Clay vs Apollo
Clay and Apollo both target GTM teams but solve different halves of the prospect pipeline. Clay is a spreadsheet-first enrichment workbench that lets RevOps glue 100+ data providers into a single table with waterfalls and AI research. Apollo is a 275M-contact database with built-in sequencing and dialing. Choose based on whether you need a custom enrichment engine or a ready-made prospect list.
Clay
$149/mo Starter, $349/mo Pro
Strengths
- Spreadsheet UX for GTM engineers
- 100+ data providers behind waterfall logic
- Claygent AI for custom research on every row
- Seamless export to HubSpot, Salesforce, Outreach
Weaknesses
- No native contact database -- you bring seed data
- Credit burn stacks fast across waterfalls
- Steep learning curve for non-RevOps users
- No built-in email sending or sequencing
Apollo
$49/mo/seat Basic, $79/mo/seat Pro
Strengths
- 275M contacts with phone numbers and emails
- Built-in sequencing, dialer, and meeting scheduler
- Intent data and buyer signals included
- Free tier with 5,000 credits/mo
Weaknesses
- Email accuracy varies by region (better US than APAC)
- Sequencing feels bolted on vs dedicated tools
- No custom enrichment logic across providers
- Data freshness lags behind real-time providers
Feature-by-feature comparison
The verdict
Clay wins when you want to engineer a custom enrichment stack and treat GTM like a data pipeline. Apollo wins when you just need prospects in the funnel tomorrow. The highest-performing GTM teams in 2026 run both: Apollo for seed data, Clay for enrichment and personalization, and a dedicated sender like Smartlead or Instantly for actual outreach.
Consider Scavio instead
Scavio provides the real-time web and social signal that Clay and Apollo do not: LinkedIn post engagement, Reddit discussions, news mentions, and Google search results -- all plugged into your enrichment pipelines via Claygent HTTP calls or Apollo workflows.
Frequently Asked Questions
Clay and Apollo both target GTM teams but solve different halves of the prospect pipeline. Clay is a spreadsheet-first enrichment workbench that lets RevOps glue 100+ data providers into a single table with waterfalls and AI research. Apollo is a 275M-contact database with built-in sequencing and dialing. Choose based on whether you need a custom enrichment engine or a ready-made prospect list.
Clay is priced at $149/mo Starter, $349/mo Pro. Apollo is priced at $49/mo/seat Basic, $79/mo/seat Pro. The better value depends on your usage volume and feature requirements.
Scavio provides the real-time web and social signal that Clay and Apollo do not: LinkedIn post engagement, Reddit discussions, news mentions, and Google search results -- all plugged into your enrichment pipelines via Claygent HTTP calls or Apollo workflows.
Some teams use both tools for different parts of their pipeline. However, a unified API like Scavio can replace the need for multiple subscriptions by providing search, content extraction, YouTube, and Amazon data from a single endpoint.
Try Scavio for free
500 free credits/month. Structured data from Google, YouTube, Amazon, Walmart, and Reddit. No credit card required.