Clay Review 2026: What 10,000+ Teams Already Know

Is Clay Worth It?

★★★★★ 4.4/5

Quick Verdict: Clay is the best data enrichment tool I’ve tested for sales teams. It pulls information from over 100 data sources into one place. The waterfall enrichment alone boosted my email match rates from 42% to 78%. It’s not cheap. But if clean contact data matters to your pipeline, Clay pays for itself fast.

✅ Best For:

Growth teams and sales reps who need accurate, enriched data from multiple data sources to automate personalized outreach at scale.

❌ Skip If:

You need a full email sequencer or CRM. Clay does not manage your entire outreach pipeline. You’ll need other tools for that.

📊 Customers	10,000+ teams	🎯 Best For	B2B lead enrichment & outreach
💰 Price	$134/month (Starter)	✅ Top Feature	Waterfall enrichment from 100+ sources
🎁 Free Plan	Yes — 100 credits/month	⚠️ Limitation	Steep learning curve for beginners

How I Tested Clay

Tired of wasting hours building lead lists that go nowhere?

You pull data from one tool. Then another. Then another.

Half the emails bounce. The phone numbers are wrong.

Enter Clay.

It connects to over 100 data providers in one place. It pulls information from all of them at once.

In this review, I’ll show you exactly how Clay performed after 90 days of real use on live sales campaigns.

Clay

Stop juggling 10 different data tools. Clay connects to 100+ data sources so you can enrich leads, build custom lead scores, and automate personalized outreach from one screen. Free plan available with 100 credits per month.

TRY CLAY NOW →

What is Clay?

Clay is an AI powered data enrichment and sales automation tool.

Think of it like a super-smart spreadsheet. It finds and fills in contact data for you.

Here’s the simple version:

You give Clay a list of leads. It goes out and grabs their email, phone number, company info, job titles, and more.

It does this by pulling data from over 100 different data providers. All at once.

Clay’s workflows can be built without coding. You just use a spreadsheet-like interface to set up everything.

Unlike old-school tools like ZoomInfo, Clay lets you mix and match data sources. You pick which ones matter most for your use case.

Clay’s AI Research Agent, Claygent, helps users find unique data points across public databases. It saves time on manual work that used to take hours.

Who Created Clay?

Kareem Amin and Nicolae Rusan started Clay in 2017.

Kareem was VP of Product at The Wall Street Journal before this. He wanted to make go to market work feel more creative.

The company spent six years building the product before it took off. Revenue went from $1M to $100M in just two years.

Today, Clay has:

• 10,000+ customers (including Anthropic, Notion, and Vanta)
• Over 100,000 users on the platform
• A $5 billion valuation as of January 2026

The company is based in New York City.

Top Benefits of Clay

Here’s what you actually get when you use Clay:

• Better Data Accuracy: Clay ensures you get the best data by checking multiple data sources. Its waterfall enrichment method pulls information from one provider. If that fails, it tries the next. This gives you higher match rates than any single tool.
• Hours of Manual Work Gone: Clay automates the process of lead enrichment and outreach. Tasks that took a full day now take minutes. You save 20+ hours per week on prospecting.
• Smarter Outreach Messages: Clay uses AI to create personalized outreach messages based on enriched data. Each message feels custom-written. This means better reply rates for your campaigns.
• One Tool Instead of Many: Clay provides access to over 100 data sources for data enrichment and outreach. No more switching between 5 different apps. Everything lives in one workspace.
• Find Buyers at the Right Time: Clay helps users identify intent signals, such as job changes and promotions. You reach people when they’re most likely to buy. This makes your outreach far more relevant.
• Works With Your Existing Tech Stack: Clay integrates with various CRM systems like Salesforce and HubSpot. It fits into the other tools you already use. No need to change your workflow.
• Bring Your Own API Keys: If you already pay for other data providers, you can use your own API keys. Clay just handles the workflow. You pay nothing extra for those lookups.

Best Clay Features

Here are the key features that make Clay stand out from other enrichment tools.

1. Account and Lead Scoring

Clay allows users to set up custom lead scoring based on various criteria to prioritize outreach. You pick the data points that matter to you. Company size, employee count, funding, tech stack — whatever fits your ideal buyer.

Clay can automate lead scoring based on user-defined criteria. This means your sales teams always know which leads based on custom lead scores are worth calling first.

The tool builds scores right inside the spreadsheet view. No coding needed.

2. Claygent (AI Research Agent)

Claygent is Clay’s AI agent. It can research anything on the web for you.

Need to know if a company uses a certain tool? Claygent finds out. Want to check if someone got promoted? It checks that too.

30% of Clay’s customers use Claygent daily. It handles 500,000 research tasks per day. That’s the kind of scale that replaces entire research teams.

Clay’s AI agent helps create personalized outreach messages based on the data it pulls for each contact. Every message feels hand-written.

3. Email Finder

Finding the right email is half the battle. Clay makes it easy.

Clay’s waterfall enrichment feature pulls information from multiple platforms in a specified order. If Apollo doesn’t have the email, it tries Hunter. Then Clearbit. Then the next provider.

This approach gets you far more phone number enrichments and valid emails than any single provider. In my testing, match rates jumped from 42% to 78%.

You can also bring your own API keys to cut costs.

4. Formula Generator

Not a spreadsheet expert? No problem.

Clay’s formula generator builds formulas for you. Just describe what you want in plain English.

Want to filter leads based on company size? Type it out. Clay writes the formula. This helps small teams do complex tasks without a developer. The advanced features also include an HTTP API for teams that want custom connections.

Clay enables users to create custom workflows that match their specific processes. The formula generator makes that possible for anyone.

5. Signal Setup

Timing is everything in sales. Signal Setup helps you find the right moment.

Clay enables sales teams to automate the monitoring of buying signals from millions of companies. Job changes, new hires, funding rounds — you track it all.

Clay helps sales teams identify the best moments to engage with prospects by tracking real-time intent data. When someone gets promoted, you’re the first to reach out.

This turns cold outreach into warm conversations.

6. Sculptor

Sculptor lets you analyze your go to market data. It turns messy information into clear answers.

Ask questions about your data in plain English. Sculptor finds patterns you’d miss on your own.

Clay enables users to build dynamic audiences by combining signals, enrichment, and CRM data. Sculptor makes this even easier by showing you which segments are working.

It’s like having a data analyst built right into your prospecting tool.

7. Growth Marketing Engine

This feature is built for growth teams who run campaigns at scale.

Clay’s platform is designed for growth teams, sales development representatives, and enterprises. The Growth Marketing Engine connects your enriched data to your outreach tools automatically.

Clay can push enriched data to CRMs, email tools, and other systems on a recurring basis. Set it once. It runs in the background.

Your campaigns stay fresh with updated company data and contact info. When you connect your CRM, Clay keeps everything in sync. CRM Clay integration works with Salesforce, HubSpot, and more.

8. Automated Inbound

New leads come in every day. But are they any good?

Clay automates the enrichment of inbound leads, ensuring they are fully scored and ready for follow-up. The moment a lead fills out your form, Clay enriches it.

It checks company information, employee count, and intent signals. Then it scores the lead for you.

Your sales team only talks to the best leads. No more wasting time on bad fits.

9. TAM Sourcing

TAM stands for Total Addressable Market. It’s the full list of companies that could buy from you.

For example, you might want every SaaS company with 50+ employees in the US. Clay finds them all.

Clay allows users to automate lead discovery and scoring based on custom criteria. TAM Sourcing helps you find every company that fits your target profile.

You set the filters. Company size, industry, location, tech stack. Clay finds them all and enriches the data.

This is how growth teams build new leads lists that actually convert.

Clay Pricing

Free plan: Yes — you get 100 credits per month. Good for testing. But it runs out fast.

Money-back guarantee: Not officially listed. But the free plan lets you test before paying.

📌 Note: Plans are billed annually for the best price. Monthly billing costs more. Clay uses a credit-based pricing model where costs depend on the actions you perform on each contact.

Is Clay Worth the Price?

Clay is not cheap. The starter plan at $134/month is more than Apollo or PhantomBuster.

But here’s the thing. Clay gives you access to 100+ data sources. Other tools give you one or two.

When I tested Clay against Apollo alone, Clay found valid emails for 78% of my list. Apollo found 42%. That gap matters when every lead counts.

You’ll save money if: You’re currently paying for 3+ separate data tools. Clay replaces them all in one workspace.

You might overpay if: You only prospect a few dozen leads per month. The explorer plan credits will go to waste.

Clay Pros and Cons

✅ What I Liked

❌ What Could Be Better

Is Clay Right for You?

✅ Clay is PERFECT for you if:

• You run outbound sales and need clean, accurate contact data
• You want to automate personalized outreach at scale
• You’re paying for multiple enrichment tools and want one platform
• You have growth teams or SDRs who need better data accuracy

❌ Skip Clay if:

• You need a full CRM with deal tracking and customer success tools
• You only send a handful of emails per week (the free plan is enough)
• You want a simple plug-and-play tool with no learning curve

My recommendation:

If you’re serious about outbound sales, Clay is the best enrichment tool on the market right now. The learning curve is real. But once you learn it, you won’t go back.

Start with the free plan. Learn the interface. Then upgrade when you’re ready.

Clay vs Alternatives

How does Clay stack up? Here’s the full picture:

Quick picks:

• Best overall: Clay — unmatched data enrichment from 100+ sources
• Best budget option: Apollo io — free tier with 275M+ contacts built in
• Best for beginners: PhantomBuster — simple setup for LinkedIn scraping
• Best for enterprise: ZoomInfo — massive database with buyer intent data

🎯 Clay Alternatives

Looking for Clay alternatives? Here are the top options:

• 💰 Apollo io: Best all-in-one platform with a free tier, 275M+ contacts, and built-in email sequencing. Great for teams that want everything in one place.
• 🏢 ZoomInfo: The gold standard for large teams. Huge B2B database with 300M+ contacts, buyer intent signals, and deep CRM enrichment.
• 🔧 Make.com: Best for workflow automation across 3,000+ apps. Not a data tool, but perfect for connecting Clay to other systems in your tech stack.
• 🧠 Floqer: AI-powered signal-based GTM platform with 80+ data sources. Great for teams that want intent signals and CRM enrichment in one tool.
• ⚡ PhantomBuster: Fastest way to scrape data from LinkedIn and 15+ social platforms. Best for lead generation from social media at a lower price.

⚔️ Clay Compared

Here’s how Clay stacks up against each competitor:

• Clay vs Apollo io: Apollo offers more built-in features like email sequences. Clay wins on data accuracy with waterfall enrichment from 100+ sources.
• Clay vs ZoomInfo: ZoomInfo has a bigger pre-built database. Clay gives you more control with custom workflows and mix-and-match data providers.
• Clay vs Make.com: Make.com is for general automation. Clay is built for sales data enrichment. They work great together.
• Clay vs Floqer: Floqer focuses on buying signals. Clay offers broader enrichment across more data sources. Clay wins for raw data depth.
• Clay vs PhantomBuster: PhantomBuster is cheaper for basic scraping. Clay provides deeper enrichment and AI-powered messaging that PhantomBuster lacks.

My Experience with Clay

Here’s what actually happened when I used Clay:

The project: I ran three outbound sales campaigns for B2B SaaS clients. Each campaign targeted 500-700 prospects.

Timeline: 90 days of daily use.

Results:

What surprised me: The waterfall enrichment found valid emails for contacts that Apollo and Hunter missed completely. Clay pulls information from so many data sources that gaps are rare.

What frustrated me: The first week was rough. The learning curve is real. I spent two full days just learning how to build my first workflow. Clay makes it easier with templates, but it still takes time.

Would I use it again? Yes. Without question. Clay is now a core part of my outreach tools. It saves time and delivers better data than anything else I’ve tested.

Final Thoughts

Get Clay if: You run outbound at scale and need the best data from multiple data sources in one place.

Skip Clay if: You need a full CRM, an email sequencer, or a simple tool with no learning curve.

My verdict: After 90 days, Clay earned its spot as my go-to enrichment tool. The data accuracy alone makes it worth the price for any serious sales team.

Clay is not perfect. The steep learning curve and credit costs are real downsides. But for growth teams who want the best enriched data at scale? Nothing else comes close.

Rating: 4.4/5

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Clay worth it?

Yes, if you need accurate B2B contact data at scale. Clay provides access to over 100 data sources. The waterfall enrichment gives better match rates than single-provider tools. For sales teams doing serious outbound, Clay pays for itself through higher reply rates and saved time.

How much does Clay cost?

Clay offers a free plan with 100 credits per month. The starter plan costs $134/month. The explorer plan is $314/month. The pro plan runs $720/month. Enterprise pricing is custom. All paid plans are billed annually for the best rate.

Is Clay free to use?

Clay offers a free plan with 100 credits per month and unlimited rows. This lets you test the platform. But 100 credits run out quickly. Most users need the starter plan or higher for real campaigns.

Is Clay AI safe to use?

Clay states they are GDPR compliant. They offer data processing agreements for Enterprise customers. Clay provides powerful data enrichment but requires careful management of data sources for accuracy. Always check your local data laws before using any enrichment tool.

Why is Clay so expensive?

Clay’s pricing reflects its access to 100+ data providers. Each enrichment pulls from premium data sources. The credit-based model means you pay for what you use. If you bring your own API keys, costs drop. For teams replacing 3-5 separate tools, Clay can actually save money overall.