COMPARISON

Salesloft vs Apollo: Sales Engagement Compared for RevOps

Salesloft is the enterprise sales engagement platform, now with Clari forecasting baked in after the 2025 acquisition. Apollo is the all-in-one challenger that bundles data, sequences, a dialer, and a CRM-lite at a fraction of the cost. For RevOps, this comparison forces a familiar question: pay more for an enterprise-grade tool with coaching and governance, or pay less for a platform that covers 80% of the use cases and includes data for free?

Quick Verdict: Salesloft wins on engagement governance, coaching features, call recording, and the Clari forecasting integration. Apollo wins on total cost, built-in data, and time-to-value. If your sales org needs manager coaching tools, rep performance analytics, and enterprise-grade sequence governance, Salesloft justifies the premium. If you need data plus engagement in one tool and your reps do not need hand-holding, Apollo delivers dramatically better value per dollar.

Quick Comparison

Salesloft vs Apollo at a Glance

Factor	Salesloft	Apollo
Pricing	$75-175/user/mo Annual typical	Free tier; $49/user/mo paid Much cheaper
Best For	Enterprise engagement with coaching and forecasting	All-in-one prospecting + engagement at lower cost
Contact Database	Not included (requires separate data tool)	275M+ contacts included Bundled
Coaching Features	Call recording, scorecards, Rhythm AI Strong	Basic call recording, no coaching scorecards
Forecasting	Clari-powered (post-acquisition) Integrated	Basic deal tracking only
CRM Integration	Deep Salesforce and HubSpot sync Enterprise-grade	Native SF/HS sync, less granular
G2 Ease of Setup	8.6/10 Fast for enterprise	9.1/10 Fastest
Total Stack Cost	Salesloft + data tool = $175-375/user/mo	$49-99/user/mo all-in 3-5x cheaper

Feature Breakdown

Detailed Feature Comparison

Feature	Salesloft	Apollo
Email Sequences	Multi-step with templates and governance More governed	Multi-step with A/B testing
Built-in Data	None; requires ZoomInfo, Clay, etc.	275M+ contacts with enrichment Included
Call Recording	Built-in with coaching analytics Superior	Basic recording, no coaching layer
Rhythm AI	Prioritizes tasks based on buyer signals Unique	Standard task queue
Revenue Forecasting	Clari integration included Unique post-merger	Not available
Manager Dashboards	Rep activity, performance, and pipeline views More detailed	Basic team activity dashboard
AI Email Writer	Available	Available with account scoring context

Decision Framework

When to Use Which

Choose Salesloft When

Your sales managers need coaching tools: call recordings, scorecards, talk-to-listen ratios, and rep performance benchmarks
The Clari forecasting integration is valuable because you want engagement and forecasting in one vendor relationship
Sequence governance matters and you need approval workflows, send limits, and template locking to maintain quality
You already have a data provider (ZoomInfo, Clay) and need a dedicated engagement platform, not another data tool
Enterprise features like advanced permissions, team hierarchies, and compliance controls are requirements

Choose Apollo When

You want to eliminate the cost of a separate data provider by using Apollo built-in 275M+ contact database
Budget is the primary constraint and $49/user/mo all-in beats $175+/user/mo for Salesloft plus data
Your team needs to be self-sufficient: find contacts, enrich them, and run sequences from one interface
Coaching and forecasting features are nice-to-haves, not requirements (your managers coach without software)
Speed to productivity matters more than enterprise governance; you want reps sending in days, not weeks

When to Consider Both or Neither

Running both is redundant for engagement. Some teams use Apollo for data prospecting and Salesloft for structured engagement, pushing qualified contacts from Apollo to Salesloft for sequence enrollment. This works but adds cost and data sync complexity. If neither fits, Outreach offers comparable enterprise features to Salesloft, and Reply.io at $60/user/mo covers mid-market multi-channel needs.

RevOps Perspective

What This Means for Your Stack

RevOps-Specific Considerations

Total stack cost is the critical calculation. Salesloft at $125/user/mo plus ZoomInfo at $100/user/mo equivalent equals $225/user/mo. Apollo at $49/user/mo replaces both. For a 30-person sales team, that is $17,640/year (Apollo) versus $81,000/year (Salesloft + ZoomInfo). The 4.5x gap is not trivial.
The Clari-Salesloft merger changes the value proposition. If you were evaluating Clari separately ($100-310/user/mo), getting forecasting capabilities bundled into Salesloft could justify the premium over Apollo. Ask about forecasting feature availability on your specific Salesloft tier.
Coaching ROI is measurable but often goes unused. Salesloft call recording and coaching features are genuinely good. They are also genuinely unused in many orgs where managers do not have the time or discipline to review calls systematically. Be honest about whether your managers will actually use coaching tools before paying for them.
CRM sync granularity favors Salesloft for complex Salesforce setups. Field mapping, activity logging, and sync rules are more configurable. Apollo sync is functional but less precise for orgs with custom objects and complex record types.
Apollo data quality is the trade-off. The included database is good but not as accurate as ZoomInfo for enterprise contacts. If you switch from Salesloft + ZoomInfo to Apollo alone, expect slightly lower data accuracy for enterprise ICP segments. Test with your specific target accounts.

Summary

Winner by Use Case

Use Case	Winner	Why
Sales coaching	Salesloft	Call recording, scorecards, and manager analytics
All-in-one data + engagement	Apollo	Contact database included at no extra cost
Revenue forecasting integration	Salesloft	Clari-powered forecasting post-merger
Budget efficiency	Apollo	3-5x lower total stack cost
Enterprise governance	Salesloft	Approval workflows, permissions, compliance controls
Fastest time-to-value	Apollo	Self-serve deployment in days with data included

The RevOps Report's Bottom Line

Salesloft is the enterprise engagement platform for teams that invest in coaching, governance, and now forecasting (via Clari). Apollo is the value play for teams that need data and engagement in one tool without the enterprise overhead. The math is straightforward: if Salesloft coaching and forecasting features deliver measurable rep performance improvement and forecast accuracy, the premium is justified. If your team just needs to find contacts and email them effectively, Apollo does that at 3-5x lower total cost. Do not pay for coaching features your managers will not use.

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Disclosure: The RevOps Report may receive affiliate compensation from tools mentioned here. Our analysis is independent. Every claim is based on publicly available data and user feedback.

Last Updated: January 2026