Apollo vs People.ai (Backstory)
A side-by-side comparison of capabilities, autonomy, integrations, and pricing to help you choose.
Short answer: choose Apollo if you want b2b sales intelligence and engagement platform with ai gtm agents (Supervised agent, freemium); choose People.ai (Backstory) if you want revenue intelligence that captures activity and answers pipeline questions (Copilot, subscription).
| Apollo | People.ai (Backstory) | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | B2B sales intelligence and engagement platform with AI GTM agents | Revenue intelligence that captures activity and answers pipeline questions |
| Type | product-with-agents | platform |
| Autonomy | Supervised agent | Copilot |
| Pricing | freemium · Free $0; Basic from $49/user/mo (annual) | subscription |
| Best for | smb, mid-market, enterprise, developers | enterprise, mid-market |
| Deployment | saas, api | saas, api |
| Modalities | text, email, voice, api | text, api |
| Models | gemini, model-agnostic | model-agnostic, proprietary |
| Protocols | mcp, rest-api, function-calling | mcp, rest-api |
| Integrations | Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive, Zoho, Gmail, Outlook | Salesforce, Microsoft 365, Oracle, Zoom, Slack, Webex |
| Capabilities | 4 documented | 4 documented |
Apollo
- +Affordable all-in-one database plus sequencing with a free tier that lowers the barrier
- +Fast, intuitive filters and prospecting
- +Developer-friendly: REST API, MCP server, CLI, and published llms.txt
- -Data accuracy varies, with reported bounce rates and weaker international coverage
- -Credit-based consumption can inflate real costs
People.ai (Backstory)
- +Automatic activity capture genuinely cuts manual CRM entry
- +Mature, decade-long data foundation underpins forecasting and the "answers" pitch
- +Open MCP architecture works with existing AI tools rather than a walled garden
- -Reviewers report limited dashboard customization and non-intuitive UX
- -Capture from some channels (LinkedIn, Slack) can be incomplete and call data can lag
Which should you choose?
Apollo is b2b sales intelligence and engagement platform with ai gtm agents, best for smb, mid-market, enterprise, developers. People.ai (Backstory) is revenue intelligence that captures activity and answers pipeline questions, best for enterprise, mid-market. The right choice depends on the autonomy level you want, your existing integrations, and your budget, all compared above.