Side-by-side comparison · Sales & Customer Support
Apollo.io vs Clay vs Retell AI
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: Service businesses and agencies that want an AI receptionist or phone agent without hiring developers.
Overview
| Attribute | Apollo.io | Clay | Retell AI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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. | AI phone agents that answer calls, book appointments and make outbound calls. |
| Pricing model | Freemium | Freemium | Paid |
| Starting price | $49/seat/mo | From $167/mo | About $0.07–$0.31/min |
| 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 | Retell AI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 4.0 | 3.7 | 4.1Winner |
| Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it. | 4.5 | 2.5 | 3.5 |
| FeaturesHow completely it covers its own job, and how well the pieces fit together. | 4.5 | 5.0 | 4.5 |
| 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 | 4.0 |
| 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.
| Attribute | Apollo.io | Clay | Retell AI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access & platform | |||
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | No |
| Mobile app | 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 | – | – | – |
| Makes images | No | No | No |
| Makes video | No | No | No |
| Writes code | – | – | – |
| Runs agents or automations | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Learns your brand or style | – | – | – |
| Works in many languages | – | – | Yes |
| Capabilities score | 8/ 17 | 8/ 17 | 7/ 17 |
Pricing
Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.
| Attribute | Apollo.io | Clay | Retell AI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plans | Free Free Founders testing outbound. | Free Free Learning Clay and small tests. | Pay as you goOur pick About $0.07–$0.31/min Most small businesses and agencies. |
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. | Enterprise Custom High call volumes and compliance needs. | |
ProfessionalOur pick $79/seat/mo billed yearly Full-time reps. | Growth From $446/mo, less billed yearly Teams syncing Clay with their CRM. | ||
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 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 on pay as you go with the free credits, build one agent for your most common call and test it on your own phone. Talk to sales only once you run thousands of minutes a month. |
Key features
Pros and cons
| Attribute | Apollo.io | Clay | Retell AI |
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Who each one is for
| Attribute | Apollo.io | Clay | Retell AI |
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Questions people ask
Which is better, Apollo.io, Clay or Retell AI?
Retell AI scores highest overall in our ratings (Apollo.io 4.0/5, Clay 3.7/5 and Retell AI 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. Retell AI is best for AI receptionist for a small business and booking appointments by phone.
Which is cheaper, Apollo.io, Clay or Retell AI?
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. Retell AI: There's no free plan. Paid plans start at About $0.07–$0.31/min.
Which is easier to use, Apollo.io, Clay or Retell AI?
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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