AI Sales pricing compared
What 3 ai sales tools actually cost — free tiers, the cheapest paid plan, and where each free plan runs out. Each figure is taken from the vendor’s own pricing page and dated, so you can see when we last checked.
| Tool | Free tier | Cheapest paid plan | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apollo | Yes | $49/per seat/month · Basic | 14 Jul 2026 |
| Lemlist | No | €55/user/mo · Email plan | 14 Jul 2026 |
| Outreach | No | Custom / contact | 14 Jul 2026 |
Prices are as published by each vendor and may be region-specific — many vendors price by country. Confirm on the vendor’s page before buying.
Sorted cheapest paid plan first. A “free tier” means there is a genuinely free plan — tap through to any tool to see the full tier breakdown and exactly where the free plan stops. We list no fabricated prices: where a vendor only quotes “contact sales” we say so.
What drives ai sales pricing
Two meters run at once in sales tooling: seats and sending. Every platform charges per user per month, with Apollo at $49-$119 and Lemlist at $55-$87, but the plans also cap the thing sales teams actually consume, namely data credits, email volume, and now AI actions. Apollo grants credits monthly and gates 5,000 words on free; Lemlist's email plan includes 50,000 emails a month and its multichannel plan lifts message limits; Outreach layers consumption-based AI usage on top of seat-based access. Two structural costs pull the bill up. Minimums, such as Apollo's Organization tier requiring at least three seats, set a floor regardless of team size. And annual billing is baked into the headline rates, so month-to-month runs higher. The real driver is seats multiplied by tier, plus whatever data or sending allowance your outreach volume forces you into, plus AI consumption where it is metered separately.
How to choose on price
Price this on your two bottlenecks: how many reps, and how much they send or enrich. If credits are the constraint, meaning prospect data and email verification, Apollo's tiers scale on allowance more than features, so estimate monthly credit burn before choosing Basic at $49 versus Professional at $79. If sending volume is the constraint, Lemlist's $55 email plan and its 50,000-email cap decide the tier, and the $87 multichannel plan only pays off if you genuinely work LinkedIn and calls alongside email. Mind the floors: Apollo's Organization tier needs three seats minimum, so a two-person team overpays there. Outreach's custom, consumption-priced model suits larger orgs that want AI metered to usage but is overkill for a small team. The false economy is a cheap seat whose credit or email cap forces constant overages, so model your monthly volume, then buy the tier that contains it.
AI Sales pricing FAQ
Are sales tools priced per seat or per usage?
Both. Apollo, Lemlist, and Outreach all charge per user per month, but each also meters consumption through Apollo's data credits, Lemlist's email volume, and Outreach's AI usage. Your bill is seats times tier plus whatever allowance your sending or enrichment volume requires, so both meters need estimating.
What does Apollo's credit system actually limit?
Credits gate data actions such as pulling contacts, enriching records, and verifying emails. The free plan grants a small monthly pool and caps words at 5,000; paid tiers grant credits upfront on annual billing. If your team prospects heavily, credit allowance rather than feature access is what forces the upgrade.
Why does Apollo's Organization plan cost more than its per-seat rate suggests?
Because it enforces a three-seat minimum. At $119 per seat that is a floor of roughly $357 a month regardless of whether you have three reps, so small teams pay for capacity they do not use. Weigh whether Professional at $79 covers your needs first.
Is Outreach's custom pricing worth it over Apollo or Lemlist?
For larger sales orgs, potentially, since it combines seat-based access with consumption-priced AI and role-based packages that suit scaled, structured teams. For a small team doing straightforward email outreach, Apollo or Lemlist's published per-seat plans are cheaper and simpler; Outreach's model rewards volume and complexity.
See the full breakdown
Open any tool for its complete pricing tiers, free-tier limits, screenshot and honest review.