Apollo vs ZoomInfo: coverage and cost per contact

ZoomInfo says it hosts “in the U.S.,” then admits transferring data to any other country

ZoomInfo states it hosts “in the U.S.” on AWS and Google Cloud, naming no region, yet its own Privacy Policy admits transferring data to “any other country,” while Apollo makes the same US claim without naming a region either and carries its own separate certifications, ISO/IEC 27001, SOC 2 Type II, and CASA Tier 2. Neither publishes FedRAMP, StateRAMP, GovCloud, or a HIPAA business associate agreement. Scope compared, criterion by criterion. Checked 7 September 2026.

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ZoomInfo vs Apollo: scope compared, criterion by criterion — checked September 7, 2026
ZoomInfo	Apollo
What each one covers
Its core job
A proprietary company and professional database, searchable and enrichable, backed by real-time buying signals; the data itself is the product, not the orchestration layer.	A filterable B2B contact database, claimed at over two hundred forty million verified contacts and thirty million companies, with no stated measurement date.
What it also does, more lightly
The vendor adds execution: sequences and dialer through Engage, conversation intelligence through Chorus, display and retargeting advertising in the ABM packages, plus automation workflows.	Deal management, call recording, and automated workflows exist but are capped: from two workflows per team on Free to five hundred on Organization.
What it does not do at all
No sales pipeline, quoting, or invoicing management: neither a system-of-record CRM nor an opportunity object appears in the six published package feature lists.	No European hosting option is offered: the DPA names only US data centers, and no alternative region appears on the security page.
If you only take this one
What you give up
When the contract ends, platform access stops immediately, accounts are removed, and the data you had uploaded into ZoomInfo's systems is destroyed; enrichment stops with it.	Bulk extraction capacity: even on the most expensive plan, a selection tops out at ten thousand records at a time, versus twenty-five on the free plan.
The workaround, and what it costs
Delivery outside the interface — API, webhooks, cloud warehouse, scheduled batches. No price is published for it: no rate and no minimum volume on the product page	Moving to the Organization plan raises selection to ten thousand records: one hundred nineteen US dollars per seat per month, three-seat minimum, billed annually.
The point where it stops being enough
The wall is credits, not queries: search costs nothing, but every enriched record consumes one, and workflows pause once the organization exceeds its limit.	Bulk import is indexed to annual spend: one hundred thousand rows per week from one thousand dollars, ten million from one hundred thousand dollars.
If you take both
What it exposes to connect
A REST API at api.zoominfo.com/gtm using OAuth 2.0 (authorization code with PKCE or client credentials), webhooks, cloud warehouse connectors, and 185 catalogued integrations.	A REST API with scoped keys, an OAuth 2.0 authenticated MCP server at mcp.apollo.io, CSV import and export, and bidirectional CRM sync.
Which one becomes the source of truth
ZoomInfo keeps control: it places the record “Under Management” for a year, while the CRM receives the exported fields and stays the system the team actually works in.	The CRM. The perpetual license attaches to contact data incorporated into your own systems, and platform access ends immediately upon termination.
What the tool answers
What it measures or produces
ZoomInfo produces searchable B2B company and contact records that can be enriched on demand, plus buying-intent signals and account-level web activity data.	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
The outbound sales rep — SDR and Account Executive — is the targeted role, with prospecting automation, outreach personalization, and follow-up handled inside the tool.	The outbound SDR: account search, contact reveal, multichannel sequences, and outbound calling all live in one seat-based interface.
What it cannot tell you
The license bars using the data to assess a person's eligibility for credit, insurance, employment, or a government license or benefit — no FCRA-governed use case.	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 and phone are listed as native from the entry tier, with a browser extension and mobile app. LinkedIn is not listed as a sending channel on any pricing page.	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
NOT VERIFIED. No daily sending cap, per-mailbox limit or per-tier throttle is published on any accessible publisher source as of the survey date.	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
NOT VERIFIED. No mailbox warm-up feature is described on any accessible publisher source; the reference article on sender reputation renders in JavaScript.	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
AI email generation and personalization are included from the entry tier. Merge variables exist; AI research operations consume “AI action credits”.	Dynamic variables with nested conditional logic, comparators and case modifiers. AI research consumes one run per enrichment field, per saved contact.
Reply detection
Absence is handled distinctly: an out-of-office reply pauses subsequent steps. A prospect reply prevents enrollment into the follow-up sequence.	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
Three sources: the built-in database, the ReachOut browser extension usable on any site including LinkedIn and the CRM, and customer data import via CRM integrations.	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
CRM integrations are included from the entry tier. HubSpot is described in both directions: CRM context flowing in, ZoomInfo intelligence pushed back to the 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
The licence terms require the customer to review the opt-out list at least monthly and delete those contacts. Do Not Call registry suppression is optional and admin-enabled.	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.
The data and how fresh it is
Database size
ZoomInfo states “500M+ Total Professional Profiles”, “300M+ Verified business emails”, “135M+ Direct dial numbers” and “122M+ company records”. No publication date accompanies these figures on the page.	The publisher states “240M+ contacts and 30M+ companies” on its homepage. No measurement date accompanies this figure, and no counting method is published.
Freshness and verification
The publisher states the database is “updated daily” from over 38 million online sources, and publishes per-field rates without defining the measurement method.	Real-time refresh on signal, monthly database checks, seven-step email verification. Two different accuracy rates coexist across the publisher's own pages.
Intent data
Intent data is present, measured on content consumption, and capped by tier: 25 topics on Marketing Demand, 100 on ABM Lite, unlimited on ABM Enterprise.	Present, but the publisher contradicts itself on the provider and the topic volume. Two official pages give two providers and two incompatible orders of magnitude. I do not arbitrate.
Phone numbers
Direct dials and mobiles are distinguished and counted separately. A national Do Not Call registry suppression exists, admin-activated, masking numbers across the entire instance.	“Do Not Call” screening against seven countries' national registries, off by default and activatable by an administrator only. Credits are charged even for a listed number.
Credit model
One “bulk data credit” is consumed on a record's first enrichment; the record then goes “Under Management” for twelve months and can be re-enriched without another credit.	Email, mobile and export credits. Renewal on the first day of the billing cycle; expiry at cycle end, no rollover. Annual plans unlock everything at the start of the cycle.
GDPR compliance
Legal basis invoked: legitimate interest. The publisher states it notifies data subjects under Articles 13 or 14, and positions itself as an independent controller toward the customer.	Legal basis invoked: legitimate interests. Email notification of new contacts in the European Union, United Kingdom and Switzerland. Outsourced DPO and named Article 27 representative.
US geographic coverage
On its “Our Data” page ZoomInfo credits North America with 79.6M+ companies, 157.8M+ contacts and 77.7M+ mobile numbers. No United States-only subtotal, no state or metro named, and no measurement date.	No US volume published: only undated global totals, 240M+ contacts and 30M+ companies, appear on the pages tested as of 2026-09-07. No regional breakdown at all, so no imbalance to report. The product page sends the buyer to run a search inside a free account instead.
What comes out of it
Export formats
List exports produce a .csv delivered by email notification; for Salesforce, an admin caps per-object exports at up to 100,000 records at once, dropping to 5,000 through the Native App.	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
Reporting is tiered: “Audience & campaign reporting” in Marketing Demand, “Advanced reporting and analytics” reserved for Copilot Enterprise. External sharing of reports is not publicly documented.	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
API access requires the Enterprise API or Copilot package; the billing unit is one credit per newly enriched record, free for the next twelve months, with search endpoints costing nothing.	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
The vendor directory shows 185 integrations as of 2026-09-02; the three that matter for an outbound stack are Salesforce, HubSpot, and Outreach or Salesloft for sending.	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 Cloud is listed among the natively supported warehouses for data delivery, and a Gmail integration is published, categorized under “Email” and “Export from ZoomInfo”.	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
Existing CRM records are queried and matched in batches through the Salesforce Bulk API, 10,000 per batch, before enrichment; one credit is charged per new record.	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
Support is reached by web form or at +1 866-904-9666; the level depends on the package — “Standard support” on Professional versus a dedicated manager on Copilot Enterprise.	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
The vendor places its services with three major cloud providers, with hosting data centers in the U.S.; no provider is named and no European residency option is published.	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
The decisive contractual point: materials obtained during the term stay usable after it ends, but remain subject to the agreement, so no resale or transfer to any third party.	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 seat minimum is published. The license defers to the Ordering Document, and the pricing page states a seat-based model with no stated floor.	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
ZoomInfo says it hosts “in the U.S.” (AWS, Google, no region), yet its Privacy Policy admits transfer to “any other country.” Own certs: SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001/27701/27017. FedRAMP, StateRAMP, TX-RAMP, GovCloud, BAA absent.	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.
What it costs
The entry price and what it includes
No price is published: no currency, no amount, no billing period. Six packages are named with their features, and a separate free tier called ZoomInfo Lite exists	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 stated drivers: number of licenses, monthly credit consumption for exports, and depth of intelligence required; paid add-ons such as intent, Chorus, and Copilot stack on top.	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
ZoomInfo puts the tax burden on the customer (License T&Cs): liable for sales/use tax, must indemnify ZoomInfo, exemption via certificate to ar@zoominfo.com. No tax page, state list, nexus statement, or local calc published.	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
ZoomInfo accepts card, ACH, wire, check, and Bill.com/Ariba/Coupa; POs by email, W-9 as PDF. Net-30 by default (T&Cs), late interest 1.5%/month. No non-card threshold published; pricing page shows no price or checkout.	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

A US hosting claim that ZoomInfo’s own privacy policy contradicts

ZoomInfo states it hosts “in the U.S.” across AWS and Google Cloud, naming no specific region for either, yet its own Privacy Policy admits transferring data to “any other country.” Its own certifications stop at SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001, 27701, and 27017 — FedRAMP, StateRAMP, TX-RAMP, GovCloud, and a HIPAA business associate agreement are all absent.

Apollo names the same country, and a longer certification list

Apollo also hosts in the US without naming a region, across AWS, Google Cloud, Databricks, Snowflake, and OpenAI. Its own certifications add ISO/IEC 27001, SOC 2 Type II audited by A-LIGN, and CASA Tier 2 — a Google-specific security assessment — though FedRAMP, StateRAMP, GovCloud, and a HIPAA business associate agreement are just as absent from its pages as from ZoomInfo’s.

Sales tax lands on the customer at both companies, worded almost identically

ZoomInfo’s License terms put the sales and use tax burden on the customer, who must indemnify ZoomInfo, with an exemption available only through a certificate emailed to ar@zoominfo.com. Apollo’s own terms, at section 4(c)(iv), do the same, excepting only taxes on Apollo’s own net income — and neither company publishes a tax policy page, a list of states, or a per-state calculation.

Two ways of paying, two ways of proving it

ZoomInfo accepts card, ACH, wire transfer, check, and purchase orders through Bill.com, Ariba, or Coupa, with a W-9 available as a PDF and net-30 terms by default. Apollo bills net-30 in US dollars too, at the same one and a half percent monthly late interest, but restricts ACH to its Organization or Custom plans on request, and names no purchase order or W-9 path at all.

What the hosting claim leaves unanswered on both sides

Neither ZoomInfo’s admission that data can move to “any other country” nor Apollo’s unnamed US region tells a buyer which country or region their own account’s data actually sits in. Both stop at the same kind of certification — SOC 2 Type II plus an ISO standard or two — and neither one extends that badge to FedRAMP, StateRAMP, or a signed HIPAA agreement.

Frequently asked questions

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Does ZoomInfo specify which countries its data may be transferred to?

No: ZoomInfo states it hosts its services in the US, on AWS and Google, with no region named, but its Privacy Policy admits transfer to any other country without naming one. Its own certifications are limited to SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001, 27701, and 27017; FedRAMP, StateRAMP, TX-RAMP, GovCloud, and BAA are absent. At Apollo, hosting also stays in the US with no region named, with the same regulated-compliance certifications absent. For a buyer bound by a data-residency requirement, neither vendor publishes a precise guarantee.

Is Do Not Call registry suppression turned on by default at ZoomInfo?

No: at ZoomInfo, suppression through the national Do Not Call registry stays optional and is turned on only by an administrator; the license terms also require the customer to review the opt-out list at least monthly and delete those contacts. At Apollo, the unsubscribe link is likewise optional and can be switched off by the user, with three separate GDPR settings to forbid prospecting, sending, or tracking toward European residents. For a buyer, outreach compliance stays an active configuration on both sides.

Does Apollo accept ACH payment below its Organization plan?

No: at Apollo, ACH opens only on the Organization or Custom plans, on request, and no purchase order or W-9 is published; net-30 applies in US dollars with 1.5 percent monthly late interest, on subscriptions that are non-cancelable and nonrefundable. At ZoomInfo, ACH, wire transfer, check, and purchase orders by email are accepted from the start, with a W-9 supplied as a PDF. For a buyer below that tier at Apollo, only card payment remains available.