Apollo

Apollo.io is one of the most popular sales intelligence platforms, offering access to a database of over 200 million contacts and 60 million companies. It combines prospecting, enrichment, and outreach in a single platform.

The platform is known for its generous free tier, making it accessible for individual sellers and startups. The chrome extension integrates directly with LinkedIn, allowing you to find contact information as you browse profiles.

Apollo's sequence feature enables multi-channel outreach combining email, phone, and LinkedIn touchpoints. While powerful, users should be aware that aggressive LinkedIn automation can carry account risks.

Apollo has become the default recommendation for anyone starting with sales prospecting, and for good reason. The free tier gives you enough credits to actually validate the platform before committing.

The Chrome extension is particularly well-designed - hover over any LinkedIn profile and you'll see verified email addresses, phone numbers, and company data. The integration is smooth and the data quality has improved significantly over the past year.

Where I have concerns is with the LinkedIn automation features. Apollo allows you to automate LinkedIn connection requests and messages, which does violate LinkedIn's ToS. While enforcement is inconsistent, I've seen accounts get restricted. Use these features cautiously.

For email outreach, Apollo is excellent. The sequence builder is intuitive, deliverability is good, and the analytics help you optimize over time.

Verdict: Best starting point for prospecting. Use email features freely, but be cautious with LinkedIn automation.