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Cleanlist vs Apollo.io

Cleanlist vs Apollo compared on email accuracy, cost per contact, deliverability, and which tool wins for your team →

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98% verified work email, 500-lead benchmark25+ providers in one waterfallNo per-seat pricing

Updated 2026Pricing checked

The short answer

Apollo.io wins if you want one tool for prospecting and outbound sequences on a tight budget. Cleanlist wins if you already have an outreach tool and care more about email accuracy than database size. Our waterfall checks 25+ sources per contact instead of relying on Apollo's single proprietary database.

Bottom line

Apollo.io is an all-in-one outbound platform: it publishes 240M+ people and 30M+ companies in one database and bundles sequences and a dialer on top (apollo.io, read September 1, 2026). Cleanlist sells no database. It runs one waterfall across 25+ providers and returned a verified work email on 98% of a stratified 500-lead benchmark, with a direct dial on 85% of the same list.

Decision Matrix: Which One to Pick

Honest, side-by-side guidance, with no “always pick us” spin.

Choose Cleanlist if

  • You already use Outreach, Salesloft, Lemlist, Smartlead, or Instantly for sequencing
  • Bounce rate is the number your team is measured on
  • You need to enrich CRM data that did not originate from Apollo
  • You want flat team pricing instead of per-seat credits
  • You need catch-all addresses flagged instead of shipped as clean

Choose Apollo.io if

  • You want prospecting, sequencing and a dialer in one tool with one bill
  • You need intent data, which Cleanlist does not sell in any form
  • You're an SDR running outbound today and have no other stack
  • You value Apollo's 240M+ contact directory for ad-hoc discovery
  • You need a generous free tier to test outbound before paying anyone

Honest Strengths

Where Apollo.io Wins

  • 240M+ people and 30M+ companies in one database, per apollo.io
  • Built-in email sequences and multi-channel outreach
  • Integrated dialer with call recording (Professional+)
  • Buying intent data, which Cleanlist does not sell in any form
  • Strong Chrome extension for LinkedIn prospecting
  • All-in-one platform reduces tool sprawl

Where Cleanlist Wins

  • 98% verified work email on a stratified 500-lead benchmark, 85% direct dial on the same list
  • 25+ data provider waterfall for higher coverage
  • Catch-all addresses flagged rather than passed through
  • Job title normalization (Smart Agents)
  • No per-user pricing, teams pay one flat price
  • Sales Navigator CSV import and enrichment
  • Syntax, DNS/MX and SMTP checks on every address before it ships
  • Pre-built playbooks for outbound, ABM, events, CRM cleanup

Who Should Use Which?

The right tool depends on your workflow and priorities.

Choose Apollo.io if you...

  • Teams that need prospecting + outreach in one tool
  • SDRs who want a built-in dialer and sequences
  • Companies prioritizing database size over accuracy
  • Startups looking for a free tier with basic prospecting

Choose Cleanlist if you...

  • Teams where email deliverability is critical
  • RevOps professionals cleaning CRM data at scale
  • Agencies managing data quality across multiple clients
  • Teams judged on bounce rate rather than on list size
  • Companies that already have a separate outreach tool
  • Teams needing waterfall enrichment from 25+ sources

Feature-by-Feature Comparison

How Cleanlist and Apollo.io stack up across key capabilities. Read across a row to see what each tool covers, then read the last column for who covers it.

Capability check15 capabilities
CapabilityApollo.ioCleanlistCovered by
Data providersSingle database, 240M+ people and 30M+ companies25+ provider waterfallBoth
Waterfall enrichmentCleanlist
Catch-all email detectionCleanlist
Phone number finderBoth
Sales Navigator workflowChrome extension onlyCSV import and enrichmentBoth
Email sequences / outreachApollo.io
Built-in dialerProfessional plan+Apollo.io
ICP scoringBasic filtersCustom rule-based scoringBoth
Job title normalizationSmart AgentsCleanlist
Intent dataApollo.io
Job-change handlingAlerts when a tracked contact movesFilter for people who recently changed jobs at search timeBoth
CRM integrationsSalesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive, Zoho, DynamicsHubSpot, Pipedrive, Salesforce, ActiveCampaign, Salesloft + 10 moreBoth
CSV import/export25 contacts at a time (basic)Unlimited bulk CSVBoth
Free tierFree plan at $0/mo14-day Scale trial, 250 credits, 3 seats; then 30 credits/mo freeBoth
Starting paid price$49/user/mo (annual)$79/mo (not per user)Both
9 both do this3 Cleanlist only3 Apollo.io only

Pricing Comparison

Both ladders below are list prices, read off each vendor’s own pricing page on September 1, 2026. Nothing here is an estimate, and where a vendor publishes no list price this page says so instead of guessing one.

Published list pricesChecked
Apollo.ioPublished plans, annual billing

Free

$0/mo

Basic

$49/user/mo

Professional

$79/user/mo

Organization

$119/user/mo

Minimum 3 users

Apollo prices per user and prints these figures against annual billing. Monthly billing is offered on Basic and Professional at a higher rate that its pricing page renders in the browser and did not serve.Published list price, checked

CleanlistPublished plans

Free

$0/mo

30 credits a month, 1 seat, 100 leads per list

Starter

$79/mo

1,500 credits a month, 2 seats

Pro

$229/mo

5,000 credits a month, 5 seats, REST API v2

Scale

$599/mo

15,000 credits a month, 10 seats, Playbook Builder

25% off on annual billing, $20 for an extra seat. People and company search cost 0 credits on every plan, credits come out of one wallet the whole team shares, and enrichment is charged only when data comes back.Published list price, checked

Every new workspace opens on a 14-day Scale trial: 250 credits, 3 seats, no card, and every feature except the public API and MCP. When it ends the Free plan stays open at 30 credits a month.

The Number That Matters

One proprietary data point we measured ourselves.

98% vs 70-80%

Verified email coverage on the same 500 leads

In the Cleanlist 500-Lead Enrichment Benchmark, 2026, the 25+ provider waterfall returned a verified email for 98% of leads; single-source databases returned 70-80% on the identical input. We report single-source as a range and do not attribute a figure to any one vendor.

Source: Cleanlist 500-Lead Enrichment Benchmark, 2026 (first-party)

What Cleanlist puts behind one lookup.

One waterfall across every provider we hold a contract with, one shared credit wallet for the whole team, and a miss that costs nothing.

25+data providers in the enrichment waterfall, cascaded cheapest first
98%verified work email on a 500-lead stratified benchmark
85%direct dial on the same 500-lead benchmark
0credits to search, unlimited on every plan including Free

A verified work email costs 1 credit however many providers it took to find. A direct dial costs 10, both together 11, a company enrichment 1, and a smart agent 0.5 to 3. Enrichment is charged only when data comes back. Cleanlist does not send email: it fills the list and hands it to HubSpot, Salesforce, Outreach or Lemlist.

What Review Sites Say

Independent ratings from trusted software review platforms, each linking back to the platform that published it.

G24.8/5Based on 8,200 reviews (March 2026)Capterra4.6/5Based on 430 reviews (March 2026)

Cleanlist’s own third-party scores, with their denominators: G2 5.0 from 5 reviews, Chrome Web Store 4.7 from 13, AppSumo 4.8 from 112.

“Apollo is the Swiss Army knife of sales tools: good at many things, great at none. For teams that need an all-in-one solution at a startup-friendly price, it's hard to beat. But if data accuracy is your priority, you'll outgrow Apollo's single-source database within a year.”

References & Sources

  1. [1]
  2. [2]
  3. [3]
    Apollo.io pricing page— Apollo.io(2026)

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Cleanlist better than Apollo for email verification?

On the Cleanlist 500-Lead Enrichment Benchmark, 2026, Cleanlist returned a verified work email for 98% of a stratified 500-lead sample and a direct dial for 85% of the same list. Every address is checked for syntax, then against DNS and MX, then over SMTP, and a catch-all or risky address is flagged rather than passed through as clean. Apollo publishes no comparable benchmark that we could read off its own site on September 1, 2026, so this page does not put a number against it.

Does Cleanlist have email sequences like Apollo?

No. Cleanlist focuses purely on data quality: verification, enrichment, and cleaning. If you need email sequences, pair Cleanlist with a dedicated outreach tool like Salesloft, Outreach, Lemlist, or Instantly for the best results.

Is Cleanlist cheaper than Apollo?

For data enrichment and verification, usually yes, and it depends on seat count. Cleanlist Starter is $79 a month flat, with no per-user fee, and Apollo's published ladder is Basic $49, Professional $79 and Organization $119 per user a month on annual billing (apollo.io, read September 1, 2026). At three seats Apollo Basic is $147 a month against Cleanlist Starter at $79. Cleanlist also charges enrichment only when data comes back, and people and company search cost 0 credits.

Can I switch from Apollo to Cleanlist?

Yes. You can export your contacts from Apollo as a CSV and import them directly into Cleanlist for re-verification and enrichment. Many teams use Cleanlist alongside Apollo, cleaning Apollo's data before sending it to their outreach tools.

What is waterfall enrichment and why doesn't Apollo have it?

Waterfall enrichment cascades your contacts through 25+ data providers, checking each source until the most accurate data is found. Apollo relies primarily on its own single database. On the Cleanlist 500-Lead Enrichment Benchmark, 2026, the waterfall returned a verified email for 98% of leads, against 70-80% for single-source databases on the identical input.

Does Cleanlist have a Chrome extension like Apollo?

Yes. Cleanlist ships a Chrome extension, rated 4.7 from 13 reviews on the Chrome Web Store. It opens as a side panel on any website. On a LinkedIn profile page it uses the profile URL as an identifier and asks Cleanlist's contracted data providers for that person's contact details, then drops the result into a Cleanlist lead list, where the waterfall enriches and verifies it. For a whole list, skip the browser and upload a CSV of leads you already hold, a CRM segment or a saved search.

Key Terms

Understanding these concepts will help you evaluate Apollo.io and alternatives more effectively.

Sales Intelligence

Apollo bundles prospecting with outreach, blurring the line between data vendor and sales engagement platform.

Data Decay

Apollo's single-source database means stale records go undetected until emails bounce or calls fail.

Lead Scoring

Apollo's built-in scoring uses its own engagement data, limiting accuracy for teams with external outreach tools.

ICP Scoring

Apollo lets you define ideal customer profiles, but scores only against its proprietary database coverage.

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