Apollo.io vs Bardeen (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Apollo.io and Bardeen share a 2.4 GPA, both have a free plan and their prices can't be set side by side, so the choice depends on whether you care more about features, where Apollo.io grades higher, or value for money, where Bardeen does.
Checked Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
They get the same grade on the free plan, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Apollo.io
B2B contact database with built-in email sequences and a dialer
Bardeen
Lead scraping, enrichment and qualification with AI agents
Which one is for you
Pick Apollo.io if
- Fits if you want to find people and email them from the same account
- Works for founders trying outbound on a free plan with 2 sequences and 250 emails a day
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you call a lot, since each phone number eats 8 credits
- Tight if your usage is lumpy, as unused credits expire at the end of each cycle
- Not for you if you want some reps on cheaper seats, since every seat must be on the same plan and Organization needs 3
- Watch out: downgrades take effect at once with no refund, and annual plans can't move to monthly mid-term
- Pricey if you want inbound visitor identification, at $119 to $639 a team a month on top of a plan, billed yearly
Pick Bardeen if
- Fits if you build lead lists and want scraping and enrichment in one place
- Works for a go-to-market person who pays by the row
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you scrape at volume: 1 credit a row, 3 for enrichment, and unused credits expire each period
- Not for you if you want general personal automation, as it is aimed at lead sourcing
- Pricey if you scale: Premium is $50 a month for 1,000 credits
- Watch out: the page does not say whether the free 100 credits refill
- Skip it if you want a desktop or phone app, as none is listed
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAApollo.ioFair | 2.4GPABardeenFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | C$245 a month for five on Basic, billed yearly: $49 a seat, right at this category's dearer quarter ($49). That buys 30,000 credits a seat a year, about 2,500 a month each, pooled, at 1 credit an email and 8 a phone number. | B$10 a month for 100 credits is inside the cheapest quarter, but 100 credits is 100 scraped rows or about 33 enrichments. |
| Free plan and trial | CA free plan for good with 900 credits a seat a year, 2 sequences and 250 emails a day, plus a 14-day trial of the paid plans. But 900 a year is 75 a month, a cap you'll hit if you prospect every day. | C100 free credits on every account, and the page does not say if they refill, so you will run out fast. |
| Features | BAbout 240 million contacts with emails and phone numbers, waterfall enrichment, unlimited sequences, a dialer, call recording and a Chrome extension. It covers the whole job, and the outreach after it. | CScraper, web search, enrichment, AI qualification and exports, but it is aimed at lead sourcing and not general automation. |
| Ease of use | CNo App Store rating on record. It's a big web app with a database, sequences, mailboxes and a dialer, so expect a learning curve before it pays off. | CNo store rating on record. You build scrapers and credit usage by row, with a learning curve. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb and a Chrome extension that works on LinkedIn, Gmail and CRMs, with Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive, Outreach, Salesloft and Slack. No desktop or phone apps on record. | BWeb only, no desktop or mobile apps on the pages read, with four named integrations. |
| Best for | contact data and outreach in one account | scraping and enriching leads in the browser |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Apollo.io and Bardeen. How we grade
Where they differ
- Apollo.io also covers web clipper, sales pipeline and email campaigns.
- Bardeen also covers workflow automation, AI agents and no-code.
At a glance
| Apollo.io | Bardeen | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $49 per seat / month, billed annually | $10 per month for 100 credits, billed monthly |
| Free plan | 900 credits per seat a year, granted monthly, 2 sequences, basic filters, 250 emails a day from 1 mailbox, and the Chrome extension. | Every account gets 100 credits free; the pricing page does not say whether they refill each month. |
| Free trial | 14-day trial of Basic or Professional with 75 credits | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | ZenLeads Inc. (Apollo.io) | Bardeen Inc. |
| Price read from | apollo.io | bardeen.ai |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Apollo.io
- Phone numbers cost 8 credits each against 1 for an email, and unused credits expire at the end of each billing cycle.
- All seats on an account must be on the same plan, and Organization requires at least 3 seats.
- Downgrades take effect at once with no refund, and annual plans cannot move to monthly mid-term.
- Inbound visitor identification costs $119 to $639 per team a month on top of a plan, billed annually.
Bardeen
- Pricing is by credit: 1 per scraped row, 1 per search or AI row, 3 per enrichment row. Unused credits expire at the end of each billing period.
- The pricing page shows paid plans only as add-on credit amounts per month; the free 100 credits are described without a refill date.
- The product is aimed at lead sourcing and go-to-market work, not general-purpose personal automation.
- The pages read list no desktop or mobile apps; the product is described as an app used in the browser.
Key features
Apollo.io
- Contact and company database
- Search about 240 million contacts and 30 million companies by title, company, intent topics and other filters. Paid plans unlock advanced filters.
- Credits for emails and phones
- Revealing a verified email costs 1 credit and a phone number 8. Credits are pooled across the team, reset each billing cycle and do not roll over.
- Email sequences
- Multi-step outreach from connected mailboxes. The free plan allows 2 sequences and 250 emails a day; paid plans add unlimited sequences and any email provider.
- Chrome extension
- Shows emails and numbers for people on LinkedIn, company websites, Gmail and CRMs, and adds them to lists or sequences. Works on every plan.
- Enrichment and waterfall
- Fill in missing fields for CSV files, CRM records and API calls. From Basic, waterfall enrichment checks partner sources when Apollo has no match.
- Dialer and call recording
- A US dialer billed in credits, call recording with AI insights, and an Advanced Dialer add-on with parallel and international calling.
Bardeen
- Web scraper
- Build your own scraper or use premium ones to pull leads from sites such as Product Hunt, Zillow and GitHub, at 1 credit per row.
- Web search
- Researches or generates leads at scale with AI and web search providers, or finds answers on a given website, at 1 credit per row.
- Contact enrichment
- Looks up validated emails and phone numbers for leads. Enrichment costs 3 credits per row.
- AI qualification
- You describe the ideal lead and AI marks each row as qualified or not, with a short reason, at 1 credit per row.
- Exports
- Results download as CSV or go to Google Sheets, Airtable and Notion. Importing and exporting data is free.
Plans
Apollo.io
Free$0
900 credits per seat a year, granted monthly. 2 sequences, basic filters, 25-record selection limit and 250 emails a day.
Basic$49
per seat / month, billed annually, 30,000 credits a seat a year
Unlimited sequences, advanced filters, CRM integrations, waterfall enrichment, email warmup and the US dialer (credits apply).
Professional$79
per seat / month, billed annually, 48,000 credits a seat a year
Adds A/Z testing, AI lead scoring, 4,000 minutes of call recording with AI insights and more automated workflows.
Organization$119
per seat / month, billed annually, 72,000 credits a seat a year
Minimum 3 seats. Adds 12 intent topics, 8,000 recording minutes, unlimited inbound routers, SSO and advanced security.
Bardeen
Basic$10
per month for +100 credits, billed monthly
Adds 100 credits a month; steps up to +500 credits for $50. Includes custom scrapers, premium scrapers and enrichment.
Premium$50
per month for +1,000 credits, billed monthly
Adds 1,000 credits a month; steps up to +10K credits for $500. Adds Teams. Annual billing starts at $480 per year for +12,000 credits.
EnterpriseCustom
Custom bulk credits on annual billing, with custom scrapers built and maintained by Bardeen and premium support.
Ways to pay less
Apollo.io
- Annual discount
Save 24% with annual billing
Apollo's pricing page shows a 24% saving on paid plans when billed annually instead of monthly.
- Startups
50% off for a year for early-stage startups
Startups with fewer than 20 employees, no Apollo subscription and a link to a partner program get 50% off Basic or Professional for a year, up to 5 seats.
Bardeen
- Annual discount
Save 20% on annual Premium billing
The pricing page offers Premium on yearly billing at a 20% saving, starting at $480 per year for 12,000 credits.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Apollo.io or Bardeen?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Apollo.io starts at $49 per seat / month, billed annually, and Bardeen starts at $10 per month for 100 credits, billed monthly. One is priced for each person and the other is not, so which costs less depends on how many of you use it.
Which has a free plan, Apollo.io or Bardeen?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both Apollo.io and Bardeen have a free plan.
Which platforms do Apollo.io and Bardeen run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Apollo.io lists a browser extension. Both list a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.