Apollo.io vs Salesforce Sales Cloud comparison

Apollo.io and Salesforce are both solutions in the Opportunity Management category. Apollo.io is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.3, while Salesforce is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.2. Apollo.io holds a 17.9% mindshare in OM, compared to Salesforce’s 14.0% mindshare. Additionally, 71% of Apollo.io users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 94% of Salesforce users who would recommend it.

Apollo.io

Read 6 Apollo.io reviews

627 Views
145 Comparison Views

71% willing to recommend

Salesforce Sales Cloud

Read 115 Salesforce Sales Cloud reviews

511 Views
94 Comparison Views

94% willing to recommend

Apollo.io

Salesforce Sales Cloud

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 2, 2025

Salesforce Sales Cloud and Apollo.io compete in the CRM and sales automation space. Salesforce Sales Cloud appears more robust due to its extensive features and integrations, while Apollo.io gains an edge with its modern interface and affordability.

Features: Salesforce Sales Cloud provides customizable workflows, advanced analytics, and seamless integration with various third-party applications. Apollo.io focuses on lead generation and sales intelligence, offering data enrichment, email automation, and a user-friendly interface.

Room for Improvement: Salesforce Sales Cloud could improve its cost-effectiveness for small businesses, the steep learning curve, and the complexity of customization options. Apollo.io could enhance its integration capabilities, expand its feature set to match larger competitors, and improve its scalability for growing businesses.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Salesforce Sales Cloud offers both cloud-based and on-premise deployment options, providing extensive support and training resources. Apollo.io features a straightforward cloud-only deployment with responsive customer support but fewer customization options than Salesforce.

Pricing and ROI: Salesforce Sales Cloud generally has higher upfront costs but aims for long-term value through scalability and extensive features. Apollo.io offers a lower-cost entry point with a focus on rapid ROI through essential sales functionalities, making it more accessible for smaller businesses.

To learn more, read our detailed Apollo.io vs. Salesforce Sales Cloud Report (Updated: June 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Apollo.io vs. Salesforce Sales Cloud

June 2025

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Apollo.io

Ranking in Opportunity Management

4th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

8.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Salesforce Sales Cloud

Ranking in Opportunity Management

1st

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

115

Ranking in other categories

CRM (2nd), Sales Force Automation (1st), Conversation Intelligence Software (3rd)

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Opportunity Management category, the mindshare of Apollo.io is 17.9%, up from 11.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Salesforce Sales Cloud is 14.0%, up from 14.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Opportunity Management

Featured Reviews

Vaibhav Patil

Digital Marketer at DigiLiterate

It makes finding your target audience easy, has a verified contact details feature, and its customer support is helpful and always available

My company used Seamless AI and Hunter.io, but I found Apollo.io more affordable based on the number of leads it gives versus what other products provide. Apollo.io has around one hundred fifty industries you can target, so it has a more extensive lead database than other products. The tool also has a more user-friendly interface and is easy to use versus other tools. You first need to learn how to use Apollo.io, which becomes pretty easy. Other advantages of Apollo.io over other products include more filters you can use to find your target audience. It also shows you verified emails and has mass email and cold call features which you can't find in other tools.

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Greg-Lythe

CTO at Amulets Hotkey

A feature-rich platform that helps to track sales and gather customer information

My age-old complaint with Salesforce Sales Cloud is that it has to be refreshed because it's a cloud-based system. If you make any updates, you have to refresh and save because you're fundamentally looking at what's running in the cloud. It can be slow since you constantly refresh and save the screen. If you were running a local application, like a local CRM system, as you input anything, it would be more seamless. It's like using Excel—you don't have to save every single time you enter new details into a cell because it knows it's a local copy. With a cloud-based system like the tool, changing requires refreshing and saving, which can be tedious.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"The product's most valuable feature is its ease of use, especially for beginners."

"The most valuable feature of the solution is the intent data it provides our company. I find it really interesting how Apollo.io can detect the intent of companies looking for your company's solution."

"What I like most about Apollo.io is it lets you find your target audience. The tool also helps you find verified contact details, apart from allowing you to send bulk emails to people you're looking to contact."

"Apollo is very user-friendly."

"I like the tool's UI. Its user experience is clear."

"It is a scalable solution."

"CRM solution that performs well. It's multifeatured, so you can use it for different activities such as managing opportunities, managing revenue, reviewing leads, etc."

"Salesforce is very user-friendly, which makes it effortless to track business management reports."

"The dashboards and dashboard customization are great."

"Contact records are most valuable."

"The development cost, maintenance cost, everything will be drastically reduced - unlike traditional infrastructure where we maintain everything on our own."

"This product is lightweight."

"It is a good platform that shows consolidation of information for our customer base."

"The most beneficial aspect of Salesforce Sales Cloud is my development life cycle will have been shortened."

More Salesforce Sales Cloud pros

Cons

"They should provide a larger number of free emails."

"What's missing in Apollo.io is a proper CRM and pipeline management system. The tool is excellent at finding contact information, but it has room for improvement in sending emails and tracking the sales pipeline."

"The solution sends callouts when not in maintenance mode, which is a headache for the people involved."

"The solution's initial setup process could be better."

"Sometimes we get the wrong information on Apollo. They should improve the emails because we are connecting all the emails and logging on to Apollo.io."

"Apollo.io still needs to work on the CRM part because it has started building some CRM infrastructure for companies to use and track their sales activities."

"With the solution being very vast, they need to prioritize features."

"The connectivity has some latency. It could be more responsive."

"Salesforce could improve its response speed. Compared to AWS, it is slower, which could be a hindrance."

"The high price of the product is an area of concern where improvements are required."

"The solution's customer support is not so good."

"Applications that can help with migrating data over from the sandbox to production would make it easier because sometimes change sets can be bulky and they're not always as effective. This can be frustrating when you make a lot of changes and try to put those changes into production."

"I need to do a lot of customization to implement an ERP solution for an energy and utilities client versus a BFS client. Salesforce should look at the common customizations each client wants and see how much of that can be standardized into industry-specific specific solutions. That would speed up implementation, so we don't need to go through the same steps a hundred times. Salesforce could do it once and put it out for the rest of the clients to use it."

"When integrating Salesforce Sales Cloud with other applications it can be difficult to maintain security."

More Salesforce Sales Cloud cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Apollo.io is more affordable than its competitors. I'm on an unlimited plan that costs $19 monthly. Nowadays, Apollo.io has a $99 plan that gives you ten thousand emails monthly. Other products would cost $2,000+ annually."

"Paid versions are likely to provide more accurate information and offer more convenience to users."

"The solution's price is reasonable."

"With my idea about the pricing aspect of Apollo.io, I feel that the solution's pricing model is super good and a steal for what the product offers."

"In terms of investment value and return of the investment, Salesforce right now is pretty good on the Western markets where the price of the employees is pretty high."

"Not the cheapest"

"Price-wise, the product does not fall under the category of cheaply priced products."

"Implementation and add-ons may be additional costs."

"The price of the product is very high. I rate the product price a ten on a scale of one to ten, where one means low price, and ten means expensive."

"It is alright for now because we ended up getting a discount off the base price. So, for now, it is okay. We may have to renegotiate when we get more users, and I don't know if the price would stay the same or increase. It has just a standard licensing fee. If you end up hiring a consultant for implementation, you will have to pay for the implementation. Other than that, there are no additional fees."

"We pay a yearly subscription fee."

"The price of Salesforce Sales Cloud could be reduced. It is expensive."

More Salesforce Sales Cloud pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

20%

Financial Services Firm

14%

Comms Service Provider

Wholesaler/Distributor

Educational Organization

42%

Computer Software Company

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Apollo.io?

The product's most valuable feature is its ease of use, especially for beginners.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Apollo.io?

We are using the free version of the solution.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Apollo.io?

Sometimes we get the wrong information on Apollo. They should improve the emails because we are connecting all the emails and logging on to Apollo.io.

See all answers

What do you like most about Salesforce Sales Cloud?

The features of Sales Cloud most useful for testing and running email campaigns are highly valuable.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Salesforce Sales Cloud?

With today's generative AI capabilities like ChatGPT ( /products/chatgpt-reviews ), it should be possible to directly communicate with the software rather than navigating through the entire system ...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Salesforce Sales Cloud?

I generally use Salesforce Sales Cloud ( /products/salesforce-sales-cloud-reviews ) for our sales process, setting up the entire opportunity lifecycle from lead generation to contract closure. It h...

See all answers

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Compared 16% of the time

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Compared 7% of the time

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Compared 25% of the time

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Compared 6% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Opportunity Management

June 2025

Download Apollo.io product report

Buyer's Guide

Salesforce Sales Cloud

June 2025

Download Salesforce Sales Cloud product report

Also Known As

No data available

Sales Cloud, SFDC, Salesforce

Overview

The sales intelligence and engagement platform to crush your sales numbers every quarter. Use our data of over 220 million contacts and 30 million companies to find and engage your future customers at the right time with the right message in our all-in-one platform.

Apollo.io

Salesforce Sales Cloud is a comprehensive CRM platform designed for efficient lead management, sales forecasting, and customer engagement, offering extensive customization and cloud-based accessibility.

Aimed at enhancing business efficiency, Salesforce Sales Cloud supports core business processes like CRM, lead and opportunity management, sales forecasting, and customer engagement. Its robust integration capabilities allow seamless connectivity with ERP systems and various applications. The platform offers pipeline tracking, process automation, and advanced sales cycle management. Users appreciate its cloud-based accessibility, allowing teams to operate remotely and manage sales operations effectively. However, users highlight concerns about its complexity, cost, and the need for a more intuitive interface.

What features does Salesforce Sales Cloud offer?

Customization: Tailor the CRM to meet specific business requirements.
Robust Reporting: Comprehensive analytics and data insights.
Lead Management: Efficiently manage and convert leads.
API Integration: Seamless connectivity with multiple applications.
Cloud Accessibility: Work from anywhere with cloud-based access.

What benefits should be evaluated in Salesforce Sales Cloud reviews?

Enhanced Productivity: Streamline sales processes with automation.
Improved Collaboration: Facilitate team coordination and client engagement.
Accurate Forecasting: Make informed decisions with reliable sales forecasts.
Flexibility: Accommodate diverse industry needs with ease.
Legacy System Integration: Efficiently update and integrate with existing systems.

Salesforce Sales Cloud is widely implemented across industries such as finance, healthcare, and retail, supporting sales teams in tracking and managing sales operations. Its use extends to reporting, collaboration, and enhancing client interactions, allowing companies to tailor Salesforce to meet industry-specific requirements efficiently.

Salesforce

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Coca-Cola Enterprises, Kuoni Global Travel Services, Financial Times, Just Eat, Jobsite, H.R. Owen, PlayerLayer, O2, DMGT, Philips, Xtreme.ie, Business Stream, Remote Asset Management, Dialogue Group

Buyer's Guide

Apollo.io vs. Salesforce Sales Cloud

June 2025

Free Report: Apollo.io vs. Salesforce Sales Cloud

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We monitor all Opportunity Management reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.