Apollo vs CiviCRM: Complete Comparison (2026)
An in-depth comparison of Apollo and CiviCRM to help you choose the right tool for your business.
Last updated: November 2026
Apollo
6.5/10
Apollo is a sales intelligence and engagement platform that combines a B2B contact database, email sequencing, a dialer and deal tracking for outbound sales teams.
CiviCRM
6.6/10
Open-source CRM built for nonprofits and advocacy groups, covering contacts, donations, memberships, events, email marketing and case management.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | | |
|---|---|---|
| Scores | ||
| Overall Rating | 6.5/10 | 6.6/10 |
| Analytics | 6/10 | 6/10 |
| Cost | 7/10 | 9/10 |
| Customization | 6/10 | 9/10 |
| Ease of Use | 8/10 | 3/10 |
| Integration | 7/10 | 7/10 |
| Scalability | 6/10 | 7/10 |
| Security | 6/10 | 6/10 |
| Support | 4/10 | 4/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Cheapest paid plan | $49/user/mo Basic | $15/mo Spark Starter |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | Free Free | Free Self-hosted (open source) |
| Features | ||
| Collaboration | ||
| Contact Management | ||
| Integrations | ||
| Reporting & Analytics | ||
| Built-in Calling | Not listed | |
| Customer Support Management | Not listed | |
| Lead Management | Not listed | |
| Marketing Automation | Not listed | |
| Opportunity Management | Not listed | |
| Sales Automation | Not listed | |
Apollo vs CiviCRM cost by team size
Apollo and CiviCRM cost the same at every team size we checked.
| Team size | Apollo | CiviCRM |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | FreeFree | FreeSelf-hosted (open source) |
| 5 users | FreeFree | FreeSelf-hosted (open source) |
| 10 users | FreeFree | FreeSelf-hosted (open source) |
| 25 users | FreeFree | FreeSelf-hosted (open source) |
| 50 users | FreeFree | FreeSelf-hosted (open source) |
The plan that fits each team size, billed monthly, before add-ons and usage charges. Each cost opens that tool's pricing calculator for the team size.
Which One Should You Choose?
Why choose Apollo
- Higher Ease of Use score (8/10 vs 3/10)
- Better fit for sales teams (9/10 vs 2/10)
- Better fit for startups (8/10 vs 4/10)
Why choose CiviCRM
- Higher Customization score (9/10 vs 6/10)
- Higher Cost score (9/10 vs 7/10)
Pros & Cons
Apollo
Pros
- Prospect database, email sequencing, dialer and enrichment come in one subscription, so teams buy fewer tools.
- The free plan has no time limit and lets a team try the full prospecting workflow.
- Reviewers rate ease of use highly, and G2 shows about 4.7 out of 5 from roughly 9,700 reviews.
- Admins can pool credits across the team and set per-user caps.
Cons
- Many reviews report inaccurate data, especially mobile numbers and contacts outside North America.
- Credits expire each cycle, phone reveals cost about eight times as much as an email, and credits are spent even on bad records.
- Support is the lowest-rated G2 subcategory, and Trustpilot shows a TrustScore of about 3.1.
- API access and SSO require the top Custom plan, and every seat must be on the same plan.
CiviCRM
Pros
- The core software is free and open source under the AGPL, so there are no licence fees whatever the number of users or contacts.
- Donations, memberships, events, CiviMail email and case management all come in one nonprofit-focused system.
- It runs inside WordPress, Drupal and Joomla, so data is shared between the website and the CRM.
- Every Spark hosted plan allows unlimited users, starting at $15 per month.
- A large extension ecosystem and an active community make it highly customisable.
Cons
- Reviewers consistently describe the interface as dated and clunky.
- Self-hosted setup and customisation usually need a developer, which adds hidden costs.
- The open-source project offers no dedicated vendor customer service. Help comes from community forums or paid partners.
- Spark plans cap contacts at 5,000 to 10,000 and limit integrations and customisation.
- It has no sales pipeline or opportunity tooling for commercial sales teams.
Not sold on either?
Frequently Asked Questions
CiviCRM scores higher on our CRM criteria: 6.6/10 against 6.5/10 for Apollo. The largest gap is in Ease of Use: 8/10 for Apollo and 3/10 for CiviCRM.
Both are free for 10 users.
Yes, both Apollo and CiviCRM have a free plan.
Apollo is the better fit for sales teams: we rate it 9/10 for them, against 2/10 for CiviCRM.
