Apollo vs Lusha: Which B2B Data Tool Fits Your Team in 2026?

For most outbound teams, Apollo is the better buy: it pairs a large B2B database with filters, saved searches, multichannel sequences and a dialer at published per-seat prices. Lusha is the stronger pick when your reps mainly need fast contact lookups (especially phone numbers) inside LinkedIn and the CRM, plus weekly buying signals, without moving their whole workflow into a new platform.

Nerdy Joe is a certified Apollo.io Managed Services Partner, which means Apollo has certified us to set up and run Apollo for clients. We have tried to be fair to Lusha here, and we call out where it wins.

Quick verdict

Some tool links here are affiliate links (disclosure).

What each tool is

Apollo in one paragraph

Apollo is a go-to-market platform built around a searchable contact and company database. You filter for your ideal customers, reveal emails and phone numbers with credits, save them to lists, and work them through sequences that mix automatic emails, manual emails, calls and LinkedIn tasks. It also includes a dialer, meetings, CRM sync and AI research.

Our full Apollo.io review covers every feature and plan in depth.

Lusha in one paragraph

Lusha started as a contact lookup tool and is best known for its Chrome extension, which reveals emails and phone numbers on professional networks and company sites. Its platform now adds prospecting search, 26 weekly buying signals (job changes, funding, hiring surges and leadership moves), lead scoring, website visitor identification and a built-in email sequencer called Lusha Engage. Lusha also connects its data to AI assistants through MCP, including Claude and ChatGPT, according to its homepage.

Data coverage and accuracy

Both vendors publish big numbers, and both numbers are marketing claims. Lusha says it has 515M+ verified contacts, 29M+ companies and 165M+ verified emails. Apollo says 240M+ contacts and 30M+ accounts.

Do not pick a tool on headline counts. The vendors define a "contact" differently, and what matters is coverage of your specific titles, industries and regions.

What each vendor says about accuracy

These figures come from each vendor's own pages and use their own methods. The fair way to compare is a head-to-head test: take 100 to 200 contacts from accounts you actually sell to, reveal them in both tools, and run every email through the same verifier.

Email statuses in Apollo

Apollo labels every email as Verified, Unverified, Update required, Unavailable, User managed or Catch-all. Its help center says to "stick with verified emails" and to "only use unverified emails as an infrequent last resort." That labeling makes it easy to filter a list down to safe-to-send contacts before you spend credits.

Pricing and credits (as of October 2026)

Apollo pricing

Apollo's pricing page lists Free, Basic, Professional and Custom plans but does not show dollar figures in its page text. Third-party pricing reviews checked in mid to late 2026 report these annual-billing prices per user per month:

Monthly billing costs more (reported at roughly $59 to $65 for Basic and $99 for Professional). Credits are pooled across the team, granted at the start of each billing cycle and do not roll over, per Apollo's pricing page. The Organization tier appears in third-party reviews but not in the text we could read on Apollo's own page, so confirm the current lineup when you buy.

Lusha pricing

Lusha's pricing page lists a permanent Free plan with up to 40 credits per month, then Starter, Pro and Premium as self-serve plans set with a credit slider, and Scale for larger teams. The plan prices and credit amounts are set through the interactive slider and were not shown in the page text we could read, so check the live page for current numbers. Teams larger than five users are directed to sales.

Two Lusha details stand out:

• Phone reveals cost 5 credits versus about 8 on Apollo. For a team that mostly buys direct dials, that difference adds up.
• Monthly plans roll over unused credits up to twice the plan limit. Annual plans issue all credits upfront and reset at the end of the year.

Which is cheaper for you?

Work it out from your monthly usage, not the plan name. A team that reveals 2,000 emails and 100 phone numbers a month has a very different bill than a team that reveals 300 direct dials. Apollo's single subscription also replaces a sequencer and a dialer for many small teams, which matters if you would otherwise pay for those separately.

Prospecting and search

Apollo's search is built for list building. You open People or Companies, click Show Filters, and stack filters such as job title, persona, location, number of employees, buying intent, time in current role and years of experience. Apollo applies AND logic across filters and OR logic within a filter, and you can save any search, share it with teammates and set Daily, Weekly or Monthly alerts for new matches.

Lusha offers prospecting search and signals too, but its strongest workflow is the extension. A rep looking at a profile or a company site can reveal a contact in a click and push it to the CRM. If your team prospects one account at a time, that speed is a real advantage.

Best for list building at scale: Apollo. Best for one-off lookups: Lusha.

Our step-by-step guide on how to use Apollo for prospecting walks through filters, saved searches, lists and verification in detail.

Outreach and sequencing

This is where the two tools differ most.

Apollo sequences

Apollo sequences support automatic email, manual email, phone call, action item and LinkedIn steps (connection request, message, view profile, view posts). You choose the sending mailbox when you add contacts and can rotate across several mailboxes. Apollo also includes a dialer, call recording on higher plans and meetings.

Apollo's sending limits article recommends starting at 50 emails per day per mailbox and staying around 50 to 100 per day, with up to 15 mailboxes per user depending on plan. That is fine for steady, moderate volume.

Lusha Engage

Lusha Engage is a built-in email sequencer. According to Lusha's docs, you connect a Gmail or Outlook mailbox, build sequences with unlimited steps, and Lusha removes contacts who reply or bounce.

Documented limits are 1,000 emails per user per day and 10 active sequences per user. The Engage docs we reviewed did not describe call or LinkedIn steps.

Best for multichannel outbound: Apollo. Best for light email follow-up next to lookups: Lusha.

When to add a dedicated sending tool

Neither tool is built to send tens of thousands of cold emails a month across many domains. At that volume, most teams keep Apollo (or Lusha) as the data layer and send from a dedicated platform with inbox rotation and warmup, such as PlusVibe or Smartlead. Our cold email infrastructure guide explains the domain and mailbox setup that makes that work.

Integrations, AI and compliance

Lusha puts its compliance credentials front and center, which matters to buyers in regulated industries or with strict procurement. If that is a deciding factor, ask both vendors for their current documentation rather than relying on either website.

Strengths and weaknesses

Apollo strengths

• One workspace for search, enrichment, sequences, dialer, meetings and CRM sync.
• Detailed filters, saved searches and alerts make repeatable list building easy.
• Clear email statuses and a credit refund on verified emails that bounce within 30 days.
• Published per-seat pricing and a free plan with no time limit.

Apollo weaknesses

• Phone numbers cost about 8 credits each, so credits go fast for call-heavy teams.
• Credits do not roll over.
• Data quality varies by region and title, so you still need to filter and verify.
• Built-in sending is not designed for very high cold email volume.

Lusha strengths

• Fast, simple extension that reps adopt quickly.
• Phone reveals cost 5 credits, and monthly plans roll over unused credits.
• Weekly buying signals tied to named, dated company events.
• Prominent compliance certifications.

Lusha weaknesses

• Paid prices are hidden behind a slider, and teams over five users go to sales.
• Engage is email only in the docs we reviewed, with no dialer or LinkedIn steps described.
• Less suited to building and working large lists end to end.

Which should you choose?

If you are also weighing an enterprise database, see our Apollo vs ZoomInfo comparison, and our roundup of the best B2B data providers for a wider view.

How to run a fair trial

1. Pick 50 target accounts you know well, across your main regions.
2. Search the same titles at those accounts in both tools, using the free plans.
3. Reveal emails and phone numbers for the same people and note what each tool returns.
4. Run every email through one independent verifier and compare valid rates.
5. Call a small sample of numbers and note how many reach the right person.
6. Estimate monthly credit use from the results and price it on each vendor's page.

This takes a few hours and tells you more than any comparison article, including this one.

Rather not run it yourself?

If you want outbound running without building the stack in-house, Koldify is a done-for-you cold email agency that sends campaigns on PlusVibe, Smartlead and Email Bison. Book a 30-minute call with David at Koldify to see if it fits.

Sources

• Apollo pricing page: https://www.apollo.io/pricing
• Apollo credits: https://knowledge.apollo.io/hc/en-us/articles/9527776320781-What-Are-Credits-
• Apollo email verification: https://knowledge.apollo.io/hc/en-us/articles/10826699994381-How-Apollo-Verifies-Emails
• Apollo email statuses: https://knowledge.apollo.io/hc/en-us/articles/4423314404621
• Apollo data overview: https://knowledge.apollo.io/hc/en-us/articles/45824429846669
• Apollo person filters: https://knowledge.apollo.io/hc/en-us/articles/4412658716941-Use-Person-Info-Filters-to-Search
• Apollo saved searches: https://knowledge.apollo.io/hc/en-us/articles/4409803718669-Create-and-Subscribe-to-Saved-Searches
• Apollo create a sequence: https://knowledge.apollo.io/hc/en-us/articles/4409231193101-Create-a-Sequence
• Apollo sending limits: https://knowledge.apollo.io/hc/en-us/articles/4409233349005-Email-Sending-Limits-Overview
• Apollo HubSpot integration: https://knowledge.apollo.io/hc/en-us/articles/4416619021837
• Apollo Chrome extension: https://www.apollo.io/product/integrations/apolloio-chrome-extension
• Apollo pricing review (Zeliq): https://www.zeliq.com/blog/apolloio-pricing
• Apollo pricing review (Valley): https://www.joinvalley.co/blog/apollo-pricing-and-credits-explained-2026
• Apollo pricing review (Saleshandy): https://www.saleshandy.com/blog/apolloio-pricing/
• Lusha homepage: https://www.lusha.com/
• Lusha pricing: https://www.lusha.com/pricing/
• Lusha Engage docs: https://docs.lusha.com/user-guide/getting-started-with-engage/what-is-lusha-engage