Pick AI Ark if you build prospect lists by account and need thousands of verified emails a month for your own sending tools. Pick ContactOut if you are one recruiter or seller revealing contacts on LinkedIn profiles as you browse. As a ContactOut alternative, AI Ark is built for volume: 10,000 records a batch, verified at export.
Key takeaways
Lists vs lookups. AI Ark is a searchable database of 400M+ people and 70M+ companies, built for exporting verified lists. ContactOut reveals emails and phone numbers one profile at a time through its Chrome extension on LinkedIn.
Export volume. AI Ark exports up to 10,000 records per batch, repeatable with the Net New filter. ContactOut's self-serve plans cap exports at 300 or 600 a month for one user.
Refresh cadence. AI Ark re-processes its entire database every 30 days, then checks each email again at export. ContactOut advertises hourly data updates and does not state how often the whole database is re-checked.
Validation at export. AI Ark checks every email with BounceBan at the moment of export, delivers only valid addresses and labels confirmed catch-alls "Catch-All Valid", with bounce rates under 1.5% expected. ContactOut publishes a 99% triple-verified figure and does not publish how it treats catch-all domains.
Cost per valid email. At 5,000 valid emails a month, AI Ark's annual plan works out to $12.63 per 1,000. ContactOut's self-serve plans stop well below that volume, and its Team pricing is not published.
Seats and credits. AI Ark includes 3 seats from the entry tier, pools credits across the team and rolls unused credits over up to 2x the plan. ContactOut's self-serve plans are 1 user per company, and "unlimited" is capped at 2,000 emails and 1,000 phones a month.
AI Ark vs ContactOut at a glance
Features | AI Ark | ContactOut |
Category | B2B people and company discovery database with verified export | Contact finder: Chrome extension on LinkedIn plus a search portal |
Database size | 400M+ people, 70M+ companies | 800M people profiles, 40M company profiles |
Email validation | BounceBan, in real time at the moment of export, on every address | "Triple-verified" |
Published accuracy | Only addresses that passed verification are delivered; bounce rate under 1.5% expected | 99% |
Catch-all addresses | Validated individually; delivered only when confirmed, labeled "Catch-All Valid" | Not publicly stated |
Database refresh | Entire database every 30 days | "Hourly data updates"; full-refresh cadence not stated |
Pricing model | Pooled credits, charged per data point found | Flat monthly fee per user, with fair-use and export caps |
Published entry price | $49/month for 5,000 credits; $470/year for 60,000 | $25/month excluding US/UK data; $49/month including it |
Credit rollover | Up to 2x the monthly plan | Not publicly stated |
Free tier | 100 credits a month, no card | 5 emails, 5 phones and 5 exports a day, marked "limited time only" |
Invalid-email charge | None. The 0.5-credit email charge applies only when a valid email is found | Not stated on the pricing page |
API | Yes, on the same credit pricing as the web app; 300 requests per minute | Team / API plan, quote only |
MCP server | Yes, works in Claude, Cursor and Windsurf | Yes |
Export ceiling | 10,000 records per batch; repeat with the Net New filter | 300 a month (Email), 600 a month (Email + Phone) |
Duplicate protection | Net New vs Saved Records: a contact exported in the web app is never charged twice | Not publicly stated |
Seats included | 3 up to 30k credits, 5 on 60k to 300k, 10 on 450k+ | 1 user per company on self-serve plans |
What Teams Say About AI Ark
AI Ark is our go-to B2B database for bulk exports across TAM mapping, stakeholder mapping, and outbound list-building. With regularly updated data, we can use it with real confidence both internally and for our clients.
Dan Rosenthal
Co-Founder @ Workflows.io
What is AI Ark?
AI Ark is a B2B prospect and company discovery database covering 400M+ people and 70M+ companies, with the entire database refreshed every 30 days. It is built for outbound teams, agencies and RevOps people who build lists by filter rather than looking people up one at a time.
The working assumption is that you already own your outreach stack, whether Smartlead, Instantly, Email Bison or your CRM, and our job is to hand you a file that is safe to load. Every email is checked by BounceBan in real time at export, and only addresses that pass are delivered.
Company Lookalike takes up to five customer URLs and finds companies that do the same thing. Net New vs Saved Records hides anyone you have already exported. You can filter on headcount growth, employees by department, time in role versus time at company, and company HQ separately from where a person sits.
What is ContactOut?
ContactOut was founded in 2015 and is used by recruiters and sales teams. Its main interface is a Chrome extension that shows emails and phone numbers on LinkedIn profiles, standard and Sales Navigator. Around it sit a search portal with 20+ filter attributes, email campaigns, a cloud phone dialer, an AI email writer, bulk enrichment, an API and ATS integrations, plus Salesforce and HubSpot sync and an MCP server. Its distinctive asset is personal email coverage: it lists 150M personal emails alongside its work emails.
On sourcing, ContactOut says it crawls billions of webpages daily, uses AI to match contact details to people, and triple-verifies emails and phone numbers with 99% confidence. Its AI information page also names partner datasets and user-submitted information as sources. Its data page lists 800M people profiles, 200M work emails, 100M direct dials and 40M company profiles, while its search portal page describes 350M professionals at 36M companies.
Self-serve prices are published, with a toggle that roughly halves them if you exclude US and UK data. Team and API pricing is by quote. The model suits an individual recruiter or seller with a steady, modest lookup volume.
Data quality: where validation happens
How AI Ark does it
AI Ark verifies at the moment you export, not when a record was last collected. Every email goes through BounceBan in real time, covering standard SMTP checks and catch-all domains. Invalid, unknown and risky addresses are dropped. A catch-all address is delivered only when BounceBan confirms that specific mailbox, and it is labeled Catch-All Valid so your sequencer settings can treat it accordingly. Expected bounce rate is under 1.5%.
Because verification runs at export, you cannot pre-filter a search to "has email". On average about 70% of exported contacts come back with a verified email. The rest still carry profile, title, company and LinkedIn URL at 0.5 credits each, with no email charge.
How ContactOut does it
ContactOut describes its emails and phone numbers as triple-verified with 99% confidence, and advertises hourly data updates. It does not publish how catch-all domains are handled or how often the whole database is re-checked.
On G2, ContactOut holds 4.5 out of 5 from 113 reviews, and accuracy is the theme reviewers praise most; one staff sourcer reports a 90%+ success rate across more than 5,000 requests. The critical reviews are specific: a recruitment manager in December 2025 reported outdated or inactive numbers causing bounces and failed calls.
The trade-off, stated fairly
ContactOut's model hands you a contact when you reveal it, one at a time, which suits a recruiter looking at one candidate. AI Ark's model checks the whole file at export, which suits anyone loading thousands of addresses into a sequencer where every bounce counts against the sending domain. The fair test is your own list: export the same 200 contacts from both, send both from the same tool with no verifier in between, and compare bounces at day seven.
True cost: what a valid lead actually costs
In a ContactOut vs AI Ark comparison, list price is the wrong number, because the two products meter different things. ContactOut charges a flat monthly fee per user and caps what you take out. AI Ark charges per data point found. What matters is total spend divided by valid emails you can load.
Published pricing
ContactOut pricing (monthly prices; the page showed no annual billing option when checked)
Plan | Including US/UK data | Excluding US/UK data | Exports | Users |
Free | $0 | $0 | 5 a day | 1 per company |
$49/month (list $99) | $25/month (list $99) | 300 a month | 1 per company | |
Email + Phone | $99/month (list $199) | $49/month (list $199) | 600 a month | 1 per company |
Team / API | Quote | Quote | Custom | Team management |
AI Ark plans:
Plan | Credits per month | Monthly billing | Annual billing (credits per year) | Seats included |
Free | 100 | $0 | $0 | 1 |
Starter | 5,000 to 30,000 | $49 to $119 | $470 for 60,000 to $1,142 for 360,000 | Up to 3 |
Builder | 60,000 to 300,000 | $219 to $879 | $2,102 for 720,000 to $8,438 for 3,600,000 | Up to 5 |
Scale (Agency & Enterprise) | 450,000 to 5,000,000 | $1,249 to $9,999 | $11,990 for 5,400,000 to $95,990 for 60,000,000 | 10 |
AI Ark charges 0.5 credits for a person profile, 0.5 for a valid email only when one is found, 5 for a mobile number, 0.1 for a company record and 4 for a personality analysis. ContactOut does not price per item: its paid fee covers up to 2,000 email credits and 1,000 phone credits per account per month under its fair-use policy, with exports capped at 300 or 600 a month.
Worked scenario: a team that needs 5,000 valid emails a month
Method for both sides: total annual spend divided by valid emails delivered, at the cheapest plan that covers the volume, with each vendor's own accuracy figure applied.
On AI Ark, 60,000 valid emails a year at the 70% find rate means exporting about 85,700 profiles, roughly 72,900 credits. The cheapest plan covering that is the $758 annual plan with 180,000 credits: $12.63 per 1,000 valid emails, with headroom.
On ContactOut, the self-serve plans cannot reach this volume. At 300 exports a month, 5,000 would take about 17 Email accounts, and the plans allow one user per company. That volume goes to the Team plan, whose price is not publicly stated. Its sales page also advertises team access for under $299 a month, work emails only, with conditions, without stating the volume included.
Worked scenario: one person, about 300 emails a month
On the Email plan, 300 exports a month is 3,600 a year; at ContactOut's own 99% figure that is 3,564 valid emails. Including US and UK data ($588 a year), that is about $165 per 1,000. Excluding it ($300 a year), about $84 per 1,000.
On AI Ark, 3,600 valid emails a year costs about 4,400 credits, covered by the $470 annual plan: about $131 per 1,000. The same $470 covers up to about 49,000 valid emails a year if your volume grows, against the Email plan's 3,600 exports.
The counterpoint, stated honestly
For one recruiter working under 300 contacts a month outside the US and UK, ContactOut's $25 Email plan comes in at about $84 per 1,000 against our $131, extension included. Once targets include the US or UK, the same plan is about $165, and the numbers favor AI Ark from the first month.
The hidden line item on any file not verified at export is the second pass: a third-party verifier before loading the sequencer, which adds a per-address fee and a step between export and send. AI Ark files go straight to the sequencer. See the full tier list on our pricing page.
Features side by side: what a ContactOut alternative has to cover
Finding the right accounts
Feature | AI Ark | ContactOut |
Company search filters | Industry, location, revenue, employee count by actual headcount, technologies, funding, founding year, keywords | Revenue, company size, technologies, location |
Company lookalikes | Company Lookalike: up to 5 seed URLs, matched on description, products and services, and keywords; refine by adding results as references | Not listed |
Headcount growth | Minimum growth % over 6 months, 1 year or 2 years | Not listed |
Team structure | Employees by department, e.g. large engineering team, small sales team | Departments filter on people |
HQ vs person location | Filtered separately: country, state, city, continent or economic zone (EU, G7, G20) | Location filter |
Bulk account input | Paste or upload up to 10,000 domains or LinkedIn URLs, then "Find People" | Bulk file enrichment |
Exclusions | Exclude lists, past exports and uploaded blacklists | Not publicly stated |
Account-first search is where most of the gap sits, since most AI Ark searches start from a company filter or a lookalike.
Finding the right people
Feature | AI Ark | ContactOut |
Title matching | Smart, Word and Strict match modes; batch paste up to 300 terms | Job title filter |
Seniority and function | Organization Role (C-Suite, VP, Director) plus function within department | Seniority and departments |
Tenure | Time in role and time at company as separate filters, e.g. to find recent internal promotions | Not listed |
Keyword scope | Search a term only in headline, summary or skills | Skills and keywords |
Multiple current jobs | Searches all active positions, toggle for latest only | Not publicly stated |
Work email | Verified by BounceBan at export, catch-alls confirmed individually | Yes |
Mobile numbers | 100M+ verified mobile profiles, 5 credits each | 100M direct dials listed; Email + Phone plan |
Per-company cap | "Max. People Per Company" at selection | Not publicly stated |
Both cover titles, seniority and phones. AI Ark's tenure and keyword-scope filters are the sharpest differences for spotting timing.
Getting data out and using it
Feature | AI Ark | ContactOut |
Export ceiling | 10,000 records per batch, repeat with Net New | 300 or 600 a month |
Export layout | Saved export templates with chosen columns | CSV export |
CSV enrichment | Upload a CSV, map columns, enrich | Yes |
API | Same credit pricing as the web app, 300 requests per minute | Yes, on the Team / API plan |
MCP server | Claude, Cursor and Windsurf | Yes |
CRM and ATS sync | Via API with Zapier, Make, n8n and Clay | Yes |
Shared workspace | Team lists visible to all seats; pooled credits | Team management on Team plan |
Re-verify old records | 0.1 credits per saved record | Not publicly stated |
For a team already running a sequencer, the 10,000-record batch is the difference that shows up weekly; the file goes into the CRM or sequencer through the API, Zapier, Make, n8n or Clay.
Compliance and data sourcing
We operate as a B2B data search engine and process data on the basis of legitimate interests for B2B purposes, under GDPR Article 6(1)(f). Our records come from public sources, community contributions and partner networks, cleaned by validation algorithms, and we adhere to GDPR and CCPA.
Anyone who wants their record removed can ask at opt-out and we take it out. Our terms prohibit automated extraction and scraping. Data you upload for enrichment or exclusion lists stays in your workspace; we don't fold it back into the database.
ContactOut lists SOC 2, GDPR and CCPA on its data page and offers an opt-out and suppression process. Its site terms grant ContactOut a perpetual, irrevocable license to data submitted by free or subsidized users, including the right to sublicense it, unless a separate premium agreement applies. If you upload your own lists to any vendor, ask how they are reused.
Choose ContactOut if
You are a recruiter contacting passive candidates and personal email addresses are what you need most.
You prospect inside LinkedIn, profile by profile, and want contact details in a Chrome extension, which AI Ark does not offer.
You need native Salesforce or ATS sync, or your procurement process requires a vendor that lists SOC 2.
You want basic email campaigns, a phone dialer and an AI email writer in the same subscription as your data.
You are one person and your monthly volume fits within 300 exports on Email or 600 on Email + Phone.
Most of your targets are outside the US and UK, so the regional toggle lowers your price to $25 or $49 a month.
Choose AI Ark if
You build lists account-first, using headcount growth, department size, technologies, funding or a Company Lookalike seeded from your best customers.
You prospect by filter and bulk upload, in the web app, the API or an MCP server in Claude, Cursor or Windsurf.
You need thousands of contacts a month: 10,000 per batch, with Net New making sure you never pay for the same person twice.
Your market includes the US and UK, and you want one price for global data with no regional toggle.
You send from your own sequencer and want verified emails including confirmed catch-alls, with no second verification pass.
Several people prospect from one budget: 3 seats from the entry tier, pooled credits and rollover up to 2x the plan.
AI Ark is built for the team that turns search into a sending list every week. If that is your workflow, run your next search on the free tier and compare the file.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Is ContactOut worth it in 2026?
AI Ark suits teams that export thousands of verified emails a month into their own sending tools. ContactOut suits a single recruiter or seller who looks up contacts on LinkedIn profiles and stays within its self-serve limits of 300 or 600 exports a month and one user per company. If your volume or headcount is above that, test AI Ark on the free tier first.
2. How much does ContactOut cost?
ContactOut's Email plan is $49 a month including US and UK data or $25 excluding it, and Email + Phone is $99 or $49, shown against list prices of $99 and $199; Team and API pricing is not publicly stated. AI Ark starts at $49 a month for 5,000 credits, or $470 a year for 60,000, with a free tier of 100 credits a month and no per-seat fee.
3. Is ContactOut really unlimited?
Not in practice. ContactOut's paid plans advertise unlimited emails and phones, but its terms set a fair-use limit of 2,000 email credits and 1,000 phone credits per account per month, and exports stop at 300 or 600 a month. AI Ark's plans are credit-based, so you pay only for data found and roll unused credits over up to 2x your plan; for larger teams, the Agency & Enterprise plan runs on custom volumes, millions of credits a month.
4. What happens if I export a contact I already have?
Nothing is charged twice on AI Ark. A contact you have exported or saved to a list moves to Saved Records, re-exporting it is free, and past files stay downloadable from the Exports tab; a real-time re-check of a saved email costs 0.1 credits, only on request. ContactOut's pricing page does not state what a repeat reveal costs. When you return to a search, AI Ark's Net New filter shows only the people you have not touched yet.
5. How does AI Ark verify emails compared with ContactOut?
AI Ark verifies every email with BounceBan in real time at export, delivers only valid addresses, and includes catch-alls only when individually confirmed, labeled Catch-All Valid. Expected bounce rate is under 1.5%. ContactOut describes its emails and phones as triple-verified with 99% confidence and does not publish how it handles catch-all domains, so ask for that detail if your sending domain is sensitive to bounces.
6. Which is cheaper at volume, AI Ark or ContactOut?
At 5,000 valid emails a month, AI Ark's $758 annual plan works out to $12.63 per 1,000 valid emails. ContactOut's self-serve plans cap exports at 300 or 600 a month, so that volume needs its quote-only Team plan. At about 300 emails a month for one user, AI Ark comes to about $131 per 1,000 against $84 to $165 on ContactOut, depending on the regional toggle, and the gap widens in AI Ark's favor as volume grows.
7. Can a team share one ContactOut account?
Not on its self-serve plans. ContactOut's Free, Email and Email + Phone plans are limited to one user per company, and teams are routed to its Team plan, priced through sales. AI Ark includes 3 seats up to 30,000 credits a month, 5 seats from 60,000 to 300,000 and 10 from 450,000, all drawing on one pooled credit balance with shared lists.
8. Can I try both before deciding?
Yes. AI Ark's free tier gives 100 credits a month with no card, enough to export a sample and see how many valid emails come back. ContactOut's free plan gives 5 emails, 5 phones and 5 exports a day. Run the same ICP search in both, send both from the same tool with no verifier in between, and compare bounces at day seven.
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