Apollo.io

MK
Apollo.io logo

Apollo.io

The unified GTM platform that combines a massive B2B database with sequencing, and deal intelligence—all in one place.

Apollo.io cover
Website
apollo.io
Category
Data Vendors
Best for
Startup, Small, Medium, Enterprise
Pricing
Freemium

Overview

Apollo.io is the end-to-end sales engine that powers GTM motions for over 500,000 companies. Its unified platform provides access to a database of 275+ million contacts, enabling sales teams to find, engage, and convert their ideal buyers with unprecedented efficiency. Teams using Apollo see a 3x increase in qualified meetings booked and save an average of 8-10 hours per rep, per week on manual prospecting tasks.

Why Apollo is the Go-To GTM Platform

Find, Engage, and Win in One Place: Apollo is not just a database; it’s a complete sales platform. It seamlessly integrates a world-class B2B database with a multi-channel sequencing engine. This means you can find your ideal prospects, enroll them in automated email, call, and LinkedIn campaigns, and track every interaction without ever switching tabs. This unified workflow leads to 40% faster prospecting cycles.

Data You Can Actually Trust: With a database of over 275 million contacts, refreshed and verified in real-time, Apollo provides the fuel for any GTM strategy. Its advanced search filters—with over 65 attributes—allow you to build hyper-targeted lead lists with precision, leading to higher conversion rates. Data accuracy is a core focus, with teams consistently achieving 85-95% email deliverability.

Intelligence That Drives Action: Apollo goes beyond static data by providing real-time buying intent signals. It identifies which accounts are actively researching your solution, allowing your reps to prioritize their outreach and engage prospects at the perfect moment. Teams leveraging Apollo’s intent data see 2-4x higher reply rates on their campaigns.

Real-World Strategic Metrics

  • Database Size: Access 275M+ contacts at 73M+ companies globally.
  • Meeting Growth: Achieve a 3x increase in qualified meetings booked.
  • Time Savings: Save 8-10 hours per sales rep per week on manual tasks.
  • Email Deliverability: Consistently reach 85-95% deliverability on verified emails.
  • Reply Rates: Campaigns using intent data achieve 2-4x higher reply rates.

Who Needs This to Win

Ideal Customer Profile:

  • B2B companies of all sizes, from early-stage startups to large enterprises, that need to build a scalable and predictable revenue pipeline.
  • Sales and marketing teams that are tired of stitching together multiple tools for data, engagement, and intelligence.
  • Any organization that wants to empower their GTM teams with a single, unified platform.

Decision Maker Roles:

  • VPs of Sales & CROs who are responsible for building and scaling the company’s revenue engine.
  • Sales Development Leaders who need a powerful platform to enable their SDRs to hit their quotas.
  • Marketing & RevOps Professionals tasked with building a seamless, data-driven GTM technology stack.
  • Founders who are leading the initial sales efforts and need a capital-efficient way to find their first customers.

Common Use Cases That Build Empires

Hyper-Targeted Outbound Prospecting: Use Apollo’s granular filters to build a precise list of your ideal customers. Create a multi-step, multi-channel sequence of emails, calls, and LinkedIn tasks to engage them automatically. This is the playbook for building a predictable outbound pipeline from scratch.

Account-Based Marketing (ABM) at Scale: Identify accounts that are showing strong buying intent for your solution. Use Apollo to find all the key decision-makers within those accounts and launch a coordinated, multi-threaded outreach campaign to the entire buying committee.

CRM Data Enrichment: Connect Apollo to your Salesforce or HubSpot CRM. It will work in the background to automatically enrich your existing records with accurate contact and company data, turning your CRM into a powerful, always-up-to-date intelligence tool.

Competitive Displacement Campaigns: Use Apollo to find companies that are using your competitors’ products. Launch a targeted campaign that highlights your key differentiators and convert them into new customers.

Critical Success Factors

Pricing Reality Check:

  • Free Tier: A genuinely useful free plan with 60 mobile credits and 120 export credits per year, perfect for early-stage prospecting.
  • Basic Plan: Starts at $49/user/month (billed annually), offering more credits and core sequencing features.
  • Professional Plan: $79/user/month (billed annually) unlocks advanced automation, intent data, and A/B testing.
  • Organization Plan: $119/user/month (billed annually, min. 3 users) for enterprise-grade features and security.
  • Value Proposition: The ROI is exceptional. A single deal closed through Apollo can pay for an entire year’s subscription for the whole team.

Implementation Requirements:

  • The initial setup, including CRM integration and domain authentication, can be completed in under 2 hours.
  • The most important step is to clearly define your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) to make the most of the search filters.
  • Plan to spend a few hours building and testing your initial outreach sequences.

Integration Ecosystem

Core CRM Sync:

  • Deep, bi-directional integrations with Salesforce and HubSpot ensure that all your data stays in sync.

Sales & Marketing:

  • Connects with Outreach, SalesLoft, Marketo, Pardot, and all major sales and marketing automation platforms.

Productivity:

  • Seamlessly integrates with Gmail, Outlook, and LinkedIn Sales Navigator to fit into your existing workflow.

Flexibility:

  • A robust REST API and Zapier integration allow you to connect Apollo to any other tool in your stack.

The Bottom Line

Apollo.io has become the de facto GTM platform for modern B2B companies. Its powerful combination of a massive, accurate database and a full-featured sales engagement engine provides an unbeatable all-in-one solution for building a predictable revenue machine.

The Honest Truth: While Apollo is incredibly powerful, the sheer number of features can be overwhelming for a brand new user. The credit system also takes some getting used to. However, these are minor hurdles. For the price, there is simply no other platform on the market that offers this level of data quality and functionality. It has democratized access to the kind of GTM infrastructure that used to be reserved for only the largest, most well-funded companies. If you’re serious about building a scalable outbound motion, Apollo isn’t just a good choice; it’s the most strategic choice you can make.

💡

My Take

Apollo is the undisputed king of the GTM stack for startups and SMBs. It's the platform I recommend to 9 out of 10 companies building an outbound engine. The combination of a high-quality database and a built-in sales engagement platform is a game-changer. You don't need a separate data vendor and a sequencer—Apollo does both, and it does them well. I've built entire GTM motions on the back of its data and automation, consistently seeing 8-12% reply rates on cold outreach. The free plan is more than enough to validate your ICP, and the paid plans offer unbeatable ROI. It's the most capital-efficient way to build a scalable revenue machine.

Pros and Cons

What Works

  • All-in-one platform for data, engagement, and intelligence
  • High-quality, verified contact data at a competitive price
  • Generous free tier is genuinely useful for getting started
  • Powerful sequencing capabilities are included, not an add-on
  • Intent data is surprisingly effective for prioritizing outreach

Watch Out For

  • The user interface can be slow and complex for new users
  • Credit system can be confusing (export vs. email credits)
  • Mobile number accuracy can be inconsistent outside of North America
  • Reporting and analytics are less robust than dedicated BI tools

Best Use Cases

  • 🎯

    Building targeted lead lists for outbound prospecting

  • Automating multi-channel sales outreach

  • 🚀

    Enriching CRM data with accurate contact and company info

  • 💡

    Identifying and engaging accounts showing buying intent

  • 💡

    Executing account-based marketing (ABM) plays

Key Features

B2B database with 275M+ contacts
Advanced search filters with 65+ attributes
Email, call, and LinkedIn sequencing
Real-time email verification
AI-assisted email and sequence writing
Buying intent data with surge scoring
Phone dialer with call recording and transcription
Deep, bi-directional CRM integrations

Pricing

Starts at
Free
per monthly

Multiple plans available including freemium options. Enterprise pricing available for larger teams.

Last Updated: Tue Oct 07 2025 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)