Sales outreach · checked 2026-10-13Can I vibecode Apollo.io?
NOT REALLY· don't bother
Apollo's value is its database of 240 million contacts and 30 million companies, kept current through web crawling, licensed data and a contributor network of its own users. No agent session can rebuild that. What you can build is the workflow around leads you find yourself: a small CRM, pay-per-use email lookups, verification and a sequencer that stops on reply. That replaces the outreach half, not the data.
$65/moprice per seat
$780it costs you a year
weekendbuild time
—people replaced it
What you need on hand.
DifficultyIntermediate · Some system setup or keys.
TimeA weekend for the workbench; the contact database itself can't be built
- Claude Code, Codex or CursorAny of them can run the prompt.
- A Hunter accountThe free plan gives 50 credits a month; enough to try the flow.
- Docker on a host with outbound port 25 openReacher talks to mail servers directly; many home ISPs and cloud providers block that port.
- A sending mailbox with SMTP and IMAPIdeally on a separate domain with SPF, DKIM and DMARC set up.
Before you buildApollo Free still gives 75 credits a month and 2 sequences. If you only need a few dozen contacts a month, that may be all you need.
- 1. Install one agent: Claude Code, Codex, Cursor.
- 2. Make an empty folder and open it in the agent.
- 3. Paste the prompt below, press enter, and answer its questions as it builds.
The prompt
Build me a prospecting workbench for leads I find myself, covering the slice of Apollo I can run without its database. Requirements: - Node.js 22 + TypeScript: Fastify with htmx pages on http://127.0.0.1:4950; storage in better-sqlite3 at ./data/prospects.db. - People and companies: import CSVs with papaparse, dedupe by email and company domain, tag, add notes and move people through stages (new, contacted, replied, meeting, won, lost). - Email lookup: for a name plus company domain, call Hunter's Email Finder (HUNTER_API_KEY in .env) only when I click Find; cache every answer and show the credits left. - Verification: check addresses against a self-hosted Reacher container (check-if-email-exists) at REACHER_URL; store safe, risky, invalid or unknown. - Sequences: up to 4 steps from my own mailbox with nodemailer, stop on reply (checked over IMAP with imapflow), at most 30 emails a day, an opt-out line in every email, and only addresses marked safe. - A daily Today page: replies to answer, follow-ups due, people to research. - CSV export of every table, so the data never gets stuck here. - No accounts, no telemetry, local-first. - Out of scope: a contact database, phone numbers, intent data and LinkedIn automation. Do not scrape LinkedIn or people-search sites. - README: Hunter's free-plan limit (50 credits a month), the Reacher Docker command, a warning that Reacher needs outbound port 25 (often blocked on home and cloud connections), and a note that Apollo's data can't be built here.
Opens your agent with the prompt filled in, you press enter. Or copy it and paste it into an empty folder.
Then keep going
Next prompts, same folder.
The first prompt builds the core. Run these one at a time in the same folder to grow it into your own Apollo.io.
Add an importer for Apollo CSV exports to the workbench in this folder. Requirements: - Accept the CSV from Apollo's Search > People > Export (saved contacts cost no credits to export). - Map columns by header (First name, Last name, Title, Company name, Website, Email, Email status, Person linkedin url, Stage, Lists); show the mapping and ask before importing. - Treat Apollo's email status as unverified until Reacher has checked it. - Contacts marked replied or bounced in the export never enter a sequence. - Print a summary: imported, merged, skipped. - Update the README with the export steps.
Add lead scoring to the workbench in this folder. Requirements: - I describe my ideal customer in ./icp.md. - Fetch each company's homepage once and store its title and meta description. - Send icp.md, that company text and the person's title to the LLM set in .env; store a score from 0 to 100 and a one-line reason. - Sort lists and the Today page by score; I can override any score. - Never call Hunter automatically because of a score. - Update the README with the cost per 100 leads.
Add a Twenty CRM sync to the workbench in this folder. Requirements: - When a person reaches the replied stage, create or update the person and their company in Twenty through its REST API (TWENTY_URL and TWENTY_API_KEY in .env). - Match on email first, then company domain; never create duplicates. - Log every sync with the Twenty record id and show failures on the Today page. - Update the README with creating the API key in Twenty.
What you lose
- Search across 240M contacts and 30M companies
- Verified emails and mobile numbers on demand
- Buying-intent topics and website visitor identification
- Automatic CRM enrichment and job-change updates
- The dialer, call recording and AI research
Why people still pay
The database is the product: finding a decision maker's email at a target company takes seconds instead of an afternoon. Small teams also get sequences, a dialer and a light CRM in the same seat for less than enterprise data vendors charge, so many keep paying and simply double-check the emails elsewhere.
Apollo.io or your own copy?
Seats
Over
Your usage
12h ×$/h
Apollo.io, 1 yr$780
Your own copy, 1 yr$368running + build session
You keep$413pays for itself in the first month
Estimate · Hunter's free plan covers 50 credits a month; its Starter plan is €49 a month billed monthly. Reacher is free to self-host. The build is token usage on your agent plan.
Take your data, then cancel.
1 · Take your data out of Apollo.io
- 1Go to Search > People and filter to your saved contacts, a saved search or a list.
- 2Select the contacts (bulk selection along the top), click Export and choose all emails or verified emails only.
- 3Optionally click Edit export CSV settings to pick columns, then Export records and Download. Progress shows under Settings > Import & Exports > CSV Exports.
- 4Exporting saved contacts uses no credits; net-new people picked from search are saved first and cost a credit each. Accounts have their own CSV export.
2 · Cancel Apollo.io
- 1Go to Settings > Plan & billing > Plan overview.
- 2Scroll down, click Cancel Plan and pick a reason (Keep current plan backs out).
- 3Review and confirm. If a salesperson set up your account, cancel through Apollo support or your account manager instead.
- Cancellation takes effect at the end of the term and the account moves to Free; you can use your credits until then.
- Downgrading is not cancelling: a downgrade is immediate, without a refund, and Free keeps one seat (the rest go after 10 days).
- Unused credits don't roll over, so spend or export what you need before the term ends.
- Drag the add-on credit slider back to zero, or the extra credits renew automatically.
- Apollo warns you may not get your current price back if you return.
The escape hatch
Don't feel like building it? These are already free.
TwentyOpen sourceOpen-source CRM for the pipeline side: companies, people, deals and mailbox sync. You bring the leads.★ 58k · active Oct 2026 · docker to self-host
WebVisit ↗ReacherOpen sourceEmail verifier you can run yourself; it checks an address without sending mail, but needs outbound port 25.★ 10k · active Oct 2026 · docker to self-host
server, CLIVisit ↗OpenOutreachOpen sourceSelf-hosted CLI that finds matching people through a licensed data provider (bring your own key) and emails them from your mailbox.★ 3.3k · active Oct 2026 · one-click install
CLIVisit ↗
WebVisit ↗ReacherOpen sourceEmail verifier you can run yourself; it checks an address without sending mail, but needs outbound port 25.★ 10k · active Oct 2026 · docker to self-host
server, CLIVisit ↗OpenOutreachOpen sourceSelf-hosted CLI that finds matching people through a licensed data provider (bring your own key) and emails them from your mailbox.★ 3.3k · active Oct 2026 · one-click install
CLIVisit ↗
The numbers
Apollo.io pricing
| Plan | Monthly | Annual, per month | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 | 75 credits a month (900 a year on annual), 2 sequences per team, 250 emails a day, 1 mailbox (Gmail only), 25-record selection limit. |
| Basic | $65 | $49 | 2,500 credits a month (30,000 a year on annual), unlimited sequences, 250 emails a day, 1 mailbox, CRM integrations, 5 workflows, 1,000-record selection limit. |
| Professional | $99 | $79 | 4,000 credits a month (48,000 a year), A/Z testing, unlimited daily sends, Google and Microsoft mailboxes plus 5 SMTP per user, 4,000 minutes of call recording, AI lead scoring. |
| Organization | — | $119 | Minimum 3 seats; 6,000 credits a month (72,000 a year), 12 intent topics, 8,000 recording minutes, 10,000-record selection limit. |
- Free tier
- 75 credits a month, 2 sequences, 250 emails a day from one Gmail mailbox, 25 records per bulk selection; free accounts drop to one seat after 100 days of use.
- Billing
- Monthly (cancel anytime) or annual (24% off, paid upfront, 12-month commitment). All seats on an account share one plan.
- Hidden costs
- Credits reset every billing cycle and never roll over, purchased add-on credits included; add-on credits renew automatically until you move the slider back to zero. A mobile number costs 8 credits, an email 1. Downgrades take effect immediately with no refund. Inbound ($119-639 a month) and the Advanced Dialer ($119 a month) are per-team add-ons billed annually.
- Source
- www.apollo.io
Also on the list
Related apps
Free stays free with 75 credits a month, 2 sequences and one Gmail mailbox.
Not really. The database is the product: finding a decision maker's email at a target company takes seconds instead of an afternoon. Small teams also get sequences, a dialer and a light CRM in the same seat for less than enterprise data vendors charge, so many keep paying and simply double-check the emails elsewhere. The prompt on this page builds the closest honest substitute.
About $65 a month on the Basic plan per seat, $780 a year (checked 2026-10-13).
Search across 240M contacts and 30M companies; Verified emails and mobile numbers on demand; Buying-intent topics and website visitor identification; Automatic CRM enrichment and job-change updates; The dialer, call recording and AI research. If any of those matter to you, keep paying.
Yes: Twenty (open source), Reacher (open source), OpenOutreach (open source).