Side-by-side comparison · Sales & Customer Support
Apollo.io vs Close vs lemlist
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: Small sales teams and solo sellers who call and email a lot of leads and want it all in one tool.
Pick it if: Founders, agencies and sales reps who reach prospects on email and LinkedIn and want each message to feel personal.
Overview
| Attribute | Apollo.io | Close | lemlist |
|---|---|---|---|
| In one line | B2B contact database with emails and phone numbers, plus sequences to reach them. | Sales CRM with calling, texting and email built in, plus an AI agent that calls leads. | Personalised cold outreach by email, LinkedIn, calls and WhatsApp in one sequence. |
| Pricing model | Freemium | Paid | Paid |
| Starting price | $49/seat/mo | $9/user/mo | From $69/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 | Close | lemlist |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 4.0 | 4.1Winner | 3.7 |
| Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it. | 4.5 | 4.0 | 3.5 |
| 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 | 3.5 |
| Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan. | 4.0 | 4.0 | 3.5 |
| Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over. | 4.0 | 4.0 | 3.5 |
Feature comparison
A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.
| Attribute | Apollo.io | Close | lemlist |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access & platform | |||
| Free plan | Yes | No | No |
| Mobile app | Yes | Yes | No |
| Desktop app | – | Yes | – |
| Browser extension | Yes | No | Yes |
| API access | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Teams & business | |||
| Team workspace | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Enterprise plan or SSO | Yes | No | Yes |
| Connects to other apps | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Open source or self-hosted | No | No | No |
| AI abilities | |||
| Works with your files | – | Yes | – |
| Understands images | – | – | – |
| Makes images | No | No | – |
| Makes video | No | No | No |
| Writes code | – | No | No |
| Runs agents or automations | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Learns your brand or style | – | No | – |
| Works in many languages | – | No | Yes |
| Capabilities score | 8/ 17 | 7/ 17 | 7/ 17 |
Pricing
Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.
| Attribute | Apollo.io | Close | lemlist |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plans | Free Free Founders testing outbound. | Solo $9/user/mo billed yearly, or $19 monthly One person selling on their own. | From $69/mo, or $55/mo billed yearly Teams doing email-only outreach. |
Basic $49/seat/mo billed yearly Individual sellers doing regular outbound. | Essentials $35/user/mo billed yearly, or $49 monthly Small teams sharing leads. | MultichannelOur pick $109/user/mo, or $87/user/mo billed yearly Reps who reach prospects on LinkedIn and by phone too. | |
ProfessionalOur pick $79/seat/mo billed yearly Full-time reps. | GrowthOur pick $99/user/mo billed yearly, or $109 monthly Teams that want follow-ups and AI on autopilot. | Enterprise Custom Larger teams with security and compliance needs. | |
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. | 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. | If you only send email, the Email plan is fine, but compare it with Instantly first. Pick Multichannel if LinkedIn or calls are part of how you sell, since that's what lemlist does best. Add the data add-on ($16 a month billed yearly for 2,000 credits) if you need to find emails and phone numbers. The 14-day trial includes Multichannel features and 200 credits. |
Key features
| Attribute | Apollo.io | Close | lemlist |
|---|---|---|---|
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Pros and cons
| Attribute | Apollo.io | Close | lemlist |
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Who each one is for
| Attribute | Apollo.io | Close | lemlist |
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Questions people ask
Which is better, Apollo.io, Close or lemlist?
Close scores highest overall in our ratings (Apollo.io 4.0/5, Close 4.1/5 and lemlist 3.7/5). Apollo.io is best for finding business emails and phone numbers and Building B2B lead lists. Close is best for calling and texting leads straight from the CRM and following up leads automatically by email and text. lemlist is best for sequences that mix email, LinkedIn and calls and personalised cold email with custom images and first lines.
Which is cheaper, Apollo.io, Close or lemlist?
Apollo.io: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $49/seat/mo. Close: There's no free plan. Paid plans start at $9/user/mo. lemlist: There's no free plan. Paid plans start at From $69/mo.
Which is easier to use, Apollo.io, Close or lemlist?
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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