Comparison
Clay offers flexible data enrichment across 150+ providers with a spreadsheet interface. Apollo bundles a 270M+ contact database with built-in engagement tools. This guide compares these two popular prospecting approaches.
| Feature | Clay | Apollo.io |
|---|---|---|
| Approach | Custom enrichment workflows (150+ providers) | Integrated database + engagement platform |
| Data Source | Aggregates from multiple external providers | Single proprietary database (270M+) |
| Engagement Tools | Automated outbound via integrations | Native sequencing, dialer, AI writer |
| Ease of Use | Powerful but steep learning curve | Straightforward, minimal setup |
| Free Plan | 100 credits/month | 10,000 emails/month |
| Best For | Technical growth teams, agencies | SMBs, individual reps |
Clay is a data enrichment and outreach automation platform with a spreadsheet-like interface that connects to over 150 data providers. It is designed for revenue teams that want to build highly customized prospecting workflows, combining data from multiple sources to create enriched prospect lists and automated outbound campaigns.
Clay's signature feature is waterfall enrichment — when looking up a contact's email or phone, it queries multiple data providers in sequence (Clearbit, Hunter, Apollo, etc.) until it finds a verified result. This typically produces higher match rates than any single provider. The platform also includes Claygent, an AI research agent that can perform custom research tasks.
Clay has become the tool of choice for growth teams, agencies, and technical RevOps professionals who want maximum control over their data enrichment and outreach workflows. Its flexibility is its strength, but the spreadsheet paradigm can be challenging for non-technical users.
Best for: Growth teams and RevOps professionals who want to build custom data enrichment and outreach workflows with a spreadsheet-like interface
G2 rating: 4.9/5
Pricing: Free: 100 credits/month. Starter: $149/month. Explorer: $349/month. Pro: $800/month. Enterprise: custom. Credit-based consumption model.
Apollo.io is an all-in-one sales intelligence and engagement platform that combines a large B2B contact database (270M+ contacts) with built-in email sequencing, a dialer, and AI-powered personalization tools. It is designed to be a complete prospecting stack in a single product.
Apollo's approach is the opposite of Clay's modular flexibility — it provides a single, integrated database and engagement platform. Reps search for prospects in Apollo's own database, verify contacts, build lists, and launch outreach campaigns without needing external data providers or tools.
Apollo is known for its transparent pricing, generous free tier (10,000 emails/month), and rapid feature development. It is popular with startups, SMBs, and individual contributors who want a straightforward, affordable way to find prospects and reach out to them.
Best for: SMBs and individual reps who want an all-in-one prospecting and engagement platform with an affordable, transparent pricing model
G2 rating: 4.7/5
Pricing: Free: 10,000 emails/month. Basic: $49/user/month. Professional: $79/user/month. Organization: $119/user/month (min 3). Annual discounts available.
How Clay and Apollo.io stack up across key capabilities.
| Feature | Clay | Apollo.io |
|---|---|---|
| Contact Database | No own DB — enriches from 150+ providers | 270M+ contacts in single database |
| Data Enrichment | Waterfall enrichment — best match rates | Single-source enrichment from Apollo DB |
| Email Sequences | Via integrations (Outreach, etc.) | Built-in multi-step campaigns |
| Dialer | Not built-in | Native click-to-call dialer |
| AI Research | Claygent AI for custom research tasks | AI email writing and personalization |
| Workflow Flexibility | Extremely flexible spreadsheet workflows | Structured, opinionated workflow |
| CRM Integration | Salesforce, HubSpot, Outreach | Salesforce, HubSpot, native CRM |
| Learning Curve | Steep — requires technical comfort | Gentle — easy to get started |
Clay and Apollo have different pricing philosophies. Clay uses a credit-based model: free (100 credits/month), Starter ($149/month), Explorer ($349/month), Pro ($800/month). Each enrichment action consumes credits, so costs depend heavily on usage volume. High-volume users can spend $500-$2,000+/month.
Apollo offers per-user pricing: free (10,000 emails/month), Basic ($49/user/month), Professional ($79/user/month), Organization ($119/user/month). A 5-person team on Professional would pay about $4,740/year with annual billing. Apollo's free plan is dramatically more generous than Clay's.
For a typical SMB sales team of 5-10 people, Apollo is more cost-effective and includes engagement tools in the price. Clay makes more economic sense for growth teams or agencies that need custom enrichment workflows and are willing to invest in the tooling. Some teams use both — Clay for list building and enrichment, Apollo for sequences and outreach.
Clay excels at data enrichment, and Apollo excels at integrated prospecting and engagement. But both tools focus on the mechanics of outreach — finding contacts and sending messages. Neither provides the account-level intelligence that turns generic outreach into relevant, compelling conversations.
The gap between having a prospect's email and knowing what to say to them is where most pipeline is lost. Reps send templated sequences that get ignored because they lack the business context that would make the message worth reading.
Neither Clay nor Apollo synthesizes 1,000+ sources into comprehensive account briefs. Clay's Claygent can research individual queries, but it is not the same as continuous, automated account intelligence.
Neither platform continuously monitors earnings calls, strategic announcements, leadership changes, or competitive displacement. Both rely on basic intent signals rather than business-level triggers.
Apollo offers AI email writing, and Clay can generate personalized messages, but neither creates talking points anchored to real strategic events happening inside the target account.
“The moment we turned on Salesmotion, it became essential. No more hours on LinkedIn or Google to figure out who we're talking to. It's just there, served up to you, so it's always 'go time.'”
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Head of Revenue, Cacheflow
Salesmotion gives your reps the account intelligence they need to book more meetings and close bigger deals.
Clay can replace Apollo for data enrichment and list building — and often surpasses it with waterfall enrichment across 150+ providers. However, Clay does not include native email sequencing or a dialer. If you use Clay, you will need a separate engagement tool (Outreach, Salesloft, or similar) to run campaigns.
For technical growth teams and agencies that need maximum flexibility, Clay's spreadsheet interface and waterfall enrichment are extremely powerful. For typical sales reps who just need to find contacts and send emails, the learning curve is often not worth it — Apollo's simpler interface serves them better.
Clay generally finds more emails because it queries multiple providers in sequence (waterfall enrichment). If Clearbit does not find the email, Clay tries Hunter, then Apollo, then others. This multi-source approach typically yields higher match rates than Apollo's single database. However, Apollo's built-in verification is solid for its own data.
Yes, and many teams do. A common pattern is using Clay for enrichment and list building (leveraging its 150+ providers) and Apollo for engagement (sequences, dialing). Clay can even query Apollo as one of its data providers, creating a best-of-both-worlds workflow.
Salesmotion serves a different purpose — deep account intelligence rather than contact data or outreach. It synthesizes 1,000+ sources into account briefs, monitors real-time buying signals, and generates talking points. Teams pair Salesmotion with Clay or Apollo to combine account intelligence with their contact enrichment and engagement workflows.
Join the top-performing sales teams using Salesmotion to build more pipeline and close more deals.
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