Apollo is a data platform with sequencing attached, which makes leaving it a different problem from leaving a sending tool.
With Instantly or Smartlead, the awkward part is the mailboxes. With Apollo, it is the data, because the contacts in your lists were never fully yours in the way a CSV you uploaded is, and getting them out has rules attached.
Plan the export first. Everything else follows.
The export problem
Apollo meters exports. Records you pull out of the database consume export credits, and those credits are tied to your plan and your seat count. The practical consequences:
Your saved lists may cost credits to export. A list of 8,000 contacts you built over a year is not necessarily 8,000 records you can download for free on your current plan.
Seat reductions can cut your export allowance before you have finished exporting. Do not downgrade seats as a cost-saving step partway through a migration.
Enriched fields may not all come across. Check which columns actually appear in a test export of 50 records before you spend credits on 8,000.
Run a test export first. Pull 50 records, open the CSV, and confirm the fields you care about are populated, not just present as empty columns.
Then work out what your full export will cost in credits, and whether your current plan covers it. If it does not, the cheapest path is often one more month on your existing plan to complete the export, rather than downgrading and discovering the allowance went with it.
What to export, in order
| Asset | Notes |
|---|---|
| Do-not-contact list | First, always. Apollo holds this separately from unsubscribes |
| Unsubscribes | Separate export from DNC |
| Saved lists and contacts | Credit-metered. Test first |
| Sequence analytics | CSV, per sequence |
| Email account list | For reconnection |
| Sequences | No export, copy the text |
| CRM sync configuration | Document it; rebuilt by hand |
Note the first two rows. Apollo keeps do-not-contact and unsubscribes as distinct things, and teams frequently export one and assume it covers both.
What you are not taking with you
Be clear-eyed about this, because it changes what you need afterwards.
The database access ends. Everything you exported is yours; everything you did not is gone. You are not migrating a data subscription, you are ending one and starting another.
That means the real comparison is not “Apollo versus a sending tool.” It is Apollo versus a sending tool plus a data source. If your new platform includes a contact database, you are comparing like with like. If it does not, add a data provider to the cost before deciding.
Ongoing enrichment stops. Records Apollo was keeping current will start to decay from your export date. B2B data decays at roughly 2 to 3% a month, so a list exported today is meaningfully stale within a quarter unless something is re-enriching it. Lead list decay covers what that costs in bounces.
The plan
Week 1, export, carefully and in order
Do-not-contact list, then unsubscribes. Then a 50-record test export to verify fields. Then your saved lists, checking credit consumption as you go.
Then sequence analytics and the account list. Copy sequences as text.
Do not change your plan or seat count this week.
Week 2, set up in parallel
Create the workspace. Load both the do-not-contact list and the unsubscribes before importing any contacts, separately, since they came from separate exports.
Recreate custom fields to match Apollo’s field names, then import your contacts mapped to them.
Bulk-connect email accounts. Apollo keeps sending while you build.
Week 3, rebuild and compare data quality
Rebuild your best sequence and run at 20% of volume.
This is also the week to test the new data source honestly. Take 100 accounts in your real target segment, run them through the new platform’s search and enrichment, and compare match rate and accuracy against what Apollo gave you. How to compare data providers has the method.
Do this before you cancel, while you can still check one against the other. It is the only clean comparison you will get, and if the new source is thinner in your segment you want to know now rather than in month two.
Week 4, shift and cancel
Ramp volume. Verify suppressions match on both sides. Export anything you missed.
Then cancel, and only then, because export credits and database access end together.
The cost comparison
Apollo prices per seat with credits for exports, emails and enrichment layered on, which makes a like-for-like comparison awkward.
Outboundry separates the two: outreach plans at $39, $89 and $399, each with unlimited email accounts and unlimited contacts, and a data plan alongside, 12,000 credits for $149 a month on Data Pro, with credits costing 1 for a lead with a verified email, 0.5 for LinkedIn-only data, and 10 for a verified mobile. Company records and all filters cost nothing, and unused credits roll over while the plan is active.
The comparison that usually matters is cost per usable record in your segment rather than headline plan price. Work it out from your own export volume using the credit breakdown, and include the records that returned nothing, because that is where advertised and real rates diverge.
The short version
Leaving Apollo is a data migration wearing a platform migration’s clothes. Export costs credits, so test with 50 records, confirm the fields you need are populated, and budget the credits before you start.
Export the do-not-contact list and the unsubscribes separately, because Apollo keeps them apart and teams routinely take only one.
Do not downgrade seats mid-migration. Test the new data source against 100 real accounts while you still have Apollo to compare it with. And cancel only once every export is confirmed, since database access and export credits end on the same day.
Next: the universal migration checklist, or Apollo alternatives compared.
Frequently asked questions
Can you export your contacts from Apollo?
Yes, but exports consume credits tied to your plan and seat count. Run a 50-record test export first to confirm which enriched fields actually populate, then budget credits for the full export before starting.
Do I lose Apollo data when I cancel?
Anything you exported is yours. Anything still only in Apollo’s database goes when access ends, and ongoing enrichment stops, so exported records begin decaying from that date.
Does Apollo keep unsubscribes and do-not-contact separately?
Yes, and they export separately. Taking one and assuming it covers both is a common and avoidable mistake.
Should I downgrade my Apollo plan before migrating?
No. Export allowances are tied to plan and seats, so reducing either mid-migration can cut off your ability to finish exporting.
