Apollo.io costs $0 to $119 per user per month on annual billing in 2026 — Free, Basic ($49), Professional ($79), and Organization ($119, minimum 3 seats); monthly billing raises those to $65, $99, and $149. For MSPs that would rather buy done-for-you outreach than run a tool, SentFirst starts at $497 one-time for a 1,500-business pilot or $597/mo for 2,000 businesses per month. The real cost driver on Apollo is its credit system: phone numbers cost 8 credits versus 1 for an email, so dialer-heavy teams burn through plans roughly 8x faster.
Bottom line: Apollo.io is the low-cost self-serve option for MSPs with in-house sales reps who will run their own sequences; SentFirst is the managed alternative for MSPs that want outreach executed for them. They solve different problems, so the right pick depends on whether you have people to run the tool.
TL;DR
- Apollo.io's 2026 annual pricing is Free ($0), Basic ($49/user/mo), Professional ($79/user/mo), and Organization ($119/user/mo with a 3-seat minimum, making the real entry $357/mo).
- Monthly billing raises tiers to $65, $99, and $149 per user — roughly a 17-24% premium over annual.
- Credits are the hidden cost: 1 credit per email reveal, 8 per phone number, 1-8 per enriched record, and 2 per dialer minute; credits expire each billing cycle and don't roll over.
- Two add-ons — Inbound and Advanced Dialer — cost $119 per team per month each on annual billing, adding up to $238/mo.
- User reviews report 65-70% data accuracy and 15-25% email bounce rates, so some teams buy a separate verification tool.
- A 14-day free trial of Professional is available with 100 credits; the Free plan has 900 credits per year and only 2 active sequences.
- SentFirst offers a managed alternative for MSPs: $497 one-time for a 1,500-business pilot, or $597-$1,997/mo for 2,000-15,000 businesses contacted per month.
Head-to-head
| Dimension | Apollo.io | SentFirst |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | $0-$119/user/mo annual ($65-$149 monthly); credits and $119/team add-ons extra | $497 one-time pilot; $597-$1,997/mo plans; white-label from $3,500/mo |
| Ease of use | Self-serve platform with onboarding flows, Chrome extension, and credit management to learn | Done-for-you service — no tool to learn or operatewinner |
| Features | 275M+ contact database, sequences, dialer, enrichment, intent signals, AI writing, schedulingwinner | Maps-based targeting, per-business enrichment, AI-personalized form outreach, reply classification and routing |
| Support | Dedicated support on Custom/enterprise tier; self-serve resources on standard plans | Transparent reporting on every send; dedicated campaign manager at Scale tier |
| Integrations | Salesforce, HubSpot, Outreach, SalesLoft, Marketo, Sendgrid, LinkedIn; API on Custom planswinner | Replies routed directly to the client; forms-only at launch |
| Setup | Self-serve sign-up; 14-day Professional trial available | Pilot runs a full 1,500-business campaign inside 7 days |
| Data quality | Reported 65-70% accuracy, 15-25% email bounce rates per user reviews | Per-business enrichment from each business's real datawinner |
Scores
Apollo.io
apollo.io ↗Apollo.io is an all-in-one sales intelligence and engagement platform used by over 600,000 companies, rated 4.7/5 across 9,690 reviews. It combines a contact database of 275 million-plus contacts with more than 65 search filters, email sequencing, a dialer on higher tiers, data enrichment, lead scoring, buying-intent signals, AI-assisted email writing, and meeting scheduling. Pricing runs across four tiers — Free, Basic, Professional, and Organization — all charged per user, with the Organization tier requiring a minimum of three seats. The platform runs on a credit system: credits are pooled across the team, granted upfront each billing cycle, and expire if unused. Every email reveal costs 1 credit, phone numbers cost 8, enrichment runs 1-8 credits per record, and the US dialer burns 2 credits per minute. Apollo integrates with Salesforce, HubSpot, Outreach, SalesLoft, Marketo, Sendgrid, LinkedIn, and all major email providers, with API access on Custom plans. It works with enterprises including Intel, AT&T, Adobe, SAP, and Shopify, and is GDPR compliant.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0/mo | 900 credits/year per seat, 2 active sequences, 250 daily emails, Gmail only |
| Basic (annual) | $49/mo | 30,000 credits/year, unlimited sequences, CRM integrations, waterfall enrichment, email warmup |
| Professional (annual) | $79/mo | 48,000 credits/year, unlimited mailboxes, A/Z testing, call recording with AI insights (4,000 minutes), US dialer |
| Organization (annual, 3-seat min) | $119/mo | 72,000 credits/year, SSO, advanced security, custom reports, international dialer, own LLM API key option |
| Basic (monthly) | $65/mo | Same features as annual Basic at month-to-month billing |
| Professional (monthly) | $99/mo | Same features as annual Professional at month-to-month billing |
| Organization (monthly) | $149/mo | Same features as annual Organization at month-to-month billing |
Pros
- Low entry price: $49/user/month annual with a genuinely free tier for testing data quality
- Huge database (275M+ contacts) with 65+ filters for building targeted MSP prospect lists
- Sequencing, enrichment, dialer, and CRM in one platform — no need to stitch tools together
- Integrates with Salesforce, HubSpot, Outreach, SalesLoft, Marketo, Sendgrid, and LinkedIn
- 14-day free Professional trial with 100 credits to evaluate before committing
- Rated 4.7/5 across 9,690 reviews and used by 600,000+ companies
Cons
- Credit system makes real costs unpredictable: phone numbers cost 8 credits vs 1 for emails, and credits expire each cycle with no rollover
- Phone-heavy usage pushes real costs to $150-$400/user per month according to third-party analysis
- User-reported data accuracy around 65-70% with 15-25% email bounce rates, potentially requiring a paid verification tool
- Organization tier requires a 3-seat minimum ($357/mo even for one power user)
- Add-ons (Inbound, Advanced Dialer) add $119/team/month each on annual billing
- All seats must be on the same plan; annual plans have no mid-term refunds or mid-cycle seat reductions
SentFirst
SentFirst is a done-for-you B2B form-outreach agency operated by AIQ Labs, built for businesses — including MSPs and IT providers — that want outreach executed rather than managed. Instead of handing you a database and a sequencer, SentFirst places your offer directly into the contact forms of your target businesses at scale. Targeting is Google Maps-driven by niche and city, each business is enriched individually, and AI-personalized messages are written from each business's real data. Every message is LLM quality-judged with human review before sending, then submitted via browser agent, and replies are tracked and AI-classified with interested replies routed to the client within minutes. Packages run from a one-time pilot to monthly plans up to a Scale tier with a dedicated campaign manager, plus white-label for lead-gen agencies. Reporting is transparent: attempted vs confirmed vs failed sends with reasons, honest sender identification, and opt-out honoring. Month-to-month contracts with 30 days' cancellation notice.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Pilot — 'The First Send' (one-time) | $497/one_time | 1,500 unique businesses, one niche/region, full run inside 7 days |
| Launch | $597/mo | 2,000 businesses/mo, one niche/region |
| Growth | $997/mo | 5,000 businesses/mo, up to 2 niches/regions, two segmented campaigns |
| Scale | $1997/mo | 15,000 businesses/mo, priority throughput, dedicated campaign manager |
| Agency white-label | $3500/mo | White-label delivery for lead-gen agencies, from $3,500/mo |
Pros
- Fully managed: no hiring, configuring, or learning a platform
- Flat, transparent pricing with no per-seat or credit costs; month-to-month, cancel with 30 days' notice
- Per-business enrichment and personalization rather than generic database records
- Quality control before send: LLM judging plus human review
- Interested replies routed to the client within minutes
- White-label option from $3,500/mo for lead-gen agencies
Cons
- Forms-only at launch; cold email on warmed domains is a coming-soon lane offered privately later
- Single-touch per business — no follow-up sequences sold at launch
- No guaranteed-reply claims; guarantees cover targeting quality, delivery attempts, sender identification, opt-out honoring, and reporting
- Less suited to teams that want their reps working a live database and dialer daily
Pricing compared: seats and credits vs flat managed plans
The credit system: where Apollo budgets quietly leak
Data quality and what that means for MSP outreach
Which model fits an MSP in 2026
Which should you pick?
FAQs
How much does Apollo.io cost per month in 2026?
On annual billing, Apollo.io costs $0 (Free), $49 (Basic), $79 (Professional), and $119 (Organization) per user per month, with Organization requiring a minimum of 3 seats — so its real entry price is $357/month. On monthly billing the paid tiers are $65, $99, and $149 per user. Credits, add-ons like Inbound and Advanced Dialer ($119 per team per month each on annual), and data-verification tooling can push effective costs higher, with phone-heavy teams reported at $150-$400 per user per month.
Is Apollo.io's free plan usable for real outreach?
The Free plan includes 900 credits per seat per year granted monthly, only 2 active sequences, 250 daily emails, Gmail-only connections, and an AI assistant capped at 5 chats. That works out to roughly 75 reveals per month, enough to test data quality on a shortlist but not to run a real outbound campaign. A single burst of list building can exhaust the year's allowance in a week, and there is no way to top up without moving to a paid plan.
How fast do Apollo.io credits run out?
It depends entirely on your activity mix. Unlocking a verified email costs 1 credit, a phone number costs 8, data enrichment runs 1-8 credits per record, AI research is 1 credit per run, and the US dialer burns 2 credits per minute. On Basic's 30,000 annual credits, a phone-focused team gets roughly 3,700 contacts per year (about 15 per working day), while email-only prospecting stretches much further. Credits expire at the end of each billing cycle and do not roll over.
Does Apollo.io have a free trial?
Yes. The Professional plan has a 14-day free trial that includes 100 credits and access to almost all plan features. Some trial-specific limits apply, and non-Gmail/Microsoft email-provider connections stay locked until you pay. After the trial you can upgrade to a paid plan or move to the free plan, which stays free with no time limit.
How does SentFirst pricing compare to Apollo.io?
SentFirst charges flat managed-service rates rather than per-seat prices: a one-time $497 pilot covering 1,500 unique businesses in one niche/region inside 7 days, then $597/mo for 2,000 businesses per month, $997/mo for 5,000 across up to 2 niches/regions, $1,997/mo for 15,000 with priority throughput and a dedicated campaign manager, and white-label from $3,500/mo. There are no seats, credits, or add-ons to budget, and contracts are month-to-month with 30 days' cancellation notice. The trade-off is that SentFirst executes outreach for you (forms-only at launch, single-touch per business) rather than giving your team a database and sequencer to work daily.
Is Apollo.io's data accurate enough for MSP outreach?
User reviews report real-world accuracy around 65-70%, with email bounce rates of 15-25% across G2 and Trustpilot, and some database records can be outdated. That is generally workable for email-first teams willing to accept some bounces or buy a separate verification tool, but it is a real consideration for MSPs whose outbound reputation matters in a local market. SentFirst takes a different approach, enriching each target business individually from its real data and applying LLM quality-judging with human review before every send.
Can different users on my team be on different Apollo plans?
No. All seats on an Apollo account must be on the same plan — you cannot mix Basic and Professional users. Apollo recommends selecting the plan that fits your highest-needs users, or talking to sales about a Custom plan for larger organizations with varied use cases. Upgrades take effect immediately, while downgrades apply from the next term with no refunds for unused time, and annual plans cannot be reduced mid-cycle.
Sources
- Apollo.io Pricing Plans | Sales Intelligence Platform Pricing
- Apollo.io Pricing 2026: Free Plan to $119/mo (Real Costs)
- Apollo.io Pricing (2026): Plans, Credits, and Real Costs
- Apollo.io Pricing (2026): Plans, Credits, and Real Costs
- Apollo.io Pricing Plans 2026 [Free, Basic, Pro & Org Costs Compared]
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