Apollo.io is a sales intelligence and engagement platform with a database of 275 million contacts. Here's what it does, how it's used, and whether it's worth it.
Apollo.io is a sales intelligence and engagement platform. It combines a large contact database, prospecting tools, and email outreach sequencing in one product.
For businesses doing outbound sales, Apollo reduces the number of separate tools required: you do not need a contact database, a separate email finder, and a separate sequencing tool. Apollo covers all three.
Contact database — 275 million contacts and 73 million companies. Filter by job title, seniority, industry, company size, geography, tech stack, keywords, funding status, and more.
Email finder — Apollo provides verified email addresses for contacts in its database. You can also use the Chrome extension to find emails while browsing LinkedIn or company websites.
Sequences — automated multi-step outreach campaigns. Set up email sequences with delays between steps, personalisation variables, and automatic follow-ups. LinkedIn task steps can be included for multi-channel outreach.
Dialler — built-in click-to-call for direct dials (phone numbers in the database). Included in higher-tier plans.
CRM sync — integrates with HubSpot, Salesforce, and other CRMs. Contacts, activities, and sequence status sync automatically.
Intent data — signals that a company is actively researching topics relevant to your product, allowing you to time outreach when buying intent is high. Available on higher plans.
Apollo is most commonly used by:
| | Apollo | ZoomInfo | Clay | |---|---|---|---| | Contact database | 275M contacts | 260M+ contacts | Aggregates 75+ sources | | Email sequencing | Built in | Via integrations | Via integrations | | Price (entry) | $49/mo | $15,000+/yr | $149/mo | | Best for | SMB/mid-market | Enterprise | AI personalisation at scale | | Data enrichment | Basic | Moderate | Deep (via waterfall) |
For AI-powered enrichment and highly personalised outreach at scale, many teams pair Apollo (for prospecting and initial export) with Clay (for enrichment and personalisation).
WhatWill AI builds outreach automation and AI-powered sales workflows. Book a discovery call to discuss what would make your outbound more efficient.
Apollo.io is a sales intelligence and engagement platform. It provides a database of over 275 million verified contacts and 73 million companies, a prospecting interface for finding leads by role, industry, size, and location, and email sequencing tools for outreach. It combines what would otherwise require separate tools — a contact database, an email finder, and a sequencing platform — in one product.
You search Apollo's contact database using filters (job title, industry, company size, geography, tech stack, etc.) to build a prospect list. Apollo provides verified email addresses and direct dials. You then run email sequences — automated multi-step outreach — directly within Apollo. It also integrates with HubSpot, Salesforce, and other CRMs to sync contact data and activity.
Apollo has a free plan that gives access to basic search and a limited number of email credits per month (typically 50–100). Paid plans start around $49/user/month for Basic and $99/user/month for Professional. Enterprise pricing is custom. The free plan is genuinely usable for low-volume prospecting — it is one of the more accessible sales tools for small businesses.
Apollo claims around 91% email deliverability when data is verified. In practice, data accuracy varies by industry and contact type — C-suite contacts at large companies tend to be more accurate than SMB contacts. Bounce rates of 5–15% are common with unverified contacts. Apollo has a verification feature that checks email validity before you send, which helps significantly. Data is generally considered better than ZoomInfo for SMB and mid-market, roughly comparable for enterprise.
Apollo is better for most small to mid-market businesses — lower cost, comparable data quality for SMB, and an included sequencing tool. ZoomInfo is better for large enterprise prospecting where data accuracy at the top end matters more, and for teams that need deep intent data and advanced integrations. The price difference is significant: Apollo starts at $49/month; ZoomInfo starts at $15,000+/year. Most businesses should start with Apollo.
WhatWill AI builds and runs AI systems for Australian businesses. Book a free 30-minute discovery call — we’ll tell you exactly what’s worth building for your situation.