Ken AI
Ken Core
- $597
Ken Core plan
Core at 5,000 leads / mo (VIP is $4,597/mo at the same software limits)
- Included
Leads
5,000 included
- Included
Emails per day
1,000/day included. Ken-provisioned mailboxes sized by type (Google/Outlook typically 25/day, Azure typically 5/day)
- Included
Inboxes (mailboxes)
Included - Ken provisions and manages sending inboxes for your daily volume
- Included
LinkedIn multichannel seats
5 seats included (connection requests, messages, profile visits + email in one sequence)
- Included
Email verification
Included
- Included
AI qualification
Included
- Included
AI personalization
Included
- Included
AI segmentation
Included
- Included
AI quality check
Included
- Included
Placement tests and monitoring
Included
- Included
Email warmup
Included
Apollo
Basic
- $354
Apollo Basic
6 x $59/seat (monthly billing) = $354. 6 seats used for credit capacity (team size assumption: 1). Credits: 5,000 leads x 3 credits/lead (1 email + 1 enrichment + 1 AI) = 15,000/mo needed; pool 15,000/mo (30,000 credits/seat/year ÷ 12 = 2,500/seat/mo (monthly paid-plan allotment UNCONFIRMED - /12 is generous-to-Apollo)).
- Included
Unified credits (email + enrichment)
15,000 credits/mo included in seat allotment (5,000 x (1 email + 1 enrichment); enrichment range on Apollo is 1-8 credits - model uses your enrichment assumption). Email verification is included in the 1 credit per net-new email.
- Included
AI research (qualification and segmentation)
5,000 leads x 1 credit(s)/lead = 5,000 credits included in the unified seat balance (Apollo: AI research 1 credit per run; credited here as covering per-lead qualification and segmentation).
- $300
AI personalization (external API)
20,000 emails x 3 lines x $5 / 1k lines = $300, to match the AI Ken includes - external AI API cost, not billed by Apollo
- $120
AI quality check (external API)
20,000 emails x $6 / 1k = $120, to match the AI Ken includes - external AI API cost, not billed by Apollo
- $16
Sending domainsthey don't advertise this
13 domains x $15 / yr = $16 / mo - bought outside Apollo (Google Workspace etc.). Apollo-purchased mailboxes exist but credit prices are UNCONFIRMED.
- $148
Inboxes (mailboxes)they don't advertise this
37 inboxes x $4 / mo = $148 - bought outside Apollo (Google Workspace etc.). Apollo-purchased mailboxes exist but credit prices are UNCONFIRMED.
- $79
LinkedIn multichannel (HeyReach)
1 LinkedIn sender x $79 / mo (HeyReach Growth monthly - Instantly/Smartlead have no native LinkedIn outreach)
Apollo bills per seat with a yearly unified credit pool. Monthly billing credit grants are not published as a separate table - this calculator treats yearly credits as /12 per month (generous to Apollo). Enrichment defaults to 1 credit per lead (Apollo's public range is 1-8). Domains and inboxes use shared outside costs because Apollo's own mailbox credit prices are UNCONFIRMED. Organization always uses at least 3 seats. LinkedIn multichannel parity is modeled as HeyReach at $79/sender.
What Apollo is
Apollo is a go-to-market platform that combines a large B2B contact database, CRM-style workflows, sequences, dialer, and intent data in one product. Plans are billed per seat, with a yearly unified credit balance for email access, enrichment, phone numbers, and AI research. You connect your own mailboxes (or buy infrastructure with credits where available) and run prospecting from inside Apollo. It is genuinely strong when your team lives in a multi-channel sales stack and wants data plus CRM in the same seat.
When they are the right call: Choose Apollo when you need a full sales intelligence suite per seat: multi-user CRM workflows, dialer, intent topics, and a shared database for AEs and SDRs who work LinkedIn, phone, and email together. Teams that already own Google Workspace or Microsoft mailboxes and want engagement layered on top of Apollo data often get more value from Apollo than from an email-only tool.
Where Ken fits
Choose Ken when cold email is the motion you care about most and you want database, verification, AI qualification and personalization, domains, inboxes, warmup, and placement monitoring in one volume-based price. Ken fits operators who would rather not piece together seats, credit math, and external mailbox costs for every campaign.
The honest tradeoffs.
Apollo
Strengths
- Large B2B database with email, phone, enrichment, and intent in one product
- Per-seat plans that scale for multi-user sales teams and CRM-style workflows
- Sequences, dialer, and engagement tools beyond email-only outreach
- Professional and Organization allow unlimited Google/Microsoft mailbox connects
Tradeoffs
- Mailboxes and domains still cost money outside Apollo unless you burn UNCONFIRMED credit prices for Apollo-provisioned infra
- Unified credits cover email, enrichment, phone, and AI research, so high-volume outbound burns the seat allotment quickly
- Organization requires a minimum of three seats even for smaller teams
Ken AI
Strengths
- Volume-based plans with domains and inboxes included, not bought separately
- AI qualification, segmentation, personalization, and quality check included in the plan price
- Email verification and sending infrastructure sized with the campaign, not a separate credit pool
- Monthly or quarterly billing (16% off on Core) for predictable outbound budgets
Tradeoffs
- No built-in dialer or full GTM CRM suite comparable to Apollo - Ken is outreach (email + LinkedIn), not a sales engagement CRM
- Newer company with a narrower feature surface outside cold email
At a glance.
| Apollo | Ken AI | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Per seat: Basic $59/mo ($49 annual), Professional $99 ($79), Organization $149 ($119, min 3 seats) | Core $597/mo (5k leads included), VIP $4,597/mo at the same limits; extras volume-priced |
| Lead database | Included; net-new verified email is 1 unified credit | 300M+ contacts included in plan volume |
| Email verification | Included in the 1 credit for net-new email access | Included |
| Enrichment | 1-8 unified credits per enrichment (waterfall varies by source) | Included in plan workflows |
| AI personalization | AI research at 1 credit per run (uses seat credit balance) | Included (qualification, personalization, quality check) |
| Sending infrastructure | Connect your own mailboxes; domains/inboxes bought outside Apollo (or UNCONFIRMED credit prices in-app) | Domains and inboxes included with the plan |
| Mailbox limits | Basic 1 mailbox/user; Professional+ unlimited Google/Microsoft + SMTP caps | Inboxes provisioned for your send volume |
| Dialer | Dialer included on paid plans (2 credits/min US); intent topics by tier | No built-in dialer |
| LinkedIn multichannel | Sequences exist in the GTM suite; serious LinkedIn automation is often still a separate tool (~HeyReach $79/sender) | 5 seats included on Core and VIP; extra seats $30–$15/mo by volume |
The math, in full.
Worked at 10,000 leads / month, monthly billing. Every figure below is editable in the calculator above.
Apollo: line by line
Apollo Basic
12 x $59/seat (monthly billing) = $708. 12 seats used for credit capacity (team size assumption: 1). Credits: 10,000 leads x 3 credits/lead (1 email + 1 enrichment + 1 AI) = 30,000/mo needed; pool 30,000/mo (30,000 credits/seat/year ÷ 12 = 2,500/seat/mo (monthly paid-plan allotment UNCONFIRMED - /12 is generous-to-Apollo)).
Unified credits (email + enrichment)
30,000 credits/mo included in seat allotment (10,000 x (1 email + 1 enrichment); enrichment range on Apollo is 1-8 credits - model uses your enrichment assumption). Email verification is included in the 1 credit per net-new email.
AI research (qualification and segmentation)
10,000 leads x 1 credit(s)/lead = 10,000 credits included in the unified seat balance (Apollo: AI research 1 credit per run; credited here as covering per-lead qualification and segmentation).
AI personalization (external API)
40,000 emails x 3 lines x $5 / 1k lines = $600, to match the AI Ken includes - external AI API cost, not billed by Apollo
AI quality check (external API)
40,000 emails x $6 / 1k = $240, to match the AI Ken includes - external AI API cost, not billed by Apollo
Sending domains
25 domains x $15 / yr = $31 / mo - bought outside Apollo (Google Workspace etc.). Apollo-purchased mailboxes exist but credit prices are UNCONFIRMED.
Inboxes (mailboxes)
73 inboxes x $4 / mo = $292 - bought outside Apollo (Google Workspace etc.). Apollo-purchased mailboxes exist but credit prices are UNCONFIRMED.
LinkedIn multichannel (HeyReach)
1 LinkedIn sender x $79 / mo (HeyReach Growth monthly - Instantly/Smartlead have no native LinkedIn outreach)
Ken: line by line
Ken Core plan
Core at 10,000 leads / mo (VIP is $4,597/mo at the same software limits)
Leads
5,000 included, plus 5k extra
Emails per day
1,000/day included. Ken-provisioned mailboxes sized by type (Google/Outlook typically 25/day, Azure typically 5/day)
Inboxes (mailboxes)
Included - Ken provisions and manages sending inboxes for your daily volume
LinkedIn multichannel seats
5 seats included (connection requests, messages, profile visits + email in one sequence)
Email verification
Included
AI qualification
Included
AI personalization
Included
AI segmentation
Included
AI quality check
Included
Placement tests and monitoring
Included
Email warmup
Included
Assumptions and sources
- Emails per lead4 emailsKen standard 4-step cold-email sequence
- Emails per inbox per day25 emails / inbox / dayConservative deliverability-safe send rate per mailbox
- Inboxes per domain3 inboxes / domainCommon cold-email setup (3 inboxes per sending domain)
- Domain price15 $ / domain / yrTypical registrar cost for a sending domain (e.g. Instantly sells domains at $15 / yr)
- Inbox price4 $ / inbox / moTypical mailbox cost (e.g. Google Workspace seat)
- Sending days per month22 daysWeekdays only (no weekend sends)
- Seats (team size)1 seatsApollo prices per seat; Organization has a published minimum of 3 seats
- Enrichment credits per lead1 credits / leadApollo enrichment is 1-8 credits per lead; default 1 is the low end of that range
- AI research credits per lead1 credits / leadApollo AI research costs 1 credit per run; default 1 is one research run per lead
- LinkedIn seats (HeyReach)1 seatsHeyReach Growth $79/sender/mo ($63 annual) - typical stitch for Instantly/Smartlead multichannel (verified 2026-07-24)
- AI personalization5 $ / 1k linesExternal AI API cost to match the AI Ken includes - not billed by the platform
- Personalized lines per email3 lines / emailKen default, editable
- AI quality check6 $ / 1k emailsExternal AI API cost to match the AI Ken includes - not billed by the platform
Apollo pricing sources
- Apollo pricing - Annual list prices and unified credit allotments; verified 2026-07-11
- HeyReach pricing (LinkedIn multichannel stitch)
- Apollo lead-generation tools article (monthly prices) - Monthly $/seat for Basic, Professional, Organization; verified 2026-07-11
- Apollo credits help center - 1 credit per net-new verified email; enrichment 1-8; verified 2026-07-11
- Apollo domain and mailbox generation - Apollo can sell domains/mailboxes for credits; credit prices UNCONFIRMED - model uses outside Google Workspace etc. costs
Pricing verified 2026-07-24.
Frequently Asked Questions
Straight answers on Apollo vs Ken - fit, pricing, and when each wins.
For cold email outbound, Ken covers database, sequences, AI, and deliverability without seat-based credit math. Apollo still wins if you need a dialer, broad sales engagement CRM workflows, or a large team living inside Apollo's GTM suite day to day.
See the real cost for yourself.
Book a call, or buy Core ($597/mo) or VIP ($4,597/mo) on the pricing page.