Apollo vs PromptLab: which should you use for cold email in 2026?

Apollo pairs a B2B contact database with sequences and a dialer; PromptLab is a CRM with email campaigns built in. Pricing, data and sequences 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 need a B2B contact database with emails and phone numbers.

PromptLabIn the CRM from $11.99/seat

Choose it if you want campaigns, deals and quotes in one CRM.

Apollo is a sales platform that pairs a B2B contact database with sequences, a dialer and an email deliverability suite, priced per seat. PromptLab is a CRM for B2B teams that sell products, with cold email built in as campaigns. One finds people and reaches out to them; the other runs email sequences on the contacts and deals already in your CRM.

Below, the two are compared on price, the lead database, sequences and mailboxes, and CRM links. We make PromptLab, so every figure comes from Apollo's own pricing and product pages and PromptLab's pricing page, and we say where Apollo is stronger. Prices are per user a month, Apollo billed annually and PromptLab billed monthly, unless we say otherwise.

Apollo vs PromptLab at a glance

Apollo vs PromptLab, with PromptLab: prices and features
Checked on 20 October 2026	Apollo	PromptLab
Pricing
Free plan	900 credits a year
Paid plans, a month	$49 – $119per seat	$11.99 – $99per seat
Free trial	14 days	14 days
Billing	Billed annually	Billed monthly
Cold email
Multi-step sequences
Sending mailboxes	1 per user	Up to 20 per campaign
Email warm-up		Volume ramp-up
LinkedIn steps	Manual tasks
Built-in lead database
A/B testing	From$79/month
CRM integrations	HubSpot, Salesforce	Built in

Pricing: $49 to $119 against $11.99 to $99

Apollo's Basic plan is $49 a seat, Professional $79 and Organization $119, which needs at least 3 seats. There is a free plan with 900 credits a year and a 14-day trial. Credits pay for contact data: an email costs 1 credit and a phone number 8, and they reset each billing cycle.

PromptLab is $11.99 on Basic, $23.99 on Professional and $99 on Business, billed monthly, or $99, $199 and $948 a user a year billed yearly, with a 14-day trial on Basic and Professional. Both are priced per seat, so the gap between the entry plans holds as a team grows. Apollo's seat buys the data and outreach tool; PromptLab's buys the CRM, with campaigns on every plan.

Sequences and mailboxes

Apollo sequences combine automated email steps with manual tasks, such as phone calls and LinkedIn actions, that the rep completes. Basic allows 1 mailbox per user and 250 emails a day. Professional allows unlimited Google and Microsoft mailboxes plus 5 SMTP mailboxes per user. A/Z testing starts on Professional at $79.

PromptLab's campaigns are multi-step email sequences. Each rotates up to 20 of your mailboxes, spaces emails out within the hours and days you choose, and stops on a reply or a bounce. A/B tests of subject and body are on every plan, and AI can draft the emails. There are no LinkedIn steps.

Lead data and warm-up

Apollo has the database: Basic comes with 30,000 credits per seat a year, pooled across the team. Basic also includes the Deliverability Suite and email warm-up. PromptLab has no lead database and no warm-up network, so you bring your own list.

New PromptLab mailboxes ramp up their daily volume over three weeks. Apollo suggests starting at around 20 cold emails a day per mailbox and not exceeding 50.

Where Apollo is stronger

Apollo is the stronger tool for finding people to contact. The database, the credits and the phone numbers are the product, and PromptLab has no lead database. Its sequences can also put call and LinkedIn tasks for the rep between the emails.

If your deals live in another CRM, Apollo says it syncs contacts, activities and deal data with Salesforce and HubSpot. Its free plan lets you try it before paying; PromptLab has a 14-day trial but no free plan.

After the reply

In PromptLab a reply stops the sequence, and the contact already sits on its deal with the quote and notes, so nothing is synced between two tools.

That fits teams who sell to accounts they already know. If you need to build the list first, Apollo's database does that job and PromptLab has no equivalent.

Which should you choose?

Choose Apollo if…

You need a B2B contact database with emails and phone numbers.
You want call and LinkedIn tasks in the same sequence as your emails.
You want a free plan to try before you pay.

Choose PromptLab if…

You want campaigns, deals and quotes in one CRM.
You want a reply to stop the sequence without syncing two tools.
You want to pay from $11.99 a user with the CRM included.

Frequently asked questions

Is PromptLab an Apollo alternative?

For email sequences to a list you already have, yes. For finding contacts and phone numbers, no: Apollo has a B2B database and PromptLab does not.

Is Apollo cheaper than PromptLab?

No, on paid plans. Both charge per seat: Apollo Basic is $49 a seat a month billed annually, and PromptLab Basic is $11.99 a user a month billed monthly. Apollo does have a free plan with 900 credits a year, and its price includes contact data.

Can PromptLab replace Apollo?

Only the email-sequence part. You would lose the contact database and its credits, and bring your own list.

Does Apollo work with a CRM?

Yes. It says it syncs contacts, activities and deal data with CRMs such as Salesforce and HubSpot, and CRM integrations are included from Basic.

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.