Quick answer
Apollo is a contact database with sending built in: you filter 240M contacts (its own count), reveal emails for credits and email them from the same login. Clay is a workflow tool: you build a table where each column pulls from one of 150+ data providers, runs a waterfall or uses AI to research the account. Pick Apollo if one database covers your market, you want data and sending in one place and you want to start cheap. Pick Clay if your list needs research per account, your market is niche and someone can own the tables. Many teams run both: Clay connects to Apollo with your own Apollo account. Prices checked on 14 October 2026: Apollo is free, then from $49 a seat a month billed yearly ($65 monthly); Clay is free, then from $185 a month ($167 billed yearly).
Clay vs Apollo in one minute
I help B2B companies set up cold email and LinkedIn outbound, so I judge data tools by one number: how many usable contacts reach the sequence, and at what cost. Clay and Apollo get you there from opposite ends.
Apollo owns a database and sells access to it, with a full sales platform around it. Clay sits on top of other companies' data. It has its own Find Companies and Find People search, which Clay's docs say runs on stored snapshots of billions of profiles, but emails, phone numbers and company data are bought from its 150+ data partners, per its pricing page.
| Clay | Apollo | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A workflow tool built on tables | A contact database plus sequences, mailboxes and a dialer |
| Where the data comes from | 150+ providers, waterfalls, AI research with Claygent | Its own database, plus a waterfall to 20+ partners on paid plans |
| How you build a list | Search or import accounts, then add columns that enrich every row | Set filters, save the people, export them or add them to a sequence |
| Sending | Clay Sequencer (email only, up to 4 emails) or an integration | Built in: sequences, mailboxes, warmup, a US dialer |
| How you pay | A plan with unlimited seats, plus Actions and Data Credits | Per seat, with credits pooled across the team |
| Trial | Free plan, plus 14 days on paid plans | Free plan, plus 14 days on Basic and Professional |
| Learning curve | Real: table logic, waterfalls, AI prompts | Low: if you've used search filters, you can use it |
How you build a list in each
In Apollo: you filter
You set filters like industry, headcount, location, title and technology, save the people you want, then export them or drop them into a sequence. Two limits shape list building. The record selection limit caps how many records you can select in one action: 25 on Free, 1,000 on Basic, 2,500 on Professional and 10,000 on Organization. And each reveal costs credits: 1 for an email, up to 8 more for a mobile number, per Apollo's credit guide.
In Clay: you build
- Accounts. Search with Find Companies, import a CSV or sync from your CRM.
- People. Find People at those companies. Per Clay's docs it returns 10 people per company by default, and the people search stops at 50,000 records.
- Emails. Run a waterfall that asks provider after provider until one finds a verified match.
- Research. Add an AI column that reads the company's site or job ads and returns one fact.
- Send. Push the verified rows to Clay's Sequencer or your own sending tool.
The research column is why people put up with the learning curve. For example:
"Open the careers page for {domain}. If there is an open sales role based outside the company's home country, return that country. Otherwise return 'none'."
Every row that returns a country gets a first line no filter can write for you, like "saw you're hiring your first sales rep in Madrid". The catch is that someone has to build the table and keep it working. If nobody on your team will own it, Apollo's filters will get you further.
Both run waterfalls now, and bill them differently
A waterfall asks one data source after another for the same email or phone number until one finds it. This used to be the clean line between the two tools. It isn't any more: Apollo now has Waterfall Enrichment, listed on its Basic, Professional and Organization plans.
| Clay | Apollo | |
|---|---|---|
| Sources | 150+ providers; the email waterfall alone runs across 100+ | Apollo's data first, then 20+ partners in the order your admin sets, or a provider you connect with its API key |
| What you pay for | Only the provider that returns the match. Nothing if the lookup comes back empty | Each source that returns data. A validator, if you add one, charges separately |
| Cost per record | Data Credits from $0.05 each. With your own provider key: 1 Action and no Data Credits | Email waterfall typically 1 to 4 credits, sometimes over 20. Phone typically 8 to 25, sometimes over 45 |
| Who sets it up | You, per table | An admin, once for the whole team |
Apollo's waterfall is the easier one. Per its help center, it runs by default for the whole team once an admin sets the lineup, and it won't call a source again for the same contact if that source returned usable data in the last 30 days. Clay's waterfall gives you more control: a different lineup per segment, a verification step and the AI columns in the same table. At volume the billing gap adds up, because one Apollo record can be charged by more than one source.
Test both on people you know. Take 100 contacts you'd really prospect, from the countries you sell into, and run them through both 14-day trials. Count the rows with a verified email for the right person, not the rows returned. Divide what you'd pay by that number: that's your real cost per contact.
Sending: built into Apollo, an extra step in Clay
Apollo sends from the same login. Free and Basic allow 250 emails a day from one mailbox per user. Professional lists unlimited Google and Microsoft mailboxes and unlimited daily sends under a fair use policy. Paid plans add warmup, domain and mailbox buying and a US dialer paid in credits.
Clay has its own Sequencer from the Launch plan. Per Clay's Sequencer FAQ it's email only, sends up to four emails per lead, costs 1 Action per lead enrolled and runs on Smartlead underneath. For longer sequences or many inboxes, you push rows to a dedicated sending tool. I cover that handoff in Clay vs Smartlead.
Whichever tool sends, the safe limits are the same. This is how I set it up for clients: separate sending domains warmed for 3 to 4 weeks, then 20 to 30 emails per mailbox per day. "Unlimited daily sends" is a software limit, not a safe number for cold email. Great copy means nothing if it lands in spam.
What Clay and Apollo cost (checked 14 October 2026)
From Apollo's pricing page and Clay's pricing page, in US dollars before tax:
| Plan | Monthly billing | Billed yearly | What matters for list building |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apollo Free | $0 | $0 | 900 credits per seat a year, granted monthly; select 25 records at a time |
| Apollo Basic | $65 a seat | $49 a seat | 2,500 credits a month (30,000 a year), Waterfall Enrichment, unlimited sequences |
| Apollo Professional | $99 a seat | $79 a seat | 4,000 credits a month (48,000 a year), unlimited Google and Microsoft mailboxes |
| Apollo Organization | Yearly only | $119 a seat, minimum 3 seats | 72,000 credits a year, select 10,000 records at a time |
| Clay Free | $0 | $0 | 100 Data Credits and 500 Actions a month, 200 rows per table, no phone numbers |
| Clay Launch | $185 | $167 | 15,000 Actions and 2,500 Data Credits a month per its FAQ (the plan card shows 3,000), phone numbers, signals, Sequencer |
| Clay Growth | $495 | $446 | 40,000 Actions, 6,000 Data Credits, CRM auto-sync, HTTP API, webhooks |
| Clay Enterprise | Custom | Custom | SSO, role-based access, a dedicated growth strategist |
The two bills grow in different ways. Apollo charges per seat, every seat must be on the same plan and unused credits don't roll over. Clay's plans include unlimited seats and the bill grows with usage: Actions for platform work, Data Credits for the data. Unused Data Credits on Launch and Growth roll over up to twice the monthly amount.
For one founder starting from zero, Apollo Basic at $65 a month covers data and sending. Clay Launch at $185 covers data and a 4-email Sequencer. For five people on monthly billing, Apollo Basic comes to $325 a month, while Clay's plan price stays the same. If you're weighing Clay against a bigger database, see Clay vs ZoomInfo.
Using Apollo inside Clay
You don't have to choose. Clay's Apollo integration lists 14 actions, all marked "Bring Your Own Account Required", and Clay says it's included in all plans. They include Find People, Enrich Person, Enrich Company and Add contact to sequence, which only works for contacts that already exist in Apollo.
If you already pay for Apollo, a sensible order is: Apollo as the first source, Clay's waterfall for the gaps it leaves, AI columns for the research, a verification step, then Apollo's sequences or a dedicated sending tool. If you sell into Europe and need phone numbers, also read Apollo vs Cognism.
Pick Clay if, pick Apollo if
Pick Apollo if
- One database covers your market well. The trial will tell you.
- You want data, sequences and mailboxes in one login.
- You're one to three people and want to start this week, from $0 or $49 a seat.
- Nobody on the team wants to build and maintain tables.
Pick Clay if
- Your market is niche, or one database comes back thin on it.
- You need research per account that no filter gives you, like a hiring pattern or something on their website.
- Someone owns the tables and keeps them working.
- Your team is growing and you'd rather pay for usage than per seat.
Use both if
You already pay for Apollo, but your lists come back with gaps or every first line sounds the same. A message for everyone speaks to no one, whichever tool builds the list.
Key takeaways
- Apollo is a database with sending built in. Clay is a workflow tool that pulls from 150+ providers into tables you build.
- Both run waterfalls now. Clay charges only the provider that finds the match. Apollo charges each source that returns data.
- Apollo: free, then $65 a seat a month or $49 billed yearly. Clay: free, then $185 a month or $167 billed yearly, with unlimited seats. Checked 14 October 2026.
- Apollo sends from the same login. Clay's Sequencer covers up to 4 emails per lead; for more, push rows to a sending tool.
- You can run both: Clay lists its Apollo integration as included in all plans, and it runs on your own Apollo account.
FAQ
Is Clay better than Apollo?
Neither is better in general. Apollo is faster to learn and gives you data and sending in one login. Clay gives you more data sources and research per account, but someone has to build and maintain the tables.
Does Clay use Apollo data?
Only if you connect your own Apollo account. Clay's Apollo integration is listed as included in all Clay plans and has 14 actions, including Find People, Enrich Person and Add contact to sequence.
Does Apollo have waterfall enrichment?
Yes. Its pricing page lists Waterfall Enrichment on Basic, Professional and Organization. It checks Apollo's own data first, then 20+ partner sources in the order your admin sets, and charges credits for each source that returns data.
Is Clay or Apollo cheaper?
For one person, Apollo: Basic is $65 a month and covers data and sending, against $185 for Clay Launch. For a bigger team the gap closes, because Apollo charges per seat and Clay's plans include unlimited seats. Prices checked on 14 October 2026.
Can Apollo replace Clay?
For targeting by title, company size, industry and location, yes. When you need research on each account or data sources Apollo doesn't have, Clay does what Apollo's filters can't.