Apollo.io vs Reply.io
Both are AI Sales & Outreach tools — here's how Apollo.io and Reply.io stack up on pricing, strengths, and fit, so you can pick the right one.
Key differences
On price, Apollo.io starts at $59/seat/mo (freemium) while Reply.io starts at $60/seat/mo (paid). Apollo.io leans toward outbound sdr teams, whereas Reply.io is a better fit for smb outbound teams. Both compete in AI Sales & Outreach, so the choice usually comes down to budget and which workflow each one slots into. Read the full reviews below for the detail behind each.
Zero contacts come bundled with Reply.io. Apollo.io ships with roughly 270 million already loaded, spread across 60 million companies. That one difference decides more of this comparison than any feature checklist, and it decides it before either interface gets touched.
TL;DR
- Apollo.io wins for teams with no contact source yet. Database and sequencer live in one login, and a rep can build a segment and launch a sequence in the same session.
- Reply.io wins for teams whose list is already solid and want deeper multi-channel execution: LinkedIn, calls, SMS, WhatsApp, and an autonomous SDR agent called Jason AI, coordinated from one visual builder.
- Apollo's free tier includes 50 export credits a month, per Apollo.io's own pricing page. Reply.io has no free tier at all.
- Apollo prices per seat: $49/user/month (Basic) to $79/user/month (Professional). Reply.io's entry tier runs $49 to $59/seat/month depending on plan vintage, with full multichannel and Jason AI gated to higher tiers.
- Run the math on your own seat count before picking a side. A 3-person team sourcing under 300 contacts a month lands somewhere different than a 3-person team already sitting on 5,000 verified leads.
Is Apollo.io better than Reply.io?
Only if your team has no contact database yet. Apollo bundles prospecting and sequencing in one login, which gets a cold-start team to a live campaign inside a day. Reply.io isn't competing in that scenario at all. It's an execution layer waiting on a list that doesn't exist.
What each platform actually is
Apollo.io launched in 2015 as a B2B contact database first; sequencing, calling, and LinkedIn outreach arrived later. As of August 2026 the database covers roughly 270 million contacts across 60 million companies, with email verification built into every paid tier. Free tier: 50 export credits a month. Paid tiers start at $49/user/month (Basic) and run to $79/user/month (Professional), sequencing included at both.
Reply.io launched a year earlier, in 2014, and ships no database at all. Its core is execution: multi-step email sequences, a native LinkedIn integration run through a browser extension, calls, SMS, WhatsApp, A/B testing across message variants, and Jason AI, an autonomous SDR agent that handles prospecting, personalization, and initial objection handling without a human reviewing every lead. Pricing starts around $49/seat/month for an email-focused entry tier. Full multichannel and Jason AI sit higher, with LinkedIn and calling priced as add-ons on some plans. No free tier exists.
Where they actually diverge
Most comparison guides skate past this. Apollo has a database. Reply.io does not. Start cold with Apollo and prospecting plus sequencing runs from one tool. Start with Reply.io and you bring your own list, from Sales Navigator, Clay, Clearbit, or a warehouse export, which adds a sourcing step but lets you sequence on data you already trust rather than data Apollo happened to have on file.
That gap explains why the two rarely compete for the same buyer. A team asking which one to buy first almost always has an empty pipeline. A team asking which one fixes flat reply rates almost always already has a list from somewhere, and is really asking whether Reply.io's execution layer beats what they're currently sequencing through.
When Apollo.io wins
You have no contact source yet. Reply.io has nothing to sequence without a starting list. Apollo's built-in database removes that first step entirely. A rep can build a segment and launch a campaign in the same session, no second vendor required.
You want one tool, one login, one bill. A two-person outbound team doesn't need to wire a CRM export into a separate sequencer before the first message goes out. Apollo's bundled model is the faster path to a live campaign.
Your channel mix is mostly email. Apollo's sequencer covers email, plus a lighter LinkedIn and call layer, well enough for a team not yet running a genuine multi-channel motion. Paying for Reply.io's deeper LinkedIn automation and Jason AI adds cost without adding much if the sequence never leaves the inbox.
When Reply.io wins
Your contact data is already solid. If your list comes from an existing CRM, a prior enrichment run, or Sales Navigator exports, Reply.io's sequence execution on verified contacts outperforms Apollo's integrated flow. The LinkedIn and call steps coordinate more tightly across a single visual builder.
You need autonomous AI SDR capability. Jason AI handles prospecting, personalization, follow-up scheduling, and initial objection responses without a rep touching each lead. As of this writing, that capability is more developed inside Reply.io than anything comparable in Apollo's own tooling.
Multi-channel sequencing is the actual motion. A sequence mixing email, a LinkedIn connection request, a LinkedIn message, and a call step runs from one builder in Reply.io. Apollo's LinkedIn steps exist, but route more of the execution through manual actions or third-party integrations bolted on top.
Pricing at team scale
Apollo prices per seat: Basic around $49/user/month, Professional around $79/user/month, with prospecting credits drawn from a shared pool. Reply.io's entry tier sits around $49 to $59/seat/month depending on plan vintage. Full multichannel plus Jason AI sit on higher tiers, and some channels price as paid add-ons on top of the seat fee, so a true multichannel seat often runs meaningfully past its advertised entry number. Both vendors reprice often. Confirm current tiers on each vendor's own pricing page before you commit a budget line to either one.
Our verdict
For teams starting outbound with no contact source: Apollo.io is the faster, cheaper start. Database and sequencer in one login beats sourcing a list before you've validated a single message.
For teams with an existing enrichment stack or a CRM full of unworked leads: Reply.io's multi-channel depth and Jason AI extract more from data you already paid to acquire.
The honest limitation on Reply.io's side: it does nothing for a team with an empty pipeline. Buying it before the data problem is solved just adds a second bill with nothing to sequence. Run Apollo, or whatever gets a list in the door, until that's no longer true. Then decide whether Reply.io's execution layer is worth the added seat cost.