This Apollo review covers what a buyer can check before signing, as of September 2026: Apollo’s published plans and credit rules, its data and security pages, its integrations, and our own benchmark of 8 providers.
Prices checked on 27 September 2026 from each vendor’s own pricing page.
We did not test Apollo’s sequencer or dialer for this review, and we give no star rating.
What is Apollo.io?
Apollo.io is an all-in-one sales platform that pairs a B2B contact database with email sequences, a dialer and deal tools, sold per seat with a credit allowance. Apollo’s site says you can “Access 240M contacts & 30M companies”.
The product has four parts that matter to a buyer:
- Data: search the database, then reveal emails and phone numbers for credits. Organization adds 12 intent topics.
- Engagement: email sequences on every plan (2 on Free), a US dialer from Basic, and call recordings with AI insights from Professional.
- Access: the web app, a Chrome extension, an API and an MCP server for AI tools.
- Add-ons: Inbound (website visitor identification and form enrichment) and an Advanced Dialer, each 119 USD per team a month on annual billing.
What Apollo says about its data
Apollo’s B2B data page states the size of the database and how it checks records: “Seven-step email verification with 98% accuracy”, and phone numbers “verified in real time when you request them”. The pages we read do not give a breakdown of sources we could verify, so we do not repeat one here.
When Apollo’s own data has no answer, Basic and higher plans can query connected third-party providers through multi-source enrichment, and those lookups are billed in credits. If you plan to connect a mailbox or CRM, ask Apollo in writing how that data is used before you do.
Is Apollo legit?
Yes. Apollo publishes every self-serve price. Its data page states it is “SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 certified”, and its security page says “Apollo is GDPR compliant as both a Data Processor and Data Controller.”
Legit is a separate question from fit. Whether Apollo is worth it depends on how much of your list it covers and whether you use its sending and calling tools.
What we checked for this Apollo review
We reviewed Apollo the way a careful buyer would before a trial: from Apollo’s own pages, read on 27 and 28 September 2026, plus the results of our benchmark.
| Area | What we read | What we found |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing and credits | Pricing page, credits FAQ, API pricing docs | 4 plans priced per seat; 1 credit per email, 8 per phone number |
| Data coverage | Our 8-provider benchmark | Emails found for 74 to 77% of each list, phones for 8 to 63% |
| Data claims and checks | B2B data page | 240M contacts and 30M companies claimed; seven-step email verification |
| Sending and calling | Pricing comparison | Sequences on every plan, US dialer from Basic, 250 emails a day on Basic |
| Integrations | Data and pricing pages | Salesforce, HubSpot, Outreach, Salesloft, Marketo, Sendgrid, Gmail and Microsoft mailboxes, Chrome extension, API, MCP |
| Compliance | Security and data pages | GDPR, SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001 |
How accurate is Apollo’s data?
No single accuracy number exists for Apollo, but two kinds of evidence do: our benchmark, which measured how often Apollo returned an email or a phone number, and Apollo’s own published claims. They answer different questions, so we keep them apart.
What our benchmark found
In our 8-provider data benchmark, Apollo found an email for 77% of the North American list, 77% in EMEA and 74% in APAC. It found a phone number for 50%, 63% and 8%. Apollo was not tested in Latin America.
Two things stand out. Apollo’s email coverage barely moves between regions. Its phone coverage does: an SDR calling accounts in Australia or Singapore would have a number for fewer than 1 in 10 contacts on a list like ours.
For context, Scalelist found an email for 92%, 89% and 76% of the same lists, and a phone number for 87%, 73% and 75%.
This is our own test, published with its raw data, and it measures coverage (a result returned), not verified accuracy. Run the same check on 100 of your own accounts with our data provider bake-off method before you commit.
What Apollo claims
These are Apollo’s published figures, not ours:
- Emails: a “98% email accuracy rate” from a seven-step verification process.
- Phones: numbers “verified in real time when you request them”.
- Refunds: if an Apollo-verified email bounces within 30 days of the request and you sent it from Apollo, the credits come back in the next billing cycle. Apollo does not refund credits for mobile numbers.
- Gaps: when Apollo’s own data has none, Basic and higher plans can ask connected third-party providers through multi-source enrichment. Apollo’s API pricing docs say a phone found this way typically costs 8 to 25 credits, and some vendors charge per lookup even when nothing is found.
What Apollo costs per contact
Apollo pricing starts at 49 USD per seat a month on annual billing, or 65 USD monthly, for the Basic plan with 2,500 credits per seat a month. Professional costs 79 USD and Organization 119 USD per seat a month on annual billing. An email costs 1 credit and a phone number 8, and credits are granted per seat. Every plan and limit is in our full Apollo pricing breakdown.
- Per contact: at list price, an email costs about 2 to 2.6 cents and a phone number about 16 to 21 cents, if you use every credit.
- Trial: Basic shows a 14-day trial, and trial plans include 100 credits.
- Minimums: Organization is annual only with 3 seats, a floor of 4,284 USD a year.
- Terms: cancellations take effect at the end of the term, and mid-term downgrades are not refunded.
The allowance goes faster than it looks if you call. Jordan, an SDR at a 40-person HR software company in Denver, reveals 15 phone numbers a day. Over 21 working days that is 15 x 21 x 8 = 2,520 credits: the whole Basic allowance, before a single email.
Do Apollo credits roll over, and what does a team of five pay? Both answers, with the per-contact math for every plan, are in our Apollo pricing breakdown.
Apollo pros and cons
Apollo’s strengths are breadth and a low price per contact; its weaknesses show up when you call, when you add seats and when outside vendors fill the gaps. Every point below comes from Apollo’s own pages or our benchmark.
Pros
- One tool for the whole motion. Data, sequences, a dialer, call recordings and deal tools behind one login.
- Public, self-serve pricing. Every self-serve price is on the pricing page, with a Free plan and a trial.
- Low price per contact. About 2 cents per email and 16 to 21 cents per phone number at list price.
- Misses on Apollo’s data are free. Apollo says “You aren’t charged if a source can’t find any data,” charges one verified email per contact, and never charges for HQ or corporate numbers.
- Steady email coverage. 74 to 77% of each list in our benchmark, across three regions.
- Integrations and security. Salesforce, HubSpot, Outreach and Salesloft integrations, an API and an MCP server, plus SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001.
Cons
- Phones cost 8 times more than emails. A credit budget sized for emails covers 8 times fewer phone numbers.
- Phone coverage depends on the region. 50% in North America, 63% in EMEA and 8% in APAC in our benchmark.
- No refunds on mobile credits. Bounce refunds cover only verified emails sent from Apollo within 30 days.
- Outside vendors can charge on a miss. Multi-source enrichment can cost 8 to 25 credits per phone, and some vendors bill per lookup.
- Per-seat pricing. Credits and cost scale with headcount, and Organization needs 3 seats on annual billing.
- A tight Free plan. 2 sequences, a 25-record selection limit and 250 emails a day.
Who should choose Apollo?
Apollo fits teams that want one per-seat platform for finding, emailing and calling, and that mostly sell into North America or EMEA. It is a weaker buy when phone numbers for most of a list are the goal.
Choose Apollo if:
- You want data, sequences and a dialer on one bill, priced per rep.
- Most of your outreach is email, and you reveal phone numbers selectively.
- Your buyers are mainly in North America or EMEA.
- Your security review asks every vendor for SOC 2 or ISO 27001. Scalelist’s Trust Center lists neither; it operates under the GDPR and Singapore’s PDPA, with a Data Processing Agreement.
Look elsewhere if:
- You call into APAC, where Apollo found a phone number for 8% of our list.
- You need a mobile for most contacts on a list, not a sample.
- You already run a sequencer and a dialer, so the per-seat engagement features go unused.
- You have many occasional users, each of whom needs a paid seat to get credits.
Apollo alternatives
The right Apollo alternative depends on what Apollo does not cover for you: mobile numbers for most of a list, seat-free pricing, European phone data, an enterprise contract or cheaper emails. Here are five, on the same fields, with Apollo as the baseline.
| Tool | Best for | Entry price | Phone cost | Charged on a miss |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scalelist | Mobiles for most of a list, no seats | 29 USD a month (500 credits) | 20 credits per mobile found | No |
| Lusha | Self-serve reps and small teams | 37.45 USD a month, billed yearly | 5 credits per phone | Partly (API: 1 credit minimum) |
| Cognism | Phone-verified mobiles, Europe | Not published (quote, 5 seats included) | 1 credit per revealed contact | Not published |
| ZoomInfo | Enterprise teams on annual contracts | Not published (quote) | Not published | Not published |
| Hunter | Email-only outbound, no seats | 49 USD a month (2,000 credits) | Not sold | No |
| Apollo.io | Data, sequences and dialer in one | 49 USD per seat a month, billed annually | 8 credits per phone | No, for Apollo’s own data |
- Scalelist, an AI lead finder: describe the people you want in one sentence and get verified work emails and mobile numbers. A found email costs 1 credit, a found mobile 20 (0.65 to 1.16 USD by plan) and a miss nothing, with no seats. See Scalelist plans and credits and Scalelist vs Apollo.io.
- Lusha: self-serve monthly or yearly plans with 5 credits per phone number. Read our Lusha review.
- Cognism: quoted packages with phone-verified mobiles, aimed at teams selling into Europe. See our Cognism review.
- ZoomInfo: custom-quoted annual plans for larger teams. See our ZoomInfo review.
- Hunter: an email finder with sequences and unlimited seats, slightly cheaper per email than Apollo on the same billing period, with no phone numbers. See our Hunter.io review.
Where Scalelist falls short against Apollo: it costs about 3 to 7 times Apollo’s list price per phone number, and it has no sequences or dialer. Where it wins: it found a phone number for 87% of the North American benchmark list and 75% of the APAC list, against Apollo’s 50% and 8%.
The full shortlist is in our Apollo alternatives guide. For head-to-head pages, read ZoomInfo vs Apollo, Apollo vs Clay and Apollo vs Lusha.
One practical setup uses both: keep Apollo for sequences and cheap reveals, then send the contacts it returned without a phone to the Scalelist Mobile Finder, where a miss costs nothing.
Send the contacts Apollo could not find a phone for through Scalelist, and pay only for the mobiles found.
Get 20 credits to test itFAQ
Is Apollo.io worth it in 2026?
Based on this review, yes, for small and mid-size teams that want data, sequences and a dialer in one per-seat tool and mostly sell into North America or EMEA. Basic costs 49 USD per seat a month on annual billing with 2,500 credits. It is less worth it if you need mobile numbers for most of a list or already pay for a sequencer and a dialer.
How accurate is Apollo’s data?
Apollo claims a “98% email accuracy rate” after a seven-step verification. We have not measured accuracy, but in our benchmark Apollo found an email for 74 to 77% of each regional list and a phone number for 50% in North America, 63% in EMEA and 8% in APAC. Test it on 100 of your own accounts before you buy.
Is Apollo.io legit and safe to use?
Yes. Apollo publishes its prices, states SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 certification on its data and security pages, and says it is GDPR compliant as both a data processor and a data controller. As with any data provider, you remain responsible for how you contact people, such as CAN-SPAM rules for email in the US. This is not legal advice.
How much does Apollo cost?
Apollo costs 49 USD per seat a month for Basic, 79 USD for Professional and 119 USD for Organization on annual billing, or 65 and 99 USD for Basic and Professional billed monthly. Organization is annual only with a 3-seat minimum. The Free plan costs 0 USD with 75 credits a month.
Does Apollo charge credits when it finds nothing?
Not for Apollo’s own data: Apollo says you are not charged when a source cannot find any data. Multi-source enrichment is the exception. Apollo’s API docs note that some connected vendors consume credits per lookup even when no data is found, and a phone found that way typically costs 8 to 25 credits.
Where does Apollo get its data?
Apollo’s pages state the size of its database, 240M contacts and 30M companies, and how it checks records: seven-step email verification, and phone numbers verified in real time when you request them. The pages we read in September 2026 do not give a source breakdown we could verify. When Apollo’s own data has no answer, Basic and higher plans can query connected third-party providers through multi-source enrichment, billed in credits.
Is Apollo good for cold calling?
It depends on where you call. Apollo includes a US dialer from Basic at 2 credits per minute and charges 8 credits per phone number. In our benchmark it found a phone number for 50% of a North American list, 63% in EMEA and 8% in APAC, so teams calling into APAC usually need a second source for mobiles.
Can I use Apollo for data only, without its sequencer?
Yes. Credits come with every seat, and from Basic you can reveal emails and phone numbers and run CSV, CRM and API enrichment without sending a single sequence. The catch is the price: you still pay per seat, and each seat includes sequences, mailboxes and the US dialer. If you already run a sequencer, compare that seat price with a data-only tool.
Sources
- Apollo.io pricing, plans, credits and FAQ, read 27 and 28 Sep 2026
- Apollo B2B data, data claims and verification
- Apollo security
- Apollo knowledge base: What are credits
- Apollo knowledge base: How do data requests work
- Apollo knowledge base: Access a prospect’s phone number
- Apollo knowledge base: Will Apollo charge me for more than one email per contact
- Apollo API pricing docs
- Lusha pricing and Lusha credits guide
- Cognism pricing
- ZoomInfo: how much does ZoomInfo cost
- Hunter pricing
