Apollo.io alternative · Pricing checked October 2026
Looking for an Apollo.io alternative?
Apollo.io is a b2B contact database and sales engagement platform. If what you really need is local business leads that are already enriched — owner name, verified emails, phone line type, tech stack — LeadMerlin may be a better fit. Here is an honest look at both.
Short answer
Apollo.io is best for: Sales teams targeting people at established B2B companies by role and firmographics.
LeadMerlin is best for: finding every local business in a niche and city, enriched and ready for outreach, from a dashboard, an API or your AI agent.
Side by side
| Feature | Apollo.io | LeadMerlin |
|---|---|---|
| Data source | Pre-built B2B database | Live Google Business Profiles + website crawl |
| Best target | People at B2B companies | Local small businesses |
| Sequencing built in | Yes | No — export to your sequencer |
| Tech stack from website | Not listed | Yes |
| Agent skill file | Not listed | Yes |
Pricing checked October 2026. “Not listed” means we could not find it on Apollo.io’s public pages — it may still exist.
What Apollo.io is
Apollo is a large B2B contact and company database with built-in prospecting and sales engagement tools. It is strongest for companies and people with an established online B2B footprint.
- Database of 240M contacts and 30M companies with verified emails and phone numbers. [1]
Apollo.io pricing
- Free, Basic, Professional and Custom plans, billed monthly or annually; credits are pooled per team and do not roll over. Exact prices were not shown on the public page when we checked. [1]
LeadMerlin pricing
- Free — $0, 100 leads to start
- Starter — $39/mo ($29/mo yearly), 10,000 leads/mo
- Pro — $49/mo ($39/mo yearly), 20,000 leads/mo
- Agency — $97/mo ($79/mo yearly), 50,000 leads/mo
- That works out to about $1.94–$3.90 per 1,000 enriched leads at full plan usage, with the full pipeline on every lead.
How LeadMerlin credits work
- 1 lead credit per business that has a website to enrich.
- Listings without a website are never charged (counted as skipped, not returned in results).
- Off-niche listings removed by the niche filter are never charged.
- Failed enrichments are refunded automatically.
- A search charges only what your balance covers: with 40 credits left, it enriches the 40 top-ranked matches. Set max_leads to cap any search.
- Locations, niche suggestions, polling and demo endpoints are free.
- Phone line-type lookups have a monthly allowance: 100 on the free start, 1,000 Starter, 2,000 Pro, 4,000 Agency. Numbers looked up before are free. Past the allowance, phones still come back without a line type.
Where Apollo.io is better
- Huge database of people at mid-size and large companies, searchable by title, seniority and firmographics.
- Built-in sequences and sales engagement.
- Mature CRM integrations for sales teams.
Where LeadMerlin is better
- Live discovery of small local businesses straight from Google Business Profiles, including ones with little LinkedIn presence.
- Data pulled from each business’s own website at search time: services, tech stack, page text.
- Simple per-lead pricing and an API built for AI agents.
Choose Apollo.io if…
- You sell to roles inside mid-market or enterprise companies.
- You want a database plus sequencing and dialing in one platform.
- You need firmographic filters like headcount and industry codes.
Choose LeadMerlin if…
- Your buyers are owners of local service businesses — plumbers, dentists, salons, contractors.
- You need every business in a niche and city, not people filtered by job title.
- You want fresh website-level detail for personalization.
Sources
Checked on 2026-10-18. Competitor pricing and features change often — confirm on www.apollo.io before deciding. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we will fix it.
FAQ
Is LeadMerlin a direct replacement for Apollo.io?
Only for some jobs. Apollo.io is best for: Sales teams targeting people at established B2B companies by role and firmographics. LeadMerlin focuses on finding and enriching local businesses through one API.
Can I try LeadMerlin before switching?
Yes. The first 100 enriched leads are free with no credit card, and the demo API endpoints work without a key.
How does LeadMerlin charge?
One lead credit per business that has a website to enrich. Listings without a website, off-niche listings and failed enrichments are not charged.
Want a feature-by-feature view? LeadMerlin vs Apollo.io.
Other alternatives we compared
Try LeadMerlin free.
Your first 100 enriched leads are free. No credit card. Run it from the dashboard, the API, or your AI agent.