Comparison
Invenitor vs doing it by hand: when free is the better choice
Doing it by hand is the better choice when you need one or two people and have the time, and Invenitor makes sense when you need many people or do not know their names yet.
By Invenitor team. Updated .
Manual search costs no money and teaches you about the person. It stops making sense when you need many people, or when you cannot name them yet.
How do they compare, line by line?
| Criterion | Invenitor | Doing it by hand |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest published paid price | No subscription. Packs from 25 credits for ₹50. | Free in money. You pay with your own time. Our guide |
| Free way to start | 25 free credits on signup. No card. | Yes, always. Our guide |
| Cost of one email | 1 credit (₹2), only when an email or phone comes back. | Free, if the person has published one. Our guide |
| Cost of one phone number | 1 credit (₹2), the same price as an email. One charge covers both. | Free, but rarely published. A front desk number is more likely. Our guide |
| Cost when nothing is found | Free. A search that finds nobody costs nothing, and a contact with no email or phone costs nothing. | You lose the time you spent. Nothing tells you when to stop. Our guide |
| What happens to unused credits | Credits last 30 days. | Does not apply. There are no credits. Our guide |
| Search by describing a person in plain words | Yes. One search is 20 credits (₹40) for up to 100 people. | Partly. A search engine takes words, but it returns pages, not people. Our guide |
| REST API | Yes, on every account. | No. Our guide |
| MCP for AI agents | Yes, on every account. | No. An agent with web access can try, but it may invent an address unless you tell it not to. Our guide |
| Sends messages for you | No. You write to people yourself. | No. You send it yourself, which is often best. Our guide |
| Pay in rupees with UPI | Yes. UPI and cards through Razorpay. | Does not apply. There is nothing to pay. Our guide |
Costs here are general, and the links go to step-by-step guides. Invenitor numbers come from the live pricing list.
When is doing it by hand the better choice?
- You need one or two people and you already know their names.
- The person publishes a contact route. Using it is polite and often gets read.
- Reading their work is part of the point, as it is when you pitch a journalist or a professor.
When is Invenitor the better choice?
- You need twenty or more people and have a clear description of them.
- You do not know any names yet, so there is nothing to type into a search engine.
- You need a phone number. People rarely publish these.
How do you decide between them?
- Time yourself finding three people by hand. That is your real cost per person.
- Compare it to the cost per person on Invenitor.
- Use both. Search for the list, then read about the few people who matter most.
Common questions
- Can I find any email for free?
- Not any email, but many. Company sites, author pages and contact forms cost nothing. See how to find someone's email address.
- Should I guess an address from a name pattern?
- Do not rely on it. A guess can reach the wrong person or bounce, and repeated bounces hurt your sending reputation.