Softwr

CRM & Sales · head to head

Apollo.io vs Gainsight

Apollo.io logo

Apollo.io

CRM & Sales

Revenue intelligence platform

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Gainsight logo

Gainsight

Sales Enablement

The #1 Customer Success Platform

From
$2500/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

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; Gainsight limited customization options; teams resort to exports and scripts when platform lacks required fields
  • They diverge on capability: Apollo.io covers Contact database, Gainsight covers Health scores.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Apollo.io and Gainsight actually diverge.

Attributes where Apollo.io and Gainsight differ
AttributeApollo.ioGainsight
Starting priceFree$2500/month
Free tierYesNo
CategoryCRM & SalesSales Enablement
Founded20202011

Identical on both: pricing model (subscription), platforms (Web), 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
  • Outlook
  • Gmail

Only in Gainsight

  • Health scores
  • Churn prediction
  • Playbook automation
  • Customer 360 view
  • Journey orchestration
  • Zendesk
  • Ios support
  • Android support

Both cover

  • Salesforce
  • HubSpot
  • Slack
  • Web support

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Apollo.io

  • Lead generationnot Gainsight
  • Prospect researchnot Gainsight
  • Sales automationnot Gainsight

Gainsight

  • Customer Successnot Apollo.io
  • Retentionnot Apollo.io
  • Health Scoringnot 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

Gainsight

  • Limited customization options; teams resort to exports and scripts when platform lacks required fields
  • Integration reliability issues; broken connectors and schema changes create stale health scores
  • Cannot automatically track emails within the platform; requires manual logging or third-party solutions
  • Long implementation and setup; typically requires 12-24 weeks and mandatory implementation services
  • High total cost of ownership; Year 1 costs often exceed $200K including required professional services

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

Gainsight

$2500/month
  • Essentials$2500/month
    • Health scores
    • Customer 360
    • Playbooks
  • Enterprise$5000/month
    • Advanced analytics
    • AI predictions
    • Custom integrations

Which should you pick?

Choose Apollo.io if

  • You need contact database.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want email finder.
Apollo.io review

Choose Gainsight if

  • You need health scores.
  • You also want churn prediction.
Gainsight review

Questions people ask

Is Apollo.io or Gainsight better?
Neither clearly leads. Apollo.io starts at Free and Gainsight at $2500/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Apollo.io or Gainsight?
Apollo.io has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Apollo.io and $2500/month for Gainsight.
Does Apollo.io or Gainsight run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Apollo.io for free?
Yes. Apollo.io has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Gainsight starts at $2500/month.
What is Apollo.io best used for?
Apollo.io is most often used for lead generation, prospect research, sales automation. Of those, lead generation and prospect research are not what Gainsight is typically brought in for.
What can Apollo.io do that Gainsight cannot?
Apollo.io covers Contact database, Email finder, Lead search, Automation. Gainsight covers Health scores, Churn prediction, Playbook automation, Customer 360 view. Both handle Salesforce, HubSpot, Slack, Web support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Gainsight: Does Gainsight offer a free tier?

Gainsight does not offer a free trial for the main Customer Success Cloud platform. Gainsight PX (product analytics) offers a free Starter tier supporting up to 100 monthly active users.

Source
Gainsight: How is Gainsight priced?

Gainsight prices at $150-$300 per user/month for tier plans, but the main CS Cloud pricing is based on customer records managed. Initial deployments managing 500-1,500 customer records typically cost $60,000-$120,000 annually, with Year 1 costs often exceeding $200K including mandatory implementation.

Source
Gainsight: What are Gainsight's core features?

Gainsight offers health scoring, customer journey orchestration, playbooks, in-app engagement, reporting, customer data consolidation via Customer 360, and Staircase AI for real-time engagement insights. It also includes Skilljar for customer education and Communities for self-service support.

Source
Gainsight: What CRM integrations are available?

Gainsight integrates with Salesforce, HubSpot, and Slack. The Salesforce connector syncs account data, the HubSpot connector ingests engagement data, and Slack automation sends Gainsight notifications and alerts to channels.

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Related pages

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