# Apollo.io vs Instantly: 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; zero named Instantly. Page: https://gtm-ai-index.com/sales/ai-sdr-agents/apollo-io-vs-instantly/

| | First-choice share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels | Models naming it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apollo.io | 24% | #1 of 12 | 0% | 33 | 13 of 14 |
| Instantly | 4% | #6 of 12 | 20% | 10 | 7 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)
- Grok 4.1 Fast: neither first, one named (first choices: AiSDR, Artisan Ava) (alternatives: Apollo.io, Conversica, Reply.io Jason)
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: neither first, one named (first choices: Salesforge Agent Frank) (alternatives: Apollo.io, Clay, ZoomInfo Copilot)
- Muse Glimmer 30B: neither first, one named (first choices: Artisan Ava) (alternatives: 11x Alice, Apollo.io)
- Claude Haiku 4.5: neither named (first choices: Artisan Ava) (alternatives: Jeeva, Persana AI, RocketSDR, Salesloft Rhythm)
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: neither named (first choices: Amplemarket Duo) (alternatives: 11x, Artisan Ava, Clay, HubSpot Prospecting Agent, Piper, Topo.io)
- Mistral Small: neither named (first choices: Artisan Ava, Regie.ai) (alternatives: Conversica)
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: neither named (first choices: Artisan Ava) (alternatives: AiSDR, Clay)
- 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)
- MiniMax M2.5: neither named (first choices: AiSDR, Artisan Ava) (alternatives: Coldreach, Reply.io Jason, ZoomInfo Copilot)
- GPT-6 Luna: neither named (first choices: Artisan Ava) (alternatives: AiSDR)

## 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 Instantly

- "Avoid if you want an *agent* that thinks and responds; this is just a high-volume sender." (Qwen 3.7 Flash, negative prompt, hard negative)
- "a stack like Instantly.ai (~$30/mo) + open-source LLMs for basic personalization, but lacks full autonomy" (Grok 4.1 Fast, budget prompt, soft negative)
- "Starts at $47/month flat... Instantly lets you connect unlimited email accounts, includes free automated warm-up, and offers modular AI agents" (Gemini 3.5 Flash, budget prompt, first choice)
- "Apollo or Instantly as your starting point - both offer generous free tiers and affordable entry plans" (MiniMax M2.5, budget 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.