Find and verify emails for HubSpot prospects using Apollo and Hunter in Zapier

Prerequisites

Overview

This Zap runs on a schedule, fetches HubSpot contacts missing email addresses, finds emails via Apollo, verifies them with Hunter, and writes verified emails back to HubSpot. Because Zapier doesn't have native Apollo or Hunter integrations for these endpoints, you'll use Webhooks by Zapier for the API calls.

Step 1: Add a Schedule trigger

Create a new Zap. Choose Schedule by Zapier:

• Trigger event: Every Day
• Time of day: 6:00am
• Timezone: Your team's timezone

Step 2: Search HubSpot for contacts without emails

Add a Webhooks by Zapier action:

• Action event: Custom Request
• Method: POST
• URL: https://api.hubapi.com/crm/v3/objects/contacts/search
• Headers:
  • Authorization: Bearer YOUR_HUBSPOT_TOKEN
  • Content-Type: application/json
• Data:

{
  "filterGroups": [{
    "filters": [
      {"propertyName": "email", "operator": "NOT_HAS_PROPERTY"},
      {"propertyName": "firstname", "operator": "HAS_PROPERTY"},
      {"propertyName": "company", "operator": "HAS_PROPERTY"}
    ]
  }],
  "properties": ["firstname", "lastname", "company", "domain"],
  "limit": 20
}

Step 3: Find the email via Apollo

Inside the loop, add a Webhooks by Zapier action:

• Method: POST
• URL: https://api.apollo.io/api/v1/people/match
• Headers:
  • x-api-key: Your Apollo API key
  • Content-Type: application/json
• Data:

{
  "first_name": "{{first_name}}",
  "last_name": "{{last_name}}",
  "organization_name": "{{company}}"
}

Map the fields from the looped contact data.

Step 4: Filter — only continue if Apollo found an email

Add a Filter by Zapier step:

• Field: person__email from the Apollo response
• Condition: Exists
• Continue if: The condition is met

Add a second filter to skip already-verified emails:

• Field: person__email_status from the Apollo response
• Condition: Does not exactly match verified
• Continue if: The condition is met (send to Hunter for verification)

For already-verified emails, add a separate Path that skips Hunter and goes straight to HubSpot update.

Step 5: Verify with Hunter

On Path B (unverified emails), add a Webhooks by Zapier action:

• Method: GET
• URL: https://api.hunter.io/v2/email-verifier?email={{person_email}}&api_key=YOUR_HUNTER_KEY

Map {{person_email}} from the Apollo response.

Add a Filter by Zapier step:

• Field: data__result from the Hunter response
• Condition: Exactly matches deliverable

Step 6: Update the HubSpot contact

On both paths (Apollo-verified and Hunter-verified), add a HubSpot action:

• Action event: Update Contact
• Contact to update: Map the Contact ID from the search results
• Email: Map the email from Apollo

For custom properties, use Webhooks by Zapier with a PATCH to the HubSpot API:

{
  "properties": {
    "email": "{{verified_email}}",
    "email_verification_status": "verified",
    "email_source": "apollo+hunter"
  }
}

Step 7: Test and publish

1. Test each step individually to verify data flows correctly
2. Run the full Zap with test data
3. Check HubSpot to confirm the email and verification status were written
4. Turn the Zap On

Cost and task usage

• Zapier Professional: $29.99/mo (750 tasks). Each contact uses ~5-7 tasks per loop iteration.
• With 20 contacts/day: ~100-140 tasks/day = ~3,000-4,200 tasks/month. You'll likely need the Team plan ($69.99/mo, 2,000 tasks) or higher.
• Apollo: 1 credit per lookup ($49/mo Basic = 900 credits)
• Hunter: 1 credit per verification ($49/mo Starter = 1,000 verifications)

Limitations

• Looping complexity — Zapier's Looping feature works but adds task costs and makes the Zap harder to debug
• No bulk API support — each contact requires individual API calls; there's no way to batch Apollo lookups in Zapier
• Flat response mapping — Zapier flattens Apollo's nested response, which can make field mapping confusing

Next steps

• Add delay steps — insert a Delay by Zapier step (1 second) between loop iterations to stay within Apollo's rate limits
• Add a completion notification — add a Slack message at the end of the Zap summarizing how many emails were found and verified
• Handle risky emails — create a separate Path for Hunter's risky result that flags the contact for manual review