Company Logo API (Hunter.io): Clearbit is Dead, Long Live the Free Logo API Successor

2026-02-17 | Product Hunt | Official Site | 164 Votes

30-Second Quick Take

What does this API do?: Input a domain, get that company's logo image. It’s that simple. https://logos.hunter.io/stripe.com -- and you're done.

Is it worth your attention?: If you're a developer, building a SaaS, or frequently need to display company logos in your UI, this saves you from building a "logo finder" from scratch. It's completely free, zero-friction, no registration, and no API key required. Hunter.io perfectly timed this release to fill the void left when Clearbit's Logo API shut down in December 2025.

Three Key Questions

Is it for me?

Who is the target user?:

• Developers building CRMs, internal tools, or dashboards.
• Product/Ops teams needing company logos for email templates, reports, or decks.
• Indie hackers who don't want to waste time managing logo assets for side projects.

Am I the target?: If your project involves displaying "company information," you likely need this. Think about it—whether you're building a customer list, a competitor dashboard, or an email signature generator, you need logos. Previously, you had to scrape, store, and manage a CDN yourself. Now, it's just one URL.

Common Use Cases:

• Scenario 1: Displaying company logos in a CRM customer list -> Call this API directly.
• Scenario 2: A SaaS onboarding page that shows the user's company logo after they enter their domain -> Use this.
• Scenario 3: Generating PDF reports or PPTs that include partner logos -> Use this.
• Scenario 4: Needing SVG vectors for high-end design -> This won't work; it only supports bitmaps.

Is it useful?

ROI Judgment: Extremely high. 5-minute integration, zero cost, and eliminates an entire sub-system. For any project needing company logos, you're losing out if you don't use it.

Is it delightful?

The "Wow" Factor:

• Zero Barrier: No registration, no API key, no OAuth. A URL returns an image directly—you don't even have to parse JSON.
• Direct img src usage: Just use <img src="https://logos.hunter.io/google.com" /> and you're set.

Real User Feedback:

"Bringing back a simple, free logo API is such a sharp move. The 'no key, no account, no setup' angle instantly lowers friction, especially for side projects and quick builds." -- Product Hunt User

"I love the concept of the Company Logo API and its potential for branding consistency." -- Product Hunt User

"I've never had an issue with Hunter across multiple roles at different companies. The Hunter team has always been super receptive to feedback across the years." -- Long-time Hunter User

For Indie Hackers

Tech Stack

• API Style: REST, returns image binary stream directly (not JSON)
• Backend: Ruby (inferred from GitHub repos)
• Database: PostgreSQL
• Caching: Redis Cluster
• Deployment: Docker + Google Cloud Platform (Belgium region)
• Background Tasks: Faktory

Core Implementation

Essentially, it's a massive "domain -> logo image" mapping table. Hunter scraped 16M+ company websites, extracted their logos, and stored them on their CDN. When you request logos.hunter.io/{domain}, it looks up the table and returns the image. If not found, it returns a default placeholder.

Supported Parameters:

• size: Specify dimensions
• format: Supports PNG/WEBP/AVIF

There's no "black magic" technically—the core challenge is data coverage and update frequency. Hunter leverages their existing web crawling infrastructure (used for their email finder), making the marginal cost very low.

Open Source Status

• The Logo API itself is not open-source
• The Hunter.io GitHub organization (github.com/hunter-io) has several peripheral projects: wappalyzer-api, browser extensions, and hunter-mcp (LLM integration).
• Community libraries exist for Python, Ruby, PHP, R, etc.
• Open Source Alternatives: No direct 1:1 open-source project exists. The closest approach is self-scraping + storage, but maintenance costs are high.
• Build-it-yourself Difficulty: Medium. Scraping isn't hard; coverage and updates are. Expect 1 man-month for an MVP, but years of effort to reach 16M company coverage.

Business Model

The Logo API is entirely free—it's a lead magnet for Hunter.io. The logic is clear:

1. Developers use the free Logo API -> Gain brand awareness of Hunter.io.
2. They discover Hunter also does email finding and verification -> Paid conversion.
3. Paid plans start at $49/month and go up to $499/month.

It's the classic "Free API as a hook -> Paid core product" strategy, similar to how Stripe offers free address validation APIs to drive users toward their payment services.

Giant Risk

Low. Giants like Google or Microsoft are unlikely to build a standalone Logo API. The niche is too specific to justify a dedicated project for a large corp. The bigger risk comes from specialized competitors (Brandfetch, Logo.dev), but Hunter's "zero-friction" positioning creates a unique differentiator.

For Product Managers

Pain Point Analysis

• What problem does it solve?: Developers building CRMs/tools/dashboards need to display company logos. They used to use Clearbit's free API, but Clearbit shut it down on Dec 1, 2025, creating a market vacuum.
• How painful is it?: It's a medium-frequency essential need. Almost every B2B SaaS needs to display logos, but it's not a core feature, so developers don't want to waste time on it.

User Persona

• Primary: Full-stack developers, frontend developers, SaaS founders.
• Secondary: Product Managers (for report generation), Ops (for email templates).
• Scenario: Any interface in a B2B product that displays "company information."

Feature Breakdown

Competitor Comparison

Key Takeaways

1. "Free API as a Hook" Strategy: The Logo API costs Hunter almost nothing (leveraging existing infrastructure) but drives massive developer traffic. If you have existing data assets, consider turning a slice of them into a free API for lead gen.
2. Minimalist Integration: No registration, no key, just a URL. This reduces "onboarding friction" to the physical limit. This mindset is worth adopting for any developer-facing product.
3. Precision Timing: Entering the market immediately after Clearbit's exit shows great market sensitivity.

For Tech Bloggers

Founder Story

• Founders: Antoine Finkelstein and Francois Grante.
• Background: Started the business right after graduating in 2015. They saw the potential of cold emails in sales but found retrieving email addresses too difficult.
• What makes them special: Completely bootstrapped—never raised a cent. A 5-person remote team serving 6M+ users. They meet in person in Europe 3 times a year.
• Antoine's Profile: Avid reader + daily runner, French, company incorporated in Delaware.

The hook here: 5 people, zero funding, 6 million users. In a space dominated by companies like Cognism and ZoomInfo (who raised hundreds of millions), this tiny team survived and thrived on pure product-led growth.

Controversies / Discussion Angles

• The price of "Free": Requests over 50k/day require a backlink, and over 200k require cost-sharing talks. Does this still count as "free"?
• Privacy Debates: Hunter's main business is scraping professional emails from public web pages, which is always a hot topic. The Logo API itself has no privacy issues, but the brand association might spark discussion.
• The Comparison: The "War of the Clearbit Succession"—who wins between Brandfetch, Logo.dev, and Hunter?

Trending Data

• PH Votes: 164 (Launched Feb 17, 2026)
• Search Trends: Only 2 days post-launch, interest is still rising.
• Social Buzz: Active Product Hunt comments; Twitter/X discussion is just starting to warm up.

Content Suggestions

• Angle: "Clearbit is dead: Who is the new king of free Logo APIs?" -- A head-to-head review of 6 Logo APIs.
• Trend Jacking: Clearbit shut down only two months ago; many developers are still actively searching for alternatives. SEO potential is high.

For Early Adopters

Pricing Analysis

Honestly, unless you're an enterprise SaaS with hundreds of thousands of daily active users, the free tier is more than enough.

Quick Start Guide

• Setup Time: 5 minutes
• Learning Curve: Zero
• Steps:
  1. Open https://logos.hunter.io/your-target-domain, e.g., https://logos.hunter.io/apple.com
  2. See the logo? You're done. Use that URL as an img src in your code.
  3. Need a specific size? Add ?size=128.
  4. Need a specific format? Add ?format=webp.
  5. Pro-tip: Cache it locally so you don't request it in real-time every single time.

Common Complaints

1. Low Small Biz Coverage: Hunter's data leans toward mid-to-large enterprises. If your users are tiny startups, you'll likely get the default placeholder. Some users report 78% accuracy for Fortune 500 but only 43% for small businesses.
2. No SVG: Brandfetch offers SVG vectors; Hunter only provides PNG/WEBP/AVIF. If you're building a design tool, this might not cut it.
3. Backlink Requirement: Requiring a link for high-volume usage might be awkward for some commercial products.

Security and Privacy

• Storage: Hosted on GCP (Belgium), data is encrypted at rest.
• Privacy: The Logo API doesn't collect PII (no auth needed); it just serves public logos.
• Compliance: Hunter is GDPR and CCPA compliant with a formal DPA available.
• Security: AES-256 encryption, RBAC access control, and data pseudonymization.
• Source: Security Policy

Alternatives

For Investors

Market Analysis

• API Economy Size: $16.29B (2026), CAGR 34%.
• Brand Data Segment: While standalone data is scarce, the activity of Brandfetch and Logo.dev suggests this is a rapidly growing niche.
• Drivers: B2B SaaS explosion -> Every SaaS needs company info -> Logo APIs are infrastructure-level needs.
• Source: ainvest.com

Competitive Landscape

Timing Analysis

• Why now?: Clearbit's Logo API closed on Dec 1, 2025. Hunter caught the 2-3 month migration window perfectly.
• Tech Maturity: High. Scraping and CDN distribution are mature technologies with zero technical risk.
• Market Readiness: High. PH votes and community feedback confirm strong demand.

Team Background

• Founders: Antoine Finkelstein + Francois Grante, started right after college in 2015.
• Core Team: 5 people, fully remote.
• Track Record: Hunter.io has 6M+ users, is fully bootstrapped, and is a leader in the email discovery space.
• Source: Hunter About, Crunchbase

Funding Status

• Raised: $0 (Bootstrapped)
• Investors: None
• Valuation: Unknown, but a profitable SaaS with 6M users is likely valued quite high.

5 people, zero funding, 6M users, profitable—this is the gold standard for bootstrapped SaaS. The Logo API isn't a standalone investment target, but Hunter.io as a whole is a masterclass in efficient scaling.

Conclusion

Bottom Line: If you need to show company logos in your project, Hunter's Logo API is the lowest-friction choice available—5-minute setup, completely free, and 16M+ companies covered.

Resource Links

2026-02-19 | Trend-Tracker v7.3