A side-by-side look at how the two compare, and which one fits your use case.
| Dimension | PersistData | Apollo.io |
|---|---|---|
| Data model | Server-side data API; per-request fetch, not a large owned brand-name database | Owned + contributory-network database (Apollo markets 210M+ to 275M+ contacts and 60M+ companies; figure varies by source/date, Apollo's own claim) plus waterfall enrichment and licensed intent (Bombora/LeadSift) |
| Login / seat required | No login, no seat, no extension | Yes; seat-based SaaS. API access is gated to Professional+ and still sits under a logged-in org account |
| LinkedIn account ban risk | None; fully server-side, never touches your LinkedIn session | None to your LinkedIn account; data is served from Apollo's own database (parity with PersistData on this axis). Separate risks: Apollo-account suspension and email deliverability are user-reported, not LinkedIn bans |
| Pricing model | One-time packs or month-to-month; transparent per-credit (PersistData's published terms) | Per-seat SaaS, cheaper annually. Free; Basic ~$49/user/mo annual; Professional ~$79; Organization ~$119 (3-seat min, ~$4,284/yr entry). Credits expire monthly, no rollover |
| Approx. $ per record | ~$0.02-$0.10 per credit; 1 credit per profile/company, 5 credits per verified email (PersistData's stated rates) | ~$0.20 per credit at overage rates; effectively fractions of a cent per email credit if bundled credits are fully exhausted, but you pay the seat regardless |
| Pay only for found | Yes; a not-found costs 0 credits (per PersistData's terms) | No in PersistData's sense; you pay the fixed seat and unused credits expire monthly. Apollo does generally not charge a credit when an enrichment returns no match, but the subscription cost stands |
| Free tier | Evaluation via low-cost packs (no perpetual free plan) | Yes; free-forever Starter with ~100 email credits/mo, ~5 mobile, ~10 export, 2 sequences |
| Annual lock-in | None; one-time packs or month-to-month | Yes for best pricing; monthly costs ~20% more. Terms reported as non-cancelable, non-refundable, auto-renewing, with a reported cancellation-notice window |
| API access | API-first by design; server-side, no seat | Yes but tiered and bundled; meaningful enrichment API is gated to Professional+ and consumes credits. The API is a feature of a seat-based product, not the product itself |
Apollo is a genuinely strong all-in-one go-to-market platform: a large owned database (Apollo markets 210M+ to 275M+ contacts), built-in email sequencing, a dialer, AI outreach, and CRM sync in one app, plus licensed buyer-intent signals (Bombora/LeadSift). It carries formal compliance certifications (SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, GDPR/CCPA, Data Privacy Framework) and a very high G2 rating (approximately 4.7/5 from ~9,600 reviews as of mid-2026). For a seated sales team that will work inside the app and saturate bundled credits, it is hard to beat on breadth.
PersistData fits when you need data as a headless API rather than a seat-based app: server-side access with no login, no session cookie, no Sales Navigator seat, and no per-seat fee. Its pay-only-for-found metering (a miss costs 0 credits) plus transparent month-to-month or one-time pricing with no expiring credits and no 3-seat minimum is cleaner and cheaper for embedding enrichment into your own software than buying seats and burning monthly credit pools.