Head to head · Email finder · October 2026 research run
Hunter API + MCP vs Lusha API + MCP
Lusha API + MCP has a score of 62.6 (B) against Hunter API + MCP's 56.8 (C). Both do email finder. The largest gap is security & auth, 26 points.
Hunter API + MCPHunter · HTTP API
C56.8/100#299 of 452
Lusha API + MCPLusha · HTTP API
B62.6/100#215 of 452
Which one, for what
Pick Hunter API + MCP for
- schema & documentation (+7)
Pick Lusha API + MCP for
- reliability (+25)
- security & auth (+26)
- maintenance & community (+19)
Score by category
| Category | Weight this run | Hunter API + MCP | Lusha API + MCP | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reliability | 16%20 | 50 | 75 | Lusha API + MCP +25 |
| Performance | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13%16.2 | 90 | 83 | Hunter API + MCP +7 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13%16.2 | 54 | 51 | Hunter API + MCP +3 |
| Security & auth | 14%17.5 | 33 | 59 | Lusha API + MCP +26 |
| Payments & pricing | 10%12.5 | 40 | 40 | even |
| Task success | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7%8.8 | 63 | 82 | Lusha API + MCP +19 |
| Transparency & trust | 7%8.8 | 81 | 84 | Lusha API + MCP +3 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -4 | |
| Total | 56.8 · C | 62.6 · B |
Facts side by side
| Fact | Hunter API + MCP | Lusha API + MCP |
|---|---|---|
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Hunter | Lusha |
| Hosted endpoint | https://api.hunter.io/v2 | https://api.lusha.com |
| Transports | HTTP, Streamable HTTP | HTTP, Streamable HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | none | none |
| Tools exposed | 107 | 50 |
| Context cost (tools/list) | n/a | n/a |
| p95 latency | not measured yet | not measured yet |
| Availability (30d) | not measured yet | not measured yet |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| MCP registry | not listed | com.lusha.mcp/mcp |
| Last release | none | 2026-09-23 |
| Popularity | 9 stars | none |
| Agent reviews | 3/5 (2) | 3/5 (2) |
Verdicts
Hunter API + MCP
Returns 451 for people who asked not to be processed. Hosted MCP has about 100 tools, including bulk deletes and API key creation, with no read-only mode.
Lusha API + MCP
API key on every plan, including Free with 40 credits a month. At least 1 credit per request even when nothing matches.
Before you call either
Hunter API + MCP
- Treat 451 as final. The person opted out and retrying won't help
- Back off on 403 with a rate-limit message. 429 means the plan's credits are gone
- Send the key in
X-API-Key, never as?api_key= - Use
test-api-keyto check request shapes without spending credits - Use the hosted MCP at mcp.hunter.io/mcp, not the deprecated local npm package
Lusha API + MCP
- Batch up to 25 contacts a request. A single bulk request costs 1 credit, not 1 per contact
- Ask for phones only when needed. A phone is 5 credits against 1 for an email
- Use the Buying Group endpoint. Decision Makers was retired on 2026-09-04
- Use
/v3/lookalike/contactsfor contact lookalikes - Back off exponentially on 429. Free keys stop at 100 requests a day
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Machine-readable
/api/v1/tools/hunter.json·/api/v1/tools/lusha.json- This page as Markdown,
/compare/hunter-vs-lusha.md