Clay
Spreadsheet-shaped GTM data platform that chains enrichment vendors into waterfalls and runs LLM research agents per row. Free tier exists; the HTTP API starts at $446 a month.
Overview
A table that looks like a spreadsheet, with a job queue and more than 150 data vendors wired behind each column. That is the whole product idea and it holds up. Instead of buying one contact database and living with its blind spots, you chain providers in a waterfall: try the cheapest first, accept the first confident answer, fall through only when needed. Coverage of every vendor at the accuracy of your best one, at least in theory.
Claygent sits on top of that as an LLM web researcher running per row, pulling things no database sells: a funding announcement from last week, a job posting that implies an infrastructure migration, a post about switching vendors. Clay acquired Avenue to widen intent signal coverage. The company took an employee tender in January 2026 at a $5 billion valuation and Sacra puts ARR around $150 million by May 2026, so the vendor risk here is low.
March 2026 split billing into two currencies, Data Credits for vendor lookups and Actions for platform work, and stopped charging for failed lookups. Both were real fixes rather than repackaging. What has not changed is that Clay is a router, not a data source. It will happily run a five-provider waterfall at five lookups per row and it will not rank those providers for your segment, so expect several weeks of tuning and a monthly review of hit rates as vendor databases drift. Treat the waterfall as living config. Two practical constraints for an engineering owner: the HTTP API and CRM auto-sync only unlock on the $446 a month Growth plan, and if the contacts are EU or UK persons then the lawful basis, notice and retention obligations are yours to answer, not Clay's.
Key Features
- ✓ Waterfall enrichment chains providers per field and stops at the first confident hit instead of paying every vendor
- ✓ Claygent runs an LLM web researcher per row for signals no contact database sells
- ✓ Two-currency billing since March 2026: Data Credits for vendor lookups, Actions for platform work
- ✓ Failed lookups stopped being charged in the March 2026 pricing rebuild
- ✓ HTTP API plus CRM auto-sync to Salesforce and HubSpot from the Growth tier upward
- ✓ Over 150 provider integrations, with intent signal coverage widened by the Avenue acquisition
Where it holds
- • The waterfall model stops you paying a single vendor for coverage they never had
- • A genuinely usable free tier lets you test the mechanics before any commitment
- • March 2026 removed charges on failed lookups, which was the worst part of the old billing
- • Credible scale behind it: about $150M ARR by May 2026 and a $5B tender valuation in January
Where it breaks
- • Clay routes data, it does not verify it, and will not tell you which of your five providers is accurate for a given segment
- • Programmatic use needs the $446 a month Growth plan, so scripted or CI-driven pipelines start near $4,814 a year
- • Credit burn is hard to forecast: a five-provider waterfall costs five lookups per row and can drain a month in a week
- • Enriching EU or UK personal data puts the lawful basis and retention questions squarely on you
My Take
Think of it as a spreadsheet with a job queue and 150 data vendors behind every column. The waterfall idea is sound: chain providers cheapest first, take the first confident answer and stop paying the rest for coverage they do not have. March 2026 rebuilt the billing into Data Credits and Actions and stopped charging for failed lookups, which fixed the two most-complained-about parts of the old model. What it still will not do is tell you which of those providers is accurate for German mid-market or Southeast Asian SMB, and the HTTP API only appears on the $446 a month Growth plan, so anything scripted has a floor of roughly $4,814 a year.
Quick Info
- Pricing:
- freemium
- Openness:
- Proprietary
- Starting at:
- Free tier gives 500 Actions and 100 Data Credits a month with unlimited seats and tables, no card required. Launch is $167 per month billed annually ($1,804 a year) for 15,000 Actions and 3,000 Data Credits. Growth is $446 per month billed annually ($4,814 a year) for 40,000 Actions and 6,000 Data Credits, and is the first tier with HTTP API access, CRM auto-sync and Web Intent. Enterprise is custom, commonly $30,000 a year and up. Annual billing saves 10 percent. Unused Data Credits roll over, capped at 2x the monthly allowance on Launch and Growth. Verified on clay.com/pricing, August 2026.
- Added:
- Aug 2026
- Updated:
- Aug 2026
Use Cases
Judge it on your own work
The notes above say where Clay holds and where it breaks. The fastest check is your own workload.
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