Instantly vs Apollo: The Real Comparison for Cold Email Outreach

Let's cut to the chase: Instantly and Apollo are both solid tools, but they solve different problems. Instantly is built for high-volume email sending with obsessive focus on deliverability. Apollo is an all-in-one sales platform with a massive lead database and multichannel engagement tools.

If you already have leads and need to blast cold emails at scale without landing in spam, Instantly is your tool. If you need to find leads AND reach out to them, Apollo makes more sense.

Here's the detailed breakdown to help you decide.

Quick Comparison: Instantly vs Apollo

Pricing: The Real Numbers

Instantly Pricing

Instantly uses a flat-fee model, which is great for agencies and teams. You're not paying per user—you're paying for features and volume.

Sending & Warmup Plans:

• Growth: $37/month – Unlimited email accounts, unlimited warmup, 1,000 uploaded contacts, 5,000 emails/month
• Hypergrowth: $97/month – Everything in Growth plus 25,000 contacts, 100,000 emails/month, A/B testing, API access, team features
• Light Speed: $358/month – 500,000 emails/month, 100,000 contacts, dedicated deliverability infrastructure

Lead Database (separate subscription):

• Growth Leads: $47/month – 1,000 verified leads/month
• Supersonic Leads: $97/month – More leads and filters
• Hyperleads: $197/month – 10,000 leads/month
• Light Speed: $492/month – 25,000 leads/month

The catch: Instantly splits sending and lead-finding into separate subscriptions. If you want both, you're paying for two products.

Apollo Pricing

Apollo charges per user, which adds up fast for teams:

• Free: $0 – 50 credits/month, basic filters, 250 emails/day limit
• Basic: $49/user/month ($39 if annual) – 5,000 credits, advanced filters, email tracking
• Professional: $99/user/month ($79 if annual) – 10,000 credits, A/B testing, call recordings, advanced analytics
• Organization: $149/user/month ($119 if annual) – 15,000 credits, international dialer, SSO, custom reports (3-user minimum)

The credit system is where Apollo gets tricky. Credits are consumed when you reveal contact info, export data, or access mobile numbers. Mobile numbers cost 8 credits each. Once you burn through your allocation, additional credits cost $0.20 each with a minimum purchase of 250.

Credits don't roll over. Use them or lose them at the end of each billing cycle.

Lead Database: Who Has Better Data?

Apollo wins on raw database size with 275M+ contacts compared to Instantly's 160M+. But size isn't everything.

Apollo's Database Strengths

• 275M+ contacts across 73M companies
• 65+ filters including buyer intent, technographics, funding data
• Chrome extension pulls data from LinkedIn and company websites
• 91% claimed email accuracy rate
• Seven-step email verification process

Apollo's filters are genuinely powerful. You can search by things like recent funding rounds, tech stack, headcount growth, and buyer intent signals. For prospecting, it's hard to beat.

The downside? Users consistently report data accuracy issues, especially in European markets. Expect some cleanup work.

Instantly's Database

• 160M+ verified contacts (growing)
• AI search and lookalike domain features
• "Only pay for verified leads" model
• Waterfall enrichment for better accuracy

Instantly's lead finder is newer and smaller, but they only charge you for verified leads. The database is growing, but if you need extensive prospecting filters, Apollo has the edge.

Email Deliverability: Instantly's Big Advantage

This is where Instantly crushes it. If your emails don't reach inboxes, nothing else matters.

Instantly's Deliverability Features

• Unlimited email warmup included on all plans
• 4.2M+ account warmup network for realistic engagement patterns
• Deliverability dashboard showing inbox vs. spam rates in real-time
• Slow ramp feature to protect domain reputation
• BounceProtect and AI spam word checker
• SISR (Server & IP Sharding & Rotation) for inbox placement at scale

Instantly's warmup system sends automated conversations between your accounts and their network, generating real opens and replies to build sender reputation. It's one of the best in the business.

Apollo's Deliverability

Apollo offers an "inbox ramp-up" feature, but it's not a true warmup tool. It gradually increases your sending volume, but doesn't simulate the engagement that builds real reputation.

Apollo users often need to bring in a third-party warmup tool or use Instantly alongside Apollo for sending—yes, some teams use both.

If deliverability is your main concern, Instantly wins hands down.

Campaign Features & Automation

Instantly's Campaign Tools

• Visual sequence builder
• Unlimited A/B testing variants
• AI email writer and spam word checker
• Unibox for centralized reply management
• Custom tracking domains
• AI sentiment analysis on replies

Instantly keeps it simple: build sequences, send emails, track results. The Unibox is particularly useful if you're running multiple sending accounts—you can manage all replies from one dashboard.

Apollo's Campaign Tools

• Email sequences with tasks and reminders
• Built-in dialer (Professional plan and up)
• LinkedIn tasks integration
• AI email assistant (word limits by plan)
• Conversation intelligence and call recordings

Apollo sequences are more robust for multichannel outreach. You can mix emails with call tasks and LinkedIn actions in one workflow. But the sequences themselves are fairly linear—don't expect advanced conditional branching.

CRM & Integrations

Apollo includes a full CRM, which is a legitimate differentiator. You can manage your entire pipeline without another tool.

Instantly has a basic native CRM (separate subscription), but most users integrate with their existing CRM via Zapier or native connections to HubSpot, Pipedrive, and Salesforce.

Both integrate with major platforms, but Apollo's native CRM features—lead scoring, deal tracking, team management—give it an edge for sales teams that want everything in one place.

Who Should Use Instantly?

Instantly is the better choice if:

• You're an agency managing multiple client campaigns. The unlimited email accounts on a flat fee is huge for margins.
• You already have leads from another source and need to send at scale.
• Deliverability is your main problem. Instantly's warmup and infrastructure are best-in-class.
• You want simple pricing without per-user costs eating your budget.
• You're sending high volume (100k+ emails/month) and need the infrastructure to support it.

Check out our Instantly pricing breakdown for more details on their plans.

Who Should Use Apollo?

Apollo makes more sense if:

• You need to find leads AND reach out. Apollo's database and prospecting tools are significantly better.
• You want multichannel outreach—email, phone, and LinkedIn in one workflow.
• You're a sales team that needs a CRM and doesn't want to pay for multiple tools.
• You use intent data to prioritize prospects who are actively researching solutions.
• You need advanced filtering like technographics, funding data, and job postings.

Apollo's free plan is genuinely useful for testing. You get database access and can run basic campaigns to see if it fits your workflow.

The Hybrid Approach: Use Both

Here's what smart teams actually do: use Apollo to find and enrich leads, then export them to Instantly for sending.

Apollo's data + Instantly's deliverability = better results than either tool alone.

Yes, it costs more. But if cold email is a serious revenue channel, the combination outperforms using just one tool.

What About Alternatives?

If neither tool feels right, consider these:

• Smartlead – Similar to Instantly with strong deliverability focus and agency features. Slightly different pricing model.
• Lemlist – Great for personalization-heavy campaigns with image and video personalization.
• Reply.io – Multichannel outreach with better LinkedIn automation than Apollo.
• Clay – If you need advanced data enrichment and custom workflows, Clay is unmatched (but more expensive).

For a deeper look at email tools, check out our guide on email marketing for small business.

The Bottom Line

Choose Instantly if you need high-volume email sending with rock-solid deliverability and simple flat-rate pricing. It's the go-to for agencies and teams who prioritize getting emails into inboxes.

Choose Apollo if you need an all-in-one platform with a massive lead database, multichannel outreach, and built-in CRM. The per-user pricing and credit system require careful management, but you get a lot of functionality in one tool.

For most cold email-focused teams, Instantly is the better starting point. You can always layer Apollo on top for prospecting once you've nailed your deliverability.

Try Instantly free for 14 days →