Skip to main content
CloneICP

CloneICP vs Apollo.io: Semantic Search vs Keyword Filters

Apollo finds people with the right titles. CloneICP finds people with the right fit. Compare two fundamentally different approaches to B2B prospecting.

CloneICP uses semantic AI search to find people by who they are, not just job title filters. Here's how it compares to Apollo.io's database approach for B2B prospecting.

Last updated: February 2026

Skip to comparison

Key Facts

  • Apollo.io has 275M+ contacts. CloneICP has zero stored profiles and searches the open web in real-time.
  • Apollo's database accuracy is estimated at 50-70% for emails (ResearchGate, 2024).
  • CloneICP costs $0.10 per search vs Apollo's $49-119/month for database access.
  • Apollo excels at volume outreach and CRM integration. CloneICP excels at discovering hard-to-find people.
  • Both tools can be used together: CloneICP for discovery, Apollo for enrichment.

The Problem I Solved

After spending months manually filtering Apollo's 10,000-result lists, I realized the fundamental issue: keyword matching finds people with the right titles, but not the right fit.

Apollo gives you "VP of Sales at SaaS companies with 50-500 employees." That's 10,000 results. Most are irrelevant.

CloneICP gives you "VP of Sales who writes about outbound strategies and has built SDR teams from scratch." That's 50 results. Most are spot-on.

The difference? Semantic understanding vs keyword matching.

Keyword Search vs Semantic Search: The Research

A 2015 ResearchGate study compared keyword-based and semantic-based search systems:

  • Keyword search accuracy: 51%[1]
  • Semantic search accuracy: 95%[1]

Why Keyword Matching Creates False Positives

The B2B data quality problem

  • 25-40% of B2B contact data is wrong before your first email is sent[3]
  • 75% of marketing teams estimate at least 10% of their lead data is inaccurate, outdated, or non-compliant[4]
  • 42% of B2B businesses report issues with low-quality or irrelevant leads[5]

Because keyword filters match attributes (title, company size, industry), not context.

Someone can be "VP of Sales" but:

  • Never managed an outbound team
  • Only does partnerships, not prospecting
  • Works in a completely different sales model

Keyword filters catch all three. Semantic matching catches only the one you actually want.

How Apollo Works

What Apollo Does Well

275M+ contacts across industries
91% email accuracy rate
Direct phone numbers
Email sequences, analytics, CRM integrations
50+ search filters (job title, seniority, company size, industry, location)
Boolean logic for complex queries
Company data (revenue, funding, tech stack)
Saved searches with alerts

Where Apollo Falls Short

The keyword matching problem:

You search for: "VP of Sales who has built outbound teams"

Apollo returns

  • VPs of Sales (title match)
  • At B2B SaaS companies (industry match)
  • Including people who've never built outbound teams
  • Including people who only do partnerships
  • Including people with the title but wrong experience

Result: 10,000 profiles. You manually filter 9,500. That's 95% waste.

Apollo matches words (job title = "VP of Sales"), not meaning (has actually built outbound teams).

How CloneICP Works

Semantic Understanding

"VP of Sales who writes about outbound strategies and has scaled SDR teams from 2 to 20 reps"

What CloneICP understands

  • Role context: VP of Sales (title) who actually does outbound (activity)
  • Distinguishing traits: Writes about it (public expertise) + scaled teams (proven experience)
  • Semantic matching: Finds people who match the meaning, not just the words

Testing Results (Feb 2026)

Query
"VP Sales who writes about outbound strategies"
Results
50 LinkedIn profiles returned
Speed
~30-60 seconds to complete
Cost
$1.00 (10 credits)
Per-profile cost
$0.02
Quality
Results ranked by match score (Top Matches + More Matches)

See how CloneICP works for your use case

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature comparison: Apollo.io vs CloneICP, updated February 2026
FeatureApollo.ioCloneICP
Search MethodKeyword filters (title, company, industry)Semantic AI (natural language understanding)
Typical Results10,000+ per search20-50 per search
Match QualityKeyword-based (matches titles and attributes)Semantic-based (matches meaning and context)
Search CostSubscription ($49-$149/mo)Pay-per-search ($1.00/search)
Email EnrichmentYes (primary feature), 91% accuracyLimited (available, not core focus)
Result QualityHigh volume, manual filtering requiredLow volume, pre-filtered by semantic relevance
Best Use CaseEnrichment (email/phone), sequences, CRM syncDiscovery (who to target), ICP validation
Free TrialFree tier available3 free searches, no signup
Credits ExpirationMonthly subscription resetsCredits never expire

Apollo "Lookalike" Feature (New 2026)

Apollo recently launched a "lookalike" feature that uses AI to find similar profiles based on firmographic attributes (company size, industry, location).

The difference: Apollo's AI finds companies that look like your customers. CloneICP's AI finds people who are like your customers.

When to Use Each Tool

Use Apollo When

  • You need email addresses or phone numbers (enrichment)
  • You want to run email sequences at scale
  • You need CRM integration and sales automation
  • You already know exactly who to target (job title + company filters work)
  • You're comfortable manually filtering large result sets

Use CloneICP When

  • You're discovering who to target (before you know exact filters)
  • You have a specific, nuanced ICP ("VP who's built X and has experience with Y")
  • You want pre-filtered, high-relevance results (not 10,000 to manually sort)
  • You're validating ICP hypotheses with fast, low-cost searches
  • You want to avoid spray-and-pray outreach

The Optimal Workflow: Use Both

CloneICP and Apollo are complementary, not competing:

  1. 01Discovery with CloneICP: "Find VPs of Sales who have built outbound teams and write about their process"
  2. 02Enrichment with Apollo: Export CloneICP's 50 results, import to Apollo, get emails and phones
  3. 03Outreach with Apollo: Use Apollo sequences for personalized outreach

CloneICP finds who to target (semantic precision). Apollo provides how to reach them (enrichment + automation).

Pricing Comparison

Apollo.io Pricing (2026)

Free Plan$0
  • Unlimited email credits
  • 60 mobile credits/year
  • 120 export credits/year
Basic Plan$49/user/month
  • Unlimited email credits
  • 900 mobile credits/year
  • Unlimited export credits
Professional Plan$79/user/month
  • Everything in Basic
  • Advanced filters
  • API access
Organization Plan$149/user/month
  • Everything in Professional
  • Advanced analytics
  • Team management

Annual commitment available (discount varies)

CloneICP Pricing (2026)

Pay-Per-Use (No subscription)

100 credits$10 ($0.10/credit)
500 credits$45 ($0.09/credit)
2,000 credits$160 ($0.08/credit)
  • 10 credits per search = $1.00 per search
  • 3 free searches to start (no signup)
  • Credits never expire
  • All features included (no tiers)
  • CSV export included

In testing: 50 profiles for $1.00 = $0.02 per profile

Cost Analysis

Apollo approach: $49-$149/month subscription + time to manually filter 10,000 results down to 50.

CloneICP approach: $1.00 per search for 50 pre-filtered results.

The real cost is time: If you spend 2 hours filtering Apollo results, that's your hourly rate multiplied by 2. CloneICP eliminates that step.

The Honest Trade-Offs

What CloneICP Doesn't Do (That Apollo Does)

Enrichment at scale

Apollo has 275M verified contacts. CloneICP focuses on discovery, not enrichment. Apollo provides email sequences, phone dialers, and CRM sync. CloneICP provides CSV exports.

Integrations

Apollo integrates with Salesforce, HubSpot, Outreach, SalesLoft. CloneICP is export-only (for now).

Volume plays

If you need 10,000 contacts for a high-volume campaign, Apollo is better. If you need 50 highly relevant contacts for targeted outreach, CloneICP is better.

What Apollo Doesn't Do (That CloneICP Does)

Semantic understanding

Apollo can't search for "VP who writes about outbound strategies." You'd filter by title + industry, then manually check who writes. CloneICP understands that query and returns people who match the meaning, not just the keywords.

ICP discovery

Apollo requires you to know your filters (title, company size, industry) before searching. CloneICP lets you describe your ICP in natural language and discovers patterns you might not have considered.

Pay-per-use

Apollo is a monthly subscription. If you run 2 searches this month, you still pay $49-$149. CloneICP charges per search. 2 searches = $2. Credits never expire.

CloneICP Works Best When

You have a clear, specific ICP

  • "VP of Sales who has built outbound teams from scratch and writes publicly about their process"
  • "Engineering leader who scaled teams from 10 to 100+ and has experience with platform architecture"
  • "Product manager with PLG experience at B2B SaaS companies who has launched 0-to-1 products"

Result quality depends on

  • How specifically you describe your ICP (more detail = better matches)
  • How much your ICP shares on LinkedIn (well-populated profiles = better semantic matching)

Not a good fit if

  • You need broad, high-volume prospecting (10,000+ contacts)
  • You need email sequences and automation (Apollo's strength)
  • Your ICP is simple enough for keyword filters ("VP of Sales at Series B SaaS")
  • You don't have a clear picture of your ideal customer yet

Frequently Asked Questions: Apollo.io vs CloneICP

Is CloneICP a replacement for Apollo?
No, it's complementary. CloneICP handles discovery (who to target). Apollo handles enrichment and automation (how to reach them). The optimal workflow: CloneICP finds 50 high-relevance profiles, then export to Apollo for emails, phones, and outreach sequences.
How does semantic search work?
Keyword search (Apollo) matches words in job titles, company descriptions, and industry tags. Semantic search (CloneICP) uses AI to understand meaning, capturing context, synonyms, and related concepts. Example: Query "VP who has built outbound teams." Keyword search matches "VP" in the title and ignores the rest. Semantic search understands "built outbound teams" from LinkedIn activity, posts, and experience descriptions.
What if CloneICP returns irrelevant results?
Two common causes: (1) Vague ICP description. "VP of Sales" is too broad and gives keyword-like results. Fix: Add specificity like "VP of Sales who writes about outbound strategies and has scaled SDR teams." (2) Incomplete LinkedIn profiles. If your ICP doesn't share much on LinkedIn, semantic matching has less signal. Fix: Test with a different audience, or try more specific descriptions.
Can I export CloneICP results to Apollo?
Yes. CloneICP provides CSV export with LinkedIn URLs. Import to Apollo for enrichment (email/phone). Workflow: CloneICP search ($1.00) gives you 50 profiles. Export CSV. Import to Apollo. Get emails and phones. Run personalized outreach.
How accurate is CloneICP's semantic matching?
Results are ranked by match score (Top Matches, More Matches). Top 3-6 are usually excellent fits. Next 10-20 are strong fits. Result quality depends on ICP clarity (specific is better than vague) and LinkedIn profile completeness (more data means better matching). It's not perfect, but it's dramatically faster than manual filtering.
Does CloneICP scrape LinkedIn?
No. CloneICP uses publicly available profile data, similar to how Apollo, ZoomInfo, and other sales intelligence tools work.
What about Apollo's "Lookalike" feature?
Apollo Lookalike uses AI-enhanced firmographic matching. It finds companies similar to your seeds based on size, industry, and location. CloneICP uses natural language ICP matching. It finds people similar to your description based on role context and traits. Different approaches: Apollo finds companies that look like your customers. CloneICP finds people who are like your ideal customer. Both are useful for different plays.

Try CloneICP

3 free searches, no signup required

  1. 01Go to cloneicp.com
  2. 02Describe who you're looking for in natural language
  3. 03Get 20-50 ranked results in ~60 seconds
No credit card|No signup required

What to test

  • "VP of Sales who writes about outbound" vs "VP of Sales"
  • "Engineering leader who scaled teams 10 to 100" vs "VP of Engineering"
  • "Product manager with PLG and enterprise experience"

Sources & Citations

  1. [1]ResearchGate: Comparative Study of Keyword vs Semantic Search - 51% keyword accuracy vs 95% semantic accuracy
  2. [2]Landbase: Top AI Platforms for Semantic B2B Search - 76% higher relevant matches with semantic AI
  3. [3]Lead411: B2B Data Quality Issues - 25-40% of B2B contact data is wrong
  4. [4]Demand Gen Report: Lead Data Quality Study - 75% estimate 10%+ lead data is inaccurate
  5. [5]Sopro: Lead Generation Statistics - 42% of B2B businesses report low-quality leads
  6. [6]Apollo.io: B2B Data Network - 91% email accuracy, 275M+ contacts
  7. [7]Copy.ai: Apollo Review - User review analysis
  8. [8]SalesRobot: Apollo Review 2025 - Data accuracy concerns

About this comparison: I'm Tom Meredith, Founder of CloneICP. This comparison is based on actual product testing (Feb 2026), research citations, and Apollo's official product pages. All statistics are cited with sources.