Choosing between Closely and Apollo.io depends on your sales strategy and platform needs. Closely specializes in LinkedIn automation with AI-driven personalization, ideal for teams focused on LinkedIn outreach. Apollo.io offers a broader sales toolkit, including email, LinkedIn, and cold calling, making it suitable for teams managing multichannel campaigns. Here’s a quick breakdown:
- Closely: Focused on LinkedIn with advanced automation, AI personalization, and multichannel campaigns. Pricing starts at $49/month, with features like data enrichment, team management, and white-label options.
- Apollo.io: All-in-one sales platform with a massive contact database (275M+), email automation, and a built-in dialer. Plans range from $0 to $149/month, with CRM integrations and advanced analytics.
Quick Comparison Table:
| Feature | Closely | Apollo.io |
|---|---|---|
| LinkedIn Automation | Advanced, AI personalization | Part of broader outreach |
| Email Outreach | Unlimited accounts, AI-driven | Unlimited sending, deliverability |
| Contact Database | Data enrichment tools | 275M+ contacts, 60M+ companies |
| Multichannel Support | LinkedIn + Email | Email, LinkedIn, Cold Calling |
| Pricing | $49-$350/month | $0-$149/month + credit costs |
Key Takeaway: Choose Closely for LinkedIn-centric strategies. Opt for Apollo.io if you need a multichannel sales solution with a large contact database.
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Closely: AI-Powered LinkedIn Automation
This section dives into the standout features of Closely and how businesses use them to excel in LinkedIn prospecting.
Main Features and Tools
Closely is built around LinkedIn automation, simplifying tasks like sending connection requests, follow-up messages, and creating campaign sequences. Its AI-powered personalization crafts tailored messages using prospect data, making outreach feel personal rather than generic.
The platform’s data enrichment tools are a game-changer. They include verified email and phone number finders, live LinkedIn scraping to gather job titles and company details, and options to export prospects directly from Sales Navigator, LinkedIn posts, or events. This eliminates the need for tedious manual list building.
With its multichannel campaign builder, users can combine LinkedIn outreach with email sequences, creating campaigns that engage prospects across multiple platforms. The conditional sequence builder adapts messaging based on how prospects respond, making campaigns more dynamic.
Closely also features AI agents that take personalization to the next level. These agents score leads and provide market insights by analyzing hiring trends, funding rounds, and business strategies, helping users fine-tune their outreach.
For teams, the platform offers a Smart Inbox that centralizes all prospect replies, making communication more organized. It also includes team management tools and analytics to track campaign performance across channels, ensuring smooth collaboration and efficient campaign oversight.
How Businesses Use Closely
Closely’s tools are tailored for different teams to maximize their prospecting efforts:
- Sales teams save time by automating LinkedIn prospecting. Instead of manually managing connection requests and follow-ups, they set up sequences that run in the background, allowing them to focus on closing deals and engaging with active leads.
- Marketing teams use Closely for account-based campaigns. They rely on its data enrichment tools to build precise prospect lists and craft messages that reference company news, recent hires, or industry trends.
- Recruitment agencies benefit from Closely’s ability to scale outreach to candidates while maintaining a personal touch. The platform’s whitelabeling feature lets agencies customize the interface with their branding, presenting a polished image to clients.
- B2B service providers take advantage of Closely’s multichannel capabilities to create nurture sequences. These campaigns start with LinkedIn interactions and seamlessly transition to email follow-ups, ensuring consistent messaging without manual effort.
Pricing Plans and Key Benefits
Closely offers four pricing tiers to fit businesses of all sizes, with annual billing saving users about 40% compared to monthly plans. Each plan comes with unlimited email accounts and whitelabeling options.
| Plan | Monthly Price | Annual Price | LinkedIn Accounts | Monthly Credits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $49 | $29 | 1 | 1,000 |
| Growth | $127 | $87 | 3 | 3,000 |
| Essential | $205 | $145 | 5 | 5,000 |
| Custom | $350 | $206 | 10 | Custom |
The credit system is flexible, letting users allocate credits based on their needs. For example, on the Growth plan, 3,000 credits could cover 750 emails, 150 phone lookups, or 1,500 AI personalizations. This adaptability ensures businesses can tailor usage to their strategies.
Additional perks include 24/7 support chat for all plans, dedicated residential IPs for LinkedIn accounts to maintain high deliverability rates, and seamless CRM integrations with webhooks for custom workflows. Closely also provides LinkedIn-specific features, such as account warmup and detailed analytics, which are often missing from broader sales platforms.
To help teams evaluate its capabilities, Closely offers free trials for all plans, giving users a chance to test its automation tools and AI-driven personalization before committing to a subscription.
Apollo.io: All-in-One Sales Platform
Apollo.io stands out as a complete sales solution, streamlining everything from finding leads to closing deals. It blends a vast contact database with automation tools and sales management features, all within a single platform.
Main Features and Tools
At its core, Apollo.io is powered by a verified B2B database containing over 275 million contacts and 60 million companies [2][5]. This extensive resource provides sales teams with access to verified email addresses, phone numbers, and in-depth company details.
The platform’s outreach automation supports both email and LinkedIn messaging. Users can build sequences to send personalized messages automatically, track engagement like opens and replies, and adjust follow-ups based on how prospects respond. Tools for email deliverability ensure messages land in inboxes, protecting sender reputation.
Apollo AI takes personalization a step further by using prospect data to craft tailored messages, making outreach more effective.
For cold calling, a built-in dialer allows users to make direct calls and track call outcomes.
Additionally, Apollo.io includes deal management and CRM tools, enabling teams to monitor opportunities through custom sales pipelines, set reminders for follow-ups, and create performance reports. The platform integrates seamlessly with well-known CRMs like Salesforce and HubSpot, ensuring smooth data synchronization.
With these tools, sales teams can combine data-driven insights with efficient outreach strategies.
How Businesses Use Apollo.io
Apollo.io’s all-in-one approach is especially beneficial for teams aiming to simplify their sales processes. Platforms like Apollo.io can enhance sales rep productivity by up to 30%, double or triple reply rates, and speed up sales cycles [3].
Users frequently highlight improvements in outreach efficiency, response rates, and conversions thanks to personalized messaging and streamlined workflows.
"Apollo enriches everything we have: contacts, leads, and accounts. We don’t really have to touch it – it just works." – Mark Turner, VP of Revenue Operations @ Built In [4]
Pricing Plans and Key Benefits
Apollo.io offers flexible, usage-based pricing designed to meet the needs of businesses of all sizes. There are four pricing tiers, including a free plan for smaller teams exploring the platform. Annual billing options provide cost savings compared to monthly rates.
| Plan | Monthly Price | Annual Price | Credits/Month | Key Features |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 | 100 | 5,000 emails/month, 2 sequences |
| Basic | $59 | $49 | 5,000 | Unlimited email sending |
| Professional | $99 | $79 | 10,000 | Unlimited sequences, phone dialer |
| Organization | $149 | $119 | 15,000 | Advanced security, 3+ users minimum |
Credits are used to verify contact data and cost $0.20 each, with a minimum purchase of 250 credits. Note that unused credits expire at the end of each billing cycle. For outbound calling, the platform also charges per minute [6], introducing some additional variable costs.
The platform’s strength lies in its massive database and integrated sales tools. Trusted by over 500,000 businesses [1][4], Apollo.io combines prospecting, outreach, and sales management into a single, streamlined system.
With a user rating of 4.7/5 based on 8,111 reviews [4], Apollo.io is widely praised for its extensive database and affordable pricing. As the company puts it: "We’ve structured our pricing so that Apollo can become a no-brainer investment for companies of all sizes" [4].
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Side-by-Side Feature Comparison
Comparison Table
Here’s a quick look at how Closely and Apollo.io stack up against each other. While Closely shines in LinkedIn automation and multichannel outreach, Apollo.io is built for more comprehensive sales operations. This table breaks down their core features to help you decide which tool fits your needs:
| Feature | Closely | Apollo.io |
|---|---|---|
| LinkedIn Automation | Advanced LinkedIn automation with AI personalization and campaign tools | LinkedIn messaging as part of broader outreach sequences |
| Email Outreach | Unlimited email accounts with AI personalization (250-1,250 emails based on plan) | Unlimited email sending with deliverability tools and sequence automation |
| Contact Database | Verified email and phone finder with data enrichment | 275+ million contacts and 60+ million companies in a built-in database |
| AI Features | AI-powered personalization, lead scoring, and web research | Apollo AI for personalized messaging using prospect data |
| Multichannel Support | LinkedIn + Email campaigns from a unified dashboard | Email + LinkedIn + Cold calling with a built-in dialer |
| CRM Integration | Webhooks and API connections for CRM integrations | Native integrations with Salesforce, HubSpot, and other major CRMs |
| Team Management | Includes team management and white-label features | Multi-user support with advanced security (Organization plan) |
| Pricing Structure | Credit-based: $49-$350/month (white-label included) | Usage-based: $0-$149/month with extra credit costs ($0.20 each) |
| LinkedIn Accounts | 1-10 LinkedIn accounts depending on the plan | Not specified per plan |
| Phone/Calling | Finder tool (50-250 numbers, depending on the plan) | Built-in dialer with per-minute charges |
| Support | 24-hour chat support with a customer success manager | Standard customer support |
| Analytics | Advanced analytics and performance tracking | Deal management, pipeline tracking, and performance reports |
| Free Plan | No free plan | Free plan with 100 credits and 5,000 emails/month |
Key Differences
Closely bundles its features into comprehensive plans and includes white-label options across all paid tiers. On the other hand, Apollo.io uses a tiered pricing system with additional costs for credits and calling minutes but offers a free plan for users who want to test the platform.
When it comes to data, Apollo.io provides instant access to a massive database of 275+ million contacts and 60+ million companies. Closely, however, focuses on data enrichment and verification tools that enhance your existing prospect lists.
Their AI tools also take different approaches. Closely leans into AI-driven personalization, lead scoring, and web research to improve the quality of LinkedIn outreach. Meanwhile, Apollo.io uses AI to craft personalized messages by leveraging its extensive prospect data.
Choosing the Right Platform
Selecting the right platform comes down to understanding your team’s specific needs, budget, and sales workflow. Whether you require advanced LinkedIn automation or a more extensive multi-channel solution, aligning these priorities will help you determine which tool best complements your outreach strategy. Here’s a closer look at where each platform excels.
When to Choose Closely
If your team relies heavily on LinkedIn for lead generation and prioritizes personalized outreach, Closely is a strong contender. Its standout feature is AI-powered personalization, which simplifies prospecting by automating tasks like web research, lead scoring, and crafting tailored messages. This lets you spend more time connecting with potential clients.
Closely’s credit-based system is particularly appealing for small to mid-sized teams. It offers perks like unlimited email accounts and a white-label option, making it a practical choice for agencies or consultants managing multiple clients or market segments. Plus, the ability to oversee up to 10 LinkedIn accounts from one dashboard adds to its versatility.
For added support, Closely provides 24/7 chat assistance and access to a dedicated customer success manager, ensuring you have the guidance needed to fine-tune your LinkedIn automation strategy.
When to Choose Apollo.io
If your team operates across multiple communication channels – like email, phone, and LinkedIn – and needs a unified system to manage everything, Apollo.io is an excellent fit. This platform’s all-in-one tools are designed for teams with more intricate, multi-channel sales strategies.
Apollo.io shines in environments where centralized data management and CRM integration are essential. Its comprehensive approach is tailored for organizations with complex sales cycles, offering a seamless way to manage diverse outreach efforts under one roof.
Final Thoughts
This comparison highlights the key differences between platform specialization and a more comprehensive approach to sales automation. Both Closely and Apollo.io cater to distinct needs in the outreach and lead generation space, so the best choice depends on your team’s goals and preferred methods. Closely shines when it comes to LinkedIn-focused, AI-driven outreach with its flexible credit-based system, while Apollo.io offers a more expansive solution with its multichannel engagement and robust contact database.
When deciding, consider how your team operates. If LinkedIn is your primary channel, Closely’s tools provide a streamlined way to scale outreach efforts. Its plans, ranging from $49 to $350 per month, include unlimited email accounts and white-label options, making it a strong option for agencies or teams managing multiple LinkedIn accounts. On the other hand, Apollo.io caters to teams needing a broader toolkit, including email sequences, cold calling, and access to an extensive lead database. This makes it ideal for organizations running campaigns across multiple channels.
The pricing structures reflect these differences in focus. Closely is well-suited for teams prioritizing LinkedIn and seeking AI-powered personalization, while Apollo.io’s integrated platform supports complex, multichannel campaigns and centralized data management.
Ultimately, your decision should align with your team’s workflow, budget, and outreach strategy. Closely’s LinkedIn-centric approach is perfect for teams that want to dominate that platform, while Apollo.io’s all-in-one system is better suited for organizations looking to manage diverse sales operations seamlessly. Think about your team’s current needs and long-term goals to choose the platform that fits best.
FAQs
What are the key advantages of using Closely for LinkedIn automation instead of manual outreach?
Using Closely for LinkedIn automation comes with some standout perks compared to manual outreach. For starters, it saves you a ton of time by handling those repetitive tasks – like sending connection requests, following up with potential leads, and even viewing profiles. With those time-consuming activities off your plate, you can focus on what really matters: building meaningful connections and closing deals.
Another big plus? Closely uses AI-personalized messages to make your outreach feel genuine, which can boost engagement and response rates. On top of that, automation keeps your LinkedIn activity consistent, helping you stay visible and connect with a much larger audience – something that’s nearly impossible to manage manually at scale.
How does Closely’s credit-based pricing work, and why is it ideal for small to mid-sized teams?
Closely operates on a credit-based pricing system, where you prepay for credits that are deducted as you use features such as outreach and campaign management. This setup gives you the freedom to adjust your usage according to your team’s changing needs.
For small to mid-sized teams, this model can be a great fit. It removes the burden of fixed monthly fees, allowing you to pay only for what you actually use. This makes it an efficient, budget-friendly option for growing sales teams aiming to manage costs without compromising on flexibility.
What resources and tools does Closely provide to enhance LinkedIn outreach strategies?
Closely provides teams with a suite of tools designed to supercharge their LinkedIn outreach. These include AI-powered personalization to tailor messages, automated prospecting through LinkedIn and Sales Navigator, and essential safety features like dedicated proxies and smart activity limits to keep accounts secure and compliant.
To ensure users maximize the platform’s potential, Closely also offers expert onboarding and support. This helps teams scale their outreach efficiently while maintaining a professional and human touch.