Apollo.io
B2B contact database and sales pipeline
- Category
- Data Enrichment — B2B contact database + outreach in one
- Plans
- Basic $49 · Professional roughly $79–99; free tier available
- Best for
- Solo sellers who need data and sending in one bill · Teams testing outbound on a tight budget · Anyone who wants a free tier to evaluate before paying
- Integrations
- Salesforce · HubSpot · Outreach · Salesloft · Zapier · Chrome
- Affiliate program
- PartnerStack — Application; link issued on approval
- Commission
- 15% (monthly) / 20% (annual) · First 12 months only — not lifetime recurring
- Payout
- Paid monthly, with a 30-day hold
- Last verified
- 8 Oct 2026
What Apollo is actually for
Apollo is the lowest-risk starting point in this directory because one subscription covers the two things beginners actually need: a contact database and a way to send to it. There is a genuinely usable free tier, so you can put a real campaign through it before deciding whether the paid plans are worth it.
The trade-off is depth. The database is large but unevenly accurate, and the deliverability tooling is thinner than what the dedicated senders offer. People tend to be happy with Apollo for their first campaign and frustrated with it by their fourth, which is a fine trajectory as long as you know it is the trajectory you are on.
What you are paying for
Basic is $49 a month and the Professional tier sits around $79–99 depending on commitment, on top of a free plan that is not crippled. The reason to reach for the paid tiers is contact credits and sending volume, not features you cannot otherwise touch.
Because the free tier exists, the honest test is cheap: run one list through the free plan, measure how much of it verifies, and only then decide. Treat any number from Apollo as a candidate rather than a fact — expecting to verify a sample before you send is normal practice with any database at this price point, not a sign you picked the wrong vendor.
How it compares
Against Clay, Apollo gives you an answer today and Clay gives you a pipeline. Against a specialist sender such as Smartlead, you are trading inbox control for the convenience of one bill. If you are a solo operator sending a few thousand emails a month, the convenience usually wins; if you are running several client domains, it does not.
Verdict
Apollo is the right first purchase and rarely the right last one. Start here if you have no stack, and plan for what replaces the sending half.
What it does well
- Combines a large contact database with sequences, so you can run end-to-end from day one
- Generous free tier makes it the lowest-risk starting point for a first campaign
- Chrome extension shortens manual prospecting considerably
Where it falls short
- Data quality varies by region and industry — expect to verify before sending
- Deliverability tooling is thinner than the specialists, so heavy senders usually pair it with something else
Feature checklist
- 240M+ contacts
- Outreach sequences
- Chrome extension
- API
- Free tier
Who shouldn’t pick it
- Agencies needing strict per-client inbox separation
- Teams that need the deepest possible contact coverage
Before you buy
Expect to verify a sample before you send. It is also worth deciding up front what replaces the sending half once client separation starts to matter.
Apollo.io FAQ
- How much does Apollo.io cost?
- Apollo.io starts at $49 per month. Basic $49 · Professional roughly $79–99; free tier available
- Does Apollo.io have an affiliate program?
- Yes. Applications go through PartnerStack, and approval is application; link issued on approval. It pays 15% (monthly) / 20% (annual), on payments made in the first 12 months.
- Who is Apollo.io best for?
- Solo sellers who need data and sending in one bill; Teams testing outbound on a tight budget; Anyone who wants a free tier to evaluate before paying. It is a weaker fit if you mainly need agencies needing strict per-client inbox separation.