Apollo MCP

What does the Apollo MCP server do?

The Apollo MCP server lets an AI assistant work in your Apollo.io account. Apollo's action table lists 57 actions across people and company search, enrichment, contacts, deals, lists, tasks, sequences, one-off email and analytics. Access and limits mirror your Apollo account, and tools vary by plan, permissions and client.

• The Assistant action hands a prospecting request to Apollo's agent, which picks sources and qualifies results. Its credit cost depends on what it does.
• For how Apollo fits with Clay and Instantly in one workflow, see MCP for GTM engineering.

Is there an official Apollo MCP server?

Yes. Apollo.io publishes and hosts it, and its Claude listing shows Made by Apollo.io. Apollo documents it in its developer docs. Searching the name also brings up Apollo GraphQL's MCP Server, an open-source developer tool from a different company. It turns GraphQL API operations into tools.

• Apollo.io names connectors for ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Replit and Cursor, plus steps for Claude Code, Codex, VS Code and Claude Desktop.

What is the Apollo MCP server URL, and how do you sign in?

The URL is https://mcp.apollo.io/mcp, over Streamable HTTP. You sign in with OAuth and need no API key, and access is scoped to the Apollo user who authorizes it. Headless or server-side clients send a master API key in the X-Api-Key header. Apollo rejects scoped keys with a 403.

• An API key acts as your workspace's longest-standing active admin, whoever created it. A master key also reaches new tools as soon as Apollo ships them, so keep it in a secret manager.
• Apollo prohibits AI model training with Apollo MCP. Turn training off in your AI account or client before you connect.
• Apollo's pricing FAQ says API access is available on Custom plans, while its rate limit page lists API limits for Free, Basic, Professional and Organization. Check your plan before you build on the key route.

What can the Apollo MCP server read and change?

It reads your Apollo data and can change it, send email and buy sending domains. Apollo's action table shows each action and whether it uses credits. Apollo says bulk delete and other destructive actions aren't supported. Most clients let you set each action to Always allow, Approval required or Blocked.

What it can read

• Search for people and contacts: no credits. Results leave out emails and phone numbers.
• Search for companies and company job postings: both use credits.
• Deals, tasks, lists, sequences and custom objects: no credits.
• Conversations: search, transcripts and recording links use no credits. Insights use credits if the conversation has AI insights.
• Analytics, API usage and credit stats, and website visitor tracking.

What it can change

• Spends credits: enrichment of people and companies, single or bulk, web and directory research, and email and phone validation. Google Maps prospecting spends credits when it saves companies.
• Records: create contacts, accounts, deals, tasks, lists and custom objects, and update contacts and accounts.
• Outreach: create or update sequences, add or remove contacts, and send one-off emails with custom To, Cc and Bcc. Apollo sends after you confirm.
• Buying: purchase sending domains and mailboxes. The table marks these as no credits, and the page gives no price, so set them to Approval required or Blocked.
• Data: connect an external data source and import records from it.

How do you set up the Apollo MCP server in Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor?

Apollo documents all three as connectors that need no coding or server setup. Claude has a listed connector, and Apollo links listings for ChatGPT and Cursor. Before you connect, turn model training off in that client. After you connect, set every credit-consuming action to Approval required, as Apollo recommends.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apollo": {
      "url": "https://mcp.apollo.io/mcp"
    }
  }
}

What can you ask the Apollo MCP server?

Start with actions Apollo marks as free, then move to paid ones. These examples fit Apollo's action table. People search and sequence analytics use no credits. Enrichment and validation spend credits, and enrolling contacts starts real outreach, so those prompts set a count and ask for a confirmation before anything runs.

• Reads

  Search for marketing directors at US software companies with 50 to 200 employees. Show name, title and company. Don't enrich anyone.

  Copy

• Reads

  Compare reply rates across my active sequences for the last 30 days. Show the numbers behind each rate and don't change anything.

  Copy

• Spends credits

  Enrich these 10 people with verified work emails. Tell me the likely credit cost first and wait for my yes.

  Copy

• Spends credits

  Show my credit usage, then validate these 10 email addresses. Tell me the cost before you run the validation.

  Copy

• Writes

  Add these 12 contacts to the sequence Q4 Webinar Follow-up. List the contacts and the sending mailbox first, and wait for my confirmation.

  Copy

What are the limits of the Apollo MCP server?

Apollo pools credits across your team, and admins can set per-user caps from the team management settings. MCP calls count toward the same rate limits as the REST endpoints they use. Those limits are per team, at 200 search calls a minute on paid plans. Validation takes up to 10 items per request.

• The MCP server also limits requests from each IP address, and clients on the same IP share that limit. Apollo gives no number.
• Free accounts registered with a personal email can't use people or company search, enrichment or contact matching. Apollo says to register with a work email.
• Revealing phone numbers uses additional credits.
• Search results may be paginated, so ask the assistant for the next page.

How much does the Apollo MCP server cost?

Connecting costs nothing extra, and Apollo says any plan qualifies, including free. You pay through your plan's credits. Apollo's API credit table lists 1 to 9 credits per person enriched, 1 per company, and 1 per page of company search. Its MCP page gives no per-action rates.

• Seat prices are on Apollo's pricing page, and our Apollo pricing guide breaks down seats and credit packs.
• Unused credits expire at the end of each billing cycle. Add-on credits are charged when you add them and renew each cycle until you remove them.
• For research and validation, your AI tool explains the cost and asks for approval. That spend shows under AI Research in credit reporting.
• Apollo implementation covers enrichment rules, sequences and mailboxes if you want this built around your CRM.

What are the alternatives to the Apollo MCP server?

The closest alternatives are other official sales data servers. ZoomInfo charges per enriched record and lists no email tools, and Clay runs team-built Functions. Instantly's server covers campaigns and sending accounts. Workato documents a prebuilt waterfall server that calls Apollo through your own API key.

• ZoomInfo MCP: Official server for search, enrichment and research, with no email tools listed.
• Clay MCP: Official server with team-built Functions and per-rep credit limits.
• Instantly MCP: Official server for campaigns and sending, once a list is approved.
• Workato: A prebuilt waterfall server that calls ZoomInfo, Apollo and LeadIQ.

Which skill goes with the Apollo MCP server?

Use the free Agent write safety skill before you connect, because this server can spend credits, enroll contacts and send email. Use the Marketing context kit to write down your ideal customer profile, exclusions and field names once, so every prompt starts from the same rules and the assistant has less to guess.

• Agent write safety: Sets approvals before an agent can spend credits, enroll contacts or send email.
• Marketing context kit: Holds your naming rules and field definitions in one folder for every prompt.