VS
Instantly vs Apollo.io
Instantly and Apollo.io both sell a B2B database and automated email sequencing, but they are built from opposite ends. Apollo starts from data: a database its homepage puts at 240M+ contacts and 30M+ companies with 65+ filters, wrapped in enrichment, a dialer, deal pipelines and email sequencing, priced per user from $49 per month on annual billing plus a credit meter that charges one credit to reveal an email, eight for a mobile number and one export credit when a contact leaves the platform, from their published pricing, July 2026. Instantly starts from sending: unlimited connected email accounts, unlimited warmup on a pool the company says holds more than a million real accounts, its own AirMail infrastructure, Inbox Placement testing and deliverability-configured Google accounts delivered into your workspace, with a 450M+ contact database sold as credits alongside. Instantly meters uploaded contacts and monthly sends per workspace rather than per seat and publishes no free plan, while Apollo publishes a free forever tier. Neither automates LinkedIn: Apollo's LinkedIn sequence steps are manual task reminders per their own knowledge base, and Instantly does not advertise LinkedIn steps.
Apollo is the stronger data and all-round go-to-market platform, and Instantly is the stronger sending platform, so the choice usually comes down to whether your bottleneck is finding the right contacts or landing in their inbox.
Pick Instantly if
- Deliverability is the problem you are solving: unlimited warmup with slow ramp and read emulation, a placement dashboard, Inbox Placement testing and the AirMail sending layer in one subscription
- Costs should track volume rather than headcount, since plans are priced on uploaded contacts and monthly sends per workspace instead of per seat
- You need mailboxes as well as software, with Google accounts configured with MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC added to your workspace within 24 to 72 hours
- You run many domains and many sending accounts, which is the model unlimited connected accounts and the SISR System with dedicated IP are built for
Pick Apollo.io if
- One subscription should cover contact data, enrichment, sequencing, a dialer and deal management rather than a sending tool plus a data vendor
- You want to evaluate at zero cost, since Apollo publishes a free forever tier and trial plans that include 50 credits and 5 mobile credits
- Search depth matters: 240M+ contacts and 30M+ companies with 65+ filters, their published figures, plus buying intent data, website visitor identification and inbound lead routing on higher tiers
- You build on top of the platform, with an open REST API, a Chrome extension, workflow automation and an MCP server
InstantlyApollo.ioInstantlyApollo.ioInstantly1,000 uploaded contacts and 5,000 emails per month
Unlimited email accounts and unlimited warmup, 1,000 uploaded contacts, 5,000 emails per month, Chat support
25,000 uploaded contacts. Monthly sending is shown as 125,000 emails on the monthly view and 100,000 on the annual view of their pricing page
Unlimited email accounts and unlimited warmup, 25,000 uploaded contacts, Premium live support
100,000 uploaded contacts, 500,000 emails per month
Everything in Hypergrowth, 500,000 emails per month, 100,000 uploaded contacts, SISR System with dedicated IP and server management
1,000 uploaded contacts, 5,000 emails and 1,500 credits per month
5,000 emails and 1,000 uploaded contacts, 1,500 Instantly credits per month, Access to the 450M+ lead database, AI Sales Agent
25,000 uploaded contacts, 100,000 emails and 5,000 credits per month
100,000 emails and 25,000 uploaded contacts, 5,000 Instantly credits per month, AI Reply Agent, Unibox replies and advanced deliverability, Premium live support
100,000 uploaded contacts, 500,000 emails and 10,000 credits per month
500,000 emails and 100,000 uploaded contacts, 10,000 Instantly credits per month, SISR System, Everything in Scale
Credit plan labels and prices appear inconsistently across their pricing page, so confirm the tier before buying
Growth Credits at $47 per month for 1,500 to 2,000 credits, Supersonic and Hyper tiers scale to 200,000 credits per month, Waterfall enrichment and export to major CRMs and outreach providers
From their published pricing, August 2026. Outreach Growth is $47 per month billed monthly or $37.60 per month on annual billing, Hypergrowth $97 monthly or $77.60 annual, Light Speed $358 monthly or $286.30 annual. Bundles that add data credits run $94, $194 and $555 per month, about 10 percent less annually. Check their pricing page.
Apollo.io10 export credits and 5 mobile credits per month, credits do not roll over
Free forever, 10 export credits per month, 5 mobile credits per month
1,000 export credits and 75 mobile credits per month, no dialer
1,000 export credits per month, 75 mobile credits per month, No dialer
2,000 export credits and 100 mobile credits per month
2,000 export credits per month, Dialer included, Buying intent data
4,000 export credits and 200 mobile credits per month, 3 seat minimum
4,000 export credits per month, 3 seat minimum, International dialing
Quoted per account
Contact their sales team
From their published pricing, July 2026 (check their pricing). Paid tiers are per user per month billed annually, with higher monthly rates. Credit allocations differ between Apollo's legacy and new credit systems, so a given account may see different numbers.
Instantly pros
- Unlimited connected email accounts and unlimited warmup on every Outreach plan
- Deliverability pool the company puts at 1,000,000+ real accounts, with slow ramp and read emulation controls
- AirMail sending infrastructure and the SISR System bring dedicated IP and server management in-house
- Deliverability-configured Google accounts supplied and connected within 24 to 72 hours
- 450M+ contact database with 13 filters, lookalike search, waterfall enrichment and verification
Instantly cons
- Email only in practice: LinkedIn steps, voice notes and native video are not advertised
- Credit plan labels and prices are inconsistent across their own pricing page, and Hypergrowth's monthly send volume is shown as both 100,000 and 125,000
- No free plan, and no trial length is published
- Trustpilot reviewers report deliverability problems with purchased accounts and cancellation billed beyond the paid period, which the company disputes in published replies
Apollo.io pros
- One subscription covers contact data, enrichment, email sequencing, a dialer and deal management
- 240M+ contacts and 30M+ companies with 65+ search filters, their published figures
- Email sequencing is genuinely automated, with A/B testing, task reminders and multi-touch workflows
- A real free forever tier, and trial plans that include 50 credits and 5 mobile credits
- Open REST API, Chrome extension, workflow automation and an MCP server
Apollo.io cons
- Credits do not roll over between billing cycles, and overage credits are $0.20 each with a 250 credit minimum purchase, per third party pricing breakdowns, July 2026
- Revealing a mobile number costs eight credits and exporting a contact outside Apollo costs an export credit, so the meter runs hardest when data leaves
- LinkedIn steps inside a sequence are manual task reminders, per Apollo's own knowledge base
- Data accuracy on exported contacts is the most repeated theme in public reviews, and Inaccurate Data is a top negative tag on G2
They meter differently, so compare the shape rather than the headline. Apollo is per user per month from $49 on annual billing, July 2026, with credits consumed on reveals and exports and overage at $0.20 per credit with a 250 credit minimum. Instantly's Outreach Growth is $47 per month, or $37.60 on annual billing, August 2026, and covers 1,000 uploaded contacts and 5,000 emails per month for the whole workspace with data credits bought separately. A single seat sending small volumes usually lands cheaper on Apollo's free or entry tier, while a team sending at volume across many mailboxes usually lands cheaper on Instantly.
Instantly claims 450M+ verified contacts and Apollo's homepage claims 240M+ contacts and 30M+ companies. Both are vendor figures with no independent audit published, and they are not measured the same way, so the more useful difference is the filtering: Apollo advertises 65+ search filters against Instantly's 13, including keywords and lookalike search.
That is Instantly's core product: unlimited warmup on a pool the company says holds more than a million real accounts, slow ramp and read emulation settings, a deliverability dashboard showing inbox versus spam, Inbox Placement testing, AirMail sending infrastructure and dedicated IPs on the top tiers. Apollo does not advertise warmup, inbox placement testing or its own sending infrastructure.
No, not automatically. Per Apollo's own knowledge base, LinkedIn steps inside a sequence are task reminders that the assignee completes by hand before marking the task done. Instantly does not advertise LinkedIn steps, voice notes or native video at all. Both are email-first systems.
One of these tools is ours.
Weezly is in this directory too: LinkedIn outreach with AI clone videos, a 300M+ leads database and booking, from $59 per month. See if it earns a spot in your stack.