Side-by-side comparison · Sales & Customer Support
Apollo.io vs Salesforce Agentforce 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: Mid-size and larger businesses already on Salesforce that want AI agents handling customer questions and routine sales work.
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 | Salesforce Agentforce | Sierra |
|---|---|---|---|
| In one line | B2B contact database with emails and phone numbers, plus sequences to reach them. | Salesforce's AI agents that answer customers and help sales reps inside Salesforce CRM. | 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 | $500 per 100 | See website |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | 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 | Salesforce Agentforce | Sierra |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 4.0Winner | 3.3 | 3.9 |
| Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it. | 4.5 | 2.5 | 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 | 3.5 | 4.5 |
| Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan. | 4.0 | 2.5 | 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 | Salesforce Agentforce | Sierra |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access & platform | |||
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | No |
| Mobile app | Yes | Yes | – |
| Desktop app | – | – | – |
| Browser extension | 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 | 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 | Yes |
| Works in many languages | – | Yes | Yes |
| Capabilities score | 8/ 17 | 10/ 17 | 7/ 17 |
Pricing
Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.
| Attribute | Apollo.io | Salesforce Agentforce | Sierra |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plans | Free Free Founders testing outbound. | Salesforce Foundations Free Existing Salesforce customers who want to try agents. | EnterpriseOur pick Custom Large companies with high conversation volumes. |
Basic $49/seat/mo billed yearly Individual sellers doing regular outbound. | Flex CreditsOur pick $500 per 100,000 credits Businesses paying per action an agent takes. | ||
ProfessionalOur pick $79/seat/mo billed yearly Full-time reps. | Conversations $2 per conversation Customer-facing agents where you want a simple per-chat price. | ||
Organization $119/seat/mo billed yearly (min 3 seats) Sales teams wanting advanced controls. | Agentforce add-ons From $125/user/mo Teams wanting AI help for every rep or agent seat. | ||
Agentforce 1 editions From $550/user/mo Large Salesforce customers buying the full bundle. | |||
| 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 with the free Foundations tier to prove one agent works, then move to Flex Credits so you pay only for what agents actually do. Per-user add-ons and Agentforce 1 editions are for large teams that have already proven the value. | 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 | Salesforce Agentforce | Sierra |
|---|---|---|---|
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Pros and cons
| Attribute | Apollo.io | Salesforce Agentforce | Sierra |
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Who each one is for
| Attribute | Apollo.io | Salesforce Agentforce | Sierra |
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Questions people ask
Which is better, Apollo.io, Salesforce Agentforce or Sierra?
Apollo.io scores highest overall in our ratings (Apollo.io 4.0/5, Salesforce Agentforce 3.3/5 and Sierra 3.9/5). Apollo.io is best for finding business emails and phone numbers and Building B2B lead lists. Salesforce Agentforce is best for salesforce customers adding AI to support and answering common customer questions 24/7. Sierra is best for high-volume customer service at large brands and AI phone agents that take real actions.
Which is cheaper, Apollo.io, Salesforce Agentforce or Sierra?
Apollo.io: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $49/seat/mo. Salesforce Agentforce: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $500 per 100. Sierra: Pricing isn't published; check the vendor's site for a quote.
Which is easier to use, Apollo.io, Salesforce Agentforce 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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