CRM · head to head
Apollo.io vs Assembled

Assembled
Customer Support
Workforce management and AI agents for support teams that run on Zendesk, Salesforce or Intercom
- From
- $25/month
- Free plan
- No
The short version
- Only Apollo.io has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Apollo.io everything is metered in credits, and the free Starter plan runs on them too, so prospecting volume is capped rather than the feature set; Assembled the published per-agent rate is not the whole bill, because a separate platform fee sits on top and is not published, so the headline 25 USD figure understates the real cost and you still need a quote to know the total.
- They diverge on capability: Apollo.io covers Contact database, Assembled covers Volume forecasting.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Apollo.io and Assembled actually diverge.
Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in Apollo.io
- Contact database
- Email finder
- Lead search
- Automation
- Engagement tracking
- Reporting
- Salesforce
- HubSpot
Only in Assembled
- Volume forecasting
- Schedule generation
- Real-time adherence
- Agent self-service
- Intraday reporting
- AI Copilot
- AI Agents
- BPO management
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Apollo.io
- Sales prospecting and lead generationnot Assembled
- Contact database management for sales teamsnot Assembled
- Email outreach and workflow automationnot Assembled
Assembled
- A 200-agent software support team that has outgrown spreadsheet rostering and wants forecast-driven schedules tied to Zendesk ticket historynot Apollo.io
- A support operations lead who needs to model in-house agents and two BPO vendors in a single capacity plan before the next peak seasonnot Apollo.io
- A subscription business that wants to measure whether an AI deflection layer actually reduces required headcount, using the same forecasting tool that sizes the human teamnot Apollo.io
- A finance team that needs a defensible per-agent cost line for support tooling before a board budget review, without a three-week vendor quoting cyclenot Apollo.io
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Apollo.io
- Everything is metered in credits, and the free Starter plan runs on them too, so prospecting volume is capped rather than the feature set
- Plans described as unlimited are capped in the fair use policy at 10,000 credits a month for non-paying accounts
- Connecting a mailbox that is not Gmail or Microsoft requires a paid plan
- How many records can be selected at once varies by tier
- Running out of credits means buying more rather than waiting for a reset
Assembled
- The published per-agent rate is not the whole bill, because a separate platform fee sits on top and is not published, so the headline 25 USD figure understates the real cost and you still need a quote to know the total.
- Pricing AI Agents per resolved conversation while pricing workforce management per seat means the two products pull in opposite directions financially: successful deflection shrinks the seat count you are billed for and grows the consumption charge, making year-two budgeting unpredictable.
- Long-range capacity planning and what-if scenario modelling are thinner than in NICE or Verint, so organisations doing annual headcount planning across multiple sites often end up exporting to a spreadsheet anyway.
- There is no quality management or agent evaluation module, so a support organisation that wants WFM and QA from one vendor has to buy a second tool and reconcile two sets of agent records.
- The product assumes a modern ticketing system as the source of truth; teams running a legacy ACD or a homegrown queue face custom integration work that the standard connectors do not cover, and forecast accuracy suffers until that data is clean.
- There is no native mobile application, so agents check schedules, request time off and swap shifts through a mobile browser, which is a persistent friction point for hourly and contact centre workforces who do not sit at a desk.
Pricing, plan by plan
Apollo.io
Free- FreeFree
- Basic contact search
- Limited searches
- Starter$49/month
- Everything in Free
- Advanced search
- Email finder
- Professional$149/month
- Everything in Starter
- Automation
- Advanced analytics
Assembled
$25/month- Core$25/month
- Forecasting
- Scheduling
- Real-time adherence
- Pro$45/month
- Everything in Core
- Advanced forecasting models
- BPO and vendor management
- Enterprise$75/month
- Everything in Pro
- SSO and SCIM
- Advanced security review
- AI Copilot$35/month
- Reply drafting
- Knowledge retrieval
- Agent workspace embed
Which should you pick?
Choose Apollo.io if
- You need contact database.
- You want to start without paying.
- You also want email finder.
Choose Assembled if
- You need volume forecasting.
- You work on Web, API.
- You also want schedule generation.
Questions people ask
- Is Apollo.io or Assembled better?
- Neither clearly leads. Apollo.io starts at Free and Assembled at $25/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Apollo.io or Assembled?
- Apollo.io has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Apollo.io and $25/month for Assembled.
- Does Apollo.io or Assembled run on more platforms?
- Apollo.io runs on Web. Assembled runs on Web, API.
- Can I use Apollo.io for free?
- Yes. Apollo.io has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Assembled starts at $25/month.
- What is Apollo.io best used for?
- Apollo.io is most often used for sales prospecting and lead generation, contact database management for sales teams, email outreach and workflow automation. Of those, sales prospecting and lead generation and contact database management for sales teams are not what Assembled is typically brought in for.
- What can Apollo.io do that Assembled cannot?
- Apollo.io covers Contact database, Email finder, Lead search, Automation. Assembled covers Volume forecasting, Schedule generation, Real-time adherence, Agent self-service.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Apollo.io: Does Apollo offer a free plan?
Yes, Apollo offers a Starter plan that is free forever and includes unlimited email addresses for contacts. Gmail and Microsoft email account linking are available on the free plan with limited third-party email account linking.
SourceAssembled: Does Assembled publish its real total cost?
It publishes per-agent tier rates of 25, 45 and 75 USD per month but adds an unpublished platform fee, so budget for the seat rate plus a fixed annual platform charge that you must ask for.
Apollo.io: How does Apollo's credit system work?
Apollo uses a credit-based system for exporting contact data outside the platform. Free and non-paying accounts have a monthly credit limit of 10,000 credits. Paid accounts receive limits based on their plan pricing, calculated as the lesser of annual commit divided by $0.025 or 1 million credits annually.
SourceAssembled: Can I buy the AI agents without buying workforce management?
Yes. Assembled sells WFM, AI Copilot and AI Agents as separately purchasable products, and AI Agents are billed at 0.65 USD per resolved conversation rather than per seat.
Apollo.io: How much do trial plans cost on Apollo?
Apollo trial plans include 50 credits and 5 mobile credits to test paid features at no charge. Trial versions do not support non-Gmail/Microsoft email account linking. Upgrades take effect immediately while downgrades take effect at the end of the billing cycle.
SourceAssembled: Is it suitable for a voice-first call centre?
Less so. The forecasting and scheduling are built around omnichannel ticketing volume, and voice-heavy operations running a legacy ACD will find the integration and intraday voice controls weaker than a traditional WFM suite.
Assembled: How long does implementation take?
Assembled states typically one month or less, which is realistic when your helpdesk is Zendesk or Salesforce and historical data is clean.
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