Overview
Clay is a go-to-market data platform that behaves less like a CRM add-on and more like a spreadsheet with a research department attached. You start with a table — a CSV of accounts, a CRM segment, or a prospect list built inside Clay — then add enrichment columns that call more than 100 data providers in sequence. That waterfall pattern is the core idea: rather than subscribing to one email-finder and accepting its coverage gaps, Clay queries provider after provider until a field resolves, and you are billed only for the hit. Teams commonly report fill rates several times higher than a single-vendor stack.
The AI layer is Claygent, a research agent that browses the open web on your behalf. Hand it a company domain and a question — does this firm run a partner program, which cloud shows up in their job postings, have they published a SOC 2 report — and it returns a structured answer per row instead of a paragraph you have to parse yourself. Signals then watch for triggers such as job changes, hiring spikes, or funding events and push freshly enriched rows into a sequencer or CRM automatically.
Clay repriced in 2026, splitting spend into Data Credits (what third-party lookups cost) and Actions (the platform work Clay performs), and consolidating the old Starter/Explorer/Pro ladder into two self-serve tiers, Launch and Growth. Every plan including Free allows unlimited seats, which is unusual in a category dominated by per-seat fees, and bringing your own provider API keys skips Data Credits entirely so you only pay Actions.
The honest caveats are cost predictability and ramp. Clay is a builder’s tool — conditional runs, HTTP columns, and nested table logic reward operators and quietly burn credits when a workflow is misconfigured. Treat it as the enrichment and routing layer feeding your existing sequencer and CRM rather than a replacement for either, and start on the free tier before scaling volume.
Key Features
- Waterfall enrichment sequencing 100+ data providers, pay only for successful hits
- Claygent AI research agent returning structured per-row answers from the open web
- Signals for job changes, hiring spikes, funding, and web intent triggers
- Unlimited seats on every plan, including the free tier
- Native CRM and sequencer integrations (HubSpot, Salesforce, Outreach, Smartlead) plus HTTP API columns
- Bring your own provider API keys to bypass Data Credit costs entirely
Pricing
| Plan | Price | For |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 100 Data Credits + 500 Actions/mo, 200 rows/table, Claygent included |
| Launch | from $185/mo ($167 annual) | 2,500 Data Credits + 15,000 Actions/mo, phone enrichment, signals |
| Growth | from $495/mo ($446 annual) | 6,000 Data Credits + 40,000 Actions/mo, CRM sync, HTTP API, web intent |
| Enterprise | Custom (annual) | 100K+ Data Credits, unlimited bulk enrichment, API, SSO, RBAC |
Comparison
Compared to Browse AI, which scrapes specific pages you point it at, Clay orchestrates dozens of paid data vendors plus an agent that decides where to look — broader coverage, considerably higher cost per record. Against Gumloop, both build node-based automations, but Gumloop is a general-purpose AI workflow canvas while Clay is opinionated around GTM data and ships the provider marketplace with it. Next to n8n, n8n is cheaper and self-hostable for arbitrary automation, whereas Clay’s value sits almost entirely in the enrichment waterfall you would otherwise have to assemble and pay for yourself.