A pay-per-use alternative to Apollo
Apollo is a database subscription: you buy seats and credits, then work through a static dataset. TAPAC is the opposite shape — a real-time finder that charges per verified contact and plugs directly into an AI agent as an MCP server.
The difference in one table
| TAPAC | Apollo | |
|---|---|---|
| Model | Pay per verified contact | Subscription + credit buckets |
| Data source | Scraped live from websites, Discord, Telegram at request time | Static stored database |
| Verification | SMTP check on every returned contact | Verification is a separate step/tool |
| Bounce rate | 2–5% | Databases decay: 40% of emails dead within 2 years (NeverBounce) |
| Entry price | 100 free searches, then $0.10–0.50/contact | Basic published at $49/user/month billed annually (apollo.io/pricing) |
| Cost for a team of 3 | Only for contacts actually used | ≈$147/month from the published Basic tier |
| Agent-native | Yes — MCP server, npx -y @tapacapi/mcp | API available; not an MCP server |
| Works without a key | Yes — returns onboarding until a key is set | No |
Apollo pricing from apollo.io/pricing (published list price, Basic tier, annual billing). TAPAC figures from the product's own docs.
When Apollo is still the right call
If you need a broad CRM-like surface, sequence automation, and dashboards in one place, a subscription tool earns its keep. TAPAC is deliberately narrower: it finds and verifies contacts, returns them to an agent or an API caller, and stops there.
When teams switch
- Seats you barely use, because one operator runs the campaigns.
- A high share of sends to stale records — 23% of contacts change jobs annually (ZoomInfo, 2025).
- Agents doing the work: an MCP-capable agent can request contacts itself, with verification, in one line.
Try it
npx -y @tapacapi/mcp
Get a key at tapacapi.com/get-key — 100 free searches, no credit card. Full install notes on the MCP page.
Where to go next
- Install the TAPAC MCP server —
npx -y @tapacapi/mcp, no wiring for Claude, Cursor, Codex or Windsurf. - Get a free API key — 100 searches, no credit card.
- Pricing — pay per verified contact, no subscription.
- TAPAC compared to Apollo · compared to ZoomInfo