Side-by-side comparison · Sales & Customer Support

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.

Clay

3.7

From From $167/mo

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Best overall

Retell AI

4.1

From About $0.07–$0.31/min

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Comparing 2 tools. Add one more if you like.

At a glance

Clay3.7

Pick it if: Growth marketers, sales ops people and agencies who build targeted lead lists and personalised outbound.

Retell AI4.1

Best overallBest valueEasiest to use

Pick it if: Service businesses and agencies that want an AI receptionist or phone agent without hiring developers.

Overview

Attribute	Clay	Retell AI
In one line	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	Paid
Starting price	From $167/mo	About $0.07–$0.31/min
Free plan	Yes	No
Works with Claude Code	No	Yes

Rating breakdown

Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.

Attribute	Clay	Retell AI
Overall rating	3.7	4.1Winner
Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it.	2.5	3.5
FeaturesHow completely it covers its own job, and how well the pieces fit together.	5.0	4.5
Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them.	4.5	4.5
Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan.	3.0	4.0
Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over.	3.5	4.0

Feature comparison

A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.

Attribute	Clay	Retell AI
Access & platform
Free plan	Yes	No
Mobile app	–	–
Desktop app	–	–
Browser extension	Yes	–
API access	Yes	Yes
Teams & business
Team workspace	Yes	Yes
Enterprise plan or SSO	Yes	Yes
Connects to other apps	Yes	Yes
Open source or self-hosted	No	No
AI abilities
Works with your files	Yes	Yes
Understands images	–	–
Makes images	No	No
Makes video	No	No
Writes code	–	–
Runs agents or automations	Yes	Yes
Learns your brand or style	–	–
Works in many languages	–	Yes
Capabilities score	8/ 17	7/ 17

Pricing

Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.

Attribute	Clay	Retell AI
Plans	Free Free Learning Clay and small tests.	Pay as you goOur pick About $0.07–$0.31/min Most small businesses and agencies.
	LaunchOur pick From $167/mo, less billed yearly Founders and small teams building outbound lists.	Enterprise Custom High call volumes and compliance needs.
	Growth From $446/mo, less billed yearly Teams syncing Clay with their CRM.
	Enterprise Custom Large teams needing SSO and controls.
Which plan to pick	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

Attribute	Clay	Retell AI
Standout features	Waterfall enrichment Claygent Signals AI writing CRM sync Sequencer	Phone agents Flow builder Appointment booking Knowledge base Batch calling Call analysis

Pros and cons

Attribute	Clay	Retell AI
Pros	Finds more emails and numbers than any one database Claygent can research almost anything about a company Very flexible: build exactly the list you need Useful free plan for learning	Natural voices and quick responses Visual builder makes it usable for non-developers Pay per minute with no platform fee Strong reviews from small businesses and agencies
Cons	Steep learning curve for non-technical users Credits and actions are easy to burn, with no sandbox for testing Two-currency pricing makes the bill hard to predict Frequent pricing changes in 2026 confused existing customers	Per-minute cost varies a lot with your model and voice choices Takes testing to handle real callers reliably Some users want more voice and customisation options

Who each one is for

Attribute	Clay	Retell AI
Best for	Building niche lead lists Finding emails and phone numbers from many sources AI research on each prospect Keeping CRM data enriched	AI receptionist for a small business Booking appointments by phone Answering after-hours and overflow calls Outbound reminder and follow-up calls
You'll find it used by	Growth marketers Sales ops Outbound agencies Founders Recruiters	Small business owners Clinics Voice AI agencies Customer service teams Developers

Questions people ask

Which is better, Clay or Retell AI?

Retell AI scores highest overall in our ratings (Clay 3.7/5 and Retell AI 4.1/5). 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, Clay or Retell AI?

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, Clay or Retell AI?

Retell AI rates highest for ease of use in our scores. Service businesses and agencies that want an AI receptionist or phone agent without hiring developers.

Ratings are our own, from using each tool, across ease of use, features, output quality, value for money, speed & reliability.

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