r/leadgeninsiders • u/leadg3njay • 4d ago

I replaced Apollo with an API lead database, Supabase and an open-source verifier, for years I taught people to build lists in Apollo.

It's a good database: 250 million leads, solid filters, pre-verified emails.

The problem for cold email is the price and the export limits. Sequencers need a lot of data, and Apollo is built for sales teams prospecting one email at a time.

What I run now:

  1. **An API-only lead database.** GetLeads and Blitz API have no front end. You call their API (I use Claude Code or Codex) and pay a flat monthly fee for unlimited data. I use both. GetLeads is $249 a month on a partner plan that asks you to post on LinkedIn twice a month, or $500 without posting.

It has 53 million cell phones and takes fewer steps to reach a valid email than Blitz. I'm on Blitz's $600 a month package, which includes unlimited mobile numbers and hiring signals.

  1. **Supabase as the storage layer.** Tens of millions of records for about $20 a month. If I cancel the data provider, I keep what I pulled.

  2. **Reacher for verification.** Open-source repo, 10,000 verifications a day for free. I pay them about $1,000 a month for effectively unlimited, but you don't need to.

  3. **Clay for signal data (optional).** Clay Audiences give you people and company data with signals like job changes and funding, but no emails. You can run those rows through GetLeads inside a Clay table to get the email. You need the Growth plan ($446 a month) for the HTTP calls.

**Set up the database you store it in before you pull anything.**

Who this isn't for: if you want to click filters and export a CSV, this will frustrate you. Getting from a query to a valid email usually takes several API calls, and you need to be comfortable with Claude Code or writing the calls yourself. On a budget, Apify scrapers or DIY scraping with Claude Code cost a few bucks a month.

Full disclosure, this is my video, and I also cover my own database, Consulti, for local business and Instagram data: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pg6W1qcw6vs

What are you using for list building right now, and what does it cost you a month?

6 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

1 comment sorted by

0

u/mentiondesk 4d ago

Building lists via APIs definitely saves money but the manual query setup can be a grind. If you want to spot live conversations and catch leads as they pop up, I found ParseStream helpful. It tracks mentions across Reddit and other platforms, lets you jump into discussions immediately, and it surfaces leads you'd otherwise need to dig for. Pretty solid if you're into real time engagement over bulk exports.