# Apollo.io vs Artisan Ava: which do AI models recommend for AI SDR, October 2026

GTM AI Recommendation Index, October 2026 Edition, AI SDR agents. Three of fourteen models named Apollo.io first on the direct prompt; seven named Artisan Ava. Page: https://gtm-ai-index.com/sales/ai-sdr-agents/apollo-io-vs-artisan-ava/

| | First-choice share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels | Models naming it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apollo.io | 24% | #1 of 12 | 0% | 33 | 13 of 14 |
| Artisan Ava | 24% | #2 of 12 | 26% | 53 | 14 of 14 |

## The direct prompt, model by model

- GPT-5.4 mini: apollo.io first (first choices: Apollo.io, Qualified Piper) (alternatives: Salesforce Agentforce SDR)
- Perplexity Sonar: apollo.io first (first choices: Apollo.io) (alternatives: AiSDR, Amplemarket Duo, Regie.ai)
- Kimi K2: apollo.io first (first choices: Apollo.io) (alternatives: AiSDR, Artisan Ava, Regie.ai, ZoomInfo Copilot)
- Claude Haiku 4.5: artisan ava first (first choices: Artisan Ava) (alternatives: Jeeva, Persana AI, RocketSDR, Salesloft Rhythm)
- Grok 4.1 Fast: artisan ava first (first choices: AiSDR, Artisan Ava) (alternatives: Apollo.io, Conversica, Reply.io Jason)
- Mistral Small: artisan ava first (first choices: Artisan Ava, Regie.ai) (alternatives: Conversica)
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: artisan ava first (first choices: Artisan Ava) (alternatives: AiSDR, Clay)
- MiniMax M2.5: artisan ava first (first choices: AiSDR, Artisan Ava) (alternatives: Coldreach, Reply.io Jason, ZoomInfo Copilot)
- GPT-6 Luna: artisan ava first (first choices: Artisan Ava) (alternatives: AiSDR)
- Muse Glimmer 30B: artisan ava first (first choices: Artisan Ava) (alternatives: 11x Alice, Apollo.io)
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: neither first, one named (first choices: Amplemarket Duo) (alternatives: 11x, Artisan Ava, Clay, HubSpot Prospecting Agent, Piper, Topo.io)
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: neither first, one named (first choices: Salesforge Agent Frank) (alternatives: Apollo.io, Clay, ZoomInfo Copilot)
- Llama 4 Maverick: neither named
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: neither named (first choices: Laxis AI SDR) (alternatives: 11x Alice, AiSDR, Amplemarket Duo, Reply.io Jason)

## What the models said about Apollo.io

- "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

- "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)

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. Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category. Published under CC BY 4.0; the output is the models' output, and nothing here is a recommendation by the index.