Side-by-side comparison · Sales & Customer Support
Apollo.io vs Outreach vs Sierra
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: Large consumer brands that want an AI agent to handle a big share of their customer conversations end to end.
Overview
| Attribute | Apollo.io | Outreach | Sierra |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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. | Builds and runs AI customer service agents for big brands, across chat, email and phone. |
| Pricing model | Freemium | Paid | Paid |
| Starting price | $49/seat/mo | See website | See website |
| Free plan | Yes | No | No |
| Works with Claude Code | Yes | Yes | No |
Rating breakdown
Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.
| Attribute | Apollo.io | Outreach | Sierra |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 4.0Winner | 3.7 | 3.9 |
| Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it. | 4.5 | 3.5 | 3.0 |
| 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 | 4.5 |
| Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan. | 4.0 | 3.0 | 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 | Outreach | Sierra |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access & platform | |||
| Free plan | Yes | No | No |
| Mobile app | Yes | Yes | – |
| Desktop app | – | – | – |
| Browser extension | Yes | Yes | – |
| API access | 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 | – | – | Yes |
| 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 | Sierra |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plans | Free Free Founders testing outbound. | Amplify Essentials Custom Teams wanting call insights and coaching first. | EnterpriseOur pick Custom Large companies with high conversation volumes. |
Basic $49/seat/mo billed yearly Individual sellers doing regular outbound. | Amplify CoreOur pick Custom Teams building pipeline with outbound sequences. | ||
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. | There is one route: talk to Sierra's sales team. Agree clearly what counts as an outcome you pay for, and what setup and services cost, before you sign. |
Key features
| Attribute | Apollo.io | Outreach | Sierra |
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Pros and cons
| Attribute | Apollo.io | Outreach | Sierra |
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Who each one is for
| Attribute | Apollo.io | Outreach | Sierra |
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Questions people ask
Which is better, Apollo.io, Outreach or Sierra?
Apollo.io scores highest overall in our ratings (Apollo.io 4.0/5, Outreach 3.7/5 and Sierra 3.9/5). 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. Sierra is best for high-volume customer service at large brands and AI phone agents that take real actions.
Which is cheaper, Apollo.io, Outreach or Sierra?
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. Sierra: Pricing isn't published; check the vendor's site for a quote.
Which is easier to use, Apollo.io, Outreach or Sierra?
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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