Quick overview of both tools
Apollo.io
Launched in 2015 (originally ZenProspect), Apollo is now the US leader in sales engagement with over $100M ARR and roughly 275 million contacts indexed in its database. It's an all-in-one platform: lead search → enrichment → email sequences → tracking → reporting. Apollo primarily targets US SDR teams running cold outbound at scale.
Ovalead
Ovalead is a younger European tool focused on a single function: keeping a B2B CRM up to date. Rather than selling a database, Ovalead works on yours — your HubSpot export, your Apollo list, your spreadsheet — and automatically detects changes (job, company, email). Parallel multi-account architecture for processing large volumes quickly, native HubSpot sync, open source.
Feature-by-feature comparison
| Feature | Apollo | Ovalead |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-scraped contact database | ✓ 275M contacts | — you bring your own |
| Live record updates | Scheduled updates (variable) | ✓ Freshness guaranteed at scan time |
| Job change detection | Available as a paid upsell | ✓ Native |
| Business email lookup | ✓ Native (SMTP-validated) | ✓ Via Skrapp.io |
| Phone numbers | ✓ Available (add-on) | — No |
| Intent data / buying signals | ✓ Pro plans and above | — No |
| Outbound email sequences | ✓ Native | — Out of scope |
| Two-way HubSpot sync | ✓ | ✓ |
| Salesforce sync | ✓ | On the roadmap |
| Parallel multi-account (user) | — N/A | ✓ Native architecture |
| Free plan (no credit card) | — No | ✓ 100 enrichissements/mois |
| Clear GDPR compliance | Debatable (centralized resold database) | To validate — public sources only |
Pricing comparison
The two tools have very different models. Apollo charges per seat (user) and per credit; Ovalead charges a flat monthly fee per workspace.
Apollo
- Free: 60 credits/month, basic features. Enough to test.
- Basic: $49/seat/month — database access + limited sync
- Professional: $79/seat/month — email sequences, basic intent data
- Organization: $119/seat/month — advanced features, full intent data
For a team of 5 SDRs on the Professional plan: ~$395/month minimum (without phone, premium intent and other add-ons that can double the bill).
Ovalead
- Free: €0 / month — 100 enrichments, 1 LinkedIn account
- Cloud Pro: €49/month — 5,000 checks/month, parallel multi-account, HubSpot sync
- Enterprise: custom quote — unlimited volumes, SLA, SSO
For a team of 5 SDRs: €49/month total (the plan is per workspace, not per seat).
When to pick Apollo
- You're starting your prospecting and don't have a lead database yet
- Your strategy relies on large-scale cold outbound (50k+ emails/month)
- You need intent data and buying signals (triggers like "XYZ Corp raises $10M" → automatic re-prospecting)
- You want an all-in-one platform with sequences, tracking, reporting
- You have the budget for ~$400-1,200/month and a team large enough to justify it
When to pick Ovalead
- You already have a CRM database (HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, Apollo exports) to maintain
- You want to spot job changes in your target accounts to re-prospect at the right time
- Your budget is tight and you're looking for low marginal cost
- You want to keep your data inside your CRM (not locked in a third-party platform)
- You have strict GDPR requirements and prefer not to depend on a centralized database resold to others
- Your team has 3 to 15 SDRs who want to maximize throughput without 10 subscriptions at €1,000 a piece
The hybrid scenario (often the best one)
Many mature B2B teams combine both: Apollo to acquire new contacts (initial massive export), then Ovalead to maintain that database over time. Once contacts are in your CRM, you no longer need to pay Apollo to see them — Ovalead takes over at €49/month to keep them fresh.
This strategy typically saves 50 to 70% of the cost compared to an Apollo Organization alone, while keeping better data quality over time.
Honest strengths and weaknesses
Apollo — strengths
- Unbeatable database volume
- Mature platform, broad integration ecosystem
- Serious intent data (from the Pro plan up)
- Excellent for US outbound
Apollo — limits
- Data isn't always fresh: a contact who moved yesterday is only flagged updated weeks later
- Mediocre on the European market: data quality in France and DACH is uneven
- Cost scales fast with seats and add-ons
- Lock-in: if you cancel the subscription, you lose access to the data
Ovalead — strengths
- Data always fresh at scan time
- Parallel multi-account architecture that scales for large volumes
- Simple pricing, per workspace not per seat
- Open source, self-hostable, independent
- Job change detection as standard (not as an upsell)
Ovalead — limits
- No prospect database: you have to bring your own contacts
- No intent data or native email sequences
- No phone numbers
- Younger tool, integration ecosystem still limited (HubSpot native, Salesforce on the roadmap)
The verdict
Apollo and Ovalead aren't really direct competitors: Apollo sells data, Ovalead sells freshness. For 90% of European mid-market B2B teams, the ideal stack is:
- An acquisition source (Apollo Free or Basic, or manual exports via Sales Navigator) to get started
- A freshness layer (Ovalead or Dropcontact) to maintain the database over time
- A sequencing tool (Lemlist, Mailshake, Smartlead) for outbound
If you have to pick just one of the two: start by identifying your real bottleneck. Lack of leads? → Apollo. Too many leads going stale? → Ovalead.