Is Firmeo a GDPR-compliant Apollo alternative?

Yes. Firmeo is EU-hosted, processes data in the EU and provides a data processing agreement from Austria. Apollo is US-hosted, which triggers additional data-transfer scrutiny for European teams.

How does Apollo's pricing compare to Firmeo's?

Apollo bills per seat plus plan tiers, so costs scale with headcount. Firmeo is credit-based: you pay per lead action, not per user. That keeps the bill predictable and means you aren't paying a seat tax on every hire.

Does Firmeo have a database as large as Apollo's?

Firmeo doesn't rely on a static database. It researches each query live from public sources worldwide, so the data is current. Apollo's total database is larger, but live research often beats database size for accuracy.

Can I send cold emails directly from Firmeo like I can with Apollo?

Yes. Firmeo connects research and outreach: cold email and LinkedIn sequences run from the tool through a dedicated mailbox with volume ramp-up and rotation, including AI-personalized copy.

When is Apollo still the better choice?

For US-focused teams that need the largest possible B2B contact database, very deep filter logic and a broad CRM integration ecosystem, Apollo remains the stronger pick. Firmeo wins on data freshness, all-in-one workflow, EU hosting and credit-based pricing.

Apollo alternative

Apollo alternative: Firmeo compared honestly

Apollo is one of the largest US B2B contact databases. Firmeo is the alternative with live worldwide lead research, credit-based pricing instead of seat licenses, and email plus LinkedIn outreach built into one EU-hosted, GDPR-compliant platform.

Austrian softwareGDPR-compliant & EU-hostedEarly access with founder pricing

Apollo.io is a US sales-intelligence platform built on a vast static contact database of several hundred million records, with deep search, filtering and a wide range of integrations. Apollo is used primarily by US-centric sales teams that prospect at scale and value a broad data foundation with plenty of enrichment fields.

The trade-offs are worth knowing. Apollo is a curated but aging database: records can be months old and contacts may have moved on, so freshness varies. Billing is per seat, meaning costs grow directly with headcount rather than with actual usage. And for European teams, a US-hosted platform raises additional questions around GDPR compliance and data transfer.

This is exactly where the search for a B2B lead generation alternative begins. Teams want up-to-date data instead of stale records, predictable performance and usage-based billing that rewards results instead of penalizing headcount growth. Firmeo researches each query live from public sources worldwide, verifies details against company websites and brings email plus LinkedIn outreach together in one EU-hosted platform, so GDPR compliance comes built in.

In short

If you want fresh research instead of archived database records, a billing model that charges per result rather than per seat, and an all-in-one workflow where research and outreach live in the same tool, Firmeo is the stronger choice, with EU hosting and GDPR compliance as a built-in bonus. Apollo stays genuinely hard to beat for teams that need the sheer size of a US B2B contact database, very deep filter logic and a broad CRM integration ecosystem.

Price comparison

What does Apollo cost compared to Firmeo?

Firmeo

ab 39 €/Mo

credit-based

7-day free trial

Credit-based: you pay only for real actions, no seat tax, cancel anytime.

Apollo

ab 49 $/Nutzer/Mo

per seat

Competitor prices are public reference values (as of June 2026) and may change.

Comparison

Firmeo vs. Apollo, feature by feature

Criterion

Firmeo

Apollo

Data foundation

Live research per query from public sources, always current

Very large static contact database, refreshed periodically

Hosting & GDPR

EU-hosted, GDPR-compliant, DPA from Austria

US-hosted, data transfer to the US

Pricing model

Credit-based: pay per lead action, no per-seat licensing

Per-seat licenses plus plan tiers; costs rise with team headcount

Reach

Worldwide company data, strong in Europe too

Very strong in the US, broad global coverage

AI research

AI research with cited sources and a fit score per lead

Data enrichment and filters, less generative research

Outreach channels

Email, LinkedIn and social in one tool

Built-in email sequences, LinkedIn via extensions

Mailbox

Dedicated mailbox with volume ramp-up and rotation

Connect your own mailbox, sequence sending

Getting started

Self-serve, German-language interface

Self-serve, English-language interface

When Firmeo is the better choice

You need up-to-date data instead of stale database records
You want credit-based billing that charges for results, not seats
Research and outreach should run in one EU-hosted tool
GDPR compliance and EU data processing are non-negotiable

When Apollo is a better fit

If your focus is the US market, you need the largest possible B2B contact database with very deep filters, and a broad integration ecosystem (CRM, dialer, workflows) is essential, Apollo plays to its strengths. Teams running pure high-volume US prospecting on an established data foundation are often best served by Apollo.

Switching

Switch to Firmeo in three steps

Define your audience

Describe your ideal customers in plain words or with filters. Firmeo researches matching companies live instead of pulling from a static database.

Enrich and verify

Firmeo adds contacts, business email and context, checks against the company website and assigns an AI fit score.

Reach out directly

Launch an email or LinkedIn sequence from your dedicated mailbox with ramp-up, or export to your CRM via CSV.

Most people looking for an Apollo alternative want fresh, reliable B2B lead data with worldwide reach and a billing model that doesn't penalize a growing team. Firmeo is built exactly for that. Instead of drawing from a static database, Firmeo treats B2B lead generation as live research: every search scans public sources worldwide and returns up-to-date matches with verified contacts. EU hosting and GDPR compliance come built in.

The second difference is workflow and pricing. Apollo is a sales prospecting tool with a per-seat model, so the software bill climbs as you hire. Firmeo flips that: credits are consumed per actual lead action, not per user, so a team of ten costs no more than a team of two if usage stays constant. Because research, AI scoring and cold email plus LinkedIn outreach all live in the same platform, there is no parallel tool stack to maintain or reconcile.

For teams that care about data protection, the EU-hosted, GDPR-compliant architecture is a meaningful advantage on top. Data processing in the EU, a data processing agreement from Austria and a German-language interface round out the picture, without sacrificing worldwide company coverage. That makes Firmeo the natural Apollo alternative for teams that want fresh data, predictable credit-based pricing and an all-in-one workflow with EU hosting.