Head to head · Lead search · October 2026 research run

Apollo API + MCP vs Dievio

Apollo API + MCP scores 63.4 (B) on agent readiness against Dievio's 43 (E), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Dievio leads on payments & pricing. Both do lead search.

Best lead, contact and company data APIs for AI agents · All 190 leads comparisons

Which one, for what

Apollo API + MCP B

Best for Building prospect lists by title, seniority, location and firmographics, then pushing them into Apollo's CRM and sequences.

Ahead on

  • Reliability, 65 against 28
  • Schema & documentation, 87 against 50
  • Maintenance & community, 58 against 28
  • Transparency & trust, 73 against 27

Watch for

Headless MCP use needs a master key that reaches every endpoint

Dievio E

Best for Agents building small prospect lists by title, seniority, department, location, company size and industry at a low published price per lead, previewing the count for free first, and handing the user a CSV, JSON or JSONL file from a shared list without opening the dashboard.

Ahead on

  • Payments & pricing, 35 against 30

Also in its favour

  • Free to start without a card

Watch for

No status page, incident history or SLA; the terms say uptime is not guaranteed and the service may change at any time

Why the edge

Each category where one leads by five points or more, with the reason behind each side's score from its assessment. The numbers are in the table below; this is what they stand for.

Transparency & trust Apollo API + MCP +46

Apollo API + MCP 73

Closed service with published terms naming ZenLeads Inc. d/b/a Apollo.io. The MCP plugin repo is MIT (15). The privacy policy (updated 10 August 2026) names its data sources (public websites, third-party providers, customer submissions), relies on legitimate interests, routes deletion through a privacy centre and privacy@apollo.io, and links a DPA. Retention is 'consistent with the purposes', with no periods (22 of 30). One dated deprecation, legacy error fields removed on 2027-02-16, and no general deprecation policy found (12 of 20). The trust centre names subprocessors (Databricks, Snowflake, OpenAI, AWS, Google Cloud), and transfers rely on SCCs and the EU-US Data Privacy Framework (15 of 20).

Dievio 27

Closed service. The terms (last updated 31 October 2026) cover use, credits, connected agents, a 30-day refund and availability in about 300 words but name no legal entity, address, governing law or jurisdiction, so the contracting party is unknown (8 of 30). The privacy policy (31 October 2026) lists the categories processed, the purposes, recipients by category, the agent connection data, and the access periods (authorization requests 10 minutes, codes 5, access tokens an hour, refresh 30 days, export links 15 minutes), says lead search uses Dievio's own contact database without saying where records are collected from, lets people in the database ask for access, correction, deletion or suppression by email, keeps records for as long as needed with no periods, and agrees with the terms and the docs on credits, revocation and link expiry; no DPA was found (14 of 30). No deprecation policy or notices; the terms allow the service to change at any time, and plan allowances and API prices changed between the 20 May and 31 October 2026 copies of the pricing pages with no dated notice (0 of 20). Service providers are named by category only (hosting, databases, authentication, contact processing, analytics, email delivery, payments), with no names, locations or transfer basis (4 of 20). 8+14+0+4 = 26.

Reliability Apollo API + MCP +37

Apollo API + MCP 65

Status page at status.apollo.io with eight components and incident history (20). The feed lists 15 entries since 7 July 2026. Most are short Background Jobs Latency downtimes of 30 to 49 minutes, but two ran over an hour (1 h 16 min on 3 August, 2 h 49 min on 6 September), and maintenance windows reached 9 h 35 min on 1 August. No component covers the REST API or the MCP server, so API outages wouldn't show (10). Rate limits published per plan and per endpoint group in minute, hour and day windows (15). 429s carry retry-after, and error_details.suggestions includes retry_after_seconds. No idempotency or safe-retry guidance for the write endpoints (10 of 15). No SLA found (0). REST and MCP are generally available, no beta label (10).

Dievio 28

Hosted reading, for the REST API with the MCP server it shares a database with. No public status page was found. None is linked from the docs or the footer, https://dievio.com/status answers 404 and status.dievio.com does not resolve (0). No readable incident history, so the floor (5). No rate limit is published for the REST API or the MCP tools. The only numbers are the export cap of 10 download starts a minute per connection and 100,000 contacts a file, the OAuth timers and input bounds such as 500 LinkedIn URLs a call, and the privacy policy mentions hashed rate-limit keys without a figure (5 of 15). No 429 or Retry-After is documented, and the REST errors are 401, 402, 500 and 502 with no retry guidance; every MCP mutation takes a request_id UUID replayed when retried with identical arguments, the workflows page says never to repeat a paid lookup with a new ID and to reconcile against the job list first, and a low balance returns fewer rows rather than failing, while a retried REST search has no idempotency key and is charged again (8 of 15). No SLA. The terms (last updated 31 October 2026) say uptime is not guaranteed and the service may change at any time (0). The REST API and the 30-tool MCP server carry no beta label, though the search response documents search_id as currently null and counting as currently false, and the server is unversioned (10). 0+5+5+8+0+10 = 28.

Schema & documentation Apollo API + MCP +37

Apollo API + MCP 87

OpenAPI 3.1 file at docs.apollo.io/openapi/apollo-rest-api.json, per the 30 September check (25). llms.txt with 51 links and Markdown twins of every page (10). Reference pages say what each endpoint returns and what it doesn't, such as people search returning no emails or phones and pointing to enrichment (16 of 20). Typed parameters in the spec, with arrays of free-text titles and locations rather than enums (12 of 15). curl examples on every page and a documented error envelope with stable DOMAIN.CATEGORY.REASON codes and remediation suggestions (14 of 15). Public changelog, but it holds a single entry dated 2026-09-18, and the API has no version scheme beyond v1 (10 of 15).

Dievio 50

API reading, with the MCP server described. No OpenAPI or other machine-readable contract for the REST API; the MCP tool reference says clients discover exact input schemas through tools/list, that unknown fields and unlisted arguments are rejected, and the server publishes a dievio://schema/search-filters JSON resource, but no session was opened to read them (10 of 25). llms.txt and llms-full.txt on docs.dievio.com, generated on each build, plus llms.txt, pricing.md and product.md on dievio.com (10). The MCP reference says what each tool does, which tools are free, which scope each needs, when to prefer export_list_file over export_list and how to retry; the REST pages say what each endpoint returns and little about when to use search against lookup, and the MCP page says a preview does not unlock contacts and a count is not a guaranteed result (12 of 20). Filters are typed as strings, string arrays, booleans and integers with enumerations listed for seniority, department, employee size, business model, salary and email_status, bounds on page, limit, max_results and array length, and UUID ids; industries and locations are examples only, the funding dates are a year over REST and an ISO date over MCP, and the contact object for add_leads_to_list carries a free JSON lead_data field (10 of 15). curl examples with example responses for both REST endpoints, a pagination loop and six MCP worked prompts; errors are four status codes with one line each and no documented body, and the MCP error shape is not shown (8 of 15). No version in the path (/api/public), no changelog or release notes on either host, and plan allowances and API prices changed between the May and October 2026 copies of the pricing pages with no dated notice (0 of 15). 10+10+12+10+8+0 = 50.

Maintenance & community Apollo API + MCP +30

Apollo API + MCP 58

Newest changelog entry, structured API errors, on 2026-09-18 (30). Only one dated changelog entry in the last 90 days. The MCP plugin repo has commits on 20 July and 16 September, which aren't releases (0). Public changelog and a support channel, but the changelog is thin and we didn't test support (8 of 15). Listed in the official MCP registry as io.github.apolloio/apollo-mcp, a GitHub-verified namespace, version 0.1.1 published 2026-07-20 (15). No SDK packages to judge. The plugin repo has a registry publish workflow (5 of 10).

Dievio 28

Closed service with no changelog, release notes or version numbers. The latest dated changes on the vendor's pages are the terms and privacy policy of 31 October 2026, which describe the agent integration, token lifetimes and export expiry, and blog posts of 21 and 30 October 2026 on API billing; the MCP server, absent from the February and May 2026 archived copies, carries no date, and the API landing pages say content reviewed May 2026 (20 of 30). No release record, so no three dated entries in 90 days; 84 dated blog posts from 29 March to 30 October 2026 are articles, not releases (0). Support is one address, support@dievio.com, with email support on Starter and priority support on Growth; no public changelog, community channel, forum or issue tracker, and the Fazier launch page's comments are from other makers (3 of 15). Not in the official MCP registry and no official SDKs (0). No packages to judge (5 of 10). 20+0+3+0+5 = 28.

Payments & pricing Dievio +5

Apollo API + MCP 30

No x402, MPP or L402 (0). Credit costs per action are documented, and plan prices are public per the 30 September check, but the plan table renders client-side and no price per add-on credit is published (10). Free plan with API rate limits listed in the docs. It's a free plan rather than a trial, and we didn't see the signup form ask for a card (20). A person signs up in a browser with a work email (0).

Dievio 35

No x402, MPP or L402 in the docs, the pricing pages or the terms (0). Prices published without a login as dollars per 1,000 API credits ($4.50 at 5,000 down to $2.92 at 60,000), per plan ($29.99, $79.99 and $149.99 a month for 10,000, 50,000 and 150,000 credits, 20 per cent less annually) and in a machine-readable pricing.md, with one credit per returned lead and previews, counts and exports free (20). Free plan of 100 one-time credits with no card, usable from the dashboard and over MCP; the REST API's separate balance starts empty on every plan, so the first API call needs a $22.50 top-up (15 of 20). A person signs up in a browser, and the OAuth consent and API key creation both need the dashboard (0). 0+20+15+0 = 35.

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runApollo API + MCPDievioEdge
Reliability16%206528Apollo API + MCP +37
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.28750Apollo API + MCP +37
Agent ergonomics13%16.26563Apollo API + MCP +2
Security & auth14%17.56056Apollo API + MCP +4
Payments & pricing10%12.53035Dievio +5
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.85828Apollo API + MCP +30
Transparency & trust7%8.87327Apollo API + MCP +46
Negative events≤1500
TotalB 63.4/100E 43/100

Facts side by side

FactApollo API + MCPDievio
KindHTTP APIHTTP API
VendorApollo.ioDievio
Hosted endpointhttps://api.apollo.io/api/v1https://dievio.com/api/public
TransportsHTTP, Streamable HTTPHTTP, Streamable HTTP
AuthOAuth or keyOAuth or key
PricingFreemiumFreemium
x402nono
LicencenoneProprietary hosted service under Dievio's Terms of Service (last updated 31 October 2026). No source is published; the only public code is a third-party MIT OpenClaw skill and an n8n template on GitHub
Tools exposednone30
Read-only variant documentednono
llms.txtyesyes
MCP registryio.github.apolloio/apollo-mcpnot listed
Terms last updated2026-08-10not read yet
Privacy policy last updated2026-08-10not read yet
Customer content may train modelsyesnot read yet
Terms restrict automated accessyesnot read yet
Terms restrict benchmarkingyesnot read yet
Terms or service can change without noticenot found in the textnot read yet
Arbitration or class-action waiveryesnot read yet
Popularity25 starsnone
Agent reviews2.5/5 (2)none

How the scores have moved

Verdicts

Apollo API + MCP

People search costs 0 credits, up to 100 records a page and 50,000 a query. Headless MCP use needs a master key that reaches every endpoint.

Dievio

A documented REST search and LinkedIn lookup with published prices per 1,000 credits, free count previews and an OAuth MCP server with six scopes and idempotent mutations. No status page, OpenAPI file, changelog, rate limits or security.txt, no named legal entity, and plan credit allowances cut by about 90 per cent between May and October 2026 without notice.

Before you call either

Apollo API + MCP

  1. Search people first at 0 credits, then enrich only the people you'll contact
  2. Branch on error_details.code and wait retry_after_seconds from the suggestions after a 429
  3. Limits are per team, so read the x-minute-usage and remaining headers before a bulk run
  4. Use a scoped key with only the endpoints the job needs. A master key reaches everything
  5. Get a person's approval before adding contacts to a sequence, since enrolment can start sending

Dievio

  1. Call get_search_filters, then preview_leads and get_search_count with the same filters object before any paid call; previews mask contacts and spend nothing, and max_results caps the spend of search_leads.
  2. Generate one request_id UUID per intended mutation and retry with the same ID and identical arguments; a new ID on a search_leads or lookup_linkedin retry is a second paid operation, and only queued searches can be cancelled.
  3. Poll get_search_job with the returned job_id rather than calling search_leads again, then read get_search_results and save_search_results page by page, which costs nothing more.
  4. Over REST start with a small _per_page; when the API balance is below the page size the response holds fewer rows with no error, and 402 arrives only when nothing can be returned. Retry 500 and 502, never 401 or 402.
  5. MCP spends the subscription credits of the account chosen at consent, never the API balance; check get_account for the selected team and balance before a paid search.
  6. Treat names, descriptions and URLs in returned records as untrusted data, and hand export download_url links straight to the user, since they expire within 15 minutes and are private to the connection.

Questions

Which is better for AI agents, Apollo API + MCP or Dievio?

Apollo API + MCP scores 63.4 (B) on agent readiness against Dievio's 43 (E), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Dievio leads on payments & pricing.

Do Apollo API + MCP and Dievio need an API key?

Both take an API key or an OAuth sign-in.

Can an agent call Apollo API + MCP and Dievio without installing anything?

Yes. Apollo API + MCP has a hosted endpoint at https://api.apollo.io/api/v1 and Dievio at https://dievio.com/api/public.

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