Apollo vs Instantly: sending infrastructure

Instantly’s own Terms and its own help center don’t agree on how you’re allowed to pay

Instantly’s Terms name card or direct debit as accepted payment methods, while its own help documentation names only Stripe, and neither invoice, purchase order, net-30, ACH, wire transfer, nor a W-9 appears anywhere; Apollo instead states net-30 terms in US dollars with ACH reserved for its Organization or Custom plans. Scope compared, criterion by criterion. Checked 7 September 2026.

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Instantly

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Instantly vs Apollo: scope compared, criterion by criterion — checked September 7, 2026
Instantly	Apollo
What the tool answers
What it measures or produces
Cold email campaign platform: it produces sent sequences, opens, clicks, replies and “Opportunities”, plus an integrated B2B lead database.	Apollo produces verified B2B contact data — emails and phone numbers — plus outbound sequences, a dialer, and lead scores, all metered as credits per action.
The job it equips
Outbound sales and meeting generation: the vendor claims it helps “scale outreach, book more meetings, and drive more revenue”, targeting agencies and sales teams.	The outbound SDR: account search, contact reveal, multichannel sequences, and outbound calling all live in one seat-based interface.
What it cannot tell you
Reply detection is blind in several documented cases: original email moved or deleted, paused or disconnected account, Gmail label applied too early.	Apollo publishes aggregate monthly refresh volumes but never the verification date of any individual record, and none of those figures carries a publisher date.
Cold outreach
Channels covered
Email is the core product. Calls and SMS exist, but inside the CRM module, via separately purchased Twilio numbers, only “in the USA” localities cited. LinkedIn absent from the integrations list.	Automated and manual email, calls via built-in dialer, LinkedIn and free-form tasks. LinkedIn steps are manual tasks to be completed, not automated sends.
Sending limits
Recommendation of 30 campaign emails per mailbox per day, hard cap of 20 for DFY AirMail mailboxes. Tiers cap the monthly total, not the per-mailbox daily rate.	Apollo publishes no sending cap per pricing tier. It publishes recommendations: 50 to 100 emails per day per mailbox, 10 to 20 per hour.
Mailbox warm-up
Native, unlimited warmup, included from the Growth plan. Defaults: +1 per day, daily cap 10, reply rate 30%. Not editable on AirMail mailboxes.	Available but not native: provided by a third party, Warmbox.ai. One mailbox per seat on paid plans; each additional mailbox costs 200 credits per 30-day period.
Personalization
Predefined and custom variables as {{column}}, spintax, A/Z testing. AI is billed in credits: 5 credits per generated reply, about 0.5 credit per enriched row.	Dynamic variables with nested conditional logic, comparators and case modifiers. AI research consumes one run per enrichment field, per saved contact.
Reply detection
AI reply-status tagging on by default, out-of-office detection pausing then resuming at the return date, at no extra charge. Automatic pause if bounce rate exceeds 5%.	Default rules distinguishing a human reply from an out-of-office: contact marked finished on reply, paused on out-of-office reply, resuming if a return date is detected.
Where the contacts come from
Integrated SuperSearch B2B database with 13 filters, waterfall enrichment across five-plus providers; CSV, Google Sheets, CRM import, manual entry. No browser extension documented.	Three sources: the built-in database, file import, and a Chrome and Edge browser extension working on LinkedIn, Sales Navigator, Gmail, company websites and CRMs.
CRM synchronization
HubSpot, Salesforce and Pipedrive for inbound import; push to HubSpot and Salesforce goes through OutboundSync, a separate third-party account, described one-way Instantly to CRM.	Bidirectional sync with HubSpot, Salesforce or Pipedrive, one CRM connected at a time. The required tier is not named in the publisher's documentation.
Outreach compliance
Unsubscribe link mandated by the sending policy, manually inserted in the editor, immediate stop after opt-out. CAN-SPAM referenced. Public objection registry for EEA, UK, Switzerland and California.	The unsubscribe link is optional and can be switched off by the user. Three GDPR settings can forbid prospecting, sending and tracking towards European residents.
Outbound compliance under US law
Instantly itself enforces an 8am-9pm local-time calling window, an automatic Voice Block List, and a non-overridable AI disclosure — but pushes the national do-not-call registry into a contractual clause.	Apollo blocks calls to DNC numbers once screening is on (opt-in), but pushes TCPA/CAN-SPAM onto the customer by contract. The email opt-out link is optional, toggleable off, and expires after 47 days. No SMS step exists at all.
What comes out of it
Export formats
CSV for leads, campaign analytics, email activity log, sending accounts and blocklist; JPG for the analytics chart; Unibox replies via API only.	The documented export format is CSV. The real ceiling is the record selection limit: 25 on Free, 1,000 on Basic, 2,500 on Professional, 10,000 on Organization.
Shareable reports
A “Share” button downloads the analytics chart; no public shareable report link is described in the Analytics article published at this URL as of 2026-09-02.	Custom reports can be shared per user or team with three permission levels, or set to “Everyone” visibility. No PDF export or scheduled delivery is documented.
API access
REST API v2 included on all Email Outreach plans. Quota expressed in requests: 100 per second and 6,000 per minute, shared across v1/v2 at workspace level.	Quota is counted in requests per minute, hour, and day, per team: 50/200/600 on Free, 200/400/2,000 on Basic and Professional, 200/600/6,000 on Organization.
What it connects to
Native integrations
Published list: API V2, MCP, Webhooks, Slack Webhook, Pabbly, HubSpot, Pipedrive, Salesforce via OutboundSync, Clay, Calendly, Zapier, Make, HighLevel, RB2B.	The only publisher-stated count, “50+ tools,” appears in the marketplace page's meta description, not on the page itself. Salesforce, HubSpot, and Outreach matter most.
Google tools it connects to
Google Workspace mailboxes connect via OAuth using the “Instantly OAuth Email v1” app authorised in the admin console, or via app password; import from Google Sheets.	Per the grid, the Free plan connects Gmail and Microsoft mailboxes; paid plans accept all providers. A Gmail extension ships on all four plans.
Bringing your existing data across
CSV import in UTF-8, maximum 50 variables per upload and 20 characters per header; import from HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, Google Sheets, SuperSearch or manual entry.	CSV import requires at least one of company name, website, LinkedIn URL, or email, and the publisher advises against files over ten thousand rows.
Getting started, and the fine print
Support
The pricing page distinguishes “Chat Support” on Growth from “Premium Live Support” on Scale. No support hours, no support languages, no SLA published on the pages consulted.	Basic email support covers all four plans; chat and priority email start at Basic; GTME expertise is reserved for the Organization plan.
Where the data is hosted
United States. The privacy policy explicitly names web servers located in the United States, with Standard Contractual Clauses and the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework for transfers.	The United States. The DPA names outsourced US-based data center providers and frames transfers with the EU Standard Contractual Clauses.
What happens if you leave
Access retained until the end of the billing cycle, then automatic pausing of accounts, warmup and campaigns. Fees non-refundable. Deletion within 30 days provided in the DPA.	Yes, with conditions: a perpetual license covers contact data already incorporated into your systems, but resale, redistribution, and model training remain prohibited.
Minimum seats billed
No minimum seat count published. Subscription is per workspace, not per seat; inviting team members is gated to the Hyper Growth or Light Speed tier.	One seat suffices on Basic and Professional; the Organization plan requires a three-seat minimum. The free plan drops to one seat after one hundred days of active use.
Data residency and regulated cloud
Instantly processes data on servers in the US, no region named. The DPA calls it 'not designed to be HIPAA or PCI DSS compliant'; no FedRAMP, StateRAMP, GovCloud, or HIPAA BAA. SOC 2 Type 2 is cited only for a sub-processor.	Apollo hosts in the US with no region named (AWS, Google Cloud, Databricks, Snowflake, OpenAI). Own certs: ISO/IEC 27001, SOC 2 Type II (A-LIGN), CASA Tier 2. FedRAMP, StateRAMP, GovCloud, BAA absent.
Interface languages shipped
Instantly ships five interface languages, including English, Spanish, Portuguese, and German. As of 2026-09-07, the page doesn't distinguish American from British English and doesn't say which screens are left untranslated.	Apollo announces five interface languages and names only four on the page: English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian. English is not split US/UK. Help center translated into es-419, it-it, pt-br. No excluded screen documented.
What it costs
The entry price and what it includes
Sending: Growth USD 47 per month, unlimited email accounts and warmup, 1,000 uploaded contacts, 5,000 monthly emails. Data: Nano USD 9 per month, 150 credits.	The first paid tier, Basic, costs 49 US dollars per seat per month billed annually, with thirty thousand credits per seat per year granted upfront.
What pushes the bill up
Three cumulative drivers: email volume and uploaded contacts, credits consumed by enrichment and AI agents, and unit purchases of domains and pre-warmed mailboxes.	Phone data: one email costs one credit, one phone number costs eight, and the US dialer costs two credits per call minute.
Sales tax and nexus
The Terms shift all sales, use, and excise taxes onto the subscriber, excluding Instantly's own income tax. No tax page, no state, no nexus threshold; billing offers only a Tax ID/VAT field. Not an online-selling tool.	Apollo shifts the tax burden onto the customer (ToS §4(c)(iv)): taxes owed except those on Apollo's own net income. No tax policy page, list of states, nexus statement, or per-state/local calculation are published on 2026-09-07.
Procurement and invoicing
Contradiction: the Terms name card or direct debit, help names only Stripe. No invoice, purchase order, net-30, ACH, wire, or W-9. Fees are due in advance, late interest 1.5%/month. Enterprise is 'Custom' priced.	Net-30 in USD (ToS), late interest 1.5%/month, subscriptions non-cancelable and nonrefundable. Major cards accepted (PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay excluded). ACH only for Organization/Custom plans, on request. PO and W-9 absent.

Key takeaways

Two of Instantly’s own pages name two different ways to pay

Instantly’s Terms name card or direct debit as the accepted payment methods, while its own help documentation names only Stripe — a payment processor, not a method in the same sense. Neither page mentions an invoice, a purchase order, net-30 terms, ACH, wire transfer, or a W-9; fees are due in advance, at one and a half percent monthly late interest, with Enterprise priced only as “Custom.”

Apollo names one path clearly, then narrows it by tier

Apollo bills net-30 in US dollars under its own terms, at the same one and a half percent monthly late interest as Instantly charges, accepting major cards while excluding PayPal, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. ACH exists only for its Organization or Custom plans, granted on request, with purchase orders and a W-9 absent from what it publishes.

Both push sales tax onto the customer, in almost identical language

Instantly’s Terms shift all sales, use, and excise taxes onto the subscriber, excluding only Instantly’s own income tax, with no tax page, state, or nexus threshold published — billing offers only a Tax ID or VAT field. Apollo’s own terms, at section 4(c)(iv), do the same, excepting only taxes on Apollo’s own net income, with no tax policy page, state list, or calculation published either.

Neither vendor names a hosting region, and neither carries a HIPAA agreement

Instantly processes data on servers in the US without naming a region, and its own data processing addendum calls the product “not designed to be HIPAA or PCI DSS compliant,” citing SOC 2 Type 2 only for a sub-processor, not for Instantly itself. Apollo hosts in the US without naming a region either, claiming ISO/IEC 27001, SOC 2 Type II, and CASA Tier 2 for itself, though FedRAMP, StateRAMP, GovCloud, and a HIPAA agreement are just as absent from its pages.

What a buyer actually has to click to pay either one

Paying Instantly means trusting whichever of its two contradicting pages happens to be checked — Terms or help center — since neither offers an invoice route out. Paying Apollo means a clearer net-30 default, though ACH stays out of reach below its top two tiers, and a purchase order is never offered at any of them.

Frequently asked questions

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Does Apollo’s do-not-call screening block DNC numbers automatically, or by opt-in?

Apollo blocks calls to Do Not Call numbers only once its screening feature is switched on by the customer, an opt-in setting, and it pushes TCPA and CAN-SPAM compliance onto the customer by contract regardless. Instantly instead enforces an 8am-to-9pm local-time calling window itself, plus an automatic Voice Block List and a non-overridable AI disclosure, though it still pushes the national do-not-call registry into a contractual clause.

Do Instantly and Apollo publish which US states they charge sales tax in?

No: neither publishes a state list. Instantly’s terms shift all sales, use, and excise taxes onto the subscriber, excluding only Instantly’s own income tax, with no tax page, state, or nexus threshold named. Apollo does the same under section 4(c)(iv) of its terms, owing only tax on its own net income, with no tax policy page, state list, or nexus statement published as of September 7, 2026.

Does Apollo offer ACH payment, and at which tier?

Apollo offers ACH payment only on its Organization or Custom plans, and only on request, alongside net-30 terms in US dollars and 1.5 percent monthly late interest, while a purchase order and a W-9 remain absent. Instantly is more restrictive still: its Terms name card or direct debit, its help center names only Stripe, and no invoice, purchase order, net-30, ACH, or W-9 is documented at any tier.