PeopleSearch.im vs Apollo.io
Apollo.io is an all-in-one outbound machine: a large database, email and phone reveals, and multichannel sequencing in one per-seat subscription. That is exactly right if you run a continuous sending motion, and exactly too much if you just need to find a handful of the right people and their emails. PeopleSearch.im does only the finding, describe who you want in plain English and pay per profile, so you are not renting a whole sales-engagement platform to look someone up.
The short version
Choose PeopleSearch.im
Choose PeopleSearch.im if you want people and verified work emails on demand, pay only for what you reveal, and have nothing to send campaigns with (or already send them elsewhere).
Choose Apollo.io
Stay with Apollo.io if you want the database, the enrichment, and the email sequencer in one place and your team is sending outbound every week.
PeopleSearch.im vs Apollo.io, side by side
| PeopleSearch.im | Apollo.io | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Pay per profile, prepaid credits | Per-seat subscription + shared monthly credit pool |
| Starts at | $5 for 25 profiles (3 free to start) | Free tier; paid from ~$49/seat/mo (billed annually) |
| Commitment | None. Credits don't expire monthly | Annual for the headline price; per seat; credits expire monthly |
| How you find people | Describe who you want in plain English | 65+ filters and saved lists |
| Pay for misses? | No. The email credit is refunded if none is found | Credits are spent on every reveal attempt, hit or miss |
| Phone numbers | ||
| Email sending / sequencing | ||
| Best for | One-off and low-volume sourcing | Ongoing team outbound with built-in sequencing |
Where PeopleSearch.im fits better
No seat, no subscription: buy a $5 pack, reveal the profiles you want, done. Apollo's best price wants an annual per-seat commitment you have to keep using to justify.
Ask for "heads of growth at Series A SaaS startups" in one sentence instead of assembling 65 filters, and edit what it understood before you spend anything.
You only pay for a verified email when one is actually found: the credit is refunded on a miss, whereas Apollo credits are consumed whether the reveal is good or stale.
Nothing expires. Prepaid credits sit until you use them, so a spiky or once-a-quarter need does not mean a monthly bill.
Where Apollo.io wins
Runs the whole campaign in-app: find, enrich, then sequence and send, which PeopleSearch.im does not do at all.
Much larger, more feature-rich dataset (275M+ contacts), 65+ filters, buyer-intent data, and AI research for building big targeted lists.
Native Salesforce/HubSpot sync and an integrated find-to-send workflow for repeatable team outbound.
Direct-dial and mobile phone numbers alongside emails.
Pricing, plainly
PeopleSearch.im
Pay per profile, no subscription. 3 free credits to start, then prepaid packs:
- Starter$5 / 25 profiles ($0.20 each)
- Pro$20 / 120 profiles ($0.17 each)
- Scale$50 / 350 profiles ($0.14 each)
Apollo.io
Apollo has a real free plan and paid tiers from roughly $49/seat/month (Basic, billed annually; month-to-month runs meaningfully higher), then Professional and Organization above it. Credits are a shared monthly pool that expires with no rollover, phone reveals cost far more credits than emails, and export caps on lower tiers surprise teams that scale up.
Indicative, last reviewed August 2026. Confirm on Apollo.io(opens in a new tab).Questions
What is the best Apollo.io alternative if I don't want a subscription?
If your need is finding people and their verified work emails (not running sequences), a pay-as-you-go tool like PeopleSearch.im covers it without a seat or annual plan: describe who you want, reveal the profiles you keep, and pay from $5. If you also need the email sequencer, Apollo's all-in-one bundle is doing more than a finder can.
Is PeopleSearch.im cheaper than Apollo.io?
For low or occasional volume, almost always: you pay per profile (from $0.20 each) with no seat, versus an Apollo per-seat plan you pay every month. For a team sending high-volume outbound daily, Apollo's bundle can be better value because it replaces several tools at once.
Does Apollo.io have a free plan?
Yes, Apollo offers a free tier with a monthly credit allowance per seat. PeopleSearch.im also starts free (3 credits on signup, and browsing masked previews is always free); beyond that both charge for reveals, PeopleSearch.im per profile and Apollo from its credit pool.
See what PeopleSearch.im returns before you commit to Apollo.io
Describe the people you need and preview real matches for free. Only pay for the profiles you keep.