Apollo.io and Lusha are both popular B2B contact data platforms, but they're built for different buying motions. Apollo is the Swiss Army knife — a full sales platform that bundles a 275M+ contact database with a CRM, multi-step email sequences, a dialer, and intent signals, all starting at $49/user/month. Its generous free tier (10,000 credits/month) makes it the default first tool for many startups and solo SDRs entering the outbound space.
Lusha takes a more focused approach, positioning itself as the go-to platform for accurate phone numbers and contact data. With claimed accuracy of 95% on emails and 90% on phone numbers, Lusha emphasizes data quality over platform breadth. Its Chrome extension is particularly popular among LinkedIn-heavy prospectors who need to quickly pull contact details while browsing profiles. However, Lusha's credit system — where phone numbers cost 5 credits versus 1 for emails — means your actual data capacity is often much lower than the plan's headline credit count.
The comparison between these two tools often comes down to a fundamental question: do you want a platform that does everything adequately, or a tool that does data exceptionally well? But there's a third option that outperforms both on the metric that matters most — deliverability.
Feature Comparison
Apollo's all-in-one approach gives it an undeniable feature advantage. Having a CRM, email sequencing with A/B testing, a dialer, and a 275M+ contact database in a single subscription eliminates the need for 3-4 separate tools. For early-stage startups minimizing SaaS spend, this consolidation is genuinely valuable. The free tier is also a major differentiator — 10,000 credits/month with basic sequencing and CRM access lets solo founders start prospecting immediately at zero cost.
Lusha's advantage is more nuanced. Its data, particularly phone numbers, is often cited as higher quality than Apollo's. The Chrome extension provides a smooth workflow for LinkedIn-based prospecting — see a profile, click Lusha, get the contact details. Native CRM enrichment features let you automatically enrich existing records in Salesforce or HubSpot, keeping your database fresh without manual effort. For teams where phone outreach is the primary channel, Lusha's emphasis on direct-dial accuracy is a real differentiator.
The phone credit model is where Lusha's economics get complicated. Each phone number costs 5 credits — an email costs 1. On a Pro plan with 480 credits/month, you can look up 480 emails or just 96 phone numbers. If you need both email and phone for each contact, one full lookup costs 6 credits, giving you roughly 80 complete contacts per month for $37.45. That's $0.47 per fully enriched contact — significantly more expensive than it first appears.
Pricing
Apollo.io offers four tiers: Free (10,000 credits/month), Basic at $49/user/month (unlimited email credits), Professional at $79/user/month (advanced features, dialer), and Organization at $119/user/month (AI features, advanced reporting). Credits for mobile numbers and exports are separate from email credits and vary by plan. Annual billing offers a meaningful discount.
Lusha's pricing starts with a Free tier (5 credits/month — effectively a trial), Pro at $37.45/month (480 credits), Premium at $59.95/month (960 credits), and Scale (enterprise, custom pricing requiring a sales call). Phone lookups consume 5 credits each, so plan capacity for phone data is 1/5th the headline number. Annual billing provides a ~25% discount.
For a team of 5 focused on email outreach, Apollo costs $245-$595/month depending on tier. The same team on Lusha Premium costs ~$300/month but gets fewer total lookups — especially if phone numbers are needed. Apollo is the better value for teams that use its bundled features. Lusha is the better value only if phone data accuracy is the top priority and you don't need a CRM or sequencing tool.