7 Free Sales Prospecting Tools That Every New SDR Should Use

Jim Rohn once said:

“To succeed in sales, simply talk to lots of people every day. And here’s what’s exciting—there are lots of people!”

If you’re just starting out as a Sales Development Representative (SDR), you already know how true that feels. Sales prospecting is really just about finding the right people, starting conversations, and turning those conversations into opportunities. But here’s the catch: getting that first “yes” is often harder than closing a deal.

Closing is thrilling—it’s like climbing a mountain and planting your flag on the peak. Prospecting, on the other hand, can feel like a grind. Most of the time, you’re met with silence or rejection. In fact, four out of five times you reach out, the response you get is a polite (or sometimes not-so-polite) “no.”

It’s no surprise then that more than 40% of sales reps say prospecting is the hardest part of their job, tougher than qualifying or even closing. But here’s the good news: prospecting doesn’t have to feel like endless cold calls and unanswered emails. With the right sales prospecting tools, especially the newer generation of AI sales prospecting tools, you can make the process smarter, faster, and way more productive.

Think of these tools as a support crew. They help you research faster, personalize better, and automate the busy work so you can spend more time building real relationships with your prospects.

So, if you’re building your outbound prospecting toolkit, here are some of the best and free sales prospecting tools every new SDR should know about. These aren’t ranked in any particular order, because the “best” tool really depends on your workflow, your company’s sales process, and the kind of prospects you’re chasing.

And if you stick with me until the end, I’ll share a few bonus recommendations too.

1. Lavender.ai

Cold email is often the first touchpoint in outbound prospecting. 

It’s also the touchpoint where most SDRs stumble. Your email either gets ignored, deleted, or, worst of all, marked as spam. 

The difference between a dead email and one that sparks a reply often comes down to two things: relevance and clarity.

That’s where Lavender.ai shines. Think of it as Grammarly for sales emails, but built with the SDR in mind. It doesn’t just correct grammar; it analyzes the structure, tone, and personalization of your emails to help you land more replies.

Here’s what makes it powerful for SDRs:

• Email analysis and scoring: Lavender gives your message a score based on clarity, tone, and structure. If your message is too long, too complex, or too generic, you’ll know right away.
• Personalization insights: It pulls in recipient data—like LinkedIn bios, social profiles, and even personality traits—so you can add meaningful context without spending hours researching.
• Coaching dashboard: Lavender shows you trends in your emails and points out what’s actually working. Over time, you learn what makes your audience respond.
• AI writing assistance: If you’re stuck, you can start with a short prompt and Lavender will generate a message draft you can refine.

For a new SDR, this tool takes a lot of the stress out of email prospecting. You don’t need to second-guess every sentence—you get real-time feedback before you hit send. Lavender has a free plan (with limited features), which is great when you’re starting out. Paid plans start at $29/month, but the free version is enough to sharpen your early email game.

If you’re looking for one of the best AI tools for sales prospecting focused purely on outbound email, Lavender is worth adding to your stack.

2. Hunter.io

Even the best-written email won’t matter if you can’t reach the right person. 

That’s why SDRs spend a big chunk of time just trying to track down accurate contact information. 

Starting with Hunter.io, all we can say is that a lot of sales people regard this program as a classic tool in the world of prospecting.

Hunter helps you find professional email addresses tied to a company’s domain. Say you’re trying to reach an IT manager at Acme IT Solutions but you don’t have their email. All you need to do is type “acmeIT.com” into Hunter, and you’ll get a list of verified email addresses at that company.

For outbound sales prospecting, that’s gold. Here’s why SDRs love it:

• Domain search: Pulls up email addresses connected to a company’s domain.
• Email verification: No more wasted time on bounced emails. Hunter verifies addresses so you know your message will land.
• Chrome extension: Find and save email addresses directly while browsing LinkedIn or company sites.
• Cold email campaigns: Hunter also lets you send and track email campaigns directly inside the tool, so you can manage outreach without switching platforms.

Hunter has a free plan that gives you 25 searches per month. Paid plans start at $49/month, but the free version is often enough for SDRs who are prospecting in smaller batches.

If you’re asking what are the best AI sales tools for outbound prospecting?

Hunter isn’t strictly AI-driven, but it pairs perfectly with AI writing tools like Lavender. Together, they cover both “finding the contact” and “crafting the message.”

3. Apollo.io

While Hunter is focused on finding emails, Apollo.io takes things several steps further. Think of Apollo as an all-in-one AI-powered sales prospecting tool that combines data, outreach, and analytics.

What makes Apollo stand out is the size and quality of its database. With over 220 million contacts and 30 million businesses, you can build highly targeted lists of prospects in just a few clicks.

But Apollo doesn’t stop at data. It also helps you:

• Collect verified emails and phone numbers directly from LinkedIn.
• Segment prospects using over 200+ filters (like company size, tech stack, funding stage, etc.).
• Build sequences that mix emails, calls, and LinkedIn touches.
• Get insights into what’s working with real-time analytics through its Intelligence Engine.

For new SDRs, Apollo is like a Swiss army knife. You can do your prospect research, build a list, launch outreach campaigns, and measure results—all without leaving the platform.

Apollo’s free plan gives you 50 credits per month, which is plenty to start testing outbound campaigns. If you’re serious about outbound sales, this is one of the top AI sales agent tools that automate prospecting and help you scale faster.

4. LinkedIn Sales Navigator

If outbound prospecting is about “going where your prospects are,” then LinkedIn is the obvious place to be. It’s where decision-makers hang out, and it’s where SDRs can build real professional connections. 

But searching and filtering manually on LinkedIn eats up time. That’s why LinkedIn created Sales Navigator, a prospecting tool built directly into the platform.

Sales Navigator helps you:

• Get customized lead suggestions based on your ideal customer profile.
• Reach people outside your immediate network with InMail.
• Track real-time updates like job changes or company news.
• Organize prospects with notes and tags.
• Sync leads with supported CRMs.

For SDRs, the biggest advantage is that Sales Navigator lets you cut through LinkedIn’s massive network and zero in on the people who actually fit your target profile.

The downside? You can’t export leads as a CSV or XLS file, which makes it a little less flexible than other tools. That said, for outbound prospecting, Sales Navigator is still one of the best sales prospecting tools available, especially when combined with a strong outreach strategy.

There’s a free trial if you qualify, but after that, plans start at $79.99/month. It’s pricey compared to the others on this list, but for serious SDRs working in B2B, it’s often worth the cost.

5. Pidgi

Most prospecting tools focus on finding new contacts. Pidgi takes a different angle—it helps you reconnect with people who’ve already used your product in the past. That’s a clever twist, because reaching out to someone who already knows your product often leads to warmer conversations.

Here’s what Pidgi offers:

• Identifies past users of your product when they move to new companies.
• Tracks job changes at your target accounts.
• Sends email alerts when prospects leave, join, or change roles.
• Refreshes contact data monthly.
• Integrates with CRM systems.

For SDRs, Pidgi cuts down on the time you’d normally spend tracking people manually on LinkedIn. 

Imagine knowing the moment a power user of your software joins a new company, that’s an instant warm lead for you.

Pidgi reportedly has a free trial, though pricing details aren’t public.

 You’ll likely need to talk to their sales team to test it out. But for SDRs in SaaS especially, this is one of the AI tools for sales prospecting that can give you a real edge.

6. Aircall

Cold calling isn’t dead—it’s just evolved. And if you’re an SDR, you’ll probably be making more calls than you’d like to admit. Aircall is a phone system built to make that process less painful and more efficient.

Unlike traditional call center software, Aircall is designed with sales teams in mind. Here’s why SDRs should care:

• Click-to-dial: No more copy-pasting numbers.
• CRM integrations: Calls log automatically, so you don’t waste time updating records.
• Call tagging and organization: Makes it easy to track campaigns and follow-ups.
• Post-call workflows: Automates notes, assignments, and follow-ups so you can move straight to the next call.

When you connect Aircall with conversation intelligence tools like Avoma, you can even record, transcribe, and analyze calls. That means SDRs not only make more calls, but also learn from every conversation to refine their approach.

Aircall isn’t free forever, but it does offer trials and affordable entry-level pricing. For outbound SDRs, it’s one of the AI sales tools that automate prospecting and outreach on the phone channel.

7. Outreach.io

Finally, we have Outreach—one of the most well-known names in sales engagement. While many tools on this list specialize in one aspect of prospecting, Outreach brings it all together.

Outreach is more than just an email sequencer. It’s a full sales engagement platform that helps SDRs:

• Build outbound sequences across email, calls, and LinkedIn.
• Track engagement across every channel.
• Automate reminders and follow-ups.
• Use AI insights to improve messaging and targeting.
• Give managers visibility into SDR performance for coaching.

For outbound SDR teams, Outreach is like mission control. Everything from prospecting to outreach to tracking lives in one platform. That makes it one of the best AI tools for sales prospecting if you want to scale beyond the basics.

The downside is cost, Outreach doesn’t list pricing publicly, and it tends to be on the higher end. But many SDR teams swear by it as the backbone of their outbound process.

Wrapping up: Building your outbound SDR toolkit

Prospecting is tough. It’s the part of sales that requires the most discipline, the thickest skin, and the sharpest tools. The good news is, you don’t have to tackle it empty-handed.

From writing better emails (Lavender), to finding the right contacts (Hunter), to building sequences (Apollo and Outreach), to smarter calling (Aircall), to leveraging networks (Sales Navigator), to re-engaging warm leads (Pidgi)—these sales prospecting tools give SDRs a massive advantage.

If you’re asking:

• Where to buy AI-powered sales prospecting tools? Most of these tools offer free plans or trials right on their websites—perfect for SDRs getting started.
• What top AI sales agent tools automate prospecting? Apollo and Outreach are the standouts for scaling.
• What AI sales tools automate prospecting and outreach? Tools like Apollo, Outreach, and Aircall combine automation with personalization.

The trick is not to overwhelm yourself with too many platforms at once. 

Pick one or two that solve your biggest bottleneck—maybe email personalization, maybe contact finding—and get comfortable with those first.

Remember, prospecting is about momentum. Like Jeb Blount says in Fanatical Prospecting: “One more call.” The right tools just make that call, email, or LinkedIn message more effective.

So start simple, stay consistent, and let these tools handle the heavy lifting while you focus on what really matters: building relationships and creating opportunities.