Apollo.io vs PhantomBuster
We give Apollo.io a 2.4 GPA and PhantomBuster a 2.6, out of 4.0. Apollo.io grades higher on features. PhantomBuster 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
PhantomBuster
Cloud automations that collect and enrich leads from LinkedIn
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAApollo.ioFair | 2.6GPAPhantomBusterGood | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | AStart is $56 a month billed yearly for one shared workspace, about $11.20 a head for five, under 60% of this category's cheaper quarter ($34). It buys 20 run hours, 5 automation slots, 500 email credits and 10,000 AI credits a month. |
| 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. | CA free plan with 30 minutes of running time and 1 slot a month, and a 14-day trial with no card. Both cap exports at 10 rows, which makes them a demo. |
| 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. | CPhantoms for LinkedIn, Sales Navigator, Facebook, X and Instagram, multi-step workflows, an email finder, a Chrome extension and two-way HubSpot sync. The gaps: it pulls from other sites rather than a database, and Salesforce sync is one-way. |
| 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, and this is a tool where you build the automations and chain the steps yourself. No code needed, but there's 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 and a Chrome extension, with HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, Zapier, Make, Google Sheets, lemlist and Hunter, plus an API. No desktop or phone apps. |
| Best for | contact data and outreach in one account | pulling lead lists out of LinkedIn searches |
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 PhantomBuster. How we grade
Price against what you get
Apollo.io starts at $49 a month for each person and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. PhantomBuster starts at $56 a month and scores 2.3.
Apollo.io scores higher and starts $7 a month lower. Of the other lead and email finders on the chart, 1 scores higher than Apollo.io for less, and 12 score higher than PhantomBuster for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Apollo.io starts at $49 per seat / month, billed annually. PhantomBuster starts at $56 per month, billed annually.
- Apollo.io also covers web clipper, sales pipeline and email campaigns.
- PhantomBuster also covers workflow automation.
At a glance
| Apollo.io | PhantomBuster | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $49 per seat / month, billed annually | $56 per month, billed annually |
| 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. | 30 minutes of running time a month, 1 automation slot and 50 MB of storage, with no email or AI credits and exports capped at 10 rows. |
| Free trial | 14-day trial of Basic or Professional with 75 credits | 14-day free trial, no credit card required, with 2 run hours, 5 slots and small credit allowances |
| Web | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | ZenLeads Inc. (Apollo.io) | PhantomBuster |
| Price read from | apollo.io | phantombuster.com |
| 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
PhantomBuster
- Building lead lists from LinkedIn and Sales Navigator searches
- Growth and sales ops people who chain lead steps without writing code
- HubSpot users who want LinkedIn leads kept in sync with their CRM
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.
PhantomBuster
- Prices come from PhantomBuster's July 2026 pricing guide on its own site; its pricing page could not be read when checked.
- An email credit is used for every lookup attempt, even when no email is found, and credits reset monthly without rolling over.
- The Free plan and the trial cap exports and API output at 10 rows.
- The Salesforce and Pipedrive connections are one-way, and Salesforce needs its Enterprise edition or above.
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.
PhantomBuster
- Phantoms
- Ready-made automations that collect data from LinkedIn, Sales Navigator, Facebook, X and Instagram, such as exporting the people in a search.
- Multi-step workflows
- Chain steps that collect leads, filter them, find emails, qualify them with AI and send them on, all in one shared workspace.
- Email discovery
- A built-in email finder, run on BetterContact's waterfall enrichment, or a connected Hunter, Snov.io or Dropcontact account using its own API key.
- Chrome extension
- Shows emails, phone numbers and company details on a LinkedIn profile when clicked, and saves the lead to PhantomBuster or HubSpot.
- HubSpot sync
- A two-way HubSpot connection that sends leads, enriches contacts, finds their LinkedIn profiles and tracks job changes.
- Zapier, Make and API
- Launch automations and fetch their results from Zapier, Make, Google Sheets or the API, or send leads to lemlist for outreach.
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.
PhantomBuster
Free$0
30 minutes of running time a month, 1 slot and 50 MB of storage; exports and API output limited to 10 rows.
Start$56
per month, billed annually ($69 billed monthly)
20 run hours, 5 automation slots, 500 email credits, 10,000 AI credits and 1,000 URL Finder credits a month.
Grow$128
per month, billed annually ($159 billed monthly)
80 run hours, 15 automation slots, 2,500 email credits, 30,000 AI credits and 10,000 URL Finder credits a month.
Scale$352
per month, billed annually ($439 billed monthly)
300 run hours, 50 automation slots, 10,000 email credits, 90,000 AI credits and 20,000 URL Finder credits a month.
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.
PhantomBuster
- Annual discount
About 20% off with yearly billing
PhantomBuster's pricing guide gives Start at $56 a month billed yearly against $69 monthly, Grow at $128 against $159 and Scale at $352 against $439.
