Lead list vendor comparison calculator: cost per valid contact
In short: Enter the size, price, expected valid rate and duplicate share of up to three offers, plus what checking costs. The calculator ranks them by cost per valid contact and shows the list price at which each would match the cheapest. Limit: The valid rates are your estimates, so the ranking is only as good as they are.
A cheaper list is not cheaper if more of it bounces. Type each offer's size, price, valid rate and the share you already hold. The calculator adds the cost of checking the new leads, divides by the valid contacts you would end up with, and ranks the offers by cost per valid contact.
Price: this tool is free. Checking a whole email list is from $9/mo, and the first 100 checks are free with Google, no card. Check your list free nowSee pricing
The numbers below are examples. Replace them with each offer you are comparing and the valid rate you expect from it.
Added to every offer, because each list gets checked before you send.
- Lowest cost per valid contact
- List B
- Their cost per valid contact
- $0.06
- Offers compared
- 2
- Valid contacts from the winner
- 2,790
1
- Source
- List B
- Valid contacts
- 2,790
- Total cost
- $172.50
- Cost per valid contact
- $0.06
- Over the cheapest
- -
- List price to match
- -
2
- Source
- List A
- Valid contacts
- 3,825
- Total cost
- $272.50
- Cost per valid contact
- $0.07
- Over the cheapest
- 15.2%
- List price to match
- $213.99
| Rank | Source | Valid contacts | Total cost | Cost per valid contact | Over the cheapest | List price to match |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | List B | 2,790 | $172.50 | $0.06 | - | - |
| 2 | List A | 3,825 | $272.50 | $0.07 | 15.2% | $213.99 |
Formula: (list price + checks on the leads that are not already yours) divided by (leads that are not already yours x valid rate). The valid rates are your estimates, not measured figures.
Sample result
In the example, List B costs $0.0618 per valid contact and List A $0.0712.
- Cheapest per valid contact
- List B
- List B
- $0.0618
- List A
- $0.0712
What this means for you
The cheaper list per address is not the cheaper list per valid address; List A would need a $213.99 price to match.
- Up to three offers
- Checking included
- Ranked by valid contact
- Price to match shown
- Lead lists
- Cost
- Calculator
By SimpleVerifier Team · Last updated · Runs in your browser; nothing you paste is sent to us
Replace the estimates with real valid rates.
- Ask each source for a sample, or use a slice of an earlier list from it, and keep the addresses in one column.
- Upload or paste it at /verify. Every address gets a live mailbox check, and the first 100 email checks are free with a Google sign-in, no card.
How do I compare lead lists by cost per valid email?
- Type a name, the number of leads, the total price, your expected valid rate and your duplicate share for each offer.
- Add the price per 1,000 email checks, which is added to every offer.
- Read the ranking by cost per valid contact.
- Use the last column to see how far a more expensive list would have to drop its price to match the cheapest.
- Verify a sample from each source to replace your estimates with real valid rates.
Example
- You enter
- Example: List A has 5,000 leads for $250 at an 85% valid rate; List B has 5,000 leads for $150 at 62%. Both 10% already yours, $5 per 1,000 checks.
- You get
- List B is cheapest at $0.0618 per valid contact (2,790 valid contacts for $172.50). List A costs $0.0712, 15.2% more, and would need a list price of $213.99 to match.
- Limits
- Runs in your browser; nothing is uploaded. Every number is typed by you; the values here are examples.
How is the cost per valid contact worked out?
For each offer the calculator removes the leads you already hold, multiplies the rest by the valid rate you typed, and adds the cost of checking the new leads to the list price. That total divided by the valid contacts is the cost per valid contact. Offers are ranked on it, lowest first.
What is the list price to match column?
It is the list price at which that offer would cost the same per valid contact as the cheapest one, keeping its own size, valid rate and checking cost. It turns a comparison into a negotiating number. It shows 0 when checking alone already costs more than the cheapest offer's cost per valid contact.
Where do the valid rates come from?
From you. The best source is a verified sample of each list; a vendor's own claim is a starting point only. Because the ranking depends on those rates, try changing them by a few points and see whether the order holds. For a single purchase, the leads to buy calculator shows how many leads reach a target.
Who uses this tool, and for what?
- Cold emailers
- Choose between a cheap list with a low valid rate and a dearer one that mostly verifies.
- Agencies
- Show a client why the cheapest quote is not the cheapest list.
- Sales ops
- Put a cost per valid contact next to each data offer in a purchase request.
What can’t this tool tell you?
- The valid rates are your estimates, so the ranking is only as good as they are.
- It compares address validity only, not contact quality, titles or fit.
- It treats each list's rates as steady across the whole list.
- Duplicates between the lists themselves are not counted, only duplicates with your own data.
Common questions
- Can I compare more than three lists?
- Not in one table. Run the calculator again for the next group and compare the winners.
- What if one offer is still blank?
- Offers with no size or no valid rate are skipped. At least two complete offers are needed.
- Why add checking to every offer?
- Every list should be verified before sending, so checking is a cost of using any of them.
- Does it know what any vendor charges?
- No. Every price and rate is one you type.
- Does a lower cost per valid contact mean a better list?
- It means a cheaper usable address. Fit, titles and freshness are outside the tool.
- Is anything uploaded?
- No. The numbers stay in your browser.
A tidy list can still be full of dead addresses.
Extracting, deduplicating and syntax checks all work on the text of an address. None of them can tell whether the mailbox exists. Only the server that hosts it can answer that, through an SMTP check, and that is what the paid product does.
- Upload the cleaned file as it is: CSVs up to 100,000 rows
- A real SMTP mailbox check on every row, with catch-all detection
- Small list? Starter at $9/mo covers 2,500 emails a month, cancel anytime
Plans from $9 a month, cancel anytime, no contract. Sign in with Google and your first 100 email checks are free, no card. The free tools stay free either way.