The Best Lead Generation Software to Drive New Sales in 2024

Getting traffic to your website is half the battle. The other half is monetizing it with lead generation software.

Once you get a steady stream of visitors you'll need to entice them to become leads, and there are no better tools to do that than landing page and opt-in builders. 

These lead generation software tools allow you to present visitors with landing pages or opt-in popups that entice them with the offer of a free lead magnet in exchange for their email address. 

What's a lead magnet? It could be anything that's low cost and high value, from a free eBook, a white paper, a valuable checklist, and so on.

Once visitors request your lead magnet, they’ll be entered into a campaign in your bulk email service or marketing automation platform as a new lead.

Your job then will be to send them regular emails with more valuable free information in order to build a relationship of trust.

Once your leads get to know you, like you and trust you, they’ll be ready to buy from you as well, and you’ll be ready to move on to your monetization strategies.

There are many lead generation software tools on the market but not all of them will have what you need to succeed as an online solopreneur.

What you need to look out for is a tool that is:

• Easy of use
• Highly customizable
• Easy to integrate with bulk email services or marketing automation platforms
• Has good customer support in case you get stuck
• Has a lot of professional-quality landing page and opt-in templates to choose from
  

Below you’ll find the best in class tools for all budgets.

Whats Are the Best Lead Generation Software Tools?

Unbounce is the leading landing page builder.

They offer unlimited A/B testing in all plans, including their entry level one, which most competitors don't, and they place a high focus on security features (e.g. SSL included in all plans), which is great for peace of mind.

Unbounce integrates with WordPress in addition to self-hosted websites, it’s also mobile responsive and it’s compliant with GDPR rules.

They offer a 30-day free trial.

Unbounce Features that Stand Out

• Easy to use
• Highly customizable editor
• Mobile response opt-ins and landing pages
• Automatic SSL encryption
• 2 Factor Authentication
• A/B testing for all plans
• 30-day free trial
• GDPR compliance
• Phone and live chat support
  

Now the Cons...

• It has traffic and conversion usage caps in all plans
  

Find Out More About Unbounce Here.

Best Budget Option: Thrive Leads

Thrive Leads is a plugin that only works within WordPress, but it’s very powerful for it’s low one-time cost. As a plus, it offers best-in-class A/B testing of opt-ins.

It doesn't have nearly as many templates as Unbounce (not even close), however, it has much more flexible customization if you use the Thrive Architect page builder (purchased separately at a one-time cost).

They also offer detailed analytics reports so that you can see how many visitors are clicking on your pages and how many of them are converting into leads.

Their A/B testing approach, although limited to WordPress sites, has some very powerful features, like the ability to A/B test different styles of opt-ins to see which one has better conversions (e.g. lightbox vs. screen filler popups or slide-in vs. popup).

It also has a very good number of trigger options, like time-based, scroll based (percentage and fixed) and exit intent.

Thrive Leads Features that Stand Out

• A/B testing included out of the box
• 35+ integrations with the most popular bulk email systems and marketing automation platforms
• Detailed analytics reports
• Multiple styles of forms available (lightbox, ribbon, in-content, slide-in, screen filler, scroll mat, widget)
• Asset delivery, which allows you to deliver a file with your lead magnet to your subscribers from within the plugin
• 2-step opt-in forms that require email confirmation
  

Now the Cons...

• No advanced targeting or personalization (e.g. based on WordPress user roles)
• Slow support (it takes up to 24 hours to get an email response back)
• Only works with WordPress
  

Find Out More About Thrive Leads Here.

Best Runner-Up: Leadpages

Leadpages boasts over 150 high-quality templates, it integrates with the most popular mass email platforms and it works equally well with content management systems like WordPress and popular website builders, like Squarespace.

One of the best features of Leadpages compared to the competition is that they don’t impose usage quotas—you can create unlimited opt-ins and landing pages, run unlimited traffic through either and convert unlimited leads.

This is definitely a welcome feature as many of its competitors force you through a path of upgrades as you top various caps during your growth.

Also, all of their templates are mobile responsive plus they offer a handy wizard to get you going fast if you’re a beginner and feel a bit lost with so much choice.

They even include a file delivery system to send lead magnets to your subscribers directly from inside Leadpages, reducing the load on your server, as well as a checkout feature to collect payments via Stripe.

Leadpages Features that Stand Out

• Ease of use
• Over 150 templates and over 40 integrations with third-party tools
• A/B testing of opt-in forms and landing pages built into the platform
• Unlimited opt-ins, pages, traffic and leads in all plans
• Works with both popular content management systems as well as website builders
• In-dashboard analytics so you can track clicks and conversions
• Phone, live chat and email support
  

Now the Cons...

• A/B testing not available on entry-level plan (only on higher plans)
• Limited customization of templates as it uses a rigid layout for editing
  

Find Out More About Leadpages Here.

Best Free or Freemium: Hustle

If you’re looking for a free lead generation software tool, this WordPress plugin definitely punches above its weight.

Although not nearly as sophisticated and feature-rich as its paid cousins, it’s good enough for simple opt-in conversion applications.

The choice of templates is minimal, but you can still create useful opt-ins that integrate with many popular email marketing platforms (although not all—for example, Drip is missing from the list).

You can also add advanced triggers, like time-based, scroll-based and even exit intent. But where it falls short is in the area of customization. The editor is useful but very limited in comparison with the other solutions.

Yet, it’ll definitely get the job done, with one important caveat, you’re limited to 3 popup opt-ins, 3 slide-ins and 3 shortcode forms with the free-plan.

However, this should be sufficient to generate online income from a simple implementation.

Hustle Features that Stand Out (Free Tier)

• Opt-in forms can be popups, slide-ins and shortcodes embedded in your content
• Triggers include time delays, scroll percentages, clicks and exit intent actions
• It integrates with many popular email marketing services (but not as many as its competitors)
• It’s free (provided you don’t need more than 3 popup opt-ins, 3 slide-ins and 3 shortcode forms)
  

Now the Cons...

• Tiny amount of pre-built templates
• Form customization is very limited
• Works with WordPress only
• Limited number of third-party integrations compared to its competitors
• Limited to 3 popup opt-ins, 3 slide-ins and 3 shortcode forms
  

Find Out More About Hustle Here.

What Should I Look for in a Lead Generation Software Tool?

Finding the right lead generation software tool can be a challenge because there are so many options to choose from, so here are a few things to look for in:

Ease of Use

You don’t want to spend hours trying to figure out how to make the tool work. It should be easy to set up and use from the get go.

Affordability

The tool's pricing plan should be reasonable and straight forward, especially if you’re just starting out. If you experience a lot of constant upselling, then it's probably not what you're looking for.

Functionality

The tool should have all the features you need, such as lead capture templates, multiple call to action options, countdown timers, an intuitive drag and drop editor, email integration, and if you're looking for more sophistication, rules or workflow based automation features.

Customer Support

If you have any questions or run into any problems, you should be able to easily contact customer support. Phone support is best, followed by live chat and email.

What to Do Next?

Now it's time to begin developing a lead pipeline for your online business. In order to create an email list of subscribers who know you, like you and trust you, you'll need to add a powerful lead generation tool to your arsenal.

Once your opt-in forms are loaded and ready using Unbounce, Thrive Leads, Leadpages, Hustle, you'll need to create email campaigns in order to nurture your leads into becoming paying customers.