Apollo vs. ZoomInfo: Pricing, Data & Outreach Tools

Apollo or ZoomInfo? It’s a tough choice when the success of your outbound lead generation process—the lifeblood of sales revenue—hangs in the balance. 

Don’t worry, we’ll help you understand their major differences.  

You’ll learn how these two B2B prospecting solutions compare in terms of pricing, key features, data quality, and use cases.

Apollo vs. ZoomInfo: Quick Comparison

ZoomInfo and Apollo are two popular B2B sales tools. Here’s a quick rundown of how they compare across key areas of functionality. 

Who Each Platform Is Best For

ZoomInfo is for mature sales teams running enterprise-scale outbound campaigns. These users typically have complex data needs and sales operations support; they rely on ZoomInfo for its deep intent signals, firmographics, integrations, and full CRM enrichment.

Apollo, on the other hand, is ideal for lean teams that want fast access to verified leads and built-in outreach automation alongside transparent pricing and a shallower learning curve.

Apollo Overview

Apollo is an AI-powered outbound sales platform primarily used for prospecting and cold outreach. It has a few tools for deal management as well, but it’s primarily an SDR tool. 

Key Features

Think of Apollo as a hybrid between a sales intelligence tool (for lead and company data) and a sales engagement platform (for outreach automation). 

Here are Apollo’s key features: 

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  Built-in email and LinkedIn outreach

  
  
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  Real-time email verification

  
  
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  Company profiles (company size, revenue, location, and other data)

  
  
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  Lead scoring and AI lead suggestions

  
  
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  Multi-channel sequencing 

  
  
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  Chrome extension for LinkedIn scraping

  
  
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  65+ prospect filters

  
  
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  CRM integrations (Salesforce, HubSpot, Gmail)

  
  

Pricing and Structure

Apollo’s pricing is straightforward and startup-friendly, offering: 

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  A freemium model

  
  
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  Paid plans: $49–$119/user/month

  
  
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  Monthly or annual billing

  
  
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  No required contracts or negotiations

  
  

We’ll go deeper into their pricing model later in the article when we compare it with ZoomInfo’s pricing. 

Pros and Cons

Apollo, like any sales tool, has its advantages and disadvantages. 

Here are the pros:

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  Transparent pricing

  
  
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  Intuitive user interface and fast onboarding

  
  
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  Real-time verified data

  
  
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  Built-in email and LinkedIn automation

  
  

Here are the cons: 

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  Smaller database than ZoomInfo

  
  
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  Lacks advanced intent or firmographic depth

  
  
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  Credit limits on lower tiers

  
  

Automate your outbound with an AI BDR

Meet Ava—your AI BDR who handles prospecting, outreach, and follow-ups, so your team can focus on closing.

Book a Demo

ZoomInfo Overview

ZoomInfo is a go-to-market (GTM) intelligence platform with a large B2B database for list building, lead generation, and company research. 

ZoomInfo offers modules for sales, recruiting, operations, and marketing teams. However, it's the company’s sales platform, SalesOS, that we’ll focus on in this breakdown, since it’s the tool most closely related to Apollo. 

SalesOS provides verified contact information, deep firmographics, real-time intent signals, and other lead and sales intelligence data that helps sales reps find ideal leads and open sales opportunities. 

Key Features

ZoomInfo’s feature set is focused on providing high-quality B2B data. 

Here are the platform’s key features: 

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  Massive B2B database (300M+ contacts)

  
  
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  Advanced search filters 

  
  
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  Intent data and sales engagement signals 

  
  
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  Company scoops  (news), org charts, and AI suggestions (ZoomInfo Copilot)

  
  
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  Conversation intelligence 

  
  
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  Real-time data enrichment

  
  
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  Web visitor tracking 

  
  
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  50+ integrations and CRM syncing

  
  

In addition to its sales intelligence platform, ZoomInfo also offers a sales engagement tool with features like multi-channel sequencing, but it’s an add-on for which you must pay extra. 

Pricing and Structure

ZoomInfo’s pricing is expensive and obscure—they don’t say much about it on their website. 

However, here’s what we do know about their pricing:  

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  Starts at ~$15K/year

  
  
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  Custom plans with add-on costs

  
  
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  No public pricing

  
  
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  Often requires annual or multi-year contracts

  
  

Pros and Cons

ZoomInfo has a unique mix of specialties and potential issues that make it right for enterprise brands but too costly and complicated for smaller companies. 

Here are the pros:

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  Unmatched database scale and filters

  
  
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  Extensive integration capabilities and data enrichment tools 

  
  
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  Strong intent data options

  
  

Here are the cons: 

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  Steep pricing

  
  
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  Credit-based pricing model is complex

  
  
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  Steeper learning curve than Apollo

  
  

Key Differences Between Apollo and ZoomInfo

These two sales prospecting solutions look similar at a glance. But if you zoom in—pardon the pun—ZoomInfo and Apollo have significant differences in functionality, pricing, and use cases. 

Let’s see how they compare on key buying criteria. 

Contact Data Volume vs. Accuracy

Both platforms are well-regarded for data accuracy. However, ZoomInfo has an 8.4 on G2 for contact data accuracy, while Apollo earns a 7.7. This gives ZoomInfo the edge here. 

The two platforms also differ when it comes to B2B contact data volume. ZoomInfo has a much larger contact database, with 300 million contacts. It also has more depth, especially around intent data and direct-dial phone numbers.

Apollo’s database is smaller—containing data on 200 million+ contacts. But volume isn’t everything. Apollo’s database is easy to navigate, offering 65+ filters for quickly building segmented lead lists. Apollo also offers real-time verified exports. 

Features and Intelligence

Apollo shines for its practical sales workflows and built-in outreach automation, while ZoomInfo wins in sales and lead intelligence. 

With Apollo, sales reps can use customizable templates to easily create automated multi-channel outreach sequences. They can also leverage AI to write cold emails and generate outreach suggestions, make direct dials from the integrated dialer, and run A/B tests. 

ZoomInfo does come with engagement tools, but you’ll have to buy it as an add-on. 

As far as sales intelligence is concerned, while Apollo does offer company information, ZoomInfo offers more detailed profiles that feature robust company data, market insights for ABM support, account-level alerts, and contact tracking.  

In fact, in a G2 comparison based on thousands of user reviews, ZoomInfo beats Apollo in contact, company, and industry data availability. The only category Apollo wins in the data availability matchup is technographics, and only by a slight margin. 

Integrations and Workflow

Apollo has easy plug-and-play integrations with popular CRMs and software solutions like Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive, and Gmail. 

While deeper and more extensive, ZoomInfo’s integrations are more advanced—which also means complex. These integrations may require sales ops or technical support to execute effectively. ZoomInfo integrations include Salesforce, Pipedrive, HubSpot, Zoho, Salesloft, and Gong. 

Pricing and Flexibility

Apollo offers flat, transparent, low-friction pricing, with paid tiers starting at $47 per user per month. They even offer a generous free plan, which comes with two outreach sequences, basic filters, and 1,200 credits per user per year. 

ZoomInfo’s pricing, by comparison, is more complex and not publicly available. To receive a custom quote, you have to meet with the sales team. The quote depends on various factors, including minimum seat pricing, data requirements, monthly credits, and feature accessibility. 

Notably, ZoomInfo is also known for less flexible pricing terms than Apollo, often requiring annual or multi-year contracts.  

Data Quality and Coverage

ZoomInfo and Apollo both provide solid B2B data. However, their quality and coverage differ in geographic focus, freshness, and accuracy at scale. 

Global vs. Regional Strength

ZoomInfo and Apollo both offer international data coverage. But, for whatever reason, they’re pretty quiet about exactly which countries they support. 

According to Apollo’s quick start guide, they say their database has phone numbers of contacts in 50 countries. But they don’t specify the names of the countries. 

On their blog, ZoomInfo states they offer data about companies located in “the Americas to Europe, from Africa to Australia.” They also say they’re focused on improving global data coverage. That said, their focus is still on US data coverage over other regions. 

Freshness and Verification

Apollo uses a seven-step real-time email verification process to validate email addresses against its large database and contributory network. 

Also, all contact and company information in Apollo is automatically refreshed whenever a new data signal comes in. There have, however, been complaints (as found in this G2 review) about email inaccuracies for startups and lesser-known companies.

ZoomInfo takes a multi-pronged approach to data hygiene, ensuring fresh, accurate lead profiles in its database. Specifically, to verify B2B email data, they use a combination of machine learning analysis, human research, and third-party data sources. 

Accuracy at Scale

ZoomInfo wins in this category, scoring an 8.4 in contact data accuracy on G2, as opposed to Apollo’s 7.7.

Their data accuracy for company-level contact details is also better (8.6 to 8.2). This superiority in accuracy likely has something to do with ZoomInfo’s real-time verification, large network of data partnerships, and team of researchers who manually verify some information. 

Despite losing in this category, Apollo still has good data accuracy at scale, and some audience segments might be more fleshed out than in ZoomInfo. It’s therefore worth testing to see if the platform works for your specific audience.  

Pricing Models and Contracts

Let’s go over how much these tools cost and the factors that affect their pricing. 

Apollo Pricing

Apollo offers per-user tiered pricing across the following plans: 

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  Free: Comes with 1,200 credits per user per year, two sequences, and basic search filters.

  
  
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  Basic: $49 per user per month—30,000 credits per user per year, advanced filters, and CRM integrations.

  
  
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  Professional: $79 per user per month—48,000 credits per user per year, unlimited sequences, automated workflows, and AI research intelligence.

  
  
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  Organization: $119 per user per month—72,000 credits per user per year, customizable reports and dashboards, and advanced security configurations.

  
  

There are no hidden fees, so you don’t need to worry about price shock at renewal. However, you will need to buy more credits if you need expanded data access.  

ZoomInfo Pricing

ZoomInfo’s pricing starts at around $15,000 per year. The cost scales fast as you add features and seats. 

Pricing is custom and based on the following factors: 

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  Credits: These are used to reveal company and contact records within the B2B database. Your credit requirements directly impact your subscription cost.

  
  
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  Number of seats: ZoomInfo uses per-seat pricing, so the greater the number of users, the more you’ll pay. 

  
  
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  Features: There are many features that you can buy as add-ons, including intent data or sales engagement tools.  

  
  

One drawback of ZoomInfo is that the pricing tiers can be confusing and lead businesses to only realize the true cost of the software at renewal. There have also been cases of contracts containing auto-renewal clauses that make it hard to cancel the service close to the renewal date.

Which Is More Flexible?

Apollo, thanks to its shorter contracts and lower pricing, is more flexible and a better option for agile, modern GTM teams. ZoomInfo’s high pricing is only worth it if you have the team, needs, and know-how to take advantage of its entire feature stack.   

When to Choose ZoomInfo or Apollo

Below are the main scenarios in which it makes sense to go with either ZoomInfo, Apollo, or another option altogether. 

ZoomInfo Works Best When…

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  You need a lot of company information, including org charts and intent data, as well as firmographic segmentation.

  
  
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  Your GTM team is large and well-resourced, capable of effectively using ZoomInfo’s wide range of features and setting up its integrations. 

  
  
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  You’re coordinating enterprise-level outbound and marketing and need good market research data and industry intel. 

  
  

Apollo Works Best When…

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  You want B2B lead data and sales engagement in one tool.

  
  
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  You need transparent pricing that doesn’t break the bank.

  
  
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  You’re testing markets and want fast access to leads and phone/email data.

  
  

The Mid-Market Struggle

Mid-market businesses might find that neither ZoomInfo nor Apollo fits their needs. 

ZoomInfo can be overkill. The platform is crowded with too many features and expenses for a growing business that just needs accurate B2B data, targeting capabilities, and outreach automation. Meanwhile, Apollo might be too limited for ABM at scale. 

What these companies need is an easy-to-use, scalable solution that combines data and execution.

Why Artisan Is a Smarter Third Option

Artisan is an AI-first sales platform that automates all of the middle and early stages of the outbound sales cycle. 

It combines high-quality B2B data and cold outreach automation in an all-in-one AI sales automation tool, allowing sales teams to scale their outreach without hiring new reps or investing in bloated tech stacks.

(Click on the links in the descriptions to learn more about specific features.)

Ava Handles Everything

An AI BDR called Ava is at the heart of Artisan. From identifying quality leads and enriching lead profiles to executing personalized multichannel outreach campaigns on LinkedIn and email, she handles every aspect of the cold outbound process. 

All-In-One Tool, No Stack Chaos

Artisan is truly an all-in-one AI sales automation that runs on tested playbooks. There’s no need to buy (and manage) other outbound apps, like email warm-up apps, enrichment solutions, and sales engagement platforms. This saves your company money and prevents your sales team from becoming overwhelmed by endless tech. 

Local Data and Global Reach

Artisan comes with an extensive, up-to-date B2B database containing 300M+ verified contacts. The database offers a variety of filters you can use to easily build highly targeted lead lists, including ecommerce-specific filters. Whether you’re looking for contact data on local business owners or technographics on software companies around the globe, Artisan has the intel. 

Outreach Personalization at Scale

Artisan can send hundreds of highly personalized messages every day, with no rep input. Artisan draws on a vast set of data sources to create multi-channel sequences across email and LinkedIn that speak directly to your prospects’ needs. 

Predictable Pricing

Artisan's pricing is more straightforward than Apollo's or ZoomInfo's. There is one flat monthly fee, determined based on your team’s specific needs. And there’s no credit system or hidden fees. Not to mention, Artisan allows your team to consolidate your tech stack, which can easily lead to cost savings in the tens of thousands. 

Ditch the Stack Bloat and Get Back to Selling

Prospecting and outbound lead generation take a tremendous amount of time. Sellers have to search for ICP-fit leads, find their contact information, write personalized messages, and follow up based on lead behavior. This makes lead gen hard to scale without a gigantic stack of tools or an army of BDRs. 

There is, however, another solution. Automate your cold outreach with Artisan, the AI BDR platform that discovers leads, writes outreach sequences, and messages them—all without human intervention. 

That way, your sales team can go back to doing what they do best—building relationships with qualified prospects and closing deals. 

Automate your outbound with an AI BDR

Meet Ava—your AI BDR who handles prospecting, outreach, and follow-ups, so your team can focus on closing.

Book a Demo