Hunter.io vs Apollo.io: Which One Should You Buy in 2026?
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Hunter.io and Apollo.io are not the same purchase, and not the same price either. Both pricing pages open on the annual figure, where they look level at 49 USD. Month to month Hunter.io is 49 USD flat and Apollo.io is 65 USD per seat, so a three-person team pays 49 USD against 195 USD.
TL;DR
Two tools a buyer reads as the same price and are not, once the billing toggle is switched to monthly. Hunter.io starts at 49 USD a month and Apollo.io at 65 USD, both read off the vendors' own pages. The headline gap is the least useful number on this page, because Hunter.io and Apollo.io charge in different units and expire credits under different rules.
Where do Hunter.io and Apollo.io actually differ?
12 differences that change what you pay or what you can do, each read from Hunter.io's and Apollo.io's own documents. Rows where a vendor publishes two conflicting figures show both instead of one.
| What differs | Hunter.io | Apollo.io | Which matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry price, month to month | 49 USD flat, whatever the team size | 65 USD per seat, so 195 USD for three people | Both pages open on the annual price and show 49 USD. This row is the monthly one. |
| Price shown when the pricing page loads | 34 USD, the annual price divided by twelve | 49 USD per seat, the annual price | Neither headline is a price you can buy month to month. |
| What you are buying | Domain search, email finding, verification, sequences | Data provider, outreach, dialer, enrichment and CRM in one | The single most important row on this page. |
| Credit rollover | No. Credits reset at the end of each monthly cycle | No. “Credits expire at the end of each billing cycle” | Both expire. Neither lets you bank a slow month. |
| Charged on a failed lookup | No. “If no emails are found, no credits are used” | Not stated for search. API docs warn some waterfall vendors consume credits even when no data is found | Hunter.io answers the question; Apollo.io leaves it open. |
| Mid-term cancellation | Cancel any time, access runs to the end of the cycle | Not permitted. “Subscriptions are non-cancelable during the Term” | Apollo.io locks you in for the term. |
| Refund | None. “Hunter does not provide refunds… regardless of the reason” | None. “All payments by you are nonrefundable” | Neither refunds. Apollo.io additionally removes the mid-term exit. |
| Notice to stop renewal | Notify before the period ends | 30 days written notice before term end | Apollo.io's notice period is the longest of the five tools compared here. |
| Where data is stored | Belgium, Google Cloud | United States, outsourced US data centres | Hunter.io for EU residency, Apollo.io for certification. |
| EU-US Data Privacy Framework | Not claimed. Relies on standard contractual clauses | Certified, with contractual clauses as a fallback | Apollo.io is the only one of the five that certifies. |
| Security certifications | None claimed | ISO 27001 and SOC 2, stated as certified by A-LIGN | Apollo.io clears a procurement checklist that Hunter.io does not. |
| Independent benchmarking | Permitted. No clause forbidding publication | Forbidden. Section 3(f)(vii) requires prior written consent to disclose benchmark results | This is why no measured Apollo.io figure appears anywhere on this site. |
What has been measured, and what has not?
Apollo.io carries no measured accuracy figure on this site, and the reason is stated below rather than left as an empty column.
Everything above this section comes from published documents rather than from a test, which is why it can be checked against the vendors themselves in the time it takes to open a link. The full explanation of which tools are measured and why sits on the comparison page.
Which is cheaper in practice, Hunter.io or Apollo.io?
Neither headline price answers the question. Hunter.io starts at 49 USD and Apollo.io at 65 USD, but what you actually pay depends on whether a failed lookup is charged and whether unused credits survive the month.
Headline plan price and real cost are different numbers. What decides the real cost is the credit mechanics in the table above: whether a failed lookup is charged, whether unused credits survive the month, and whether an overage rate is published at all. A tool that charges less per month and expires everything you did not use can cost more than one that charges more and lets you bank it.
When should you pick Hunter.io?
Hunter.io is the better pick when you already own a CRM and a sequencing tool and only need addresses, when your buyers are in Europe, and when you want the option to walk away at the end of any cycle rather than being held to a term.
Hunter.io pricing: Starter 49 USD · Growth 149 USD · Scale 299 USD per month.
Commercial relationship: None. An affiliate application is pending and has not been approved. Last checked 2026-08-31. The link below is a standard, non-affiliate link.
When should you pick Apollo.io?
Apollo.io is the better pick when you are replacing several tools at once and would otherwise pay for a dialer, sequences and a CRM separately, and when your compliance team requires ISO 27001, SOC 2 and Data Privacy Framework certification on paper.
Apollo.io pricing: Basic 65 USD per seat · Professional 99 USD per seat per month.
Commercial relationship: None. An affiliate application is pending and has not been approved. Last checked 2026-08-31. The link below is a standard, non-affiliate link.
What if neither Hunter.io nor Apollo.io fits?
Neither Hunter.io nor Apollo.io wins on every row above. If the row that matters most to you is one where both fall short, the full comparison of 5 tools is the better page.
Same Sample covers 5 tools in this category on one page, with credit mechanics, contract exit terms, European data handling and named data sources for each.
See all 5 email finder tools compared
What else do buyers ask about Hunter.io and Apollo.io?
- Is Apollo.io cheaper than Hunter.io?
- Only on the annual price, and only for one person. Both pricing pages open on the annual figure and both show 49 USD, which is where the impression comes from. Month to month Hunter.io is 49 USD flat and Apollo.io Basic is 65 USD per seat. Apollo.io is cheaper only if you commit to a year and stay a single user; at three seats it is 195 USD a month against 49 USD.
- Is Apollo.io better than Hunter.io?
- Not on the same axis. Apollo.io is a full go-to-market platform with certifications Hunter.io does not claim; Hunter.io is a narrower finder that hosts in Belgium and lets you leave at the end of any cycle. Apollo.io wins on breadth and compliance paperwork, Hunter.io on scope fit and exit.
- Why can nobody publish an accuracy test of Apollo.io?
- Apollo.io's terms of service, section 3(f)(vii), forbid disclosing the results of any platform or program benchmark test to third parties without Apollo's prior written consent. Any site that publishes one either has that consent or is in breach of the terms it accepted.
- Which is easier to cancel, Hunter.io or Apollo.io?
- Hunter.io. Cancelling keeps access to the end of the current cycle and requires no fixed notice period. Apollo.io states that subscriptions are non-cancelable during the term and requires 30 days written notice before the term ends to stop the next renewal.
- Do Apollo.io or Hunter.io credits roll over?
- Neither. Hunter.io resets credits at the end of each monthly billing cycle. Apollo.io states that credits expire at the end of each billing cycle and do not roll over into the following cycle or upon renewal.