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Lemlist vs Apollo: Which Outreach Tool Actually Scales in 2025?

If you’re doing outbound sales in 2025, you’ve probably come across Lemlist and Apollo.

Both tools are popular for sales outreach, but they help teams grow in very different ways.

Lemlist is known for personalized cold emails that feel human, while Apollo focuses on scale with a massive lead database and built-in sales tools.

So when it comes to growing your outreach without hurting deliverability or wasting time, which one actually scales better?

In this guide, we’ll break down Lemlist vs Apollo across the areas that matter most, features, pricing, deliverability, AI, and ease of use, so you can choose the tool that fits your sales team, workflow, and growth goals.

Lemlist Overview

Lemlist homepage
This image shows the Lemlist homepage

Lemlist is a sales outreach tool that helps teams find leads and contact them across multiple channels from one place.

You can reach prospects through email, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, and calls, all inside a single sequence. 

Lemlist also includes a large B2B lead database and tools to enrich contacts with verified emails and phone numbers.

Lemlist focuses strongly on personalization.

You can personalize emails with text, images, videos, and landing pages using real lead data, so messages feel human and not automated.

To protect inbox placement, Lemlist includes Lemwarm, a built-in email warm-up tool that helps keep emails out of spam.

Apollo Overview

Apollo homepage
This image shows the Apollo homepage

Apollo is a sales intelligence and outreach platform built for teams that want to find leads, send emails, and track performance at scale.

Apollo includes a large B2B contact database, so you can search for companies and people using filters like job title, company size, industry, and location. 

You can then contact those leads using email, LinkedIn, or calls, all from one platform.

Apollo puts a strong focus on deliverability and control. It offers email warmup for new domains and inbox ramp-up for existing mailboxes. 

You can set daily and hourly sending limits, add unsubscribe links, and monitor mailbox health to protect your sender reputation.

For teams and admins, Apollo provides a Deliverability Suite.

This shows domain health, mailbox performance, open rates, reply rates, and bounce rates, so issues can be spotted early.

Lemlist vs Apollo: 5 Key Differences

Let's have a quick look at the 5 key differences between Lemlist and Apollo: 

1. Lemlist vs Apollo Features: What Does Each Tool Offer?

Lemlist and Apollo both support outbound sales, but they are built for different needs.

Lemlist focuses on personalized outreach that helps messages feel human and get replies. 

Apollo focuses on managing outbound sales at scale, from finding leads to tracking performance.

Lemlist vs Apollo: Feature Comparison

Here’s a quick feature comparison:

```html
Feature Category Lemlist Apollo
Lead Database 600M+ B2B leads with waterfall enrichment 275M+ verified B2B contacts
Outreach Channels Email, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, calls Email, LinkedIn, phone
Personalization High (images, pages, dynamic text) Medium (AI text-based)
AI Tools AI personalization and copy help AI research and writing
Deliverability lemwarm, inbox rotation Warm-up, ramp-up, scoring
CRM & Reporting Basic CRM sync Advanced CRM + analytics
Best For Personalized outreach teams Sales teams at scale
```

So, if your goal is to stand out with highly personalized outreach across multiple channels, Lemlist is the better choice. 

If you need a single platform to find leads, manage outreach, and track sales performance at scale, Apollo is the stronger option.

2. Lemlist vs Apollo Pricing: Which One Scales Better?

Lemlist and Apollo use very different pricing models, and this matters a lot when you start scaling outreach.

Lemlist pricing
This image shows the Lemlist pricing

Lemlist charges per user. Each seat includes outreach features, personalization tools, and access to deliverability features like Lemwarm. 

Apollo pricing
This image shows the Apollo pricing

Apollo also charges per user, but its pricing is tied closely to how much data, AI, and analytics you need.

As you move up plans, you unlock more AI features, higher limits, and deeper reporting. 

This makes Apollo more expensive as teams grow, but also more powerful for larger sales orgs.

Lemlist vs Apollo: Pricing Comparison

Pricing Factor Lemlist Apollo
Free Trial 14-day free trial Free plan available
Entry Plan Email Pro – ~$69/user/month Basic – $59/user/month
Mid-Tier Plan Multichannel Expert – ~$99/user/month Professional – $99/user/month
High-End Plan Enterprise – custom pricing Organization – $149/user/month
Billing Model Per user Per user
Lead Database Access Included in plans Included (limits increase by plan)
Deliverability Tools lemwarm included Warmup + inbox ramp-up
Best Value For Teams focused on outreach & personalization Teams needing data + analytics at scale

So, when it comes to pricing, the right choice depends on how you plan to scale.

  • Choose Lemlist if you want predictable pricing, strong personalization, and simple scaling for outbound teams.
  • Choose Apollo if you’re building a larger sales engine and need data, reporting, and CRM-driven workflows, even at a higher cost.

3. Lemlist vs Apollo Deliverability: Which One Performs Better?

Email deliverability decides if your emails reach the inbox or go to spam.

Both Lemlist and Apollo help with deliverability, but they do it in different ways.

Lemlist is made for easy and automatic deliverability.

Lemwarm by Lemlist
This image shows the  Lemwarm by Lemlist

It comes with Lemwarm, which warms up inboxes by sending and replying to real emails. 

Lemlist also helps you follow best practices like safe sending limits, inbox rotation, and proper domain setup.

Most deliverability work runs in the background, so you don’t need to manage much.

Apollo gives you more control and more data

It offers email warmup for new inboxes and inbox ramp-up for older inboxes

Deliverability suite by Apollo
This image shows the Deliverability suite by Apollo

Apollo also has a Deliverability Suite that shows mailbox health, domain health, spam rate, bounce rate, and a deliverability score. 

It tells you what’s wrong and how to fix it. This is useful for teams sending at scale.

In short, Lemlist focuses on simplicity, while Apollo focuses on visibility and control.

4. Lemlist vs Apollo: Which Outreach Tool Actually Scales?

When outreach grows, the problem is no longer writing emails.

The real challenge is increasing volume without hurting deliverability, losing replies, or creating an operational mess.

Both Lemlist and Apollo allow you to send outreach at scale, but they handle growth in very different ways. 

The difference shows up when you start adding more inboxes, sending more emails per day, and managing ongoing campaigns over time.

To understand which tool truly scales better, we need to look at how each platform increases volume, how it protects inbox health, and what happens when outreach gets bigger and more complex.

The table below breaks down these scaling factors feature by feature.

Scaling Factor Lemlist Apollo
How volume increases Gradual increase through lemwarm and inbox rotation Volume grows by adding mailboxes and automation
Inbox warm-up Built-in lemwarm for continuous warm-up Email warm-up for new inboxes + inbox ramp-up
Mailboxes per user Multiple inboxes with rotation inside campaigns Up to 15 mailboxes per user (plan-based)
Sending limits User-defined daily limits Enforced daily and hourly limits
Deliverability control Warm-up–driven, email-behavior focused Deliverability Suite with scores and health tracking
Outreach channels Email, LinkedIn, calls Email, LinkedIn, calls, meetings
Operational scale Simple campaign-level control Team dashboards, automation, CRM syncing
Best scaling use case Email-first outbound growth Team-based outbound growth

In short, Lemlist scales by keeping email sending safe and controlled, while Apollo scales by adding structure, automation, and visibility as outreach grows.

5. Lemlist vs Apollo: Which One Has an Easier Lead Generation Process?

Lemlist and Apollo both include a built-in lead database, so you don’t need external tools to find prospects.

Lemlist keeps lead generation simple and close to outreach

You search its 600M+ lead database, enrich contacts with emails, phone numbers, and LinkedIn profiles using waterfall enrichment, and move leads straight into multichannel sequences. 

There are fewer steps before you can start sending.

Apollo handles lead generation inside a larger sales workflow

You search a large database, apply advanced filters and intent data, enrich contacts, and then push leads into CRM pipelines and sales sequences.

This gives more control, but it also adds setup.

Here’s a quick comparison between Lemlist and Apollo:

Lead Generation Feature Lemlist Apollo
Lead database 600M+ leads, 63M+ companies 210M–275M+ contacts, 35M–73M+ companies
Search & filters Core ICP filters Advanced + intent filters
Data enrichment Waterfall enrichment Credit-based enrichment
Emails & phones Included Included
LinkedIn enrichment Included Included
Lead → outreach flow Direct and fast CRM-driven
Setup effort Low Moderate

If your goal is outreach, Lemlist and Apollo are ideal. 

But if your main challenge is finding clean, verified leads before outreach even begins, this is where a tool like Leadsforge fits better.

Why Leadsforge Is a Better Choice for Lead Generation?

Leadsforge homepage
This image shows the Leadsforge homepage

Leadsforge is built only for lead generation.

Unlike Lemlist and Apollo, it doesn’t mix in outreach or CRM features.

That makes it simpler, faster, and more focused.

You describe your ideal customer in plain language.

Leadsforge searches across 500M+ contacts, runs waterfall enrichment to find verified emails, phone numbers, and LinkedIn profiles, and gives you a clean list ready to export.

It’s ideal if your goal is just to find and verify leads, not manage campaigns.

Bonus: Leadsforge works with Salesforge, so you can launch multichannel outreach immediately after generating leads.

If your priority is finding verified leads fast, Leadsforge is the simplest and most focused option.

Final Thoughts

Lemlist and Apollo are both strong tools, but they solve different problems.

If your focus is running outreach campaigns and managing follow-ups, Lemlist fits well. 

If you need a full sales system with pipelines, reporting, and CRM-style control, Apollo is a better choice.

But if your main goal is finding high-quality, verified leads quickly, Leadsforge stands out.

It removes the complexity from lead generation. You don’t deal with heavy filters, long setup, or multiple tools. 

You simply describe who you want to reach, and Leadsforge delivers clean, ready-to-use leads.

And when you’re ready to reach out, you can push those leads straight into Salesforge and start multichannel outreach right away.

Try Leadsforge now with 100 free credits!