# Decision-Maker Email Finder — Cheapest & Most Reliable (`scrapersdelight/decision-maker-email-finder`) Actor

Turn a company domain into decision-maker leads — name, title, best-guess work email, detected email pattern, confidence, and MX validation. Scrapes the company's own team/leadership/about pages. No paid API, no login.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/scrapersdelight/decision-maker-email-finder.md
- **Developed by:** [Scrapers Delight](https://apify.com/scrapersdelight) (community)
- **Categories:** Automation, Lead generation, Agents
- **Stats:** 3 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$0.80 / 1,000 per decision-maker returneds

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md):

```bash
npm install apify-client
```

In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md):

```bash
pip install apify-client
```

In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md):

````bash
# MacOS / Linux
curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash
# Windows
irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex
```bash

In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md).

If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).


# README

## 🎯 Decision-Maker Email Finder — Cheapest & Most Reliable

**Give it a company domain, get back the decision-makers — name, job title, best-guess work email, the detected email pattern, an honest confidence grade, and MX validation.** It reads the company's own team / leadership / about pages, infers the domain's email format from real addresses on the site, and permutes it per person. No paid API, no login, no seat licence.

> 🕒 Last updated: 2026-07-09 · 🧭 Domain → named decision-makers → email · 🔎 Pattern-inferred + MX-validated · 🚫 No API key or login · 💵 $0.80 / 1,000 leads

Most email finders charge $50–200/mo for a credit bucket. This one is **pay-per-lead at $0.0008 each** and shows its work: every email is labelled `observed` (derived from a real address published on the site) or `guessed` (the standard first.last pattern), MX-checked, and graded `high` / `medium` / `low` so you know exactly what you're sending to.

---

### What it does

- 🧑‍💼 **Finds the humans, not a mailbox** — pulls decision-maker **name + title** from the company's team / leadership / about pages (schema.org structured data first, then a resilient card parser).
- 🧩 **Detects the email pattern** — scans any real emails on the site and works out the format (`first.last@`, `flast@`, `first@`, …) by matching addresses to names.
- ✉️ **Builds the email per person** — permutes the detected (or standard) pattern for each decision-maker; if a person's real address is on the page, it uses that verbatim.
- ✅ **MX-validates the domain** — confirms the domain actually accepts mail (`dns.resolveMx`), and returns the mail server.
- 📊 **Grades confidence honestly** — `high` (pattern observed on-site / email published), `medium` (pattern observed but this address inferred, or valid MX), `low` (guessed pattern, no MX).
- 🎚️ **Filter by seniority** — C-suite only, all leadership (C-suite + VP + director + head), or anyone.

### 📊 Output fields

| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| `domain` | company domain |
| `name` / `firstName` / `lastName` | decision-maker name |
| `title` | job title as published |
| `seniority` | `c_suite` · `vp` · `director` · `head` · `other` |
| `email` | best-guess work email |
| `emailObserved` | `true` = this exact address was published on the site |
| `pattern` | email format used, e.g. `{f}{last}` |
| `patternSource` | `observed` (from a real on-site email) or `guessed` (default first.last) |
| `confidence` | `high` · `medium` · `low` |
| `mxValid` | domain has MX records (accepts mail) |
| `mailServer` | primary MX host |
| `catchAll` | `null` — **not determined** (see note below) |
| `candidateEmails` | alternative permutations to try |
| `source` | `team_page` · `jsonld` · `google_serp` |
| `sourceUrl` | page the name came from |

<details><summary>🧑‍💼 Sample record</summary>

```json
{
  "domain": "8thlight.com",
  "name": "Jenny Farver", "firstName": "jenny", "lastName": "farver",
  "title": "Chief Executive Officer", "seniority": "c_suite",
  "email": "jfarver@8thlight.com", "emailObserved": true,
  "pattern": "{f}{last}", "patternSource": "observed", "confidence": "high",
  "mxValid": true, "mailServer": "aspmx.l.google.com", "catchAll": null,
  "candidateEmails": ["jfarver@8thlight.com", "jenny.farver@8thlight.com", "jenny@8thlight.com"],
  "source": "team_page", "sourceUrl": "https://8thlight.com/team"
}
````

</details>

***

### Who it's for

- 🧲 **Sales & GTM teams** — build outbound lists straight from a domain; feed `email` + `confidence` into Clay, Instantly, Smartlead, Make, or n8n.
- 🧑‍💼 **Recruiters & agencies** — reach the hiring manager / department head, not `info@`.
- 📈 **Founders & BD** — get to the CEO/CTO of a target account in one run.
- 🛠️ **Data teams** — enrich a CRM list of domains with named contacts + inferred emails.

### How to use it

1. Click **Try for free**.
2. Add one or more **company domains** (e.g. `8thlight.com`, `stripe.com`).
3. *(Optional)* pick a **role tier** (C-suite / leadership / anyone) and a **max per domain**.
4. Click **Start**, then export from the **Dataset** tab (JSON, CSV, Excel, Google Sheets) or pull via API.

#### Examples

Leadership at three companies:

```json
{ "domains": ["8thlight.com", "stripe.com", "andela.com"], "roleTier": "leadership" }
```

Only the C-suite, capped at 5 per company:

```json
{ "domains": ["8thlight.com"], "roleTier": "c_suite", "maxContactsPerDomain": 5 }
```

Pull via API (run-sync):

```bash
curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/scrapersdelight~decision-maker-email-finder/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=YOUR_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "domains": ["8thlight.com"], "roleTier": "leadership" }'
```

***

### ❓ FAQ

**Do I need an API key or a paid email-finder subscription?** No. It reads public company web pages and does a DNS MX lookup. No account, no key, no credits bucket.

**How accurate are the emails?** Every record is labelled. `emailObserved: true` means the exact address was published on the site (as accurate as it gets). `patternSource: observed` means we saw the company's real email format on the site and applied it to this person (high accuracy). `patternSource: guessed` means we fell back to the standard `first.last@` format (verify before sending).

**Do you verify the email actually exists (SMTP)?** No — Apify blocks outbound port 25, so we do **not** SMTP-probe. We validate the domain's MX records (that it accepts mail) and grade confidence honestly. `catchAll` is returned as `null` because it cannot be determined without SMTP. Run a deliverability check before a large send.

**How much does it cost?** $0.80 per 1,000 leads ($0.0008 each) — pay only for decision-makers returned. Domains with no contacts found (or blocked) are returned free.

**What if a company has no team page?** Turn on the optional Google fallback (`useGoogleFallback`) to pull names from LinkedIn search results — best-effort, paced, and needs a residential proxy.

**Which pages does it read?** The company's own `/team`, `/about`, `/leadership`, `/our-team`, `/people` and similar pages, discovered from the homepage.

**Can I schedule it?** Yes — schedule the Actor over a list of domains to keep your contact data fresh.

### Notes & fair use

This Actor reads publicly available company web pages and performs a DNS MX lookup. Emails are **inferred** from the domain's public pattern, not verified deliverable. You are responsible for complying with each site's Terms of Service and with all applicable email/outreach and data-protection law (CAN-SPAM, GDPR, ePrivacy, etc.) in the recipient's jurisdiction.

# Actor input Schema

## `domains` (type: `array`):

One or more company domains (or any URL on the company's site). The Actor finds the team/leadership/about pages, extracts each decision-maker's name + title, and returns a best-guess work email. Examples: "stripe.com", "8thlight.com", "https://andela.com".

## `roleTier` (type: `string`):

Which seniority to keep. 'c\_suite' = CEO/CTO/CFO/founder/president only. 'leadership' = C-suite plus VP / director / head-of roles. 'any' = every named person found on the page.

## `maxContactsPerDomain` (type: `integer`):

Cap on decision-makers returned per company. 0 = every matching person found.

## `useGoogleFallback` (type: `boolean`):

If a company has no usable team/about page, search Google (site:linkedin.com/in) for decision-maker names. Best-effort, paced, and needs a residential proxy. Off by default so runs stay fast and reliable.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Overall cap on records returned this run across all domains. 0 = no limit.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Proxy settings. Company sites are arbitrary domains (some behind Cloudflare/WAF), so residential is the default for clean IP reputation. Override here if you prefer.

## `requestConcurrency` (type: `integer`):

How many company domains to process in parallel.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "domains": [
    "8thlight.com"
  ],
  "roleTier": "leadership",
  "maxContactsPerDomain": 25,
  "useGoogleFallback": false,
  "maxItems": 0,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": [
      "RESIDENTIAL"
    ]
  },
  "requestConcurrency": 5
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `decisionMakers` (type: `string`):

The dataset of decision-makers (one item per person: name, title, best-guess email, pattern, confidence, MX).

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "domains": [
        "8thlight.com"
    ],
    "roleTier": "leadership"
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("scrapersdelight/decision-maker-email-finder").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "domains": ["8thlight.com"],
    "roleTier": "leadership",
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("scrapersdelight/decision-maker-email-finder").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"])
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "domains": [
    "8thlight.com"
  ],
  "roleTier": "leadership"
}' |
apify call scrapersdelight/decision-maker-email-finder --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=scrapersdelight/decision-maker-email-finder",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

```json
{
    "openapi": "3.0.1",
    "info": {
        "title": "Decision-Maker Email Finder — Cheapest & Most Reliable",
        "description": "Turn a company domain into decision-maker leads — name, title, best-guess work email, detected email pattern, confidence, and MX validation. Scrapes the company's own team/leadership/about pages. No paid API, no login.",
        "version": "0.1",
        "x-build-id": "7qECf6jKKc6bnlSFR"
    },
    "servers": [
        {
            "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2"
        }
    ],
    "paths": {
        "/acts/scrapersdelight~decision-maker-email-finder/run-sync-get-dataset-items": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-scrapersdelight-decision-maker-email-finder",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK"
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "/acts/scrapersdelight~decision-maker-email-finder/runs": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "runs-sync-scrapersdelight-decision-maker-email-finder",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK",
                        "content": {
                            "application/json": {
                                "schema": {
                                    "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema"
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "/acts/scrapersdelight~decision-maker-email-finder/run-sync": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "run-sync-scrapersdelight-decision-maker-email-finder",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK"
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    },
    "components": {
        "schemas": {
            "inputSchema": {
                "type": "object",
                "properties": {
                    "domains": {
                        "title": "Company domains",
                        "type": "array",
                        "description": "One or more company domains (or any URL on the company's site). The Actor finds the team/leadership/about pages, extracts each decision-maker's name + title, and returns a best-guess work email. Examples: \"stripe.com\", \"8thlight.com\", \"https://andela.com\".",
                        "items": {
                            "type": "string"
                        }
                    },
                    "roleTier": {
                        "title": "Role tier to return",
                        "enum": [
                            "c_suite",
                            "leadership",
                            "any"
                        ],
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "Which seniority to keep. 'c_suite' = CEO/CTO/CFO/founder/president only. 'leadership' = C-suite plus VP / director / head-of roles. 'any' = every named person found on the page.",
                        "default": "leadership"
                    },
                    "maxContactsPerDomain": {
                        "title": "Max contacts per domain",
                        "minimum": 0,
                        "type": "integer",
                        "description": "Cap on decision-makers returned per company. 0 = every matching person found.",
                        "default": 25
                    },
                    "useGoogleFallback": {
                        "title": "Google fallback for names",
                        "type": "boolean",
                        "description": "If a company has no usable team/about page, search Google (site:linkedin.com/in) for decision-maker names. Best-effort, paced, and needs a residential proxy. Off by default so runs stay fast and reliable.",
                        "default": false
                    },
                    "maxItems": {
                        "title": "Max results (total)",
                        "minimum": 0,
                        "type": "integer",
                        "description": "Overall cap on records returned this run across all domains. 0 = no limit.",
                        "default": 0
                    },
                    "proxyConfiguration": {
                        "title": "Proxy",
                        "type": "object",
                        "description": "Proxy settings. Company sites are arbitrary domains (some behind Cloudflare/WAF), so residential is the default for clean IP reputation. Override here if you prefer.",
                        "default": {
                            "useApifyProxy": true,
                            "apifyProxyGroups": [
                                "RESIDENTIAL"
                            ]
                        }
                    },
                    "requestConcurrency": {
                        "title": "Request concurrency",
                        "minimum": 1,
                        "maximum": 20,
                        "type": "integer",
                        "description": "How many company domains to process in parallel.",
                        "default": 5
                    }
                }
            },
            "runsResponseSchema": {
                "type": "object",
                "properties": {
                    "data": {
                        "type": "object",
                        "properties": {
                            "id": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "actId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "userId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "startedAt": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "format": "date-time",
                                "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z"
                            },
                            "finishedAt": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "format": "date-time",
                                "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z"
                            },
                            "status": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "example": "READY"
                            },
                            "meta": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "origin": {
                                        "type": "string",
                                        "example": "API"
                                    },
                                    "userAgent": {
                                        "type": "string"
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "stats": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "inputBodyLen": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 2000
                                    },
                                    "rebootCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "restartCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "resurrectCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "computeUnits": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "options": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "build": {
                                        "type": "string",
                                        "example": "latest"
                                    },
                                    "timeoutSecs": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 300
                                    },
                                    "memoryMbytes": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 1024
                                    },
                                    "diskMbytes": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 2048
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "buildId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultKeyValueStoreId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultDatasetId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultRequestQueueId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "buildNumber": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "example": "1.0.0"
                            },
                            "containerUrl": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "usage": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 1
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_SERPS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "usageTotalUsd": {
                                "type": "number",
                                "example": 0.00005
                            },
                            "usageUsd": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "number",
                                        "example": 0.00005
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_SERPS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}
```