Side-by-side comparison · Sales & Customer Support
Apollo.io vs Outreach vs Retell AI
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: Sales teams at growing and larger companies that want sequences, calls, deals and forecasting in one platform.
Pick it if: Service businesses and agencies that want an AI receptionist or phone agent without hiring developers.
Overview
| Attribute | Apollo.io | Outreach | Retell AI |
|---|---|---|---|
| In one line | B2B contact database with emails and phone numbers, plus sequences to reach them. | Sales engagement platform for sequences, calls, deals and forecasting, with AI agents. | AI phone agents that answer calls, book appointments and make outbound calls. |
| Pricing model | Freemium | Paid | Paid |
| Starting price | $49/seat/mo | See website | About $0.07–$0.31/min |
| 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 | Outreach | Retell AI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 4.0 | 3.7 | 4.1Winner |
| Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it. | 4.5 | 3.5 | 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 | 4.5 |
| Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan. | 4.0 | 3.0 | 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 | Outreach | Retell AI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access & platform | |||
| Free plan | Yes | No | No |
| Mobile app | Yes | Yes | – |
| Desktop app | – | – | – |
| Browser extension | Yes | Yes | – |
| 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 | No | No |
| AI abilities | |||
| Works with your files | – | – | Yes |
| Understands images | – | – | – |
| Makes images | No | No | No |
| Makes video | No | No | No |
| Writes code | – | – | – |
| Runs agents or automations | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Learns your brand or style | – | – | – |
| Works in many languages | – | – | 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 | Outreach | Retell AI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plans | Free Free Founders testing outbound. | Amplify Essentials Custom Teams wanting call insights and coaching first. | Pay as you goOur pick About $0.07–$0.31/min Most small businesses and agencies. |
Basic $49/seat/mo billed yearly Individual sellers doing regular outbound. | Amplify CoreOur pick Custom Teams building pipeline with outbound sequences. | Enterprise Custom High call volumes and compliance needs. | |
ProfessionalOur pick $79/seat/mo billed yearly Full-time reps. | Amplify Plus Custom Teams wanting outbound, calls and deal management together. | ||
Organization $119/seat/mo billed yearly (min 3 seats) Sales teams wanting advanced controls. | Amplify Pro Custom Larger sales orgs that forecast in Outreach. | ||
| 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. | Most teams buying for outbound should start at Core. Only move up to Plus or Pro if you will actually run deals and forecasts in Outreach rather than your CRM. | Start on pay as you go with the free credits, build one agent for your most common call and test it on your own phone. Talk to sales only once you run thousands of minutes a month. |
Key features
| Attribute | Apollo.io | Outreach | Retell AI |
|---|---|---|---|
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Pros and cons
| Attribute | Apollo.io | Outreach | Retell AI |
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Who each one is for
| Attribute | Apollo.io | Outreach | Retell AI |
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Questions people ask
Which is better, Apollo.io, Outreach or Retell AI?
Retell AI scores highest overall in our ratings (Apollo.io 4.0/5, Outreach 3.7/5 and Retell AI 4.1/5). Apollo.io is best for finding business emails and phone numbers and Building B2B lead lists. Outreach is best for running outbound sequences across a sales team and daily task lists for reps. Retell AI is best for AI receptionist for a small business and booking appointments by phone.
Which is cheaper, Apollo.io, Outreach or Retell AI?
Apollo.io: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $49/seat/mo. Outreach: Pricing isn't published; check the vendor's site for a quote. Retell AI: There's no free plan. Paid plans start at About $0.07–$0.31/min.
Which is easier to use, Apollo.io, Outreach or Retell AI?
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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