Lusha vs Apollo: which one to choose, shared credits or credits per seat?

Credits for the whole account, or credits per licence

At Lusha, every licence and API key draws on one balance, sized by the slider (400 to 10,000 credits a month). At Apollo, each person needs a licence, and each licence adds its monthly credits to a team pot. The first model favours a few heavy users; the second, a team where everyone prospects.

What sets the price

LushaCredits per month, licences included (then one per extra person)

Apollo.ioLicences, each with its credits

Credits on the cheapest paid plan

Lusha400 a month (Starter, $49.90)

Apollo.io2,500 per licence a month (Basic, $65)

Phone number, in credits

Lusha5 credits

Apollo.io8 credits, but many more credits per dollar

Extra person

Lusha$49.90 a month, no credits

Apollo.ioA licence, with its credits ($65 on Basic)

Rollover

LushaLusha’s pricing page lets unused credits roll over on monthly Pro and Premium plans (its help centre also names Scale), up to 2 times the monthly allowance; its terms say credits not used by the end of the term expire and do not roll over.

Apollo.ioNone: credits reset at the end of each cycle

Both bill in US dollars, excluding taxes.

Free plans, browser extensions and API access

Free plan

Lusha40 credits a month, 1 licence, no card

Apollo.io75 credits a month; a single licence after 100 days of use

Trial of paid plans

LushaNone found

Apollo.io14 days of Basic or Professional

Browser extension

LushaChrome and Edge: LinkedIn, Sales Navigator, Salesforce, HubSpot and Gmail, company sites

Apollo.ioChrome: LinkedIn, Gmail, Google Calendar, Salesforce and HubSpot; Outlook add-in

Extension rating

Lusha4.6 (1.9K ratings, 400,000 users)

Apollo.io4.7 (2,172 ratings, 1,000,000 users)

API

LushaLusha’s pricing table and API documentation open the API to every plan, with strict limits on Free and Starter; another help-centre page says “Scale plan only”.

Apollo.ioApollo’s pricing table and help centre put the API on every plan; the FAQ on its pricing page says “Custom plans”.

MCP server

LushaEvery plan

Apollo.ioEvery plan

Coverage: where each database is strongest

Lusha publishes its coverage by country: 132 million contacts in the United States (87.8 million in its FAQ), 103.1 million in Europe (16.1 in France, 10 in Germany, 9.8 in Spain), 36.6 million in Brazil; its help centre says it is strongest in English-speaking countries. Apollo publishes only totals: 240M contacts and 30M companies on its website (its Trustpilot description says 210 million and 35 million).

Neither database can be audited from outside. The only reliable test is your own market: reveal the same contacts on both free plans and count the bounces and wrong numbers.

1,000 emails and 200 phone numbers a month: the bill at each

The same need priced three ways, billed monthly: Lusha’s cheapest step for 2,000 credits; Apollo’s cheapest plan with one licence per person and the 2,600 credits this takes there; Emelia’s Start plan and the monthly pack for 11,000 credits.

One person

LushaPro: $227.40

Apollo.ioBasic × 1 + 100 credits: $67.50

EmeliaStart + 50,000-credit pack: $336

3 people

LushaPro + 1 licence: $277.30

Apollo.ioBasic × 3: $195

EmeliaStart + 50,000-credit pack: $336

Everything is shown in US dollars, Lusha’s only billing currency; Emelia’s figure is identical in euros, so no conversion is involved. Apollo’s column shows a range: its extra credits have a published price per volume tier, but Apollo does not say how the tiers apply, so the low end prices all the extra credits at the tier the volume reaches and the high end prices each slice at its own tier. At this volume of phone numbers, Emelia is the most expensive: a number costs 50 credits there, against 5 at Lusha and 8 at Apollo.

Sequences: Engage on one inbox per user, Apollo with mailboxes per licence

Both include an email sequencer in their plans; neither automates LinkedIn (Apollo turns LinkedIn steps into manual tasks).

Sending mailboxes

LushaThe user’s own Gmail or Outlook mailbox

Apollo.io1 per licence on Basic; unlimited Google and Microsoft on Professional

Daily limit

Lusha1,000 emails per user (50 recommended)

Apollo.io250 on Basic; “unlimited” on Professional

Warm-up

LushaNothing found

Apollo.ioThe plan cards say warm-up is included; the help centre limits it to 1 mailbox per licence, then 200 credits per extra mailbox each month.

Active sequences

Lusha10 per user

Apollo.ioUnlimited on paid plans, 2 per team on Free

Dialer

LushaNone found

Apollo.ioYes, paid in credits (US calls)

Apollo’s “unlimited” daily sending on Professional and Organization is subject to a Fair Use Policy, which is nowhere to be found in its terms. Emelia sends from 3, 50 or unlimited mailboxes with warm-up included, and automates LinkedIn invitations and messages.

Lusha or Apollo: which one to choose for a team of three?

For 3 people revealing 1,000 emails and 200 numbers a month, Apollo costs less ($195 against $277.30 at Lusha): each licence brings 2,500 credits, enough to absorb phone numbers at 8 credits. Apollo also gives more for free, a trial of its paid plans, and, on Professional, unlimited Google and Microsoft mailboxes per licence for its sequences.

Lusha makes sense for reasons other than price: if its data proves better on your market (it publishes its coverage country by country, Apollo does not), if you want the extension in Edge as well as Chrome, or a single credit balance whose licences do not each need a plan. Test both free plans on the same contacts before deciding.

If the goal is to contact these people afterwards, by email and on LinkedIn, neither automates LinkedIn: that is what Emelia adds, from €37 a month for the whole team.

Lusha and Apollo together