ContactOut vs PersistIQ

ContactOut and PersistIQ solve different halves of outbound prospecting. ContactOut is a contact-finding tool built around a 350-million-professional…

Best for ContactOut: ContactOut fits recruiters and sales teams who need to pull verified emails and phone numbers at scale from a 350-million-professional, 40-million-company database, especially via its Chrome extension while browsing LinkedIn or through its API for bulk lookups.
Best for PersistIQ: PersistIQ fits small sales teams that want to build LinkedIn-sourced prospect lists and immediately launch automated, A/B-tested email, call, and task sequences with native bi-directional sync into Salesforce or Copper.

At a Glance

 ContactOutPersistIQ
Primary categorySalesSales
RatingNot documentedNot documented
Pricing modelFreemiumSubscription
Starting priceFree (paid plans from $49/month)$59/user/month (billed annually)
Free planYesNot documented
Free trialNot documentedYes
PlatformsWebWeb
Team collaborationNot documentedNot documented
AI featuresYesYes
Public APIYesNot documented

Key Differences

Core Function

ContactOut: ContactOut is a contact intelligence tool focused on finding verified emails and phone numbers for 350 million professionals across 40 million companies, with a Chrome extension, web search portal, and API.

PersistIQ: PersistIQ is a sales engagement platform focused on automating personalized email, call, and task sequences once prospects are identified, including A/B testing of messages.

Buyers need to know whether they're evaluating a data-sourcing tool or an outreach-automation tool, since the two solve different steps in the pipeline.

Free Access

ContactOut: ContactOut offers 5 free credits daily with no credit card required, per its documented Free plan.

PersistIQ: PersistIQ offers a 14-day free trial rather than an ongoing free tier.

A perpetual daily free allowance behaves differently in a budgeting decision than a time-boxed trial that eventually requires payment.

CRM Sync

ContactOut: ContactOut's documented facts do not list native CRM sync as a feature; it focuses on contact search, Chrome extension lookups, email campaigns, and API access.

PersistIQ: PersistIQ offers native bi-directional sync integrations specifically with Salesforce and Copper for contact records and activities.

Bi-directional CRM sync determines whether outreach activity automatically shows up in a team's system of record without manual export/import.

AI Features

ContactOut: ContactOut includes an AI Personalizer that generates personalized outreach emails, which the company says can increase response rates, plus multi-stage email campaigns built on found contact data.

PersistIQ: PersistIQ includes a Sales Email AI tool for generating sales email content as part of its campaign automation.

Both tools apply AI to email personalization, but at different stages: ContactOut ties it to the contact record, PersistIQ ties it to the campaign sequence.

API and Programmatic Access

ContactOut: ContactOut provides API access for programmatic retrieval of email, phone, and company records.

PersistIQ: PersistIQ's documented facts do not mention a public API for programmatic access.

API access determines whether a team can build custom data pipelines or integrate contact lookups into internal tools rather than relying on the UI or Chrome extension alone.

Feature-by-Feature

Contact Discovery

FeatureContactOutPersistIQ
Professional contact database searchAvailableNot documented
Chrome extension for LinkedIn lookupsAvailableAvailable
LinkedIn Sales Navigator list buildingNot documentedAvailable
Data enrichment (20+ data points)AvailableNot documented
API accessAvailableNot documented

Outreach & Automation

FeatureContactOutPersistIQ
Multi-step email campaignsAvailableAvailable
Automated call and task sequencingNot documentedAvailable
A/B testing of messagesNot documentedAvailable
Cloud phone dialerAvailableNot documented
AI-generated email contentAvailableAvailable

CRM & Reporting

FeatureContactOutPersistIQ
Native CRM syncNot documentedAvailable
Performance reporting (replies, meetings booked)Not documentedAvailable
Free ongoing tierAvailableUnavailable

Pricing Compared

Starting price reflects the lowest paid tier, not the full cost for every team size or usage level.

ContactOut

Free — $0 N/A
Email (Sales) — $49/month Annual ($79/month billed monthly)
Email + Phone — $99/month Annual
Recruiter — $199/month Annual
Team / API — Custom Custom

PersistIQ

Essentials — $59/user/month (annual) or $75/user/month (monthly) Monthly or annual
Premium — $99/user/month (annual) or about $120/user/month (monthly) Monthly or annual
Teams — Custom (contact sales) Custom

Pros & Cons

ContactOut

Pros

  • Fast, one-click lookups directly inside LinkedIn via the Chrome extension
  • Separate plans for sales versus recruiting use cases, including ATS integrations
  • Free tier lets teams test data accuracy before buying
  • Large claimed database with both email and phone coverage

Cons

  • Monthly credit caps apply even on plans marketed as unlimited
  • Phone number accuracy is reported as less reliable than email accuracy
  • Data-sourcing methodology is not published in detail
  • Annual billing is required to access the lowest advertised per-month prices

PersistIQ

Pros

  • Simple setup aimed specifically at small sales teams rather than enterprise sales-ops
  • Unlimited prospects and campaigns on all paid plans
  • Combines email, calling and LinkedIn touches in one sequence builder
  • Lower price point than enterprise sales engagement platforms like Outreach or Salesloft
  • 14-day free trial available before committing to a paid plan

Cons

  • No permanent free plan
  • Daily email sending caps, around 300 to 600 per day, may constrain high-volume outbound teams
  • Premium features like the phone dialer and Salesforce integration are locked behind the higher-priced tier
  • Smaller company under Wishpond ownership means a smaller roadmap and integration ecosystem than larger competitors
  • Monthly billing carries a notable premium over annual pricing

Use Cases

Choose ContactOut: ContactOut fits recruiters and sales teams who need to pull verified emails and phone numbers at scale from a 350-million-professional, 40-million-company database, especially via its Chrome extension while browsing LinkedIn or through its API for bulk lookups.
Choose PersistIQ: PersistIQ fits small sales teams that want to build LinkedIn-sourced prospect lists and immediately launch automated, A/B-tested email, call, and task sequences with native bi-directional sync into Salesforce or Copper.
Need both: A small sales team could use ContactOut's Chrome extension and API to find and verify contact data at scale, then feed those contacts into PersistIQ to run automated, multi-touch outreach sequences with A/B testing and CRM sync, since ContactOut does not document its own sequencing/automation layer.

ContactOut

  • Outbound Sales Prospecting — Sales reps find verified emails and phone numbers for target buyers to fuel cold outreach and CRM enrichment.
  • Passive Candidate Sourcing — Recruiters locate and contact passive candidates found on LinkedIn, syncing results into an ATS.

PersistIQ

  • Outbound prospecting for small SDR teams — Small sales development teams use PersistIQ to run personalized, multi-step outbound campaigns without dedicated sales-ops support.
  • Founder-led sales outreach at startups — Startup founders and early sales hires use PersistIQ to run their own outbound outreach before hiring a dedicated sales team.
  • Multi-channel follow-up automation — Sales teams use PersistIQ to combine email, LinkedIn and calling touches into a single coordinated follow-up cadence.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is ContactOut or PersistIQ better for finding contact data?

ContactOut is purpose-built for contact discovery, searching a database of 350 million professionals across 40 million companies via a Chrome extension, web portal, and API. PersistIQ's Chrome extension pulls prospects from LinkedIn and Sales Navigator but is positioned around outreach automation rather than a standalone contact database.

Does either tool offer a free plan?

ContactOut offers 5 free credits daily with no credit card required. PersistIQ offers a 14-day free trial rather than a recurring free tier.

Which CRMs does PersistIQ sync with?

PersistIQ offers native bi-directional sync with Salesforce and Copper. ContactOut's documented facts do not list a native CRM sync feature.

Can I use ContactOut and PersistIQ together?

Yes. A common workflow is using ContactOut's Chrome extension or API to find and verify contact data, then loading those contacts into PersistIQ to run automated, A/B-tested outreach sequences with Salesforce or Copper sync.

Does ContactOut have an outreach automation feature like PersistIQ's?

ContactOut offers email campaigns with AI-personalized messaging built on top of found contact data, but PersistIQ's documented feature set goes further with automated calls, tasks, and A/B testing across the full campaign.

Is PersistIQ suitable for large sales organizations?

PersistIQ is explicitly positioned for small teams, per its own documentation, which may limit fit for larger sales organizations with more complex CRM or reporting needs.

Read the full ContactOut review · Read the full PersistIQ review