Overview

Apollo is a prospecting and sales engagement platform for teams that want contact data and outreach in one workflow. It is best suited to sellers who need to find prospects, sequence email, and connect activity to their sales tools. Its breadth is useful, but buyers should weigh the annual commitment and seat-based credit limits against a more focused tool.

Apollo says its database contains more than 240 million contacts and 30 million accounts. It combines that data with account research, lead prioritization, outreach writing, follow-up, meeting booking, and pipeline tools. That combination can reduce the handoffs between prospect discovery and outreach; it may be more platform than a team needs if it only wants contact data or one narrow sales task.

The platform has more than 200 integrations, including Salesforce, HubSpot, Outreach, SalesLoft, Marketo, Sendgrid, LinkedIn, and major email providers. Apollo was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Covina, California, United States. It belongs alongside Sales Intelligence Software, B2B Contact Data Providers, Lead Qualification Software, Sales Prospecting Software, Email Outreach Software, and AI Lead Generation Software.

Key features

Prospecting data and filters

Apollo provides contact and account data, direct-dial data, intent data, and technographic filters. Those tools give sales teams several ways to build and prioritize prospect lists. The database scale is a clear draw for broad prospecting, though a large database alone does not guarantee that any particular record will suit a team's needs.

Outreach and automation

Email sequencing, outreach automation, dialing, call recording, and pipeline tools extend Apollo beyond list building. AI agents can research accounts, prioritize leads, write outreach, follow up, and book meetings. This makes Apollo a stronger fit for teams seeking a connected prospect-to-outreach workflow than for teams that already have a preferred engagement system and only need data.

Browser extension, API, and security

The free Chrome extension provides contact and account insights, email finding, dialing, and the ability to add prospects to lists or sequences. API access is included even on Free, giving teams another way to connect Apollo to their processes. Apollo says it is ISO 27001 and SOC 2 certified and GDPR compliant, encrypts data in transit and at rest, and uses encrypted passwords, two-factor authentication, intrusion detection, and VPC firewall settings.

Pricing

Apollo uses a freemium model. Free is 0.00 USD per free and provides 900 credits per seat per year, granted monthly, two sequences, API access, and one intent topic. That is a practical way for a founder or individual seller to try prospecting and limited sequencing, but the monthly credit grants and two-sequence ceiling constrain sustained outreach.

Basic is 49.00 USD per month billed annually. It includes 30,000 credits per seat per year, granted upfront, email sequencing, and core integrations. It suits sellers who need a larger credit allocation and sequencing; the annual billing term matters for anyone uncertain about committing. Credits expire at the end of each billing cycle and do not roll over, so unused allocation cannot be saved for a later period.

A free trial is available and provides credits and access to most features of the selected plan, subject to trial-specific limits. Apollo also offers a Custom plan with dedicated support; its price is custom pricing. The plan range is aimed at founders and early-stage teams, individual sellers, full-time sales reps, and larger teams, though Free and Basic are the plans with stated prices and allowances.

Platforms

Apollo is available through the web, an API, and an extension. The extension's prospect insights and list or sequence actions make it useful for sellers working in a browser, while API access supports teams that need programmatic access. A free Chrome extension is a particularly accessible starting point for individual prospecting.

Who it's for

Apollo is a strong candidate for founders, early-stage teams, and sales representatives who want prospect data, sequencing, and integrations in one place. Its credit-per-seat structure gives teams a clear allocation to plan around, and its broad integration set can suit organizations connecting several sales tools. It is less compelling for buyers who need only a small, specialized data feed or do not expect to use the engagement features.

Pros and cons

Pros: Prospect data, intent and direct-dial data, filters, sequencing, dialing, and pipeline tools are combined in one platform, reducing the need to assemble a workflow from separate products.
Pros: Free includes API access and two sequences, giving individuals a no-cost way to start with more than contact lookup alone.
Pros: More than 200 integrations and the browser extension support several routes into existing sales workflows.
Cons: Free is capped at 900 credits per seat per year, granted monthly, two sequences, and one intent topic, limiting its usefulness for high-volume prospecting.
Cons: Basic is billed annually, and credits expire each billing cycle rather than rolling over, which can penalize uneven usage.

Alternatives

Choose Lead411 if a paid option with a free plan and trial, plus API and extension access, better fits the buying shortlist. Its Pilot Light offer is a 7-day free trial with 50 free exports.

Salesmotion is worth considering when a freemium API-and-web option with credits that roll over for three months is preferable; its Free plan provides 100 credits per month and community support.

Consider LeadIQ for a freemium API option whose Free plan is limited to one user and 50 credits. LinkedIn Sales Navigator is another alternative.

Regie.ai may suit teams looking for a web-based free plan with 250 one-time credits per person that never expire, shared by up to 10 people. Vainu is an alternative for buyers considering a paid prospecting product with API, web, and desktop platform support.

Factors.ai is another paid option with a free plan and trial, including API and web access. Choose Similarweb Sales Intelligence instead if its API, extension, and web access better matches the intended workflow.

Verdict

Apollo is a sensible choice for go-to-market teams that want to move from prospect discovery to outreach without stitching together a separate data and engagement stack. The free plan offers a useful entry point, while Basic adds a substantial per-seat credit allocation and sequencing for 49.00 USD per month billed annually. Look elsewhere if you need only one focused capability, or if annual billing and expiring credits do not fit the way your team works.

	Apollo	VanillaSoft
Free plan	Yes	No
Free trial	Yes	No
Paid from	$49/mo	—
Open source	No	No
Platforms	api, extension, Web	Web, iOS, Android
Free plan	Yes	No
Paid from	49 /user/mo	—
Sequence channels	—	email+call
Native calling	—	Yes
CRM synchronization	—	Yes

Apollo vs VanillaSoft

Apollo

VanillaSoft