Apollo vs LinkedIn Sales Navigator: Which Do You Need?

When setting up a B2B sales stack, the first question is usually: "Should I buy Apollo or LinkedIn Sales Navigator?" Because they cost roughly the same for a single user (around $99/month), it feels like an either/or choice. In reality, they do very different things.

Apollo.io: The Action Platform

Apollo is built for volume outbound. It provides the contact data (emails and phones) and the execution tools (email sequences and a dialer) in one place. You build a list, drop it into a sequence, and Apollo sends the emails automatically.

• What it gives you: Verified emails, direct dial phone numbers, automated email sequencing.
• Best for: Scaled cold email campaigns, high-volume SDR teams, teams that need contact info.
• Limitation: Company data and job titles can sometimes lag behind real-time changes.

LinkedIn Sales Navigator: The Intelligence Platform

Sales Navigator is the best research tool in B2B sales. Because users update their own profiles, it is the most accurate source of truth for who currently works where. It allows you to build highly targeted lists and engage via InMail, but it does not give you email addresses or phone numbers.

• What it gives you: Real-time accuracy on job changes, advanced filtering on the LinkedIn network, InMail credits.
• Best for: Highly targeted Account-Based Marketing (ABM), social selling, finding very niche decision makers.
• Limitation: You cannot export lists easily, and you don't get emails or phone numbers.

How to Use Them Together

The standard modern sales workflow uses both tools in tandem. It looks like this:

1. Use Sales Navigator to build a highly precise, accurate list of decision makers.
2. Use Apollo's Chrome extension to extract those contacts from LinkedIn and instantly find their verified emails.
3. Drop the extracted contacts into an automated email sequence in Apollo.

This workflow combines the real-time accuracy of LinkedIn with the contact data and automation of Apollo.

If You Must Choose Just One

If budget allows for only one tool: get Apollo. It is a complete system. You can't run a cold email campaign with just Sales Navigator because you won't have email addresses. Apollo gives you the data and the execution platform in one subscription.

Want lists built using both tools? I use Sales Nav for targeting and Apollo for extraction to deliver highly accurate, verified contact lists. Get in touch →