The cost of one enriched email at the same monthly volume
The same need on all three: find and verify N work emails a month, with the cheapest plan that covers it. Apollo: one licence and its monthly credits, plus extra credits. Clay: a Launch configuration (data credit tier plus action tier), between the two costs per email it publishes (1 credit and 3 actions in its calculator, 0.5 credit and 1 action in its help centre). Emelia: the Start plan and the monthly credit pack that covers the volume.
Emails found a month, billed monthly
1,000 emails
2,500 emails
6,000 emails
10,000 emails
20,000 emails
Credits and seats
Who can log in
Unused credits
Phone number
For Apollo, two totals are shown: its tier table does not say whether extra credits are all billed at the tier the volume reaches (the lower total) or tier by tier (the higher one). Clay charges no credits or actions when an enrichment returns nothing, and shows each provider’s exact cost only inside the app. Apollo, Clay and their comparisons are in US dollars; Emelia charges the same figure in euros and in dollars, so the advantage is marked for dollar payments.
Free plans, trials and contract terms of Apollo and Clay
Free plan
Entry paid plan
Yearly discount
Free trial
CRM sync
Refunds
Trustpilot
Both bill in US dollars. Apollo’s prices exclude taxes; Clay’s pages do not say.
Waterfall enrichment: Apollo’s built-in waterfall and Clay’s 150+ providers
Apollo’s waterfall, from Basic, asks third-party providers when its own data comes up empty. Apollo’s calculator counts about 2 credits per email found that way, and providers that return an unverified result still charge. It is a complement to the database, set up in a few clicks.
In Clay, the waterfall is the product: you choose the providers, their order and the validation step, in a table where every result stays visible. Clay lists 150+ providers (200+ on other pages) in its marketplace; you can also plug in your own API keys (then 0 data credit, 1 action per run). Apollo is one of them, but only with your own Apollo account: Clay then charges 1 action and Apollo its own credits.
Clay also has a database: 900M people, 70M companies and 300M job posts, searchable for free; Clay says its coverage is 15 to 25% lower outside the United States.
Apollo or Clay: who needs which
Set the prices aside, and Apollo is a database with a sales tool around it. You search its 240M contacts, reveal an email for 1 credit or a phone number for 8, and work the leads in the same place: sequences, calls, meetings, deals. Each person needs a licence, from $65 a month.
Clay is a data workflow. You bring or build a list in a table, and each column calls a provider, an AI model or a formula: work emails through a waterfall of providers, company data, signals, AI research. Seats are unlimited on every plan; you pay for the work in actions and for the data in data credits, from $185 a month on Launch.
Teams that want a ready-made source of contacts and a place to call and email them tend to land on Apollo. Teams that already have lists, combine several sources and want to shape the data before sending tend to land on Clay, which can also use Apollo as one of its sources.
Sending the emails: Apollo’s sequences and Clay’s Sequencer
Apollo sequences send from your connected mailboxes: 1 per licence on Basic, unlimited Google and Microsoft mailboxes on Professional, with calls and LinkedIn tasks in the same sequence. Each licence warms up 1 mailbox at no extra cost according to Apollo’s help centre, and every further one takes 200 credits a month, although the plan cards simply list warm-up as included.
Clay’s Sequencer (from Launch in its pricing table; its pricing FAQ also lists it on Free) is built on Smartlead: 4 emails per sequence at most, 1 action per lead enrolled, no calls and no manual tasks. Clay can also push leads to Smartlead, Instantly, lemlist, Outreach, Salesloft, Reply.io and Apollo.io, each with its own subscription.
Neither automates LinkedIn: Apollo turns LinkedIn steps into manual tasks, and Clay sends leads to HeyReach and La Growth Machine. Emelia runs LinkedIn and email in the same sequence, from €37 a month for the plan.
Apollo or Clay: which one should run your lead data?
Apollo
If you want one source of contacts, phone numbers that cost little in credits, and a place to email, call and track deals, with a licence per salesperson. Check the data on your own market during the trial, especially outside the US.
Clay
If one person builds lists for the whole team, combines several providers and AI research, and wants to keep the credits that are not used. It costs more per email found and needs another tool for calls and LinkedIn.
Emelia, with either
If your leads already come from Apollo, Clay or a CSV file and you prospect on LinkedIn as much as by email: Emelia automates both channels, with warm-up included, from €37 a month for the plan.
Apollo or Clay: what buyers ask before choosing
Yes, through 14 Apollo actions in Clay (enrich a person or a company, find people, add to an Apollo sequence…), all of which require your own Apollo account. Clay charges 1 action per run and Apollo its own credits; the total cost per email is not published.
Apollo: $65 (one Basic licence, 2,500 credits included). Clay: $185 (Launch). Emelia: €56 (Start and a 1,000-credit pack).
Yes, with its Sequencer, built on Smartlead (from Launch in its pricing table, on Free too according to its FAQ): up to 4 emails per sequence, no calls or manual tasks. Apollo’s sequences mix emails, calls and LinkedIn tasks.
Apollo charges 8 credits per mobile or direct number. Clay’s calculator counts about 5 data credits and 3 actions, from Launch, and Clay says its coverage is lower outside the US. Reviews of Apollo also report weaker phone data outside the US.
Emelia is an Apollo.io competitor. We have tried to stay fair: every figure about Apollo.io comes from its own website or public review sites.
