B2B email lists of French companies: where the addresses come from and how to use them

“Company email list”, “B2B email file”, “database of business emails”: these terms cover very different products. Some contain addresses published by the companies themselves, others addresses guessed from a name, others again addresses rented for a limited number of sends. Before buying or launching a campaign in France, three questions matter: where the addresses come from, what type they are, and what you are allowed to do with them.

Generic or personal: the distinction that changes everything

A generic address designates the company, not a person: contact@, info@, accueil@, commande@. According to the CNIL page on email prospecting (updated on 10 June 2026), such addresses of legal entities are not subject to the principles of email prospecting. The sender must nevertheless always be identifiable and the recipient able to refuse further messages.

A personal address such as firstname.lastname@company.fr relates to a natural person. It is personal data: the GDPR applies, with information of the person (Article 14) and their right to object (Article 21). The address of a sole trader, even if it looks generic, deserves the same caution.

A separate case: reconstructed addresses, guessed from a person’s name and their employer’s address format. The CNIL devoted a publication of 16 October 2026 to them: legitimate interest is only possible after a case-by-case assessment. basedecontacts.fr does not generate any such addresses.

Where the addresses in a B2B file come from

A French company website must display legal notices. According to the Entreprendre Service Public page on mandatory legal notices (checked on 13 October 2026), they include an email address and a phone number for contacting the company. Contact and legal notice pages are therefore the natural source of a business email file: the address is published by the company itself, in order to be contacted.

To build our database, we visited the websites of 786,048 domains; 617,802 responded and 419,552 published at least one email address. Addresses contained in the open map data of Overture Maps come on top. Collection is ongoing.

What we exclude, and why

• Shared addresses. An address that appears on three or more records with different names may belong to a service provider (web agency, business centre, booking platform) rather than to the company. We do not count it as an own address: 14,504 addresses are in this situation.
• Role addresses such as dpo@ or privacy@: they are for exercising rights, not for receiving commercial offers.
• Guessed addresses. We only supply published addresses.

Result on 4 November 2026: 659,494 records have their own email address, i.e. 41.8% of the 1,577,933 records; 763,118 have one if shared addresses are counted. A phone number is more common (84.1% of records), and so is a website (79.0%). A file that promises an email address for every company therefore deserves a question: where do they come from?

What the CNIL says about B2B email campaigns

The principle, according to the CNIL: “Prospecting professionals may be based on the legitimate interest of the organisation where the subject of the solicitation relates to the profession of the person contacted”. An offer of invoicing software sent to an accounting firm fits this framework; a consumer offer sent to the same address does not.

In every case, “each solicitation must allow the person concerned to learn the identity of the organisation sending it and to express, if they wish and by simple means, their refusal to receive further solicitations”. The detailed rules, including phone calls, are in our guide B2B email and phone prospecting in France.

Before the first send: six checks

1. Check the link with the recipients’ profession: it is the condition for legitimate interest.
2. Separate generic and personal addresses, and prepare the information text for the latter: who you are, where the address comes from, how to object.
3. Compare the file with your suppression list: people who have objected must not be contacted again, even if they appear in a new file.
4. Check the syntax and domain of the addresses with your email tool; we do not test deliverability.
5. Send from an authenticated domain (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) and start with a first batch of a few hundred addresses to measure bounces.
6. Include an unsubscribe link in every message and process refusals without delay.

Ordering an email list by industry

Our files cover 21 industries; you can limit a selection to records with their own email address, in a region or department. The file of a whole industry starts at €229 (prices); the columns are on the export and sample file page. For choosing the target and channels, see also building a B2B prospect list and the prospect lists by industry.

Frequently asked questions

Can you buy an email list of French companies?

Yes. Buying a file of business contact details is allowed; how you use it is what is regulated. Towards professionals, the CNIL accepts email prospecting without prior consent if the offer relates to their business, with information and an option to object in every message. The file itself does not carry any consent.

What is the difference between a generic and a personal email address?

A generic address (contact@, info@, commande@) designates the company: according to the CNIL, such addresses of legal entities are not subject to the email prospecting principles, but identifying the sender and offering a way to refuse remain mandatory. A personal address (firstname.lastname@) relates to a person: it is personal data, subject to the GDPR.

Are the addresses in your files tested?

No, we do not test deliverability. We exclude addresses shared by three or more records and role addresses such as dpo@ or privacy@. Before a campaign, check the syntax and domain of the addresses, then send a first batch to measure bounces.

As of 8 November 2026. Sources: CNIL pages (email prospecting, reconstructed business addresses, suppression lists) and Entreprendre Service Public, retrieved on 8 November 2026; figures of our database as of 4 November 2026. General information, not legal advice.