Apollo.io vs InstinctGTM
The short answer
Choose Apollo if you want a contact database and a sending tool in one subscription. Choose this if you already know who you want to reach and need to know when. Apollo lists 240M+ contacts and 30M+ accounts with sequencing attached; this holds no contact database at all and instead watches companies you nominated for dated public change. If your first problem is "I do not have anyone to email", Apollo solves that and this does not.
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The one difference that matters
Apollo sells access to a list of everybody. This sells attention to a list of somebody. Apollo's value goes up with the size of its database; this product has no database and its value goes up with how carefully you chose the fifty companies it watches. That is the whole difference, and it is why the two can sit side by side without overlapping much.
Where Apollo.io is better
The database, and it is not close. Apollo's homepage lists 240M+ contacts and 30M+ accounts. This has none: every company in it is one you or your scan put there. If discovery is the job, Apollo does it.
Who should choose Apollo.io
Somebody starting from nothing who needs a list this week, and anybody whose motion genuinely is volume. If your plan requires two thousand contacts a month, buy Apollo and do not pretend otherwise. A team with RevOps or GTM engineers who want to build their own tools on Apollo's data should watch Builder Studio too, though on 29 October 2026 it was waitlist only.
What each one actually costs
Apollo has a free plan with 900 credits per seat a year, and Basic is $49 per seat a month billed annually, as read on 29 October 2026. That makes it the cheapest way here to get both a list and a sequencer. The costs that arrive later are the ones worth planning for: credits once the allowance runs out, a second seat for a second person, and the deliverability consequences of sending at the volume the plan encourages.
Questions people ask
Is Apollo.io good for a solo founder?
It is one of the cheapest ways to get a contact database and a sequencer together, and the free plan is usable for testing. The risk for a solo founder is that a volume-shaped product encourages sending more than a single domain can safely carry.
What is the difference between Apollo.io and this?
Apollo gives you contacts and a way to email them. This gives you a reason to email somebody, on a date, with the evidence attached. Apollo lists 240M+ contacts and this has none, because it watches companies you chose rather than selling access to a list.
Does Apollo.io tell you when to reach out?
It surfaces some signals such as job changes and funding, and its sequences run on timers you set. What it does not do is watch a named set of companies for several changes at once and reason about whether they add up to a reason to write. That is a different job and it is the one this product does.
What does Apollo.io cost?
Free with 900 credits per seat a year, then $49 per seat a month on Basic billed annually, per their pricing page read on 29 October 2026. Because it prices per seat, a two-person team pays twice regardless of how much either person sends.
Every claim on this page, and where to check it
“Per seat per month, billed annually”
apollo.ioChecked 2026-10-29Favours them
“240M+ contacts and 30M+ accounts with trusted B2B data”
apollo.ioChecked 2026-10-29Favours them
“1 mailbox per user”
apollo.ioChecked 2026-10-29Favours them
“Per seat per month, (min 3 seats)”
apollo.ioChecked 2026-10-29
“Builder Studio is coming soon. Join our waitlist here to get early access.”
apollo.ioChecked 2026-10-29Favours them