6 Best Lusha Alternatives for Startup Contact Data in 2025

Lusha's credit system charges 1 credit per email and 5 credits per phone number—meaning a single complete contact can cost 6+ credits. Here are alternatives that don't nickel-and-dime you for every data point.

Quick Comparison

Platform	Price	Credits/Contact	Funding Data
VCBacked	$79/mo	Unlimited	Core feature
Lusha	$36+/mo	1-6 per contact	None
Apollo.io	$49+/mo	1 per contact	Basic
Hunter.io	$34+/mo	1 per email	None

The Lusha Credit Trap

Credits Disappear Fast

Lusha's Pro plan gives you 3,000 credits per year. Sounds like a lot until you realize getting both email and phone for one contact costs 6 credits. That's only 500 complete contacts per year.

Bad Data Still Costs Credits

Get an outdated email or wrong phone number? Too bad—you still spent the credits. There's no refund for bad data.

No Funding Data

Lusha focuses on contact enrichment but doesn't track funding rounds. You can't filter for companies that just raised—you'd need another tool for that.

Credits Don't Transfer

Cancel or downgrade? Unused credits are forfeited. No refunds, no transfers.

1. VCBacked: No Credits, No Limits

Pricing: $79/month | Export Limits: Unlimited

VCBacked doesn't use credits. Export 100 contacts or 10,000—same flat price. Every funded company includes verified founder emails at no extra cost.

VCBacked vs Lusha

No credit system: Flat $79/month for unlimited exports.
Funding data included: Every company has raised venture capital.
Verified founder emails: Decision-maker contacts, not generic info@.
Export everything: Download the entire database if you want.

Done with Credit Systems?

VCBacked offers unlimited exports of funded startup contacts. No credits, no limits, no surprises.

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