Tool vs tool
Ken is our productApollo vs Instantly: Which Is Better in 2026?
Pick Apollo if you need the contacts and the sequences in one per-seat tool, with a dialer and CRM sync included. Pick Instantly if you bring your own lists and want unlimited inboxes and warmup for a flat $47 a month.
Ken is our product. Every fact about other tools comes from their public pages on the date shown.
The Verdict
Apollo or Instantly?
Ken's view, from each vendor's public pages checked Oct 17, 2026.
Pick Apollo if
- You need contact data and sequences in one tool, from $49 per seat a month billed yearly.
- Your reps call as well as email, with a US dialer in the same seat.
- You want Salesforce or HubSpot push and pull on every plan.
Pick Instantly if
- You bring your own lead lists and need unlimited sending inboxes with warmup.
- You want a flat price per workspace rather than per seat, from $47 a month.
- You send high volume from many inboxes for one flat price, with 125,000 emails a month on Hypergrowth at $97 a month.
At a Glance
In short Of the 4 features below, Apollo has 3 and Instantly has 0 in full, from each vendor's public pages checked Oct 17, 2026.
| Feature | Apollo | Instantly | Ken(ours) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free plan or trial | Free plan with 75 credits per seat a month, 2 sequences and 250 emails a day | 14-day free trial, no card | Free, 1,000 credits once, no card |
| Lowest paid plan | Basic, $65 per seat a month ($49 billed yearly) | Growth, $47 a month ($37.60 billed yearly) | Platform, $200 a month ($160 billed yearly) |
| Unlimited users on one plan | No - priced per seat | Partial - no team members on Growth; Hypergrowth and Light Speed add team members with no per-user fee | Yes - Platform includes unlimited seats and workspaces |
| Work email finder | Yes - 1 credit per email, charged only for addresses Apollo can verify | Partial - paid add-on, Lead Database runs on Data Credits, from $9 a month | Yes - 250M people and 24M companies; search is free, 1 credit ($0.02) per valid email found, charged only on success |
| Email verification built in | Yes - emails verified before you are charged; waterfall re-verification on Basic and up | Partial - paid add-on, 0.25 credits per lead, needs a Data Credits plan | Yes - uploaded lists verified free on Platform (fair-use rate limits apply) |
| CRM integration (HubSpot, Salesforce) | Yes - Salesforce and HubSpot push and pull on every plan | Partial - HubSpot two-way in Automations, Salesforce through OutboundSync | Partial - email events one way to HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, Attio, Close and GoHighLevel through OutboundSync; native two-way sync coming |
Apollo and Instantly sit in different categories, so the rows are pricing plus the features both answer. Sources are listed at the end of the page.
How Much Do Apollo and Instantly Cost?
In short Apollo.io's lowest paid plan is Basic, $65 per seat a month ($49 billed yearly). Instantly's lowest paid plan is Growth, $47 a month ($37.60 billed yearly).
| Tool | Plan | Monthly | Billed yearly (per month) | Unit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apollo.io | Basic | $65 | $49 | Per seat |
| Includes2,500 credits per seat a month (30,000 a year on annual billing); Unlimited sequences, 250 emails a day; 6 Bombora intent topics; Waterfall enrichment and automated CRM enrichment; US dialer, calls use credits | ||||
| Apollo.io | Professional | $99 | $79 | Per seat |
| Includes4,000 credits per seat a month (48,000 a year on annual billing); Unlimited daily sends and A/Z testing; Unlimited Google and Microsoft mailboxes per user; AI agents and AI lead scoring; 4,000 minutes of call recording per user a month | ||||
| Apollo.io | Organization | Not sold monthly | $119 | Per seat |
| Includes72,000 credits per seat a year; Minimum 3 seats, annual billing only; 12 intent topics; SSO, custom permission profiles and Salesforce custom objects; 8,000 minutes of call recording per user a month | ||||
| Instantly | Growth | $47 | $37.60 | Flat |
| Includes1,000 uploaded contacts; 5,000 emails a month; Unlimited email accounts and warmup; Chat support | ||||
| Instantly | Hypergrowth | $97 | $77.60 | Flat |
| Includes25,000 uploaded contacts; 125,000 emails a month; Unlimited email accounts and warmup; Premium live support | ||||
| Instantly | Light Speed | $358 | $286.30 | Flat |
| Includes100,000 uploaded contacts; 500,000 emails a month; SISR server and IP rotation system; Everything in Hypergrowth | ||||
| Instantly | Enterprise | Contact sales | Contact sales | Custom |
| Includes500,000+ emails a month; 100,000+ uploaded contacts; Private Deliverability Network | ||||
Prices in USD from each vendor's pricing page: Apollo.io checked Oct 17, 2026, Instantly checked Oct 17, 2026.
- Apollo.io: Credits are pooled across the team and granted upfront each billing cycle. Unused credits, including bought add-on credits, expire at the end of the cycle.
- Apollo.io: An email costs 1 credit and is charged only when Apollo can verify the address. A phone number costs 8 credits. Enrichment, AI research, the dialer, email warmup and domain or mailbox purchases also use credits.
- Apollo.io: Add-on credits are bought in-app and cost $0.025 per credit at small volumes, down to $0.015 at the largest tiers.
- Instantly: Prices above are Email Outreach only. Enterprise is Contact sales. Annual prices are as printed on the pricing page.
- Instantly: The uploaded contact limit is fixed across all campaigns, not per month. Each Outbound add-on is $87 a month for 25,000 more contacts and 125,000 more emails, on Hypergrowth or Light Speed.
- Instantly: Lead Database, verification and AI agents run on Data Credits, a separate subscription: Nano $9 a month for 150 credits, Growth $47 for 1,500, Supersonic from $97 for 5,000, Hyper from $197 for 10,000, up to $1,700 for 200,000. Monthly credits expire 2 months after purchase.
What Are the Key Differences Between Apollo and Instantly?
In short 7 differences that change which tool fits, each from the vendors' own pages.
| Topic | Apollo | Instantly |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Contact database with sequences, a dialer and deal tools | Cold email sending tool with an optional lead database |
| Pricing unit | Per seat, $65 a month or $49 billed yearly on Basic | Per workspace, $47 a month or $37.60 billed yearly on Growth |
| Sending inboxes | 1 mailbox per user on Free and Basic; unlimited from Professional | Unlimited email accounts and warmup on every plan |
| Sending volume | 250 emails a day on Free and Basic, unlimited from Professional | 5,000 emails a month on Growth, 125,000 on Hypergrowth |
| Contact data | In the seat, with 2,500 credits per seat a month on Basic and 1 credit per verified email | Separate Data Credits subscription from $9 a month, 1 credit per verified work email (2 from data partners) |
| Phone and calling | Phone numbers at 8 credits each and a US dialer | Calls and SMS in the CRM add-on, from $47 a month |
| CRM sync | Salesforce and HubSpot on every plan | HubSpot two-way in Automations, Salesforce through OutboundSync |
Or Skip Both: Ken
In short Ken Search covers 250M people and 24M companies, searchable by title, seniority, company and location.
Campaigns finds and qualifies leads, writes personalized email and LinkedIn sequences, and sends them from your outbound inboxes.
Ken's Free plan gives 1,000 credits once, with no card. Platform is $200 a month, or $160 a month billed yearly, with 200,000 sends and 5,000 credits a month and unlimited seats and workspaces.
- Search 250M people and 24M companies.
- Search is free; you pay only for valid emails found, 1 credit ($0.02) each.
- Company and person enrichment is free.
- One campaign can mix email and LinkedIn steps.
- AI qualification costs 50 credits ($1) per 1,000 rows.
- AI personalization costs 300 credits ($6) per 1,000 rows.
Apollo vs Instantly FAQ
Can Apollo replace Instantly?
Apollo runs email sequences on every plan with its own contact data, so you can find contacts and send from one tool. Free and Basic cap sending at 250 emails a day and 1 mailbox per user; unlimited sends start on Professional at $79 per seat a month billed yearly.
Does Instantly have a contact database?
Yes. Instantly's Lead Database lists 450M+ contacts with waterfall email enrichment, billed on a separate Data Credits subscription from $9 a month. Monthly credits expire 2 months after purchase.
Is Apollo or Instantly cheaper?
Apollo Basic is $65 per seat a month, or $49 billed yearly, with 2,500 credits per seat and up to 250 emails a day. Instantly Growth is $47 a month, or $37.60 billed yearly, for 5,000 emails, with lead data on a separate Data Credits plan. For sending alone at volume, Instantly Hypergrowth covers 125,000 emails for $97 a month.
The new Ken opens to the waiting list in batches.
Related
Sources
Changelog
- Page published.