Stack recipe · $0 (genuinely — every step uses a real free tier)
The $0 Lead-Gen Stack: 4 Free Tools, Wired Together
Most '$0 lead gen' articles list ten tools and leave you to figure out the plumbing. This is the actual pipeline: four free tiers, each doing one job, connected in order. It works until roughly your first few hundred leads a month — we're explicit below about where each free tier runs out.
- 1
Apollo.io (free tier)
Find prospects
Use the free credits to build a filtered prospect list — title, industry, company size. Export what the tier allows each month; it resets.
- 2
Hunter.io (free tier)
Verify emails
Run the riskier addresses through free verifications to protect your sender reputation before any outreach goes out.
- 3
HubSpot Free CRM
Hold the pipeline
Unlimited-enough contact storage on the free plan. Every prospect lives here from first touch; the AI email drafts help with first-pass personalisation.
- 4
Mailchimp or GetResponse (free tier)
Nurture sequence
Put non-responders into a light monthly value email. Free tiers cap contacts — prune cold leads instead of paying until the pipeline proves itself.
Read before you build
- When you outgrow it: the first paid upgrade that's usually worth it is the prospect-finder (Apollo), not the CRM — list quality compounds, storage doesn't.
- Every limit stated here is the free tier as of June 2026 — vendors move these; our tool pages track the current numbers.
Tool-by-tool detail
Every tool in this stack is reviewed in depth — free-tier truth, real user complaints and all — in our tool guides.