Clay vs Apollo, compared.
Clay builds enrichment workflows on top of many data providers. Apollo pairs its own contact database with sequences and a dialer. Here is how they differ, and where Swan fits.
At a glance.
Facts and prices from clay.com/pricing, apollo.io/pricing and Apollo's pricing guide, read in October 2026.
- What it is
- Clay is a table-based workspace for building enrichment and research workflows. Apollo is a sales platform: a contact database, email sequences and a dialer in one tool.
- Where the data comes from
- Clay pulls from more than 150 providers and can try them in turn as a waterfall. Apollo sells access to its own database, which it says holds 240M contacts across 30M companies.
- Outreach
- Clay can send email from its Launch plan or pass records to your sequencer and CRM. Apollo runs sequences, calls and CRM sync itself.
- Pricing
- Clay has a free plan, then Launch from $167 a month billed annually, with unlimited seats. Apollo has a free plan, then Basic from $49 per user a month billed annually.
- How usage is counted
- Clay charges Data Credits for data and Actions for the work its tables run. Apollo pools credits across the team; they reset each billing cycle and do not roll over.
- Best for
- Clay suits teams that want to design their own data workflows. Apollo suits sales teams that want contact data and outreach in one subscription.
Where both still need your team.
Clay and Apollo each cover part of outbound. Someone still decides who to contact, researches them, writes to them and keeps the CRM current.
With Clay or Apollo
- Someone builds the list and keeps it current
- Reps research each account before they write
- Signals wait in a tool until someone checks it
- The CRM is as current as the last manual update
With Swan
- Finds in-market accounts from signals and your ideal customer profile
- Enriches across many data providers, with no data charge when a lookup finds nothing
- Researches each account and drafts the first touch for you to approve
- Records account activity and play decisions in your CRM
More comparisons.
Side-by-side pages and guides to the tools GTM teams weigh up.
Clay vs Apollo, answered.
Prices are from each vendor's own pages in October 2026. Check them before you buy; plans change.
See Swan pricingIs Clay better than Apollo?
They solve different problems. Clay is the stronger choice when you want to combine many data sources and design your own enrichment logic. Apollo is the simpler choice when you want one tool that finds contacts and runs the outreach.
How much does Clay cost?
Clay has a free plan. Launch is $167 a month billed annually ($185 billed monthly) and Growth is $446 a month billed annually ($495 billed monthly), with unlimited seats on every plan. Enterprise is priced on request.
Clay pricing ↗How much does Apollo cost?
Apollo has a free plan. Basic is $49 per user a month and Professional $79 per user a month, billed annually, and larger teams can ask for a custom plan. Credits are pooled across the team and do not roll over.
Apollo: what does Apollo's pricing include? ↗Can I use Clay and Apollo together?
Yes. Clay has a native Apollo integration that runs on your own Apollo account, so you can enrich people and companies in Clay with Apollo data and work with Apollo contacts from a Clay table.
Clay Docs: Apollo.io integration ↗Where does Swan fit?
Swan is an AI GTM Engineer. It finds accounts from signals, enriches them, writes email and LinkedIn sequences that you approve before they send, and keeps your CRM up to date. It can take over the work you would stitch together from a data tool and a sequencer, or run alongside the tools you already have.
Outbound without the stitching.
See Swan find, research and write to your accounts on a live demo.