# SalesQL Alternatives: Apollo, Lusha and RocketReach Compared

> Apollo, Lusha and RocketReach next to SalesQL: price per email at list price, plans, and what came back when we ran the same 40 people through SalesQL, Apollo and Lusha.

- URL: https://salesql.com/salesql-alternatives
- Data as of: 2026-11-13

SalesQL alternatives: Apollo, Lusha and RocketReach compared

Price and results first: what each one costs per email next to SalesQL, and what came back when we ran the same 40 people through SalesQL, Apollo and Lusha.

We make SalesQL, and we ran the test ourselves. Every fact links to a public source and a date, and we say where each alternative is the better pick.

## Quick answer

Price per email · Results in our test (40 people)

- **SalesQL:** $7–20 per 1,000 · 17 of 40 with a personal email · 23 of 40 with a work email
- **Apollo:** 1.6× more per email · A few more work emails (26 vs 23); far fewer personal ones (6 vs 17)
- **Lusha:** 7× more per email · Work emails within the margin (18 vs 23; its free account held back 6 US contacts); no personal ones (0 vs 17)
- **RocketReach:** 12× more per email · Not in this test

Each multiplier is how many times SalesQL's price per email that vendor charges, at list price, rounded down.

## The same 40 people in SalesQL, Apollo and Lusha: what came back

40 professionals from the US, Europe, Latin America and India, picked from public web pages (company team pages, appointment news, event speaker lists), not from LinkedIn or our database. Each tool got the same name, company and domain.

### Found a personal email

Gmail, Outlook and other webmail

- SalesQL: 17 of 40
- Apollo: 6 of 40
- Lusha: 0 of 40

SalesQL found nearly three times as many as Apollo. Lusha found none. By its own policy, Apollo doesn't return personal emails for contacts in the EU, the UK and Switzerland, and 10 of the 40 people were in Europe.

### Found a work email

On the current company's domain

- SalesQL: 23 of 40
- Apollo: 26 of 40
- Lusha: 18 of 40

Apollo found a few more. The gap is within the margin of a 40-person test.

### Found the person

Any record of them

- SalesQL: 28 of 40
- Apollo: 34 of 40
- Lusha: 26 of 40

5 of Apollo's 34 were records it built during the lookup.

Test run on Nov 13, 2026. Apollo and Lusha ran on their free plans; SalesQL ran on our own account. With 40 people the margin is about ±15 points, so we only call out large gaps. Lusha's free account held back 6 US contacts for compliance reasons. Not in this test: RocketReach.

## What 1,000 emails cost

At list price, over each vendor's paid plans, billed monthly or yearly.

- SalesQL: $7–20 per 1,000
- Apollo: $20–26 per 1,000 (1.6× more)
- Lusha: $87–125 per 1,000 (7× more)
- RocketReach: $69–390 per 1,000 (12× more)

Plan price ÷ credits in the plan × credits for one email. Plans sold as “unlimited” under a fair-use policy are divided by the exports they allow, unless the vendor's terms state a monthly credit limit, which we use instead. Checked Nov 12, 2026.

## SalesQL and 3 alternatives side by side

### Price

| What we compared | SalesQL | Apollo | Lusha | RocketReach |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1,000 emails, at list price | $7–20 — 1 credit each | $20–26 (1.6× more) — 1 credit, per seat | $87–125 (7× more) — 1 credit | $69–390 (12× more) — 1 lookup; yearly plans per export |
| 1,000 contacts with email + phone | $7–20 — 1 credit; few direct numbers | $176–234 — 1 + 8 credits | $525–749 — 1 + 5 credits | $69–316 — Pro and Ultimate only |

### Results in our test · 40 people · Nov 13, 2026

| What we compared | SalesQL | Apollo | Lusha | RocketReach |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Found a personal email | 17 of 40 | 6 of 40 | 0 of 40 | Not in this test |
| Found a work email | 23 of 40 | 26 of 40 | 18 of 40 — 6 US contacts held back | Not in this test |

### Plans

| What we compared | SalesQL | Apollo | Lusha | RocketReach |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Cheapest paid plan | $39/month — 2,000 credits a month | $65/month — Per seat · 2,500 credits a month | $49.90/month — 400 credits a month | $39/month — 100 lookups a month, email only |

Sources: each vendor's English pricing page, in US dollars, checked Nov 12, 2026; results from our test of Nov 13, 2026.

## Pick another tool if…

### Apollo · 1.6× per email

You mostly need work emails: in our test Apollo found a few more (26 vs 23 of 40), within the margin. It also has email sequences and a dialer add-on in the same tool.

- [apollo.io/pricing](https://www.apollo.io/pricing) · Nov 12, 2026

### Lusha · 7× per email

You want phone numbers on a free plan: Lusha's free plan includes them, at 5 credits each. Unused monthly credits roll over on Pro and Premium.

- [lusha.com/pricing](https://www.lusha.com/pricing/) · Nov 12, 2026

### RocketReach · 12× per email

You need the API on the cheapest plan, or phone numbers: RocketReach includes the API from Essentials and phones from Pro up.

- [rocketreach.co/pricing](https://rocketreach.co/pricing) · Nov 12, 2026
- [SalesQL vs RocketReach](https://salesql.com/salesql-vs-rocketreach)

## Stay with SalesQL if…

- You want personal emails: in our test SalesQL found one for 17 of 40 people, nearly three times as many as Apollo.
- You want the lowest price per email: $7–20 per 1,000.

## Where SalesQL falls short

Limits on our pricing page, and what SalesQL users mention in public reviews.

- **No phone numbers on Free** — The Free plan has 50 credits a month, without phone numbers or exports.
  - [salesql.com/pricing](https://salesql.com/pricing) · Nov 13, 2026
- **The API starts on Professional** — Basic ($39/month) doesn't include the REST API; Professional ($79/month) does.
  - [salesql.com/pricing](https://salesql.com/pricing) · Nov 13, 2026
- **Few direct phone numbers** — Phone numbers are our weak spot: few profiles come with a direct number.
  - [Our test](https://salesql.com/salesql-alternatives#our-test) · Nov 13, 2026
- **One seat on Basic** — Teams need Professional (3 seats) or Premium (5 seats).
  - [salesql.com/pricing](https://salesql.com/pricing) · Nov 13, 2026
- **Some emails are outdated** — The complaint we see most in reviews: an address that worked once and no longer does.
  - About 15 reviews on Capterra and G2 · Mar – Oct 2026 · Capterra reviews read in June 2026
  - [Read the reviews](https://www.capterra.com/p/196848/SalesQL/reviews/)
  - [G2 review, Oct 12, 2026](https://www.g2.com/products/salesql/reviews/salesql-review-13767609)
  - [G2 review, May 10, 2026](https://www.g2.com/products/salesql/reviews/salesql-review-12786899)
  - [G2 review, May 11, 2026](https://www.g2.com/products/salesql/reviews/salesql-review-12537317)
- **A lighter toolset for bulk work** — List building, bulk enrichment and CRM sync are simpler than in sales suites that bundle more tools.
  - 4 reviews on G2 and Capterra · Jan – Jun 2026
  - [G2 review, Jan 27, 2026](https://www.g2.com/products/salesql/reviews/salesql-review-12262691)
  - [G2 review, May 26, 2026](https://www.g2.com/products/salesql/reviews/salesql-review-12874460)

## How we compared

We make SalesQL, and we ran the test ourselves, so read this as a vendor's comparison.

**Price.** Prices and credits come from each vendor's public pricing page in English, in US dollars before tax, on the date shown. Price per email = plan price ÷ credits in the plan × credits for one email, over each vendor's paid plans. Some plans are sold as “unlimited” under a fair-use policy the vendor sets; we don't count that as an allowance and divide by the exports the plan allows, unless the vendor's terms state a monthly credit limit, which we use instead. The multiplier compares the average of a vendor's plans with the average of ours, monthly with monthly and yearly with yearly, and shows the lower of the two, rounded down.

Email + phone per 1,000 contacts adds the credits for one phone number, on the plans that include phones.

**Our test (Nov 13, 2026).** 40 professionals, 10 per region, from public company team pages, appointment news and event speaker lists. Each tool got the same name, company and domain. When the first lookup found no one, we also searched SalesQL and Lusha by name and enriched the person found; in Apollo we ran one match per person. We sorted the emails ourselves, not by each tool's label: a work email is on the person's current company domain; a personal email is a webmail address such as Gmail or Outlook. We counted emails found, not whether they deliver. 5 of Apollo's records were built during the lookup, with a pattern-based email; we counted them as found. The margin is about ±15 points.

**Reviews.** Complaints come from public reviews, linked with their dates. The examples leave out reviews that quote prices or credits.

**What we didn't test.** Accuracy, for any tool, ours included. Not in our test: RocketReach.

**Sources.**

- [salesql.com/pricing](https://salesql.com/pricing) · Nov 13, 2026
- [apollo.io/pricing](https://www.apollo.io/pricing) · Nov 12, 2026
- [lusha.com/pricing](https://www.lusha.com/pricing/) · Nov 12, 2026
- [rocketreach.co/pricing](https://rocketreach.co/pricing) · Nov 12, 2026
- [rocketreach.co/resources/unlimitedcredits-faq](https://rocketreach.co/resources/unlimitedcredits-faq/) · Nov 12, 2026
- [knowledge.apollo.io/hc/en-us/articles/6217107598861](https://knowledge.apollo.io/hc/en-us/articles/6217107598861) · Nov 12, 2026

Something out of date? Write to support@salesql.com and we'll fix it and say what changed.

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