Head-to-head · Updated Q1 2026
Lusha vs Apollo.io
Recruiters use both to solve the same problem — reaching candidates LinkedIn won't let you email — but they're differently shaped. Lusha is enrichment-pure: a credit-based extension and API for phones and emails. Apollo is a sales platform recruiters have adopted: a 200M+ contact database, enrichment, and a full outreach engine, with a famously generous free tier.
| Lusha | Apollo.io | |
|---|---|---|
| Core | Contact enrichment (extension, API) | Contact database + enrichment + sequences |
| Phone number quality | Strong, especially direct dials | Good, variable by segment |
| Outreach | None — pair with another tool | Built-in sequences and dialer |
| Free tier | Limited credits | Generous; many small teams never pay |
| Recruiting fit | Purpose-neutral, simple | Sales-shaped UX; recruiters adapt it |
| Pricing | Published per-user credit plans | Published per-user plans |
For pure enrichment on top of an existing outreach stack, Lusha is cleaner and its direct-dial quality is the draw. For a budget agency doing both business development and candidate outreach, Apollo's bundle is unbeatable value even though its UX is sales-shaped. Data quality varies by geography and seniority in both — run a 100-contact head-to-head on your actual talent pool before committing.
Full reviews
Lusha review
Simple contact-finding with a free tier, popular with recruiters.
Apollo.io review
275M+ contact database with sequencing — a sales tool many recruiters adopt.