Apollo.io alternatives in India: pricing vs Starleads
Apollo's pricing, credits and Indian coverage against Starleads and other tools.
By Saurabh Khatri · Published · 6 min read
Starleads wrote this comparison and is one of the services compared. Facts about Apollo.io come from its own website, checked on 18 October 2026; prices change, so check before you buy.
Apollo.io in short
Apollo.io is a global sales platform. You search its database of people and companies, see emails and phone numbers, and work your prospects from the same place. According to its website it holds "240M contacts & 30M companies", with no separate figure for India. It suits sales teams that find named decision-makers and email them, often at IT and services companies or abroad.
Apollo.io pricing. Plans are priced per seat, which means per user. Basic is $49 per seat a month billed annually, or $65 billed monthly. Professional is $79 per seat a month billed annually, or $99 billed monthly. A team of three on Basic, billed annually, pays $1,764 a year. The prices are in US dollars, so what you pay in rupees moves with the exchange rate.
Credits and the free plan. Apollo.io counts look-ups in credits. The free plan includes 75 credits a month, and there is a 14-day trial. Check on the pricing page how many credits a paid seat includes and how many an email or a mobile number uses: those two numbers decide your real cost per contact.
Apollo.io vs Starleads at a glance
Apollo.io's prices are as shown on its pricing page on 18 October 2026.
| Apollo.io | Starleads | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Global sales platform with a contact database | Ready-made Excel contact lists of Indian businesses and professionals by industry, state and city |
| What you get | Emails, phone numbers and company data for the people and companies you search | Every contact in a list, with the share of rows that have a mobile, an email, an address and a contact name shown before you buy |
| How you pay | Subscription per seat, monthly or annual; look-ups use credits | One payment per list by UPI or bank transfer, confirmed by hand; no subscription or credits |
| Starting price | $49 per seat a month billed annually ($65 billed monthly) | ₹499 per city, state or specialisation list; All-India bulk lists ₹1,999; no GST added |
| Free option | Free plan with 75 credits a month; 14-day trial | 60 sample contacts on every list page; free Excel and PDF sample |
| How you get the data | In the app, Chrome extension, CSV or CRM enrichment, API | Excel file in your account with an invoice; download link valid for 30 days |
| Best for | Email prospecting of named people, in India and abroad | Calling, visiting or mailing every business of one kind in an Indian city, state or industry |
Where Apollo.io is the better choice
- You need one named person. If you know the company and the role, say the CTO of a listed company, Apollo.io's search and Chrome extension are built for that. Starleads can't look up a specific executive.
- Your buyers are outside India. Apollo.io's database is global. Starleads covers India only.
- You run email outreach and CRM work from one tool. Apollo.io combines the data with email sequences, enriches the contacts in your CSV files or CRM, and has an API. Starleads sends you a file, with no CRM integration or API.
- You want to test on your own targets first. The free plan's 75 credits a month show how well it finds the people you sell to before you pay.
Where Starleads is the better choice
- You want every business of one kind in a place, not a handful of names. A team calling IT companies in Pune gets the whole list in one Excel file. Our IT & Software Companies list has 73,762 contacts in 128 cities; 87% of rows have a mobile number and 47% an email.
- One price per list, whatever its size. No seats and no credits: a team of five pays the same as one person, and nothing renews.
- You see the data before you pay. Every list page shows 60 real contacts, partly masked, and the share of rows with each field.
- Rupee pricing. ₹499 a list with no GST added, with an invoice for your books.
IT and software companies in the biggest cities:
- Mumbai 14,021 contacts · 41% email · 88% mobile ₹499
- Bengaluru 13,554 contacts · 43% email · 91% mobile ₹499
- Pune 7,189 contacts · 46% email · 91% mobile ₹499
- Jaipur 2,772 contacts · 37% email · 97% mobile ₹499
There is also a CEOs, MDs & Directors list for India. For another mix of industries and cities, use the list builder.
What Starleads doesn't do. The data is compiled from business directories and similar sources, so not every row has an email or a named person, and contact details change. There is no look-up of one named executive, no card or gateway payment (orders are paid by UPI or bank transfer and confirmed by hand), no CRM integration or API, and no data outside India. Before calling, check numbers against the DND register; our DND guide explains how.
Other Apollo.io alternatives
Lusha is a global contact-finder with a simple credit rule: an email costs 1 credit and a phone number 5. Its Starter plan is $37.45 a month billed yearly, with 4,800 credits a year, and the free plan gives 40 credits a month. See Lusha alternatives.
ZoomInfo is a larger platform for sales and marketing teams. It doesn't publish prices; its blog says paid plans are custom-quoted annual subscriptions. See ZoomInfo alternatives.
EasyLeadz focuses on Indian mobile numbers and finds directors by DIN or CIN. Its cheapest plan is ₹2,419 a month plus 18% GST for 40 numbers, and the free plan has 5 mobile numbers. See EasyLeadz alternatives.
LinkedIn Sales Navigator searches LinkedIn's members and messages them by InMail, but has no lead export and doesn't list phone numbers as a feature. Core costs US$119.99 a month. See Sales Navigator alternatives.
More providers: our B2B data providers comparison.
Our verdict
Choose Apollo.io if you sell to named people, mostly by email, in India or abroad, and want the data, sequences and CRM work in one tool. Choose Starleads if you sell to many Indian businesses of one kind and want the whole list for a city, state or industry at one fixed rupee price, mainly for calling and visits. Many teams use both: a list to cover a market, and a contact-finder for the few key accounts where one particular executive matters.
Questions people ask
Is Apollo.io free?
It has a free plan with 75 credits a month and a 14-day trial. Paid plans start at $49 per seat a month billed annually.
How much does Apollo.io cost in India?
Its pricing page lists US dollar prices: Basic at $49 per seat a month billed annually or $65 monthly, and Professional at $79 or $99. Multiply by the number of seats you need; the amount in rupees depends on the exchange rate.
Apollo vs Lusha: which is better?
They suit different habits. Apollo.io is a sales platform priced per seat, with outreach tools in the same workspace. Lusha is a contact-finder: Starter costs $37.45 a month billed yearly for 4,800 credits a year, and an email uses 1 credit, a phone number 5. Apollo.io's free plan gives 75 credits a month, Lusha's 40. Neither publishes a figure for India, so test both on the people you sell to.
What is a good alternative to Apollo.io for Indian businesses?
For a named Indian decision-maker's mobile number, a contact-finder with Indian data such as EasyLeadz or Zintlr. For every business of one kind in an Indian city or industry, a ready-made list such as Starleads. For research on LinkedIn, Sales Navigator.