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    Firmbase vs Apollo: the UK alternative for SMB prospecting

    Anna Fontanes
    Firmbase vs Apollo: the UK alternative for SMB prospecting

    By Anna Fontanes | 8 min read

    If you sell into the UK and you are weighing up Apollo, the honest answer is that Apollo is a strong tool built for a slightly different job than the one you probably have. Apollo is a US-first contact database with sequencing and dialling bolted on, priced per seat. Firmbase is a UK-first prospecting agent built on Companies House data. This page lays out where each one wins, with current 2026 pricing, so you can decide on fit rather than on marketing.

    The short version

    Choose Apollo if your market is global or US-heavy, you want contact data plus email and dialer outreach in a single tool, and you have someone to manage credits and list hygiene.

    Choose Firmbase if your market is UK-registered companies and you want a natural-language ICP with AI research agents qualifying each account, continuous discovery rather than filter-and-export, and self-serve pricing with no annual contract.

    At a glance

    How Apollo works

    Apollo is a database-first model. You filter a large global contact set (Apollo cites north of 275 million contacts), build a list, then run sequences and calls from the same platform. Its real strength is being all-in-one: data and outreach under one login, with a mature integration ecosystem.

    The trade-offs are structural. It is a list-building model, so the list starts ageing the moment you export it. And the headline price is only part of the story: Apollo runs on a unified credit system, and active outbound teams routinely report real spend of $150 to $400 per user per month once mobile-number reveals and exports burn through credits. Contracts are annual and auto-renew, and you cannot reduce seats mid-term.

    Where Apollo is genuinely better

    We are not going to pretend otherwise. If any of these describe you, Apollo is probably the right call:

    • Your ICP is global or US-heavy. Apollo's contact coverage outside the UK is far deeper than any Companies House-based tool.
    • You want data and sending in one subscription and do not want to run a separate outreach tool.
    • You have a RevOps person or disciplined seller to manage credits, list hygiene and integrations.

    Where Firmbase wins for the UK

    Firmbase is built on a different foundation, and that foundation is the whole point for UK sellers.

    • AI research agents qualify every account. This is the part Apollo has no equivalent for. Describe your qualification criteria in plain English, including things no database stores as a field, and Firmbase runs AI research agents against each company to verify the fit, attach the evidence and score it. The output is a ranked, pre-qualified target list, not a raw export you still have to clean and check.
    • A natural-language ICP. Describe your ideal customer in plain English. No filter-builder, no boolean strings, no credit-burning trial and error.
    • A taxonomy that matches how you sell. Firmbase classifies companies the way the market talks, Fintech, Martech, Proptech, Healthtech and the rest, not blunt buckets like "software companies." You target the sector you actually sell into.
    • The complete UK universe, with depth. Built on Companies House, so it sees every UK-registered company, including the long tail of smaller businesses a US-centric contact database under-indexes, with filed accounts (iXBRL financials), PSC and ownership, director history and growth signals underneath. You can ask for things Apollo cannot answer, such as UK manufacturers above a turnover threshold with a recent director change.
    • Continuous, not static. Describe your ICP once and Firmbase keeps surfacing matching accounts as filings, hiring and funding signals change, instead of handing you a list that decays.
    • No ops overhead. Self-serve, roughly 15 minutes to first results, no annual commitment.

    Pricing compared

    Apollo's paid plans run from $49 per user per month (Basic, annual) to $149 (Organization, monthly), with a free tier. The number that matters is the all-in cost: credits do not roll over, overages are charged automatically, and most active teams land well above the sticker once mobile reveals and exports are counted. All paid plans are annual.

    Firmbase is credits-based and self-serve, from £49 to £299 per month, with no contract. For a UK solo founder or a small team, Firmbase typically lands below a multi-seat Apollo contract once credit usage is included, and there is nothing to cancel.

    Can you use both?

    Yes, and plenty of teams do today. Use Firmbase to define your UK ICP, let the research agents qualify and prioritise matching accounts, then use Apollo (or any contact database) for bulk contact pulls and sequencing if you already run it.

    Worth knowing where Firmbase is heading, though: automated outbound across both LinkedIn and email is rolling out, so you go from a plain-English prompt to a booked meeting inside Firmbase with no manual step in between. For UK SMB teams that mainly bought Apollo to send, that closes much of the gap in a single tool.

    FAQ

    Is Firmbase a true Apollo alternative?

    For UK-focused account discovery and research, yes. For global contact data plus built-in sequencing and dialling, Apollo remains the broader platform.

    Does Apollo have good UK data?

    It is reasonable at the mid-market and enterprise end. It thins out across the UK long tail of smaller registered companies, which is exactly where a Companies House foundation has the edge.

    Is Firmbase cheaper than Apollo?

    It depends on seats and credit usage. For small UK teams it is usually cheaper, and there is no annual lock-in or auto-renewal.

    Can Firmbase replace Apollo's sequencing?

    Not yet, but it is close. Today Firmbase is discovery, qualification and research, so you pair it with whatever you send from. Automated outbound across LinkedIn and email is rolling out, which will take Firmbase from prompt to booked meeting in one place.

    Start your free trial at app.firmbase.co/signup

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    Author Bio

    Anna Fontanes is a revenue operations consultant who has built account scoring and ICP frameworks for UK B2B sales teams across SaaS and professional services.