Apollo.io vs Common Room

Apollo.io is a sales intelligence and engagement platform from San Francisco that combines a B2B database of more than 270 million contacts and tens of millions of companies with the tools to reach them. Many startups use it as their prospecting data source, outbound tool and, at first, a lightweight CRM, all in one subscription.

Prospecting starts with filters for title, seniority, industry, headcount, technologies, funding and buying intent, and a Chrome extension surfaces emails and phone numbers on LinkedIn and company websites. Contacts flow into sequences that mix automated emails, call tasks and LinkedIn steps, with a built-in dialer, call recording, meeting scheduler, enrichment of existing CRM records and AI that researches accounts and drafts personalized messages. Usage runs on credits for emails, mobile numbers and exports. The free plan is unusually generous for a data vendor, and paid plans are priced per user per month, rising through Basic and Professional tiers to a Custom plan for larger teams.

Apollo fits startups, SMB sales teams and founders doing outbound who need data and sequencing at a fraction of ZoomInfo's price. Email accuracy is generally good, mobile numbers are weaker, and teams must manage sending limits and domain health to protect deliverability. ZoomInfo offers deeper enterprise data, Clay is better for multi-source enrichment and research workflows, and Instantly or lemlist focus on outreach volume and personalization. Coverage of Turkish companies exists but is thinner than for the US and Western Europe.

Common Room is a buyer intelligence platform founded in Seattle in 2020 by CEO Linda Lian and three co-founders. It started as a community analytics tool for developer and open-source companies, tracking members across Slack, Discord and GitHub, and has since become a go-to-market signal platform that tells sales and marketing teams which people and accounts are showing buying intent.

It collects signals from website visits, product usage, CRM records, community activity, GitHub, social channels and third-party intent data such as Bombora, then resolves them to real people and companies with Person360 identity resolution and a 400M+ contact directory. RoomieAI agents research accounts, write personalized messages and score prospects, while Prospector finds new contacts and DataAgent cleans CRM data. Plans are annual: Essential is listed at $2,500 per month with 5 seats, and larger tiers are quoted.

It suits B2B companies, especially product-led and developer-focused ones, that have plenty of anonymous or community activity but no way to route it to reps. It is expensive for early-stage startups and has no self-serve tier. Clay is more flexible for enrichment workflows, Apollo is cheaper for a contact database plus sequencing, and Khoros targets brand community management rather than sales.

On July 2, 2026 Zoom announced it would acquire Common Room and fold its signals and RoomieAI agents into Zoom Revenue Accelerator. Buyers should ask how roadmap and packaging will change after the integration before signing a multi-year deal.