Side-by-side comparison · Sales & Customer Support
Apollo.io vs Bland AI vs Intercom
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: Online businesses and software companies with a support team that wants an AI agent to take the first pass at every question.
Overview
| Attribute | Apollo.io | Bland AI | Intercom |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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. | Customer support inbox, help centre and chat, with the Fin AI agent answering first. |
| Pricing model | Freemium | Paid | Paid |
| Starting price | $49/seat/mo | $0.14/min | $0.99 per outcome |
| 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 | Intercom |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 4.0 | 3.8 | 4.2Winner |
| 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 | 5.0 |
| Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them. | 3.0 | 4.0 | 4.5 |
| Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan. | 4.0 | 4.0 | 3.0 |
| Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over. | 4.0 | 3.5 | 4.5 |
Feature comparison
A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.
| Attribute | Apollo.io | Bland AI | Intercom |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access & platform | |||
| Free plan | Yes | No | No |
| Mobile app | Yes | No | Yes |
| Desktop app | – | No | – |
| Browser extension | Yes | No | – |
| API access | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Teams & business | |||
| Team workspace | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Enterprise plan or SSO | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 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 | – | – | Yes |
| 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 | Yes |
| Works in many languages | – | Yes | Yes |
| Capabilities score | 8/ 17 | 8/ 17 | 10/ 17 |
Pricing
Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.
| Attribute | Apollo.io | Bland AI | Intercom |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plans | Free Free Founders testing outbound. | StartOur pick $0.14/min, no monthly fee Developers and small teams testing a phone agent. | Fin on its own $0.99 per outcome, monthly minimum Teams happy with their current helpdesk who want the AI agent only. |
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. | Essential $29/seat/mo, plus $0.99 per Fin outcome Small teams starting out with live chat and an AI agent. | |
ProfessionalOur pick $79/seat/mo billed yearly Full-time reps. | Enterprise Custom Large or regulated businesses. | AdvancedOur pick $85/seat/mo, plus $0.99 per Fin outcome Growing support teams that need automation and several inboxes. | |
Organization $119/seat/mo billed yearly (min 3 seats) Sales teams wanting advanced controls. | Expert $132/seat/mo, plus $0.99 per Fin outcome Larger teams with security and multi-brand needs. | ||
| 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. | Start the 14-day trial and see how many conversations Fin handles, because that number drives the bill more than seats do. Most teams with more than a couple of agents end up on Advanced for the workflows. If you already run Zendesk or Salesforce and like it, try Fin on its own first. |
Key features
| Attribute | Apollo.io | Bland AI | Intercom |
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Pros and cons
| Attribute | Apollo.io | Bland AI | Intercom |
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Who each one is for
| Attribute | Apollo.io | Bland AI | Intercom |
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Questions people ask
Which is better, Apollo.io, Bland AI or Intercom?
Intercom scores highest overall in our ratings (Apollo.io 4.0/5, Bland AI 3.8/5 and Intercom 4.2/5). 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. Intercom is best for answering common customer questions automatically and website and in-app live chat.
Which is cheaper, Apollo.io, Bland AI or Intercom?
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. Intercom: There's no free plan. Paid plans start at $0.99 per outcome.
Which is easier to use, Apollo.io, Bland AI or Intercom?
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.
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