Side-by-side comparison · Sales & Customer Support
Apollo.io vs Clay vs Intercom
Everything that matters when choosing between them, in one place: our rating, what each can do, what they cost, and the trade-offs.
Comparing 3 tools, the maximum.
At a glance
Pick it if: Founders, small sales teams and marketers who need to find B2B contacts and email them.
Pick it if: Growth marketers, sales ops people and agencies who build targeted lead lists and personalised outbound.
Pick it if: Online businesses and software companies with a support team that wants an AI agent to take the first pass at every question.
Intercom scores highest overall, but Apollo.io gives you more for your money. Which one is right comes down to what you value most.
Overview
| Attribute | Apollo.io | Clay | Intercom |
|---|---|---|---|
| In one line | B2B 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. | Customer support inbox, help centre and chat, with the Fin AI agent answering first. |
| Pricing model | Freemium | Freemium | Paid |
| Starting price | $49/seat/mo | From $167/mo | $0.99 per outcome |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | No |
| Works with Claude Code | Yes | No | Yes |
Rating breakdown
Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.
| Attribute | Apollo.io | Clay | Intercom |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 4.0 | 3.7 | 4.2Winner |
| Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it. | 4.5 | 2.5 | 4.0 |
| FeaturesHow completely it covers its own job, and how well the pieces fit together. | 4.5 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| 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 | 3.0 |
| Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over. | 4.0 | 3.5 | 4.5 |
Feature comparison
A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.
| Attribute | Apollo.io | Clay | Intercom |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access & platform | |||
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | No |
| Mobile app | Yes | – | Yes |
| Desktop app | – | – | – |
| Browser extension | Yes | Yes | – |
| API access | Yes | 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 | Yes |
| Understands images | – | – | Yes |
| 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 | – | – | Yes |
| Works in many languages | – | – | Yes |
| Capabilities score | 8/ 17 | 8/ 17 | 10/ 17 |
Pricing
Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.
| Attribute | Apollo.io | Clay | Intercom |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plans | Free Free Founders testing outbound. | Free Free Learning Clay and small tests. | Fin on its own $0.99 per outcome, monthly minimum Teams happy with their current helpdesk who want the AI agent only. |
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. | Essential $29/seat/mo, plus $0.99 per Fin outcome Small teams starting out with live chat and an AI agent. | |
ProfessionalOur pick $79/seat/mo billed yearly Full-time reps. | Growth From $446/mo, less billed yearly Teams syncing Clay with their CRM. | AdvancedOur pick $85/seat/mo, plus $0.99 per Fin outcome Growing support teams that need automation and several inboxes. | |
Organization $119/seat/mo billed yearly (min 3 seats) Sales teams wanting advanced controls. | Enterprise Custom Large teams needing SSO and controls. | Expert $132/seat/mo, plus $0.99 per Fin outcome Larger teams with security and multi-brand needs. | |
| Which plan to pick | Start 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. | Start the 14-day trial and see how many conversations Fin handles, because that number drives the bill more than seats do. Most teams with more than a couple of agents end up on Advanced for the workflows. If you already run Zendesk or Salesforce and like it, try Fin on its own first. |
Key features
| Attribute | Apollo.io | Clay | Intercom |
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Pros and cons
| Attribute | Apollo.io | Clay | Intercom |
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Who each one is for
| Attribute | Apollo.io | Clay | Intercom |
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Questions people ask
Which is better, Apollo.io, Clay or Intercom?
Intercom scores highest overall in our ratings (Apollo.io 4.0/5, Clay 3.7/5 and Intercom 4.2/5). 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. Intercom is best for answering common customer questions automatically and website and in-app live chat.
Which is cheaper, Apollo.io, Clay or Intercom?
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. Intercom: There's no free plan. Paid plans start at $0.99 per outcome.
Which is easier to use, Apollo.io, Clay or Intercom?
Apollo.io rates highest for ease of use in our scores. Founders, small sales teams and marketers who need to find B2B contacts and email them.
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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