Apollo Review (2026)
By Daan Haket · Tested hands-on · written with an AI assistant · who does what
The credit and export caps are the catch — real usage on enrichment and dialing often runs well above the sticker, and data accuracy is hit-or-miss, so verify before you outreach at scale. Throughout this review we weigh it against ZoomInfo.
sales teams that want prospecting data, enrichment and sequencing in one affordable all-in-one platform.
you need guaranteed-accurate data at volume — budget for credit overages, or pair it with a verification step.
Transparency: the “Visit” links on this page are affiliate links — we may earn a commission if you sign up, at no extra cost to you. No vendor can pay for a better review or verdict. How we make money →
Exit test (measured 2026-10-31)
- Export route
- Saved company > Export to CSV
- Formats
- Not tested
- Attachments included
- Not tested
- Re-import tested
- With our own file, not the standard kit (see below)
- Lost on export
- Not tested
Formats describe this export route; offered formats may not have been inspected. Full exit test and scope ↓
Tested by our team on 31 October 2026: Daan created the account and our AI assistant ran the test in Daan's browser. We searched the company database for our own sites, saved one company and looked at export and the paid plans, without revealing any contact details.
How we tested
- Searched the company database for two of our own domains
- Saved the company that was found
- Opened the export and the Basic checkout
- A new account starts on a Professional trial; the add-on page showed '14 days left'. No card was needed.
- From the sign-up email alone, Apollo's assistant wrote an accurate description of our site. It notes that chats may be shared with third parties.
- The company search showed 27.2 million companies. It found AI Builder Marketplace, but not our sister site Marketing and Sales Software.
Pricing (2026)
✓ Pricing re-verified 1 Oct 2026
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 900 credits per seat per year, granted monthly; 2 sequences |
| Basic | $49 per user/mo billed annually | $65 month to month; 30,000 credits per seat per year, granted upfront |
| Professional | $79 per user/mo billed annually | $99 month to month; 48,000 credits; the tier most teams land on |
| Organization | $119 per user/mo billed annually | $149 month to month, three-seat minimum; 72,000 credits. Credit limits mean the effective cost often runs higher than the seat price |
A free plan (900 credits per seat per year, 2 sequences); paid Basic $49, Professional $79 and Organization $119 per seat/mo billed annually, or $65, $99 and $149 month to month - the annual saving the page advertises is 24%. Organization carries a three-seat minimum, so it starts at $357/mo. Credit-based limits mean the effective cost often runs higher. Plans change — always verify the live price on their site.
Category context: Growth & Revenue. Across the 84 tools in this category that we researched with a public US-dollar price, the median entry price is about $30 a month (lowest paid plan as listed, per seat where the vendor prices per seat). Apollo’s entry price of $49 a month sits above that median. Compare pricing conditions in the Software Cost Atlas →
What the price did
We capture Apollo’s own pricing page every month and keep the figures, so this is our record of the page — not a forecast, and not someone else’s summary.
The 7 July and 2 August 2026 captures of apollo.io/pricing are byte for byte identical - the same 9,924 characters and the same text hash - the only page in our monthly set that did not change at all between those runs. Neither capture yielded a price, because the plan table is drawn in the browser rather than served in the HTML. Rendering it on 11 September 2026 returned the same annual ladder as 11 August ($0 / $49 / $79 / $119) and added the month-to-month one the series had never held: $65, $99 and $149. On 1 October 2026 both ladders were unchanged, and the monthly tab showed the credit grant per month: 75 on Free, 2,500 on Basic and 4,000 on Professional, the same yearly totals as the annual cards.
Apollo’s pricing page, as we read it
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What Apollo does
Sales intelligence and engagement platform with a large B2B contact database. Find ideal-fit leads, enrich them and run multichannel outreach from one place.
What buyers report about Apollo
Hands-on: tested 2026-10-31Reported by buyers: G2, Capterra and Trustpilot, read August 2026
Themes from the buyer-review sites listed at the foot of this page, read in August 2026. We tested Apollo ourselves on 2026-10-31, but one test is a narrow sample, so here is what other buyers report. We summarise it here because the complaints are usually the part a vendor page leaves out.
- • One tool instead of three — reviewers who previously paid for a database, a sequencer and an enrichment tool separately rate the consolidation as the main reason they stay.
- • Breadth of the contact database, and that you can go from a search to a sequence without an export step.
- • Data accuracy outside North America. US contact accuracy runs around 88%; reviewers report bounce rates of 15–25% on large exported lists, including on addresses marked verified.
- • Credits do not roll over, and reviewers describe extra charges appearing in later months with no refund.
- • Slow ticket response, mentioned on both G2 and Trustpilot.
- • Interface lag once lists get very large.
Where the ratings disagree. Apollo scores about 4.7 on G2 across roughly 9,600 reviews, but around 2.9 on Trustpilot across about 1,000. That gap is worth understanding rather than averaging: G2 reviews are mostly written by people mid-contract who like the product, while Trustpilot collects the billing disputes, account suspensions and cancellation attempts. Read the G2 reviews for what the tool does and the Trustpilot ones for what happens when you want to leave.
Pages read (August 2026): Trustpilot
When the paid plan is worth it
The free tier is a look, not a workflow: 900 credits a year, 2 sequences, and on non-paying plans Apollo only connects Gmail mailboxes - that restriction, not the credit count, is what usually forces the upgrade. Basic at $49/seat/month billed annually ($65 monthly, 30,000 credits/year) buys unlimited sequences and CRM integrations, the jump most small teams need. Professional at $79 ($99 monthly, 48,000 credits) only pays back if you dial or run several mailboxes.
Organization at $119 ($149 monthly) carries a three-seat minimum, so it starts at $357/month - you buy SSO, the international dialer and 72,000 credits a seat, not better data. What upgrading does not fix: the meter. Apollo's own FAQ prices an email at 1 credit, a phone number at 8 and a record enrichment at up to 9, so a dial-heavy month burns a seat's grant far faster than an email-only one, and no tier takes deliverability off your desk.
What we found running Apollo ourselves
The first findings are at the top of this page. The rest:
- Saving the first company earned 50 bonus credits.
- Export to CSV is emailed when ready rather than downloaded; we did not start it.
- Basic is $65 per seat a month ($49 billed yearly). The checkout says the subscription starts today and adds sales tax only at the end.
Claim vs. what we measured
We set a claim from Apollo's own pages next to what we saw in our test, on the plan named. The status says whether the two describe the same thing and match; it is not a verdict on the product. Confirmations are listed too.
| What the vendor says | What we measured | Status | What it means if you buy |
|---|---|---|---|
| free foreverSource: apollo.io, read 31 Oct 2026 | Measured 2026-10-31: Professional is marked Current plan and an Inbound add-on shows fourteen trial days; Free is available in the plan table but was not the current plan.Our test, 31 Oct 2026; Professional current plan (trial context) | Not comparableApollo free-forever signup wording describes a different plan from the current Professional trial context. | The observed Professional access does not establish the lasting Free entitlement. |
| No credit card requiredSource: apollo.io, read 31 Oct 2026 | Measured 2026-10-31: The recorded session proceeded without payment details; complete registration screens were not counted.Our test, 31 Oct 2026; Professional current plan (trial context) | ConfirmedApollo card-free wording is checked against its recorded post-registration session without payment entry, while full signup screen counting remains unknown. | The observed work required no card; paid features may have separate requirements. |
| $65.00/monthSource: apollo.io, read 31 Oct 2026The vendor's page no longer shows this wording (checked 2026-11-01) — original claim: “$65.00/month” | Measured 2026-10-31: Basic monthly for one seat shows $65.00; Sales tax calculated at checkout remains unresolved before card entry and final review.Our test, 31 Oct 2026; Professional current plan (trial context) | Not testableApollo price comparison uses Basic, one seat in USD with month pricing; missing final tax or an unopened checkout and an unverified matching cost rule prevent an all-in comparison. | Use the displayed amount only within the observed selection; a matching cost-rule total has not been verified. |
Exit test: can you take your data out?
Company search using our own domains; the CRM contact kit was not seeded. Test date: 31 Oct 2026. We describe the friction rather than score it; this is one run with synthetic records, not a verdict on Apollo.
| What we checked | What we saw |
|---|---|
| Fields offered by the export dialog | |
| Not offered in the field selector | None noted. |
| The exported file | We did not inspect the file, so data retention and loss remain unverified. |
| Awkward but not lost | Our first domain returned one company and the second returned none; one company was saved and earned fifty credits. Professional showed Current plan, while an Inbound add-on showed fourteen trial days. The assistant warned that chats may be shared with third parties. No mailbox, CRM, extension, contact reveal or outreach was used. |
| Export route | Saved company > Export to CSV; email delivery was cancelled under the test plan. |
| Export format | No file requested or downloaded. |
| Re-importing the export | No export or reimport performed. |
| Cancelling | No cancellation, expiry or deletion action tested. |
What the exit test does not show:
- Complete signup screen count and human first-result setup speed.
- Actual cancellation, expiry, deletion and follow-up mail.
- Kit fields not entered and application record reimport.
Kit check counts
Kit crm-contacten 1.0.0; run apollo-2026-10-31; observed 2026-10-31.
- export / AIBM-001: Of 10 checks: 0 kept, 0 changed, 0 lost, 0 not offered, 10 not tested
- export / AIBM-002: Of 10 checks: 0 kept, 0 changed, 0 lost, 0 not offered, 10 not tested
- reimport / AIBM-001: Of 10 checks: 0 kept, 0 changed, 0 lost, 0 not offered, 10 not tested
- reimport / AIBM-002: Of 10 checks: 0 kept, 0 changed, 0 lost, 0 not offered, 10 not tested
Each record and phase uses this kit’s checks. Counts describe this run; they are not a score or a comparison between kits.
Mail in the first 14 days
Measurement running until 2026-11-13T23:00:00Z (last observed 2026-11-02T02:18:01.612935Z).
5 emails in the 14-day window so far; first email after signup: unknown (exact signup time not recorded); 1 with an explicit offer.
Retained inbox and junk only; removed or archived mail is outside this observation. Ambiguous supplier attribution is excluded. Day numbers use elapsed 24-hour periods since the recorded signup date at midnight Europe/Amsterdam; the signup hour is unknown. Offer flags quote literal subject/body text. Replies in our own correspondence (support tickets, our comment requests) are excluded; one-time codes, our own address, our account name and our name are replaced in brackets.
| Day | Time (UTC) | Sender | Literal subject | Folder | Offer evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day 0 | 2026-10-31 11:42:49 UTC | Apollo team / apollo.io | Activate Your Apollo Account | inbox | |
| Day 0 | 2026-10-31 12:02:31 UTC | Apollo team / mail.apollo.io | Free is good. Pro is better. | inbox | |
| Day 0 | 2026-10-31 12:52:56 UTC | Apollo team / mail.apollo.io | Your 14-day Apollo trial is now active | inbox | |
| Day 0 | 2026-10-31 13:21:18 UTC | Apollo team / apollo.io | Welcome to Apollo. Your trial is live. | inbox | |
| Day 1 | 2026-11-01 12:02:24 UTC | Apollo team / mail.apollo.io | Save $120+ when you upgrade to annual | inbox | offer — “Save $120” (subject) |
What this test does not show:
- Revealing emails or phone numbers
- Sequences and the email connection
- The CSV export (sent by email)
- Contacting support
Most of our reviews are researched rather than run — how we review explains which is which, and why we do not pretend otherwise.
How to actually use Apollo
Apollo's own route is short: log in, install the Chrome extension, connect a mailbox, build a filtered list, then launch a sequence. Every paid plan includes a live 1:1 onboarding session at no extra cost — typically 30 to 60 minutes, with the invitation arriving within your first 30 days. Apollo's own claim is that most teams send their first sequence in that single session. Teams of 1-20 get the Essential track; 20+ get a Professional track that adds CRM and enrichment setup.
Two things stall people. On a non-paying plan you can only connect Gmail mailboxes, so Outlook users hit a wall at the mailbox step. And Apollo's deliverability page describes domain warm-up as automated but publishes no timeframe, so you are guessing at when a new sending domain is safe — firing the first sequence too early is the common self-inflicted wound. An independent blog walkthrough (rajanarya.com) budgets roughly two days to set up and a first campaign within a week, and advises testing on a small list before exporting hundreds.
Distilled from Apollo's own onboarding page (apollo.io/onboarding), the FAQ text on apollo.io/pricing and Apollo's deliverability page, plus one independent blog walkthrough (rajanarya.com); Apollo's knowledge base blocks automated access. Mailbox-linking rules (no Google Groups, per-person Outlook consent) from Apollo's knowledge base, https://knowledge.apollo.io/hc/en-us/articles/4409127806093-Link-Your-Mailbox-to-Apollo, read 22 October 2026.
Apollo vs ZoomInfo, side by side
Where a vendor publishes a price, its column shows the entry price we read and when; where it does not, the column says so rather than filling in a figure from elsewhere. We do not average them into a score.
Both names above are affiliate links: we may earn a commission if you sign up, at no extra cost to you. Neither changes what this table says.
The natural comparison is ZoomInfo or Lusha — pricier or narrower sales-data tools. Weigh it against ZoomInfo on the job you actually need done.
Frequently asked questions
Can you export your data from Apollo?
Exit check 2026-10-31; route excerpt: Saved company > Export to CSV …; came along (excerpts): not_tested; lost (excerpts): not_tested; re-import: not tested.
Can I use Apollo from Claude, ChatGPT or Perplexity, and does that cost extra?
Apollo offers its own MCP connector for prospecting, enrichment and creating and managing sequences from inside Claude, ChatGPT and Perplexity. Apollo's MCP page (read 31 October 2026) says any Apollo plan qualifies, including free, with no separate MCP subscription or additional cost, and that data access and action limits mirror your Apollo account. So the connector does not get you around the credit meter: every email or phone reveal still spends your plan's credits. Apollo's separate ChatGPT announcement mentions all paid plans for that app. We have not connected it ourselves.
What does Apollo cost per seat, and what do the credits mean?
Read from the pricing table on 11 September and again on 1 October 2026: Free $0 with 900 credits per seat per year, Basic $49 with 30,000, Professional $79 with 48,000 and Organization $119 with 72,000 - all per seat per month billed annually, with the credits granted upfront on the paid tiers. Month to month the same tiers are $65, $99 and $149, which is the 24% annual saving the page advertises. Organization carries a three-seat minimum, so it starts at $357 a month before you add anyone. What the credits buy is set out in Apollo's own FAQ: an email address costs 1 credit, a phone number 8, and enriching a record up to 9.
Why do price comparison sites quote Apollo differently?
Because Apollo's plan table is drawn in the browser: fetch the page and no prices come back. What a machine does get is Apollo's own schema.org block on the same URL, and on 11 September 2026 that listed Free $0, Basic $49 and Professional $99, both tagged as monthly, plus an Enterprise "contact for pricing" and no Organization tier at all. Neither number is wrong on its own - $49 is Basic's annual rate and $99 is Professional's monthly rate - but labelling both as monthly puts two different billing terms in one list. The same block's FAQ still says a trial carries 50 credits and 5 mobile credits, while the FAQ on the rendered page said 100 on 11 September and says 75 on 1 October 2026. If a comparison page or an AI assistant quotes you Apollo prices, check them against the live table.
What is the real limit on the free plan?
Not the credit count. The free tier gives 900 credits a year, granted monthly, and 2 sequences, but the binding restriction is that non-paying plans can only connect Gmail mailboxes - Apollo's own FAQ says so in as many words, and Outlook users hit a wall at the mailbox step. That is usually what forces the upgrade rather than running out of credits. Note the naming: the card calls it Free, the FAQ calls it the Starter plan, "free forever".
Can I connect a shared Google Group address as my sending mailbox?
No. Apollo's knowledge-base article on linking a mailbox (read 22 October 2026) says plainly that Apollo doesn't support Google groups, so a shared sales@ group cannot be the mailbox your sequences send from; each sender links an individual mailbox. The article does not tie this to a plan, so upgrading does not change it.
Can one admin connect every rep's Outlook mailbox for the team?
Not according to the same mailbox guide (read 22 October 2026): each person must sign in and consent to connect their own mailbox. Budget a step per rep at rollout rather than one admin action, whichever paid tier you buy.
Is this a hands-on review of Apollo?
Yes. We tested Apollo ourselves on 2026-10-31; the section above says what we tested, what we found and what we did not test, and where a figure comes from the vendor's own documentation instead. Most of our reviews are researched rather than run; we say which is which. We name what each tool is good and bad at, and we earn a commission only if you sign up, at no cost to you.
- Buyer reviews on G2, Capterra and Trustpilot, read August 2026.
- Apollo’s own published pricing page.
- A dated screenshot of that pricing page, kept on this site as the receipt.
- Our own hands-on session with Apollo (2026-10-31), written up in full further down this page.
Others in this category
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