Clay is a data enrichment and sales automation tool that provides users access to 100+ data providers, web scraping, and AI message drafting.
Clay gained popularity over the last few years because of its ability to integrate with multiple tools and streamline the data enrichment process, but Clay pricing is a sticky issue. Many users feel that Clay is expensive compared to other alternative tools in the category.
What is Clay and why do users like Clay?
Clay collates different kinds of information about companies and contacts and enables users to use AI to analyze this data and automate GTM workflows.
While Clay is primarily used for data enrichment, it also helps users gather various types of information, from contact details to company firmographics, and assists with personalized outreach using AI. Clay customers like the product’s extensive data enrichment capabilities, AI-powered research features, and the opportunity to use the product for multiple use cases.
Why Clay pricing matters
It is important to understand Clay’s pricing because unlike other tools that charge a monthly or annual subscription fee, Clay pricing is centered around credits. Every action on Clay consumes a certain number of credits, and the pricing is structured based on the number of credits, the kind of action that can be taken, and the kind of data users can get from Clay,.
Several users say that the credit consumption can be quite heavy and the credits you purchase vanish before you know it, which means you would end up purchasing additional credits to get your work done.
Clay offers five pricing plans on its website, but understanding how exactly it works and how to choose the right plan for your team can be quite tricky and confusing.
We spoke to several Clay users, and researched reviews on Reddit, LinkedIn, and other platforms to understand how credits work. Here’s a breakdown of the Clay pricing plans, and tips to help you choose the best plan for your team.
Key elements of Clay's pricing strategy
Clay’s pricing is different from other SaaS products in that it works on a ‘pay for what you use’ model and doesn’t come with a monthly subscription.
The pricing is centered around credits. Each action on Clay consumes a certain amount of credits. So, every pricing plan, in addition to the features/functionalities available for that tier, includes a certain amount of credits.
So, the pricing for each plan comes in two layers. The first covers the features and functions you have access to on each plan, and the second gives you the number of credits that come with each plan.
Further, each plan has multiple credit buckets available, so you can pay and buy the amount of credits you expect to consume. For example, within the same plan, if you expect to enrich hundreds of records you can pick the first credit package, and if you expect the number of contacts to run into thousands, you can buy the package with more credits.
The Clay website also mentions that the higher your Clay plan is, the lower your cost per credit will be.
Clay pricing plans: Explore your options
Clay has five plans available: Free, Starter, Explorer, Pro, and Enterprise and you can choose to buy with either yearly or monthly credit limits. Users also have flexible billing options where they can opt for monthly or annual billing. You can also upgrade or downgrade your plan to suit your needs.
Clay offers a 14-day free trial with 1,000 credits, allowing you to explore the basic functionalities. The trial however does not support enrichment of phone numbers.
Free plan: What’s included?
This plan is ideal for individuals or small teams. It comes with 100 free credits per month with up to 5,000 searches per people, company, and job search, the option to export your data, access to AI, and the option to rollover unused credits, capped at twice your monthly credit limit.
Phone number enrichments are not available as part of the free plan.
Starter plan: Essential features for small teams
The starter plan is available in two credit buckets: 24K credits per year (2K credits per month) priced at $134/month or 36K credits per year priced at $206/month. This package also includes access to phone number enrichments and allows you to use API keys to create your own integration accounts.
This plan is designed for small businesses and small teams that may not require a wide range of features such as CRM integration or unlimited rows on the Clay tables.
Explorer plan: Ideal for growing businesses
The explorer plan is designed for slightly larger teams and growing businesses available in three credit quantities: 120K credits per year (10K credits per month) for $314/month, 168K credits per year (14K credits per month) at $449/month, or 240K credits per year (20K credits per month) at $629/month.
This tier also allows you access to webhooks, and to email sequencing integrations.
Pro plan: Advanced features for power users
One of the more expensive bundles is the Pro plan with up to 1.8 million credits a year, priced at $1800/month. This plan includes all Explorer plan features and access to CRM integrations.
Depending on your credit consumption and requirements, you can choose from one of the four credit 600K credits per year (50K credits per month), 840K credits per year (70K credits per month), 1.2M credits per year (100K credits per month), or 1.8M credits per year (150K credits per month).
Enterprise plan: Customized solutions for large organizations
The Enterprise plan is fully customizable and targets large companies and teams that require a large number of credits and many or all of Clay's functionalities.
This plan enables you to build tables with unlimited rows, run up to 40 column actions per table, receive dedicated AI prompting support and dedicated Slack support, and more.
Understanding Clay's credit system
What are Clay credits?
On Clay, you pay per data point that you get from Clay. Clay credits are what you use to purchase different data points and perform different actions such as AI research or using AI for copywriting. The cost per credit varies based on the data or action.
Credit rollover: If you don’t use all your credits, you can carry them over or roll them over to the next month. However, you’re only allowed to carry over up to twice your monthly plan allowance.
Credit top-ups: Clay allows you to purchase additional credits at a 50% premium anytime during your billing cycle.
How to calculate your credit needs
Clay’s website has a calculator that helps you estimate your monthly credit requirements. You will need to go in with an understanding of
- how many new companies you will target per month
- what kind of data points would you need to enrich
- how many new contacts you’ll target per month
- what data points would need to enrich per contact?
- what kind of AI enrichments you require (AI subject line, AI email, etc.)
Cost of actions: Which activities use credits?
Clay has updated its pricing structure a few times over the past 3 years.
The credit consumption varies depending on the type of enrichment. Some data points cost 2 credits, some cost 5 credits, and some even 15 credits. Your Clay dashboard will tell how much each action costs.
According to the Clay website, any actions by Clay that clean or format data are free, and this includes external CRM connections.
The company says that it only charges credits for data points where they need to pay a cost for access or use, such as phone numbers, email ids, firmographic data, etc.
Tips for managing Clay credit usage effectively
Burning Clay credits quickly is a concern many Clay users bring up. Users say that Clay can be quite expensive. While it offers convenience over using multiple players for data enrichment, it comes at a cost, quite literally.
Here are a few ways you can manage your credit consumption:
Upgrade plans based on usage
Clay pricing depends on how much and how often you use it. Since Clay allows users to upgrade or downgrade plans, it might be prudent to start with a lower plan and then upgrade based on
Plan your workflows to optimize credit usage
Power users of Clay recommend reordering and organizing enrichment such that providers with lower credit pricing are used first, before the more expensive providers are used to enrich contact and company information.
Use APIs and webhooks instead of Clay enrichment providers
Here’s what a user said on a Reddit thread:
Comparing Clay pricing with competitors
Clay has its fanbase, especially among agencies, but it isn’t suitable for many businesses because setting it up is complicated, it feels clunky to use, and it’s pricey for most companies. Customers often rely on Clay partners for implementation and support, and many sales teams struggle to adopt it. In fact, Clay customers say that salespeople don’t really use it, even when they have access because it is quite difficult to use.
Moreover, Clay does not provide real-time buying signals and first-party data as it works on a waterfall model based on data from other providers.
So if you’re in the market for a software to improve your sales pipeline and enhance data enrichment, you could consider one of the many Clay alternatives that offer better value. You will benefit from reading this guide even if you have already bought Clay, because there are many other competitors that could add more value to your tech stack.
Common pain points and drawbacks
Clay users appreciate the convenience the tool offers, but conversations with various users reveal a set of common challenges that many of them face. Here are a few that stood out to us:
Complex to use
By virtue of being a configurable tool, Clay becomes cumbersome to actually implement and use.
“It's not always very user-friendly. I have needed help on actions that should, simply put, be a lot easier to navigate and implement. In short, it feels like you need to be a spreadsheet expert to get the full worth of your investment, and it shouldn't be that way.”
Steep learning curve
Team leaders say that adoption of the product among sales reps is quite low because learning to use the tool takes time.
“There can be a learning curve with Clay. We have had some salespeople struggle to quickly get up to speed with the tool.”
Need for Clay partners
The need to work with third-party solutioning partners is a friction point for some teams.
Expensive
Clay offers a basic free plan, but its feature-rich packages are expensive.
Assessing your needs: How to choose the right Clay pricing plan
While Clay is a robust product, it is not suitable for all kinds of businesses. Here’s how you can decide if Clay is the right product for you. Here are a few points to consider:
Single seat vs unlimited users
Check if the access, credits, and functionalities are available for multiple users or if the pricing is on a per-seat basis. For example Highperformr, a Clay alternative, allows unlimited users per account and workspace. So, if you as a company or an agency sign up for an account, you’ll be able to add multiple users who can all access the same tables and segments without having to buy additional credit packages. This gives all SDRs access to the tool, enabling them to enrich their lead data and create personalized messages for their prospects, and use all other features of Highperformr.
Estimate data enrichment volumes
Break down your go-to-market strategy to see if it requires you to focus on large-scale outreach or targeting a smaller pool of high-potential leads. This will help you arrive at the number of contacts you will want to enrich and the number of credits you will consume. You can then pick the plan closest to your requirements.
Basic vs. advanced data
Clay pricing plans are designed such that only the higher priced plans allow you access to all the advanced features. You may or may not use all those features. Identify what kind of enrichments and automation you require, before you pick the pricing plan. For example, you may require only basic integrations rather than extensive API access and integration capabilities, and you can pick the right plan accordingly.
Choosing the best data enrichment tool for your business
After thorough analysis of Clay pricing plans and other data enrichment tools, you will find that Highperformr is the best data enrichment tool that provides better value for money and simpler pricing plans.
Highperformr offers a simple, free version for individuals. For teams and larger enterprises, paid plans start at $229 for lifetime access, with optional credit add-ons available starting at $10 for 1,000 credits.
Highperformr also stands out from all other tools because it provides real-time data and helps enrich leads and target accounts with recent and relevant intent signals that help businesses go after the right leads at the right time.
To learn more about how Highperformr can help your sales teams with data enrichment, sales intelligence, and GTM workflow automation, schedule a demo with our team here, or sign up for a free trial to play around with the tool in the meanwhile.
