Apollo's free tier is genuinely useful -- which makes the paid plans confusing. Here's exactly what you get at each level and when to upgrade.
Rees Bayba
Founder, Astra GTM
TL;DR
Apollo is unusual among B2B data tools: the free tier actually works. You get 10,000 email credits per month, basic sequences, and access to 275M contacts. This is enough to run real outbound for a small team. The flip side is that it creates genuine confusion about what upgrading actually buys you.
Apollo's free plan is not the crippled demo version you see from most tools. It gives you 10,000 email credits per month, basic sequence automation, limited export (25 records at a time), and access to the full contact database with basic filters. For a team sending 50-100 outbound emails per week, the free tier is enough to run campaigns without paying a dollar.
What it does not give you: phone credits, A/B testing, advanced intent data filters, custom fields, API access, or bulk export. If you need any of those, you need a paid plan.
| Plan | Price | Email credits | Phone credits | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 10,000/month | 0 | Solo founders, small teams under 100 emails/week |
| Basic | $49/user/mo | Unlimited | 5/month | Teams hitting export limits or needing phone data |
| Professional | $99/user/mo | Unlimited | 10/month | A/B testing, intent data, advanced targeting |
| Organization | $119+/user/mo (min 3) | Unlimited | Unlimited | Teams needing API access, custom fields, SSO |
Apollo's full database has 275 million contacts. If you search without the 'verified email' filter, you are pulling from all of them -- including outdated emails, guessed patterns, and catch-all addresses. Run the verified filter and you drop to roughly 96 million contacts. That cut eliminates a significant portion of the bounce risk.
Apollo uses two credit types that do different things. Email credits are consumed when you reveal or export an email address. Phone credits are consumed when you reveal a direct dial number. Both credit pools reset on your monthly billing anniversary. Unused credits do not roll over -- you lose them at the end of each cycle.
On Basic, unlimited email credits means you can reveal as many emails as you want without a cap. Phone credits at 5/month is genuinely limited -- if phone outreach matters to your motion, Professional (10 credits) or Organization (unlimited) is where that becomes usable at scale.
The jump from free to Basic is the most impactful upgrade. You remove the 10,000 credit cap and gain full CSV export.
| Tool | Entry price | Database size | Phone data quality | Email data quality | Contract |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apollo Basic | $49/user/mo | 275M contacts | Moderate | Good with verified filter | Month-to-month available |
| Apollo Professional | $99/user/mo | 275M contacts | Good | Good with verified filter | Month-to-month available |
| ZoomInfo Professional+ | $14,000+/year (team) | 265M contacts | Excellent | Excellent | Annual only, 1-3 year |
| ZoomInfo Advanced | $20,000+/year (team) | 265M contacts | Excellent + mobile | Excellent | Annual only |
ZoomInfo's data quality, especially for mobile and direct dials, is generally better than Apollo's. The cost difference is significant: Apollo Professional for a 3-person team runs about $3,600/year. ZoomInfo for the same team starts around $14,000/year with an annual commitment. For most SMB and mid-market outbound teams, Apollo's data quality is good enough at a fraction of the cost. ZoomInfo makes more sense when phone-first outreach to enterprise accounts is the core motion.
Annual billing saves roughly 20% compared to monthly. The math is straightforward: $49/mo becomes roughly $39/mo on annual. Start on monthly while you validate that Apollo fits your workflow. Once you have confirmed you are hitting your credit limits and exporting consistently, switch to annual. Do not commit annually on day one -- the free-to-paid transition is enough of a test first.
Is Apollo's free tier actually enough for real outbound?
Yes, for small teams. 10,000 email credits per month covers 50-100 outbound emails per week with room to spare for list building and research. The main constraints are the 25-record export limit and the lack of A/B testing. If you are running under 500 emails per month, start on free and upgrade only once you hit the limits.
How many email credits do I actually need per month?
Count your target send volume plus 20-30% buffer for list building (you enrich more contacts than you actually send to). Sending 500 emails per month typically requires 600-700 credit reveals. At that volume, the free tier (10,000 credits) is more than sufficient. The free tier's real bottleneck is the export limit, not the credit count.
Are phone credits worth paying for?
It depends on your outreach motion. If you are doing pure email outreach, Basic's 5 phone credits per month is effectively irrelevant. If phone calls are part of your sequence -- especially for enterprise accounts or relationship-driven industries -- Professional's 10 credits per month still limits you to high-priority prospects only. For real call volume, Organization or a dedicated dialer tool like Nooks makes more sense.
Is annual billing worth it?
If you have been on Apollo for 2+ months and you are actively using it, yes. The ~20% discount is real savings at scale. The only reason to stay monthly is if you are still evaluating whether Apollo fits your workflow or if your team size fluctuates and you might need to add or remove seats.
How do I export data from Apollo without hitting limits?
On the free plan, you are limited to 25 records per export. On Basic and above, you can export up to 10,000 records at a time via CSV. For bulk exports beyond that, you need to segment your searches or use the API (Organization plan only). Always apply the verified email filter before exporting to reduce the volume of bad contacts in your list.
What happens to unused credits at the end of the month?
They expire. Apollo credits do not roll over -- unused email and phone credits reset to zero on your billing anniversary. This is different from some competitors that allow partial rollover. If you consistently have leftover credits, you may be on a higher plan than you need.
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