Apollo.io vs Reply.io: Which Should You Pick in 2026?
Data verified August 7, 2026
Quick answer
Apollo wins when finding prospects is the bottleneck: a 275M+ claimed contact database, filters, and intent signals from $59/user/month with a real free plan. Reply.io wins when execution is the bottleneck: email, LinkedIn, calls, SMS, and WhatsApp in one sequence, warmup on unlimited mailboxes, and the Jason AI SDR, from $49/user/month billed annually. Data problem, buy Apollo; channel and workflow problem, buy Reply.
Apollo.io
B2B data platform with 275M+ claimed contacts, sequences, dialer, and enrichment. Data and outreach in one per-seat subscription with a usable free tier.
Reply.io
Sales engagement platform with email, LinkedIn, calls, SMS, and WhatsApp sequences, unlimited warmed mailboxes on email plans, and Jason, an AI SDR agent.
Side-by-side comparison
Spec and pricing data below comes from our verified tool records, re-checked monthly.
| Feature | Apollo.io | Reply.io |
|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 4.5 / 5 | 4.5 / 5 |
| Starting price | Free plan available | From $59/mo |
| Free trial | 14 days | 14 days |
| Channels | email, calls, linkedin | email, linkedin, calls, sms, whatsapp |
| Email warmup | No | Yes |
| Inbox rotation | No | Yes |
| Spintax | No | No |
| ESP matching | No | Yes |
| Dedicated IPs | No | No |
| Spam testing | No | No |
| DNS checks | Yes | Yes |
| API access | Yes | Yes |
| Best for | Teams that want prospect data, enrichment, and outreach sequences in one subscription instead of stitching together separate tools | SMB and mid-market sales teams running email, LinkedIn, and calling from one platform, or teams ready to hand prospecting to an AI SDR |
Key differences
Pricing philosophy. Entry prices are nearly identical and the models are not. Apollo Basic is $59/user/month ($49 annual) with credits metering email reveals, exports, and mobile numbers. Reply's Email Volume plan is $59/user/month ($49 annual) for 1,000 active contacts, with unlimited emails and unlimited warmed mailboxes under fair usage; Multichannel runs $89/user annual with LinkedIn and calling included. Reply also sells Jason, its AI SDR, from $500/month annual. Apollo's spend scales with data consumption; Reply's scales with list size and channels.
Deliverability. Reply is far better equipped: Mailtoaster warmup on every mailbox, unlimited mailboxes on Email Volume plans, inbox rotation, ESP matching, and DNS checks with Google Postmaster integration. Apollo offers none of that (no warmup, capped daily sends), which is why serious cold emailers treat it as a data source rather than a sender. If the plan is high-volume outbound from many inboxes, Reply can actually run it; Apollo cannot.
Workflow and UI. Both are dense products with a ramp. Apollo's complexity sits in search, credits, and enrichment workflows; Reply's sits in conditional sequences, triggers, task flows, and channel settings. Reply's dialer, WhatsApp steps, and native LinkedIn automation make it a true multichannel cockpit. Apollo includes a dialer from Professional up and touches LinkedIn through its extension, but email sequences remain its main outbound motion.
Data and integrations. Apollo wins data outright: 275M+ claimed contacts, buying intent, job change alerts. Reply includes 50 live data credits a month plus website visitor identification, useful but nowhere near a database replacement; Jason draws on real-time B2B data if you pay for it. On CRM plumbing, Reply's two-way sync covers Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive, Copper, and Close, with Zapier, Make, and n8n on top; Apollo syncs Salesforce and HubSpot and connects natively to Outreach, Salesloft, and Marketo.
Pick Apollo.io if...
- →Prospect data is the gap: you need a database, filters, and intent signals
- →You want a free plan that does real work before you commit budget
- →LinkedIn-to-CRM prospecting via Chrome extension is part of your daily workflow
- →You would rather export data to a dedicated sender than run outreach in the data tool
Pick Reply.io if...
- →You want email, LinkedIn, calls, SMS, and WhatsApp in one sequence
- →You need warmup and unlimited mailboxes under one plan for serious email volume
- →You want the option to hand prospecting to an AI SDR (Jason, from $500/month)
- →Deep two-way CRM sync (Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive, Copper, Close) matters to your ops
Verdict
Name your bottleneck and the winner falls out. If you do not know who to contact, buy Apollo: its 275M+ claimed contact database, filters, intent signals, and Chrome extension are the best prospecting value at $59/user/month, and the free plan proves it before you pay. If you know exactly who to contact and need to reach them across channels, buy Reply.io: email with warmup on unlimited mailboxes, LinkedIn automation, calls, SMS, and WhatsApp from $49/user/month billed annually, with the Jason AI SDR available at $500/month when you want prospecting handled end to end. Reply's 50 monthly data credits will not replace a database, and Apollo's warmup-free sending will not survive real volume. Small teams with both problems and one budget usually start with Apollo for data, then graduate to Reply or a dedicated sender once the list outgrows Apollo's sending limits.
Frequently asked questions
›Is Reply.io cheaper than Apollo?
At entry they match almost exactly: both land at $49/user/month billed annually ($59 monthly). The models differ, though. Apollo meters data credits per seat, while Reply meters active contacts per month with unlimited emails. Which one costs more at scale depends on whether you consume more data or more outreach.
›Does Apollo have an AI SDR like Reply's Jason?
Not at the same depth. Apollo offers AI writing and workflow automation (plays), but Jason is a full agent that prospects from a live B2B database, personalizes sequences, handles replies, and books meetings in autopilot or copilot mode, priced from $500/month billed annually.
›Which has better deliverability, Apollo or Reply.io?
Reply, decisively. It includes Mailtoaster warmup on every mailbox, unlimited mailboxes under fair usage, rotation, ESP matching, and DNS checks. Apollo has no warmup and caps daily sends per mailbox, so its outreach works for targeted sequences, not volume cold email.