Short answer: Apollo is the better fit for most B2B SaaS teams under about ten sellers. It publishes its prices, bills monthly or annually, and puts contact data, email sequences, a dialer and deliverability tools in one product. ZoomInfo sells a larger database, more direct dials and intent signals on annual contracts that Vendr puts at a median of $33,500 a year. It earns that price when a team calls a lot and acts on intent data every week.
A note on who is writing this. When we checked Google for “apollo vs zoominfo” in October 2026, five of the top seven results came from companies selling a third data or outreach tool, and each one ended by recommending its own product. We sell neither tool and have no affiliate deal with either. Our outbound team works inside whichever data tool a client already pays for.
Apollo vs ZoomInfo at a glance
| Apollo | ZoomInfo | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Contact data plus outreach (sequences, dialer, deliverability) in one tool | A data and intelligence platform, with outreach and conversation tools sold as add-ons |
| Published pricing | Yes: Free $0, Basic $49, Professional $79 per seat per month billed annually (Apollo pricing, checked October 2026) | No. Quote from sales |
| Typical contract | Self-serve, monthly or annual | Annual. Median $33,500 a year across 1,577 purchases (Vendr, updated February 2026) |
| Database, vendor’s own count | 240M contacts, 30M companies | 500M+ profiles, 122M+ companies, 135M+ direct dials (ZoomInfo data) |
| Intent data | Intent topics on paid plans (6 on Basic) | Intent signals across 4,500+ topics |
| Trial | Free plan, plus a 14-day trial of paid plans | Free trial offered on its site |
| Best fit | Founders, small sales teams, email-first outbound | Larger US-focused teams, phone-heavy outbound, enterprise accounts |
How much does Apollo cost compared with ZoomInfo?
Apollo’s pricing page lists four plans. Free costs $0 and includes 900 credits per seat per year. Basic is $49 per seat per month billed annually with 30,000 credits per seat per year. Professional is $79 per seat per month billed annually with 48,000 credits. A custom plan covers SSO, security reviews and larger volumes. Monthly billing costs more; Apollo advertises a 24% saving for annual billing.
ZoomInfo does not publish prices. The best public benchmark is Vendr, a software buying service that tracks real contracts: across 1,577 ZoomInfo purchases, the median buyer pays $33,500 a year, and the range runs from $7,240 to $156,042.
Here is what that means for a five-seller team, using only those published figures:
| Five sellers, one year | Apollo Basic | Apollo Professional | ZoomInfo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Software | 5 x $49 x 12 = $2,940 | 5 x $79 x 12 = $4,740 | $33,500 median contract (Vendr) |
| Credits included | 150,000 | 240,000 | Set in the contract |
| Contract | Annual or monthly | Annual or monthly | Annual |
ZoomInfo contracts vary with seats, modules and credits, so a five-seat team may pay well under the median, and an enterprise rollout well over it. The gap is still large enough that the question is not “which is better” but “will ZoomInfo’s extra data earn back the difference?”
Which has better data?
By their own counts, ZoomInfo is bigger. ZoomInfo says it has 500M+ professional profiles, 122M+ company records and 135M+ direct dial numbers, backed by what it calls “proprietary AI and human validation.” Apollo says 240M contacts and 30M companies. Both numbers come from the vendors, and neither tells you how many records are current for your market.
Database size matters less than coverage of your list. A tool with fewer records can still win if it covers the 2,000 accounts you sell to. Before you sign, run this test:
- Export 200 accounts from your ideal customer profile, including ten you know well.
- Pull contacts for three roles from each tool: the economic buyer, the main user and one influencer.
- Check the ten you know. Are the right people there, with current titles?
- Send a verification pass on the emails through a separate checker and count bounces.
- Call a sample of mobile numbers if your team uses the phone. Format checks are not enough. Count the numbers that reach the right person.
An afternoon of testing beats any published accuracy claim, including the ones in vendor comparisons.
Features: where each tool is stronger
Apollo is stronger as a single tool for outbound. The Basic plan already includes unlimited sequences, a deliverability suite with email warm-up, domain and mailbox purchasing, CRM integrations and a US dialer, according to its pricing page. A founder or a two-person sales team can find contacts, write sequences and send them without buying anything else.
ZoomInfo is stronger as a data layer for a larger team. Its edge is depth: more direct dials, company records, org charts and intent signals across 4,500+ topics. ZoomInfo has also bought tools that sit around the data, such as Chorus.ai for conversation intelligence in 2021 (Wikipedia). Teams that already run outreach in Outreach, Salesloft or HubSpot often buy ZoomInfo for the data alone and push it into those systems.
Intent data only pays if someone acts on it. Both tools sell intent data: signals that an account is researching a topic. A signal that lands in a dashboard nobody opens is wasted. Before you pay extra for intent, name the person who will turn this week’s signals into this week’s outreach. Our AI BDR guide covers how that weekly loop works.
Which should you choose?
Choose Apollo if:
- You have fewer than about ten sellers, or the founder still sells.
- Most outbound is email and LinkedIn, with some calling.
- You want to start this week, with no annual contract.
- You do not yet have a CRM admin to keep a second data system clean.
Choose ZoomInfo if:
- Your team makes a lot of calls and needs direct dials and mobile numbers.
- You sell mostly into US mid-market and enterprise accounts.
- You already run sequences in Outreach, Salesloft or HubSpot and want a data layer.
- You have budget for an annual contract and someone who will act on intent signals every week.
Consider neither, for now, if you have not defined your ideal customer profile. More contacts on a vague list produce more unanswered emails, whichever tool you buy. Fix the targeting first.
Where Growigami fits
We do not resell either tool. Our ABM and outbound service runs on the data tool you already pay for: each week we research the target accounts, write a message for each contact, review the drafts before anything is sent, and route replies to your sellers the same day. If you are choosing a tool now, run the 200-account test above first. It takes an afternoon and costs nothing but trial credits.
Frequently asked
Is Apollo cheaper than ZoomInfo?
Yes, for most teams. Apollo publishes its prices: a free plan, Basic at $49 and Professional at $79 per seat per month billed annually. ZoomInfo does not publish prices. Vendr's data from 1,577 ZoomInfo purchases puts the median at $33,500 a year, with deals from about $7,000 to over $150,000.
Which has more data, Apollo or ZoomInfo?
By their own counts, ZoomInfo. ZoomInfo says it has 500M+ professional profiles, 122M+ company records and 135M+ direct dial numbers. Apollo says 240M contacts and 30M companies. Both are vendor claims, so test both on a sample of your own target accounts before you sign.
Is ZoomInfo worth it?
It is worth it when your team makes a lot of phone calls, sells mainly into US mid-market and enterprise accounts, and has someone who will act on intent signals every week. For a small team that mostly emails, the contract is hard to earn back, and Apollo covers the same job for a fraction of the cost.
What was ZoomInfo called before?
DiscoverOrg. In February 2019 DiscoverOrg acquired its competitor Zoom Information and rebranded as ZoomInfo. In May 2025 the company changed its Nasdaq ticker from ZI to GTM.
What was the ZoomInfo lawsuit about?
Class actions in Illinois and California claimed ZoomInfo used residents' names on public webpages to promote its paid service. In February 2024 the company proposed settling them for an estimated $26 million to $29 million, according to The Columbian.
Can we use Apollo and ZoomInfo together?
Some teams do, using ZoomInfo for enterprise accounts and phone numbers and Apollo for sequencing and smaller accounts. It doubles the tool cost and splits your data across two systems, so only do it if you have someone keeping both in sync with your CRM.
