A phenomenal database. Someone still has to work it.
Apollo is how a lot of good lists get built. The gap is what happens in the next 72 hours: who calls, who writes, who texts, who follows up when your office is dark.
250 leads worked across calls, email and SMS, with booking included. Public ladder, monthly billing, $8.00 per worked lead and extras at the same rate.
Credit-based, with a free tier. Data credits plus per-seat access. Credits are the line item people underestimate. Check apollo.io for the current tiers.
What Apollo.io gets right
- Large B2B graph
- Low entry price for data
- Chrome extension and LinkedIn-adjacent workflow
- A fine engage layer for a human team
Where it breaks for you
- Data quality varies
- Credits surprise people
- Not a caller that carries the deal
- Not SMS
- Not through-close
What each product actually does.
| Feature | AI Sales Console | Apollo.io |
|---|---|---|
| AI Voice Calls Their dialer assists a human; Alex places the call | AI Sales Console: Yes | Apollo.io: No |
| Email Sequences Both send. We work a few hundred leads deeply instead of blasting | AI Sales Console: Yes | Apollo.io: Yes |
| SMS/Text Zara texts the same lead Alex called | AI Sales Console: Yes | Apollo.io: No |
| Feature | AI Sales Console | Apollo.io |
|---|---|---|
| Works the lead for you We place the calls and send the mail; you approve the campaign | AI Sales Console: Yes | Apollo.io: No |
| Meeting Scheduling | AI Sales Console: Yes | Apollo.io: Partial |
| Carries on past the meeting | AI Sales Console: Yes | Apollo.io: Partial |
| Lead Qualification | AI Sales Console: Yes | Apollo.io: No |
| Feature | AI Sales Console | Apollo.io |
|---|---|---|
| Contact Database Their graph is the product. We do not sell a contact universe - you bring the list. | AI Sales Console: No | Apollo.io: Superior |
| Data Enrichment Sage enriches the lead you already handed us | AI Sales Console: Yes | Apollo.io: Yes |
| Earned Autonomy Independence earned from your approve / edit / reject record | AI Sales Console: Yes | Apollo.io: No |
| Works with an Apollo export Upload or sync the list - integration, not replacement | AI Sales Console: Yes | Apollo.io: Yes |
| Feature | AI Sales Console | Apollo.io |
|---|---|---|
| Calls Per Day Up to 500+ calls/day of capacity, not a promised connect rate | AI Sales Console: Yes | Apollo.io: No |
| Works nights and weekends Inside quiet-hours and DNC rules on your consented list | AI Sales Console: Yes | Apollo.io: No |
| Multi-timezone | AI Sales Console: Yes | Apollo.io: Partial |
| Speed to lead Under 60 seconds on an inbound reply | AI Sales Console: Yes | Apollo.io: No |
The honest verdict.
You need affordable prospecting data and a place for humans to click sequence. That is a real job.
You already have a list (Apollo export, CRM, CSV) and need it worked: researched, called, emailed, texted, followed up, carried toward close. Team $1,999/mo for 250 leads worked. Keep Apollo as the source - we do not need you to rip out the database.
Longer read: Apollo Alternative for Working the List, Not Buying It
Put this on your leads
Your first 30 days run on your own pipeline, and the team is live in 72 hours - see it work your own pipeline before you pay.
Put this on your leads