Apollo vs lemlist: which cold email tool should you choose in 2026?

Apollo is a lead database with sequences and a free plan; lemlist is multichannel outreach with unlimited senders. Pricing, data and LinkedIn compared.

Published 20 October 2026. Prices and features from each vendor's own pages.

The short answer

ApolloPaid from $49/seat

Choose it if you want a free plan to try the database before you pay.

lemlistPaid from $55/seat

Choose it if you want LinkedIn, SMS and calls inside your sequences.

PromptLabIn the CRM from $11.99/seat

Choose it if you email accounts you already know, and replies should land on the deal.

Apollo starts from data: a B2B contact database with sequences, a dialer and deliverability tools around it, priced per seat. lemlist starts from outreach: email, LinkedIn, SMS and calls, with a lead database attached.

Below, the two are compared on price, mailboxes and warm-up, lead data and credits, LinkedIn and other channels, and testing and CRM links. Every figure comes from the vendors' own pricing and product pages; prices are per user a month, billed annually, unless we say otherwise.

Apollo vs lemlist at a glance

With PromptLab in the third column: the same job done inside a CRM.

Apollo vs lemlist, with PromptLab: prices and features
Checked on 20 October 2026	Apollo	lemlist	PromptLab
Pricing
Free plan	900 credits a year
Paid plans, a month	$49 – $119per seat	$55 – $87per seat	$11.99per seat on Basic
Free trial	14 days	14 days
Billing	Billed annually	Billed annually	Billed monthly
Cold email
Multi-step sequences
Sending mailboxes	1 per user	Unlimited	Up to 20 per campaign
Email warm-up			Volume ramp-up
LinkedIn steps	Manual tasks	From$87/month
Built-in lead database
A/B testing	From$79/month
CRM integrations	HubSpot, Salesforce	HubSpot, Salesforce	Built in

Pricing: $49 to $119 against $55 to $87

Apollo has a free plan with 900 credits a year per seat and 2 sequences per team. Paid plans are Basic at $49 per seat, Professional at $79 and Organization at $119, which needs at least 3 seats. A 14-day trial includes 75 credits.

lemlist's pricing page lists no free plan. Its Email plan is $55 a month with unlimited users, sized by email volume, and Multichannel is $87 and priced by number of users. It offers a 14-day free trial that includes 200 free credits.

Mailboxes and warm-up

This is the clearest difference. Apollo's Basic plan allows 1 mailbox per user and 250 emails a day. Professional allows unlimited Google and Microsoft mailboxes plus 5 SMTP mailboxes per user, with unlimited daily sends.

lemlist's Email plan allows unlimited users and unlimited email senders, and lemwarm is in all plans. Apollo includes email warm-up and its Deliverability Suite from Basic, and suggests starting at around 20 emails a day per mailbox and not going over 50.

Lead data and credits

Apollo includes data credits in every plan. Credits are per seat a year: 30,000 on Basic, 48,000 on Professional and 72,000 on Organization. An email costs 1 credit and a phone number 8, and unused credits do not roll over.

lemlist includes a 650M+ lead database on its Email plan. Its enrichment add-on is $16 a month for 2,000 credits (400 emails or 100 phones), and unused credits roll over while you stay subscribed.

LinkedIn and other channels

lemlist's Multichannel plan, from $87, adds LinkedIn automation, SMS automation, a WhatsApp add-on and a built-in call dialer. This is where lemlist is stronger.

Apollo says its sequences cover multi-channel outreach, including calls, and it has a US dialer that uses credits. Its sequences can include LinkedIn actions, but as manual tasks for the rep to complete, while lemlist's Multichannel plan lists LinkedIn automation.

Testing and CRM links

Apollo includes A/Z testing from Professional at $79 a seat. It lists CRM integrations from Basic and says it syncs with Salesforce and HubSpot.

lemlist says you can A/B test full sequences with different channel mixes. Its plan comparison lists CRM integrations with HubSpot, Salesforce and Pipedrive, and the Email plan includes them.

We make PromptLab, so here is where it fits.

Or send sequences from inside your CRM

PromptLab's campaigns send multi-step sequences from your own mailboxes, rotating up to 20 per campaign. A sequence stops when the contact replies or the email bounces, and you can test subject and body variants.

New mailboxes ramp up their daily volume over the first three weeks, and each campaign spaces its emails out within the hours you choose. There's no lead database or warm-up network, so you bring your own list.

Sales automation in PromptLab

Try PromptLab freeIncluded in PromptLab Basic, from $11.99 a user a month, with a 14-day free trial.

Which should you choose?

Choose Apollo if…

You want a free plan to try the database before you pay.
You want contact data, sequences and a dialer in one per-seat product.
You want A/Z testing and unlimited sequences from $79 a seat.

Choose lemlist if…

You want LinkedIn, SMS and calls inside your sequences.
You want unlimited users and unlimited senders on a flat Email plan.
You want unused data credits to roll over each month.

Choose PromptLab if…

You email accounts you already know, and replies should land on the deal.
You want sequences to stop on a reply without syncing two tools.
You'd rather not pay for a CRM and an outreach tool separately.

Frequently asked questions

Is Apollo better than lemlist?

Apollo leans on data, with a free plan and 30,000 credits a year per seat from $49. lemlist is stronger on channels, adding LinkedIn, SMS and calls from $87 a user.

Does Apollo have a free plan?

Yes. Apollo's free plan gives 900 credits per seat a year, 2 sequences per team and Gmail accounts only. lemlist's pricing page lists no free plan, only a 14-day trial.

How many mailboxes can I connect to Apollo and lemlist?

On Apollo, Basic allows 1 mailbox per user, and Professional allows unlimited Google and Microsoft mailboxes plus 5 SMTP mailboxes per user. lemlist's Email plan allows unlimited email senders.

Which is cheaper, Apollo or lemlist?

Apollo Basic is $49 per seat against $55 for lemlist's Email plan, which covers unlimited users. For a single user Apollo costs less, and for a larger team the flat lemlist plan can cost less.

Do Apollo and lemlist both have lead databases?

Yes. Both include one: lemlist's Email plan lists a 650M+ lead database, and Apollo's B2B contact database is on every plan, paid for in credits.

Is there a CRM with email sequences built in?

Yes. PromptLab's campaigns send multi-step sequences from up to 20 of your own mailboxes, stop on replies and bounces and test A/B variants, on every plan from $11.99 a user a month with a 14-day free trial.