Free Apollo Alternative: Klovis Multi-Channel Outreach CRM
The free Apollo alternative for real outreach
Klovis is a free Apollo alternative built for multi-channel outreach. Instead of leading with a contact database and email-only sequences, Klovis lets you run sequenced outreach across LinkedIn, email (Gmail, Outlook, or IMAP), WhatsApp, Instagram DM, and Telegram from your team's own connected accounts, then manage every reply, contact, and deal in one self-updating workspace. You can start for free and add seats as you grow.
What is the best free Apollo alternative?
The best free Apollo alternative depends on what you actually need. Apollo is a strong fit when your main job is finding B2B contact data and running email-led sequences. If your job is to reach buyers where they reply and then keep the conversation organized, a multi-channel outreach CRM like Klovis is the better starting point.
Klovis is free to start and centers on the work after the list is built: sending across five channels from real accounts, catching every reply in one inbox, and letting a CRM update itself as deals progress. You bring your own contacts, connect your own LinkedIn, email, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Telegram accounts, and run sequenced campaigns without juggling separate tools for each channel. For a side-by-side breakdown, see our Klovis vs Apollo comparison.
Is Apollo free, and what are the limits?
Apollo.io does offer a genuinely useful free plan, but it has clear ceilings. As of 2026, the free tier includes unlimited email sending under a fair-use cap of roughly 250 emails per day, around 5 mobile credits and 10 export credits per month, and a maximum of 2 active sequences. You also get access to Apollo's large contact database (210M+ contacts and 30M+ companies), though exporting those contacts consumes your limited export credits.
That structure works well for a solo founder testing email outreach. It gets restrictive quickly: the 2-sequence ceiling, tight export caps, and email-first design mean you outgrow the free plan once you want more campaigns or channels. Paid plans (Basic, Professional, and Organization) lift those limits but add per-seat cost. Our Apollo pricing guide walks through every tier and the credit math.
Why choose Klovis over Apollo's free plan?
Choose Klovis when reaching prospects on more than email is the point. Apollo's free plan is email-led, with calls and LinkedIn tasks; it does not natively send WhatsApp, Instagram, or Telegram messages. Klovis is multi-channel from real connected accounts, so a single campaign can open on LinkedIn, follow up by email, and continue on WhatsApp without leaving the tool.
The value order is concrete:
- Multi-channel from real accounts — run LinkedIn, email, WhatsApp, Instagram DM, and Telegram from your team's own connected accounts.
- One unified inbox — every reply from every channel lands in one place, assigned and attributed, ready to action.
- Self-updating CRM — people and companies keep themselves current, with contacts and deals built in.
- Event-driven workflows — automation triggers on record changes, tags, field changes, replies, and no-response.
- Booked meetings and pipeline — turn replies into meetings and meetings into deals.
See more options in our Apollo alternatives roundup.
Klovis vs Apollo: side-by-side comparison
Here is how the free Apollo alternative compares with Apollo across the dimensions that matter most when you are choosing where to run outreach.
| Dimension | Klovis | Apollo |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Multi-channel outreach plus a self-updating CRM in one workspace | B2B contact data plus email-led sequences |
| Outreach channels | LinkedIn, email (Gmail / Outlook / IMAP), WhatsApp, Instagram DM, Telegram | Email and calls, with LinkedIn tasks; no native WhatsApp, Instagram, or Telegram sending |
| Sending accounts | Your team's own connected accounts across every channel | Connected email accounts (free plan limited to Gmail / Microsoft) |
| Unified inbox | Every reply from every channel in one inbox, assigned and attributed | Email-centric inbox; replies on other channels live elsewhere |
| Self-updating CRM | People, companies, contacts, and deals that update themselves | Built-in CRM tied to its contact database; deal tracking on higher tiers |
| Automation | Event-triggered workflows (record change, tag, reply, no-response) that send and book meetings | Sequence automation; advanced workflows and AI on paid tiers |
| Free / entry plan | Free to start running multi-channel outreach from your own accounts | Free plan: ~250 emails/day fair use, 5 mobile credits, 10 export credits, 2 sequences |
| Built-in lead database | Bring your own contacts; focus is sending and managing replies | 210M+ contacts and 30M+ companies, gated by export credits |
| Paid pricing (annual) | Simple plans as you scale beyond free | Basic ~$49, Professional ~$79, Organization ~$119 per user / month |
How does Klovis run multi-channel campaigns?
Klovis Campaigns are multi-step and multi-channel. Each step declares its own channel, and messages send from your team's own connected accounts rather than a shared pool you can't see. A campaign might invite on LinkedIn, wait, send an email, then move to WhatsApp, all in one sequence.
Reply handling is built in. Klovis tracks reply history per campaign, and pause on reply automatically pauses a prospect the moment they respond, so you never keep messaging someone who already answered. That prospect is resumable, so a paused conversation can pick back up later. The result is sequenced outreach that behaves like a real conversation across channels, not a one-channel blast.
Because each step is channel-aware, you can design the sequence around how your buyers actually respond. A founder-led B2B motion might lead with a LinkedIn connection, switch to email for a detailed value message, and continue on WhatsApp once a relationship is warm. A recruiting or partnerships team might do the reverse. The point is that the channel is a property of the step, so you tailor the path to the audience rather than forcing every prospect down an email-only funnel.
What happens to replies in Klovis?
Every reply, on every channel, arrives in one unified inbox. Whether a prospect answers your LinkedIn invite, replies to an email, or messages back on Telegram, it shows up in the same place, already assigned and attributed to the right campaign and person. Your team stops switching between five apps to find who said what.
From the inbox, a reply becomes pipeline. You can action it directly, attach it to a contact, and turn it into a deal. Because the CRM is self-updating, the person and company records reflect the latest activity without manual data entry. That tight loop, send across channels, catch replies in one place, convert to deals, is what makes Klovis function as a CRM rather than only an outreach sender. Browse the full range of head-to-heads in our comparisons hub.
Does the free Apollo alternative include a CRM and automation?
Yes. Klovis includes a self-updating CRM with people, companies, contacts, and deals, so the records you build during outreach stay current automatically. You don't have to export contacts into a separate system to track a deal.
Klovis also includes event-triggered Workflows. A workflow can fire on a record being created or updated, a tag being added, a field changing, a reply landing, or a prospect not responding. Workflows can send real outreach and book meetings, so routine follow-up and routing happen without manual steps. Apollo offers sequence automation and reserves more advanced workflow and AI features for paid tiers; Klovis pairs multi-channel sending with this automation as part of the core experience.
In practice, this means the busywork between a reply and a booked meeting can run itself. A reply on any channel can route the conversation to the right teammate, update the deal stage, and trigger the next touch, all without someone copying details between tabs. That is the difference between a tool that only sends and a workspace that keeps your pipeline moving.
When is Apollo still the right choice?
Apollo is a legitimate, well-built product, and it is the better pick in some cases. If your primary need is a large built-in B2B contact and company database with buying-intent signals, Apollo's data is a core strength that Klovis does not try to replicate. Klovis assumes you bring your own contacts and focuses on sending and managing the conversation.
Apollo is also a natural fit for teams whose outreach is email-first and who already live in the Apollo data workflow. The trade-off is channel breadth: if you want LinkedIn, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Telegram alongside email in one campaign and one inbox, that is where Klovis is built to lead. Many teams use a data source for lists and Klovis for the actual multi-channel outreach and CRM.
How do the costs compare?
Both tools let you start free. Apollo's free plan covers light email outreach (about 250 emails/day fair use, 5 mobile credits, 10 export credits, 2 sequences), and its paid plans run roughly $49 (Basic), $79 (Professional), and $119 (Organization) per user per month on annual billing, with credit overages priced separately.
Klovis is free to start running multi-channel outreach from your own accounts, with straightforward plans as you scale. Because you connect your own LinkedIn, email, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Telegram accounts, channel breadth isn't gated behind a data-credit system. For the full Apollo number breakdown, see the Apollo pricing guide, and weigh other options in our Apollo alternatives list.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a truly free Apollo alternative?
Yes. Klovis is free to start and lets you run sequenced multi-channel outreach from your own connected accounts, with a unified inbox and a self-updating CRM included from day one.
Does Klovis include a contact database like Apollo?
No. Apollo's large built-in contact database is one of its strengths. Klovis is built for sending and managing replies, so you bring your own contacts and focus on outreach across five channels, the unified inbox, and the CRM.
What channels can Klovis send from?
Klovis sends from LinkedIn, email (Gmail, Outlook, or IMAP), WhatsApp, Instagram DM, and Telegram, all from your team's own connected accounts, within a single multi-step campaign.
What are Apollo's free plan limits?
As of 2026, Apollo's free plan includes roughly 250 emails per day under fair use, about 5 mobile credits and 10 export credits per month, and up to 2 active sequences, plus database access gated by export credits.
Can Klovis automatically follow up and book meetings?
Yes. Klovis Workflows trigger on events like replies, no-response, tag additions, and field changes, and can send real outreach and book meetings, while pause on reply keeps you from messaging prospects who already responded.