What Is Clay? Waterfalls, AI Research and GTM Workflows
By Joris van Huët · Clay's own site
The short answer: Clay fits a team with one person who likes to build: it is a workspace of tables that buys data from 150+ providers, runs AI research on every row and sends the result to a CRM, sequencer or ad platform. Launch costs $185 a month on monthly billing for 15,000 actions and 2,500 data credits on the pricing page, checked on 26 October 2026. If nobody will own the tables, a finished data tool serves you better.
Disclosure: I may earn a commission through some links on this site. It does not change what this page says.
Before you choose a plan:
- Price a record, not a plan. Clay's credits guide puts a fully enriched record at 6 to 20 data credits and each enrichment at 1 action. For example, 150 records a month at 15 data credits each is 150 x 15 = 2,250, inside Launch's 2,500.
- Plug in what you already pay for. With your own API key for a data or AI provider, a run skips data credits and still uses 1 action, per the pricing FAQ.
- Measure the real cost per record. After the first full run, the Usage page in Settings shows data credits by table, per the credits guide; divide by the rows that came out usable.
What Clay does
Clay's homepage calls it infrastructure "to get any data, run agentic workflows, and launch GTM plays". Sources fill a table's rows: Find People, Find Companies, CSV files, CRM imports, webhooks. Enrichments add marketplace data, waterfalls try providers in turn until one returns a valid result, and Use AI and Claygent research the web per row. Formulas score the rows and exports push them onward. An email sequencer, MCP for Reps and an Agent Plugin complete it.
Who it suits, and who it does not
It suits a RevOps or growth lead with data sources to combine, and a marketing team whose account-based programme needs research nobody has time for.
It suits less well a team that needs contacts this week with no builder, or expects CRM sync on the entry plan: CRM integrations, HTTP API and webhooks start on Growth, and Free stops at 200 rows per table.
What it costs
In USD, checked on 26 October 2026 on the Clay pricing page; paid plans scale up in larger tiers.
| Plan | Monthly billing | Annual billing, per month | Actions | Data credits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 | 500 a month | 100 a month |
| Launch | From $185 | From $167 | 15,000 a month | 2,500 a month |
| Growth | From $495 | From $446 | 40,000 a month | 6,000 a month |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | 200,000+ a month | 100,000+ a month |
Data credits start at $0.05 each and actions at under a cent. Unused data credits roll over up to twice the monthly amount on Launch and Growth; actions never do, per the pricing FAQ. The same FAQ says those plans are sized so 90% of customers never hit a limit. Every action that headroom leaves unused lapses at the end of the month, so the gap between your usage and the plan stays with Clay. A plan sized for nine customers in ten is sized above the typical one, so start low and move up when the Usage page says so.
How it compares
Apollo.io gives each rep a finished workspace with a database, sequences and a dialer, from $49 a seat a month billed annually, per its pricing page, read on 26 October 2026 like those below. It suits reps who prospect without a builder; Clay suits an operator who combines sources, Apollo among them.
ZoomInfo sells custom packages scoped by use case, quoted after a form on its pricing page: one negotiated contract, where Clay gives you many providers under your own control.
Dropcontact finds and verifies business emails without a contact database and cleans HubSpot or Pipedrive records, from €29 a month for files on its pricing page. It needs no building, and Clay can call it as a step, per Dropcontact's Clay article.
Getting started
Build a first table on the Free plan. How to use Clay researches and scores a target account list.
FAQ
What is the difference between actions and data credits?
Actions count the work Clay does, such as an enrichment, an AI run or an export, at 1 per record; data credits pay for data or AI bought through Clay, at varying rates, per the credits guide.
Is there a free trial?
Yes. Launch and Growth both start with a 14-day trial, per the pricing page.
Does AI research cost a fixed amount?
Not always. The pricing FAQ says 80% of models cost a flat number of data credits per task; token-heavy ones bill by tokens used.