Apollo vs ZoomInfo: Who's Got the Better Data?

Choosing between B2B data providers like ZoomInfo vs Apollo is a strategic decision that directly impacts how effectively your revenue teams operate.

Data quality and compliance should be a priority. Accurate contact information determines whether your teams reach the right buyers, while alignment with regulations such as the General Data Protection Regulation reduces risk when operating across European markets.

However, these are only part of the picture. It is equally important to consider how well the platform fits into your existing revenue infrastructure. Usability, integration with core systems and the ability to maintain clean, reliable data over time all influence long-term performance.

To support a more informed decision, this comparison explores Apollo.io and ZoomInfo, with Cognism included to provide a clear view of how different data approaches affect growth, compliance and scalability.

TL;DR

Here's a breakdown of how all three options compare:

Book a demo to see how Cognism helps you maintain data accuracy, reduce wasted effort and support more effective revenue operations. 

Feature comparison: ZoomInfo vs Apollo.io

ZoomInfo features:

ZoomInfo positions itself as a broad go-to-market platform. In addition to contact and company data, it offers:

• Copilot
• ZoomInfo Chrome Extension, engagement apps and integrations
• Manage display advertising, website chat, and forms.
• Company insights and buying intent signals.
• Sourcing intelligence with candidate alerts and company scoops.

Its strength lies in scale and breadth across the US market.

Apollo features:

The Apollo.io platform is an all-in-one tool and advertises several features to help sales and marketing teams create pipeline and close deals:

• Limited mobile credits and unlimited email credits are subject to a fair use policy.
• Basic sequence automation and AI-assisted email writing.
• Buying intent.
• Zapier integration.
• Data enrichment.
• Gmail and LinkedIn extension.

How about Cognism?

Cognism provides the trusted data foundation revenue teams rely on to deliver predictable performance across Europe. It provides accurate, compliant B2B contact and company data tailored to the structural complexity of European markets, supporting prospecting, enrichment, and AI-driven workflows at scale.

The platform delivers the most complete European datasets available, with over 90% coverage of director-level and above contacts and frequent refresh cycles to counter data decay.

Phone-verified mobile numbers improve connect rates, while intent signals and contextual triggers support informed prioritisation. Data is accessible without credit ceilings, subject to fair usage, and integrates directly into CRM systems, data warehouses, and AI environments, ensuring your European growth strategy is built on information you can trust.

“I definitely recommend Cognism to other salespeople. It makes our lives easier, our team happier, the pipeline going, and complex tasks simple.”

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80%

improved connect rates

Dave Smallwood
Managing Director @Mollie

Pricing breakdown: Apollo vs ZoomInfo cost

The main difference between Apollo.io and ZoomInfo’s pricing?

Apollo pricing offers monthly and yearly subscriptions, along with a self-service signup flow. In contrast, ZoomInfo offers long-term contracts, and its pricing is available after a consultation.

For this reason, Apollo.io is generally considered to be cheaper than ZoomInfo and other sales prospecting tools.

Despite these differences, Apollo’s and ZoomInfo’s pricing is based on a credit system that limits data viewing and exporting. Monthly caps, resets, and expensive ‘add-ons’ often pose some challenges:

• Scarcity mindset among your team: reps are more focused on optimising credit consumption than developing best practices for prospecting.
• Unpredictable spending: e.g. ZoomInfo charges a credit for every company and contact export, which may consume double the credits if the account isn’t already in their CRM. Similarly, Apollo charges one credit for email and another credit for a phone number. Apollo.io reviews on G2 complain about the low credits and high costs.
• Limited opportunities: companies with an international presence or trying to expand to new markets may find the price for ZoomInfo’s Data Passport for prospecting outside the US hard to justify.
• Slow growth: despite relatively cheap plans, Apollo offers limited access to mobile and export credits (max. 125 and 2000, respectively, in its highest plan). It may become problematic for businesses with ambitious growth goals or companies in highly competitive markets.

Cognism offers greater pricing predictability

Cognism removes credit ceilings from its commercial model. Revenue teams are not required to ration views or exports, and international expansion does not sit behind separate usage packages.

Commercial agreements are structured for predictable access to data, enabling teams to test new markets, grow addressable segments and build pipeline without incremental penalties.

 Stuck in a ZoomInfo contract and want out? Cognism can help you make the switch. 

Data quality: How do ZoomInfo and Apollo.io compare?

Buyers frequently compare how many email addresses and direct phone numbers ZoomInfo and Apollo.io have.

Here’s a summary of those numbers:

• The ZoomInfo contact database is said to have 220 million active contacts, over 150 million email addresses and 50 million direct dials in its contact database.
• In comparison, Apollo.io has over 265 million contacts at over 70 million companies, 165 million email addresses and 120 million phone numbers (according to Apollo.io’s homepage).

Both ZoomInfo and Apollo are based in the US, and according to Klue, a market intelligence platform, this is where their data coverage is the best.

According to Apollo.io T&Cs, its extensive database includes user-submitted data. So, by using Apollo, customers agree to give Apollo an irrevocable license to use their data, even after they stop using Apollo’s software. So even if you’re signing up for their free plan, you’re adding to their database.

On the other hand, ZoomInfo has built its platform by acquiring competitors. In recent years, its focus seems to have shifted from providing prospecting data to providing a sales workflow management solution.

Which is more accurate, ZoomInfo or Apollo.io?

Despite their best efforts, no data provider is 100% correct in all areas. A recent survey of Pavilion members who recently evaluated ZoomInfo vs Apollo’s data quality revealed areas where both providers could improve.

Survey participants mentioned Apollo’s weak email verification and missing cell phone numbers, whereas ZoomInfo needed to improve its global data footprint, especially EU coverage and refresh its contact information.

Tired of hit and miss? Try Cognism

Cognism is serious about data quality, compliance and accuracy. It has excellent coverage in the US and is a leader in providing EMEA contact data.

How does Cognism compare to Apollo.io and ZoomInfo?

Cognism is transparent about the regions its database covers. Moreover, Apollo admits to ”scraping from hundreds and millions of websites.” According to Apollo.io’s T&Cs, users give Apollo a permanent license to use and share any data they submit. This means you’re permitting Apollo to use any data in your CRM in its database.

When you use Cognism, your customer data stays with you.

Cognism gathers B2B data via its proprietary sources and fills in gaps from third-party data providers, publicly available sources, manual research, and strategic partnerships. The tool processes millions of data points each day to create and update its Person and Company profiles.

Similar to Cognism, ZoomInfo implements thorough data-checking procedures to maintain accuracy and assigns confidence scores to contact profiles in its database.

But the main difference between ZoomInfo, Apollo.io and Cognism is Cognism’s exclusive data asset. It includes phone-verified mobile numbers, increasing the likelihood of connecting with your ideal customer by three times. The team verifies these numbers and adds customer-requested contacts through a verification-on-demand service.

It helps sales teams reach 87% of prospecting lists. Companies are experiencing a 54% rise in mobile coverage, and ROI is improving because 70% of outbound meetings are scheduled using Cognism mobiles.

Here’s what our customers have to say about our data:

“Many complaints about Salesforce are that it’s only as good as the sales data you put into it, and that’s true. There are some things you cannot automate for your reps.” “But Cognism takes away many of those worries about whether the data is incorrect because we know we can trust it if it’s from Cognism.”

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72-77%

opportunities influenced

Director of Revenue Operations @Openprise

Apollo vs ZoomInfo: GDPR and CCPA compliance

ZoomInfo is CCPA and GDPR-compliant. The provider also checks do-not-call lists in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, the UK, and the US.

Apollo.io is CCPA and GDPR-compliant. Apollo has recently started offering DNC list cleaning in the UK and the US only. The provider charges one credit if a phone is revealed to be on a DNC list, and then it is at the user’s discretion to decide whether to call or not.

Why is DNC list cleaning important?

If a salesperson reaches out to someone who has opted out of sales and marketing phone calls, they may be accused of not having “a legitimate interest” in contacting that person.

The Information Commissioners’ Office (ICO) has issued fines totalling £180,000 for two companies that made more than 480,000 unlawful marketing calls to businesses signed up with the UK’s “Do not call” register.

Enrich data with compliant mobile numbers

If compliance is a strategic priority, the evaluation extends beyond basic GDPR and CCPA claims.

Cognism embeds regulatory governance directly into its data sourcing and verification processes. In addition to GDPR and CCPA compliance, Cognism screens against 15 global Do Not Call lists - more than any other provider - reducing the risk of regulatory breach and reputational damage.

This includes TPS and CTPS in the UK, as well as national Do Not Call registers across the United States, Canada, Australia, Germany, France, Spain, Ireland, Belgium, Croatia, Portugal, Sweden and more.

“Cognism is our comfort blanket when it comes to compliance. Whenever a prospect asks where we get their data from, we can confidently say that we’ve sourced their information from a reputable ISO 27001 and SOC Type II certification data company." “With Cognism, you aren’t snowing yourself under with ICO complaints. I couldn’t recommend it enough.”

Read the full case study

Richard Caldicott
Directeur informatique @Henderson Scott

ZoomInfo vs Apollo: Who’s best for integrations?

Integration capabilities are important when comparing ZoomInfo and Apollo.io.

Both are end-to-end platforms that aim to consolidate tech solutions. Having more features in one tool means less internal work and a smaller tech stack. However, the downside is that both platforms focus on developing proprietary technology rather than investing developers’ time into improving integrations with other tools.

ZoomInfo offers integrations with popular CRM systems and marketing tools for smooth workflow integration.

Apollo may not offer as many integration options as ZoomInfo. This may limit its usability for organisations needing extensive connectivity with different tools.

If you already use best-in-class solutions, like Salesforce and Outreach, you may find using all-in-one platforms limiting or buggy.

Looking for a provider that integrates into your tech stack?

ZoomInfo vs Apollo.io: Who’s best for intent data?

“Cognism identifies the leads, allows us to target them based on the prospect’s intent and then follow-up with the sales action. Using intent data has massively reduced our Time to Engagement (TTE). Our sales cycle is typically 6-8 months long. At Cognism, we saw ROI in 8 weeks from intent data and direct dials. One deal pays for a year’s Cognism subscription.”

Read the full case study

8 weeks

taken to achieve ROI

George McKenna
Head of Cloud Sales @Ultima

Apollo.io vs ZoomInfo: FAQs

Why consider an alternative like Cognism?

If you’ve evaluated Apollo.io and ZoomInfo but neither fully aligns with your requirements, you’re not alone.

Many revenue organisations find themselves choosing between transparent, credit-based simplicity with limited scale, or broad platform depth accompanied by higher cost, contract rigidity and operational complexity.

Cognism provides a more deliberate alternative:  accurate, compliant European B2B data designed to support confident decision-making and sustainable growth across multiple jurisdictions.

Cognism delivers:

• Phone-verified mobile numbers connecting teams with active decision-makers across the UK and Europe
• Over 90% coverage of director-level and above contacts in Europe, refreshed on a 30-day cycle
• Embedded compliance with GDPR, CCPA and screening against 15 global Do Not Call lists
• Unrestricted data access without credit ceilings
• Intent and contextual signals to prioritise in-market accounts
• Native integrations with Salesforce, HubSpot, Outreach, Salesloft and other leading revenue systems
• Structured onboarding and direct access to data and compliance expertise

For organisations prioritising data accuracy, regulatory alignment and predictable commercial structures, Cognism offers a balanced foundation without unnecessary platform sprawl.

Book a demo and test Cognism’s data today.