Apollo, Joute's Review

The essentials

• Database of 275 million B2B contacts with emails and phone numbers
• Free plan with 5 exports/month, paid plans starting at $46/month
• Built-in email sequencer for automated outreach
• Accessible alternative to ZoomInfo and Lusha

What is Apollo?

Apollo is a B2B prospecting platform that combines a contact database (275 million contacts across 60 million companies) with outreach tools. You search for prospects using precise criteria (industry, size, role, technology used), Apollo gives you verified emails and phone numbers, and you launch an email sequence from the same platform. AI helps personalize messages and score leads by conversion probability.

Strengths

One of the largest databases

275 million contacts with high verification rates. For most B2B markets, the coverage is solid enough.

Built-in sequencer

You find prospects and email them from the same tool. No juggling between a contact database and a separate sending tool.

Free plan useful for testing

The free plan with 5 exports/month lets you validate data relevance before committing.

Limitations

Data quality varies by sector

Like any contact database, freshness and accuracy vary. Emails for large US companies are more reliable than contacts for French SMEs or niche sectors.

Already bloated interface

Apollo tries to do everything and the interface can be overwhelming. It takes a bit of time to get up to speed.

Pricing

Free plan with 5 credits/month. Basic plan at around $46/month. Higher plans available. Check apollo.io.

Alternatives

Apollo = B2B contact database + integrated outreach. Alternative Clay (clay.com) = $167/month, more advanced enrichment. Alternative Hunter (hunter.io) = email search only, cheaper.

Verdict

Apollo is the logical choice for sales teams that want a complete B2B contact database with a built-in outreach tool without paying ZoomInfo prices. The paid plan pays for itself after 3-4 closed deals that cover the annual cost.

FAQ

Is Apollo GDPR compliant?

Apollo collects public professional data. GDPR compliance for your usage depends on how you handle that data. Having a legitimate commercial interest is required in Europe.

Are Apollo emails verified?

Apollo verifies emails and assigns them a quality score. Not all emails are 100% guaranteed — expect some bounce rate.

Can Apollo integrate with Salesforce or HubSpot?

Yes, native integrations exist for major CRMs.

Is there a Chrome extension?

Yes, the Apollo Chrome extension lets you find contacts directly from LinkedIn.

Joute may earn a commission on subscriptions taken out via links in this article. That doesn't change our reviews.