Apollo

Overview

Apollo brings prospect data and sales outreach tools into one platform for go-to-market teams. It combines a large contact and account database with tools for researching leads, organizing prospects, contacting them, and tracking sales activity. Apollo says its database includes more than 240 million contacts and 30 million accounts, and its homepage lists more than 200 integrations.

The product spans several stages of a sales workflow: teams can find prospects, add them to lists or sequences, reach them through email or dialing, and manage activity with pipeline tools. AI agents can research accounts, prioritize leads, write outreach, follow up, and book meetings. Apollo was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Covina, California, United States.

Apollo sits across categories such as B2B Contact Data Providers, AI Lead Generation Software, Lead Qualification Software, Sales Intelligence Software, Sales Engagement Software, and Email Outreach Software.

Key features

Contact and account prospecting

Apollo supports prospecting with contact and account information, including direct-dial data and intent data. Technographic filters can help teams narrow prospects by technology-related criteria. The stated database totals—more than 240 million contacts and 30 million accounts—give teams a broad base for finding potential customers, although the practical fit depends on the records and filters a particular team needs.

Outreach and sales activity

Sales engagement tools include email sequencing, outreach automation, dialing, call recording, and pipeline tools. These capabilities connect prospect discovery with the work of contacting leads and keeping track of sales activity. The free plan includes two sequences, while the Basic plan lists email sequencing.

AI agents and browser extension

Apollo says its AI agents can research accounts, prioritize leads, draft outreach, follow up, and book meetings. Its free Chrome extension provides contact and account insights, email finding, dialing, and the ability to add prospects to lists or sequences. The extension offers a way to work with Apollo prospect information in the browser.

Integrations, API, and security

Apollo lists more than 200 integrations, including Salesforce, HubSpot, Outreach, SalesLoft, Marketo, Sendgrid, LinkedIn, and major email providers. API access is included on the Free plan. Apollo says it is ISO 27001 and SOC 2 certified and GDPR compliant, and that it encrypts data in transit and at rest. It also describes encrypted passwords, two-factor authentication, intrusion detection, and VPC firewall settings for its databases.

Pricing

Apollo uses a freemium pricing model, with a free plan and a free trial. The listed plans are:

The Basic price is also listed as starting at 49 /user/mo. Credits that remain unused expire at the end of each billing cycle and do not roll over, so credit availability is worth factoring into how the team plans its prospecting volume. A trial provides credits and access to most features of the selected plan, subject to trial-specific limits. Apollo describes its Custom plan as including dedicated support.

Platforms

Apollo is available on the web and through an API, and offers a browser extension. The free Chrome extension includes contact and account insights, email finding, dialing, and prospect list or sequence actions. The available platform types suit teams that need browser-based access, integrations with other systems, or API access in their workflows.

Who it's for

Apollo identifies founders and early-stage teams, individual sellers, full-time sales reps, and larger teams as audiences for its plans. Founders or small teams may value having prospect data and outreach in the same product, while individual sellers and sales reps can use its sequencing, dialing, and pipeline tools to support ongoing prospecting. Larger teams may be interested in the integration breadth and Custom plan's dedicated support.

It is most relevant to organizations that conduct structured business-to-business prospecting and want data discovery tied to outreach execution. The Free plan's limits and the annual billing basis stated for Basic are important considerations when deciding whether the included capacity suits a team.

Pros and cons

Pros

• Combines contact and account prospecting with sales engagement and pipeline tools.
• Includes direct-dial data, intent data, and technographic filters.
• Offers a free plan with API access, sequences, and an intent topic.
• Lists more than 200 integrations and provides a free Chrome extension.
• States security certifications, GDPR compliance, and encryption for data in transit and at rest.

Cons

• Unused credits expire at each billing-cycle end rather than rolling over.
• The free plan includes 900 credits per seat per year, granted monthly, and two sequences.
• The free trial has trial-specific limits, and access depends on the selected plan.
• The listed Basic price is tied to annual billing.

Alternatives

For teams comparing prospecting and contact-data options, Lusha, People Data Labs, LeadIQ, and Lead411 are alternatives to consider. Other options include Hunter and Snov.io for email-oriented prospecting, along with Seamless.AI and Wiza.

Verdict

Apollo is a broad sales prospecting and engagement platform rather than a contact database alone. Its combination of contact and account data, AI agents, sequencing, dialing, pipeline tools, API access, and integrations can suit teams that want several parts of outbound sales work connected in one product. The free plan provides a way to begin without a paid subscription, while the credit limits and non-rollover policy make usage planning important. Teams should weigh those limits and the annual billing basis for Basic against their expected prospecting volume and workflow needs.