Directory›Compare›Apollo.io vs Clay

Pricing Comparison 2026

Apollo.io vs Clay

Side-by-side pricing breakdown, hidden costs, and negotiation intel for both tools. Verified March 10, 2026.

Mid-market · Sales Intelligence

Apollo.io

From $59/user/mo

Per Seat · 3 plans

Mid-market / Enterprise · Sales Intelligence

Clay

From $185/mo

Credit-Based · 3 plans

At a glance

	Apollo.io	Clay
Starting price	$59/user/mo	$185/mo
Pricing model	Per Seat	Credit-Based
Free trial	✓ Yes	✓ Yes
Annual only	✓ No	✓ No
Plans	3 tiers	3 tiers
Hidden costs	4 flagged	3 flagged
Last verified	March 10, 2026	March 11, 2026

Plan breakdown

Apollo.io

Free plan available with 100 credits — functional for evaluation but too limited for real outbound.

Basic

$59

/user/mo · month-to-month — or $49/user/mo with annual commitment (20% off)

Professional

$99

/user/mo · month-to-month — or $79/user/mo with annual commitment (20% off)

Organization

$4,284

/yr · $119/user/mo, annual commitment only — 5% discount at 10 seats, 8% at 20 seats, min. 3 users

Clay

Free plan available with 500 actions and 100 data credits/month. Clay uses two separate currencies: actions (for running workflows and waterfall enrichments) and data credits (for pulling contact/company data from providers). Both deplete independently.

Launch

$185

/mo · month-to-month — annual discount available

Growth

$495

/mo · month-to-month — annual discount available

Enterprise

Custom

· custom actions and data credits — contact sales

Hidden costs

Apollo.io — 4 flagged

Credits don't roll over

Unused credits expire at the end of each billing cycle. There is no rollover. Additional credits can be purchased at $0.15–$0.25/credit depending on volume.

Mobile credits are tightly rationed

Even on the Professional plan you get just 100 mobile credits per month. Phone-heavy teams will exhaust these quickly.

Dialer requires Professional tier

If your team calls prospects, you cannot use the basic plan. The US dialer is locked to Professional and above.

Seat reductions locked mid-term

You cannot reduce seats during your contract period. If your team shrinks, you still pay for all seats until renewal.

Clay — 3 flagged

Two separate credit systems

Clay now charges for actions (workflow runs) and data credits (provider lookups) separately. You can exhaust one without touching the other. Budget for both independently.

Data credit cost varies by provider

Not all enrichments cost the same number of data credits. A basic email lookup costs less than a mobile number from a premium provider. Credit burn is unpredictable until you learn the platform.

Steep learning curve

Clay requires significant setup time — users report 2–4 weeks before getting full value. That time cost is real even if it doesn't appear on an invoice.

Negotiation intel

Apollo.io

Apollo is less negotiable than enterprise tools but annual discounts are automatic (20% vs monthly). Startup discounts available through their program.

Clay

Clay pricing is fairly fixed on self-serve plans. Enterprise contracts are negotiable with multi-year commits and volume. Competing quotes from ZoomInfo and Seamless are the most effective leverage on enterprise deals — similar price range makes the threat credible.

Full Apollo.io pricing →Full Clay pricing →

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Apollo.io

Clay

Starting price

$59/user/mo

$185/mo

Pricing model

Per Seat

Credit-Based

Free trial

✓ Yes

Annual only

✓ No

Plans

3 tiers

Hidden costs

4 flagged

3 flagged

Last verified

March 10, 2026

March 11, 2026

Plan breakdown

Apollo.io

Free plan available with 100 credits — functional for evaluation but too limited for real outbound.

Basic

$59

/user/mo · month-to-month — or $49/user/mo with annual commitment (20% off)

Professional

$99

/user/mo · month-to-month — or $79/user/mo with annual commitment (20% off)

Organization

$4,284

/yr · $119/user/mo, annual commitment only — 5% discount at 10 seats, 8% at 20 seats, min. 3 users

Clay

Launch

$185

/mo · month-to-month — annual discount available

Growth

$495

/mo · month-to-month — annual discount available

Enterprise

Custom

· custom actions and data credits — contact sales

Hidden costs

Apollo.io — 4 flagged

Credits don't roll over

Unused credits expire at the end of each billing cycle. There is no rollover. Additional credits can be purchased at $0.15–$0.25/credit depending on volume.

Mobile credits are tightly rationed

Even on the Professional plan you get just 100 mobile credits per month. Phone-heavy teams will exhaust these quickly.

Dialer requires Professional tier

If your team calls prospects, you cannot use the basic plan. The US dialer is locked to Professional and above.

Seat reductions locked mid-term

You cannot reduce seats during your contract period. If your team shrinks, you still pay for all seats until renewal.

Clay — 3 flagged

Two separate credit systems

Clay now charges for actions (workflow runs) and data credits (provider lookups) separately. You can exhaust one without touching the other. Budget for both independently.

Data credit cost varies by provider

Not all enrichments cost the same number of data credits. A basic email lookup costs less than a mobile number from a premium provider. Credit burn is unpredictable until you learn the platform.

Steep learning curve

Clay requires significant setup time — users report 2–4 weeks before getting full value. That time cost is real even if it doesn't appear on an invoice.

Negotiation intel

Apollo.io

Apollo is less negotiable than enterprise tools but annual discounts are automatic (20% vs monthly). Startup discounts available through their program.

Clay