OppStreamA database, or a researcher
Both get you in front of people. They disagree about what the hard part is.
Apollo's premise is that the bottleneck is finding contacts, so it sells you a very large number of them. OppStream's premise is that the bottleneck is knowing which handful are worth your week, and what to say to them — the contacts were never the scarce part.
The difference, line by line
Not a feature checklist — what each tool is designed to do, which is the part that does not change next quarter.
OppStreamWhat it optimises for
ApolloReach. Finding and contacting as many matching people as possible.
OppStreamJudgement. Deciding which few accounts deserve your week, and why now.
Where the data comes from
ApolloA large pre-built contact database you search and filter.
OppStreamResearch run per company, with the source recorded next to every claim.
What personalisation means
ApolloMerge fields, and increasingly a generated opening line.
OppStreamSomething you genuinely share — a show you will both attend, a mutual contact, a vendor you both use.
What it does about timing
ApolloFilters on firmographics; timing is left to you.
OppStreamLeads with the event that makes this week the moment, and links the source.
Who it suits
ApolloTeams working a large, broadly similar market at volume.
OppStreamTeams working a few hundred accounts where being wrong is expensive.
What you check afterwards
ApolloWhether the contact data was right.
OppStreamNothing — an unevidenced claim is not shown in the first place.
What each one is built to do
Apollo
- A large contact database you search and filter.
- Sequencing and dialling built on top of that database.
- Designed for volume: many contacts, many touches, a percentage that lands.
- Personalisation is a merge field and, increasingly, a generated line.
OppStream
- Researches specific companies rather than serving rows from a list.
- Leads with why now — a funding round, a new plant, a hiring pattern — with the evidence attached.
- Designed for a few hundred accounts that matter, not a few hundred thousand that do not.
- Personalisation is something real you share: a show you will both attend, a person you both know.
Which one should you choose?
Choose Apollo if…
- You need volume, and reply rate matters less than total replies.
- Your market is large and largely undifferentiated.
- You want one tool for data, sequencing and dialling.
- Your team is big enough that per-seat data cost beats per-account research.
Choose OppStream if…
- Your total addressable market is measured in hundreds, not millions.
- A deal is worth enough that being wrong about an account costs real money.
- You sell into a committee and need each of them approached differently.
- You would rather send forty good messages than four thousand adequate ones.
Free plan available. No credit card to sign up. Upgrade only if you want more.
Written from public information about Apollo at the time of writing, and about what each tool is designed for rather than how well it does it. If something here is out of date or unfair, tell us and we will correct it.
Common questions
- Is OppStream an Apollo alternative?
- For a team working a few hundred high-value accounts, yes. If you need a database of millions of contacts to work at volume, Apollo is the better fit and this page says so plainly.
- Can I use both?
- Many teams do. Apollo for breadth where the market is large, OppStream for the named accounts where a wrong call costs real money.
- Does OppStream include a contact database?
- No, and that is deliberate. It researches specific companies and finds the people inside them, rather than serving rows from a pre-built list.
- Which is cheaper?
- They price differently: Apollo per seat for database access, OppStream per seat with usage tiers. OppStream has a free plan that asks for no credit card, so you can compare on your own market before paying anything.
See it on your own pipeline
OppStream researches real companies, tells you why now, and drafts the outreach. Free to start, no card.