What is the difference between Clay and Apollo?
Apollo.io sells access to its own contact database with outreach built in, while Clay is a workspace that pulls data from many providers into tables and runs workflows on it. Both find work emails and phone numbers, so they get compared, but each is built for a different first job. Here is what each does well, checked 20 October 2026:
- Apollo says its database covers 240 million contacts and 30 million companies. Every plan, including Free, can send email campaigns. Basic adds unlimited sequences, a deliverability suite with email warmup, waterfall enrichment and a US dialer (credits apply). Its strength is one login for finding a person, revealing their email or phone, putting them in a sequence and tracking the deal.
- Clay says it connects to more than 150 data providers and runs multi-provider waterfalls, which it describes as combining multiple data providers for the best coverage. Claygent, its AI agent with web research, fills custom fields. Launch adds phone enrichment, signals on job changes, promotions, new hires, company news and social posts, and sending through Clay's own sequencer or a sequencing integration. Its strength is combining sources and AI research in one table, with unlimited seats on every plan.
For a three-person team, the real question is whether you need a database and a sender (Apollo's core) or a place to build and enrich lists from several sources (Clay's core). The next sections price both at that size.
How much do Clay and Apollo cost? Prices checked 20 October 2026
Apollo Basic costs $49 a seat a month billed yearly or $65 monthly, and Clay Launch costs $167 a month billed yearly or $185 monthly for the whole workspace. Apollo charges per seat; Clay charges per workspace, with unlimited seats on every plan. All prices below are in US dollars from each vendor's own pricing page on 20 October 2026. The yearly column is the monthly price when you pay for a year up front.
| Plan | Billed monthly | Billed yearly, per month | Billing basis | Usage included |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apollo Free | $0 | $0 | Per seat | 75 credits a seat a month; 2 sequences per team |
| Apollo Basic | $65 | $49 | Per seat | 2,500 credits a seat a month (30,000 a year up front on yearly billing); 250 email sends a day |
| Apollo Professional | $99 | $79 | Per seat | 4,000 credits a seat a month (48,000 a year up front); unlimited daily sends |
| Clay Free | $0 | $0 | Per workspace, unlimited seats | 500 actions and 100 data credits a month; 200 rows per table |
| Clay Launch | $185 | $167 | Per workspace, unlimited seats | 15,000 actions and 2,500 data credits a month (180,000 and 30,000 a year up front on yearly billing) |
| Clay Growth | $495 | $446 | Per workspace, unlimited seats | 40,000 actions and 6,000 data credits a month; CRM integrations |
Clay's plan price is two sliders added together. On monthly billing, Launch is $60 for 15,000 actions plus $125 for 2,500 data credits, which makes $185. On yearly billing it is $54 plus $113, or $167. Either slider can be raised on its own. Apollo's toggle advertises a 24% saving on yearly billing; that matches Basic ($49 is 24.6% below $65), while Professional saves 20.2% ($79 against $99). Apollo says its prices exclude applicable taxes. Its Organization plan needs at least three seats at $119 each billed yearly, or $357 a month, so we leave it out here.
What does a credit buy in Clay and in Apollo?
In Apollo, one credit buys one email and a phone number costs eight. Clay meters two things: Actions for the platform work it does, and Data Credits for the data it buys from providers on your behalf. The table compares common tasks, from each vendor's pricing page and help documentation as of 20 October 2026.
| Task | Apollo | Clay |
|---|---|---|
| Find or reveal a work email | 1 credit | 1 Action plus Data Credits that vary by provider; 0.5 Data Credits per email in Clay's own worked example |
| Find or reveal a phone number | 8 credits | 1 Action plus Data Credits; Clay's docs say emails are cheap and phone numbers expensive; not on the Free plan |
| AI research | 1 credit per run | 1 Action per AI run plus Data Credits, flat for most models and by tokens for heavier ones |
| Export a record | CSV export on every plan; Apollo's help centre says export credits may apply only to certain plans or legacy configurations | CSV export uses no Actions or Data Credits; 1 Action per record pushed to a CRM, external sequencer or other tool |
| Add a lead to a sequence | Included; 250 email sends a day on Free and Basic | 1 Action per lead added to a Clay sequencer campaign, not per email sent |
| Search finds nothing | Not stated on the pricing page | No Actions or Data Credits charged |
| Unused credits | Expire at the end of each billing cycle, add-ons included | Actions expire; Data Credits roll over within limits |
| Buying more | Add-on credits, which renew each cycle until you remove them | Data Credit top-ups at a 30% premium; more Actions only by moving up a tier |
Take 300 new contacts a month, each needing a work email. In Apollo that is 300 credits. Credits are pooled across the team, so three Free seats give 225 a month (3 × 75) and fall short, while three Basic seats pool 7,500. In Clay, at the 0.5 rate from its worked example, 300 emails cost 150 Data Credits plus at least 300 Actions, one per enrichment. That is beyond Free's 100 Data Credits and well inside Launch's 2,500. Add 30 phone numbers and Apollo needs another 240 credits (30 × 8). Clay publishes no single phone rate, and its docs put a fully enriched record at 6 to 20 Data Credits.
What will a three-person team pay each month?
A three-person team pays $147 to $195 a month for Apollo Basic and $167 to $185 for Clay Launch, depending on billing, so the two are within $20 of each other. The arithmetic:
| Setup | Billed monthly | Billed yearly, per month | Arithmetic |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apollo Free, 3 seats | $0 | $0 | 225 credits a month, pooled |
| Apollo Basic, 3 seats | $195 | $147 | 3 × $65; 3 × $49 |
| Apollo Professional, 3 seats | $297 | $237 | 3 × $99; 3 × $79 |
| Clay Launch, any number of seats | $185 | $167 | One workspace price |
| Clay Launch plus Apollo Basic, 3 seats | $380 | $314 | $185 + $195; $167 + $147 |
Per person, Apollo Basic is $49 a month on yearly billing against $55.67 for Clay Launch ($167 ÷ 3). On monthly billing the order flips: $65 for Apollo against $61.67 for Clay ($185 ÷ 3). The gap widens with headcount. A fourth Apollo seat takes Basic to $196 a month billed yearly (4 × $49) or $260 monthly (4 × $65), while Clay's price stays the same.
The units differ, so compare what you get as well. Apollo's $147 includes its database and unlimited sequences, and three Basic seats pool 7,500 credits a month. Clay Launch includes sending through its sequencer or an integration, but its 2,500 Data Credits are shared by the whole team.
Where do the Clay and Apollo pricing pages contradict themselves?
Both pricing pages disagree with themselves in places, checked 20 October 2026. Read these before you compare totals:
- Clay's headline price depends on a toggle. The plan cards open on yearly billing and show Launch at $167, while the FAQ on the same page says Launch starts at $185, the monthly price.
- Clay's Free plan and email. The FAQ says Free includes "Clay Sequencer for email". The comparison table on the same page marks launching email campaigns as not included on Free, and the Launch card lists sending emails as a Launch feature. Clay's legacy plans doc also says there is no free-plan version of the sequencer.
- Apollo and unlimited emails. Apollo's FAQ says that even at entry-level pricing you get "unlimited email addresses for your contacts". The credits panel on the same page prices each email at 1 credit, and another FAQ answer says unused credits expire each billing cycle.
Before you buy, check the cost of each action inside the product. Apollo shows it under About credits on its credit usage page, and Clay's docs say the exact cost is displayed next to each enrichment option.
Clay or Apollo: which should a three-person team choose?
Apollo Basic suits a three-person team that mainly needs emails, phone numbers and a sender; Clay Launch suits a team with someone who builds enrichment workflows. These are our recommendations by use case, based on the prices and limits above.
- A 3-person team that needs a few hundred verified emails a month and wants to send from the same tool: Apollo Basic, $147 a month billed yearly or $195 monthly. Start on Apollo Free to check its data on your market first.
- A team that phones prospects: Apollo. It prices a phone number at 8 credits, its paid plans include a US dialer (credits apply), and Clay's pricing page lists no dialer, with phone enrichment only from Launch up.
- A team with one person who enjoys building lists from several sources, tracking job changes or writing AI research per account: Clay Launch, $167 a month billed yearly or $185 monthly, for everyone. Our guide to buying signals for small teams covers which signals are worth tracking.
- A team that wants both: Clay's docs list Apollo among the data providers whose API keys you can connect. Your own key skips Clay's Data Credits for that provider but still uses one Action per enrichment. Clay Launch plus three Apollo Basic seats costs $314 a month billed yearly; confirm with Apollo that your plan's API access works with Clay.
- A team about to hire a fourth person: Clay, whose price doesn't change with seats. Each Apollo seat adds $49 to $65 a month.
How to test Clay and Apollo in two weeks
Run the same contacts through both tools for two weeks and compare the cost per usable contact.
Pick 50 people from your target list
Include 10 whose work email you already know, such as past customers or partners. Known answers show which tool returns the right address.
Run them through Apollo
Use Apollo Free, or the 14-day trial on Basic or Professional. Apollo's FAQ says the trial includes 75 credits, enough for 50 emails and three phone numbers. Record how many emails and phone numbers it returns, and the credits used, from the credit usage page in Settings.
Run the same 50 through Clay
Start Clay's 14-day trial, set up an email waterfall and note the Actions and Data Credits shown on the Usage page in Settings.
Send a small batch and count bounces
Email the new addresses each tool found from one mailbox, using a short plain message from our cold email templates. Your bounce count tells you more than any vendor's accuracy claim.
Work out cost per usable contact
Divide the monthly price you would pay by the contacts with a deliverable email. If three Apollo Basic seats ($147) gave you 600 usable contacts a month, that would be about 25 cents each.
If you would rather hand off the finding and the sending, Siela's AI SDR finds and verifies each person's work email and emails only deliverable addresses.
Frequently asked questions
Is Clay or Apollo cheaper for a team of three?
At list prices checked 20 October 2026, three Apollo Basic seats cost $147 a month billed yearly or $195 monthly, and Clay Launch costs $167 billed yearly or $185 monthly for any number of seats. Apollo is cheaper on yearly billing and Clay on monthly billing. From four people, Clay Launch costs less than Apollo Basic on either billing cycle.
Can you use Apollo data inside Clay?
Yes, according to Clay's documentation, which lists Apollo among the data providers whose API keys you can connect. With your own key, enrichments from that provider use no Clay Data Credits but still use one Action each. You still pay for your Apollo plan separately, so this suits teams that already have Apollo and want Clay's workflows on top.
Does Clay have its own contact database like Apollo?
Clay finds people and companies through its own search and a marketplace of more than 150 data providers, according to its pricing page. A worked example in its documentation finds 100 people in the Clay database for 0 Data Credits. Apollo sells access to its own database, which it says covers 240 million contacts and 30 million companies.
Do Apollo credits roll over to the next month?
No. Apollo's pricing FAQ, checked 20 October 2026, says unused credits expire at the end of each billing cycle, for both plan credits and purchased add-on credits. Add-on credits also renew automatically each cycle until you drag the slider back to zero. On yearly billing, paid plans grant the full year's credits up front.
Which is better for phone numbers, Clay or Apollo?
Apollo publishes a fixed price of 8 credits per phone number, against 1 credit per email, and its paid plans include a US dialer where credits apply. Clay prices phone numbers in Data Credits that vary by provider, says they cost more than emails, and leaves phone enrichment out of its Free plan. Neither page shows phone accuracy, so test both on the same names.
Sources
- Apollo.io pricing (checked 20 Oct 2026)
- Apollo Knowledge Base: Review Credit Usage in Apollo (updated 15 Oct 2026; checked 20 Oct 2026)
- Clay pricing (checked 20 Oct 2026)
- Clay Docs: Actions & Data Credits (checked 20 Oct 2026)
- Clay Docs: Legacy plans (checked 20 Oct 2026)