Apollo.io Review 2024: An Honest Assessment
Sales intelligence and data solutions are perhaps your go-to-market strategy’s most essential necessity.
Accurate and up-to-date ensures you’re targeting the right audience to communicate your message. The best sales intelligence and data platforms should have a more extensive and vast database yet be nimble enough to be updated constantly and accurately.
We reviewed one of the best, Apollo.io, to see how great this platform is.
We recommend Apollo.io in our guide to the 30 best sales prospecting tools, but we also have other suggestions that might better fit your budget, preferences, or goals.
To decide, you need to know what you want from your sales intelligence and data solution and—perhaps most importantly—who you’re selling to.
Introduction to Apollo.io and what it’s used for
Apollo.io is an all-in-one sales intelligence and engagement platform used by over 17,000 customers, from rapidly growing startups to global enterprises.
Salespeople and marketers commonly use Apollo.io to build target lists, engage prospects, and generate revenue. They have one of the largest B2B databases, with over 250 Million contacts and 60 Million companies, including accurate and up-to-date data.
Like other sales intelligence tools, Apollo.io has developed a more robust offering than sales intelligence and data. It is an “end-to-end sales engine,” meaning it offers a suite of solutions for prospecting, engaging, and winning deals.
Let’s dive into each specific product within their suite.
Sign up for a free trial of Apollo.
A Detailed Review of Apollo.io’s Key Features
B2B Database
The core of Apollo.io’s product is its extensive B2B database of over 250 Million contacts and 60 Million companies.
You’ll be able to find verified emails and phone numbers to buyers globally. They are making it ideal for salespeople and marketers to build targeted lead lists for their outreach.
Data Enrichment
You can improve your sales conversion rate with Apollo.io’s clean and accurate data.
Enrichment allows you to leverage Apollo’s database to ensure your contact and company data is correct and rich.
If you’re using a CRM, it can also enrich and update your contact details. For example, it’ll update data when a contact changes jobs or gets prompted.
Chrome Extension
Apollo offers a helpful Chrome Extension that allows you to use its functionality in different tools you use every day, including LinkedIn, Gmail, Salesforce, and many company websites.
This is an easy and convenient way to use Apollo without logging into another browser tab.
In-App Search
Apollo’s robust In-app Search makes prospecting effortless. You can easily save lists, searches, and personas so Apollo can automatically surface relevant high-value leads and recommend them to you.
Data Filters
Apollo’s 65+ search filters make it quick and easy to find high-value leads from our comprehensive database of 260 million contacts and 50 million companies.
They include the typical filters such as Job Titles, Location, Company, # of Companies, and Industry, as well as Job Change and Persona, which are helpful for targeted campaigns.
Sign up for a free trial of Apollo.
Job Change Alerts
Quickly find a list of people who recently changed jobs and moved companies. This is great for a sales campaign to engage and personalize your outreach to these high-value leads.
Sequences
Automate your sales engagement workflow with Apollo Sequences.
This feature is similar to other sales engagement platforms like Salesloft or Outreach. Apollo provides customizable, multi-step touchpoints with automatic or manual emails, phone calls, and LinkedIn messaging.
Dialer
Easily find and instantly call direct phone numbers with Apollo’s click-to-call Dialer. Make and receive local and international calls, bridge to your phone, record calls, see transcripts, join active calls, and log calls to your CRM.
Task Manager
The task manager helps improve sales productivity. Create tasks to get notified when to make calls, send emails, connect on LinkedIn, and complete other essential action items.
Rules Engine
Use Apollo’s Rules Engine to automate your prospecting and lead engagement efforts. Create rules and automate steps like adding or removing contacts from sequences and lists or creating tasks for your reps.
Apollo.io Buyer Intent
Apollo.io offers buyer intent data, so salespeople and marketers can identify the right prospects who are actively interested in solutions similar to yours.
Instead of generating demand, buyer intent helps you capture existing demand by identifying specific companies that are researching similar products.
Buyer intent data helps salespeople and marketers focus on relevant companies rather than guessing which accounts to go for.
Here are three significant benefits of using Apollo.io’s buyer intent.
1. Prioritize your most interested prospects.
Create a list of your products and services and identify which companies may have the intent to buy or are actively researching similar solutions to yours.
2. Leverage intelligence right where you prospect
Rather than using another third-party buyer intent tool such as Bombora, Apollo.io customers can get critical data insight within the platform.
3. Engage when prospects are actively interested
Use Buying Intent to find when companies are in buying mode and engage at the right moment.
So, where does Apollo get such valuable data?
They partner with a leading intent data provider called LeadSift. This third-party provider collects intent data through multiple sources, merging signals from the public web, social networks, events, job postings, technology installs, and more. Intent signals are collected by crawling the public web sources for buying behaviors and are 98% accurate with no guesswork involved.
Apollo.io describes its buyer intent as the most robust offering in the market. They offer 1600+ intent topics across different intent scores and time ranges.
Apollo.io Integrations
Apollo seamlessly integrates with major platforms to streamline your end-to-end sales workflow. Connect to Salesforce, Hubspot, Gmail, Outreach, and other sales platforms to sync your data and activities.
The Apollo API lets you connect CRMs and third-party software to the platform. You can programmatically search our vast and accurate B2B database, update contacts or accounts in Apollo, or enrich data for any system.
How do I use Apollo.io on LinkedIn?
One of Apollo’s most popular aspects is its LinkedIn integration. Users can build prospect lists on LinkedIn Sales Navigator and use Apollo to find accurate contact data.
To do so, you’ll need to download the Apollo Chrome extension. This will help you streamline using LinkedIn Sales Navigator to target qualified prospects and access their contact information.
You can build a targeted prospect list and do contact research on LinkedIn without leaving their browser tab.
It’s simple and convenient for power users.
- To use the extension, it must be installed on the Chrome browser.
- Search and find prospects on LinkedIn.
- Select prospects one by one or in bulk on LinkedIn.
The User Experience of Apollo.io
Ease of use and navigation
One of the areas in which Apollo.io gets a lot of praise is the user experience. I’ve found Apollo.io relatively intuitive and easy to use compared to other data and sales intelligence providers.
If you’re familiar with tools such as Zoominfo, Seamless.ai, or Lusha, you’ll quickly learn how to use Apollo.io.
But if you’re entirely new to sales intelligence solutions, it may take time to figure out how to use them. One user on G2 said, “Perhaps the navigation system could be a little more user-friendly.”
However, most users find that the user experience and navigation are easy to understand and use.
Like other tools, it offers search filter capabilities on the righthand side, allowing you to quickly and easily add filters to narrow your search results. Results are provided immediately, which is helpful.
The overall performance and reliability of the platform
Apollo is a very reliable and efficient platform for sales teams.
Since the platform offers many features, one concern potential customers may have is its data’s overall reliability and platform.
Let’s first address the data. Apollo has one of the most reliable and accurate databases available. One customer left a G2 review stating, “The data provided by Apollo.io is reliable and has been instrumental in helping me make informed decisions. Additionally, the software integrates easily with other apps, making tracking and reporting on marketing efforts easy.”
One former Zoominfo customer compared both solutions and said, “The data quality and accuracy are exceptional. I have used Zoominfo, and the data accuracy matches up with Zoominfo at a fraction of the price. “
However, one customer said that “the phone dialer is unreliable, freezes, and my reps need to restart their computer to get it going again. What’s more frustrating is the responsiveness and sense of urgency from the technical support team.”
Note that customer support seems to be Apollo’s weak spot, but an upgraded price does provide much more access to their technical support.
What customers have to say about Apollo.io
Apollo.io has one of the highest customer ratings on G2 for sales intelligence software, bolstering a 4.8 out of 5 stars. We’ve gathered several reviews on what users like and dislike about the platform.
What users like about Apollo.io
One BDR comments on ease of use
“Easy-to-use tool and very helpful for outreach in all aspects of marketing automation and Sequencing and reaching out to multiple leads all options are easy to understand and workable. Outreaching to multiple leads have become automated by the use of Apollo and editing and outreaching various accounts and setting that reach limit and time are great options to use. otherwise reaching all manually becomes tough which Apollo is helping in.”
One Sales Team Lead comments on data accuracy
“The data quality and accuracy is exceptional. I have used Zoominfo and the data accuracy in this matches up with Zoominfo at a fraction of the price. I also like that you can create and save search strings to run them again in the future if needed. Exporting lists is also very simple and works with zero issues. Lastly, it also has a lot of search options to help you find the exact type of contacts you are looking for. It is an exceptional recruiting/sales too.”
One Account Executive comments on integrations
Apollo is great for searching profiles on LinkedIn. Its many built-in functions help narrow the search and extract the people you want to contact.
“One of the best functionalities is getting contact information, such as an email, even without a connection. There is also the ability to export directly to Salesloft’s cadences and other important software integrations.”
What users dislike about Apollo.io
One BDR comments on issues logging in
“So far I haven’t had any major problems or anything that I can remember at the time of not liking it. Just needing to log back into the platform every time I open the browser, this is sometimes nothing I don’t tire of. And also some contacts that don’t have a validated email.”
One Team Leader comments on lack of support
“Support – they really hugely lack in that. had several issues with them – as being overcharged as they created two accounts with same email (cant imagine if this could happen) – and recently – new innovative strategy played by them as they feature you can select 1000 records at a time in pro plan but the moment you buy, they say its old pricing (even when its on website) and they cant honor that.”
One Account Executives comments on learning how to setup
“Appolo can be counter-intuitive sometimes; it takes quite a bit of time to learn how to set up a sequence, also, while exporting data, the system slows down dramatically.”
Who are Apollo.io Customers?
Apollo.io has customers across multiple industries, such as Technology, Professional Services, and Financial Services. According to their customer stories page, their primary customers are Software companies such as SaaSOptics, Optimove, and Mailmodo. They have a short list of case studies, so their customers likely don’t want to be posted publicly.
As of March 2022, Apollo said they have over 16,000+ businesses paying customers.
Based on their 3,700+ G2 reviews, most are SMBs (50 or fewer employees). SMB users make up 69% of their total reviews. Mid-Market users (51-1,000 employees) account for 25%, and Enterprise (1,000+ employees) with 6% of reviews.
Their biggest competitor, Zoominfo, is likely better suited for enterprise companies. On G2, Mid-Market users make up 50% of Zoominfo’s reviews, and 22% come from the Enterprise.
Apollo.io is best suited for small companies based on their customer stories and G2 reviews. ZoomInfo might be your first choice if you’re looking for an enterprise-grade solution.
If you’re concerned that Apollo.io doesn’t help companies within your industry, I recommend signing up for free. Search their database to see if your target companies or contacts are within their dataset. It’s also essential to verify the accuracy of their data for your target industries.
Costs of using Apollo.io
Let’s get to the elephant in the room—how much does Apollo.io cost?
There are four packages:
Free – $0 for unlimited email credits:
- 10 Export Credits / Mo
- Basic Sequence Automation (2 Sequence Limit)
- Basic Filters
- Buying Intent (1 Intent Topic Limit)
- LinkedIn Extension
- Send 250 Emails/day
- Gmail Extension
- Email Reply & Meeting Tracking
- Outreach & SalesLoft Integration
- CSV Export
- Zapier Integration
- Limited API Access
- Advanced Salesforce & HubSpot Integration (Bi-Directional)
Basic – $49 per user, per month:
- Unlimited Email Credits
- 25 Mobile Numbers / Mo
- 250 Export Credits / Mo
Everything in Free plus:
- No Sequence Limit
- Uncapped Sending Limits with SendGrid
- A/B Testing
- Buying Intent (6 Intent Topics Limit)
- Advanced Filters
- Advanced Reports & Dashboards (Pre-Built)
- Integration with All Email Providers
- Custom Fields
- Opportunities
- Email Open & Click Tracking
- Rules Engine Process Builder
Professional – $99 per user, per month:
- Unlimited Email Credits
- 100 Mobile Numbers / Mo
- 1000 Export Credits / Mo
Everything in Basic plus:
- Select 1,000 Records at a Time
- Buying Intent (6 Intent Topics Limit) & Intent Filters
- Manual Tasks
- Dialer
- Call Recordings
- Custom Stages
- Customizable Reports
- Permission Profiles
Professional – Starts at $5K/yr:
- Includes 1 User
- Additional Users at $150/month
- Annual Billing Only
- Unlimited Email Credits
- Custom Mobile Numbers
- Custom Export Credits
Everything in Professional Plus:
- Select 10,000 Records at a Time
- Buying Intent (Custom Amount of Intent Topics) & Intent Filters
- Data Enrichment & Job Changes
- Call Transcriptions, International Dialing & Local Presence
- Advanced API Access
- Account Manager
Sign up for a free trial of Apollo.
Apollo.io offers affordable pricing for its services. It delivers a lot of value, such as buyer intent data, sequences, a large database, and more, especially at its price points. It offers monthly and annual billing, with the latter saving 20%.
Is Apollo.io Trustworthy?
Apollo suffered a data breach in 2018, but since then, security has been elevated to the forefront of the company’s priorities.
Their CEO noted that the company has undergone a radical revamp of its technical, HR, and compliance infrastructure and has obtained both SOC-2 and ISO-27001 security certifications every year since 2019. Their business has practiced complete transparency with their customers and shown them the steps taken to improve their security stature.
In 2022, the company raised $110M as its sales intelligence surpassed paying 16,000 customers.
Comparison of Apollo.io to other similar tools
A comparison of key features and pricing of Apollo.io to its competitors
Conclusion and Recommendation – Is Apollo Worth It?
Many customers consider Apollo.io because they need a robust company and contact database and sales intelligence with filtering capabilities.
In short, the Apollo.io platform is about as good as you can get on the market. The user experience and search capabilities are as intuitive as possible while not too complicated.
Their dataset contains all the information a salesperson or marketer needs, such as company information, contact mobile, office numbers, job titles, accurate emails, and buyer intent data.
Unless you’re a large enterprise company with complex needs, Apollo.io should be a good fit for most companies. However, if your team thrives on selling to multiple buyers and complex selling cycles with large buying committees, you may not find Apollo.io enough.
I highly recommend Apollo and give it a 4.8 out of 5.
The main reason I like it is that it has many useful features in one place. Apollo markets itself as an “all-in-one” platform which is the perfect description. Apollo has you covered whether you need a vast B2B contact database or sales engagement tools. You don’t need separate tools for all of its different capabilities.
It also has the largest lead database compared to similar tools, with over 250 million contacts and counting.
Another thing I appreciate about Apollo is that it saves me a lot of time when I’m trying to find new people to talk to on LinkedIn.
In just a few hours, I can look up over 200 contacts and get detailed information about them. Additionally, Apollo can help me add more information to my existing list of leads from other sources like my customer relationship management system or marketing tools.
Overall, I think Apollo is an excellent tool for sales teams because it helps them find and connect with the right customers faster and more efficiently. You’ll get value if you purchase Apollo.io for your sales prospecting and marketing needs.
Free software evaluation template
To make the right choice when evaluating Apollo.io or any other solution, we’ve put together a customizable evaluation template. This template will help you choose the right criteria that matches your business needs while comparing different features and costs.
