MoltSets is a good deal if you, your developer or your AI agent can work with an API, because $27 a month buys a large weekly volume of graded emails with no per-lookup credits. It is a poor fit if you want to log in, tick filters and build a list on screen, since MoltSets has no list-building UI, no sequencer and no dialer. Know the limits first: "unlimited" plans are capped per 5 hours and per week, mobiles cost extra, and there is no published database size, accuracy rate or bounce guarantee.
Some tool links here are affiliate links (disclosure). Nerdy Joe is a MoltSets affiliate. You can open a free MoltSets account with about 1,000 lifetime lookups and no card to check the current plans yourself.
Nerdy Joe is a certified Apollo.io Managed Services Partner and a PlusVibe Certified Silver Partner. We did not test MoltSets hands-on, we did not run accuracy tests, and we have no screenshots of our own. Everything below comes from MoltSets' website, docs, policies and changelog, plus each competitor's own site, with sources at the end.
MoltSets review: the short verdict
MoltSets sells B2B contact data the way developer tools sell compute: a flat monthly plan, a rate limit and an API. You send a LinkedIn URL, an email, a name plus company, a domain or an IP address, and MoltSets returns emails, profiles, company data or (with paid tokens) carrier-verified mobiles. Every email comes with an A to F send-safety grade and a last-validated date.
The upside is price and agent support: Solo costs $27 a month, misses are free, and the MCP server plugs into Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and other AI tools. The downside is everything a non-technical buyer expects: no screen to build lists on, no native sequencer integration, no public accuracy data and almost no public reviews.
| Question | Short answer |
|---|---|
| What it is | API and MCP B2B data service: emails, mobiles, profiles, company data |
| Best for | Technical founders, RevOps, agencies with a developer, AI agent builders |
| Not ideal for | Teams that want a list-building UI, a sequencer or a dialer |
| Entry price | $27 a month (Solo), as of November 2026 |
| Pricing model | Flat monthly plans with Fair Use caps per 5 hours and per week |
| Free option | About 1,000 lifetime lookups, no card |
| Mobile numbers | Separate subscription, $0.15 per returned mobile |
| Sequencer integrations | None native; CSV export and import |
| Clay | HTTP API column with your own key, not a native provider |
| Public reviews | None found on GetApp or Capterra India (November 9, 2026) |
All MoltSets prices here come from moltsets.com as of November 2026. MoltSets has changed pricing and limits several times recently, so check MoltSets' live pricing before you budget.
What MoltSets is
MoltSets describes itself as a B2B search and enrichment service that returns emails, carrier-verified mobile numbers and company data, with "no UI." The data goes to your sequencer, CRM, AI tool or spreadsheet. Its developer docs call it "a go-to-market data platform for AI agents," reached through MCP or REST only.
The homepage pitches MoltSets as an alternative to "Apollo plus an email verifier" that "does the finding and the verifying in one step," and says it replaces a "stack" of tools "for just $27/mo." That is MoltSets' claim, and the site does not publish data to back it.
The company behind it
The terms name the legal entity as "GetEmails, LLC d/b/a MoltSets," with a legal notice address on Lavaca Street in Austin, Texas, and Texas governing law. MoltSets says it is part of the Retention.com family, alongside RB2B: its FAQ credits "sister company RB2B" with data quality and routes opt-outs through "parent company Retention.com."
MoltSets does not state a founding year, headcount, funding or customer count. Its Fair Use Policy (version 1.3) became effective November 11, 2025, which suggests the service was running by then. The changelog shows many changes between September and October 2026, so treat it as a young, fast-moving product.
Who MoltSets is for, and who it is not for
MoltSets' FAQ names its audience: lead generation agencies, AI-native founders, RevOps teams, individual reps on the $27 plan, and AI agents.
MoltSets is a good fit if:
- You already have LinkedIn URLs, emails or names plus companies and need graded emails at volume for a low flat price.
- You work in Claude, Claude Code, ChatGPT, Cursor or another MCP client and want your agent to search and enrich contacts directly.
- You or a developer can call a REST API, run a CLI on a CSV, or build a Clay HTTP column.
- You run an agency (MoltSets updated its Data Services Agreement and DPA on October 22, 2026 to allow agencies to use it for clients).
- You want month-to-month billing with no annual contract and no per-seat pricing.
MoltSets is not for you if:
- You want to log in, set filters for title, industry and headcount, and browse results on screen. MoltSets' own blog calls it "a poor fit for teams that need a UI to build lists."
- You want sending, sequencing or calling in the same tool. The FAQ says there is no sequencer and no dialer.
- You need a written bounce guarantee or a published accuracy figure before you buy.
- You need phone numbers on every record without a second subscription, or you need EU data hosting.
If the first list describes you, start with the free MoltSets tier and test it on contacts where you already know the right answers. If the second list sounds like you, read our MoltSets alternatives guide.
MoltSets pricing explained
MoltSets sells monthly plans only, with "no contracts or annual plans" and no per-seat pricing. Paid plans are marketed as "Unlimited data," which needs a careful explanation.
| Plan | Price (November 2026) | Enrichment records | Search records | Personal email |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 1,000 lifetime | 100 lifetime | Included |
| Solo | $27 a month | 1,000 per 5 hours | 500 per 5 hours | Included |
| Pro ("most popular") | $97 a month | 15,000 per 5 hours | 7,500 per 5 hours | Included |
| Team | $397 a month | 150,000 per 5 hours | 75,000 per 5 hours | Capped at 75,000 a week |
| Max | $997 a month | 225,000 per 5 hours | 112,500 per 5 hours | Capped at 75,000 a week |
Plan names differ across MoltSets' pages: the website uses Solo, Pro, Team and Max, while the developer docs index labels the same prices Starter, Growth, Scale and Enterprise. We use the website names. The free tier gives about 1,000 lifetime lookups (MoltSets describes it both as 1,000 records and 1,000 API calls), which is enough to test a sample, not to run a campaign.
Our MoltSets pricing guide has every plan, more scenarios and the full add-on tables, or you can see the MoltSets plans directly.
What "unlimited" really means: the Fair Use caps
MoltSets' FAQ says "unlimited" means unlimited by data volume across your billing cycle, bounded by rate limits and the Fair Use Policy. In plain terms: there is no credit balance to run down, but there is a ceiling on how much you can pull in any 5-hour stretch and in any week.
| Plan | Enrichment records per 5 hours | Enrichment records per week | Search records per week | Concurrent searches |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | 1,000 | 1,000 lifetime | 100 lifetime | 3 |
| Solo $27 | 1,000 | 5,000 | 2,500 | 3 |
| Pro $97 | 15,000 | 75,000 | 37,500 | 5 |
| Team $397 | 150,000 | 750,000 | 375,000 | 8 |
| Max $997 | 225,000 | 1,125,000 | 562,500 | 8 |
Four rules explain how these numbers behave.
- Records versus requests. A record is deducted only when MoltSets returns a real contact; a request is deducted on every call. Request caps are 5x the 5-hour record cap, so a list full of misses can hit the request cap first.
- Rolling windows. Your first request opens a 5-hour window, and weekly windows work the same way. They do not reset at midnight or on Monday.
- The weekly cap binds first. Solo allows 1,000 records in 5 hours but only 5,000 in a week. On every paid plan the weekly cap is 5x the 5-hour cap, so steady use matters more than bursts.
- One pool per account. Limits are shared across every API key and connector, so your CLI job, Clay table and Claude chat draw from the same caps.
On Team and Max, US personal email lookups have their own cap of 15,000 per 5 hours and 75,000 per week, and personal email lookups count toward enrichment limits on every plan. MoltSets does not define whether a search record means one returned profile or one call; one profile is the likely reading, but it is not stated.
What happens when you hit a limit
Over the limit, the API returns HTTP 429 with a code such as fair_use_limit_exceeded or rate_limited, and you wait for the window to roll forward or upgrade. The Fair Use page lists no penalties, but the terms let MoltSets deny access "at any time for any reason" and bar opening several self-serve accounts to get around limits.
The get_account, get_billing and get_usage calls are free and do not count against limits. A search_linkedin_profile call with count_only set to true returns match counts without charging, so you can size a search before spending records.
Cost per record: the math
These are our calculations from published prices, assuming you use the full weekly enrichment cap four weeks a month. They are best-case ceilings.
| Plan | Price | Max enrichment records a month | Best-case cost per record |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solo | $27 | 20,000 | about $0.00135 (0.14 cents) |
| Pro | $97 | 300,000 | about $0.00032 |
| Team | $397 | 3,000,000 | about $0.00013 |
| Max | $997 | 4,500,000 | about $0.00022 |
Max has a higher per-record ceiling than Team: it buys more headroom per window, not a lower unit price. On weekly volume, Pro gives 15x Solo for 3.6x the price, and Team gives 10x Pro for 4.1x the price.
Real costs rise if you use less. A Solo user who enriches 2,000 contacts in a month still pays $27, about $0.0135 per record, so price your actual volume. Our cold email cost calculator helps you work out how many contacts a campaign needs.
MoltSets publishes its own comparison for 20,000 contacts a month, with competitor prices it says it checked in October 2026: MoltSets $27, Hunter $299, Prospeo $339, FullEnrich $1,150 and ZoomInfo GTM.AI $6,400. That is MoltSets' comparison, and those competitors bundle things MoltSets does not, such as a UI.
Phone tokens: mobiles are a separate subscription
Mobile numbers are not included in any plan. You buy phone tokens as their own monthly subscription on top of a paid plan (not on Free), at $0.15 per token at every tier. Some older MoltSets blog posts show different phone pricing; those figures are out of date.
| Tokens a month | About per day | Price a month |
|---|---|---|
| 180 | 6 | $27 |
| 646 | 22 | $97 |
| 1,313 | 44 | $197 |
| 2,000 | 67 | $300 |
| 3,333 | 111 | $500 |
| 6,666 | 222 | $1,000 |
| 13,333 | 444 | $2,000 |
| 33,333 | 1,111 | $5,000 |
One token equals one mobile returned, and a miss is free but still counts as one Fair Use request. Unused tokens roll over while the phone subscription is active and are lost if you cancel it or your main plan. There are no one-off purchases; tier logic and compliance duties are in our MoltSets mobile numbers guide.
Add-ons that are priced but not live yet
Two add-ons have full price tables on MoltSets' site but are marked "coming soon." The endpoints do not work yet, so do not buy MoltSets for either one today.
| Add-on | Status (November 9, 2026) | Price range | What MoltSets says it will do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Email Validation | Coming soon, not live | $19 to $250 a month, about $0.25 per 1,000 | A verdict per address (valid, invalid, spamtrap, catch-all and more), up to 1,000 per call |
| Web Scraping | Coming soon, not live | $19 to $249 a month, $0.142 to $0.507 per 1,000 domains | Structured JSON from a company homepage: headings, links, emails, phones, technologies |
The validation page claims MoltSets will be "8x to 23x cheaper" than other verifiers, but its comparison table shows an unfilled "[DATE CHECKED]" placeholder, so we do not repeat its competitor figures. What MoltSets does for email quality today is covered in our MoltSets email validation explainer.
Flat files, seats and refunds
MoltSets also sells custom flat files (CSV, TSV, Parquet or JSONL by S3, GCS, SFTP or signed link), priced per record on a custom quote outside any plan. There is no per-seat pricing: one account per domain, with multiple users invited, and the terms require each user to have their own credentials.
Refunds are the weak spot. The FAQ says there are no refunds on purchases or renewals, cancellations take effect at the next renewal with no proration, and the terms say "All payments by Customer are nonrefundable." Use the free tier before you pay, and start on the smallest plan that covers your weekly volume.
MoltSets features: the tools
MoltSets exposes the same tools through REST and MCP. Each tool is one question you can ask the database.
| Tool | Input | What comes back |
|---|---|---|
| linkedin_to_best_email | LinkedIn URL, up to 100 per call | Best work email, or personal if no work email |
| linkedin_to_business_email | LinkedIn URL | Work email with A to F risk score and validation date |
| linkedin_to_personal_email_usa | LinkedIn URL | US personal email |
| linkedin_to_mobile_phone | LinkedIn URL, up to 100 per call | Carrier-verified mobile, no landlines or VoIP (phone tokens) |
| reverse_email_lookup, reverse_linkedin_lookup | Email or LinkedIn URL | Business profile, optional job history |
| email_to_linkedin | Highest-confidence LinkedIn URL | |
| ip_to_company | IP address | Company behind a website visitor |
| business_email_to_sha256, linkedin_to_sha256, email_to_maid | Email or LinkedIn URL | Hashed emails and mobile ad IDs for ad audiences |
The ad audience tools work on Free, Solo and Pro but not on Team or Max (restricted since September 29, 2026), so a bigger plan loses a feature. Old personal email tool names without the _usa suffix were deprecated on October 19, 2026.
Search and filters
Search is how you build lists from scratch, mainly with search_people, plus search_companies, search_linkedin_profile and name-based lookups. search_people filters include title, company, company domain, country, state, city, seniority (Intern through C Suite, Owner and Partner), 22 industry buckets, department, employee range, revenue range, NAICS code and LinkedIn industry, with matching exclusions.
Results page with offset and limit, at most 25 per call, with 3 to 8 concurrent searches by plan. That design suits an agent or script that loops through pages, not a person clicking through results. Search filters by country (Canadian provinces are supported since October 16, 2026), but personal email tools return US records only.
MoltSets mentions "built-in waterfalls" and a "verified waterfall" for coverage, but does not say which providers are involved or in what order.
The Email Risk Score: how MoltSets grades emails
This is the most useful part of MoltSets for cold email senders. Every returned email carries an A to F grade and a last-validated date, and MoltSets says addresses that fail validation are dropped before delivery. If the only address was dropped, the lookup returns not_found and you are not charged.
| Grade | Meaning, per MoltSets | MoltSets' recommendation |
|---|---|---|
| A | Validated deliverable | Send |
| B | Known engagement (open, click or order), not re-validated | Probably send |
| C | Catch-all domain, cannot be confirmed | Your call |
| D | Spam trap, abuse, do-not-mail, or spam sighting in the last 6 months | Do not send |
| F | No validation record and no engagement | Your call |
When signals conflict, D wins, then A, B, C and F, and a missing grade should be treated as F. MoltSets suggests suppressing C-grade contacts who do not reply after 1 to 2 attempts.
MoltSets says it built a blended score because Microsoft began blocking SMTP-based validation checks in spring 2026, which led third-party validators to mark deliverable inboxes invalid. The score blends live validation, MoltSets' validation history, engagement and spam sightings.
Two cautions. The grade measures send safety, not identity: MoltSets says an A "doesn't confirm the address belongs to the person you searched." There is also no accuracy percentage and no bounce guarantee, unlike Findymail's advertised under 5% guarantee, so track bounces in your sender before scaling.
For a dedicated check on a list from another source, see our best email verification tools roundup.
Mobile numbers
The mobile tool returns carrier-verified mobiles only, with no landlines or VoIP. MoltSets says mobiles are carrier-verified within the last 90 days, and each carries a last_validated_at date meaning the number "was active and in service on that date, nothing more."
MoltSets does not return Do Not Call status. DNC scrubbing, TCPA consent and calling-hour rules are your job, so budget for a DNC scrub alongside phone tokens.
The MoltSets API
Each tool is a POST to https://api.moltsets.com/api/v1/tools/ plus the tool name, with a JSON body and a Bearer key that starts with ms_. You can create several keys, one per environment or agent. A non-empty User-Agent header is required (403 without one since September 16, 2026), along with Content-Type: application/json.
curl -X POST https://api.moltsets.com/api/v1/tools/linkedin_to_best_email \
-H "Authorization: Bearer ms_XXXXXXXXXXX" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-H "User-Agent: my-app/1.0" \
-d '{"linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/example"}'
Responses carry results, status and metadata. A miss returns HTTP 200 with status "not_found" and no charge, while 404 only means an unknown tool; older Clay tables built on the old 404 behavior need to check status instead.
Batch calls take up to 100 LinkedIn URLs or emails, each counting as one request. Errors charge nothing and MoltSets says there is "no SDK to install." Endpoints, the error table and 429 handling are in our MoltSets API guide, and you can create a MoltSets API key from a free account.
MCP and AI agents
MoltSets runs a remote HTTP MCP server at https://mcp.moltsets.com/mcp, so an AI assistant can call MoltSets tools directly. It uses OAuth with PKCE and a Client ID and Secret you create under Connectors in the app, with the same data and limits as REST.
Supported clients, per MoltSets: Claude.ai, Claude Desktop, Claude Code, ChatGPT (custom connector in Developer mode), Cursor, Windsurf, VS Code, Grok on paid tiers, and any remote HTTP MCP client with OAuth and PKCE. On Claude Team or Enterprise, an Owner adds the connector once for the organization.
claude mcp add --transport http moltsets https://mcp.moltsets.com/mcp --scope user --client-id YOUR_CLIENT_ID --client-secret
MoltSets suggests a setup prompt telling your agent to read moltsets.com/llms.txt and confirm with get_account. Note that "An agent can't create a MoltSets account," so a person signs up for MoltSets first. MoltSets also publishes a library of 82 pre-built Claude Skills (its count), such as HubSpot Email Backfill and Build an Outbound Prospect List.
MCP is no longer rare: Apollo's pricing page shows "Apollo MCP," Lusha says one credit balance covers its API and MCP, Cognism lists "MCP & API access," and Findymail lists MCP access. MoltSets' difference is that MCP and the API are the main product, not an add-on to a UI. Client-by-client setup is in our MoltSets MCP server guide.
The MoltSets CLI
With a CSV and no developer, the CLI is the easiest way in. Run it with npx moltsets or install @moltsets/cli on Node.js 18 or later, using an API key (MCP credentials do not work here).
- Dry run. Add --dry-run to count rows and check headroom with no paid calls.
- Sample. Use --limit 10 with --out sample.csv to check a few results.
- Full run. Use moltsets enrich leads.csv --column linkedin --out enriched.csv.
The CLI works in batches of 100, saves progress after each batch so reruns resume, waits for Fair Use windows to reset, and retries a 429 up to four times. Output keeps your columns and adds emails, risk scores and a status per row. A large file on Solo simply runs across several windows; our guide on how to use MoltSets covers the whole setup.
The MoltSets browser extension
"MoltSets for LinkedIn" is a side panel for Chrome and Firefox. On a LinkedIn profile you pick a lookup (business profile, business email, US personal email or mobile), click Get, then save to a list, download a CSV, or send to HubSpot, Attio, Salesforce, Clay, Make, n8n, Zapier or a JSON webhook.
The extension is free, lookups draw on your plan, and misses, lists, CSV downloads and sends are free. MoltSets says it reads only the active tab's address and sends nothing until you click Get, and the store listing says it "never scrapes LinkedIn."
It is new: Chrome shipped October 15, 2026 and Firefox October 19, 2026. On November 9, 2026, the Chrome Web Store showed 0 ratings, 166 users and version 0.5.5, and Sales Navigator support is not mentioned. More in our MoltSets Chrome extension guide.
MoltSets integrations
MoltSets' integrations page lists 28 entries, mostly ways to reach MoltSets from AI tools and platforms rather than native syncs into sales software.
| Integration | Type, as MoltSets lists it | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| REST API, CLI | Bring your own key | Core access methods |
| Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, Windsurf, Grok, any MCP client | MCP, your account | OAuth with PKCE |
| Chrome and Firefox extensions | Bring your own key | Sends to CRMs, Clay, automation tools, webhooks |
| Clay | Bring your own key, HTTP API column | Not a native Clay provider |
| Apify | Bring your own key | Eight public MoltSets Actors |
| Composio, Truto, Unified.to, Databar and others | Platform or MCP partners | Truto lists 20 MCP tools |
| HubSpot, Attio, Salesforce | Extension, or agent and script write-back | No native two-way sync described |
Three gaps matter for outbound teams. Instantly, Smartlead, PlusVibe and lemlist are not listed anywhere on moltsets.com. Zapier, Make and n8n are not on the integrations page either; you can call the API from those tools, but we found no confirmed native MoltSets app.
Workflows: MoltSets into Instantly, Smartlead, PlusVibe and Clay
With no native sequencer integrations, every MoltSets workflow ends with an export, a script or an automation you build. The sequencer steps below are our workflow built from documented MoltSets pieces, not a MoltSets feature.
MoltSets to Instantly, Smartlead or PlusVibe
- Build or enrich your list with the CLI (--out writes a CSV) or download a CSV from the extension.
- Filter on risk_score: send A, consider B, decide on C, never send D, and treat F with caution.
- Import the CSV into a campaign using your sequencer's own lead import.
Our MoltSets to Instantly workflow covers column mapping and the Smartlead and PlusVibe versions. If you still need a sender, you can try Instantly or try Smartlead (affiliate links; we are not partners of either), and compare them in our Instantly review and Smartlead review.
Nerdy Joe is a PlusVibe Certified Silver Partner and runs client campaigns on it, so you can try PlusVibe or read our PlusVibe review. Before launching on any sender, check our cold email infrastructure guide and run your copy through the free spam word checker.
MoltSets inside Clay
MoltSets documents Clay through an HTTP API column, not a native provider step. You add an HTTP API column with method POST and the tool URL, set headers for Content-Type, Authorization (Bearer plus your key) and User-Agent: Clay, and build the body using "/" to insert columns. Set "Response values to return" to results, then add Formula columns such as results.email (Clay's path traversal goes one level) and a formula on status to split "ok" from misses.
Clay's own pricing starts with a Free plan (500 actions and 100 data credits a month) and Launch at $185 a month, or $167 billed yearly, as of November 2026. For how Clay compares with a database tool, see our Apollo vs Clay comparison.
Data: size, coverage, sources and freshness
MoltSets publishes the least here, so we will be plain.
- Database size: not published anywhere on moltsets.com.
- Coverage: the FAQ says coverage is "on par with other vendors" based on user tests and encourages you to run your own comparison.
- Accuracy: no percentage published. MoltSets' accuracy article says, "MoltSets doesn't prove its own accuracy any more than other vendors do. Test it on your data like any other provider."
- "100% verified": the how-it-works page uses this phrase for emails and mobiles. Read it alongside the risk score, since C and F grades exist because some emails cannot be confirmed.
- Sources: an in-house database, with external vendors checked when a record is missing, per the FAQ. The privacy policy adds third-party providers, public sources and APIs, customer-submitted data and extension lookups.
- Freshness: MoltSets advertises weekly data updates and says it processes job changes every two weeks.
MoltSets deserves credit for telling you to test it yourself, and you should. Run 100 contacts with known emails through the MoltSets free tier and compare.
Compliance and privacy
MoltSets says it is "SOC 2 Type 1, SOC 2 Type 2, and CCPA compliant," with a Trust Portal for its security documents, but names no auditor or report dates. On GDPR, its program is "designed to align with" principles in regimes such as GDPR, which is alignment language, not a certification.
The service is hosted in the United States, and all 17 listed sub-processors are in the USA. MoltSets does not say how it handles EU contacts, so EU-focused teams that need EU hosting may prefer Findymail, which says it stores data exclusively in the EU.
The terms bar reselling the data (with exceptions for approved products and agency delivery to clients), building a competing product and FCRA uses, and cap liability at 12 months of fees. People can opt out through Retention.com's opt-out and CCPA pages.
MoltSets ratings and reviews
We checked the main review sites on November 9, 2026.
| Site | What we found |
|---|---|
| GetApp | No reviews |
| Capterra India | 0 reviews |
| Chrome Web Store (extension) | 0 ratings, 166 users |
| G2 | No MoltSets listing found by search |
There are no public third-party reviews to lean on yet. Homepage testimonials are not measured results, so your own free-tier test is the best signal available.
MoltSets vs the main alternatives
Each figure below comes from the vendor's own site as of November 2026. Credits, records and rate windows are not equal units, so read this as list prices, not a quality ranking.
| Tool | Main job | Entry paid price (published) | Free option | List-building UI | Sequencer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MoltSets | API and MCP data, flat rate | $27 a month | About 1,000 lifetime lookups | No | No |
| Apollo | Database plus sequencing and dialer | Basic $49 per user a month, billed annually | Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Findymail | Email finder and verifier | $99 a month | 10 credits | AI search (Intellimatch) | No |
| Hunter | Finder, verifier and sequences | $49 a month, or $34 billed yearly | 50 credits a month | Yes | Yes |
| Prospeo | Email and mobile finder | Check Prospeo's site | 100 credits a month | Not covered in our check | Not covered in our check |
| Lusha | Phone-first contact data | Not published on pages we read | 40 credits a month | Yes (Workspace) | Not covered in our check |
| People Data Labs | Developer data API | From $98 a month (350 credits) | 100 credits, contact data hidden | No | No |
| ZoomInfo, Cognism | Enterprise data platforms | Not published | ZoomInfo lists trials | Yes | Not covered in our check |
On list-price arithmetic only, MoltSets Solo is about $0.00135 per enrichment record at full use, versus about $0.0198 per found email on Findymail's Starter credit plan, $0.0245 per Hunter Starter credit and $0.28 per People Data Labs Pro credit. Competitors charge more partly because they include a UI, a sequencer, a guarantee or more contact channels.
Our full list of MoltSets alternatives groups these with "best for" labels.
MoltSets vs Apollo
Apollo is the opposite design: a filterable database with sequencing and a dialer in one login. Apollo's own September 17, 2026 article lists annual per-user pricing at $49 (Basic), $79 (Professional) and $119 (Organization, 3-user minimum), and its pricing page says unused credits do not roll over and API access is on Custom plans.
Teams that want to build lists by clicking are better served by Apollo, while teams with an agent or developer may pair them: Apollo for lists and sending, MoltSets for cheap bulk enrichment. Nerdy Joe is a certified Apollo.io Managed Services Partner; you can try Apollo, read our Apollo review, or see MoltSets vs Apollo.
MoltSets vs Findymail
Findymail is the closest match in model, with rolling 5-hour and 7-day usage windows on prospecting plans from $99 a month. It advertises an under 5% bounce guarantee with credits refunded, lists native Instantly, Smartlead and lemlist integrations, is a native Clay provider and stores data in the EU, but does not publish how many emails fit in a window.
MoltSets is cheaper to start and publishes exact caps, but has no guarantee, no native sequencer push and US hosting. You can look at Findymail, read our Findymail review, or compare in MoltSets vs Findymail.
MoltSets vs People Data Labs
People Data Labs is the other developer-first data API. Its Free plan gives up to 100 credits a month with emails and phones obfuscated, and Pro starts at $98 a month with "as few as 350 credits."
MoltSets includes contact data on its free tier, runs on rate windows rather than credits, and is built around MCP, which PDL's pricing page does not mention. Licensing terms differ too; see MoltSets vs People Data Labs.
Hunter, Prospeo, Lusha, ZoomInfo and Cognism
- Hunter: finder, verifier and sequences from $49 a month (or $34 billed yearly) for 2,000 credits. Best for small teams that want one simple tool with a UI.
- Prospeo: 1 credit per verified email, 10 per mobile, nothing for misses, 100 free credits a month and no rollover. Confirm live dollar prices on its site.
- Lusha: phone-first, 1 credit per email and 5 per phone, 40 free credits a month, monthly rollover up to 2x.
- ZoomInfo: no published prices; 1 credit per contact or company export and a listed ZoomInfo MCP product.
- Cognism: no published prices; plans with 5 seats, "1 credit = 1 revealed contact," and "MCP & API access."
For the wider market, see our list of the best B2B data providers.
MoltSets pros and cons
Pros
- $27 a month for up to 20,000 enrichment records a month at full weekly use, with no per-seat pricing.
- Misses are free: records are only used when data comes back.
- An A to F send-safety grade and last-validated date on every email, with failed addresses dropped.
- A native remote MCP server for Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, Windsurf and Grok, plus 82 Claude skills.
- A CLI that resumes, waits for Fair Use windows and retries rate-limit errors.
- Free usage endpoints and free match counts; month to month with no annual contract.
- Extra data types: IP to company, hashed emails and mobile ad IDs (Free, Solo and Pro).
- Agency use for clients explicitly allowed.
Cons
- No list-building UI, dashboard, sequencer or dialer.
- "Unlimited" is capped per 5 hours and per week; Solo is 5,000 enrichment and 2,500 search records a week.
- Mobiles need a separate subscription, unused tokens are lost on cancel, and there is no DNC flag.
- Email validation and web scraping add-ons are priced but not live.
- No published database size, accuracy percentage or bounce guarantee.
- No native Instantly, Smartlead, PlusVibe or lemlist integration; Clay only via HTTP API column.
- Search returns at most 25 results per call; personal emails are US only and capped on Team and Max.
- US hosting, GDPR described as alignment, no refunds, and frequent pricing changes.
- No public third-party reviews yet.
MoltSets verdict by use case
| Use case | Our take |
|---|---|
| AI agent builder or Claude Code user | Strong fit. MCP and the API are the product, and the price invites experiments. |
| Technical founder doing their own outbound | Good fit if a CLI or API is comfortable. Start on Free, then Solo. |
| Agency with a developer or ops person | Good fit for bulk enrichment and grading; plan the CSV step into your sender. |
| RevOps backfilling a CRM | Reasonable fit with the HubSpot skills or scripts; no native sync. |
| Sales team that wants to click and build lists | Not a fit. Look at Apollo or Hunter. |
| Team that needs a bounce guarantee | Weaker fit. Findymail puts one in writing. |
| Phone-heavy prospecting | Possible at $0.15 per mobile; budget for DNC scrubbing and compare Lusha. |
| EU outreach that needs EU hosting | Weaker fit. MoltSets is US-hosted. |
How to get started with MoltSets
These steps follow MoltSets' own documentation; we did not run them ourselves.
- Sign up free with no card. MoltSets says the only difference between Free and paid plans is the rate limit.
- Pick your access method. Create an API key for REST, the CLI or Clay, or a Client ID and Secret under Connectors for MCP.
- Run a known-answer test on 50 to 100 contacts whose emails you know: dry run, then 10 rows, then the full file.
- Read the grades. Count A to F results and the not_found rate.
- Check usage for free with get_usage (today, week, month or billing cycle).
- Pick a plan by weekly volume, and add phone tokens only if you call.
When you are ready, sign up for MoltSets free and start with step 3.
How we compiled this review
We used MoltSets' website, pricing pages, developer docs, Fair Use Policy, terms, privacy policy, compliance page and changelog, read on November 9, 2026, plus the Chrome Web Store, GetApp, Capterra India and each competitor's own pricing page. We did not use MoltSets hands-on or run accuracy or bounce tests.
Where MoltSets' pages disagree, such as plan names, free tier wording and older phone prices, we used the current pricing and docs pages. If you spot something out of date, email us and we will fix it.
Rather not build the list yourself?
MoltSets is cheap data, but data is one step. Someone still has to pick accounts, enrich, filter by grade, set up sending, write copy and handle replies every week.
Nerdy Joe is owned by Agency Growth Partners (AGP), and AGP builds verified lists and runs outbound for agencies. If you would rather hand that off, book a call with David, or see how we set it up in our agency growth machine overview.
Verdict
MoltSets is one of the cheapest ways to get graded B2B emails at volume, and one of the few data products built for AI agents first. Its risk score, free misses and published Fair Use caps are real strengths, and the CLI and MCP server soften the lack of a dashboard for technical users.
It is not for everyone: no list-building screen, no sequencer push, no bounce guarantee, no published database size or accuracy rate, paid mobiles and two add-ons that are not live yet. With almost no public reviews, your own test matters more than usual.
If you can work with an API, a CLI or an MCP client, it is worth a free test. Try MoltSets free, run a list where you know the answers, and pick a plan by your weekly volume.
Disclosure: My relationship with Instantly is that of an independent party. I do not hold any position, nor do I have the power to form binding agreements or act on behalf of Instantly. My earnings are derived from referral compensations provided by Instantly. The views I share are solely mine and should not be seen as official statements, promises, or representations of Instantly, or any related entities or personnel.
Sources
- MoltSets homepage
- MoltSets pricing
- MoltSets: Mobile numbers pricing
- MoltSets: Email validation pricing
- MoltSets: Web scraping pricing
- MoltSets FAQ
- MoltSets: Our data
- MoltSets: Features
- MoltSets: How it works
- MoltSets: API
- MoltSets: MCP server
- MoltSets: CLI
- MoltSets: LinkedIn Chrome extension
- MoltSets: Integrations
- MoltSets: GTM Skills Library
- MoltSets: Fair Use Policy
- MoltSets: Terms of service
- MoltSets: Privacy policy
- MoltSets: Compliance
- MoltSets: Sub-processors
- MoltSets blog: Best B2B data enrichment APIs
- MoltSets blog: Best enrichment tools for Claude Code and AI agents
- MoltSets blog: How to measure contact data accuracy
- MoltSets developer docs: llms.txt
- MoltSets developer docs: Rate limits
- MoltSets developer docs: API reference
- MoltSets developer docs: Email risk scores
- MoltSets developer docs: Phone number validation
- MoltSets developer docs: Clay integration
- MoltSets changelog
- MoltSets for LinkedIn on the Chrome Web Store
- GetApp: MoltSets
- Capterra India: MoltSets
- Apollo pricing
- Apollo: Plan details and usage walkthrough
- Findymail pricing
- Hunter pricing
- Prospeo
- Prospeo Help: Plans and pricing overview
- Lusha pricing
- People Data Labs pricing
- Clay pricing
- ZoomInfo pricing
- Cognism pricing
Frequently asked questions
Is MoltSets legit?
MoltSets is operated by GetEmails, LLC d/b/a MoltSets, with a legal notice address in Austin, Texas, according to its terms of service. MoltSets says it is part of the Retention.com family alongside RB2B and claims SOC 2 Type 1, SOC 2 Type 2 and CCPA compliance. As of November 9, 2026, it had no public reviews on GetApp or Capterra India, so there is little independent feedback yet.
Does MoltSets have a dashboard or list-building UI?
No. MoltSets' own FAQ calls it API-only with no dashboard to log into for list building. You reach the data through the REST API, the MCP server, the CLI, the LinkedIn browser extension or custom flat files.
Is MoltSets really unlimited?
Not in the everyday sense. Paid plans are unlimited by data volume per billing cycle, but each plan has Fair Use caps per rolling 5-hour window and per week. On the $27 Solo plan that means 1,000 enrichment records per 5 hours and 5,000 per week.
Does MoltSets include phone numbers?
Not in any plan. Mobile numbers use phone tokens, sold as a separate monthly subscription on top of a paid plan, at $0.15 per token as of November 2026. One token buys one returned mobile, and a miss costs nothing.
Does MoltSets have a free plan?
Yes. MoltSets' free tier gives about 1,000 lifetime lookups (MoltSets describes it both as 1,000 records and 1,000 API calls) plus 100 lifetime search records, with no card required.
Does MoltSets integrate with Instantly or Smartlead?
Not natively. Instantly, Smartlead, PlusVibe and lemlist are not listed anywhere on moltsets.com. The practical route is to export a CSV from the MoltSets CLI or browser extension and import it into your sequencer, or to connect the two with your own API scripts.
Can I use MoltSets in Clay?
Yes, through Clay's HTTP API column with your own MoltSets API key. MoltSets is not a native Clay data provider, so you set the endpoint, headers and body yourself and add formula columns to pull out fields such as the email.