Alternatives to Apollo.io
Apollo.io alternatives: 8 tools for small teams and EU outbound
The right Apollo.io alternative depends on the job you want to replace: Lusha or Cognism for contact data, Instantly for sending, Clay for custom enrichment workflows, and FoxKnock for researched outreach that you approve.
This page is for small sales teams, agencies and founders who want something that costs less per head, keeps unused credits or suits EU outbound. Apollo is a large, well-known database with a free plan, and for many teams it is still the right pick.
We compare eight tools using each vendor's own pages, read on October 17, 2026, and we mark anything a vendor does not publish. We make FoxKnock, which is listed first, so we are not neutral. We say where Apollo and every alternative is stronger.
Facts checked from public sources listed at the end. Tools change often, so check before you decide. Written by the FoxKnock team, so read it knowing who wrote it.
Why people look for an alternative to Apollo.io
- Per-seat pricing, one plan for everyone. Basic is $49 per seat per month billed annually or $65 billed monthly, and Professional is $79 or $99. Organization is $119 billed annually with a three-seat minimum and no monthly option. Apollo says you cannot mix plans, so one rep who needs Professional moves the whole account.
- Credits reset every billing cycle. Apollo says unused credits expire at the end of the cycle, including purchased add-on credits, and add-ons renew each cycle until you remove them. On annual billing a year of credits is granted upfront (30,000 per seat on Basic) and expires at renewal.
- The entry plan is limited. Basic allows 1 mailbox per user and 250 emails a day, and unlimited Google and Microsoft mailboxes start at Professional.
- Phone numbers cost more credits. Apollo lists 8 credits for a phone number against 1 for an email, so a Basic seat's 2,500 monthly credits cover about 312 phone numbers.
- Annual billing is a 12-month commitment. Apollo says moving from annual to monthly means cancelling and waiting for the term to end, and it gives no refund for unused time after a downgrade.
- Europe is worth testing, not assuming. Apollo cites 240M+ contacts and 30M+ accounts and says it offers tools for GDPR, CAN-SPAM and Do Not Call rules, but neither its homepage nor its pricing page gives a country breakdown, and cold email rules differ by country. Cognism, an EU-focused vendor, leads with European data.
The alternatives at a glance
| Tool | Best for | Pricing |
|---|---|---|
| FoxKnock | Small teams and agencies that contact fewer accounts and want researched, cited emails that a person approves. | Free: $0 with 500 one-time credits. Starter $49/mo (5,000 credits, 2 seats), Growth $149/mo (20,000, 5 seats), Agency $399/mo (60,000, unlimited seats); Enterprise is custom. 1 credit = $0.01 at list price. Credits roll over and failed lookups are free (as of Oct 2026). |
| Lusha | Reps who want emails and phone numbers from a browser extension or API, on self-serve plans with a small free plan. | Free: 40 credits a month. Billed monthly: Starter $49.90 (400 credits, 1 seat), Pro $69.90 (600, 2 seats), Premium $399.90 (3,400 at the default slider setting, 5 seats). Paying yearly is 25% lower per Lusha; Scale is custom (as of Oct 2026). |
| Instantly | Teams that mainly need cold email sending at volume, with lead data bought separately as credits. | Outreach, billed monthly: Growth $47/mo (5,000 emails), Hypergrowth $97/mo (125,000), Light Speed $358/mo (500,000); about 20% less billed yearly. Instantly Credits are a separate subscription, from Nano $9/mo (150 credits) to Hyper Credits from $197/mo (as of Oct 2026). |
| Clay | Operators who want to build their own enrichment workflows from many data providers and AI research agents. | Free: 500 actions and 100 data credits a month. Launch from $185/mo ($167 billed annually) with 15,000 actions and 2,500 data credits; Growth from $495/mo ($446 annual) with 40,000 actions and 6,000 data credits; Enterprise is custom (as of Oct 2026). |
| Cognism | Sales teams that sell into Europe, need mobile numbers as well as emails and can buy through a sales call. | Not published. Standard and Pro packages, each with 5 seats included, are quoted by sales; one credit reveals one contact (as of Oct 2026). |
| Amplemarket | Sales teams that want a database, multichannel sequences, AI signals and a success manager in one platform, and can commit to an annual term. | Startup $600/mo on an annual term (2 users included, 27,000 contacts); Growth and Elite are custom. All plans include a free trial (as of Oct 2026). |
| Seamless.AI | Teams that want contact search plus buyer intent and job-change tracking and are comfortable asking for a quote. | Not published: its pricing page leads to a quote form. Its help center lists Free (50 credits, one time), Basic (250 credits a month) and Pro (10,000 a month) (as of Oct 2026). |
| ZoomInfo | Sales teams that need deep company data, intent signals and CRM workflows and can budget for a sales-led contract. | Not published. Professional, Copilot Advanced and Copilot Enterprise are quoted by licenses, credit usage and features (as of Oct 2026). |
Each alternative in detail
1.FoxKnock
Try it free →Best for: Small teams and agencies that contact fewer accounts and want researched, cited emails that a person approves.
Pricing: Free: $0 with 500 one-time credits. Starter $49/mo (5,000 credits, 2 seats), Growth $149/mo (20,000, 5 seats), Agency $399/mo (60,000, unlimited seats); Enterprise is custom. 1 credit = $0.01 at list price. Credits roll over and failed lookups are free (as of Oct 2026).
Strengths
- One credit balance that rolls over every month, with seats included in each plan instead of billed per seat.
- Research you can click through: specific claims in AI-written emails must cite an evidence card with a source URL, and an AI claim check blocks unsupported ones. The check is AI, so a person still reviews each email.
- Emails send from your own mailboxes, and by default only after you approve each one. Automatic sending is opt-in and has to be earned (50 emails approved one by one, under 10% edited, under 5% rejected).
- Built-in GDPR tools (country rule packs, lawful-basis checks, an Article 14 notice link, suppression lists, access export and erasure) and hosting in Nuremberg, Germany. Compliance stays the sender's responsibility.
Trade-offs
- New: launched October 2026, no customer results yet.
- No built-in contact database: it finds companies and people through the web and data providers, so broad list-building is not its strength.
- No dialer, open tracking or warm-up network, and mailboxes connect over SMTP/IMAP with an app password, not an OAuth sign-in.
2.Lusha
WebsiteBest for: Reps who want emails and phone numbers from a browser extension or API, on self-serve plans with a small free plan.
Pricing: Free: 40 credits a month. Billed monthly: Starter $49.90 (400 credits, 1 seat), Pro $69.90 (600, 2 seats), Premium $399.90 (3,400 at the default slider setting, 5 seats). Paying yearly is 25% lower per Lusha; Scale is custom (as of Oct 2026).
Strengths
- Publishes its credit costs: 1 credit for an email and 5 for a phone number, against 8 for a phone number on Apollo.
- Pro and Premium monthly plans carry unused credits over, up to twice the monthly allowance.
- Works from a Chrome extension, an API and connectors for Claude, ChatGPT and other MCP clients.
- A free plan with 40 credits a month and no card, so you can test coverage before paying.
Trade-offs
- A small pool: Starter's 400 credits cover about 400 emails or 80 phone numbers a month, against 2,500 credits per seat on Apollo Basic billed monthly.
- Per Lusha's plan table, Free and Starter credits do not roll over (its help docs describe rollover for monthly plans in general, so confirm before buying). Annual plans give a year of credits upfront with no monthly reset.
3.Instantly
WebsiteBest for: Teams that mainly need cold email sending at volume, with lead data bought separately as credits.
Pricing: Outreach, billed monthly: Growth $47/mo (5,000 emails), Hypergrowth $97/mo (125,000), Light Speed $358/mo (500,000); about 20% less billed yearly. Instantly Credits are a separate subscription, from Nano $9/mo (150 credits) to Hyper Credits from $197/mo (as of Oct 2026).
Strengths
- Unlimited email accounts and warm-up on every Outreach plan, plus a 14-day free trial that needs no card.
- Outreach plans are sized by emails a month and uploaded contacts.
- A lead database of 450M+ B2B contacts (Instantly's figure), paid for with credits.
Trade-offs
- Outreach and Instantly Credits are separate subscriptions (bundles also exist), so you may manage two meters.
- Credits expire 2 months after purchase on monthly plans (1 year on annual plans).
- Outreach Growth allows 1,000 uploaded contacts.
4.Clay
WebsiteBest for: Operators who want to build their own enrichment workflows from many data providers and AI research agents.
Pricing: Free: 500 actions and 100 data credits a month. Launch from $185/mo ($167 billed annually) with 15,000 actions and 2,500 data credits; Growth from $495/mo ($446 annual) with 40,000 actions and 6,000 data credits; Enterprise is custom (as of Oct 2026).
Strengths
- Waterfall enrichment across 150+ data providers (per its pricing page), plus Claygent, its AI research agent.
- Unlimited seats and tables on every plan, so there is no per-seat fee.
- Data credits roll over on Launch and Growth, up to twice the monthly amount, per Clay's FAQ (its plan table lists 15% of annual credits for annual plans).
- A free plan and a 14-day trial of the paid plans.
Trade-offs
- Two meters, actions and data credits, and actions reset every billing cycle.
- Built around tables and workflows you design yourself, not a ready-made prospecting flow.
- Phone enrichment is not on the Free plan.
5.Cognism
WebsiteBest for: Sales teams that sell into Europe, need mobile numbers as well as emails and can buy through a sales call.
Pricing: Not published. Standard and Pro packages, each with 5 seats included, are quoted by sales; one credit reveals one contact (as of Oct 2026).
Strengths
- Leads with European B2B data. Its compliance page says it relies on legitimate interest as its lawful basis, notifies the business contacts in its database and generally keeps data inside the EEA.
- Says it screens phone numbers against Do Not Call registries in the UK, Germany, France and other countries.
- Pro adds higher-quality mobile data, on-demand verification and intent data; MCP and API access are listed on both packages.
- Viewing a contact you already revealed costs no credit.
Trade-offs
- No public prices or contract terms: you need a sales call for a quote.
- Both packages list 5 seats included, and Cognism's FAQ says teams with at least 5 salespeople often see the most value, so check the fit if you are a one or two person team.
6.Amplemarket
WebsiteBest for: Sales teams that want a database, multichannel sequences, AI signals and a success manager in one platform, and can commit to an annual term.
Pricing: Startup $600/mo on an annual term (2 users included, 27,000 contacts); Growth and Elite are custom. All plans include a free trial (as of Oct 2026).
Strengths
- Email and phone credits on every plan (Startup: 13,500 email and 600 phone credits per user per year).
- Multichannel sequences, AI intent signals and an AI copilot on every plan.
- Lists deliverability tools such as a domain health center and email warm-up, and a customer success manager (scaled on Startup, dedicated on Growth and Elite).
Trade-offs
- $600 a month on an annual term is $7,200 a year, against $1,176 a year for two Apollo Basic seats billed annually.
- Growth and Elite are quote-only, and the pricing page does not say what happens to unused credits.
7.Seamless.AI
WebsiteBest for: Teams that want contact search plus buyer intent and job-change tracking and are comfortable asking for a quote.
Pricing: Not published: its pricing page leads to a quote form. Its help center lists Free (50 credits, one time), Basic (250 credits a month) and Pro (10,000 a month) (as of Oct 2026).
Strengths
- Sells contact search, job-change tracking, buyer intent and enrichment, with unlimited-user and bulk-credit options by quote.
- A free plan with 50 credits to test it.
Trade-offs
- No public price list, so you cannot compare cost before talking to sales.
- Free credits are one time and do not replenish. Paid credits refresh on the contract date, and the help center does not say whether unused ones carry over.
8.ZoomInfo
WebsiteBest for: Sales teams that need deep company data, intent signals and CRM workflows and can budget for a sales-led contract.
Pricing: Not published. Professional, Copilot Advanced and Copilot Enterprise are quoted by licenses, credit usage and features (as of Oct 2026).
Strengths
- Deep data options: higher plans add buyer intent signals, website visitors and buying-group filters, and richer credits cover technographics and org charts.
- Chrome extension, mobile app and CRM integrations on Professional, with a free trial on each Sales plan.
- Copilot Enterprise lists real-time buyer intent signals, competitor alerts and a dedicated customer service manager.
Trade-offs
- No public prices or contract terms: cost depends on licenses, credits and features.
- Integrations typically carry a base cost and a minimum purchase of bulk credits, per its pricing page.
- Every export of a contact or company profile uses a credit.
Which Apollo.io alternative fits your job?
Apollo alternatives split by job more than by price. Start with what you pay Apollo to do.
- Contacts, which you write and send elsewhere. Lusha is self-serve with a free plan. Cognism is the one to test if your market is Europe. ZoomInfo and Seamless.AI are the quote-based options for deeper data.
- Cold email at volume. Instantly sizes plans by emails a month and sells lead data as a separate subscription.
- Your own enrichment workflows. Clay has unlimited seats and 150+ data providers, and it suits someone willing to design tables and automations.
- A database, sequences and a success manager in one platform. Amplemarket starts at $600 a month on an annual term.
- A smaller set of accounts, with research, sources and approval. FoxKnock researches each company, ties each specific claim to a source and, by default, sends only what you approve. It owns no contact database. See FoxKnock vs Apollo.
When to stay on Apollo
Apollo is still the better pick in these cases:
- You mainly look up contacts. An email costs 1 credit, and Basic gives 30,000 credits a year for $49 per seat per month billed annually.
- You want a big database. Apollo cites 240M+ contacts and 30M+ accounts. FoxKnock owns none.
- You spend your credits every cycle. The reset costs you nothing if the credits are used.
- You are one rep. A one-person team has no seat problem.
- You want a free plan to start: 75 credits per seat per month.
Cheaper Apollo alternatives: compare the unit, not the plan price
The same dollar buys different things in each tool, so compare what you pay for.
| Tool | You pay for | Unused credits | Prices public |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apollo | Seats, with pooled credits | Reset each cycle, add-ons too | Yes |
| Lusha | A plan with a credit slider | Pro and Premium monthly roll over up to 2x; Free and Starter do not | Yes |
| Instantly | Sending and credits, as separate subscriptions | Credits expire 2 months after purchase (monthly plans) | Yes |
| Clay | Actions and data credits | Actions reset; data credits roll over up to 2x | Yes |
| Amplemarket | Users, contacts and per-user credits | Not stated | Startup only |
| Cognism | Seats (5 included) and credits | Not published | No |
| Seamless.AI | Licenses and credits | Paid credits refresh monthly; carryover not stated | No |
| ZoomInfo | Licenses, credits and features | Not published | No |
| FoxKnock | One credit balance | Roll over every month | Yes |
Three of these tools publish a per-credit price for an email, which allows one rough comparison at list prices:
- Apollo Basic: 1 credit per email. A credit is about 2 cents on annual billing (30,000 credits a year for $588 per seat) and about 2.6 cents billed monthly ($65 for 2,500 credits).
- Lusha Starter: 1 credit per email. A credit is about 12 cents ($49.90 for 400 credits a month).
- FoxKnock: 1 credit is 1 cent at list price, but an email found and verified takes 11 credits at default credit prices, about 11 cents. FoxKnock credits also pay for research and drafting, so they buy a different product.
This is arithmetic on published figures, not a benchmark. It says nothing about how many emails each tool finds or how accurate they are. Instantly and Clay price lookups in their own credit units, so we left them out.
A cheaper Apollo alternative therefore depends on what you cut:
- Five Apollo Basic seats cost $245 a month billed annually. FoxKnock Growth includes 5 seats for $149 a month, and Clay has unlimited seats.
- FoxKnock credits and Clay data credits carry over, while Apollo's reset.
- For one rep looking up contacts, those savings do not apply.
Apollo credits explained shows how to read Apollo's meter, and FoxKnock's credit prices are on the pricing page.
Apollo alternative for Europe: what to check
EU outbound raises two questions: where the data comes from, and what you must do as the sender. This is general information, not legal advice.
- Data vendors. Cognism says it relies on legitimate interest as its lawful basis, notifies the business contacts in its database and generally keeps data inside the EEA. It also says each party acts as an independent controller and recommends that customers seek legal advice. Apollo's homepage says it offers tools for GDPR, CAN-SPAM and Do Not Call rules but gives no country breakdown, so test your own countries.
- Your duties as sender. Cold email rules differ by country, and you are generally responsible for your own outreach and lawful basis whichever tool supplies the data. Read our GDPR cold email guide and ask a lawyer about your markets.
- FoxKnock. It owns no database. It has built-in GDPR tools (country rule packs, lawful-basis checks, an Article 14 notice link in first emails, suppression lists, retention, access export and erasure) and is hosted in Nuremberg, Germany. These are tools, not a guarantee, and compliance stays with the sender. Its AI features run on Claude, by Anthropic, so research and draft text are sent to Anthropic; check that against your own privacy notice.
What to check before you switch from Apollo
- Export first. Apollo lists CSV import and export on its plans and says you can bulk-export the records you have saved. Check Apollo's terms on what you may do with exported data. FoxKnock does not call Apollo's API or use scraped LinkedIn data, so moving to it is a CSV job of up to 5,000 rows per import.
- Time the cancellation. Apollo says cancellations take effect at the end of the plan term, an annual plan cannot move to monthly mid-term, and add-on credits keep renewing until you set the slider to zero. Spend the credits you paid for before the term ends.
- Test coverage with your own searches. A vendor's database size does not tell you how many verified contacts it holds in your countries and titles. Run the same set of searches in each free plan or trial and compare.
- Know the free tiers. Apollo 75 credits a month, Lusha 40 a month, Seamless.AI 50 once, Clay 500 actions and 100 data credits a month, FoxKnock 500 once. Instantly, ZoomInfo and Amplemarket offer trials.
- Count mailboxes and volume. Apollo Basic allows 1 mailbox per user. No tool can promise inbox placement, so read the cold email deliverability notes before you scale sending.
If researched, approved outreach sounds like your job, the Free plan gives 500 one-time credits and needs no card (credits are granted after you verify your email). Create a free account and run a few of your own accounts through FoxKnock next to Apollo.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a cheaper alternative to Apollo.io?
Sometimes, but mostly through seats and plan rules, not the price of a lookup. Apollo Basic is $49 per seat a month billed annually (30,000 credits a year) or $65 billed monthly (2,500 a month), and an email costs 1 credit. Clay has unlimited seats, Instantly sizes sending plans by email volume from $47 a month, and FoxKnock Growth includes 5 seats for $149 a month. Prices as of October 2026. See credit-based pricing traps for how to compare credit meters.
Is Apollo.io free, and are there free alternatives?
Yes. Apollo's free plan gives 75 credits per seat per month, 2 sequences per team and Gmail only. Other free options as of October 2026: Lusha (40 credits a month), Clay (500 actions and 100 data credits a month), Seamless.AI (50 credits, once) and FoxKnock (500 one-time credits). Use a free plan to test coverage in your own market before you pay.
What is a good Apollo alternative for Europe?
Cognism is the option on this list that leads with European B2B data, and it publishes no prices. FoxKnock owns no database, but it has built-in GDPR tools (country rule packs, lawful-basis checks, an Article 14 notice link, suppression, export and erasure) and is hosted in Germany. With any tool the sender stays responsible for compliance. This is not legal advice; see our GDPR cold email guide.
Do Apollo credits roll over?
No. Apollo says unused credits expire at the end of each billing cycle, add-on credits included. On annual billing a year of credits is granted upfront and expires at renewal. Among the alternatives, Lusha's Pro and Premium monthly plans and Clay's data credits roll over up to twice the monthly amount (Clay's actions reset), and FoxKnock's credits roll over every month. See Apollo credits explained.
Can FoxKnock replace Apollo?
Only for some teams. FoxKnock owns no contact database, dialer or open tracking, so it will not replace Apollo for broad list-building or phone-first selling. It fits teams that contact fewer accounts and want research with sources, approval before sending by default and credits that roll over. Some teams may use both. See FoxKnock vs Apollo.
How do I export my contacts from Apollo to switch tools?
Apollo's plans list CSV import and export, and its pricing page says you can bulk-export the records you have saved. Check Apollo's terms for what you may do with exported data. FoxKnock imports up to 5,000 rows per CSV and maps columns such as email, name, title, company and domain. Add a country or lawful basis where your rules require one, and bring your opt-out list.
Sources
- Apollo pricing page (plans, credits, FAQ) (checked 17 October 2026)
- Apollo homepage (database size, compliance tools) (checked 17 October 2026)
- Lusha pricing page (plans, credit slider, rollover table) (checked 17 October 2026)
- Lusha docs: billing, plans and credits (checked 17 October 2026)
- Instantly pricing page (checked 17 October 2026)
- Instantly pricing in Markdown (credit plans, expiry) (checked 17 October 2026)
- Clay pricing page (checked 17 October 2026)
- Clay FAQ: do unused credits roll over (checked 17 October 2026)
- Cognism pricing page (checked 17 October 2026)
- Cognism compliance page (checked 17 October 2026)
- Cognism homepage (FAQ on team size, European focus) (checked 17 October 2026)
- Amplemarket pricing page (checked 17 October 2026)
- Seamless.AI pricing page (quote form) (checked 17 October 2026)
- Seamless.AI help center: credit and license types (checked 17 October 2026)
- ZoomInfo pricing page (checked 17 October 2026)