Updated October 2026

Pricing analysis

Apollo Pricing 2026: Real Cost Per Seat vs $65-$149 Plans

Q: Is Apollo free?

Yes - Apollo has a free plan : 75 credits per seat per month (900 per year) + email + LinkedIn finder + 2 active sequences. Email send limit is 100/day for non-corporate domains, ~10K/year for corporate. Most solo SDRs can run small-scale outbound on Free for a while - the upgrade trigger is typically sequencing feature gating, the 2-active-sequences cap, or running through the 75 monthly credits.

Q: Why are Apollo phone reveals so expensive?

Apollo's phone reveals cost 8 credits each for mobile numbers - 8× more than email reveals (1 credit). A calling-first SDR doing 50 mobile reveals/day uses 400 credits a day, so Basic's 2,500 monthly credits last about 6 days. Workarounds : (1) upgrade to Pro (48,000 credits/year), (2) pair Apollo with Lusha ($49.90/mo, 400 phone credits at 1-credit each = $0.125/mobile vs about $0.16 on Apollo). For phone-heavy outbound, Lusha is a bit cheaper per mobile.

Q: What's Apollo's dual limit system?

Apollo has two separate quotas that catch most buyers off-guard : (1) data credits for contact reveals (30K-72K/year per seat on annual plans), (2) email sending limits for outbound (1,960-4,760/month). You can run out of EITHER at any time. Phone-heavy SDRs burn credits fast ; email-heavy SDRs hit send caps. Most teams underestimate this at signup and discover the constraint mid-year.

Apollo lists $0-$149/seat/mo across 4 tiers. The real cost comes from the dual-limit system : data credits (capped per-tier) AND email sending limits (capped separately). You can run out of either at any time. Below : tier breakdown + 5 hidden cost triggers + how to combine Apollo Free + Derrick (from €20/mo) for a low-cost, no-install enrichment (web app and Google Sheets; MCP and API from the Plus plan) stack.

✓ Pick apollo if

You're a 50+ seat SDR team where database breadth (275M+ contacts) + sequencing baked in is the requirement
You already use Salesforce + need native sync that handles edge cases

✕ Skip if

You're 1-10 seats and want predictable monthly costs - Apollo's annual contract + dual-limit system hurts
Your usage is phone-heavy without enterprise budget - Lusha's $49.90 Starter + 1-credit-per-phone is cheaper per mobile

Price transparency 10/10

Value at small team 6/10

Hidden costs Medium+

↓ See pricing plans read our full Apollo review →

Apollo vs Derrick · price for the same credit volume

ⓘ

Heads up - Derrick is a data layer, not a sequencer. It enriches contacts (email, mobile, company, signals) in its web app (or Google Sheets, Claude, API). If you also need cold-email sequencing, dialer or CRM workflow, you'll keep your existing stack (La Growth Machine, Lemlist…) - Derrick replaces only the data-enrichment line of your Apollo bill.

Slide to pick a monthly credit need. We pick the cheapest plan on each side that covers it.

Credits needed per month 5,000 credits

500 10k 20k 30k 40k 50k+

Apollo

- plan $-/mo - /year

- plan €-/mo - /year

Switching to Derrick saves you €- per year

Try Derrick free → 4.5/5 on G2 · 254 upvotes on Product Hunt · 34,000+ B2B sales teams

or use it directly in

Claude

or via API

Part 1 / 9

Plans

Apollo's free plan and its 3 paid tiers

Apollo ships 4 tiers. Per-seat pricing combined with a credit system for data lookups - the listed price is rarely the real cost.

Free

$0 $0 monthly

Credits900/yr
Min seats1

75 credits per seat per month (900 per year), granted monthly
Database access (limited search filters)
Email + LinkedIn finder
2 active sequences

Free tier email-send limit is 100/day (non-corporate domain). Corporate domains get ~10K/year. Sequencing features gated - most buyers upgrade within 1-2 months for advanced sequencing.

Basic

$49/seat/mo (annual ≈ 24% off) $65/seat monthly

Credits~30,000 (granted upfront annual)/yr
Min seats1

~30K data credits/year per seat (granted upfront on annual)
Sequences + email automation
Salesforce + HubSpot basic sync
2,500 credits per seat per month on monthly billing

Per-seat billing. Credits granted UPFRONT on annual plans - no rollover at cycle end. Phone reveals cost 8 credits each from the same pool as emails. Most active reps blow through credits well before year-end.

Professional

$79/seat/mo (annual ≈ 20% off) $99/seat monthly

Credits~48,000 (granted upfront annual)/yr
Min seats1

~48K data credits/year per seat (granted upfront on annual)
A/B testing + advanced sequencing
Outbound dialer + click-to-call
4,000 credits per seat per month on monthly billing

The dual-limit system (credits AND email sending) hits Pro users hardest - you can run out of either. Phone-heavy SDRs burn credits ; email-heavy SDRs hit send caps.

Organization

$119/seat/mo (annual ≈ 20% off) $149/seat (shown, annual only) monthly

Credits~72,000 (granted upfront annual)/yr
Min seats3

~72K data credits/year per seat (granted upfront on annual)
Advanced reporting + custom roles
6,000 credits per seat per month (monthly view)
3-seat minimum (= $357/mo annual entry: 3 x $119)

3-seat minimum = $357/mo annual entry even for 1 actual user. Custom features (advanced workflow automation) gate to Enterprise. Most teams sit on Pro and pay credit overages.

Why these tiers exist - full plan breakdown

Apollo pricing tiers - checked against apollo.io/pricing on 2026-10-15 (USD, per seat) :

Plan	Price	Best for	Limits / Inclusions
Free	$0	Evaluation / testing	75 credits per seat per month (900 per year) · Database access (limited search filters) · Email + LinkedIn finder
Basic	$65/seat ($49/seat/mo billed annually)	Starting outbound with sequences	2,500 credits per seat per month (30,000 per year on annual) · Sequences + email automation
Professional	$99/seat ($79/seat/mo billed annually)	Teams needing A/B testing and a dialer	4,000 credits per seat per month (48,000 per year on annual) · A/B testing + advanced sequencing
Organization	$119/seat/mo billed annually ($149 shown for monthly, annual only ; 3-seat minimum)	Teams needing reporting and custom roles	6,000 credits per seat per month (72,000 per year) · Advanced reporting + custom roles · 3 seats minimum = $357/mo entry

Part 2 / 9

Credits

How Apollo credits work

Apollo bills actions in credits with non-equal costs. A 5,000-credit plan does NOT mean 5,000 lookups.

Email reveal 1

Mobile phone reveal 8

Email verification Not published

Sequence send (separate cap) Email cap

Read the full credit-system breakdown

Apollo runs two limits that catch most buyers off-guard :

Data credits - one pool for emails, phones, enrichment and AI research : 30K-72K/year per seat, granted UPFRONT on annual plans and reset each billing cycle with no rollover. Email reveal = 1 credit ; mobile phone reveal = 8 credits. Credits are only used when an email or phone number is found.
Email sending limits for outbound - separate from credits. Hit the send cap and sequences pause regardless of credit balance.

The hardest cost surprise : one phone number costs as many credits as 8 emails. A calling-first SDR doing 50 mobile reveals/day uses 400 credits a day, so Basic's 2,500 monthly credits last about 6 days. Pair with Lusha ($49.90, 400 credits at 1-credit-per-phone) for phone-heavy use cases.

Part 3 / 9

Hidden costs

Hidden costs to know before buying Apollo

Things Apollo's pricing page doesn't put in big type.

Dual limit system : credits AND sending

Apollo has TWO separate quotas - data credits (30K-72K/year/seat on annual plans) AND email sending limits (1,960-4,760/mo). You can run out of either at any time. Phone-heavy SDRs burn credits ; email-heavy SDRs hit send caps.

Mobile reveals cost 8 credits each

Mobile phone reveals cost 8× more than email reveals. A calling-first SDR doing 50 mobile reveals/day uses 400 credits a day, so Basic's 2,500 monthly credits last about 6 days. Workaround : upgrade to Pro or pair with Lusha for phone-only use cases.

Organization tier = 3-seat minimum

Organization ($149/seat monthly shown but annual only, $119 annual) requires 3 seats - $357/mo annual entry even for 1 actual user. Most teams that want Organization's reporting features either accept the bundle or stay on Pro.

Annual contract required for best pricing

Headline tier prices ($49/$79/$119 annual ; $65/$99 monthly, Organization annual only) - annual saves ~20-25% per tier. Credits are granted upfront with no rollover. Monthly billing costs 25-33% more than annual on Basic and Professional.

Native integrations vary by tier

Salesforce sync is basic on Basic, bidirectional on Pro+. Outreach + Salesloft integrations gate to Pro. API access: the pricing FAQ says it is available on Custom plans. Most teams discover the integration gap after the contract is signed.

Read the full hidden-costs analysis

Beyond the headline tier prices, real Apollo buyers hit five recurring cost surprises :

Dual limit system : credits AND email sending. Two separate quotas - you can run out of either. Phone-heavy SDRs burn credits ; email-heavy SDRs hit send caps. Most teams underestimate this at signup.
Mobile reveals cost 8 credits each - 8× more than email reveals. A calling-first SDR doing 50 mobile reveals/day uses 400 credits a day, so Basic's 2,500 monthly credits last about 6 days.
Organization tier = 3-seat minimum. $357/mo annual entry (3 x $119) even for 1 actual user. Most teams stick on Pro and accept the reporting gap.
Annual billing for best pricing. Monthly billing costs $65/$99 vs $49/$79 annual on Basic and Professional ; Organization is annual only.
Integration gating varies by tier. Outreach + Salesloft gate to Pro. Most teams discover this after signing.

Part 4 / 9

Compare

Apollo vs alternatives

How Apollo stacks against Derrick, Hunter, and the other tools we benchmarked.

Detailed comparison + cost-per-action breakdown

Real cost-per-credit + per-phone math across Apollo's tiers + competitors (annual billing) :

Tool / Tier	Monthly cost / seat	Credits / mo (avg)	Cost / email reveal	Cost / phone reveal
Apollo Basic	$49 annual / $65 monthly	~2,500	$0.020	8 credits (~$0.16)
Apollo Pro	$79 annual / $99 monthly	~4,000	$0.020	8 credits (~$0.16)
Apollo Organization	$119 annual (3-seat min)	~6,000	$0.020	8 credits (~$0.16)
Lusha Starter	$49.90	400	$0.125	$0.125 (1 credit each)
Derrick (STANDARD)	€20/mo, no per-seat fee	10,000 (never expire on a paid plan)	~€0.01*	200 credits (~€0.40)

Per-credit on Apollo flattens at about $0.020 across paid tiers (~$49/2,500 = $79/4,000 = $119/6,000). Higher tiers buy more total volume, not better unit economics. Phone reveals cost 8 credits each, drawn from the same pool as emails. Derrick bills per result found: Email Finder is 5 credits (~€0.01) per email, charged only when an email is returned, on the STANDARD plan (€20/mo, 10,000 credits that never expire while you stay on a paid plan) with no per-seat fee.

Part 5 / 9

What's included

What's included in every Apollo plan

Apollo's paid tiers (Basic+) include :

275M+ contact database - broadest standalone B2B data pool in the category. Apollo's biggest moat.
Chrome extension for on-LinkedIn reveals + Sales Nav bulk export.
Email sequencer with A/B testing (Pro+) - bundled, no separate cold-email tool needed.
Click-to-call dialer (Pro+) - outbound calling integrated with the database.
CRM sync - Salesforce + HubSpot (basic on Basic, bidirectional on Pro+). Outreach + Salesloft (Pro+).
Intent data (Pro+) - Bombora-backed buying signals + scoring.
Email verification - real-time verification on every record (its credit cost is not published on the pricing page).
API access - the pricing FAQ says it is available on Custom plans (70+ REST endpoints).
MCP server - works with Claude and ChatGPT on any Apollo plan, including Free.

Part 6 / 9

The verdict

Is Apollo worth paying for? Our verdict

Pick apollo if…

You're a 50+ seat SDR team where database breadth (275M+ contacts) + sequencing baked in is the requirement
You already use Salesforce + need native sync that handles edge cases
Your motion is calling-first AND you accept the 8-credit phone reveal cost

Skip apollo if…

You're 1-10 seats and want predictable monthly costs - Apollo's annual contract + dual-limit system hurts
Your usage is phone-heavy without enterprise budget - Lusha's $49.90 Starter + 1-credit-per-phone is cheaper per mobile
You don't want a 12-month commitment to evaluate the tool

Pick Derrick instead if…

You want enrichment in a web app with nothing to install, or right in Google Sheets
You want plan-based credits, not per-seat pricing
You want to start free (100 credits/mo, no card) and scale from €20/month (email finding is on paid plans)

Try Derrick free →

Apollo is the right tool for 50+ seat SDR teams where database breadth (275M+ contacts) + sequencing baked in matters more than per-credit cost economics. The platform's biggest moat is the combined data + sequencing + CRM-sync bundle - replacing what would be 2-3 separate subscriptions (Hunter + Lemlist + Salesforce add-ons) at typically lower TCO.

The pricing model fails for : SMB teams (1-10 seats where annual billing hurts + dual-limit system is opaque), phone-heavy outbound on a budget (mobile reveals at 8 credits each burn the pool fast - Lusha at $49.90 / 1-credit-per-phone is a bit cheaper per mobile), and teams that want predictable monthly billing without paying the annual-plan premium.

For web app or spreadsheet workflows where you only need the data layer, pair Derrick (from €20/mo, credit-based) with Apollo's Free tier (75 credits per seat per month) for a low-cost combined stack - Derrick handles enrichment (web app and Google Sheets; MCP and API from the Plus plan) on a credits basis, Apollo provides the database lookup when you need broader coverage than Derrick's integrated providers.

derrick •

Switch from Apollo to Derrick

Web app: import a list or paste LinkedIn URLs, nothing to install
Free plan: 100 credits every month, no credit card
Also in Google Sheets, in Claude (MCP) and via the API
Native LinkedIn and Sales Navigator import

Try the app free

or use it in

Google Sheets

Claude

API

No credit card · No contract

Part 7 / 9

Switch to Derrick

How to switch from Apollo to Derrick in 3 steps

Derrick is a web app: nothing to install, no credit card, 100 free credits every month.

Open the Derrick web app

Import your Apollo list

Upload the CSV you exported from Apollo, paste LinkedIn URLs, or import from LinkedIn Sales Navigator. The same actions also run in Google Sheets, in Claude (MCP) and via the API.

Enrich your list with one click

Pick the column to enrich and the data you need: emails, phone numbers, LinkedIn data, company info, tech stack. Derrick fills the columns, and the email and phone finders only charge for what they find.

How much does Apollo cost?

Apollo has 4 tiers (per-seat, annual billing for best pricing): Free ($0, 75 credits per seat per month, 100/day email cap), Basic ($65/seat/mo monthly, $49 annual - 30K credits/year granted upfront), Professional ($99/seat/mo monthly, $79 annual - 48K credits/year + dialer), Organization ($119/seat/mo annual ; $149 shown for monthly but annual only - 72K credits/year + reporting, 3-seat minimum = $357/mo annual entry). Annual saves ~20-25% per tier ; credits granted UPFRONT with no rollover.

Is Apollo free?

Yes - Apollo has a free plan : 75 credits per seat per month (900 per year) + email + LinkedIn finder + 2 active sequences. Email send limit is 100/day for non-corporate domains, ~10K/year for corporate. Most solo SDRs can run small-scale outbound on Free for a while - the upgrade trigger is typically sequencing feature gating, the 2-active-sequences cap, or running through the 75 monthly credits.

Why are Apollo phone reveals so expensive?

Apollo's phone reveals cost 8 credits each for mobile numbers - 8× more than email reveals (1 credit). A calling-first SDR doing 50 mobile reveals/day uses 400 credits a day, so Basic's 2,500 monthly credits last about 6 days. Workarounds : (1) upgrade to Pro (48,000 credits/year), (2) pair Apollo with Lusha ($49.90/mo, 400 phone credits at 1-credit each = $0.125/mobile vs about $0.16 on Apollo). For phone-heavy outbound, Lusha is a bit cheaper per mobile.

What's Apollo's dual limit system?

Apollo has two separate quotas that catch most buyers off-guard : (1) data credits for contact reveals (30K-72K/year per seat on annual plans), (2) email sending limits for outbound (1,960-4,760/month). You can run out of EITHER at any time. Phone-heavy SDRs burn credits fast ; email-heavy SDRs hit send caps. Most teams underestimate this at signup and discover the constraint mid-year.

What's the Organization 3-seat minimum about?

Apollo's Organization tier ($119/seat annual ; $149 is shown for monthly but the tier is annual only) requires a 3-seat minimum - $357/mo annual entry even if you only have 1 actual user. The 3-seat bundle gates advanced reporting + custom roles + bidirectional Outreach/Salesloft sync. Most teams that want Organization's features either accept the 3-seat bundle (paying for unused capacity) or stay on Pro ($79/seat annual) and work around the reporting gap.

How does Apollo pricing compare to Cognism + Lusha + Saleshandy?

Per-seat-per-month math (annual billing, mid-market team) : Apollo Pro $79/seat, Lusha Premium $80/seat (5-seat bundle), Cognism Essentials $250/seat (10-seat), Saleshandy Pro $59/team (unlimited mailboxes). Apollo wins on per-seat economics for database + sequencer combo. Cognism wins for EU enterprise + Diamond Data mobiles. Saleshandy wins for cold-email-at-scale unlimited-mailbox economics. For SMB or web app + Sheets, Derrick (from €20/mo, credit-based) is the lowest-friction option.

What's the cheapest Apollo + Derrick combo?

Apollo Free tier ($0) + Derrick (from €20/mo) = a low-cost combined stack. Apollo Free gives you 75 credits per seat per month for database lookups, Derrick handles no-install enrichment (email + phone + tech; web app and Google Sheets; MCP and API from the Plus plan) on a credits basis. For higher database needs, upgrade Apollo to Basic ($49/seat/month billed annually) and keep Derrick from €20/mo on top.

Part 8 / 9

Keep exploring

Other Database & Intelligence pricing breakdowns

Comparing options? These are the other database & intelligence tools we've torn down at the same depth - real per-credit cost, hidden fees, plan calculators.