Using Apollo and Clay for Lead Gen

Clay and Apollo market their product extremely well and they are blasted all over LinkedIn and X.

I decided to try both out and Clay is definitely not easy to use. I've heard great things, but as a first time found beginning my lead generation and prospecting phase, there has to be easier tools. The learning curve felt steep to me.

Apollo was much easier to use and the layout was cleaner. Apollo does have a complex pricing scheme. I'm just trying to find contacts and create an adequate pipeline. I'm currently just scrapping the web using Google's API or SERP API instead of paying $50-$100 a month. These leads haven't been qualified but at least some of them are unique.

Any thoughts about my process?