Pick SignalHire if several people need contact data on a budget: paid plans start at $57 a month billed annually, include unlimited users, and search GitHub and social sites as well as LinkedIn. Pick ContactOut if one person needs unlimited email reveals and a built-in phone dialer, starting at $99 a month on monthly billing.
By Rishabh Ambasta, Founder, Modern Inbound.
Quick answer
- Cheapest paid plan: SignalHire, $57 a month billed annually ($69 billed monthly).
- Best free plan: ContactOut, 5 emails, 5 phones and 5 exports every day. SignalHire gives 5 to 10 credits a month.
- Best for teams: SignalHire. Every paid plan includes unlimited users; ContactOut's individual plans are limited to 1 user per company.
- Best for unlimited email reveals: ContactOut's Email plan, capped at 300 exports a month.
- Best for technical recruiting: SignalHire, which finds contacts on GitHub, Facebook and Twitter.
SignalHire pricing in 2026
| Plan | Billed monthly | Billed annually | Credits |
|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 | 5 a month, or 10 with the extension |
| Emails | $69 a month | $57 a month | 1,000 a month (12,000 a year on annual) |
| Phones | $69 a month | $57 a month | 435 a month (5,400 a year on annual) |
| Emails & Phones | $69 a month | $57 a month | 435 a month (5,400 a year on annual) |
| Unlimited package | $79 to $99 a month | $63 to $83 a month | Unlimited, depending on plan |
| Scale | Talk to sales | Bulk license |
Every paid SignalHire plan includes unlimited users, unlimited exports, access to 900M+ profiles and 30M+ companies, CSV enrichment, the browser extension, ATS and CRM integration and API access. The pricing page shows these as discounts against higher list prices, so check the current offer before you buy.
ContactOut pricing in 2026
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|
| Free | $0 | 5 emails, 5 phones and 5 exports a day, browser extension, search portal |
| Email | $99 a month | Unlimited emails, 300 exports a month, email campaigns, list builder |
| Email + Phone | $199 a month | Unlimited emails and phones, 600 exports a month, data enrichment, AI email writer |
| Team / API | Contact sales | Team plan, API access, Salesforce and ATS integrations, 700 million+ profiles |
The individual plans are limited to 1 user per company. ContactOut's pricing page also listed annual prices of $25 and $49 a month and a 50% discount for excluding US and UK data, so confirm which price applies at checkout.
ContactOut vs SignalHire: 5 differences that decide it
| ContactOut | SignalHire |
|---|
| Users | 1 user per company on individual plans | Unlimited users on every paid plan |
| Limits | Unlimited reveals, 300 or 600 exports a month | Credit-based, with unlimited exports |
| Where it finds people | Chrome extension and search portal | LinkedIn plus GitHub, Facebook, Twitter and more |
| Outreach | Multi-stage email campaigns and a cloud phone dialer | Multi-step cold email from your own mailbox |
| API | 350M contact and company records, updated hourly | Person API that returns profiles and verified contacts from a social URL, email or phone |
When SignalHire is the better pick
Choose SignalHire when more than one person needs access, when you source engineers and other people who are easier to find on GitHub or social sites than on LinkedIn, or when you want exports without a monthly cap. It's also the cheaper way in: a single annual Emails plan costs $57 a month against ContactOut's $99 on monthly billing.
When ContactOut is the better pick
Choose ContactOut when one person reveals a lot of contacts and wants no per-reveal credit math, or when you want to call from the same tool with its cloud phone dialer. Its daily free allowance of 5 emails and 5 phones is also the more useful free plan for light, regular use.
Alternatives to both
If neither fits, Apollo.io has a free plan with 900 credits a year and built-in sequences, and Lusha's free plan gives 40 credits a month. See our RocketReach alternatives guide for seven more options with current prices, or our ContactOut alternatives and SignalHire vs Lusha comparisons.
FAQ
How much does SignalHire cost?
SignalHire has a free plan with 5 credits a month, or 10 if you install its browser extension. Paid plans are Emails, Phones, and Emails & Phones, each $69 a month billed monthly or $57 a month billed annually, with unlimited-credit packages from $79 a month. Scale pricing comes from sales.
How much does ContactOut cost?
ContactOut's free plan gives 5 emails, 5 phone numbers and 5 exports a day. The Email plan is $99 a month and Email + Phone is $199 a month on monthly billing, with lower annual prices. Team and API plans are quoted by sales.
Is SignalHire free?
Yes, with limits. The free plan needs no credit card and gives 5 credits a month, or 10 with the browser extension installed. That's enough to test data quality on a handful of profiles.
Which is better for recruiting, ContactOut or SignalHire?
SignalHire, for technical recruiting: it finds emails and phone numbers on GitHub, Facebook, Twitter and more, and every paid plan allows unlimited users. ContactOut suits a single recruiter who wants unlimited email reveals from one seat.
How we researched this
We read ContactOut's and SignalHire's pricing pages and homepages on 1 October 2026, rendered in a browser because both load prices with JavaScript, and quote plans, prices and limits as listed that day. Both vendors run time-limited discounts, so prices change often.
Want every email written for the person it goes to?
Modern Inbound runs hyper-personalised cold email at scale and hands you every warm lead. Book a demo.
