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Side-by-side comparison · Sales & Customer Support

Apollo.io vs Clay vs Hyperbound

Everything that matters when choosing between them, in one place: our rating, what each can do, what they cost, and the trade-offs.

Apollo.io

4.0

From $49/seat/mo

Clay

3.7

From From $167/mo

Best overall

Hyperbound

4.1

Free to start

Comparing 3 tools, the maximum.

At a glance

Best value

Pick it if: Founders, small sales teams and marketers who need to find B2B contacts and email them.

Clay3.7

Pick it if: Growth marketers, sales ops people and agencies who build targeted lead lists and personalised outbound.

Best overall

Pick it if: Sales managers and enablement teams onboarding and coaching reps on calls.

Hyperbound scores highest overall, but Apollo.io gives you more for your money. Which one is right comes down to what you value most.

Overview

AttributeApollo.ioClayHyperbound
In one lineB2B contact database with emails and phone numbers, plus sequences to reach them.Builds and enriches lead lists from 100+ data sources, with an AI agent for web research.AI sales role-play: practise cold calls and objections with realistic AI buyers.
Pricing modelFreemiumFreemiumFreemium
Starting price$49/seat/moFrom $167/moFree
Free plan Yes Yes Yes
Works with Claude Code Yes No No

Rating breakdown

Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.

AttributeApollo.ioClayHyperbound
Overall rating4.03.74.1Winner
Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it.
4.5
2.5
4.5
FeaturesHow completely it covers its own job, and how well the pieces fit together.
4.5
5.0
4.0
Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them.
3.0
4.5
4.5
Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan.
4.0
3.0
3.5
Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over.
4.0
3.5
4.0

Feature comparison

A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.

AttributeApollo.ioClayHyperbound
Access & platform
Free plan Yes Yes Yes
Mobile app Yes––
Desktop app–––
Browser extension Yes Yes Yes
API access Yes Yes–
Teams & business
Team workspace Yes Yes Yes
Enterprise plan or SSO Yes Yes Yes
Connects to other apps Yes Yes Yes
Open source or self-hosted No No No
AI abilities
Works with your files– Yes–
Understands images–––
Makes images No No No
Makes video No No No
Writes code–– No
Runs agents or automations Yes Yes Yes
Learns your brand or style–––
Works in many languages–––
Capabilities score8/ 178/ 176/ 17

Pricing

Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.

AttributeApollo.ioClayHyperbound
Plans

Free

Free

Founders testing outbound.

Free

Free

Learning Clay and small tests.

Free

Free

Trying AI role-play with a few reps.

Basic

$49/seat/mo billed yearly

Individual sellers doing regular outbound.

LaunchOur pick

From $167/mo, less billed yearly

Founders and small teams building outbound lists.

PracticeOur pick

Custom per user

Teams that want reps rehearsing on AI.

ProfessionalOur pick

$79/seat/mo billed yearly

Full-time reps.

Growth

From $446/mo, less billed yearly

Teams syncing Clay with their CRM.

Perform

Custom per user

Teams that also want real calls scored and coached.

Organization

$119/seat/mo billed yearly (min 3 seats)

Sales teams wanting advanced controls.

Enterprise

Custom

Large teams needing SSO and controls.

Which plan to pickStart on Free to check the data covers your market. Basic suits one person prospecting; Professional is worth it if you also call prospects or want AI scoring. Monthly billing costs noticeably more than the yearly prices shown.Learn on Free, then move to Launch when you are ready to run real campaigns. Only take Growth if you need CRM sync or the API. Set credit budgets on every table.Run the free role-plays with two or three reps first. If they keep using them, Practice covers rehearsal; only pay for Perform if you do not already have Gong or another call recorder.

Key features

AttributeApollo.ioClayHyperbound
Standout features
  • Contact database
  • Email sequences
  • Chrome extension
  • Dialer and call recording
  • AI research and scoring
  • Enrichment
  • Waterfall enrichment
  • Claygent
  • Signals
  • AI writing
  • CRM sync
  • Sequencer
  • AI buyer role-plays
  • Custom personas
  • Scorecards
  • Real call scoring
  • Manager dashboards

Pros and cons

AttributeApollo.ioClayHyperbound
Pros
  • Generous free plan for getting started
  • Database and outreach in one tool
  • Much cheaper than ZoomInfo
  • Easy to learn for non-technical users
  • Finds more emails and numbers than any one database
  • Claygent can research almost anything about a company
  • Very flexible: build exactly the list you need
  • Useful free plan for learning
  • Very realistic AI buyers that react to what you say
  • Useful free plan with ready-made role-plays
  • Clear scoring that shows reps what to fix
  • Saves managers hours of live role-play
Cons
  • Bounce rates and out-of-date contacts are common complaints
  • Weaker phone and contact data outside the US
  • Credits run out fast and do not roll over
  • Billing disputes and slow support on lower plans
  • Steep learning curve for non-technical users
  • Credits and actions are easy to burn, with no sandbox for testing
  • Two-currency pricing makes the bill hard to predict
  • Frequent pricing changes in 2026 confused existing customers
  • No public pricing for team plans
  • Custom personas and scorecards take setup time
  • Built for sales teams, not individuals practising on their own

Who each one is for

AttributeApollo.ioClayHyperbound
Best for
  • Finding business emails and phone numbers
  • Building B2B lead lists
  • Simple cold email sequences
  • Cheaper alternative to ZoomInfo
  • Building niche lead lists
  • Finding emails and phone numbers from many sources
  • AI research on each prospect
  • Keeping CRM data enriched
  • Practising cold calls before going live
  • Onboarding new sales reps faster
  • Drilling objection handling
  • Scoring calls against a scorecard
You'll find it used by
  • Founders
  • Sales development reps
  • Account executives
  • Marketers
  • Recruiters
  • Growth marketers
  • Sales ops
  • Outbound agencies
  • Founders
  • Recruiters
  • Sales development reps
  • Account executives
  • Sales managers
  • Sales enablement teams

Questions people ask

Which is better, Apollo.io, Clay or Hyperbound?

Hyperbound scores highest overall in our ratings (Apollo.io 4.0/5, Clay 3.7/5 and Hyperbound 4.1/5). Apollo.io is best for finding business emails and phone numbers and Building B2B lead lists. Clay is best for building niche lead lists and finding emails and phone numbers from many sources. Hyperbound is best for practising cold calls before going live and onboarding new sales reps faster.

Which is cheaper, Apollo.io, Clay or Hyperbound?

Apollo.io: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $49/seat/mo. Clay: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at From $167/mo. Hyperbound: It's free to use.

How we compare

Ratings are our own, from using each tool, across ease of use, features, output quality, value for money, speed & reliability.

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