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SALES INTELLIGENCE & B2B DATA · MIGRATION GUIDE

Switching from Apollo.io to Clay

Moving from Apollo.io to Clay usually means moving lists, not a database: export contacts to CSV or connect Apollo inside Clay, then rebuild enrichment as Clay workflows.

Bill Belcamino
Bottom line up frontby Bill Belcamino, founder of HelpCompare
Editorial assessment

Bottom line up front: Should you replace Apollo.io with Clay, or add Clay on top?

Don't cancel Apollo.io just because you're buying Clay: the two do different jobs, and Clay can connect your Apollo account and use it as one provider among many.

A full switch means exporting saved contacts to CSV (which can use Apollo export credits), importing them into Clay tables and rebuilding enrichment, while sequences, email history and saved searches stay behind. Clay meters every step, with Launch from $167 a month on annual billing, and its docs don't say whether Apollo lookups run inside Clay bill Apollo or Clay credits. I'd build one pilot table of a few hundred real rows and write down the credits and Actions it burns per row, because a workflow that runs on every row, including ones you'll never contact, spends the meter faster than people expect. If you do replace Apollo, let live sequences finish before you cancel, or prospects halfway through a campaign simply stop hearing from you.

My read of the verified data on this page, checked against vendor sources on September 27, 2026. Disagree or spot an error? Tell Bill

Heads up: Clay and Apollo.io do different jobs, and many teams keep both. This guide covers a full switch and notes where a combined setup is simpler.

Estimate · your inputs

Switching Cost & Friction Estimator

Most buyers only budget for the new subscription. This estimates the hidden labor, data-cleanup, and retraining cost of actually making the switch.

25,000
10

Estimate assumes: 1 hour of data-mapping/cleaning labor per 2,000 records, a blended $75/hr ops rate, tiered migration & cleaning tooling fees, and 4 hours of retraining per seat at a $45/hr fully-loaded rate.

Estimated Migration Time —
Data Friction Rating —
Total Hidden Switching Cost $0

    Why teams move from Apollo.io to Clay

    Many providers

    Clay buys data from 200+ providers in one place.

    Unlimited seats

    Every Clay plan includes unlimited seats, so extra users add no seat cost.

    Workflows

    Enrich, research with AI and send data to your CRM or sequencer.

    How the migration actually works

    Clay is priced by Data Credits and Actions, so estimate a month of enrichment before you pick Launch or Growth.

    StepWhat you do
    1Export from Apollo.ioIn Search, People, select contacts and click Export. Saved contacts may use export credits depending on your plan; contacts you imported from CSV or a CRM do not.
    2Pick a Clay planLaunch (from $185 monthly, $167 annual) allows up to 50,000 rows per table; Free allows 200 rows. A 14-day trial is available.
    3Import the CSV into ClayAdd the CSV as a source to a new or existing table, map columns, and choose whether to run enrichment on the rows now.
    4Rebuild enrichmentSet up the providers and AI steps you need; each step uses Actions and bought data uses Data Credits.
    5Connect outputsSend results to HubSpot, Salesforce, Google Sheets or a sequencer, or use Clay’s table-based email campaigns (Launch and up).
    6Keep or cancel Apollo.ioIf you still want Apollo data, connect your Apollo account in Clay; otherwise cancel Apollo at the end of its term.

    What this path doesn’t do for you:

    Apollo sequences, email history and saved searches do not move to Clay; rebuild campaigns in Clay’s sequencer or your sending tool. Clay’s docs do not say whether Apollo lookups made from inside Clay bill Apollo or Clay credits.

    Pricing side by side

    PlanApollo.ioClay
    Pricing basisPer userPer workspace, unlimited seats
    Free plan900 credits per seat a year100 Data Credits, 500 Actions a month
    Entry paidFrom $49/user/moLaunch from $185/mo monthly, $167 annual
    Next tierSee vendor pricing pageGrowth from $495/mo monthly, $446 annual

    US list prices checked on each vendor’s pricing page on September 27, 2026. Prices for tools HelpCompare already covers reuse their verified listings.

    Feature parity check

    CapabilityApollo.ioClay
    Own contact databaseYes (240M contacts)No; buys from 200+ providers
    SequencingBuilt inTable-based campaigns from Launch
    SeatsPer userUnlimited on every plan

    Going the other direction, or want the full comparison first?

    Read the Clay vs Apollo.io comparison Switching from Clay to Apollo.io instead?
    Verified data

    Security & access: what changes when you switch

    Security, offline and access rules that differ between Apollo.io and Clay. Rows where both tools are the same (2) are left out; the full side-by-side is on each tool’s page: Apollo.io, Clay.

    What changesApollo.io (today)Clay (after)
    ISO/IEC 27001CertifiedsourceNot published
    Other certificationsCASA Tier 2sourceNot published
    Single sign-on (SAML/OIDC)YesOrganizationsourceYesEnterprisesource
    SCIM user provisioningYesOrganizationsourceNot published
    Two-factor authenticationYesEnforcement: Basic (any paid plan)sourceNot published
    Data residency choicesUS onlysourceNot published
    EncryptionEncrypted in transit and at rest (algorithms not stated publicly)sourceNot published
    Mobile appsNonesourceNot published
    IP allowlistingYesOrganizationsourceNot published
    Device & session controlsYesOrganizationAdmin-set session timeout (1 to 30 days) and a cap on failed login attempts per 24 hours.sourceNot published
    Editorial assessment

    Before you cut over

    • Set up single sign-on in Clay on Enterprise before you invite the team, so accounts are created through your identity provider rather than by hand.
    • If you restrict Apollo.io to office or VPN IP addresses today, check how you will enforce the same rule in Clay; we found no IP allowlisting documented.

    Checked September 27, 2026 against each vendor’s own trust center, help docs and app pages. Hover or tap “source” to see the exact wording we relied on. “Not published” means we could not find the vendor saying it on its own site; it doesn’t mean the feature is missing. Plan names are the lowest plan the vendor says includes the feature. Security · Offline · Remote vs office · Download the data

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Can Clay use my Apollo.io data?

    Yes. Clay’s Apollo.io integration can enrich people and companies, find or create contacts and add contacts to Apollo sequences once you connect your Apollo account.

    Does exporting from Apollo cost credits?

    It can: Apollo says exporting saved contacts to CSV may require export credits depending on your plan.

    Is Clay cheaper?

    For teams of four or more it can be, since seats are unlimited, but Clay’s cost depends on the Data Credits and Actions you use.

    Sources

    Prices on this page were recorded from each vendor’s own pricing page on the date shown at the top of the page. Vendors change pricing often — check the live source before you buy.

    Every figure is also in our open dataset (JSON and CSV, CC BY 4.0), with its source page and verification date. See how we research pricing.

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    Bill Belcamino, founder of HelpCompare
    About the author

    Bill Belcamino

    Founder and author, HelpCompare

    Engineer by training, operator by experience, marketer by choice. Bill spent nine years as an engineer at HP, was COO of Auctiva (the number one third-party selling platform on eBay, past 200,000 users) and ran Google’s $70M/year search syndication partnership at Alot.com. Then he spent 13 years building his own web properties with his own money at stake. He has bought, trialled, integrated and cancelled more SaaS tools than he can count, and started HelpCompare because the real cost of switching tools is the part nobody covers.

    “I’ve sat on both sides of the table: the agency recommending the tool and the client paying for it.”

    Researched and fact-checked by the HelpCompare team. Pricing on this page was last verified on September 27, 2026. No paid sponsorships, no affiliate commissions.