Apollo.io
Clay
| Feature | Apollo.io | Clay |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $49/mo | Free / from $149/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.4 / 5 | 4.5 / 5 |
| Best For | startups, sdrs, sales-teams, growth-teams | growth-teams, revenue-operations, sdrs, agencies |
| Founded | 2015 | 2017 |
| Contact Database | ✓ | ✗ |
| Sequences | ✓ | ✗ |
| Email Tracking | ✓ | ✗ |
| Dialer | ✓ | ✗ |
| Deal Management | ✓ | ✗ |
| Enrichment | ✓ | ✗ |
| Data Enrichment | ✗ | ✓ |
| Ai Messaging | ✗ | ✓ |
| Waterfall Lookups | ✗ | ✓ |
| Integrations | ✗ | ✓ |
| Automated Workflows | ✗ | ✓ |
| Lead Scoring | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Apollo.io Pros
- Huge contact database
- Good free tier
- Sequences included
- Affordable
✗ Apollo.io Cons
- Data accuracy varies
- Email deliverability
- Complex interface
✓ Clay Pros
- 75+ data enrichment sources
- AI message personalization
- Powerful waterfall enrichment
- Flexible workflows
✗ Clay Cons
- Expensive for small teams
- Learning curve for setup
- Credit consumption fast
The Verdict
Apollo.io is built for startups and sdrs, with a focus on contact-database and sequences. Clay targets growth teams and revenue operations and leads with data-enrichment and ai-messaging.
On pricing, Apollo.io is the clear winner for budget-conscious users — starting at $49/mo compared to $149/mo for Clay. That $100/mo difference adds up quickly for growing teams.
Both offer free plans, so you can test each with your real workflow before committing to a subscription.
Both tools are a solid fit for sdrs, growth teams — in those cases, the decision often comes down to workflow style and how your team prefers to organize work.
This is a genuinely close comparison. If you can, sign up for both free trials (where available) and run a one-week test with your actual team tasks before deciding.