Best for
Best for outbound sales teams that want the contact data and the outreach tooling in the same place as the pipeline.
- Freelancers
- Small and mid-sized
- Enterprise
CRM Comparison
Apollo.io vs. Bigin by Zoho CRM
At a glance
At a glance
Best for
Best for small teams moving off spreadsheets who want a pipeline-first CRM at a low per-user price, with a free plan to start on.
- Freelancers
- Small and mid-sized
Cataleo does not name a winner. Both statements come from the vendors themselves.
Full Comparison
| Criterion | Apollo.io | Bigin by Zoho CRM |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free plan; Basic $49 / month, Professional $99 / month Amounts as published in the plan data on the vendor's pricing page, billed monthly. Enterprise is on request. The free plan is called Starter elsewhere on that page and has no time limit. Plans are sold by seat, and paid-plan trials come with 50 credits and 5 mobile credits. | lower value Free tier; Express from US$9 / user / month Billed yearly the rates fall to 7 US dollars for Express, 12 for Premier and 18 for Bigin 360 per user per month, saving up to 35 percent. The Free plan is a single user. No forced contracts, with a money-back guarantee within 30 days on monthly plans and 45 days on annual. |
| Free trial | Free plan with no time limit, plus trials of the paid plans | 15-day free trial, no credit card required |
| Users | More than 600,000 companies according to the vendor | Not stated |
| API | Yes, a REST API charged by consumption, with an official MCP server; the vendor lists API access for advanced integrations on the Custom plans | Yes, APIs on every plan including Free |
| Hosting | Cloud (SaaS) | Cloud (SaaS) |
| Contacts and companies | Yes, records for people and companies drawn from Apollo's own B2B database, with more than 65 data points per lead and real-time enrichment | Yes, a 360-degree contact record holding every conversation and follow-up, with record limits from 500 on Free to 1 million on Bigin 360 |
| Deal pipeline | Yes, deals tracked across stages with stalled-deal alerts, automatic conversion of high-intent leads into opportunities and deal analytics | Yes, customisable team pipelines for different operations and departments: 1 on Free, 3 on Express, 5 on Premier and 15 on Bigin 360 |
| Email and calendar | Yes, email sequences with A/B testing and deliverability tools plus a built-in scheduler with inbound routing; non-Google and non-Microsoft mailboxes need a paid plan | Yes, email, phone calls, WhatsApp and social messages against the customer record, with Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 integration; mass email from Express upward |
| Workflow automation | Yes, workflow automation, inbound lead routing and lead scoring, with an AI assistant for research and outreach | Yes, workflow automation that triggers email sequences, schedules actions and assigns tasks: 3 automations on Free, 30 on Express, 50 advanced on Premier and 100 on Bigin 360 |
| Reporting and forecasting | Yes, pre-built and custom reports and dashboards, sequence reports and conversation analytics from recorded calls | Yes, smart analytics dashboards covering sales metrics, customer tracking and campaign performance |
| Integrations and API | Yes, a consumption-based REST API for people, organisations and opportunities, an official MCP server, and integrations with Salesforce, HubSpot, Outreach, Salesloft and Marketo | Yes, APIs on every plan including Free, with QuickBooks, Zoho Books, Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Shopify, PayPal and social ad platform integrations plus 2,000 or more apps through Zapier |
| AI features | Yes | Yes |
| MCP-ready | stated Yes | No |
| Deployment | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based |
| Support | Email helpdesk, Community forum | Not stated |
| Onboarding | Documentation and knowledge base, Video tutorials, Guided onboarding | Not stated |
| Company size | more entries Freelancers, Small and mid-sized, Enterprise | Freelancers, Small and mid-sized |
| Integrations | Salesforce, HubSpot, Outreach, Salesloft, Marketo, SendGrid, LinkedIn | QuickBooks, Zoho Books, Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Shopify, PayPal, Zapier |
Add a tool
Adds a column to the table, from the tools in this category.
Row where the values differ The small markers point at the lower number, the longer list or the stated feature. They describe the data, they are not a verdict.
The short version
Key Differences
- Starting price Apollo.io Free plan; Basic $49 / month, Professional $99 / month Bigin by Zoho CRM Free tier; Express from US$9 / user / month
- Free trial Apollo.io Free plan with no time limit, plus trials of the paid plans Bigin by Zoho CRM 15-day free trial, no credit card required
- Company size Apollo.io Freelancers, Small and mid-sized, Enterprise Bigin by Zoho CRM Freelancers, Small and mid-sized
- MCP-ready Apollo.io Yes Bigin by Zoho CRM No
- API Apollo.io Yes, a REST API charged by consumption, with an official MCP server; the vendor lists API access for advanced integrations on the Custom plans Bigin by Zoho CRM Yes, APIs on every plan including Free
Every line is one datapoint from the table above, picked automatically. Nothing here is written text.
The trade-offs
Strengths and Limitations
Apollo.io
Strengths
- Contact database, sequences, dialer, scheduler and pipeline in one tool
- Free plan with no time limit
- Two-way integrations with Salesforce, HubSpot, Outreach, Salesloft and Marketo
- Official MCP server drives the same workflows from ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity
Limitations
- Standard plans are licensed for internal business use only, so powering an external product or resharing the data needs a separate agreement
- Credits meter database exports, and unlimited plans are bounded by a fair use policy
- Connecting a mailbox outside Gmail and Microsoft requires a paid plan
- The vendor lists API access for advanced integrations on the Custom plans
Bigin by Zoho CRM
Strengths
- Perpetually free single-user plan with pipeline, contacts, built-in phone and API access
- Paid plans start at 7 US dollars per user per month billed yearly
- Zia AI for email drafting, summaries, cross-sell and churn analysis at no extra subscription
- No forced contracts, with a 30 or 45 day money-back guarantee
Limitations
- Plans meter pipelines, records and automations, so growth runs into capacity limits
- Aimed at businesses of roughly 1 to 20 people rather than larger sales organisations
- Much of the integration value assumes the wider Zoho estate
Plans
Pricing
Apollo.io
- Free $0 Called Starter elsewhere on the pricing page. Basic access to the sales engagement tools and a limited contact database.
- Basic $49 Per month. Sales intelligence with contact access, CRM integrations and email automation.
- Professional $99 Per month. Adds sales automation, engagement tracking and AI-driven insights.
- Enterprise Not stated On request. Customizable platform with dedicated support, advanced analytics and API access.
Bigin by Zoho CRM
- Free US$0 Single user. One pipeline, 500 records, basic contact management, 3 automations, built-in phone and APIs. No credit card required.
- Express US$9 Per user per month, or 7 US dollars billed yearly. Adds 3 team pipelines, 50,000 records, 30 automations, email and WhatsApp integration, mass emails and 10 custom fields per module.
- Premier US$15 Per user per month, or 12 US dollars billed yearly. Adds 5 team pipelines, 100,000 records, 50 advanced automations, advanced field types, 25 custom fields, data enrichment and 1,000 AI credits per month.
- Bigin 360 US$21 Per user per month, or 18 US dollars billed yearly. Adds 15 team pipelines, 1 million records, 100 automations, 5 GB file storage, 50 custom fields, 1,000 mass emails per day and 3,000 AI credits per month.
What users say
Review Scores · opens after launch
Apollo.io
- Ease of use
- Not rated yet
- User interface
- Not rated yet
- Onboarding
- Not rated yet
- Support and service
- Not rated yet
- Value for money
- Not rated yet
- Features
- Not rated yet
No reviews yet. Be the first to review this tool. Every review is checked for fairness before it appears, and the vendor cannot have one removed.
Bigin by Zoho CRM
- Ease of use
- Not rated yet
- User interface
- Not rated yet
- Onboarding
- Not rated yet
- Support and service
- Not rated yet
- Value for money
- Not rated yet
- Features
- Not rated yet
No reviews yet. Be the first to review this tool. Every review is checked for fairness before it appears, and the vendor cannot have one removed.
Where this comes from
Where this comes from
Apollo.io https://www.apollo.io · no check date recorded yet
Bigin by Zoho CRM https://www.bigin.com · checked against the official source on 2026-09-11
This table lists factual criteria taken from information the vendors publish themselves. For how we put it together, see the methodology.