# Clay

> A spreadsheet-like workspace that enriches lead lists from many data providers and AI research, billed by actions and data credits.

Clay lets go-to-market teams build tables of companies and people, then enrich each row from many third-party data providers in a 'waterfall' (try provider A, then B, then C). Its AI agent, Claygent, can research the web for each row. Paid plans add phone enrichment, signals (job changes, news), scheduled runs, an email sequencer, and on Growth, CRM sync and HTTP API integrations. Pricing has two meters: Actions (1 per record enriched or exported) and Data Credits (for data and AI bought through Clay).

- Vendor: Clay Labs
- Website: https://www.clay.com/
- Category: prospecting
- Free plan: yes
- Last reviewed: 2026-10-13
- Canonical: https://onelesstool.com/tools/clay
- JSON: https://onelesstool.com/api/v1/tools/clay

## Plans

| Plan | USD | Unit | Evidence | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | account/month | verified 2026-10-13 | https://www.clay.com/pricing |
| Launch | $167 (annual billing) | account/month | verified 2026-10-13 | https://www.clay.com/pricing |
| Growth | $446 (annual billing) | account/month | verified 2026-10-13 | https://www.clay.com/pricing |
| Enterprise | not listed | account/month | verified 2026-10-13 | https://www.clay.com/pricing |

## Capabilities

| Capability | Fit | Plans | Limitations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Research prospects and accounts (`prospect-research`) | native | all | Steep learning curve; Costs scale with rows and providers used; Signals need Launch or higher |
| Find verified contact data (emails, phones) (`contact-data`) | strong | all | Data quality depends on the underlying providers; Free plan excludes phone enrichment and caps tables at 200 rows |
| Run AI agents that complete multi-step tasks (`ai-agents-automation`) | strong | all | Focused on research and data tasks, not general-purpose agents; AI output still needs spot checks |
| Send sales email sequences (`email-sequences`) | partial | launch, growth, enterprise | Newer and less mature than dedicated sequencing tools |
| Run multi-step, high-volume automations (`advanced-automation`) | partial | growth, enterprise | Not a general automation platform; scoped to enrichment tables |
| Store structured data in a shared database or spreadsheet (`database-spreadsheet`) | partial | all | Row caps per table (200 on Free, 50,000 on Launch); Built for enrichment, not as a general team database |

## Why people pay for it

- One place to query many enrichment providers without separate contracts.
- Waterfall enrichment that raises find rates for emails and phones.
- AI research per row (Claygent) to qualify and personalise outreach at scale.
- Signals such as job changes and company news to time outreach.
- CRM sync and webhooks on Growth to keep CRM data fresh.

## Reasons to keep paying

- Access to many paid data providers through one bill; replicating it means many separate API contracts.
- Waterfall logic and per-row AI research packaged in a no-code table that RevOps can maintain.
- Existing tables, formulas and enrichment recipes the team has tuned over time.

## Risks

- **compliance** (high): Enriching people with emails and phone numbers is personal-data processing; GDPR needs a lawful basis and transparency, and outreach must follow CAN-SPAM, PECR and similar rules. Some enrichment sources rely on scraped LinkedIn data, which violates LinkedIn's terms.
- **sensitive_data** (medium): Contact data is passed to many third-party providers through the waterfall.
- **reliability** (medium): Credit use per record varies by provider; costs can be hard to predict at scale.

Data portability: easy — Tables export to CSV and sync to CRMs on Growth. Enrichment recipes and Claygent prompts must be recreated if you move.

## Replacement workflows

- [Research ~500 target accounts a month with an AI assistant and Google Sheets](https://onelesstool.com/workflows/prospect-research-with-ai-assistant.md)

## Sources

- Clay pricing: https://www.clay.com/pricing (accessed 2026-10-13)
- Clay docs: credits: https://university.clay.com/docs/credits (accessed 2026-10-13)