Apollo.io vs Clay
We give Apollo.io a 2.4 GPA and Clay a 2.8, out of 4.0. Clay grades higher on value for money and features. They get the same grade on the free plan, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Apollo.io
B2B contact database with built-in email sequences and a dialer
Clay
Data enrichment tables that query 150+ data providers in one place
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAApollo.ioFair | 2.8GPAClayGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | C$245 a month for five on Basic, billed yearly: $49 a seat, right at this category's dearer quarter ($49). That buys 30,000 credits a seat a year, about 2,500 a month each, pooled, at 1 credit an email and 8 a phone number. | BLaunch is $167 a month billed yearly with unlimited seats, about $33.40 a head for five, just inside this category's cheaper quarter ($34). It buys 2,500 data credits and 15,000 actions a month. On your own, the whole $167 is yours to pay. |
| Free plan and trial | CA free plan for good with 900 credits a seat a year, 2 sequences and 250 emails a day, plus a 14-day trial of the paid plans. But 900 a year is 75 a month, a cap you'll hit if you prospect every day. | CA free plan with 100 data credits and 500 actions a month, unlimited seats, waterfalls and Claygent, plus a 14-day trial. But tables stop at 200 rows and there's no phone enrichment. |
| Features | BAbout 240 million contacts with emails and phone numbers, waterfall enrichment, unlimited sequences, a dialer, call recording and a Chrome extension. It covers the whole job, and the outreach after it. | AWaterfalls across 150-plus providers, where a lookup that finds nothing costs nothing, plus Claygent for web research, job-change signals, its own sequencer and CRM and warehouse sync. No rival here draws on so many sources. |
| Ease of use | CNo App Store rating on record. It's a big web app with a database, sequences, mailboxes and a dialer, so expect a learning curve before it pays off. | CNo App Store rating on record, and this is a web app where the work is building the table itself. If spreadsheet formulas make you nervous, expect a learning curve. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb and a Chrome extension that works on LinkedIn, Gmail and CRMs, with Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive, Outreach, Salesloft and Slack. No desktop or phone apps on record. | BWeb only, but with HubSpot, Pipedrive, Attio, Outreach, Instantly, lemlist, Apollo.io and Snowflake on the list, and webhooks from Growth. No desktop or phone apps. |
| Best for | contact data and outreach in one account | building custom lead lists from many data sources |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Apollo.io and Clay. How we grade
Price against what you get
Apollo.io starts at $49 a month for each person and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Clay starts at $167 a month and scores 3.0.
Clay scores higher, and starts $118 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other lead and email finders on the chart, 1 scores higher than Apollo.io for less, and none scores higher than Clay for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Apollo.io starts at $49 per seat / month, billed annually. Clay starts at $167 per month for 2,500 data credits, billed annually.
- Only Apollo.io lists a browser extension.
- Apollo.io also covers web clipper and sales pipeline.
- Clay also covers workflow automation.
At a glance
| Apollo.io | Clay | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $49 per seat / month, billed annually | $167 per month for 2,500 data credits, billed annually |
| Free plan | 900 credits per seat a year, granted monthly, 2 sequences, basic filters, 250 emails a day from 1 mailbox, and the Chrome extension. | 100 data credits and 500 actions a month, unlimited seats and tables, up to 200 rows per table, waterfalls and Claygent. No phone number enrichment. |
| Free trial | 14-day trial of Basic or Professional with 75 credits | 14-day trial of paid plans |
| Web | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | ZenLeads Inc. (Apollo.io) | Clay Labs Inc. |
| Price read from | apollo.io | clay.com |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Apollo.io
- Sales teams that want contact data and outreach in one account
- Founders trying outbound prospecting on a free plan
- Reps who prospect from LinkedIn through a browser extension
Clay
- Growth and operations teams building custom lead lists
- Teams that want several data providers behind one bill
- People comfortable setting up spreadsheet-style workflows
Worth knowing
Apollo.io
- Phone numbers cost 8 credits each against 1 for an email, and unused credits expire at the end of each billing cycle.
- All seats on an account must be on the same plan, and Organization requires at least 3 seats.
- Downgrades take effect at once with no refund, and annual plans cannot move to monthly mid-term.
- Inbound visitor identification costs $119 to $639 per team a month on top of a plan, billed annually.
Clay
- Two meters apply: data credits pay providers for data, and actions count each enrichment or export. Both are sized separately on paid plans.
- Data credits start at $0.05 each; extra credits cost 30% more than plan credits on Launch and Growth.
- Actions reset each billing cycle; data credits roll over up to twice the monthly amount on Launch and Growth.
- The free plan has no phone number enrichment and stops at 200 rows per table.
Key features
Apollo.io
- Contact and company database
- Search about 240 million contacts and 30 million companies by title, company, intent topics and other filters. Paid plans unlock advanced filters.
- Credits for emails and phones
- Revealing a verified email costs 1 credit and a phone number 8. Credits are pooled across the team, reset each billing cycle and do not roll over.
- Email sequences
- Multi-step outreach from connected mailboxes. The free plan allows 2 sequences and 250 emails a day; paid plans add unlimited sequences and any email provider.
- Chrome extension
- Shows emails and numbers for people on LinkedIn, company websites, Gmail and CRMs, and adds them to lists or sequences. Works on every plan.
- Enrichment and waterfall
- Fill in missing fields for CSV files, CRM records and API calls. From Basic, waterfall enrichment checks partner sources when Apollo has no match.
- Dialer and call recording
- A US dialer billed in credits, call recording with AI insights, and an Advanced Dialer add-on with parallel and international calling.
Clay
- Waterfall enrichment
- A column asks one data provider after another until a value is found, drawing on more than 150 providers. A lookup that returns nothing costs nothing.
- Claygent
- An AI agent with web research that fills in custom data points a provider does not sell. It is included on every plan, the free one too.
- Audiences and search
- Build lists of companies and people from Clay's search and imports. Paid plans add unlimited search and CSV uploads.
- Signals
- Track job changes, promotions, new hires, company news and social posts from Launch, and website intent from Growth.
- Sequencer and integrations
- Send email from Clay's own sequencer or push leads to Instantly, lemlist, Outreach and HubSpot sequences.
- CRM and warehouse sync
- Growth syncs and enriches CRM records automatically and connects to Snowflake, BigQuery, Databricks and Postgres.
Plans
Apollo.io
Free$0
900 credits per seat a year, granted monthly. 2 sequences, basic filters, 25-record selection limit and 250 emails a day.
Basic$49
per seat / month, billed annually, 30,000 credits a seat a year
Unlimited sequences, advanced filters, CRM integrations, waterfall enrichment, email warmup and the US dialer (credits apply).
Professional$79
per seat / month, billed annually, 48,000 credits a seat a year
Adds A/Z testing, AI lead scoring, 4,000 minutes of call recording with AI insights and more automated workflows.
Organization$119
per seat / month, billed annually, 72,000 credits a seat a year
Minimum 3 seats. Adds 12 intent topics, 8,000 recording minutes, unlimited inbound routers, SSO and advanced security.
Clay
Free$0
100 data credits and 500 actions a month, unlimited seats, 200 rows per table, waterfalls, Claygent and your own API keys.
Launch$167
per month for 2,500 data credits, billed annually ($185 monthly)
Plus 15,000 actions a month, phone enrichment, job-change signals and email sending. Data credits alone are $414 a month at 10,000 a month, billed annually.
Growth$446
per month for 6,000 data credits, billed annually ($495 monthly)
Plus 40,000 actions a month, CRM auto-sync, HTTP API and webhook automation, web intent signals, ad audiences and priority support.
EnterpriseCustom
Annual commitment, 100,000+ data credits, Clay API access, SSO, SCIM, role-based access and a dedicated growth strategist.
Ways to pay less
Apollo.io
- Annual discount
Save 24% with annual billing
Apollo's pricing page shows a 24% saving on paid plans when billed annually instead of monthly.
- Startups
50% off for a year for early-stage startups
Startups with fewer than 20 employees, no Apollo subscription and a link to a partner program get 50% off Basic or Professional for a year, up to 5 seats.
Clay
- Annual discount
Save 10% with annual billing
Clay's pricing page marks annual billing as a 10% saving: Launch starts at $167 a month billed yearly against $185 billed monthly.
