Apollo.io vs Instantly
We give Apollo.io a 2.4 GPA and Instantly a 2.6, out of 4.0. Apollo.io grades higher on features. Instantly grades higher on value for money. 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
Instantly
Cold email from unlimited inboxes, priced by emails and contacts
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAApollo.ioFair | 2.6GPAInstantlyGood | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | AA team of five needs Hypergrowth, since Growth's 1,000-contact total and read-only inbox won't stretch that far: $77.60 a month billed yearly for everyone, about $15.52 a head. That's under 60% of the cheaper quarter's $32.50 in this category. |
| 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. | CNo free plan, but a 14-day trial with no card. It stops at 250 uploaded contacts and 1,000 emails, which is enough to warm up and send a small first campaign, and not much more. |
| 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. | CThe email side is complete: unlimited inboxes and warm-up, multi-step campaigns, A/Z tests, one inbox for replies and automations. But there are no LinkedIn steps at all, and lead search and the AI agents need a separate credits plan from $9 a month. |
| 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 App Store rating on record. You'll be connecting mailboxes and waiting on warm-up before the first real send, and actually replying from the Unibox needs Hypergrowth. |
| 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, but with HubSpot, Slack, Zapier, Findymail, RB2B and ChatGPT links, webhooks from Hypergrowth and a public API. No phone or desktop app on record. |
| Best for | contact data and outreach in one account | cold email from as many inboxes as you like |
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 Instantly. How we grade
Where they differ
- Apollo.io starts at $49 per seat / month, billed annually. Instantly starts at $37.6 per month for 5,000 emails, billed yearly ($47 monthly).
- Apollo.io has a free plan. Instantly does not, though it has a free trial.
- Only Apollo.io lists a browser extension.
- Apollo.io also covers web clipper and sales pipeline.
- Instantly also covers workflow automation and AI agents.
At a glance
| Apollo.io | Instantly | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $49 per seat / month, billed annually | $37.6 per month for 5,000 emails, billed yearly ($47 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. | None |
| Free trial | 14-day trial of Basic or Professional with 75 credits | 14-day free trial, no card required, with 250 uploaded contacts and 1,000 emails |
| Web | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | ZenLeads Inc. (Apollo.io) | Foo Monk, LLC (Instantly) |
| Price read from | apollo.io | instantly.ai |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Apollo.io
- Sales teams that want contact data and outreach in one account
- Founders trying outbound prospecting on a free plan
- Reps who prospect from LinkedIn through a browser extension
Instantly
- Agencies and teams spreading volume across many mailboxes
- Senders who want warmup included rather than bought per inbox
- Buyers who want a lead database and sending in one account
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.
Instantly
- There is no free plan; the 14-day trial stops at 250 uploaded contacts and 1,000 emails.
- The uploaded-contact limit is a total across all campaigns, not a monthly one. On Hypergrowth and up, 25,000 more contacts cost $87 a month.
- Lead data and the AI agents need an Instantly Credits plan, from $9 a month for 150 credits; the CRM is a separate add-on from $47 a month.
- Replying from Unibox, webhooks and full A/Z testing need Hypergrowth, $97 a month billed monthly.
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.
Instantly
- Unlimited sending accounts and warmup
- Every Outreach plan connects and warms up any number of email accounts from any provider; the plan limits emails sent and contacts uploaded instead.
- Sequences and A/Z testing
- Multi-step campaigns with sending schedules, a global block list and bounce detection. Growth gets basic A/Z testing; Hypergrowth and above test up to 26 variants.
- Unibox
- Replies from every connected account land in one inbox. It is preview-only on Growth; replying in the app and custom reply labels start at Hypergrowth.
- SuperSearch lead database
- Search more than 450 million B2B contacts and enrich them through several email providers, paid for with Instantly Credits, a separate subscription.
- AI Sales Agent and AI Reply Agent
- Agents that find and contact leads or draft answers to replies. Each lead or reply generated costs 5 credits from the credits plan.
- Automations
- A visual trigger-and-action builder routes and tags leads when they reply, visit your site or book a meeting, and is included on every Outreach plan.
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.
Instantly
Growth$37.6
per month for 5,000 emails, billed yearly ($47 monthly)
1,000 uploaded contacts, unlimited email accounts and warmup, basic A/Z testing and a preview-only Unibox.
Hypergrowth$77.6
per month for 125,000 emails, billed yearly ($97 monthly)
25,000 uploaded contacts, replying from Unibox, webhooks, A/Z tests of up to 26 variants and premium live support.
Light Speed$286.3
per month for 500,000 emails, billed yearly ($358 monthly)
100,000 uploaded contacts and SISR, which rotates dedicated servers and IP addresses for sending.
EnterpriseCustom
More than 500,000 emails a month, a private deliverability network and a dedicated account manager.
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.
Instantly
- Annual discount
About 20% off with yearly billing
Billed yearly, Growth is $37.6 a month instead of $47, Hypergrowth $77.6 instead of $97 and Light Speed $286.3 instead of $358.
