Head-to-head · checked October 2026

Clay vsApollo

Pricing, features, and which one fits your team — compared from each tool's own pricing and product pages.

Apollo is a sales platform with its own contact database (240M contacts, 30M companies), email sequences and a dialer, priced per seat with a free plan. Clay is an enrichment workspace: spreadsheet-style tables that pull from 150+ data providers and run AI research on each row, from $167/month after its free plan. Use Apollo to find and contact people, Clay to build and enrich lists precisely.

Clay vs Apollo at a glance

ClayApollo
What it isData enrichment and list-building workspaceContact database plus sales engagement
Data150+ data providers, waterfall enrichmentOwn database: 240M contacts, 30M companies
OutreachSend to email tools; campaigns on paid plansBuilt-in sequences, dialer, Chrome extension
AIClaygent research per rowAI assistant
Free plan500 actions + 100 data credits/month, 200 rows per tableYes, with limited credits
Paid plansFrom $167/month (Launch), $446/month (Growth)Per seat: Basic, Professional, Custom

Which should you choose?

Choose Clay if…

  • You need data Apollo does not have — waterfalls across many providers raise match rates.
  • You want custom research on every row (hiring signals, tech stack, recent news).
  • One operator builds lists for the whole team, so per-seat pricing would waste money.

Choose Apollo if…

  • You want one tool to find contacts and run the outreach.
  • Several reps each need their own seat, sequences and dialer.
  • Apollo's database already covers your market.

A third option

Where Ideople fits

Many teams use both: Apollo for contacts and sequences, Clay to enrich. Ideople datatables cover the step after enrichment — an agent column that reads each row, researches, scores and drafts the outreach, then posts it to an inbox for approval before anything is sent. Ideople does not replace either tool's data.

Take the Free AI Audit Clay alternatives

Clay vs Apollo: questions people ask

Yes, and many teams do: Apollo as the contact database and sending tool, Clay to enrich and qualify lists before they go into sequences.
For a single operator, often yes: Clay's paid plans start at $167/month. Apollo prices per seat, so its cost grows with the number of reps; check Apollo's pricing page for current seat prices.
They work differently. Apollo sells access to its own database; Clay queries 150+ providers (which can include databases like Apollo's) and keeps the first good answer, which usually finds more.

Sources

Prices and features as published on October 2026. Vendors change plans often; check their pages before you buy.

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