Get the practical and simple design tricks to take your slides from “meh” to “stunning”! Download for free

12 Best Lead Generation Tools in 2025 | Free & Paid

Zain Zia
Written by Zain Zia
Published at Dec 22, 2023
12 Best Lead Generation Tools in 2025 | Free & Paid

Lead generation is more than just collecting contacts—it's about actively connecting with people who care about your offerings. It's your key to crafting marketing that hits home, turning every interaction into a potential win.

And with the right lead generation tools, you're setting the stage for success.

In this article, we’ve rounded up 12 of the best lead generation tools, both free and paid, that will help you supercharge your outreach and convert leads more effectively.

From email marketing solutions and form builders to CRM systems and social media tools, we’ve got something for everyone.

Let’s dig in.

 

Table of Contents

*Disclaimer: The comparisons and competitor ratings presented in this article are based on features available as of December 22, 2023. We conduct thorough research and draw on both first-hand experience and reputable sources to provide reliable insights. However, as tools and technologies evolve, we recommend readers verify details and consider additional research to ensure the information meets their specific needs.

Quick Read

  • The best lead generation tools include Visme, HubSpot, Ahrefs, Unbounce, Sprout Social, Mailchimp, Livestorm, Typeform, LinkedIn Sales Navigator, Google Ads, Intercom and Calendly.
  • Visme is a powerful lead generation tool that can help you create no-code interactive forms with ready-made templates, animated characters, branding capabilities, asset library and integrations with other apps.
  • Start by choosing one of our professionally designed form templates. Replace the placeholder text with your own and upload branding assets to the template.
  • Take things to the next level by adding animations, characters and interactivity to your designs, and embed them into your websites to collect leads.

12 Best Lead Generation Tools

Jump to: 

  1. Visme
  2. HubSpot
  3. Uniqode
  4. Unbounce
  5. Sprout Social
  6. Mailchimp
  7. Livestorm
  8. Typeform
  9. LinkedIn Sales Navigator
  10. Google Ads
  11. Intercom
  12. Ahrefs
  13. Calendly

 

1. Visme

Best Lead Generation Tools - Visme

Best for: Creating engaging visual content and interactive lead generation forms.

Visme is a powerful tool designed to help you create visually stunning content, including lead magnets and interactive lead generation forms.

Best Online Form Builders - Visme forms home page

In fact, Visme’s form builder can help you generate up to 2x more conversions. Use ready-made form templates or start from scratch to create unique, animated lead forms for newsletter sign-ups, blog subscriptions, lead magnet downloads and more.

Choose your Form Template

Customize your forms with fields to gather email addresses, names, phone numbers and more. The best part? It’s no-code, which means you can design to your heart’s content and easily generate HTML to embed the form on your website. Or, share it with a link or QR code!

You can also design irresistible lead magnets in Visme using templates for ebooks, guides, reports, cheatsheets, checklists, whitepapers and more. Add them to your Visme forms in exchange for contact info or create a separate landing page to attract and gather leads.

Now let’s talk about data. Thanks to our integrations, you can sync any info you collect with your forms with other marketing tools you use like HubSpot, Mailchimp and Google Sheets. You can also track the performance and engagement on your forms using Visme’s form analytics.

Visme form integrations

Finally, our branding features ensure your forms are always consistent with the design of your other projects, including presentations, infographics and documents. Upload your Brand Kit to Visme and apply your colors, fonts and logo to your forms with one click.

Features

Pricing

  • Basic: Free
  • Starter: $12.25/month
  • Pro: $24.75/month
  • Visme for Teams: Request for pricing

Note: Visme offers discounted pricing plans for students, educators and nonprofits.

 

2. HubSpot

Best Lead Generation Tools - HubSpot

Best for: Customer relationship management (CRM) and marketing automation.

HubSpot is a top CRM and marketing automation platform, ideal for all kinds of businesses. Its main focus is to help you streamline customer relationships and inbound marketing efforts.

Best Lead Generation Tools - HubSpot

Their Marketing Hub offers a suite of tools to help you generate leads, such as opt-in forms, landing pages, email marketing, campaign and contact management, analytics and reporting.

Other than marketing tools, HubSpot also offers a range of solutions for sales, customer service, operations and B2B commerce. You can integrate everything to streamline your business processes and keep all important data in one place.

Features

  • Build high-converting forms and landing pages
  • Marketing automation for emails, lead scoring and follow-ups
  • Contact management to log sales activities and stay up-to-date
  • View, manage, execute and collaborate on campaigns
  • Live chat for real-time support and fast customer service
  • Detailed analytics and reporting to measure performance

Pricing

Plans for individuals and small teams:

  • Free plan with limited tools
  • Starter: Starts at $18/month
  • CRM Suite Starter: Starts at $20/month
  • Professional: Starts at $800/month

Plans for businesses and enterprises:

  • Professional: Starts at $800/month
  • Enterprise: Starts at $3,600/month

 

3. Uniqode

Best for: Professional networking and offline lead generation

Uniqode's digital business cards transform networking into lead generation. Effortlessly share your contact details via link, QR code, or mobile wallet, while capturing valuable lead information in return.

Uniqode

Streamline your sales process with seamless integrations to top CRMs like Salesforce and HubSpot. Automate follow-ups and nurture leads efficiently, freeing up your time for what matters most.

Features

  • Inbuilt analytics - Track interactions with your digital business cards
  • Collect leads with one click with Two-way contact sharing feature
  • Save all leads collected into your digital address book
  • Add links to 10+ social media links

Pricing

Tiered pricing plans based on your team size and needs:

  • 1-9 users: $6 per user/month
  • 10-49 users: $5 per user/month
  • 50+ users: $4 per user/month

 

4. Unbounce

Best Lead Generation Tools - Unbounce

Best for: Landing page creation and optimization.

Unbounce is an inbound lead generation landing page builder that helps users create visually appealing and highly effective landing pages without any coding expertise.

Best Lead Generation Tools - Unbounce

The platform offers an intuitive drag-and-drop builder and a range of customizable templates that make designing custom, responsive landing pages a breeze.

One of their best features is dynamic text replacement, which tailors content to individual visitors, enhancing the personalization of marketing campaigns.

Users can also A/B test their landing pages to see what works best for their target audience, including headlines, images and videos, CTAs, page layout, font styles and navigation links.

Unbounce also integrates seamlessly with various CRMs, email marketing platforms and analytics tools, making it a versatile choice for businesses looking to boost their conversion rates with targeted, well-crafted landing pages.

Features

  • Drag-and-drop builder for easy, custom landing pages
  • Real-time analytics for tracking page performance
  • Dynamic text replacement for personalized content
  • A/B testing for optimized page performance

Pricing

  • Launch: $99/month
  • Optimize: $145/month
  • Accelerate: $240/month
  • Concierge: Starts at $625/month

 

5. Sprout Social

Best Lead Generation Tools - Sprout Social

Best for: Social media scheduling, listening and analytics.

Sprout Social is a social media management tool that allows businesses to manage their online presence across multiple platforms, including X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, WhatsApp, YouTube and LinkedIn.

Best Lead Generation Tools - Sprout Social

A strong online presence helps your brand get more exposure, build trust and credibility, generate engagement and attract potential leads.
Sprout offers a range of features, including the ability to schedule posts, monitor social media conversations and engage with audiences—all essential to building a strong social footprint.

It also comes with an influencer marketing feature where brands can identify, engage and collaborate with influencers and content creators. This is especially useful for brands looking to expand their reach, tap into new audiences and add authenticity to their marketing efforts.

The platform's robust analytics and detailed reporting capabilities make it easier to track performance metrics and ROI from social media campaigns and help create data-driven social media strategies that work.

Features

  • Unified social media management and scheduling
  • Social listening to track brand mentions and trends
  • Detailed analytics for audience engagement insights
  • Multi-account management for streamlined workflows

Pricing

  • Standard: $249/month
  • Professional: $399/month
  • Advanced: $499/month
  • Enterprise: Contact for pricing

 

6. Mailchimp

Best Lead Generation Tools - Mailchimp

Best for: Email marketing automation.

Mailchimp is one of the best email lead generation tools out there. It allows users to create, automate and manage email marketing campaigns with ease.

It comes with an intuitive drag-and-drop builder, a variety of pre-designed templates and detailed analytics features that allow users to not only create engaging emails but also track their open rates, click-through rates and overall campaign performances.

Best Lead Generation Tools - Mailchimp

It has an AI growth assistant that lets users draft emails, segment customers based on their purchase history, behavior, email engagement and web activity, and create fully automated personalized campaigns, from welcome emails to complex nurturing sequences.

Mailchimp also offers advanced A/B testing tools that allow businesses to test and optimize their emails. Experiment with subject lines, CTAs, from-name, content, send time and much more to find out the perfect combination.

Features

  • Automated email marketing campaigns and sequences
  • Audience segmentation for targeted messaging
  • Detailed performance analytics for emails

Pricing

  • Free: $0
  • Essential: Starts at $13/month (30-day free trial available)
  • Standard: Starts at $20/month (30-day free trial available)
  • Premium: Starts at $350/month

 

7. Livestorm

Best Lead Generation Tools - Livestorm

Best for: Hosting virtual events and webinars.

Livestorm is a video engagement platform that allows users to easily host live, on-demand or automated virtual events.

Hosting events is a proven way to generate leads. For example, Visme regularly hosts informative webinars about design, data visualization and content creation, which require attendees to register with their contact information.

Best Lead Generation Tools - Livestorm

Livestorm offers a seamless experience for both organizers and attendees, with features like branding, one-click invites, customizable registration pages and unlimited email reminders.

It encourages audience engagement through polls, Q&A sessions, instant replays, breakout rooms and chat features. Once the event is over, the platform also provides detailed analytics, offering insights into attendee engagement, participation rates and overall event success.

Livestorm integrates with plenty of apps and tools, including Visme. Use Visme to design compelling presentations and showcase them in webinars or virtual meetings.

Features

  • Host live, on-demand, or automated webinars
  • In-webinar interactivity like polls and Q&As
  • Detailed analytics for attendee engagement

Pricing

  • Free: $0
  • Pro: Starts at $79/month
  • Contact Sales for Business & Enterprise plans

 

8. Typeform

Best Lead Generation Tools - Typeform

Best for: Creating interactive surveys, quizzes and forms.

Next on our list of tools for lead generation is Typeform. It has redefined the experience of creating and filling out surveys, quizzes and forms by focusing on user interaction and design.

The platform is known for its clean, intuitive and engaging interface, making data collection fun for everyone.

Best Lead Generation Tools - Typeform

One of their best features is the ability to create conversational forms that feel more like a dialogue than a series of questions, ultimately increasing completion rates.

They have a bunch of ready-to-use templates with a range of customization options, allowing brands to align the look and feel of their forms and surveys with their visual identity.

Users can also integrate Typeform with Visme. Create interactive surveys, quizzes and forms using Typeform and embed them onto any Visme project. Collect data, leads, feedback, or any other information—all within your Visme designs.

Features

  • Interactive and user-friendly form and survey creation
  • Custom design options for brand consistency
  • Personalized user paths with logic jumps

Pricing

  • Free: $0
  • Basic: $25/month
  • Plus: $50/month
  • Business: $83/month
  • Enterprise: Contact Sales

 

9. LinkedIn Sales Navigator

Best Lead Generation Tools - LinkedIn Sales Navigator

Best for: Identifying and connecting with high-quality leads.

LinkedIn Sales Navigator is one of the best B2B lead generation tools out there, especially because of the enormous amounts of company information it already has in its databases.

Best Lead Generation Tools - LinkedIn Sales Navigator

Users can take advantage of LinkedIn's extensive professional network and find and connect with potential leads and decision-makers within their target markets. Or let the platform give personalized lead recommendations based on your company sales preferences and interactions.

Use LinkedIn’s advanced search capabilities to filter prospects based on company size, industry, occupation, or job title. You can even use the InMail feature to communicate directly with prospects, even those outside your network.

Sales Navigator also provides real-time insights into company changes, news and updates that allow sales professionals to stay up to speed and approach leads with the correct information. Overall, it’s one of the best sales lead generation tools on this list.

Features

  • Advanced lead search with custom filters
  • Personalized lead recommendations
  • InMail for direct contact with prospects
  • Real-time insights on company updates and news

Pricing

LinkedIn Sales Navigator has three pricing plans: Core, Advanced and Advanced Plus.

 

10. Google Ads

Best Lead Generation Tools - Google Ads

Best for: Managing and optimizing PPC campaigns.

Google Ads is one of the best lead generation tools for businesses looking to capitalize on search intent and maximize their online presence.

It gives businesses the control and flexibility they need to create and adjust campaigns based on specific keywords, demographics, locations, behavior, engagement, purchase history and much more — ultimately helping them increase visibility, drive targeted traffic and generate leads quickly.

Best Lead Generation Tools - Google Ads

Brands can use the Customer Match feature to reach and re-engage with existing customers across multiple platforms, including Search, Shopping, YouTube and Gmail. Or let Google analyze your customer data and send targeted ads to similar audiences.

They can also track the performance of their ads in real time, gaining insights into click-through rates, conversion rates, Cost Per Click (CPC), Cost Per Acquisition (CPA), bounce rates and ROI.

Features

  • Targeted PPC advertising campaigns.
  • Detailed targeting options, including keywords and demographics
  • Real-time bidding and ad performance tracking

Pricing

Google Ads operates primarily on a pay-per-click (PPC) basis, meaning advertisers pay each time a user clicks on their ad.

The cost per click (CPC) varies significantly depending on the competitiveness of the keywords and the industry.

 

11. Intercom

Best Lead Generation Tools - Intercom

Best for: Offering real-time support with AI chatbots.

Intercom is a must-have tool for companies aiming to elevate their customer support efforts and transform website visitors into leads and customers.

Their AI-powered chatbots provide instant, personalized support to leads by not just answering queries, but by starting conversations and moving them along the sales funnel.

Best Lead Generation Tools - Intercom

Users can set up engagement rules within the app, so the chatbot won't pop up unless a condition is met. For instance, you can choose to activate the chatbot only when a visitor is on the pricing page or if they are returning to the website.

You even get even granular with user behavior and set triggers such as time spent on a certain page or if they interact with specific elements like links or forms. This ensures your chatbot engages visitors at the right moment.

Features

  • AI-driven chatbots for lead generation and engagement
  • Real-time messaging and support tools
  • Customizable engagement triggers for targeted interactions

Pricing

  • Essential: $39/seat/month
  • Advanced: $99/seat/month
  • Expert: $139/seat/month

12. Ahrefs

Best Lead Generation Tools - Ahrefs

Best for: Search engine optimization (SEO) and competitor research.

Ahrefs offers a suite of SEO tools to help businesses optimize their website, research competitors and find content gaps in their niche.

This helps you boost your brand’s visibility and attract potential leads by securing high search engine rankings.

Best Lead Generation Tools - Ahrefs

One of their best features is keyword research. You can look at in-depth reports for each keyword, including its difficulty, search volume, top-ranking articles, similar keywords and phrases, and much more—both globally and by specific regions.

Users can also research the top keywords their competitors are ranking for, and scan their websites’ top pages and URLs to study the content.

The platform also offers robust analytical capabilities, detailed backlink reports, site auditing, rank tracking and a user-friendly interface. This makes it a great pick for both beginners and seasoned experts.

Features

  • Comprehensive site audits for SEO improvement
  • In-depth analysis of site traffic and backlinks
  • Extensive keyword research with volume and difficulty data
  • Trending topics and content gap discovery
  • Backlink profile monitoring and analysis
  • Search engine rank tracking for websites

Pricing

  • Lite: Starts at $99/month
  • Standard: Starts at $199/month
  • Advanced: Starts at $399/month
  • Enterprise: Starts at $999/month

 

13. Calendly

Best Lead Generation Tools - Calendly

Best for: Scheduling calls and meetings with prospects.

Calendly is an excellent lead generation tool that helps businesses streamline their appointment-setting process and boost productivity.

The platform’s intuitive interface allows users to define their availability and share customizable booking links with clients or even embed them on websites.

Best Lead Generation Tools - Calendly

Prospects can then easily set up meetings, appointments, demos, and sales calls with you at times that work for both parties, effectively eliminating the back-and-forth usually associated with scheduling. After all, the best appointment-setting process should be painless so that prospects are more likely to stay the course in your lead funnel

And with features like automated reminders and confirmation emails, Calendly helps reduce no-shows and ensures the efficiency of your scheduling process.

Features

  • Automated scheduling for calls and meetings
  • Custom availability settings and calendar syncing
  • Automated reminders and follow-ups

Pricing

  • Free: $0
  • Standard: $10/seat/month
  • Teams: $16/seat/month
  • Enterprise: Contact Sales

 

Lead Generation Tools FAQs

Q. What Are the Best Lead Generation Tools?

There's no one-size-fits-all when it comes to lead generation tools, especially because each tool caters to particular business needs. Some of the most widely recognized ones include Visme for content creation and form building, Ahrefs for SEO and competitor analysis, Mailchimp for email marketing automation, LinkedIn Sales Navigator for B2B lead generation and Google Ads for pay-per-click advertising campaigns.

Other notable tools include Sprout Social for social media management, Calendly for appointment scheduling and Intercom for AI chatbots.

Q. What Are Lead Generation Tools?

Lead generation tools are software that helps businesses identify potential customers, engage with them and ultimately convert them into leads.

They can be related to anything—from SEO and email marketing tools to social media management and CRM systems.

Q. What Are the Best Lead Generation Tools for Realtors?

The best lead generation tools for realtors include Real Geeks, CINC, Market Leader and Ylopo. They are known for their effectiveness in generating high-quality leads, providing customizable solutions and offering integrated CRM capabilities.

They cater to various needs, from individual agents to large teams and specialize in different aspects of real estate lead generation, such as social media leads, exclusive buyer and seller leads and automated nurturing systems.

Q. What Do You Need for Lead Generation?

A combination of tools and strategies is needed for effective lead generation. Some of the key elements include a user-friendly website, content creation tool to curate presentations, forms and eBooks, SEO tools for online visibility, CRM software for managing leads, email marketing platforms for nurturing leads, social media channels for engagement and analytics tools for tracking performance and ROI.

 

Maximize Your Lead Generation with Visme

Take your lead generation strategy to the next level with Visme's lead form builder.

Create forms from scratch or use one of our professionally designed templates to get started. Add icons, animations and interactivity to your designs, embed them into your websites and track their performance.

Better yet, create engaging lead magnets like ebooks, research reports, checklists, videos and more to attract potential buyers.

Make them interactive—incorporate links, videos and flipbooks—and publish them online. Add them to your forms or create landing pages to showcase your amazing content.

With Visme, you're not just collecting leads; you’re creating unforgettable experiences for your prospects. Sign up to start creating interactive, engaging forms that convert.

*Disclaimer: The comparisons and competitor ratings presented in this article are based on features available as of Dec 22, 2023. We conduct thorough research and draw on both first-hand experience and reputable sources to provide reliable insights. However, as tools and technologies evolve, we recommend readers verify details and consider additional research to ensure the information meets their specific needs.

Zain Zia
Written by Zain Zia

Meet Zain: freelance writer for B2B SaaS by day and YouTube content creator by night. He specializes in transforming complex, technical ideas into simple, engaging and actionable content. When he’s not working, he’s busy being a dad, playing soccer or planning his next family trip around the world. He’s currently based in Antalya where he lives right next to the beach. Connect with him on LinkedIn or check out his portfolio.

Create Beautiful Forms That Convert.

Improve your data collection from emails, leads, to surveys and more, by using beautifully designed forms that convert up 2X better.

Signup Free

Recommended content for you