Clay Pricing [2026]: True Cost Per Contact (Real Math) | Cleanlist

Clay pricing just got a major overhaul. If you are on Clay, considering Clay, or comparing it to alternatives, the details matter — and the new Clay pricing structure changes the math for nearly every user tier.

Here is what actually changed, what it costs now, and how it stacks up against Cleanlist's credit-based model.

“The average cost of a data enrichment workflow has dropped 60% since 2023, driven by competition from waterfall enrichment platforms that eliminate per-seat licensing.”

What Changed: Old Plans vs New Plans

Clay replaced its three self-serve tiers with two. Here's the before and after.

Old pricing (before March 11, 2026)

New pricing (March 11, 2026 onwards)

The Free plan is unchanged. Enterprise is still custom. The middle is where things shifted.

The 5 Biggest Changes Explained

1. Three tiers become two

Starter ($149), Explorer ($349), and Pro ($800) are gone. They've been replaced by Launch ($185) and Growth ($495).

The Explorer tier — which sat at $349 and was popular with mid-market teams — no longer exists as a standalone option. If you were on Explorer, you're choosing between Launch (which has fewer features than Explorer had) or Growth (which costs $146 more than Explorer but includes features that were previously Pro-only).

2. Data costs drop 50-90%

This is the headline change. Clay negotiated volume discounts with its data partners and is passing the savings to customers. Individual enrichment lookups in Clay's marketplace now cost roughly half to one-tenth of what they did before.

What this means in practice: if you were spending $500/month on data credits on top of your plan, that same usage might now cost $50-250/month. The exact savings depend on which providers and enrichment types you use.

Clay also reduced the top-up credit premium from 50% to 30%, making overages less punishing.

3. New "Actions" system separates platform work from data

Previously, Clay bundled everything into a single credit system. Now there are two currencies:

• Data Credits: Used to purchase third-party data from providers in Clay's marketplace (emails, phones, company data). Costs vary by provider and data type.
• Actions: Used for platform orchestration — running enrichments, executing AI research, sending data to integrations. Each action costs fractions of a penny.

Clay says 90% of customers will never hit their Actions limit. The separation makes it easier to understand what you're spending on data vs what you're spending on platform usage. For more context on how data enrichment costs compare across the industry, see our data enrichment cost guide.

4. Pro features move to Growth (at $305 less)

The most significant feature migration: CRM integrations (Salesforce, HubSpot auto-sync), HTTP API access, webhook automation, and web intent data were all locked behind the $800/mo Pro plan. They now live in the $495/mo Growth plan.

This is a genuine win for teams that needed CRM sync but couldn't justify $800/month. You're getting the same capabilities for 38% less.

5. No charge for failed lookups

Previously, Clay charged credits even when an enrichment returned no result. The new model only charges Data Credits when data is actually found. Given that teams typically see 20-30% failed lookup rates — a problem exacerbated by data decay across B2B databases — this change alone saves meaningful spend.

Clay Credits Explained: How the New System Works

The most confusing part of Clay's new pricing is the dual-currency credit system. Here is how it actually works — and what it costs in practice.

Data Credits: Variable cost per provider

Data Credits are consumed when you purchase third-party data through Clay's marketplace. The cost per lookup varies by provider and data type.

Here are representative costs for common enrichment actions on the Growth plan:

These are post-discount rates reflecting the 50-90% marketplace reduction. Actual costs vary by provider — premium sources like ZoomInfo or Cognism integrations tend toward the higher end, while providers like Hunter or Snov sit at the lower end.

The key thing to understand: Clay's credit cost is unpredictable because it depends on which providers you chain together. A simple email lookup might cost 2 credits. A full enrichment workflow could burn 30+ credits per contact.

Actions: Fixed cost, rarely a constraint

Actions measure platform work — running an enrichment step, executing an AI prompt, triggering a webhook, or pushing data to an integration. Each action costs a fraction of a penny.

On the Growth plan, you get 40,000 actions per month. Clay says 90% of customers never exceed their action limit. In practice, you would need to run roughly 1,300 enrichment steps per day to hit the Growth cap. For most teams, actions are effectively unlimited.

Where actions do matter: teams running large-scale AI research workflows (e.g., "analyze the last 5 LinkedIn posts for every contact in a 10,000-row table") can consume actions quickly. Each AI step counts as one or more actions, and complex multi-step prompts add up.

Credit rollover rules

Clay's rollover policy differs by billing cycle:

• Monthly plans: Unused data credits accumulate up to 2x your monthly allocation. On the Growth plan (6,000 credits/month), you can bank up to 12,000 credits. Once you hit the cap, new credits replace the oldest unused ones.
• Annual plans: Up to 15% of your annual credit allocation rolls over when you renew at the same or higher tier. On Growth annual (72,000 credits/year), that is up to 10,800 rollover credits.
• Actions: Reset monthly. No rollover, no accumulation.

The 2x monthly cap is generous for teams with variable usage — if you have a quiet month, those credits are available next month. But it also means you cannot stockpile credits indefinitely for a big quarterly campaign.

Top-up pricing

When you exceed your plan's data credit allocation, you can purchase additional credits at a 30% premium over your plan's base rate. This is down from the previous 50% premium — a meaningful improvement.

On the Growth plan, where base credits cost roughly $0.05 each, top-up credits run about $0.065 each. Not punitive, but it adds up at volume. If you consistently need more credits than your plan includes, upgrading to the next tier is almost always cheaper than relying on top-ups.

Example: Cost of a typical enrichment workflow

Let's walk through what a standard lead enrichment workflow costs in Clay credits.

Scenario: You have a list of 500 target accounts that match your ICP scoring criteria. For each, you want to find the VP of Sales, get their work email, verify it, find their direct dial, and pull company firmographics.

At Growth plan rates, that 500-contact workflow costs $325-600 in data credits alone — on top of the $495/month subscription. A Growth plan's 6,000 monthly credits covers roughly 250-460 full enrichments, depending on provider mix.

For comparison, the same 500-contact enrichment on Cleanlist Pro III ($229/month, 5,000 credits) costs 5,500 credits (11 per full contact) with email, phone, title, company data, and triple email verification included. No provider selection, no credit guessing.

Who Benefits from the New Pricing

Teams that needed CRM integrations: If you were on Pro ($800/mo) primarily for Salesforce/HubSpot sync, Growth ($495/mo) saves you $3,660/year for the same functionality.

High-volume data users: The 50-90% data cost reduction benefits teams that were spending heavily on Clay's marketplace providers. If data credits were your biggest expense line, your total cost of ownership drops significantly.

Teams that hit failed lookup penalties: Not being charged for failed enrichments removes a frustrating and unpredictable cost. At a 25% failure rate on 10,000 lookups/month, this could save hundreds of dollars monthly. If data accuracy is your top concern, see our data quality tools guide for a broader comparison.

Who May Pay More

Former Explorer users: Explorer was $349/mo with 10,000 credits and included HTTP API and webhooks. The new Launch plan ($185/mo) has only 2,500 credits and lacks CRM sync, HTTP API, and web intent. To get comparable features, you need Growth at $495/mo — a $146/month increase. The data cost reduction may offset this, but it depends on your usage patterns.

Low-volume teams on Starter: The old Starter was $149/mo with 2,000 credits. The new Launch is $185/mo with 2,500 credits. That's a $36/month price increase (24%) for 25% more credits. Whether the added features (job signals, email integrations) justify the bump depends on your workflow.

Teams that don't use much marketplace data: The 50-90% data cost reduction only helps if you're buying data through Clay's marketplace. If you primarily use Clay for orchestration with your own API keys (BYOK), the plan price increase is a net cost with less offsetting savings.

Clay's New Pricing vs Cleanlist: Side-by-Side

Clay and Cleanlist solve overlapping problems — data enrichment — but with fundamentally different approaches. Here's how the pricing compares for common use cases.

Platform comparison

Cost per enriched contact

This is where the comparison gets real. Clay's credit cost per contact varies dramatically based on which providers you chain together.

*Cleanlist includes company firmographics in the full contact enrichment at no extra credit cost.

At Clay's Growth plan base rate (~$0.05/data credit), a full contact enrichment costs $0.70-3.75 depending on depth. Cleanlist's Pro plan delivers a full contact enrichment for $0.55 with company data included.

Where Clay wins

• Workflow flexibility: Clay lets you build custom multi-step enrichment and outreach sequences. If your enrichment needs are non-standard (e.g., "find the CTO, check if they use Salesforce, then write a personalized AI email based on their last LinkedIn post"), Clay's workflow builder is unmatched.
• Provider choice: 100+ data providers means you can pick the exact sources for your niche. If you know that Provider X has the best data for healthcare executives, you can prioritize it.
• Orchestration beyond enrichment: Clay isn't just enrichment — it's workflow automation. You can build sequences that combine data enrichment with outreach, CRM updates, and AI research in one flow.

Where Cleanlist wins

• Simplicity: No workflow building required. Upload a list or search for contacts, and waterfall enrichment handles the multi-provider logic automatically. For a full explanation of how this works, see waterfall enrichment explained. What takes hours to set up in Clay takes minutes in Cleanlist.
• Predictable pricing: 1 credit = 1 email verification. 11 credits = full contact enrichment (email + phone + firmographics). No variable per-provider costs, no credit consumption guessing. You know exactly what you'll spend before you start.
• Built-in verification: Every email passes through triple SMTP verification, catch-all detection, and disposable email filtering. Clay relies on third-party verification providers, which consume additional credits.
• Lower cost at equivalent volume: For teams that primarily need data enrichment (not complex workflow automation), Cleanlist delivers comparable data quality at a fraction of the cost. A team enriching 2,000 contacts/month pays $99/mo on Cleanlist vs $495+/mo on Clay. For more on how the best waterfall enrichment tools stack up, see our 2026 comparison.
• All features on every plan: CRM integrations, API access, ICP scoring, People Search, and Smart Agents are available on every Cleanlist plan — including Free. Clay gates CRM sync, HTTP API, and web intent behind the $495/mo Growth plan.

Real-World Cost Comparison: 1,000 Full Contact Enrichments/Month

Let's run the numbers for a common scenario: enriching 1,000 contacts per month with email, phone, title, and company data.

Even with Clay's 50-90% data cost reduction, the total cost of ownership for enrichment-focused teams is significantly higher than Cleanlist. The gap narrows for teams that use Clay's workflow automation extensively — if you're replacing 3-4 separate tools with Clay, the TCO comparison shifts.

What This Means for Teams Considering Clay

If you're already on Clay

Check whether your current usage maps better to Launch or Growth. If you were on Explorer ($349/mo) and relied on HTTP API or webhooks, you'll need Growth ($495/mo) — but the data cost reductions may offset the plan increase. Run the math on your specific data spend before switching.

Existing customers stay on legacy plans by default. You can switch to the new plans at any time, but can only change between legacy plans (Starter, Explorer, Pro) until April 10, 2026.

If you're evaluating Clay for the first time

The pricing is more competitive than before, especially at the Growth tier. But the total cost of ownership still depends heavily on data credit consumption, which is variable and hard to predict upfront. Ask for a trial and track actual credit usage against your enrichment volume before committing.

If enrichment is your primary need

Clay's strength is workflow automation. If you are primarily enriching contacts and pushing them to your CRM — without complex multi-step sequences — you are paying for orchestration capabilities you may not use. Cleanlist delivers comparable enrichment quality with simpler setup and lower cost. For a broader look at how all the major players compare, see our data enrichment solutions compared guide, or read our full Clay data enrichment review for a detailed breakdown of pros, cons, and alternatives.

Clay Pricing vs Apollo vs Cleanlist: Three-Way Comparison

Clay, Apollo, and Cleanlist are the three most-compared tools for B2B data enrichment in 2026. Each takes a fundamentally different approach to pricing and packaging. Here is how they stack up side by side.

Clay: The workflow automation play

Clay's strength is not enrichment — it is orchestration. The $495/month Growth plan makes sense for teams building complex, multi-step workflows that combine data enrichment with AI research, personalized outreach, and CRM automation in a single table. If you are replacing 3-4 separate tools (enrichment + outreach + research + automation), Clay's total cost can be competitive.

The downside: variable data credit costs make budgeting unpredictable, and the platform has a steep learning curve. Building and maintaining Clay tables requires technical capacity that not every sales team has.

For a deeper dive, see our full Clay vs Apollo comparison.

Apollo: The all-in-one sales platform

Apollo bundles a large contact database with email sequencing, dialer, and CRM features at $99/user/month. For teams that want a single platform for prospecting and outreach, Apollo delivers strong value — especially for smaller teams where per-seat pricing stays manageable.

The catch: Apollo's per-seat model gets expensive fast. A 10-person sales team pays $990/month for Professional — nearly double Clay's Growth plan. Apollo's enrichment data is also limited to its own database. There is no multi-provider waterfall enrichment, which means lower match rates on niche or non-US contacts.

For more on Apollo's pricing model, see our Apollo pricing guide and the Cleanlist vs Apollo comparison.

Cleanlist: The enrichment-first approach

Cleanlist focuses entirely on data quality and enrichment. The $99/month Pro plan includes 2,000 credits, built-in waterfall enrichment across 15+ providers, triple email verification, CRM integrations, and API access — all without per-seat pricing.

The tradeoff: Cleanlist does not offer email sequencing, AI research workflows, or the 100+ provider marketplace that Clay provides. If your primary need extends beyond enrichment into full sales engagement, Cleanlist covers the data layer while you pair it with a dedicated outreach tool.

For teams where enrichment accuracy and cost predictability matter most, Cleanlist delivers the strongest ROI per dollar spent. For a broader view of how all major B2B data providers compare, see our 2026 roundup.

Is Clay Worth It? Decision Framework

Choosing between Clay, Cleanlist, and Apollo comes down to one question: what problem are you actually solving? Here is a framework to help you decide.

Choose Clay if:

• You need complex multi-step workflows. Clay excels when your enrichment process involves chained logic — "find the CTO, check if they use Salesforce, research their latest funding round, write a personalized email based on their investor." No other tool matches Clay's workflow builder for this.
• You want 100+ provider choice. If you need specific data providers for niche verticals (e.g., healthcare executive data, European GDPR-compliant sources), Clay's marketplace gives you granular control over exactly which sources to query.
• Your team has technical capacity to build and maintain tables. Clay tables are powerful but require ongoing configuration. If you have RevOps or a technical SDR who enjoys building workflows, Clay unlocks significant automation.
• You are replacing 3+ separate tools. When Clay replaces your enrichment tool, AI research tool, outreach personalization tool, and automation platform, the $495/month can deliver positive ROI even at the higher price point.

Choose Cleanlist if:

• Your primary need is data enrichment and verification. If 80%+ of your use case is "give me accurate emails, phones, and company data for these contacts," Cleanlist does this faster and cheaper than Clay.
• You want managed waterfall without configuration. Cleanlist's waterfall enrichment runs automatically across 15+ curated providers. No table building, no provider selection, no fallback logic to maintain.
• You need predictable pricing. One credit = one email. Eleven credits = one full contact. No per-provider variability, no top-up surprises, no mental math to estimate monthly spend.
• You need built-in email verification. Every email through Cleanlist passes triple SMTP verification, catch-all detection, and disposable filtering. On Clay, email verification requires a separate provider integration and additional credit spend.
• Budget matters. At $99/month vs $495/month (before data credits), the cost difference is substantial. For enrichment-focused teams, that $400/month savings compounds to $4,800/year — real money for growth-stage companies.

Choose Apollo if:

• You want a full sales engagement platform. Apollo combines a contact database with email sequences, a built-in dialer, meeting scheduling, and conversation intelligence. If you need outreach tools alongside enrichment, Apollo bundles them.
• You need per-user access for a large team. Apollo's per-seat model means every rep gets their own access. For teams where individual reps do their own prospecting, this matters more than a shared credit pool.
• Email sequences are a priority. Apollo's sequence builder is mature and well-integrated with its database. If your SDRs live in sequences all day, Apollo reduces context-switching.

When none of them is the right fit

If you need enterprise-grade data governance, compliance workflows, or data warehouse integrations, you are likely looking at ZoomInfo Enterprise, Cognism, or D&B. Those tools cost $20,000-100,000/year but include compliance certifications, intent data, and dedicated support that none of the three tools above fully match. See our sales intelligence platforms guide for that tier of the market.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does Clay cost per month now?

Clay's new pricing starts at $185/month for the Launch plan (2,500 data credits, 15,000 actions) and $495/month for the Growth plan (6,000 data credits, 40,000 actions). Annual billing saves roughly 10%, bringing Launch to $167/month and Growth to $446/month. The Free plan remains at $0 with 100 data credits and 500 actions. Enterprise pricing is custom.

What happened to Clay's Starter, Explorer, and Pro plans?

Clay consolidated its three self-serve paid plans into two. Starter ($149/mo) and Explorer ($349/mo) are replaced by Launch ($185/mo). Pro ($800/mo) is replaced by Growth ($495/mo), which includes all Pro features at a lower price. Existing customers remain on legacy plans by default but can switch to the new structure at any time.

Did Clay actually cut prices or raise them?

Both. The headline change is a 50-90% reduction in data marketplace costs and a drop from $800 to $495 for the most feature-rich self-serve plan. However, the entry-level paid plan went from $149 (Starter) to $185 (Launch) — a 24% increase. Mid-tier users on Explorer ($349) who need API or CRM features now pay $495 (Growth) — a 42% increase. The net impact depends entirely on how much you spend on data credits vs platform fees.

What are Clay Actions vs Data Credits?

Actions measure platform orchestration work — enriching data, running AI research, and sending data to other tools. Each action costs fractions of a penny and most users never hit the limit. Data Credits purchase third-party vendor data from Clay's marketplace (emails, phones, company info). Costs vary by data type and provider. The separation helps you understand where your money goes.

Do Clay credits roll over?

Yes, with limits. On monthly plans, unused data credits accumulate up to 2x your monthly allocation. On annual plans, up to 15% of your annual credits roll over when you renew at the same or higher tier. Actions reset monthly and don't roll over.

How does Clay's pricing compare to Cleanlist?

Cleanlist is significantly cheaper for teams focused on data enrichment. Cleanlist Pro ($99/mo) includes 2,000 credits, CRM integrations, and built-in email verification — capabilities that require Clay's Growth plan ($495/mo) plus additional data credit spend. Clay wins on workflow flexibility if you need complex multi-step automation beyond enrichment. See the full pricing comparison.

Is Clay or Cleanlist better for waterfall enrichment?

Both offer multi-provider enrichment. Clay connects to 100+ providers but requires you to build and maintain the waterfall workflow yourself — selecting which providers to query, in what order, and configuring fallback logic. Cleanlist's waterfall enrichment does this automatically across 15+ curated providers with built-in verification, achieving 98% email accuracy without any configuration. For teams that want waterfall without the engineering, Cleanlist is the faster path. For teams that want granular control over every provider and step, Clay offers more customization.

Should I switch from Clay to Cleanlist?

Consider switching if: (1) you use Clay primarily for data enrichment without complex workflows, (2) you're spending more time building and maintaining Clay tables than prospecting, (3) your total Clay spend (plan + data credits) exceeds what you'd pay on Cleanlist for equivalent enrichment volume. Consider staying on Clay if: you rely on Clay's workflow automation for multi-step sequences that go beyond enrichment, or you need specific data providers that Cleanlist's curated waterfall doesn't include.

How much does Clay cost?

Clay's new pricing starts at $185/month for the Launch plan (2,500 data credits, 15,000 actions) and $495/month for the Growth plan (6,000 data credits, 40,000 actions). Annual billing saves roughly 10%. On top of the subscription, data credit consumption for enrichments is variable and can add hundreds to thousands per month. By comparison, Cleanlist offers a simpler pay-per-result model starting at $49/month with no variable data credit charges — what you see on the plan is what you pay.

Is Clay worth the price?

Clay is excellent for teams that need complex, multi-step workflow automation — chaining enrichment with AI research, personalized outreach, and CRM updates in a single flow. For those use cases, the $495/month Growth plan can replace 3-4 separate tools. However, if your primary need is data enrichment, Clay's total cost of ownership (plan + data credits + verification) often runs 3-5x higher than a focused enrichment tool like Cleanlist for equivalent volume. See our data enrichment cost guide for detailed comparisons.

What are cheaper alternatives to Clay?

For data enrichment specifically, Cleanlist and Apollo are the strongest alternatives. Cleanlist offers built-in waterfall enrichment across 50+ providers with no per-credit surcharges — the waterfall runs automatically without any workflow configuration. Apollo provides a large contact database with built-in outreach at $59-149/user/month. Both deliver comparable enrichment results at a fraction of Clay's total cost.

Clay vs Cleanlist — which is better for data enrichment?

Clay is a workflow builder that happens to offer enrichment. Cleanlist is an enrichment platform purpose-built for data accuracy. Clay gives you 100+ data providers and full control over which to query and in what order — but you build and maintain the waterfall yourself. Cleanlist's waterfall runs automatically across 50+ curated providers with built-in triple email verification, achieving 95-98% accuracy without any configuration. For pure enrichment, Cleanlist is faster to set up and cheaper to run. For complex multi-step automation beyond enrichment, Clay offers more flexibility.

Does Clay have a free plan?

Yes, Clay offers a free plan with 100 data credits and 500 actions per month. This is enough for light testing but not practical for ongoing enrichment work — 100 credits typically yields 20-50 enriched contacts depending on the providers used. Cleanlist's free tier also includes 30 credits but adds CRM integrations, email verification, and API access on every plan, including free.

How do Clay credits work?

Clay uses a dual-currency system. Data Credits purchase third-party data from Clay's marketplace — emails, phone numbers, company information. Each provider charges a different credit amount (2-8 credits for an email, 3-5 for a phone number). Actions measure platform work like running enrichment steps, executing AI prompts, and pushing data to integrations. Most teams never hit the Actions limit. The split helps you see exactly where money goes: data vs platform usage.

How does Clay pricing compare to Apollo?

Clay Growth costs $495/month with no per-seat pricing. Apollo Professional costs $99/user/month with per-seat pricing. For a single user, Apollo is cheaper ($99 vs $495). For a 5-person team, Apollo costs $495/month — matching Clay. For 10+ users, Apollo exceeds Clay at $990+/month. The key difference: Clay includes 100+ data providers and workflow automation. Apollo includes a proprietary contact database and built-in email sequences. For a full breakdown, see our Clay vs Apollo analysis.

Clay's pricing changes are a net positive for the ecosystem — cheaper data and more accessible features benefit everyone. But cheaper doesn't mean cheap, and the total cost of ownership still depends on data credit consumption that's hard to predict.

For teams where enrichment is the primary use case, Cleanlist delivers comparable data quality at a fraction of the cost with simpler setup. For teams that need Clay's unique workflow automation, the new Growth plan at $495/mo is meaningfully better than the old Pro at $800/mo. For a side-by-side feature comparison, see our Cleanlist vs Clay comparison. If you are exploring options beyond Clay, browse Clay alternatives ranked for 2026.

The right choice depends on whether you're buying data or buying a workflow engine. Know which one you need before you pick.