Cold Emailing

Instantly vs Apollo: Are they the right fit?

Christina Miranda
LAST UPDATED
August 8, 2024
READING TIME
7 min.

Apollo.io and Instantly.ai are both major players in the cold outreach game.

So obviously choosing between both of them can be a hard task, which is why we’ve compiled a comparison of both tools to help you reach a decision quicker.

Instantly overview

Instantly.ai is a sales engagement and automation platform. Essentially it’s an all-in-one platform where you can carry out all of your outreach efforts to gain more clients.

Instantly offers many features that will help you grow your business.

  • In automated outreach, you can send multi-step email campaigns with automated follow-ups, set to be sent with predetermined triggers. You’ll receive task reminders and handle responses automatically with Instantly.
  • Your emails can be personalized and tailored to your recipients to improve your reply rates. You can either start your messages from scratch or use the predetermined templates, personalizing them as much as you want to fit your brand.
  • Regarding lead generation, Instantly offers a lead database with 160M contacts at your disposal. Aside from the lead database, you can also import lead lists from LinkedIn and other platforms and segment them.
  • Instantly integrates with email services and popular CRMs, such as Salesforce or HubSpot.
  • Thanks to Instantly’s analytics and reporting you will be able to track your KPIs and analyze how your campaigns are doing in terms of CTRs, open rates, reply rates, and overall effectiveness. You will also be able to assess where to adjust to make sure you’re reaching your full outreach potential, including A/B testing.

Apollo overview

Apollo.io is a go-to-market sales engagement platform, that focuses on lead generation, sales engagement, and CRM. Compared to Instantly, Apollo has a larger suite of features to streamline your sales process, some of them including:

  • An extensive lead database with +275M contacts and a wide variety of search filters to track down your ideal buyers. Aside from the lead database, you can import and enrich additional contact data, such as email addresses, phone numbers, social profiles, and company data.
  • Apollo allows you to automate your outreach with personalized messages, scheduled email sequences, and pre-built templates.
  • With Apollo, you can automate your tasks such as lead nurturing, follow-up reminders, and data entries, or create custom workflows. Aside from task automation, you can facilitate team management by supporting lead sharing, insights, campaign results, and team task management.
  • Apollo offers solid integrations with popular CRMs and other platforms such as Salesloft, or Outreach, among many others.
  • Apollo offers strong and flexible reporting and analytics using Apollo's pre-built reports or by creating custom dashboards. You can also choose conversational analytics to enhance your team’s performance.

Features

Although Instantly and Apollo have many features, we’re going to analyze the most necessary ones when building your outreach strategy.

Personalization

In Instantly.ai, you can access the personalization feature “Variables” only after importing your leads.

When you upload the CSV with your leads list, make sure you’ve added your desired variables in columns.

Once you start crafting your email you can include the variable in the copy and the subject line.

Bear in mind that if your variables haven’t been added to the list, you will not be able to include them later on in your email copy.

Some of the variables available in Instantly.ai are:

  • First Name
  • Last Name
  • Company Name
  • Website, etc

This is a simple but very effective form of personalization.

Although you can include images in your emails by adding the custom variable  {{imageURL}}, these images cannot be personalized.

For Apollo, on the other hand, we can find 3 types of dynamic variables you can include in your manual email copies to add a high-level personalization:

  • Basic variables like {{first_name}}, {{last_name}}, {{company}}, {{title}}, {{now_weekday}}, etc.
  • Custom variables that you can create.
  • And advanced variables that use conditions like {{#if first_name}}”text to show only if dynamic variable exists”{{#endif}}, etc.

Bear in mind, that if you wish to choose the option “Personalize with AI” you can only choose the manual emails, not automatic emails.

With Apollo’s AI, you can also include icebreakers by adding the variable {{apollo_ai_personalized_opener}}. Apollo will then take information from your leads to create personalized icebreakers in your email copies.

Warmup and deliverability

Having a warmup and deliverability feature built into your cold outreach software can really help tip the scales.

At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how good or AI-generated your email copies are if they aren’t landing in your leads’ main inboxes. With a good and automated warm-up feature you can save yourself many headaches!

In this regard, we prefer Instantly as it has a dedicated warm-up feature, whereas Apollo only offers a small email Ramp-up.

Instantly recently added a new pricing category named “Sending & Warm up”, this is dedicated not only to sending your email campaigns, but sending campaigns that work. Instantly offer +550,000 real email accounts for automated email warm-up.

You can connect unlimited accounts and keep warming them, however you wish to do so with customizable options.

With Instantly’s deliverabilty dashboard you’ll be able to track and monitor where your emails are landing.

Credit: Instantly

On the other hand, Apollo currently lacks an actual warm-up feature. Nontheless, you can still prepare your email account for your campaigns with the Ibox Ram-Up, although it may take a bit more work.

Credit: Apollo

The biggest downside of the Ramp-Up is that it can take up to two weeks, and during this time your schedules could be slowed down quite a bit.

However, you can monitor the status of the Ramp-up at any time as well as your mailbox health, a very useful feature to know where you need to make adjustments regarding deliverability.

Buyer intent signals

Reaching your leads when they are ready to buy your product or service is crucial to ensure your success. So having a tool that can provide insights into your leads’ buyer intent can be a real asset.

In this regard, Instantly only offer filters in the database (which we will discuss earlier on), so the start here is Apollo.

Apollo send you alerts via Slack, email, or in Apollo’s control center when buying intent signals are detected. This feature ensures that there are little to no cracks in your campaigns, and allow you to save time with extensive research or emails sent at the wrong time.

Lead database

A lead database holds contact information of leads such as job title, location, name, contact details, LinkedIn, etc. When picking your cold outreach tool you’ll want to make sure that you can easily find leads within the tool.

Which is why we will be comparing Instantly’s and Apollo’s lead databases.

Instantly has a quite expansive lead database with +160 million verified contacts, although we should mention that it is not an all time high.

The best characteristic we find in Instantly’s lead database are the extensive filters and audience segmentation tools.

Some filters include:

  • Job title
  • Location
  • Industry
  • Company size
  • Revenue range
  • Keywords
  • Lookalike domain
  • Job listings (only un Hyper Leads)
  • Technology
  • Department
  • Management level

Apollo’s lead database offers +270 million data points, making it a more extensive (and preferable) lead database.

Although Apollo offers less filters, they’re still some very desirable options such as:

  • Buyer intent
  • Technologies
  • Lists
  • Persona
  • Name
  • Job titles
  • Company
  • Location
  • Number of employees
  • Industry and keywords

With Apollo you also have a feature to enrich your leads.

In this aspect, we consider that Apollo offers a stronger lead database.

Overall campaign management

At the end of the day, it all boils down to how your outreach software manages your full campaigns. You need strong sending capabilities and campaign optimization.

With Instantly you can set up your CC and BCC on your emails that will allow you to send the same copy to several people, perhaps inside a company so you ensure you don’t miss out on the decision maker.

Instantly also offers features such as A/Z testing to make sure that you’re reaching your campaign’s full potential. This feature makes it standout as a strong choice.

The best part is that Instantly offers Unibox, so you can send your campaigns from different accounts to avoid deliverability issues but not miss out on any messages are they are all centralized in one unique inbox.

The only downside here is that Instantly’s AI generator feature is not avaiable on the Growth plan. Nonetheless you can access the inbuilt templates to create your sequences and simply edit to fit your needs.

Additionally in your sequences, you can set triggers to make sure that they don’t continue to send automatically once your lead has replied.

Apollo offers very strong outreach capabilities with many different options, including multichannel outreach including email, LinkedIn, and cold calling.

Apollo.io allows users to create and manage email sequences, making it easier to automate and personalize outreach campaigns, with an option to A/B test your sequences.

The platform's interface is super intuitive, allowing for easy setup and tracking of email campaigns.

You can link multiple email accounts to Apollo, facilitating diverse outreach strategies.

Although Apollo does offer task management for teams, neither of these options are fully fit for agencies. So if you have an agency, you might be better off with a tool like lemlist!

Pricing comparison

We will be comparing both pricing models based on monthly billings, although bear in mind that it comes out a bit cheaper when billed annually!

Instantly’s pricing model has become a bit more confusing, as you now have to buy Leads and Campaigns separately.

Instantly has a free trial.

The Growth and Hypergrowth plans have decent pricings ($37 and $97 per month), but it quickly scales X3 if you go for the Light Speed plan at a whopping $358 plan.

On the other hand, Apollo has a more straightforward pricing system, including a free plan and free trials in the Basic and Professional plans.

Apollo’s pricing ranges from $59 to $149, making it a more desirable option than Instantly.

Bear in mind that AI features are not included in the Free or Basic plans!

Pros and Cons

A quick overview of each tool is clearly not enough, after sifting through Instantly and Apollo’s reviews, here’s what users have to say about them:

→ Instantly ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

G2 4.9/5 (2,764 reviews)  | Trust Pilot 4.5/5 (305 reviews)

✅ Pros ❌ Cons
Overall high deliverability and good warm-up features Limited lead management capabilities
Clear insights in the analytics dashboards Higher plan is too expensive
Built-in CRM Lacks onboarding

→ Apollo ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

G2 4.8/5 (7,077 reviews)  | Capterra 4.6/5 (345 reviews)

✅ Pros ❌ Cons
Intuitive interface Sometimes offers outdated lead information
Integration with other tools enhances workflow efficiency Only 2 active sequences in Basic plan
Call recording feature Lacks many leads’ phone numbers

What do we prefer?

Instantly comes ahead in warm-up and deliverability and the lead database. Even though it has less contacts, the filters are much more detailed and ontact information is said to be more accurate.

Whereas Apollo comes ahead in personalization, buyer intent signal, and overall campaign management.

Nonetheless, the fact that Instantly has it’s own built-in CRM makes it a desirable option.

However, if you’re looking for the best overall option you can’t go wrong with lemlist!

  • Top tier personalization (text, images, videos, LinkedIn voice notes)
  • +450 million lead database
  • Email Finder and Verifier
  • Multichannel outreach
  • Integration with top tools
  • Campaign management
  • Warm-up and deliverability booster
  • …. and so much more!
Christina Miranda
Content creator and translator @ lempire
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G2 Rating
Price
Best for
Standout feature
Con
4.9
star
star
star
star
star
$30/mo
$75/mo
$2,999/mo
Large, distributed sales teams
AI evaluation precision, gamified KPIs
Lack of tracking system
4.6
star
star
star
star
star-half
Not publicly available
Sales operations and finance teams
Powerful configurability
Limited training resources and complex to navigate
4.4
star
star
star
star
star-half
Not publicly available
Mid-market and enterprise businesses
Comprehensive incentive management
Potentially high cost and steep learning curve
4.7
star
star
star
star
star-half
$15/user/mo
$40/user/mo
Enterprise: custom price
Complex sales structures and businesses of all sizes
Complex sales structures and businesses of all sizes
Steep learning curve
4.6
star
star
star
star
star-half
Not publicly available
Collaborative teams
Connected planning
Complexity and steep learning curve
4.6
star
star
star
star
star-half
Not publicly available
Companies with complex sales structures
Complex incentive compensation management (ICM) with high efficiency and accuracy
Complexity for smaller teams and potentially high costs
4.7
star
star
star
star
star-half
Not publicly available
Companies who want to automate commission calculations and payouts
Simplicity and ease of use
Lack of features like redirection
4.7
star
star
star
star
star-half
$30/user/mo
$35/user/mo
Custom: upon request
Businesses that need a comprehensive and user-friendly sales compensation management software
Ease of use and adoption
Lack of ability to configure the product based on user needs
4.8
star
star
star
star
star-half
Not publicly available
Companies with modern sales culture and businesses who want real-time insights
A built-in dispute management and real-time visibility
Users say it works slowly, customer support is slow
4.9
star
star
star
star
star
$30/user/mo
$50/user/mo
Smaller sales teams
Powerful automation
Lesser user base and average user interface
4.7
star
star
star
star
star-half
Not publicly available
Companies with scalable needs
Automated Commission Calculations
Lack of filtering by date, no mobile app
ERP vs. CRM
ERP
CRM
Summary
Backbone of a business's internal operations.
Backbone of customer-centric interactions and operations.
Goal
To centralize and streamline core business processes in a company.
To increase customer experience, satisfaction and loyalty, and boost sales.
Focus
Internal operations and processes across departments (finance, accounting, inventory, supply chain, HR, and sales).
All interactions with leads and customers.
Manages
Internal business data like financial data, inventory levels, production details, supply chain, HR info.
All customer data like contact info, purchase history, communication history, customer preferences and more.
Users
Finance, accounting, operations, supply chain, and HR departments.
Customer-facing teams like sales, marketing, and customer service.
Benefits
Streamlines operations, improves data accuracy, enhances decision-making, boosts collaboration, increases productivity.
Improves customer relationships, increases sales, strengthens customer service, personalizes marketing campaigns, provides insights.
Price
$150 per user per year on average.
$10 to $30 per user per month on average.
PRM Tool
Rating
Feature
Pro
Con
Mobile App
Integrations
Free Plan
Pricing
4.65
star
star
star
star
star-half
Org-wide alignment
User-friendly layout and database
Suboptimal as a personal CRM
square-check
Lack of tracking system
square-check
Team: $20/month
Business: $45/month
4.7
star
star
star
star
star-half
Social Media Integration
Easy contact data collection
No marketing/sales features
square-check
Lack of tracking system
square-xmark
7-day trial
$12/month
4.75
star
star
star
star
star-half
Block Functions
High customization capability
Not a dedicated CRM
square-check
Limited
square-check
Plus: €7.50/month
Business: €14/month
N/A
Open-source
Open-source flexibility
Requires extensive manual input
square-xmark
Limited
square-check
Self-hosted
$9/month or
$90/year
3.1
star
star
star
Simple iOS app
Ideal for non-tech-savvy users
iPhone only
square-check
iOS only
Limited
square-xmark
1-month trial
$1.49/month or
$14.99/month
3.6
star
star
star
star-half
Smart Contact Management
Feature-rich and flexible
Reported bugs
square-check
Rich
square-xmark
7-day trial
Premium: $13.99/month
Teams: $17.99/month
4.4
star
star
star
star
star-half
Customizable Interface
Customizable for teamwork
Pricey for personal use
square-check
Rich
square-xmark
Standard: $24/member
Premium: $39/member
4.7
star
star
star
star
star-half
Integrated Calling
Integrated Calling
Too sales-oriented & pricey
square-check
Rich
square-xmark
14-day trial
Startup: $59/user/month
Professional: $329/user/month
4.8
star
star
star
star
star
Business Card Scanning
Business Card Scanning
Mobile only
square-check
Limited
square-check
$9.99/month
4.45
star
star
star
star
star-half
160+ app integrations
Comprehensive integrations
No free app version
square-check
Rich
square-xmark
14-day trial
$29.90/month or
$24.90/month (billed annually)
Capterra Rating
Free Trial
Free Plan
Starting Price (excluding the free plan)
Maximum Price (for the most expensive plan)
Best for
4.5
star
star
star
star
star-half
square-check
14-day
square-check
€15/month/seat billed annually
€792/month/3 seats billed annually + €45/month for each extra seat
Versatility and free plan
4.2
star
star
star
star
square-check
30-day
square-xmark
But it offers reduced price to authorised nonprofit organisations
€25/user/month
€500/user/month billed annually (includes Einstein AI)
Best overall operational CRM
4.3
star
star
star
star
star-half
square-xmark
square-check
Limited to 3 users
Comprehensive incentive management
€52/user/month billed annually
Small-medium businesses and automation
4.5
star
star
star
star
star-half
square-check
14-day
square-xmark
€14/seat/month billed annually
€99/seat/month billed annually
Sales teams and ease of use
4.1
star
star
star
star
square-xmark
square-check
Limited 10 users
$9.99/user/month billed annually
$64.99/user/month billed annually
Free plan for very small teams up to 10
CRM goal
Increase the sales conversion rate for qualified leads from marketing automation campaigns by 10% in the next 6 months.
SMART Breakdown
1. Specific: It targets a specific area (conversion rate) for a defined segment (qualified leads from marketing automation).
2. Measurable: The desired increase (10%) is a clear metric, and the timeframe (6 months) allows for progress tracking.
3. Achievable: A 10% increase is possible based on historical data and potential improvements.
4. Relevant: Boosting sales from marketing efforts aligns with overall business objectives.
5. Time-bound: The 6-month timeframe creates urgency and a clear target date.
Actions
Step 1: Refine lead qualification criteria to ensure high-quality leads are nurtured through marketing automation.
Step 2: Personalize marketing automation campaigns based on lead demographics, interests, and behavior.
Step 3: Develop targeted landing pages with clear calls to action for qualified leads.
Step 4: Implement lead scoring to prioritize high-potential leads for sales follow-up.
Step 5: Track and analyze campaign performance to identify areas for optimization.
Outcomes
Increased sales and revenue
Improved marketing automation ROI
Marketing and sales alignment
Data-driven marketing optimization
Table
CDP Software
CRM Software
Approach
Data-centric
Customer-centric
Focus
Interactions across various channels and touchpoints, both online and offline.
Sales, marketing, and customer service interactions.
Functionality
Automatically collects, organizes, tags, and makes data available in real-time.
Helps businesses track customer interactions, sales pipelines, prospects, and service requests.
Goals
Personalized customer experiences across all channels.
Better customer relationships, streamlined processes, and improved profitability.
Benefits
Data integration, management, and accessibility, allowing for detailed analysis and segmentation.
Better communication within teams and with customers by organizing information about customer interactions and history.
Data Handling
Handles both identified and anonymous data, stitches together various data points.
Deals primarily with identified customer data.
Use Cases
Personalized marketing campaigns, targeted advertising, content customization across multiple channels.
Managing campaigns and leads, enhancing customer service, providing better customer support, increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Examples
Insider, Bloomreach, Salesforce Marketing Cloud CDP
HubSpot, Salesforce Sales Cloud Lightning Professional, and Zoho CRM
CRM
Free plan
Best feature
Best for
Con
1. HubSpot CRM
square-check
Sales automation
Sales teams
Up to 1,000 contacts
2. Insightly
square-check
Custom fields
Basic needs
Not enough info about the free plan
3. Agile CRM
square-check
Deal and sales pipeline tracking
Small teams
Up to 10 users
4. Zoho CRM
square-check
Lead and contact management
Businesses of all sizes
Limited to 3 users
5. ClickUp
square-check
Unlimited tasks and unlimited members
Personal use
Up to 100MB storage
6. EngageBay
square-check
Live chat
Small and midsize enterprises
Up to 1,000 branded emails per month
7. Bitrix24
square-check
Unlimited users and 5 scrum teams
Big teams
Up to 5GB of cloud storage
8. FreshSales
square-check
Easy to use and simple setup
Beginners
Up to 3 users
9. Mailchimp
square-check
Very beginner friendly
Marketing teams
Send up to 500 branded emails per month
Type of Affiliate Marketing
Unattached
Related
Involved
Format
Paid advertising
Social media or YouTube channels
Dedicated website or blog
Focus
Quick income
Your niche
Your audience
Engagement with your audience
square-xmark
square-check
square-check
square-check
square-check
Very close connection with your audience
Pro
Little effort
Higher credibility thanks to your niche
Long-lasting and scalable
Con
Paid ads cost a lot
Potential for bias since you don’t use the thing you promote
Require time, effort, and dedication

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