Clay

Clay is a spreadsheet-like tool for building and enriching lead lists. You start with a list of companies or people, then add columns that pull data from more than 100 providers (emails, phone numbers, company size, funding, tech used), trying one provider after another until it finds a match. Its AI agent, Claygent, visits websites and answers questions for each row, such as "does this company sell to schools?", and can write a personalised first line for each prospect.

Pick it when the quality of your lead list is what holds back your outbound: niche markets, custom research or signals like job changes and new hires. Apollo is simpler and cheaper if a standard B2B database is enough. Clay finds and prepares the leads; you still send with Reply.io, Outreach or your CRM.

The catch: it has a real learning curve, and costs can run away. Since the March 2026 pricing change you pay in two currencies (data credits and actions), there is no sandbox for testing, and reviewers report burning a month of credits in an afternoon by re-running a table by mistake.

• Growth marketers
• Sales ops
• Outbound agencies
• Founders
• Recruiters

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

• Waterfall enrichment

  Tries one data provider after another until it finds a verified email or phone number.

• Claygent

  An AI agent that visits websites and answers custom research questions for every row.

• Signals

  Track job changes, new hires, funding and website visits to know when to reach out.

• AI writing

  Writes personalised first lines and emails from the data in each row.

• CRM sync

  Pushes enriched data into HubSpot or Salesforce and keeps it up to date on Growth.

• Sequencer

  Send emails from Clay or hand leads to your outreach tool.

• Free

  Free

  Learning Clay and small tests.

  • 100 data credits and 500 actions a month
  • Claygent and waterfalls
  • Up to 200 rows per table
• Our pick

  Launch

  From $167/mo, less billed yearly

  Founders and small teams building outbound lists.

  • Starts at 15,000 actions a month plus data credits
  • Phone number enrichment
  • Job change and other signals

• Growth

  From $446/mo, less billed yearly

  Teams syncing Clay with their CRM.

  • Starts at 40,000 actions a month plus data credits
  • CRM auto-sync and HTTP API
  • Web intent signals and priority support

• Enterprise

  Custom

  Large teams needing SSO and controls.

  • SSO, roles and credit budgets
  • Dedicated growth strategist

Prices in USD unless noted, checked 22 October 2026. Vendors change plans often, so confirm on their site before you buy.

Ways Clay can slot into your week.

1. 1

   Build a niche lead list

   Pull every dental clinic group in a region with more than five sites, find the operations manager and get a verified email.

2. 2

   Personalise every email

   Have Claygent read each prospect's website and write one specific opening line.

3. 3

   Reach out at the right moment

   Track when a past customer changes jobs and add them to a sequence at their new company.

4. 4

   Clean up the CRM

   Enrich incomplete company records in HubSpot with size, industry and location.

It sits before your outreach tool and CRM: Clay builds and enriches the list, then sends it to Reply.io, Outreach, HubSpot or Salesforce.

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