What is Apollo.io?
Apollo.io is a b2b contact & company data tool. Best value in B2B data. Combines a 270M+ contact database with built-in sequencing at a fraction of ZoomInfo's price.
Best for: SDRs and startups who need data + outreach in one tool
Best For
SDRs and startups who need data + outreach in one tool
Apollo.io Overview
Apollo.io has become the default prospecting tool for startups and growth-stage sales teams. The platform combines a 270M+ contact database with built-in email sequencing, a dialer, and LinkedIn integration, all starting at $49/month. No other tool in the market bundles this much functionality at this price point.
The company raised $100M in Series D funding in 2023 and has been growing rapidly, claiming over 3 million users. Their aggressive freemium model (10,000 email credits/month for free) has driven adoption across the entire sales stack, from solo founders doing their own outreach to 200-person SDR floors running multi-channel sequences.
Apollo's data quality sits in the middle of the pack. Email accuracy runs 91-93% for business emails, which is solid but below ZoomInfo's 95%+. Phone numbers are the weakest point, with connect rates around 50-60% for direct dials. European data coverage has improved but still has gaps in Southern and Eastern Europe.
The platform's real competitive advantage is the workflow layer built on top of the data. You can find a prospect, enrich their profile, add them to a sequence, and track engagement without leaving Apollo. That eliminates the need for separate tools for data, sequencing, and basic analytics, which makes the total cost of ownership dramatically lower than a ZoomInfo + Outreach stack.
Pros & Cons
Use Cases
Startup Founder Running Solo Outbound
A SaaS founder uses Apollo's free tier to build prospect lists of VP-level buyers at companies with 50-500 employees. They create a 5-step email sequence targeting 200 prospects per week. With 10,000 free credits per month, they can sustain this volume indefinitely. The built-in tracking shows which emails get opened and clicked, letting them focus follow-ups on engaged prospects.
10-Person SDR Team at Series B Company
A growing SDR team uses Apollo Professional ($79/seat/month) to run multi-channel outbound. Each rep builds daily prospect lists filtered by industry, title, and company size, then adds contacts to sequences combining email and LinkedIn touchpoints. The team books 15-20 meetings per rep per month. Apollo's built-in dialer handles call tasks directly from the sequence workflow.
RevOps Lead Enriching CRM Data
A RevOps manager uses Apollo's API and CRM integration to automatically enrich new leads entering HubSpot. When a contact fills out a form, Apollo fills in missing fields like company size, industry, revenue range, and direct phone number. This eliminates manual research and ensures routing rules have the data they need to assign leads correctly.
Key Features
- Contact database (270M+)
- Email sequencing
- Built-in dialer
- LinkedIn extension
- Lead scoring
- API access
Pricing
| Plan | Price |
|---|---|
| Free | $0 |
| Basic | $49/mo |
| Professional | $79/mo |
| Organization | $119/mo |
Pricing as of 2026. Check Apollo.io's website for current pricing.
Pricing Analysis
Apollo's pricing is transparent and published on their website. The free tier includes 10,000 email credits/month with basic sequencing. Basic ($49/user/month) adds unlimited email credits, advanced filters, and job change alerts. Professional ($79/user/month) adds the dialer, A/B testing, and advanced reports. Organization ($119/user/month, minimum 3 seats) adds intent data, call transcription, and API access.
Annual billing saves roughly 20% across all plans. For teams of 10+, Apollo offers custom pricing that can bring per-seat costs down further. There's no multi-year lock-in like ZoomInfo, and you can upgrade, downgrade, or cancel monthly on the Basic and Professional plans.
The credit system is where costs can creep up. Mobile phone number exports cost more credits than email exports. Teams doing heavy phone prospecting should model their credit usage before committing to a plan.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Apollo.io free?
Apollo offers a fully usable free tier with 10,000 email credits/month, basic sequencing, and LinkedIn extension access. You can run meaningful outbound campaigns without paying anything. Paid plans start at $49/user/month for unlimited email credits, advanced filters, and additional features.
How accurate is Apollo data?
Apollo's email accuracy sits around 91-93% for verified business emails. Phone number accuracy is lower, with direct dials connecting about 50-60% of the time. Email accuracy is competitive with most providers but below ZoomInfo's 95%+. For high-stakes outreach, consider verifying emails through a secondary service.
Is Apollo better than ZoomInfo?
For teams under 20 reps with budgets under $30K/year, Apollo is the better choice. It provides 80% of ZoomInfo's core data functionality at 5% of the cost, plus built-in sequencing. ZoomInfo wins on data accuracy (especially phone numbers), intent data depth, and enterprise features. The right choice depends on budget, team size, and how much you value phone data.
Does Apollo integrate with Salesforce?
Yes. Apollo offers bi-directional Salesforce integration that syncs contacts, accounts, and activity data. The integration supports automated enrichment, lead routing, and sequence enrollment from within Salesforce. HubSpot, Pipedrive, and other major CRMs are also supported.
Can Apollo replace Outreach or Salesloft?
For most teams, yes. Apollo's sequencing handles multi-step email campaigns, call tasks, and LinkedIn steps. It lacks some of Outreach's advanced features like complex branching logic and enterprise-grade deliverability management. Teams running fewer than 500 active sequences typically find Apollo's built-in sequencing sufficient.
Comparisons
Alternatives
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Reviewed by the B2B Sales Tools Editorial Team. Last verified 2026-04-12.
Pricing, features, and ratings are based on vendor documentation, public filings, product demos, and feedback from sales teams using these tools in production. We update reviews when vendors ship major releases or change pricing.