BetterContact vs Persana (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, BetterContact and Persana share a 2.4 GPA, and only Persana has a free plan.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
BetterContact grades higher on value for money. Persana grades higher on features. They get the same grade on the free plan, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
BetterContact
Waterfall email and phone enrichment across many data sources
Persana
Credit-based prospect data, enrichment and AI outreach agents
Which one is for you
Pick BetterContact if
- Fits if you want one tool to try many data sources for an email or phone
- Works for people who only want to pay for contacts that verify
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you need phones: a mobile number costs 10 credits, so Starter buys about 20
- Skip it if you want a free plan, since you only get 50 sign-up credits
- Pricey if you grow: the top plan starts at $799 a month above 20,000 credits
- Watch out: unused credits roll over only up to twice your monthly amount, and phone verification isn't on Starter
Pick Persana if
- Fits if you want enrichment, research and outreach agents in one place
- Works for a small team that wants to start on the free credits
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you need phones: 10 credits each, so Starter's 24,000 yearly credits cover 2,400 numbers
- Skip it if you want it settled, as the banner says it's joining forces with Rox and plans may change
- Pricey if you need volume: Unlimited is $600 a month billed annually
- Watch out: unlimited searches and exports are subject to fair use, and only Starter's monthly price was visible
How we grade them
| 2.4GPABetterContactFair | 2.4GPAPersanaFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | B$15 a month for 200 credits is inside the cheapest quarter on price, but the credits are few: about 20 mobile numbers. $49 buys 1,000. | C$68 a month billed annually for 24,000 credits a year, $85 monthly. That's the middle of the range, below the $74 dearer quarter. |
| Free plan and trial | C50 free credits at sign-up with no card, and no free plan after that. | CA free plan with 50 credits, enough for 50 emails or 5 phones, with unlimited users. |
| Features | CWaterfall enrichment, built-in verification, a lead finder and an API. Connect Intelligence and phone and catch-all verification aren't on Starter. | BWaterfall enrichment, people and company search, AI research, signals, sequencing and CRM sync. It covers the job. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. It's a credit and enrichment-column tool you need to set up. | CNo store rating on record. Tables, agents and signals to set up. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, with five integrations and an API. | BWeb, with eight listed integrations and no desktop or phone app. |
| Best for | waterfall email and phone lookups | credit-based enrichment with AI agents |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: BetterContact and Persana. How we grade
Price against what you get
BetterContact starts at $15 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Persana starts at $68 a month and scores 2.7.
Persana scores higher, and starts $53 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other lead and email finders on the chart, none scores higher than BetterContact for less, and 1 scores higher than Persana for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- BetterContact also covers email verification.
- Persana also covers sales pipeline, workflow automation and AI agents.
At a glance
| BetterContact | Persana | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $15 per month for 200 credits, billed monthly | $68 per month, billed annually ($85 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | None | 50 credits, enough for 50 emails or 5 phone numbers, with unlimited users and 100+ data providers. |
| Free trial | 50 free credits at sign-up, no credit card needed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | BetterContact | Persana AI |
| Price read from | bettercontact.rocks | persana.ai |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
BetterContact
- A mobile number costs 10 credits, so 200 credits on Starter buys about 20 numbers.
- Connect Intelligence, phone verification and catch-all verification are not on Starter.
- Unused credits roll over, capped at twice the subscribed amount.
- Yearly billing is offered as two months free, and extends credit roll-over to 12 months.
Persana
- Phones cost 10 credits each, so Starter's 24,000 credits a year cover 2,400 numbers.
- Annual prices are shown by default; only Starter's monthly price ($85) was visible on the page.
- The site banner says Persana is joining forces with Rox, so plans and pricing may change.
- Unlimited searches and exports are subject to fair use and anti-abuse terms.
Key features
BetterContact
- Waterfall enrichment
- Requests a person's email or mobile number from more than 20 data sources one after another until valid data is found.
- Pay only for valid data
- One credit buys one verified email and ten buy a verified mobile number. The page says nothing is charged when no result is found.
- Verification built in
- Emails are checked by Bouncer. On Pro and above, catch-all emails are verified at no extra charge and mobile numbers are also verified.
- Connect Intelligence
- Scores each mobile number by likelihood to connect. Only the highest-scoring numbers are charged; scoring the low or bad ones is free.
- Waterfall lead finder
- Searches 7 or more contact databases in one query to build lead lists.
- API and integrations
- A REST API and native integrations, including HubSpot, Google Sheets, Make, Clay and Zapier, on the plans that list them.
Persana
- Waterfall enrichment
- Looks up emails and phone numbers across more than 100 data providers in turn. One email found costs 1 credit and one phone found costs 10 credits.
- People and company search
- Builds lists from firmographic and technographic filters, with the number of results per search rising from 500 on Free to unlimited on the Unlimited plan.
- AI research and agents
- Persana Quantum research agents gather account details for each row. Autopilot AI agents on the Unlimited plan and AI SDR on Enterprise run outreach.
- Signals and triggers
- The Pro plan tracks job changes, intent data, hiring triggers and news, and webhooks accept feeds from RB2B, Clearbit and Warmly.
- Sequencing and CRM sync
- Growth connects to sequencers such as Smartlead, Instantly, Salesloft and Outreach. Pro adds HubSpot and Salesforce, and Unlimited can send email itself.
Plans
BetterContact
Starter$15
per month for 200 credits, billed monthly
200 credits a month: 20 mobile numbers or 200 emails. Waterfall enrichment, email verification, API and chat support.
Pro$49
per month for 1,000 credits, billed monthly
Steps up to 50,000 credits a month. Adds Connect Intelligence, phone and catch-all verification, Clay and Zapier, premium support.
Enterprise$799
per month and up, above 20,000 credits, billed monthly
Sold through sales. Custom volumes and discounts, your own provider API keys and a dedicated account manager.
Persana
Free$0
50 credits (50 emails or 5 phones), searches up to 500 results, CSV export, email and phone waterfalls.
Starter$68
per month, 24,000 credits a year, billed annually ($85 monthly)
2,000 credits a month, searches up to 7,000 results, credit rollover and credit reports.
Growth$151
per month for 60,000 credits a year, billed annually
Adds email sequencing integrations, company lookalikes, your own API key and webhooks or HTTP API. Searches up to 20,000.
Pro$400
per month for 216,000 credits a year, billed annually
Adds account-based marketing, CRM integration, signal triggers and funding data. Up to 10,000 exports and premium support.
Unlimited$600
per month for 600,000 credits a year, billed annually
Unlimited searches and CSV exports under fair use, Autopilot AI agents, email sequencing and sending, Slack support.
EnterpriseCustom
Custom credits and plan, AI SDR full-service option, custom playbooks and a dedicated account team. Sold through sales.
Ways to pay less
BetterContact
- Annual discount
Two months free on yearly billing
The pricing page says paying yearly means paying for 10 months and keeping all 12, and extends credit roll-over to 12 months.
Persana
- Annual discount
20% off with annual billing
The pricing page toggle labels annual billing as a 20% saving over monthly billing.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, BetterContact or Persana?
As of Nov 12, 2026, BetterContact is cheaper to start with: $15 a month, against $68 a month for Persana. BetterContact starts at $15 per month for 200 credits, billed monthly, and Persana starts at $68 per month, billed annually ($85 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, BetterContact or Persana?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Persana has a free plan. BetterContact does not, though it has a free trial.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.