Buyer comparison

Pay for the finished research artifact, not another prospecting interface.

Managed costs $3,000 per month. It replaces a defined slice of research and first-draft labor. Your team still owns sending, replies, meetings, CRM, judgment, and revenue.

Four alternatives

The cash comparison and the operating boundary

Prices are directional snapshots checked on 14 August 2026. They are not quotes or promises.

Alternative	Cash signal	What you operate	What OnyxWork replaces	What it does not
One US SDR	$80,000 to $85,000 cash compensation and $105,000 to $115,000 fully loaded each year, before tools and management.	Hiring, training, management, tools, quality control, and continuity.	OnyxWork can replace part of the recurring company research and first-draft work at $3,000 per month.	It does not replace calls, sending, replies, meetings, CRM work, judgment, or a managed employee.
Clay plus a VA	Clay lists plans from $185 to $495 per month, before a VA, data providers, setup, and quality assurance.	Workflow design, operator management, data-provider choices, exceptions, and record review.	OnyxWork delivers an outcome-shaped weekly artifact rather than a workflow builder.	It does not give your team Clay's open-ended workflow flexibility or remove the need to review each record.
Apollo self-serve	Apollo seats are roughly $49 to $99 per user each month, depending on plan and billing.	Targeting, list cleanup, evidence gathering, contact selection, sequences, and daily operation.	OnyxWork starts with a public reason, keeps the source attached, finds a company-published contact, and prepares the first draft.	It does not compete on database breadth, supply autonomous sequences, or promise more names.
Outbound agency retainer	Retainers often cost several thousand dollars per month. Exact quotes and scope vary by agency.	Vendor oversight, message approval, sales follow-up, and downstream pipeline handling.	OnyxWork is narrower: research operations and review-ready drafts with inspectable evidence.	It does not include live campaign operation, meetings, pipeline creation, or an outcome guarantee.

One US SDR

Cash signal: $80,000 to $85,000 cash compensation and $105,000 to $115,000 fully loaded each year, before tools and management.
What you operate: Hiring, training, management, tools, quality control, and continuity.
What OnyxWork replaces: OnyxWork can replace part of the recurring company research and first-draft work at $3,000 per month.
What it does not: It does not replace calls, sending, replies, meetings, CRM work, judgment, or a managed employee.

Clay plus a VA

Cash signal: Clay lists plans from $185 to $495 per month, before a VA, data providers, setup, and quality assurance.
What you operate: Workflow design, operator management, data-provider choices, exceptions, and record review.
What OnyxWork replaces: OnyxWork delivers an outcome-shaped weekly artifact rather than a workflow builder.
What it does not: It does not give your team Clay's open-ended workflow flexibility or remove the need to review each record.

Apollo self-serve

Cash signal: Apollo seats are roughly $49 to $99 per user each month, depending on plan and billing.
What you operate: Targeting, list cleanup, evidence gathering, contact selection, sequences, and daily operation.
What OnyxWork replaces: OnyxWork starts with a public reason, keeps the source attached, finds a company-published contact, and prepares the first draft.
What it does not: It does not compete on database breadth, supply autonomous sequences, or promise more names.

Outbound agency retainer

Cash signal: Retainers often cost several thousand dollars per month. Exact quotes and scope vary by agency.
What you operate: Vendor oversight, message approval, sales follow-up, and downstream pipeline handling.
What OnyxWork replaces: OnyxWork is narrower: research operations and review-ready drafts with inspectable evidence.
What it does not: It does not include live campaign operation, meetings, pipeline creation, or an outcome guarantee.

The honest fit

Use OnyxWork when the research operation is the bottleneck.

A good fit

You know the market and offer, but your team does not consistently turn public signals into checked dossiers and drafts. You want the source beside every conclusion.

Not a replacement

You need a caller, a closer, autonomous campaign sending, guaranteed meetings, or a broad contact database. Those are different products and operating responsibilities.

Judge the artifact before the comparison.

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