Side-by-side comparison · Sales & Customer Support
Apollo.io vs Bland AI vs Close
Everything that matters when choosing between them, in one place: our rating, what each can do, what they cost, and the trade-offs.
Comparing 3 tools, the maximum.
At a glance
Pick it if: Founders, small sales teams and marketers who need to find B2B contacts and email them.
Pick it if: Businesses and developers who want AI agents answering or making phone calls at volume, with one simple per-minute price.
Pick it if: Small sales teams and solo sellers who call and email a lot of leads and want it all in one tool.
Overview
| Attribute | Apollo.io | Bland AI | Close |
|---|---|---|---|
| In one line | B2B contact database with emails and phone numbers, plus sequences to reach them. | AI phone agents that answer and make calls for your business, priced per minute. | Sales CRM with calling, texting and email built in, plus an AI agent that calls leads. |
| Pricing model | Freemium | Paid | Paid |
| Starting price | $49/seat/mo | $0.14/min | $9/user/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | No | No |
| Works with Claude Code | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Rating breakdown
Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.
| Attribute | Apollo.io | Bland AI | Close |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 4.0 | 3.8 | 4.1Winner |
| Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it. | 4.5 | 3.0 | 4.0 |
| FeaturesHow completely it covers its own job, and how well the pieces fit together. | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 |
| Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them. | 3.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan. | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over. | 4.0 | 3.5 | 4.0 |
Feature comparison
A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.
| Attribute | Apollo.io | Bland AI | Close |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access & platform | |||
| Free plan | Yes | No | No |
| Mobile app | Yes | No | Yes |
| Desktop app | – | No | Yes |
| Browser extension | Yes | No | No |
| API access | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Teams & business | |||
| Team workspace | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Enterprise plan or SSO | Yes | Yes | No |
| Connects to other apps | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Open source or self-hosted | No | Yes | No |
| AI abilities | |||
| Works with your files | – | Yes | Yes |
| Understands images | – | – | – |
| Makes images | No | No | No |
| Makes video | No | No | No |
| Writes code | – | No | No |
| Runs agents or automations | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Learns your brand or style | – | No | No |
| Works in many languages | – | Yes | No |
| Capabilities score | 8/ 17 | 8/ 17 | 7/ 17 |
Pricing
Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.
| Attribute | Apollo.io | Bland AI | Close |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plans | Free Free Founders testing outbound. | StartOur pick $0.14/min, no monthly fee Developers and small teams testing a phone agent. | Solo $9/user/mo billed yearly, or $19 monthly One person selling on their own. |
Basic $49/seat/mo billed yearly Individual sellers doing regular outbound. | Build $299/mo plus $0.12/min Teams running agents on real call volume. | Essentials $35/user/mo billed yearly, or $49 monthly Small teams sharing leads. | |
ProfessionalOur pick $79/seat/mo billed yearly Full-time reps. | Enterprise Custom Large or regulated businesses. | GrowthOur pick $99/user/mo billed yearly, or $109 monthly Teams that want follow-ups and AI on autopilot. | |
Organization $119/seat/mo billed yearly (min 3 seats) Sales teams wanting advanced controls. | Scale $139/user/mo billed yearly, or $149 monthly High-volume calling teams. | ||
| Which plan to pick | Start on Free to check the data covers your market. Basic suits one person prospecting; Professional is worth it if you also call prospects or want AI scoring. Monthly billing costs noticeably more than the yearly prices shown. | Start pay as you go: there's no monthly fee and you get free credits to test. Move to Build only when you're making enough calls that the lower per-minute rate covers the $299 fee, which is roughly 15,000 minutes a month. | Take the 14-day trial, which needs no card. Solo is a bargain if you sell alone and follow up by hand. Growth is where Close earns its price, because that's where automated follow-ups, the power dialer and Chloe in workflows start. Budget a little extra each month for call minutes. |
Key features
| Attribute | Apollo.io | Bland AI | Close |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standout features |
|
|
|
Pros and cons
| Attribute | Apollo.io | Bland AI | Close |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pros |
|
|
|
| Cons |
|
|
|
Who each one is for
| Attribute | Apollo.io | Bland AI | Close |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best for |
|
|
|
| You'll find it used by |
|
|
|
Questions people ask
Which is better, Apollo.io, Bland AI or Close?
Close scores highest overall in our ratings (Apollo.io 4.0/5, Bland AI 3.8/5 and Close 4.1/5). Apollo.io is best for finding business emails and phone numbers and Building B2B lead lists. Bland AI is best for answering inbound calls with an AI receptionist and outbound calls to qualify leads or confirm appointments. Close is best for calling and texting leads straight from the CRM and following up leads automatically by email and text.
Which is cheaper, Apollo.io, Bland AI or Close?
Apollo.io: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $49/seat/mo. Bland AI: There's no free plan. Paid plans start at $0.14/min. Close: There's no free plan. Paid plans start at $9/user/mo.
Which is easier to use, Apollo.io, Bland AI or Close?
Apollo.io rates highest for ease of use in our scores. Founders, small sales teams and marketers who need to find B2B contacts and email them.
How we compare
Ratings are our own, from using each tool, across ease of use, features, output quality, value for money, speed & reliability.
Swap in another tool
More tools from Sales & Customer Support in the library.
