Apollo is a general B2B people database that covers every market and sends sequences from the same tool; see Apollo's pricing page for its plans.
ShopLeads covers one market: e-commerce brands that sell their own products, the people who decide there, and a dated reason to write. The practical difference is how a D2C brand is decided, by rules and an AI check run over the store's own website rather than by an industry field.
ShopLeads does not send your email, so it sits next to a sending tool rather than replacing one.
Updated
An industry filter is not the same thing as a D2C brand.
- Filtering a general database by retail, consumer goods or an e-commerce platform still leaves you marketplaces, resellers, dropship and print-on-demand stores, plus the agencies and suppliers that serve them.
- ShopLeads checks every store with rules and an AI check, run over the store's own website, and keeps the ones that sell their own products.
- The people come from our own pipeline: we start from e-commerce platform data, scan each store's site, then find and verify the people through several contact data providers.
- Every email gets a mailbox test, shown as verified, or unconfirmed when the mail server accepts any address or the check could not confirm it.
- Signals are dated events that give you a reason to reach out now: Meta and Google ads, hiring, new leaders, funding, app and tech changes, and product launches. Signals are open on every plan and priced in credits: 10 credits a store on a plan, 20 on the free trial. Pro and Scale include signal unlocks every month.
- Search, filters and export are free. Credits are spent only when you open a contact.
Apollo next to ShopLeads
| Apollo | ShopLeads | |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Every market: a general B2B database of companies and people | One market: e-commerce brands that sell their own products |
| Which companies count | Industry, keyword and technology filters. An e-commerce or retail filter is not the same thing as a brand that sells its own products | Rules and an AI check on every store, run over the store's own website, with marketplaces, resellers, dropship and print-on-demand stores filtered out |
| Where the store facts come from | Check their own site for current sources | Our own pipeline: e-commerce platform data, a scan of each store's own website, then people found and verified through several contact data providers |
| Who you reach | Titles across all industries | The people who decide at that store, with a work email and LinkedIn, plus store inboxes and phones |
| Email status | Check their own site for what verification is included | A mailbox test on every email, shown as verified or unconfirmed |
| Reason to write now | Check their own site for what is included | Dated signals: Meta and Google ads, hiring, new leaders, funding, app and tech changes and product launches, each with its real date (Pro and Scale) |
| Sending the email | Apollo also sends email and runs sequences | ShopLeads does not send your email. Export, or pull by API, into the tool you already send with |
| What costs money | Check their own pricing page | Search, filters and export are free. Credits are spent only when a contact is opened, once per person and kind |
| From your own code | Check their own site for the current API | A REST API and an MCP server. Search is free with contacts masked, and only unlock_contacts spends credits |
D2C is a definition problem before it is a data problem.
A general database is organised around company size, industry and job title, which works well when your buyer is a department. Selling to e-commerce brands breaks that in three places.
- The category is too wide. "Retail" covers the brand you want, the marketplace that resells it, the dropshipper that copies it and the supplier behind it. ShopLeads reads each store's own site and keeps the brands.
- The titles do not line up. At a 12-person brand the person who decides on email, ads or fulfilment may be the founder. ShopLeads shows the people who decide at that store, not a title filter applied to every industry.
- The timing is store-shaped. New ads running, an app swapped, a first marketing hire, a product launch: these are the dated events that make a D2C email worth sending this week.
Plenty of teams keep both, and that is a reasonable answer.
- If you sell into several markets, a general database covers the ones we do not. ShopLeads only covers e-commerce stores that sell their own products.
- ShopLeads does not send email and does not run sequences. Free export and the API are there so the contacts land in the tool you already send with.
- Signals are priced in credits on every plan (10 credits a store), so timing is pay-as-you-go unless you are on Pro or Scale, which include monthly signal unlocks.
- Search, filters and export cost nothing on our side, so you can keep both for a trial and compare the same list of stores before you spend a credit.
One bill, and only for the contacts you open.
- Search, filters and export are free. Credits are spent only when a contact is opened.
- A work email with LinkedIn is 2 credits, a phone with the email and LinkedIn is 5, a store inbox or phone is 1, a full name when no contact is on file is 1, a profile is 2, and a full profile with the store's dated signals is 10.
- A contact you already opened stays open at no charge, and you are charged once per person and kind.
- Launch pricing until Dec 31, 2026: Starter $49 (regular $98) for 2,000 credits, Plus $99 (regular $198) for 4,500, Growth $149 (regular $298) for 7,500, Pro $449 (regular $898) for 25,000 plus 250 signal unlocks, Scale $1,299 (regular $2,598) for 80,000 plus 1,000. Every one of them is 50% off the regular price it goes to after the launch. Packs: 1,000 for $25, 2,500 for $49, 10,000 for $179. Subscribe before Dec 31 and keep your launch price for life, as long as you stay subscribed.
- Every plan starts with a 7-day trial and 500 free credits. A card is needed, nothing is charged until the trial ends, and you can cancel before then. Unused free credits end with the trial.
Need the stores and people in bulk?
Enterprise data is not self-serve. We build custom data sets to your own fields, in bulk, with volume pricing per contact, priced on what you need.
Questions people ask when comparing the two.
What is the best Apollo alternative for selling to e-commerce brands?
If the whole market is e-commerce brands, look for a tool that decides what a brand is instead of filtering an industry field. ShopLeads runs rules and an AI check over each store website to confirm the store sells its own products, then gives you the people who decide there with a work email that carries a mailbox test and dated signals. Marketplaces, resellers, dropship and print-on-demand stores are filtered out on purpose, so if those are your buyers a general database is the better fit.
What does Apollo cost?
See the Apollo pricing page for their plans. We do not quote an Apollo price here because we have not read one today. ShopLeads plans are on the pricing page, where search, filters and export are free and credits are spent only when you open a contact.
Does ShopLeads send email?
No. ShopLeads does not send your email. Export is free, and there is a REST API and an MCP server, so contacts land in the tool you already send with. Apollo describes sequences on its own pages (apollo.io), so teams that want the database and the sending in one place often keep both.
How do agencies find Shopify stores that need their service?
Start from the gap the service fixes: filter for stores with no email or SMS platform, no reviews app, no subscriptions, no loyalty, no helpdesk or no upsell, then narrow by platform, monthly sales band, country and vertical. Add a signal filter, such as Meta or Google ads activity, hiring, a new leader, funding or an app change, so every store you open did something worth writing about. The people who decide at those stores sit on the same page, with their email status and a plain-text context block.
Can I find stores by the apps they have installed?
Yes. Stores can be filtered by the apps and technologies installed, by exact name, and by the gaps where one is missing: no email or SMS platform, no SMS, no reviews app, no subscriptions, no loyalty, no helpdesk and no upsell. The same filters work in the app, over the REST API and through the MCP server, and counting a segment is free.
Is ShopLeads free to try?
Yes. A new account starts on a 7-day trial with 500 free credits. Card required, nothing is charged until the trial ends, and you can cancel before then. Search, filters and export are free, so credits are spent only when you open a contact, and the plans are on the pricing page.