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AI SDR agents · October 2026 Edition

Apollo.io vs Artisan Ava

Three of fourteen models named Apollo.io first on the direct prompt; seven named Artisan Ava. Apollo.io was named by thirteen of the fourteen models and Artisan Ava by fourteen and Apollo.io carries 33 labels and Artisan Ava 53, so the shares are not directly comparable.

Apollo.io

accepted challenger

San Francisco, United States, founded 2015. Named in twenty-six categories this edition.

Artisan Ava

criticized challenger

Named in one category this edition.

First-choice share24%24%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate0%26%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#1#2A position in a field of 12; printed, not drawn.
Labels3353A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, Apollo.io reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.Apollo.io vs AiSDR · Apollo.io vs Regie.ai · Apollo.io vs Amplemarket Duo

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the AI SDR agents page.

By framing

How many of the fourteen models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.
Apollo.ioFirst choices, of fourteen modelsArtisan Ava
Direct37
Paraphrase541 against Artisan Ava
Comparative03
Budget-constrained503 against Artisan Ava
Scale-constrained02
Negative0110 against Artisan Ava
Bars are first choices, 0 to 14 each sideModels that argued againstA model can name both, so the two sides of a row do not sum to fourteen.

Every model, every framing

The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where Apollo.io and Artisan Ava stood in it.
ModelDirectParaphraseComparativeBudget-constrainedScale-constrainedNegative
Claude Haiku 4.5
GPT-5.4 mini
Gemini 3.5 Flash
Perplexity Sonar
Grok 4.1 Fast
Mistral Small
DeepSeek V4 Flash
Llama 4 Maverick
Qwen 3.7 Flash
Kimi K2
GLM 4.7 FlashX
MiniMax M2.5
GPT-6 Luna
Muse Glimmer 30B
Apollo.io Artisan Ava first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, Apollo.io on the left and Artisan Ava on the right.

The direct prompt

The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where Apollo.io and Artisan Ava stood in it.

Apollo.io first, Artisan Ava an alternative

3 of 14 modelsArtisan Ava was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.
GPT-5.4 miniApollo.io, Qualified Piper alternatives: Salesforce Agentforce SDR
Perplexity SonarApollo.io alternatives: AiSDR, Amplemarket Duo, Regie.ai
Kimi K2Apollo.io alternatives: AiSDR, Artisan Ava, Regie.ai, ZoomInfo Copilot

Artisan Ava first, Apollo.io an alternative

7 of 14 modelsApollo.io was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.
Claude Haiku 4.5Artisan Ava alternatives: Jeeva, Persana AI, RocketSDR, Salesloft Rhythm
Grok 4.1 FastAiSDR, Artisan Ava alternatives: Apollo.io, Conversica, Reply.io Jason
Mistral SmallArtisan Ava, Regie.ai alternatives: Conversica
DeepSeek V4 FlashArtisan Ava alternatives: AiSDR, Clay
MiniMax M2.5AiSDR, Artisan Ava alternatives: Coldreach, Reply.io Jason, ZoomInfo Copilot
GPT-6 LunaArtisan Ava alternatives: AiSDR
Muse Glimmer 30BArtisan Ava alternatives: 11x Alice, Apollo.io

Neither was the first choice, one was named

2 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.
Gemini 3.5 FlashAmplemarket Duo alternatives: 11x, Artisan Ava, Clay, HubSpot Prospecting Agent, Piper, Topo.io
Qwen 3.7 FlashSalesforge Agent Frank alternatives: Apollo.io, Clay, ZoomInfo Copilot

Neither was named

2 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.
Llama 4 Maverickno first choice
GLM 4.7 FlashXLaxis AI SDR alternatives: 11x Alice, AiSDR, Amplemarket Duo, Reply.io Jason

Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.

By buyer segment

The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment and they are never added together. The figures above are the mid-market standing, which is the one the category orders by.
Small business
Apollo.io leads by twenty-six points.
Apollo.io32%#1 of 9
Artisan Ava6%#3 of 9
The full small business standing →
Mid-marketThe figures above
Level: the same share of first choices.
Apollo.io24%#1 of 12
Artisan Ava24%#2 of 12
The full mid-market standing →
Enterprise
The order flips: Artisan Ava leads at enterprise.
Artisan Ava22%#1 of 11
Apollo.io0%#11 of 11
The full enterprise standing →

What the models said about Apollo.io

Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. One of one in this category shown.

“Best for budget-conscious teams wanting database + outreach in one tab, giving high-end AI power to small teams who don't have a $5,000 monthly budget” Claude Haiku 4.5 · budget prompt · first choice

What the models said about Artisan Ava

Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of eight in this category shown.

“Artisan faced platform-level enforcement including a LinkedIn ban ... Artisan reviews and third-party reports document concerns around zero quality leads despite high outreach volume” Muse Glimmer 30B · negative prompt · hard negative
“## Specific Platforms to Avoid Artisan (Ava) — Has significant output quality concerns, with a G2 rating of 3.8/5 (lowest among reviewed platforms)” Claude Haiku 4.5 · negative prompt · hard negative
“Good for testing and experimentation, but avoid for production campaigns. The quality and governance issues are significant.” GLM 4.7 FlashX · negative prompt · hard negative
“Artisan is the strongest fit in the results because it is described as an end-to-end outbound automation platform whose AI BDR handles prospecting, outreach, replies” Perplexity Sonar · paraphrase prompt · first choice
“Highly regarded for end-to-end autonomy (sourcing, personalization, sending, reply handling) with good balance of automation and control.” Qwen 3.7 Flash · negative prompt · first choice
“I'd put Artisan's Ava on the shortlist first if you want a more complete outbound agent connected to your CRM” GPT-6 Luna · direct prompt · first choice
Also compared

Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category, each against each. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.