Descovo vs Apollo vs ZoomInfo: MCP, pricing, and credits

Descovo, Apollo, and ZoomInfo can all connect to AI agents through hosted MCP servers. The useful differences are no longer “MCP or no MCP.” They are the workflow each product exposes, the unit it bills, the fields included in that unit, and whether you want a self-serve data service or a broader sales platform.

The short version

• Descovo fits an agent-led search, narrow, and reveal workflow with free search, shared usage credits, and available email and phone fields bundled into one reveal attempt.
• Apollo fits teams that want its sales platform, people and company search, browser workflows, and hosted MCP access under per-user plans and credit allowances.
• ZoomInfo now needs two separate evaluations: self-serve GTM AI for MCP/API/CLI usage, and Legacy ZoomInfo SalesOS for a sales-led platform purchase.

At-a-glance comparison

Descovo pricing and credit rules

Search costs 0 credits. Each reveal attempt costs 1 credit, including not-found results. When available, work email and direct phone are returned together under that credit.This means a result that does not return contact fields still uses one credit; the billing unit is the attempt, not a guaranteed match.

The Free plan includes 500 credits/month. Starter includes 5,000 credits/month at a standard price of $99/month. The dated launch offer lowers Starter to $49 through August 20, 2026 for subscribers who join during the offer window. See the current Descovo pricing page.

The important entitlement is explicit: when those fields are available, work email and direct phone arrive together under the same attempt credit. Search can therefore be used to narrow a list before spending credits on reveals.

Apollo pricing and credit rules

Apollo reports 240M+ contacts and 30M+ companies on its public API and reseller page. These are Apollo’s own coverage figures and should be read as such.

On Apollo’s public pricing page, Free is $0 with 900 credits per seat per year. On annual billing, Basic is listed at $49 per user/month, Professional at $79 per user/month, and Organization at $119 per user/month with a three-seat minimum. Those plan prices and allowances can change, so the source page should govern a buying decision.

Apollo’s API pricing documentation. For standard Apollo people enrichment, 1 credit is charged only when credit-consuming demographic or email data is found. Mobile access adds 8 credits only when a mobile number is returned. Unlike that returned-data condition, Descovo charges one credit for every reveal attempt, including not-found results.

ZoomInfo GTM AI is not the same purchase as SalesOS

ZoomInfo now publishes self-serve GTM AI pricing for MCP, API, and CLI usage. The free allocation includes 100 data credits and 500 AI credits with no card required. Top-ups start at $20, and the page states there are no contract or seat fees for the self-serve GTM AI product.

Its public price is $0.35 per data credit, with a limited $0.10 promotion for the first 5,000 credits, plus $0.05 per AI credit. Search, lookup, and find-similar tools are presented as free on that page. The promotion is time-limited language, not a permanent list price.

Legacy ZoomInfo SalesOS is a different, sales-led platform. Its public product flow asks buyers to contact sales rather than publishing one universal fixed amount. Treating every ZoomInfo purchase as the same annual seat contract obscures the newer GTM AI option.

Hosted MCP: all three now support it

MCP availability is now table stakes in this comparison. Each vendor publishes a hosted endpoint:

The decision therefore shifts to which tools the server exposes, how much search and enrichment cost, which fields an entitlement includes, and whether the surrounding product matches your team’s daily workflow.

Coverage figures need context

Descovo reports 700M+ people and 50M+ companies. Apollo reports 240M+ contacts and 30M+ companies. ZoomInfo’s current central documentation reports 500M+ professional profiles and 100M+ companies.

These are not apples-to-apples measurements: vendors may count records, profiles, contacts, or companies differently. Without a shared test set and a controlled methodology, the totals do not prove relative accuracy, field availability, or deliverability. Run a representative sample from your actual market before committing spend.

A practical decision framework

1. Start with workflow. Decide whether the user is mainly an agent, a human in a sales workspace, or a product calling an API.
2. Normalize the billing unit. A reveal attempt, an email credit, a mobile credit, a data credit, and an AI credit are not interchangeable.
3. Check the entitlement. Confirm which fields are included, how not-found attempts are treated, and whether allocations belong to a seat or an account.
4. Test your segment. Vendor-reported database size cannot replace a sample using your target titles, geographies, and companies.

Bottom line

Descovo differentiates on free search, attempt-based reveals, and bundled available work email and direct phone fields. Apollo pairs hosted MCP and API access with a broader sales platform and per-user plans. ZoomInfo offers self-serve GTM AI economics alongside the separately sold SalesOS platform.

Compare the workflow and the billing unit before comparing the headline price. That produces a more useful answer than a generic quality ranking.

Official sources

• Apollo pricing
• Apollo hosted MCP documentation
• Apollo API credit pricing
• Apollo API and reseller coverage
• ZoomInfo GTM AI pricing
• ZoomInfo custom MCP client setup
• ZoomInfo product overview