Apollo vs Lusha: one outreach platform or a lean contact finder?
You lose hours hunting for a prospect's email on LinkedIn, or you pay for contact data, enrichment and sequences in three separate tools. Both Apollo and Lusha sell contact data by the credit, and phone numbers cost several times what an email does, so the plan price says little about what a month really costs. You are probably a sales rep or a small sales team deciding where your prospecting budget goes.
Both tools are affiliate partners of ours: we may earn a commission if you sign up through a button on this page, at no extra cost to you. That is why we also say when to pick neither.
Apollo and Lusha side by side
| Apollo | Lusha | |
|---|---|---|
| Price we read | Free plan (900 credits/seat/year, 2 sequences); Basic $49 per seat/mo billed annually ($65 monthly) (read 1 Oct 2026) | Free (40 credits/mo); Starter $37.45/mo billed yearly ($49.90 monthly); Pro $52.45 ($69.90); Premium $299.95 ($399.90); Scale custom (read 10 Oct 2026) |
| Entry price | Free; Basic $49 a seat a month billed annually, $65 month to month (read 1 Oct 2026) | Free; Starter $37.45 a month billed yearly, $49.90 monthly (read 10 Oct 2026) |
| How you pay | Per seat, with credits: an email costs 1, a phone 8, an enrichment up to 9 | Per plan with fixed seats, with credits: an email costs 1, a phone 5, no match is free |
| Free plan or trial | Free: 900 credits a seat a year, 2 sequences, Gmail mailboxes only | Free: 40 credits a month, 1 seat, no credit card |
| Best for | Small sales teams that want data, enrichment and sequences in one tool | Reps who look up emails and direct dials on LinkedIn with the Chrome extension |
| Main catch | Buyers report 15 to 25% bounces on large exported lists | Phones cost 5 credits each; annual credits reset at the end of the year |
Which one fits you
Pick Apollo if
- You pay for a database, a sequencer and enrichment separately: Apollo Basic at $49 a seat a month billed annually adds unlimited sequences and CRM integrations.
- You want to try paid features before paying: in our test on 31 Oct 2026 a new account started on a Professional trial with 14 days left, and no card was needed.
- You work from Claude, ChatGPT or Perplexity: Apollo's MCP page (read 31 Oct 2026) says its connector works on any plan, including free, at no extra cost, though reveals still use credits.
Pick Lusha if
- You mostly need a prospect's email while browsing LinkedIn: Lusha's Chrome extension shows verified emails there, and a lookup with no match costs nothing.
- Your small team needs to clean an old CRM list: Pro at $52.45 a month billed yearly ($69.90 monthly, read 10 Oct 2026) includes 2 seats, CSV enrichment and API access.
- You want phone numbers at a lower credit cost: a phone costs 5 credits on Lusha against 8 on Apollo.
When to pick neither
Your team calls prospects all day. A phone number costs 8 credits on Apollo and 5 on Lusha, so a dial-heavy month empties either plan fast.
Look at Cognism instead. Our Lusha dossier names Cognism as the alternative for small teams that spend the day on cold calls. Read our Cognism review.
What it costs at a real size
A two-person team for one year, billed annually. Apollo Basic: 2 seats x $49 x 12 = $1,176, with 2 x 30,000 = 60,000 credits. Lusha Pro (2 seats included): $52.45 x 12 = $629.40, with 7,200 credits. If you only reveal phone numbers, Apollo's credits buy 60,000 / 8 = 7,500 phones and Lusha's 7,200 / 5 = 1,440. Apollo's price also includes sequences; Lusha Pro includes the API and CSV enrichment. Apollo's checkout adds sales tax at the end.
Where to start
Apollo
Basic, $49 a seat a month billed annually or $65 month to month, with 30,000 credits a seat a year (read 1 Oct 2026). Use Free first only if you send from Gmail.
Start with Apollo →Lusha
Free (40 credits a month) to test the data on your own target list, then Starter at $49.90 a month billed monthly, or $37.45 billed yearly (read 10 Oct 2026).
Start with Lusha →Questions buyers ask
How many phone numbers do I get for my credits?
Apollo's FAQ prices a phone at 8 credits, so Basic's 30,000 credits a seat a year buy 30,000 / 8 = 3,750 phones. Lusha's FAQ prices a phone at 5 credits, so Starter's 400 monthly credits buy 80 phones. Emails cost 1 credit on both.
Can I use the free plan with Outlook?
Not on Apollo: its FAQ says non-paying plans can only connect Gmail mailboxes, which usually forces the upgrade before the credits run out. The Lusha pages we read do not cover mailboxes, because Lusha is not a sequencing tool.
Did you test them?
Partly. On 31 October 2026 we searched Apollo's company database (27.2 million companies), saved one company, which earned 50 bonus credits, and opened the Basic checkout; we did not reveal emails or phones or run a sequence. Lusha refused our sign-up on 6 November 2026 with a message that it looked suspicious, so we have no findings about Lusha's product.
Do unused credits roll over?
On Lusha's monthly Pro and Premium plans, unused credits roll over up to twice the monthly amount; annual credits arrive upfront and reset at the end of the year. Apollo grants a year of credits upfront on its paid annual tiers; our reading does not say whether unused credits carry over.
Where these facts come from
Apollo: the pricing table and FAQ on apollo.io/pricing (read 1 Oct 2026), its MCP page (read 31 Oct 2026) and its knowledge base on mailboxes (read 22 Oct 2026). Lusha: lusha.com/pricing and lusha.com/faq (read 10 Oct 2026, pricing FAQ re-read 24 Oct 2026). Prices change: each one carries the date we read it, and our reviews are re-checked against the vendor pages.
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