Apollo.io vs Salesloft

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.

Salesloft is a sales engagement and revenue orchestration platform founded in Atlanta in 2011 and acquired by Vista Equity Partners in 2021. It helps sales development reps and account executives run multichannel outreach, manage deals and forecast revenue from one workspace that sits on top of Salesforce, HubSpot or Microsoft Dynamics.

Cadences sequence emails, calls, LinkedIn steps and tasks; the dialer and conversation intelligence record, transcribe and analyse calls for coaching; deals and forecasting modules give managers pipeline visibility; and Rhythm, its AI engine, prioritises the next best actions for each seller. Salesloft acquired the conversational marketing company Drift in 2024, adding website chat and buyer engagement, and in December 2025 it completed a merger with Clari, the revenue forecasting platform. Pricing is quote-based, per user, on annual contracts with packages for prospecting, deal management and forecasting.

Salesloft fits mid-market and enterprise sales teams that want structured outreach, coaching and forecasting tightly connected to their CRM. It is expensive, requires implementation and admin time, and is more than small teams need. In August 2025, stolen OAuth tokens from the Salesloft Drift integration were used to access Salesforce data at many customer organisations, so security reviews of connected apps deserve attention. Outreach is the closest rival, Apollo is cheaper and includes a contact database, and HubSpot Sales Hub suits teams already on HubSpot.