | 4-6 weeks |
| Best for | Solo email extraction | Accuracy-first teams | All-in-one workflows | Phone-heavy prospecting |
Apollo.io
Apollo tries to be the all-in-one platform - sequencer, intent signals, database, and engagement tools in a single subscription. The free tier is genuinely generous, and paid plans start at $49/user/mo on annual billing. The catch is that "per user" math: a 5-person team on Basic runs $245/mo versus SalesQL's $119/mo for 15 seats on Organization.
Apollo separates credits into mobile, export, and data pools, which adds flexibility but also complexity. Where Apollo wins: the built-in sequencer and a much larger database. Where SalesQL wins: flat-rate pricing for bigger teams.
Prospeo
Prospeo is the strongest option if email accuracy and data freshness aren't negotiable. Its 5-step verification process - including catch-all handling, spam-trap removal, and honeypot filtering - delivers 98% email accuracy, which means fewer bounced emails and less domain reputation damage. The database covers 300M+ professional profiles with a 7-day refresh cycle, compared to the 4-6 week industry average.
Where Prospeo pulls ahead of SalesQL specifically: verified mobile numbers (125M+ with a 30% pickup rate), 30+ search filters including buyer intent and technographics, and native integrations with Salesforce, HubSpot, Instantly, and Clay. The free tier includes 75 emails and 100 Chrome extension credits per month - more useful than SalesQL's 100 credits for actual campaign testing. Paid plans run ~$0.01/email with no annual lock-in.
We've seen teams switch from SalesQL to Prospeo and cut their bounce rates from 30%+ down to under 5%. That difference compounds fast when you're running outbound at scale.
Lusha
If credit rollover is your #1 priority, Lusha is the answer. Pro starts at $29.90/user/mo on annual billing with 250 credits, and monthly credits roll over up to 2x your limit. That alone eliminates the "use it or lose it" pressure behind so many SalesQL complaints. The trade-off: phone numbers cost 10 credits each, while SalesQL includes phones free. For email-heavy workflows, Lusha's rollover policy wins. For phone-heavy prospecting, SalesQL's flat credit model is cheaper.
RocketReach
RocketReach runs ~$49-99/mo for individual plans, with team pricing around $199/mo. Solid mid-range coverage across industries, but it doesn't differentiate enough from Apollo or Prospeo to be a first choice. Skip it unless you've already tested the others and found gaps in their coverage for your specific ICP.
Is SalesQL Worth It?
Let's be honest: SalesQL is one of the cheapest tools per credit on annual billing and one of the most expensive on monthly billing. If you won't commit to annual, you shouldn't commit to SalesQL at all.
Worth it if you're a solo user running short, intensive campaigns where you'll burn through credits quickly. The Basic annual plan at $29/mo with 288,000 credits is genuinely good value - if you'll actually use them. Email-only extraction workflows where phone numbers are a bonus play to SalesQL's strengths.
Skip it if you're buying for a team. The Organization plan gives 15 seats but only 12,000 credits on monthly billing - that's 800 credits per seat per month, which is thin. Skip it if you need reliable API access on a budget, since Basic doesn't actually include it despite what the pricing page suggests. Skip it if you can't risk platform restrictions from extension usage. And skip it if credit expiration gives you anxiety - SalesQL won't refund what you don't use.
If you're on a legacy SalesQL plan, keep it. They've grandfathered old pricing, but once you cancel or switch, you can't go back.
SalesQL's monthly plans charge 16x more per contact than annual - and credits still expire. Prospeo gives you 300M+ profiles refreshed every 7 days, 125M+ verified mobiles, and 30+ search filters starting free. No contracts, no credit traps, no semiannual billing confusion.
Teams switching from SalesQL cut bounce rates from 30% to under 5%.
FAQ
Does SalesQL have a free plan?
Yes. SalesQL's free plan includes 100 credits per month, 1 seat, and 100 email verifier credits with no API access. It's enough to test the product but not enough for real prospecting - you'll hit the limit in a single session.
Do SalesQL credits roll over?
No. Monthly credits expire at the end of each billing cycle, and annual credits expire after 12 months. There are no refunds for unused credits, and multiple reviewers confirm SalesQL enforces this strictly. If rollover matters, Lusha accumulates unused credits up to 2x your monthly limit.
How does SalesQL compare to other B2B data tools on price?
SalesQL's Basic annual plan ($29/mo for 288,000 credits) is among the cheapest per-credit options available. Monthly plans, however, cost about 16x more per contact. Apollo.io offers a more feature-rich platform at $49/user/mo, Lusha adds credit rollover at $29.90/user/mo, and Prospeo delivers 98% verified emails at ~$0.01 each with a 7-day data refresh cycle and no expiration traps.