Primary unit
High-Value Validation
A valid personal email result that passes the documented quality filters.
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Validation economics
Cost per usable lead
A source-backed way to think about email validation cost based on usable outbound outcomes, not raw lookup counts.
For outbound teams, the useful unit is a High-Value Validation: a valid personal email that is not role-based, catch-all, invalid, risky, or unknown.
Compatibility field
credits_charged
An alias for consumed credits in public summaries.
What counts as usable
GTMAPIs defines a High-Value Validation as a valid personal email result that is not role-based, catch-all, invalid, risky, or unknown.
- valid personal addresses can count as high-value validations.
- valid_role_based is intentionally separated from personal valid results.
- risky catch-all, invalid, and unknown outcomes are not treated as high-value validations.
Why raw lookup cost is incomplete
A raw lookup count does not explain how many usable leads remain after validation semantics are applied. The validation economics summary keeps high_value, credits_reserved, credits_consumed, credits_refunded, and credits_per_high_value_validation visible together.
How to read the summary
credits_charged remains a compatibility alias for consumed credits. Use credits_consumed and credits_refunded to reconcile what was actually charged after non-chargeable or refunded outcomes.
Related resources
Common questions
Is cost per usable lead the same as cost per lookup?
No. Cost per usable lead focuses on High-Value Validations after validation result semantics are applied.
Does this page promise campaign ROI?
No. It explains documented credit and result semantics, not reply rates, meetings, revenue, or deliverability outcomes.