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 8.6, while Salesforce is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.2. Apollo.io holds a 17.6% mindshare in OM, compared to Salesforce’s 13.2% 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

587 Views
354 Comparison Views

71% willing to recommend

Salesforce Sales Cloud

Read 114 Salesforce Sales Cloud reviews

658 Views
346 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: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Apollo.io vs. Salesforce Sales Cloud

April 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

114

Ranking in other categories

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

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Opportunity Management category, the mindshare of Apollo.io is 17.6%, up from 11.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Salesforce Sales Cloud is 13.2%, down from 14.1% 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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Richard Mottershead

Enterprise Architect at a non-profit with 501-1,000 employees

Infinitely customizable, good end-to-end sales and customer management processes but lacks good documentation

Essentially, it's the CRM solution for managing customers and leads. The features that had the most significant impact on our sales efficiency include flexibility, regular updates, and very good end-to-end sales and customer management processes. AI and machine learning are on the agenda for next year. Initially, it will be very silo-based, but eventually, we'll be integrating MIBI data into our solution. Sales Cloud's reporting and analytics capabilities influenced our sales strategy quite a lot. We can build every report as a dashboard, and there are various sorts of things. We are using Tableau as our MIBI analytic solution, which is also owned by Salesforce these days.

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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

"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."

"It is a scalable solution."

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

"Apollo is very user-friendly."

"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."

"It is a one-stop shop for running anything related to sales. You can do a lot of things."

"This solution offers a good user experience. It is easy to learn and use, even for those who are using it for the first time."

"On the high level, it's all about managing the clients, managing the opportunities around those clients, managing the tasks, calls, activities, all those things."

"Our use case within the organization covers the entire cycle from lead generation, demand planning, and opportunities to realization and closure. For our clients, Salesforce is used more to plot the cycle from products to cash and lead to revenue. They mostly build offers and pricing quotations in the Salesforce environment through their field marketing agents."

"The tracking and monitoring of daily activities within each account is the most valuable aspect of Salesforce Sales Cloud. It allows for staying informed about ongoing activities, ensuring comprehensive visibility into the progress made within each account on a regular basis. Additionally, the plugins that are available, such as ZoolInfo are useful."

"The product is very fast and responsive. There's no lag time when you are on the platform."

"I would recommend Sales Cloud for anyone who has a sales team that needs to be optimized and for any size of enterprise."

"The user interface is pretty simple."

More Salesforce Sales Cloud pros

Cons

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

"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."

"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."

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

"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."

"I would like to see licensing fees reduced in the next release."

"An area for improvement would be the ease of configuration."

"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."

"The setup of Salesforce Sales Cloud is complex. You need specialists in that area to be able to have a good setup. Once it's set up properly, running it is seamless. That's the most beautiful thing about Salesforce Sales Cloud."

"Sometimes, it is difficult to integrate it with my emails. I've had trouble integrating it with my emails. There were a couple of things I did try as well, but I wasn't able to do so. I've had difficulty in other areas too with integration. It was related to syncing my calendars. I want the tasks that I put in to automatically sync to my calendars and update my calendars, but I couldn't figure out how to do it."

"Its reporting capabilities can be improved. Its reporting interface should be improved to personalize reports."

"It might be easier if there were better integration with other sales systems or clouds that are not powered by Salesforce. For example, when we work with partners, such as Amazon or any other major tech company, sometimes we collaborate to develop a sales lead."

"In the next release, I would like to see more integration."

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."

"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."

"The solution's price is reasonable."

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

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

"Not the cheapest"

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

"The price is fair."

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

"The price of the Salesforce Sales Cloud is expensive. We pay monthly for the solution but we are billed quarterly."

"We pay a yearly subscription fee."

"Sales Cloud is quite expensive."

More Salesforce Sales Cloud pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

22%

Financial Services Firm

14%

Comms Service Provider

Healthcare Company

Educational Organization

72%

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?

Improving system performance and processing speed would enhance productivity and allow for even smoother workflows according to my view. Additionally, introducing faster data retrieval and real-tim...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Salesforce Sales Cloud?

My primary use case for Salesforce is to streamline sales strategies, define key sales parameters, and manage focus areas effectively. I leverage Salesforce to record, track, and optimize our sales...

See all answers

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Compared 73% of the time

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Compared 18% of the time

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Compared 9% of the time

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Compared 28% of the time

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Compared 6% of the time

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Compared 4% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Opportunity Management

April 2025

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Buyer's Guide

Salesforce Sales Cloud

April 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

April 2025

Free Report: Apollo.io vs. Salesforce Sales Cloud

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