lemlist vs Apollo.io

by Gralio Apr 01, 2025

lemlist and Apollo.io are sales platforms with different strengths. lemlist excels in email deliverability and personalized outreach, while Apollo.io offers a broader suite of sales intelligence and automation features. Choose lemlist if your focus is email marketing and deliverability, and Apollo.io if you need comprehensive sales management and a larger contact database.

At Gralio.ai we help to simplify your decision-making process by offering detailed, side-by-side software comparisons like this one, to help you confidently choose the tool that aligns with your business goals.

This comparison was created by analysing 3698 reviews and 60 websites, saving 21 hours, 2 minutes of reading.

Logo of lemlist
Logo of Apollo.io

About

lemlist is a sales engagement tool that focuses on improving cold outreach through email. It allows you to build email lists with verified addresses and provides templates and AI assistance to personalize messages at scale. lemlist prioritizes email deliverability by staggering sends and warming up email domains, helping your messages reach inboxes and avoid spam filters. It also offers multi-channel outreach options, including LinkedIn and phone call integrations. You can try it for free with their 14-day trial.
Apollo.io is a sales platform designed to help you find new customers and close deals faster. It provides access to a database of business contacts and companies, tools to manage sales outreach, and features like automated workflows and performance analytics. Apollo.io aims to be a central hub for sales teams to manage their entire sales process, from prospecting to closing.

Summary

Main difference
lemlist is a more affordable email-focused sales engagement platform ideal for smaller businesses prioritizing personalized outreach and email deliverability. Apollo.io offers broader sales intelligence and automation capabilities, including lead routing and AI-powered meeting tools, making it better for larger teams needing comprehensive sales management.

Relative strengths of lemlist (compared to Apollo.io)

  • Stronger focus on email deliverability with features like lemwarm.

  • More affordable pricing, especially for smaller teams.

  • Simpler and more intuitive UI for email outreach.

Relative weaknesses of lemlist (compared to Apollo.io)

  • Smaller contact database compared to Apollo.io.

  • Limited integrations beyond email and basic CRM.

  • Less comprehensive sales automation and intelligence features.

Who is using lemlist and Apollo.io?

Michał Saracen, CFA
🚀 Founder & CEO at Calimala.ai | Making Hiring Simple Again
Inovo VC
CEE-focused VC with a few unicorn investments
Ismael Briasco
Mentor for impact-driven leaders | Personal Branding, Digital Business | CEO LinkedUp | Co-Founder NIXGrowth | 25+ yrs experience
Jérémy Grandillon
CEO & Co-founder of TC9 — AI Allbound Agency
Noam Nisand
Leed Services Founder
Show all 11 stacks
Kyle Poyar
Co-Founder & Operating Partner | Growth Unhinged
Brendan Short
Founder @ The Signal
Kate Donnellan
Founding Marketer at Plain
Josh Payne
Partner OpenSky Ventures
Robert Bradley
Founder & Chief GTM Strategist at Profit Labs A
Show all 17 stacks

Who should use lemlist VS. Apollo.io

lemlist is a sales engagement platform ideal for sales professionals, marketers, and business developers in small to medium-sized businesses. Users praise lemlist's customizable email campaigns and responsive customer support. However, some users have reported issues with email warmup reliability and recent UI changes. Consider lemlist if you need a tool to automate and personalize cold outreach, especially through email.

Apollo.io is a comprehensive sales platform that helps businesses find and close deals faster. Users praise its robust database and powerful search filters. However, some have noted concerns about data accuracy and occasional glitches with the LinkedIn integration. With features like AI-powered email automation and meeting tools, Apollo.io offers a centralized hub for managing the entire sales process, from prospecting to closing.

  • Best for small to medium businesses (1-100 employees), excellent fit for medium businesses (101-1000 employees), and moderate fit for large enterprises (1001+).

  • Particularly well-suited for Software, IT, and Telecommunications, as well as Marketing and Advertising.

  • Ideal for sales teams of all sizes, from small businesses to large enterprises.

  • Suitable for a wide range of industries, including Healthcare, Finance, E-commerce, and more.

lemlist and Apollo.io features

Supported
Partially supported
Not supported
Type in the name of the feature or in your own words tell us what you need

  • Lead List Building
    Supported

    Lemlist supports building targeted lists via database access and LinkedIn integration.

    Supported

    Apollo.io supports building targeted lead lists via filters, database access, and LinkedIn integration.

  • Personalized Email Generation
    Partially supported

    Lemlist offers personalized emails using AI and dynamic content insertion. Adding LinkedIn profile pictures is not directly confirmed.

    Partially supported

    Apollo.io supports personalized emails via templates and dynamic fields, but not LinkedIn profile pictures.

  • Contact and Company Data
    Supported

    Lemlist offers a large B2B database with advanced filtering and enrichment tools.

    Supported

    Apollo.io provides access to contact and company data.

  • Email enrichment
    Supported

    Lemlist provides email enrichment features like finding and verifying email addresses and enriching data with details like phone numbers, job titles, and company information.

    Supported

    Apollo.io allows enriching data with verified email addresses from a large database and validates their accuracy using integrations with various tools. It also supports automated enrichment and integrates with CRMs for data freshness.

  • Lead routing
    Partially supported

    Lead routing is not supported, but can be done via CRM integration.

    Supported

    Apollo.io allows for automatic lead routing based on various criteria like company size, industry, territory, etc. It integrates with CRMs to assign reps based on ownership and can prioritize leads based on specific criteria using its inbound router.

  • Account management
    Partially supported

    Lemlist's core features do not include account management but it integrates with CRMs.

    Supported

    Apollo.io allows managing accounts and related contacts, deals, and activities through features such as account and contact search, filtering, segmentation, CRM integrations, and engagement tools.

Qualities

  • Value and Pricing Transparency
    -0.33
    Rather negative sentiment
    +0.03
    Neutral sentiment
  • Customer Service
    +0.52
    Rather positive sentiment
    +0.2
    Neutral sentiment
  • Ease of Use
    +0.64
    Rather positive sentiment
    +0.81
    Strongly positive sentiment
  • Reliability and Performance
    -0.63
    Rather negative sentiment
    +0.08
    Neutral sentiment
  • Ease of Implementation
    +0.67
    Rather positive sentiment
    +0.45
    Rather positive sentiment
  • Scalability
    +0
    Neutral sentiment
    +0.48
    Rather positive sentiment

lemlist and Apollo.io Pricing

Lemlist offers tiered pricing plans based on sending emails per user with a 14-day free trial. They also offer a free plan with limited features. The more expensive plans include additional features such as AI personalization, automated follow-ups, CRM integrations, and more.
Plans

User sentiment

Rather negative
-0.33

See full Pricing page

Trial plans include 50 credits, 5 mobile credits, and almost all of the features of the plan you selected. The ability to link a non-Gmail/Microsoft account to send email campaigns is not included. You must be on a paid plan or a direct trial setup by one our sales representatives in order to link a non-Gmail/Microsoft email account.
Plans

User sentiment

Neutral
+0.03

See full Pricing page

lemlist and Apollo.io review insights

3620 reviews analysed from and

Users love

  • Highly customizable email campaigns, with dynamic fields and personalized images.
  • Fast and responsive customer support, praised for their helpfulness.
  • Lemwarm feature effectively warms up email domains, improving deliverability.
  • Easy to use interface for creating and scheduling email sequences.
  • Apollo.io boasts a robust and extensive database of contacts and companies, making it easy to find potential leads.
  • The platform offers powerful search filters and criteria, allowing users to narrow down their searches with precision.
  • The email automation and sequencing features streamline outreach efforts, saving users time and effort.
  • The free plan offers a generous amount of features and credits, making it a great starting point for small businesses or individuals.

Users dislike

  • Email warmup is unreliable and can negatively impact email reputation.
  • Confusing token system for features like email validation.
  • Limited integration options, especially for CRMs other than HubSpot and Salesforce.
  • Recent UI changes have made the platform less intuitive and harder to navigate.
  • Data accuracy can be unreliable, with many users reporting incorrect or outdated contact information.
  • The LinkedIn integration can be glitchy and unreliable, sometimes failing to sync or pull accurate data.
  • The user interface, while generally functional, can feel clunky and overwhelming, especially for new users.
  • Customer support response times can be slow, especially for complex issues, and often requires multiple follow-ups.

lemlist and Apollo.io Ratings

  • G2
    4.4/5
    (254)
  • Capterra
    4.6/5
    (381)
  • G2
    4.8/5
    (2666)
  • Capterra
    4.6/5
    (319)
  • Glassdoor
    3.9/5
    (150)

Company health

Employee growth

51% increase in the last year
21% increase in the last year

Web traffic

21% increase in the last quarter
5% decrease in the last quarter

Financing

No data
May 2023 - $251M

How do Apollo.io's lead routing features compare to lemlist's email sequencing for sales efficiency?

Apollo.io's lead routing focuses on automated distribution and prioritization based on criteria like company size and industry, improving sales efficiency by getting leads to the right reps quickly. Lemlist's strength is in email sequencing, allowing for automated, personalized email campaigns triggered by lead behaviors or sales stages. While both contribute to sales efficiency, Apollo.io excels at initial lead management while lemlist focuses on nurturing leads through targeted email communication. Therefore, they address different stages of the sales pipeline.

Which product, lemlist or Apollo.io, offers more reliable data enrichment for accurate outreach?

Apollo.io likely offers more reliable data enrichment due to its larger database and emphasis on data accuracy features like real-time verification and integrations with multiple data sources. While both lemlist and Apollo.io offer email enrichment, user reviews suggest Apollo.io's data quality and verification features give it an edge for accurate outreach. lemlist users have reported issues with email deliverability and unreliable data, indicating potential weaknesses in their data enrichment process.

What are the advantages of lemlist?

lemlist's advantages lie in its specialized focus on email deliverability and cold outreach, particularly valuable for small to medium businesses. Its email warming tools, personalized templates, and AI assistance help improve open and response rates. lemlist also provides a more affordable pricing structure compared to Apollo.io, especially for smaller teams.

What are the disadvantages of lemlist?

lemlist's email warmup tool, while touted as a feature, is reported by users to be unreliable and potentially harmful to email reputation. The platform's limited CRM integrations outside of HubSpot and Salesforce may restrict its suitability for teams reliant on other CRM systems. Users also cite a confusing token system for features like email validation and a less intuitive user interface following recent updates.

Is lemlist cheaper than Apollo.io?

lemlist's pricing starts at $32/month for its Email Starter plan after a 14-day free trial. Apollo.io offers a free plan with limited features and credits, while its paid plans begin at $49/month. Therefore, Apollo.io is more expensive if considering paid options but does offer a free version that lemlist does not.

Alternatives to lemlist and Apollo.io

Logo of amplemarket
lemlist vs amplemarket
AI-powered sales platform automates outreach and boosts revenue.
Read more
Logo of Saleshandy
lemlist vs Saleshandy
Automated sales emails, personalized outreach, and improved deliverability.
Read more
Logo of Lusha
Lusha
Find business contacts, build lead lists, and enrich your CRM.
Read more
Logo of Outreach
lemlist vs Outreach
Engage prospects, automate workflows, and close deals faster.
Read more
Logo of ZoomInfo Sales
lemlist vs ZoomInfo Sales
Find, reach, and close more deals with accurate B2B data.
Read more
Logo of HubSpot Sales Hub
lemlist vs HubSpot Sales Hub
Automate sales, track leads, and close deals faster.
Read more
Page co-authored by
MK
Michal Kaczor
CEO at Gralio

Michal has worked at startups for many years and writes about topics relating to software selection and IT management. As a former consultant for Bain, a business advisory company, he also knows how to understand needs of any business and find solutions to its problems.

TT
Tymon Terlikiewicz
CTO at Gralio

Tymon is a seasoned CTO who loves finding the perfect tools for any task. He recently headed up the tech department at Batmaid, a well-known Swiss company, where he managed about 60 software purchases, including CX, HR, Payroll, Marketing automation and various developer tools.

How are we doing?

Is this information helpful to you? Is there anything we are missing?
Did this help you select your product?
Other issues? Vote & Let us know
NEW: Introducing Gralio Screen Buddy

An AI tool that observes your work, finds inefficiencies, and suggests smarter ways to do things. Maybe you can use your tools better, automate tasks, or switch software.

For Individuals
Streamline your daily tasks, get helpful AI tips, and find the right tools for your workflow.
For Businesses
See how your team really works, uncover automation opportunities, and get software recommendations tailored to your processes.