Comparison
Clay is for growth and RevOps teams that want to build custom enrichment workflows across 150+ data providers; Apollo is for reps who want a 240M-contact database, sequences and a dialer in one product. Clay's published pricing is Free; Launch $185/mo, Growth $495/mo with unlimited seats, and Apollo's is Free; $49–$119/user/mo (annual).
By Semir JahicCEO & Co-Founder, SalesmotionLast reviewed | Feature | Clay | Apollo.io |
|---|---|---|
| Approach | Custom enrichment workflows (150+ providers) | Integrated database and engagement platform |
| Data Source | Own database plus waterfall across 150+ providers | Apollo database (240M contacts) plus waterfall enrichment across partners |
| Engagement Tools | Native email sequencer; integrations for dialing | Native sequences, dialer, AI Assistant |
| Ease of Use | Builder-oriented | Search and sequence in one product |
| Free Plan | Free: 100 Data Credits and 500 Actions a month | Free: 900 credits per seat a year, 2 sequences |
| Pricing | Free; Launch $185/mo, Growth $495/mo | Free; $49–$119/user/mo (annual) |
| Best For | Growth teams, RevOps, agencies | SMBs, SDR teams, individual reps |
| Rating (G2) | 4.9/5 | 4.7/5 |
Clay is a data enrichment and go-to-market automation platform with a spreadsheet-like interface. It lets revenue teams find and enrich data from 150+ providers, search Clay's own company and people database, and build custom prospecting workflows on top.
Clay's signature feature is waterfall enrichment: when looking up an email or phone number, it queries providers in sequence until one returns a result, and it does not charge when an enrichment returns nothing. Around that sit Claygents (AI agents that perform research tasks), Account Agents that monitor a book of business and keep account research current, native signals for job changes, company news, social listening and web intent, and a native email sequencer.
Clay shipped a run of new products in 2026, including Audiences, Workflows, Functions and Sequencer 2.0, and offers a Clay MCP so reps can use Clay from ChatGPT, Claude or Codex. It is popular with growth teams, agencies and RevOps professionals who want control over their enrichment and outreach logic.
Best for: Growth teams and RevOps professionals who want to build custom data enrichment and outreach workflows across many data providers
G2 rating: 4.9/5
Pricing: Clay publishes its pricing: a free tier, Launch from $185/month and Growth from $495/month (about $167 and $446 on annual billing), then custom Enterprise on an annual commitment. Paid plans start with a 14-day trial, include unlimited seats, and meter usage in Actions and Data Credits. Clay introduced these plans in spring 2026; customers on the legacy Starter, Explorer and Pro plans can stay on them.
Apollo.io is an all-in-one prospecting and engagement platform that combines a database of 240M contacts and 30M companies with sequences, a dialer, enrichment and AI tools. It is designed to be a complete prospecting stack in a single product.
Where Clay is a build surface, Apollo is an integrated product. Reps search Apollo's database, reveal contacts with credits, build lists and launch sequences without wiring anything together. Apollo also offers waterfall enrichment from the Basic plan, which enriches records with Apollo Data, partner sources and AI Research.
Apollo publishes its pricing and has a permanent free plan with 900 credits per seat a year and two sequences. In 2026 it acquired Pocus, added Apollo MCP, AI Research, AI Scores and Agents, and in September announced its AI GTM System. It is popular with startups, SMBs and individual reps who want a direct way to find prospects and reach them.
Best for: Teams and individual reps who want prospecting and engagement in one self-serve platform with published per-seat pricing
G2 rating: 4.7/5
Pricing: Apollo publishes its pricing: a free tier, then Basic at $49, Professional at $79 and Organization at $119 per seat per month on annual billing (3-seat minimum on Organization). Monthly billing is $65 and $99 on Basic and Professional; Organization is annual only.
How Clay and Apollo.io stack up across key capabilities.
| Feature | Clay | Apollo.io |
|---|---|---|
| Contact Database | Clay's own people and company database, plus 150+ providers | 240M contacts and 30M companies |
| Data Enrichment | Waterfall enrichment; no charge when an enrichment returns no result | Waterfall enrichment with Apollo Data, partners and AI Research (from Basic) |
| Email Sequences | Native sequencer; email campaigns are listed from the Launch plan | Built-in sequences (2 on Free, unlimited from Basic) |
| Dialer | Via dialer integrations | US dialer (credits apply); Advanced Dialer add-on |
| AI Research | Claygents and Account Agents | AI Research, AI Scores, AI Assistant |
| Signals | Job change, company news and social listening signals (Launch and above); web intent (Growth and above) | Intent topics on every plan; signal filters; website visitors |
| Workflow Flexibility | Spreadsheet-style tables, Workflows and Functions | Structured prospecting workflow; automated workflows from Basic |
| CRM Integration | Native CRM auto-sync on Growth and above | Salesforce and HubSpot; CRM integrations from Basic |
| AI Assistants | Clay MCP for ChatGPT, Claude and Codex | Apollo MCP |
| Seats | Unlimited seats on every plan | Priced per seat |
We held 55 sales and customer calls between August and October 2026. In 22 of them the buyer was weighing a tool they would have to build and maintain against one that works on day one.
“the only challenge is scale ... it's not just running a prompt, but there is some manual validation as well”
“It's all about the convenience, the relevant things coming at one place.”
“I think with our tech stack, it's quite fragmented.”
Clay and Apollo price on different axes. Clay publishes its pricing: a free tier, Launch from $185/month and Growth from $495/month (about $167 and $446 on annual billing), then custom Enterprise on an annual commitment. Paid plans start with a 14-day trial, include unlimited seats, and meter usage in Actions and Data Credits. Clay introduced these plans in spring 2026; customers on the legacy Starter, Explorer and Pro plans can stay on them. Marketplace data draws Data Credits and platform work draws Actions, so what you pay tracks usage more than headcount.
Apollo publishes its pricing: a free tier, then Basic at $49, Professional at $79 and Organization at $119 per seat per month on annual billing (3-seat minimum on Organization). Monthly billing is $65 and $99 on Basic and Professional; Organization is annual only. The free plan includes 900 credits per seat a year and two sequences, credits are pooled across the team, and an email costs 1 credit while a phone number costs 8.
Which is cheaper depends on team size and enrichment volume. Apollo charges per seat and includes sequencing and a dialer in the product. Clay includes unlimited seats and meters usage, which suits a small builder team serving many reps. Some teams use both: Clay for list building and enrichment, Apollo for sequences and calls. See our Clay pricing and Apollo pricing guides.
Clay is strongest at data enrichment and custom workflows, and Apollo at integrated prospecting and engagement. Both are built around contacts and the mechanics of reaching them. Salesmotion is built for the step before that: account intelligence that tells a rep which accounts to work now and what to say.
It is the layer that sits alongside a contact database or sequencer. Reps keep Clay or Apollo for contacts and sending, and use Salesmotion for cited research and signals on each account.
Salesmotion's Research Agent turns 1,000+ public sources into an account brief out of the box, with every data point linked to its source and no workflow to build.
The Signal Agent monitors target accounts for 50+ signal types drawn from earnings calls, SEC filings, news, job postings and leadership announcements.
The Outreach Agent drafts a message anchored to the event that triggered it and pushes it to lemlist. Salesmotion starts at $85/month on a monthly contract.
“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.'”
Adam Wainwright
Head of Revenue, Cacheflow
Salesmotion gives your reps the account intelligence they need to book more meetings and close bigger deals.
It depends on team size and usage. Apollo publishes its pricing: a free tier, then Basic at $49, Professional at $79 and Organization at $119 per seat per month on annual billing (3-seat minimum on Organization). Monthly billing is $65 and $99 on Basic and Professional; Organization is annual only. Clay publishes its pricing: a free tier, Launch from $185/month and Growth from $495/month (about $167 and $446 on annual billing), then custom Enterprise on an annual commitment. Paid plans start with a 14-day trial, include unlimited seats, and meter usage in Actions and Data Credits. Clay introduced these plans in spring 2026; customers on the legacy Starter, Explorer and Pro plans can stay on them. Apollo's cost grows with seats; Clay's grows with enrichment volume.
Yes, both. Clay's free plan includes 100 Data Credits and 500 Actions a month with unlimited seats. Apollo's free plan stays free with no time limit and includes 900 credits per seat a year and two sequences. Clay's paid plans start with a 14-day trial, and so do Apollo's Basic and Professional plans.
For data enrichment and list building, yes: Clay has its own people and company database and waterfall enrichment across 150+ providers. Clay also includes a native email sequencer, with email campaigns listed from the Launch plan. Dialing in Clay runs through integrations, so phone-heavy teams can keep Apollo or a sales engagement platform for calls.
Both now use waterfall enrichment, so test them on your own list. Clay queries 150+ providers in sequence and does not charge Data Credits or Actions when an enrichment returns no result. Apollo starts from its own database of 240M contacts and adds partner sources through waterfall enrichment from the Basic plan, with an email costing 1 credit and a phone number 8.
Yes. A common pattern is Clay for enrichment and list building and Apollo for sequences and dialing. Apollo.io is listed in Clay's integration directory, so Clay can use Apollo as one of its data sources. Learn more in our best sales intelligence platforms guide.
Clay goes further if you are willing to build. Its Account Agents can monitor a segment and keep account research current, built on the data you connect, and Claygents can summarize research into pre-call notes. Apollo offers AI Research and pre-meeting AI insights inside its prospecting workflow. For teams that want cited briefs without building a workflow, an account intelligence platform such as Salesmotion is built for cited briefs from 1,000+ public sources.
Salesmotion serves a different purpose: account intelligence that sits alongside your contact data and sending tools. Its three AI agents (Signal, Research and Outreach) monitor 1,000+ sources for buying signals, write cited account briefs and draft signal-anchored outreach. Teams pair Salesmotion with Clay or Apollo to combine account intelligence with their contact enrichment and engagement workflows. Pricing starts at $85/month on a monthly contract, with custom pricing for teams and enterprise. See a demo.
A Signal Agent, Research Agent, and Outreach Agent — working every day so your team spends less time researching and more time closing.
