LinkedIn Bulk Search vs Apollo
A single-purpose Google Sheets add-on against one of the biggest all-in-one sales platforms. They overlap on four words - LinkedIn data in a sheet - and almost nothing else. Here is the honest split, with sources.
GrowthToolz publishes this comparison. We make LinkedIn Bulk Search, one of the products covered here. Where our product is part of a comparison, we say so and link the sources behind every claim so you can check them.
The short answer
Pick Apollo if the job is ongoing outbound: search a large contact database, enrich it with emails and phone numbers, and run sequences, calls and pipeline from the same login. Apollo is a full sales platform with per-seat pricing to match.
Pick LinkedIn Bulk Search (that's us) if the job is one step, not a program: you already have names and companies, or target companies, and you want matching LinkedIn profiles back in the Google Sheet you're working in. No seat subscription, no LinkedIn login, no credit system to learn.
Side by side
| LinkedIn Bulk Search | Apollo | |
|---|---|---|
| Core job | Match names and companies you already have to LinkedIn profiles; search employees by company; discover companies by industry and location | Run the whole outbound motion: find contacts in their database, enrich, sequence, call, track pipeline |
| Where it runs | Google Sheets sidebar only | Web platform, Chrome extension for LinkedIn, integrations, API; their site also lists an MCP product |
| LinkedIn account | Never required - matches against public search results | Not required for database search; their Chrome extension works on top of LinkedIn |
| Review aid | Per-row match grade (High / Mid / Low) so you can reject weak matches | Database records rather than graded matches; verification is their claim to check |
| Email data | No | Yes - 1 credit per email, per their pricing page |
| Phone data | No | Yes - 8 credits per phone number, per their pricing page |
| Outreach | No | Sequences on every plan including free (free plan connects Gmail only); dialer, meetings and pipeline on paid plans |
| Free tier | Free to install, with a usage allowance on every account - check the sidebar for yours | Free plan at $0: 900 credits per seat per year, granted monthly, with 2 sequences and basic filters |
| Entry paid plan | Paid upgrades via Gumroad - see current terms | Basic at $49 per seat per month billed annually, with 30,000 credits per seat per year granted upfront |
| Credit rules | Searches use your account allowance | Credits are pooled across the team, granted at the start of each billing cycle, and do not roll over (their FAQ) |
Where Apollo is ahead
This is not a close fight on scope, and pretending otherwise would waste your time:
- Contact data. Apollo sells access to a contact database - their site markets "240M contacts & 30M companies" - with verified emails and phone numbers charged per credit. LinkedIn Bulk Search returns neither emails nor phones.
- Outreach. Sequences, a dialer, meeting tools and pipeline management are built in. Our add-on ends at the spreadsheet.
- Platform surface. Web app, Chrome extension, CRM integrations, API on every plan including free, and an MCP product. We live in Google Sheets only.
- Team features. Pooled credits, per-user caps, lead scoring, call recording - things a one-job add-on simply doesn't have.
Where LinkedIn Bulk Search is the simpler fit
- Your list already exists. If names and companies are sitting in a sheet, Candidate Match fills in the profile column without exporting, importing, or learning a platform.
- No LinkedIn account involved. The add-on never touches your LinkedIn login, so there is no account-restriction risk from using it.
- Built for review, not volume. Every row carries a match grade because these are search matches, not database records. The honest workflow is: run, review, delete the weak rows.
- Priced for a task, not a team. Apollo's paid plans are per seat, billed annually for the headline price. If you need one matching job done this week, that is a lot of subscription for it.
What we can't verify (and won't claim)
- Data accuracy, theirs or ours. Apollo markets verified data; independent tests we've seen for this category land below marketed numbers. We haven't run a controlled test of Apollo's accuracy or our own match rate. Test on your own list.
- Database size. "240M contacts & 30M companies" is Apollo's own marketing figure; there is no independent audit of it that we could find.
- Monthly-billing prices. Apollo's pricing page defaults to annual billing ("Save 24%") and renders prices dynamically; we read the annual view on the date shown above. Their own FAQ confirms monthly billing costs more.
- Ratings. Apollo's pricing page displays "4.7/5 based on 9,690 reviews". Ratings move; check the live listings.
Try the narrow job first
If your next task is matching a list of people or companies to LinkedIn profiles, install the add-on and run it on twenty rows. The review workflow - not the marketing page - is the comparison that matters.
Sources and how we checked
Checked 5 November 2026 against the products' own public pages, linked below. Features and prices change; check the source before deciding. If you spot something stale, tell us and we'll fix it.