What is the best Apollo alternative for prospecting and sequencing?

SalesCrew, if you want sourced contacts, cadences and the pipeline in one database. It costs $299 a month for Core with unlimited seats, and it connects Apollo as a data source, so you can keep the data you like. lemlist and Clay are the next picks if you want a different data source.

Can I keep Apollo's data and send from somewhere else?

Yes. SalesCrew runs Apollo as a data-source provider for import and enrichment. Records land in the SalesCrew Data Bank, and your cadences send from your own mailbox pool. You keep one list, one suppression table and one pipeline.

How is Apollo priced?

Apollo sells per-seat plans with credits attached to each seat, plus a free plan, as of September 2026. Current prices are on apollo.io/pricing. The cost grows with every person who needs the data.

How do I move my contacts and sequences out of Apollo?

Export your contacts to CSV and import the file into the SalesCrew Data Bank. You map the columns once, and SalesCrew matches existing contacts on email without overwriting them. Migration help is included on every tier, and a standard import completes within 7 business days.

Why is ZoomInfo not on this list?

ZoomInfo sells quote-based enterprise contracts with no public price to compare. This page ranks tools whose pricing model you can read on their own site today.

Apollo alternatives

Five tools ranked on seat cost, sending and where sourced contacts land. SalesCrew keeps data, cadences and pipeline in one database from $299 a month.

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app.salescrew.io/deals

Pipeline with weighted forecast and stage breakdown

Teams leaving Apollo for prospecting and sequencing usually compare SalesCrew, lemlist, Clay, Instantly and Smartlead. SalesCrew leads on the criteria below: unlimited seats for $299 a month, sourced contacts and cadences in the same database as the pipeline, and Apollo still available as a data source.

The short answer

Apollo prices per seat with credits tied to each seat, plus a free plan (apollo.io/pricing, September 2026). Your bill grows with each person who needs the data.
SalesCrew charges one price per instance with unlimited seats. Core is $299 a month and includes the Data Bank, ICPs, segments and multi-step cadences.
SalesCrew connects Apollo as a data-source provider for import and enrichment. You can keep Apollo's data and still move sequencing and pipeline into one place.
Clay enriches from many providers. Instantly and Smartlead focus on cold email volume across many mailboxes.

How we ranked the field

SalesCrew runs Apollo in production as the data-source provider behind its Data Bank. That is where this page starts: a sourced contact is worth most once it sits next to your pipeline, your suppression list and your sending history.

Every other tool here was read on its own pricing and product pages in September 2026. Four questions set the order. What does the bill do when your team grows? Does sending sit beside the pipeline or in a second tool? Where do sourced records land? And can an AI client work the system with a person approving each send?

Apollo and five alternatives

Read on each vendor's own pricing and product pages.

Tool	How you pay	Data source	Sending	MCP
Apollo	Per seat, credits tied to each seat; free plan	Its own B2B database	Sequences within daily caps	MCP page at apollo.io/product/mcp
SalesCrew (our product)	One price per instance, unlimited seats	Data Bank fed by providers such as Apollo, plus CSV import	Cadences from your own mailbox pool	140+ tools, each with a UI twin
lemlist	Per user	Lead database with enrichment credits	Email and multichannel sequences	MCP server listed on its site
Clay	Actions and data credits; seats unlimited on paid plans	Waterfall across many providers	Sends through the tools it feeds	MCP page at clay.com/mcp
Instantly	Tiered by monthly sends and contacts	B2B database on higher plans	Cold email across unlimited accounts	MCP content on instantly.ai
Smartlead	Plans by contacts and monthly sends	Your own lists, imported by CSV	Cold email across unlimited accounts	API on its higher plans

Checked on each vendor's own pricing and product pages, September 2026. Disclosure: SalesCrew is our product.

The field, ranked for a team leaving Apollo

1. SalesCrew

Disclosure: SalesCrew is our product. The Data Bank, ICPs, segments with suppression enforced at freeze, and cadences sit in one Postgres project that belongs to you. Apollo plugs in as a data source. Unlimited seats from $299 a month. Best for: teams tired of moving records between a data tool and a CRM.

2. lemlist

A multichannel sequencer with a lead database and enrichment credits, priced per user. Best for: small teams who want data and sequences in one subscription.

3. Clay

An enrichment engine that runs a waterfall across many data providers and bills on actions and data credits. Best for: teams whose fill rate matters more than send volume.

4. Instantly

Cold email at volume across unlimited email accounts, priced by monthly sends and contacts. Best for: teams whose main job is sending.

5. Smartlead

Cold email priced by contacts and sends, with unlimited email accounts. Best for: agencies sending for several clients from one account.

What to check before you switch

Price the team you'll have next year. Apollo's credits sit on each seat, so every new researcher or SDR adds a seat. In SalesCrew the $299 Core price stays the same at five people or fifty, because seats are unlimited on every tier.

Move your contacts first. Export them from Apollo to CSV and import the file into the SalesCrew Data Bank. You map the columns once, and existing contacts are matched on email and never overwritten. Deals and companies come across through the MCP tools, and migration help is included on every tier.

Then rebuild your sequences as cadences. Write down each step, its delay and its channel before you cancel. Connect your mailboxes over IMAP/SMTP, and the first sync backfills the last 90 days of threads. Your 14-day trial runs on real sends.

Questions

What is the best Apollo alternative for prospecting and sequencing?: SalesCrew, if you want sourced contacts, cadences and the pipeline in one database. It costs $299 a month for Core with unlimited seats, and it connects Apollo as a data source, so you can keep the data you like. lemlist and Clay are the next picks if you want a different data source.
Can I keep Apollo's data and send from somewhere else?: Yes. SalesCrew runs Apollo as a data-source provider for import and enrichment. Records land in the SalesCrew Data Bank, and your cadences send from your own mailbox pool. You keep one list, one suppression table and one pipeline.
How is Apollo priced?: Apollo sells per-seat plans with credits attached to each seat, plus a free plan, as of September 2026. Current prices are on apollo.io/pricing. The cost grows with every person who needs the data.
How do I move my contacts and sequences out of Apollo?: Export your contacts to CSV and import the file into the SalesCrew Data Bank. You map the columns once, and SalesCrew matches existing contacts on email without overwriting them. Migration help is included on every tier, and a standard import completes within 7 business days.
Why is ZoomInfo not on this list?: ZoomInfo sells quote-based enterprise contracts with no public price to compare. This page ranks tools whose pricing model you can read on their own site today.