Vanhishikha Bhargava
Sales prospecting is vital for modern sales, marketing, and product startups. Building a tool to prospect leads is going to take too much time. There are many sales prospecting tools available in the market. However, choosing a tool that not just helps you extract email IDs and phone numbers, but also catalyzes your relationship building process is the primary goal.
Inside our sales team, I wanted a tool that would leverage my business regarding finding prospects and also automate outbound sales team conversations with a personal touch. After trying few popular sales prospecting tools, I zeroed on two particular tools: Prospect.io and LeadFuze. So, I decided to do a thorough prospect.io vs leadfuze comparison to see which one is better. Previously, I had a short experience with Datanyze, SalesLoft, and AeroLeads too, and have been using Facebook Lead Ads in parallel.
Prospect.io has been in the market for some time now while LeadFuze is a new entrant. Both the tools are adept in prospecting leads for sales. If you see feature lists at a glance, they both might look almost same. However, when you start using, you will understand the differences between the two. Before I conclude to which one is better than the other, I would walk you through all the features of each and how they are different from each other.
In other words, your time is saved because below you will find a detailed comparison that will clarify your confusion in a snap. I, personally, like the video tutorials that LeadFuze has on its website for each feature. It is helpful and interactive too.
The Briefing about Sales Prospecting Automation Tools
I will quickly introduce you to both the tools, although I am sure you might be aware of them already.
Prospect.io
This tool comes as a Google Chrome extension and has reduced the stress of finding sales prospects. Starting with drip campaigns to analytics reports, Prospect.io has all the features a sales person would require.
LeadFuze
LeadFuze is also has a Google Chrome extension. As I had mentioned earlier, in a broader aspect LeadFuze also has drip email campaign features, provides analytics reports like Prospect.io
However, I would say LeadFuze is way much advanced, polished and a seamless experience. Let us see why.
Prospect.io Vs LeadFuze: A Comprehensive Comparison
And we arrived at the main part of this blog post! I will start by addressing the features and highlight the points of differences.
Sales Prospecting
Both Prospect.io and LeadFuze are Chrome extensions that prospect sales leads from the web.
Prospect.io can be directly integrated with the LinkedIn profile from which you can gather details like name, email ID, job titles and the company they are associated with. You can also retrieve an email ID associated with a domain name with Prospect.io
The turn-off factor: You have to manually save the prospects that you want to target; although you can send the email then and there if you have a template saved. However, no filtration of prospects will happen if you do the latter.
LeadFuze also prospects leads from LinkedIn. However, along with details like name, job titles, and so on, it also prospects phone numbers and social media profile particulars of the leads. LeadFuze uses third party data providers along with their system to do this. You can filter your prospects and bucket them according to your sales lead segmentation. It gets saved automatically based on your lead filter details.
Takeaway from above comparison:
You can always have an upper hand if you can get social media links of every lead. It gives you more avenues to connect with your leads than ever. Hence, LeadFuze wins over Prospect.io here.
Outreach & Integration
Both the tools have drip email campaign features which help you to connect with your users on a personal basis. If your leads are not replying, you can plan and schedule an email from your ID to remind them or offer them something better than your previous email.
Prospect.io provides you with various templates which you can customize according to your needs. You can schedule emails and also send them from your personal ID.
When it comes to integrating third party tools, Prospect.io integrates with CRM tools like:
- Pipedrive
- Close.io
- Salesforce
- HubSpot
Whenever a lead performs any action like opens an email or clicks on a link, a new lead is automatically created in your CRM which you integrate with the service, based on your defined rule.
Apart from this, Prospect.io also integrates with communication tool Slack. You can get notified directly in Slack when a lead performs any particular action like opens an email or clicks on a link.LeadFuze enables you to ping your prospects if they have not replied or performed any particular action within a set time span. The drip campaign automatically activates not only when a lead performs an action. Rather, if you have a cold lead, you can reinitiate conversation automatically through LeadFuze.
The two most striking features that sets LeadFuze apart from Prospect.io are:
- Split-test email campaigns: You can create more than one version of the same email and run one of them at a particular time while the others remain inactive. If the active one does not fare well, you pause it and start the second variant.
- CAN-SPAM compliant: Since LeadFuze is a US-based company, they need to follow the CAN-SPAM rule. You can read about the laws and how LeadFuze enforces it. For instance, if you are in Canada, you cannot send out cold emails as its against law.
LeadFuze has integrations with a host of tools making it more easier for you.
- Hubspot
- Close.io
- Pipedrive
- Salesforce
- Zapier
- imap
- Gmail
- Exchange
- Office 365
Takeaway from above comparison:
With more options at your disposal, you can surely benefit to a great extent. A host of integrations, abiding by laws and also getting an opportunity to run split test emails is bliss for a sales person. Hence, LeadFuze once again takes the limelight here.
GDPR and CCPA Update for both Prospect.io and LeadFuze:
Prospect.io has made itself clear that they are GDPR and CCPA ready. If you are using Prospect.io, then you can continue using it without any GDPR and CCPA related concerns. Here are some of the highlights that I came across on their website:
- Assigned a data protection officer.
- Updated terms and service policies.
- Audit of all the third parties to see if they are GDPR and CCPA compliant.
Legal training to all the staff to understand the intricacies of GDPR and CCPA.
Leadfuze has also joined the GDPR and CCPA bandwagon and has added all the essential features to adhere to the new laws. They have ensured the pseudonymization of the data, anonymization of the data subjects and encryption of the data process techniques. To know more about these details follow this link.
Reports & Analytics
Like I have been mentioning consistently, both these tools have same feature heads. It is when you dig in deep, you can point out the differences.
Prospect.io lets you track email opens, clicks on in-links, replies received, and also conversions with the use of pixel tracker. You can get a detailed insight on how your campaigns have performed.
LeadFuze similarly gives your detailed insights on open rates, link click-throughs, and also lets you track how every lead interaction has performed. You can get detailed insights on your split test emails. Along with that, you also get free report access without a license.
Takeaway from above comparison:
In this particular section, I would not say which is better than the other. Both the tools will give you reports and analytics based on the features available. Since LeadFuze has advanced features, it is obvious that LeadFuze analytics has more to offer compared to Prospect.io, but, looking at the availability of top-level view of data, Prospect.io has a more comprehensive view.
Find Lead on Website – Prospect.io unique feature
After you have installed Google chrome plugin of Prospect.io, then you will find this unique advantage to find email and contact address of the top management people working at the company who takes care for the website. For example, as shown in the screenshot below, one can easily find the email address of the key people working at stripe.com.
Budget Factor
Finally, we have come to the most important feature. None of us can disagree that price plays a pivotal role in deciding whether we will get it or skip it. Looking at long term uses of tool and features, the price of a tool and conversion coming from the leads are deciding factors.
When you go to the pricing page of Prospect.io, you will not see two or three plans elaborately displayed unlike other tools. Rather, there is a bar which starts from 100 prospects/month up to 100,000 prospects/month. You need to drag that bar from left to right according to the value that suits your need. Based on your choice, you will be shown the price.
As I mentioned already, it begins from 100 prospects/month at a price of $39. There is no free plan for Prospect.io
This is how Prospect.io pricing works:
The calculations can be broken down as follows:
1 prospect = 5 Credits
Prospect.io believes it takes five steps to get a lead converted. Hence, one credit is for discovering email and four credits for four cold emails that you can send. You can send this email using your Google or Microsoft ID, as well as use your SMTP server.
Maximum price is $2,999 for 100,000 prospects.
When you have reached 80% of your monthly quota, you will receive an email reminding you of the same.
USP of Prospect.io : 30 days refund policy
All plans include unlimited
- Prospecting
- Users
- Email templates
- Drip campaigns; and all other features
On the other hand, LeadFuze has fixed price charts displayed on its pricing page. You can start with the free plan in which you can prospect 20 leads with verified emails.
The paid plans start at $250/user/month. In this starter package, you get 500 verified emails/month. For more emails, you opt for Automate plan at $500/user/month (1,000 verified emails) and Rainmaker plan at $750/user/month (2,000 verified emails). You can check out the features each plan has got to offer. However, all plans include:
- CRM Integration
- Unlimited CSV exporting
- Email Automation
- Reporting
USP of LeadFuze: Transparent and simple pricing keeps away all confusion from getting started with the plan.
Final Verdict
We have finally reached the end of this comparison. If you go through the whole article once again, you will agree with me that
LeadFuze is an advanced version of Prospect.io
In a war of which is better than which, LeadFuze has to be the winner. I have few friends who got a bit confused regarding pricing. Although LeadFuze looks costly, it can be safely said that you will have more power at your disposal with it. If you can do without all the advanced features that differentiate LeadFuze from Prospect.io, then I must say the latter is brilliant.
However, if you are like me who needs all the features up-to-date, then LeadFuze is the one.
To know about LeadFuze in detail, you can check out the LeadFuze review I wrote some time back: Automate Your B2B Sales Lead Generation with LeadFuze.
Have a question? Or, have you already used LeadFuze? Tell me about your experiences or if you know any other tool that exceeds LeadFuze let me know in the comments section below.
Till then, let LeadFuze take the lead!
Offer Update: Get extra 20% prospects across the board on any plan of LeadFuze. Use the coupon code FUZED20 to grab these extras.
One thing am aware is that the market offers a ton of apps for Sales Prospecting Automation. Talking about Prospect.io vs Leadfuze, the most essential thing is for you to pick a stage that gives you flexibility to make automation to comprehend your customer conduct. I have using Leadfuze Automation, and so far so good planning to stick with them if their services remain the same or even better.
Ethan, great to hear that you liked Leadfuze and going to use the same for your customer acquisition.
Neat to see Prospect.io and Leadfuze – we use and recommend both. I’m not one to give up on trying to get others on the phone to learn more but do you have any recommendations?
Thanks for this comprehensive comparison. I had narrowed my search down to LeadFuze and Prospect as well, and this confirms that LeadFuze is probably the right choice for me. I does seem more expensive at first glance, but, as you say, the firm pricing seems clearer.
Great to hear Michael; that you liked LeadFuze. Also, the value delivered is quite above than, what they charge for.
How different prospect.io is from leadfuze in terms of sales prospecting? You should know that prospect.io and leadfuze are both Google chrome extensions that aids in the growth of web sales lead. Prospect.io can be directly synced with LinkedIn profiles thus getting the name, the e-mail id and other information but leadfuze also integrates the phone numbers from LinkedIn profiles along with other information.
I have been a Leadfuze user for some time. I am bitterly disappointed with it.
I will cancel next month as it is simply the most buggy piece of software I have ever used – Bounce detection doesn’t work, about 90% of the time, for example. That’s a problem as plenty of the leads the software finds will bounce. It has been a ‘known bug’ for months.
I may use LeadFuze to find the leads, then use something else to do the actual emailing.
Hey LeadFuze user,
Thanks for the comment. I new saw having this issue with LeadFuze account and majority of the data from Linkedin are very much valid. Although we use different emailing tool for sending followup sequences. And, this setup work like a charm. Do give a different emailer a try.
Can you suggest which emailer you use or some other option that would work well?
Hello Ankit,
You need to update this post. I checked out LeadFuze after reading your post – they have revised their price. The professional plan is $500 per user / per month, which is extremely steep for a SME.
Hey Jeenal,
Thank you so much for the information. I have updated the pricing now. Yes, now they are little costly.
I will be doing more research on this and will be adding more alternative in coming days.
In general, a majority of Leadfuze users by far are swearing on its service and are extremely thankful that it happened in their lives to solve their problems on prospecting.
Thanks for the information Annie; we are also using Leadfuze.
Hi Ankit. I feel you’ve balanced this comparison pretty well..But If you were to choose one out of the two, which one would you choose and why?
Hey Betty, thanks for the question. I would love to go ahead with Leadfuze, because of the mentioned reasons in above post.
Hi Ankit! You’ve given a clear verdict here – Leadfuse is the better and more advanced version of Prospect-io.
Hey Ankit
Nice and informative article! Thanks for the post. Was wondering which tool to use for my sales prospecting that can generate the most accurate lead list and can do the outbound emailing. Comparing with the others Leadfuze is unique in terms of automated stuff. Cheers!
Thanks Shahidul 🙂
Tools for sales prospecting which is extremely vital in the world of modern sales can be easily found in the market. After proper research, I found two such tools – LeadFuze and Prospect.io. Both of them are extensions of Chrome. One can always enjoy an upper hand if he has the social media link for every visitor or lead. A lot of avenues open up for connecting with them. Here, LeadFuze takes the proper hand over Prospect.io.
Thats great Amit, you are linking LeadFuze.
LeadFuze seems very capable. To get their useful product level, you have to sign on for 12 months! No way to terminate. If you read their terms page – you can see THEY have the right to terminate any time for any reason.
Seems like a bad way to do business. What a shame.
Hey Robert,
We offer a month-to-month solution as well. The 12 month commitment gets you much better rates and we’re also offering a completely done-for-you component as well – which we sell for $3600. However, we’re including it in the $299/mo subscription. So this is why there’s a commitment. Optionally, you can get that level of service and pay annually if you’d prefer.
Thanks for the update Robert.
Thanks for the comment Robert and informing about this. I will try to reach-out to LeadFuze team and check if there is anything which they are missing; that’s why this has been designed this way.
after checking mail for delivery, my letters do not get into spam. I use proofy.io
I really like the innovation that is coming with the content marketing strategies. Tools are being made available to actually generate leads and convert them which have been one of the basic issues. People develop websites but even after effective hard work, cannot reach the potential audience. But with these tools, such issues can be dealt easily.
That’s not good Ron.
I love prospect.io and I really appreciate their lead retrieval system. The pricing of the product is pretty competitive and you get multiple sales tools all in one.
LeadFuze is a good tool but when it comes to customizing emails I do not find the platform as appealing as others. The other platforms have more varying options than this.
It’s good, like you are explain each point to step by step. ????