Verified purchaser
Promising Idea, But Not Ready for Real Use
I tested Pubrio hoping it could be a low-cost alternative for lead generation, but my experience was far below expectations.
1. Credit usage is extremely high
I consumed 160 credits just to get 25 contacts, which makes it one of the most credit-inefficient tools I’ve used. Credits are deducted for simple actions like viewing a contact, which adds up very quickly.
2. Very low email accuracy
Out of 25 records, the tool only found 10 emails, and only about 20% of those were valid after verification. This makes the large database size far less meaningful in practice.
3. Filtering and search are weak
The search experience is clunky and nowhere close to tools like Apollo.io. Limited filters make it difficult to narrow down relevant leads, which results in wasting even more credits.
4. Export and plan limits look big but aren’t practical
The export limit of 25,000 sounds generous, but with the current credit burn rate, it’s impossible to reach. In reality, the credits run out long before you can use the platform meaningfully.
5. Not suitable for cold email teams or agencies
If you run multiple inboxes or need scalable outbound, Pubrio simply can’t support the volume. The credit system makes consistent usage unrealistic.
Conclusion
Pubrio has potential on paper, but the actual functionality, data accuracy, and credit efficiency fall far short of what’s needed for real outbound or agency use. I hope the team improves the tool, but in its current state, it’s not a viable data source for anyone running serious cold email.
king_lai_pubrio
Dec 8, 2025Hi growthninja!
Thank you so much for giving Pubrio a try and for sharing such detailed feedback — it really helps us improve faster. Let’s go through each point together and see how we can make your next experience smoother.
1️⃣ Credit usage and efficiency
You’re absolutely right that credit management is key. Credits are consumed for different actions to cover maintenance and enrichment costs, but under normal patterns, simple viewing consumes less than 1% of total credits. For your 160-credit case, it likely included some email redemptions or deeper data lookups.
Still, we take your note seriously — our team is optimizing email and phone retrieval credit logic so you can maximize output from each credit.
2️⃣ Email accuracy
That result definitely shouldn’t happen. Our internal benchmark shows 83%+ verified deliverability, so something must be off with that batch. If you could share the list (privately), our data team will audit it and issue replacement credits where needed. Improving this accuracy is one of our top short-term goals.
3️⃣ Search and filtering
You’ve raised a great point - search precision is critical. Pubrio already includes over 20 filters, such as industry, company size, location, job title, technology used (e.g. Shopify, HubSpot, Salesforce), language, and domain keywords. For example, you can find “marketing directors in Spain working at Shopify brands with 10–200 employees” in one go.
That said, we agree the experience can still feel less intuitive than tools like Apollo. We’re currently redesigning the search interface to make it more visual and faster — with saved filters, advanced boolean logic, and smart suggestions to improve targeting.
4️⃣ Export and usage limits
The 25K export cap exists mainly for performance safety, and in practice most users combine search + engagement directly within the platform. Still, your point about the real-world usability is valid, and we’re reviewing credit tiers and bulk usage options to make scaling easier for power users.
5️⃣ Suitability for agencies and outbound teams
Pubrio is built to support scalable outbound operations — including multiple inboxes, custom lead imports, and automated email / Linkedin sequences. The execution cost per sequence step is very low: for example, if you set a 4-step sequence for your leads, you can engage over 500 leads per month (with verified emails) under Tier 5 - and that’s forever. This makes it far more affordable than most cold email platforms when you consider both data + automation combined. For agencies, we also offer bulk credit plans, custom seat limits, and API integrations, so you can manage multiple clients efficiently in one workspace.
Appreciate you taking time to test and share your thoughts. We’re improving rapidly based on feedback like yours — and would love to offer you a bonus credit test with the upcoming improvements if you’d like to give it another spin.
Cheers!
King