Warm intro tools
Who can introduce you to the person you want to meet, ranked by how well each link knows the next. Happenstance builds that graph from accounts you connect, so every path runs through someone who knows the target.
By Jerry Feng, Growth at Happenstance. Updated August 28, 2026.
Continue with GoogleThe short version
A warm intro tool finds who can introduce you to the person you want to meet and ranks the path by how well each link knows the next. There are two kinds. Own-network tools (Happenstance, Connect The Dots) build the graph from accounts you connect, so every path runs through someone who knows the target. Pre-built graph tools (Village, The Swarm) add paths inferred from public work and education records. Happenstance is the free one: seven connected sources, friends and groups, 500,000+ users.
What a warm intro tool does
You name a person or a company. The tool searches a graph of who knows whom, finds everyone who could get you there, and ranks them by how well each link in the chain knows the next. The best result is the introducer who knows you well and knows the target well, rather than the one with the most connections. That ranking is the product. Everything else, drafting the email, tracking the ask, is decoration.
Where tools differ is the graph. Two kinds exist, and they behave differently on the day you spend a favor.
The two kinds
Own-network tools
- Happenstance, Connect The Dots
- The graph is built from accounts you connect: email headers, calendar, connections, Google Contacts. Teams pool their accounts. Every path runs through a relationship that happened
- Reach is bounded by who you and your team know. In exchange, every introducer can say yes
Pre-built or inferred graph tools
- Village, The Swarm
- The graph starts from a database of public profiles (Village cites 775M+, The Swarm 500M) with ties inferred from shared employers, schools and investors. Your accounts are layered on top
- Reach is wider. Some paths run through people who overlapped at a company and never met
Who can introduce me to a partner at Sequoia?
Example3 partners at Sequoia Capital are in your network; Alex holds the strongest tie.
| Person | Mutuals |
|---|---|
MS Mateo SerranoPartner, Sequoia Capital | |
IA Ingrid AunePartner, Sequoia Capital | |
RS Rahul SethiPartner, Sequoia Capital |
Why the own-network kind converts
An introduction has three parties, and the one who decides is the introducer. They lend their name. If the software proposed them because they and the target worked at the same 400-person company in overlapping years, they may not remember the target at all, and the answer to your ask is no. You spent goodwill and got a list of names.
An own-network tool can only propose an introducer who has emailed, met, connected with or followed the target, and it shows that evidence. The introducer recognizes the name, the ask is easy to say yes to, and the intro gets made. Fewer paths, more introductions. When nobody you know knows the target, Happenstance says so, and web search beyond your network at least finds the person so you can look for who around them you do know.
Inferred graphs earn their place when you're prospecting a list of strangers and want any thread at all, or when your team is too small to have a first-degree path to most targets. That's a different job, and the warm introduction software guide covers when it applies.
Seven accounts, one graph
Gmail, Outlook, Google Calendar, Google Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram. Email is headers only, never content.
“Who can introduce me to someone at Stripe?”
Friends and groups
A friend shares networks with you in both directions. A group pools a team, fund or community. Both are free and unlimited; the largest groups make 380,000+ people searchable.
“Who on our team knows a partner at Accel?”
Wherever you already work
Public API, MCP server, ChatGPT app, Claude and Claude Code integrations, CLI. The same question works inside the assistant you already have open.
“What's my warmest path to this investor?”
What they cost
Happenstance is free with the whole product, and Pro is $30 a month or $24 billed yearly. Connect The Dots is free for 10 AI searches a month, then $20 a month billed annually or $25 month-to-month, with team search on a custom-priced Business tier. Village is free for 100 credits a month with 10 results per AI search, then $79 a month, with team pooling at $149 a month plus $19 per collaborator. The Swarm is free up to 10 connectors without API access, then $99 per company per month. Affinity starts at $2,000 per user per year with no free tier; 4Degrees and Introhive do not publish prices.
500,000+people use Happenstance. The situations it's used for most are on fundraising, sales and job seekers, and the introduction itself is at warm introductions.
Connect The Dots, Village, The Swarm, Affinity, 4Degrees and Introhive details from each vendor's public pages.
What Happenstance can see
Email is read as headers only. Message content and attachments never reach our servers. Yes. Your connections are searchable only by you, the friends you accept, and the groups you join, and sharing is always mutual. Your public profile shows a constellation of named people you know by default, which you can turn off anytime. We never share, sell, or use your data to train AI models. Happenstance is SOC 2 certified and DTI Trust Level 2; the full list of what is stored and for how long is on the security page.
Frequently asked questions
What's a warm intro tool?
Software that maps who you know and finds the path to someone you want to meet: which person in your network, or your team's, knows the target, and how well. The output is a ranked list of introducers. The input is a graph, and the kind of graph is the whole difference between tools.
What's the difference between own-network and pre-built graph tools?
Own-network tools build the graph from accounts you connect: email headers, calendar, connections, Google Contacts. Every path runs through a relationship that happened. Pre-built graph tools start from a database of public profiles and infer ties from shared employers, schools and investors, then layer your accounts on top. They reach further; their paths are colder.
Which warm intro tools are free?
Happenstance is free with the whole product: chat, Sidedoor, unlimited connected accounts, friends and groups. Connect The Dots has a free plan limited to 10 AI searches a month. Village's free plan is metered at 100 credits with 10 results per AI search. The Swarm is free up to 10 connectors with no API access. Affinity, 4Degrees and Introhive have no free tier.
Does a warm intro tool send the introduction for me?
Some do. Connect The Dots drafts intro emails an executive approves and sends, and Village sells AI intro sequences. Happenstance finds the path, shows the evidence, and drafts the ask if you want it to; you send it. For most people the ask is one forwardable paragraph and the finding was the hard part.
Do warm intro tools work for a team?
Yes, and this is where pricing diverges. Happenstance groups pool every member's network for free, at any size. Village's team pooling is on its $149 a month Business plan plus $19 per collaborator. Connect The Dots puts company-wide search on a custom-priced Business tier. Affinity and 4Degrees are firm CRMs sold per seat.
What's the best warm intro tool?
For one person, or a team that wants to search the people it knows, Happenstance: free, seven connected sources, paths ranked by relationship strength on both sides, 500,000+ users. For a B2B sales org running intros as a pipeline channel inside Salesforce, Connect The Dots. For a fund choosing a system of record, Affinity or 4Degrees. The full ranking with prices is in the best warm intro tools guide.
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