Clay vs ZoomInfo (2026) Compared
Clay queries 75+ providers and picks the best result for each contact. ZoomInfo bets its single database is all you need. Two fundamentally different philosophies.
The Short Version
Clay is the better fit for RevOps teams and technical operators who want maximum data coverage through waterfall enrichment across 75+ providers, with a spreadsheet-like workspace for building custom workflows. ZoomInfo wins for organizations that want a single vendor for B2B contact data, intent signals, and sales intelligence with minimal setup and proven enterprise-grade accuracy. The biggest risk with Clay is over-engineering workflows your team can't maintain. The biggest risk with ZoomInfo is paying $15K+/year for a database when an aggregation approach might deliver better coverage at lower cost.
Quick Comparison
| Feature | Clay | ZoomInfo |
|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | $149/mo | $15,000/yr |
| Enterprise Price | $800/mo (Pro, 25K credits) | $40K–100K+/yr |
| Data Sources | 75+ third-party providers | 1 (ZoomInfo proprietary) |
| Data Model | Waterfall: query many, keep best result | Single database with regular refresh |
| Contact Database | Aggregated (varies by provider) | 100M+ proprietary profiles |
| Enrichment Approach | Credit-based, per-action pricing | Bulk export with credit pools |
| Automation | Custom workflows, AI research agent | Workflows + Engage (outreach add-on) |
| Job Demand | 26 postings | 85 postings |
| Best For | RevOps, data-savvy teams | Enterprise sales, single-vendor simplicity |
| The Big Risk | Over-engineered workflows nobody maintains | Overpaying for data you could aggregate cheaper |
Deep Dive: Clay
What They're Selling
Clay is a data enrichment and research workspace. Instead of locking into one database, you waterfall across 75+ data providers (Clearbit, Apollo, Hunter, People Data Labs, and dozens more) and use the best result for each contact. The platform looks like a spreadsheet, but underneath it's a workflow engine that chains AI research, enrichment, and scoring into automated pipelines.
What It Actually Costs
Plans start at $149/month for 1,500 credits. Most teams land on Explorer ($349/mo, 5,000 credits) or Pro ($800/mo, 25,000 credits). Each enrichment action burns credits, and complex waterfall chains can use 5–10 credits per contact. A 10-person team doing serious enrichment spends $400–$1,200/month ($4.8K–$14.4K/year). That's a fraction of ZoomInfo's minimum contract, but costs scale with complexity.
What Users Say
RevOps teams and growth engineers call it a superpower. The waterfall approach typically improves coverage by 20–40% over any single data provider. Traditional sales teams find it overwhelming. The learning curve is 2–4 weeks before you're productive, and building sophisticated workflows takes real technical skill. Teams that invest the time rarely go back to single-source databases.
Pros
- 75+ data sources deliver best-in-class coverage via waterfall
- 20–40% better match rates than any single provider
- Credit-based pricing scales with actual usage
- AI research agent (Claygent) automates deep prospect research
Cons
- Steeper learning curve than traditional data platforms
- Complex workflows require technical ops skills to build and maintain
- No built-in outreach or sequencing tools
- Credit costs can surprise teams running high-volume enrichment
Deep Dive: ZoomInfo
What They're Selling
ZoomInfo is the largest proprietary B2B contact database. It offers 100M+ profiles, direct dial phone numbers, intent data, company technographics, and org charts in one platform. The value proposition is simplicity: one vendor, one login, one contract for all your prospecting data needs. Enterprise teams choose it because the accuracy on US-based contacts is the industry benchmark.
What It Actually Costs
Professional tier starts at $15K/year for basic search and contact exports. Most teams land on Advanced ($25K+/year) for intent data, or Elite ($40K+/year) for real-time signals and advanced integrations. Credit-based pricing means you can burn through your allocation before renewal. Multi-seat enterprise deals regularly reach $50K–100K+/year. Add Engage for outreach ($$$) and Chorus for conversation intelligence ($$$), and a full-stack ZoomInfo deployment can cost more than your CRM.
What Users Say
Enterprise sales teams value the data quality, especially direct dials for US-based decision-makers. The frustrations are well-documented: aggressive auto-renewal contracts that are hard to cancel, credit systems that create usage anxiety, and a sales process that pushes multi-year commitments. International and SMB data quality trails the US enterprise data significantly.
Pros
- Highest accuracy for US enterprise contacts and direct dials
- Single platform covers data, intent, and outreach
- Deep CRM integrations with Salesforce, HubSpot, Dynamics
- 3x more job postings than Clay (85 vs 26)
Cons
- Minimum $15K/year locks out smaller teams
- Aggressive auto-renewal and multi-year contracts
- Single-source data means coverage gaps Clay's waterfall avoids
- International and SMB contact data is weaker
Which Should You Pick?
The Honest Take
Clay represents a fundamentally different philosophy. Instead of locking into one database, you query many and use the best result for each contact. ZoomInfo is betting its proprietary data stays superior. Clay is betting that aggregation wins. Right now, the data suggests Clay's approach delivers better coverage at lower cost for teams willing to invest in setup. ZoomInfo's advantage is accuracy on US enterprise contacts and the simplicity of a single vendor. If you're spending $50K+/year on ZoomInfo and your team has ops talent, it's worth running a 30-day Clay pilot. You might find that 75 sources beat one, even when that one is the market leader.
Questions to Ask Before Buying
- How technical is your RevOps or sales ops team?
- Do you need data for US enterprise contacts, international markets, or both?
- What's your annual budget for B2B data and enrichment?
- How important is direct dial phone number coverage?
- Do you want a single-vendor solution or are you comfortable managing data from multiple sources?
- How many contacts per month do you need to enrich or export?
- Will you build and maintain custom enrichment workflows, or do you need something out-of-the-box?
- Are you currently on a ZoomInfo contract, and when does it renew?
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Clay replace ZoomInfo?
It can. Clay accesses many of the same underlying data providers ZoomInfo uses, plus dozens more. For teams comfortable with the waterfall approach, Clay often delivers comparable or better data coverage at 30–70% of the cost. But Clay doesn't replicate ZoomInfo's intent data, org charts, or built-in outreach tools. It's a data enrichment platform, not an all-in-one sales intelligence suite.
Is ZoomInfo's data better than Clay's?
For US enterprise contacts and direct dials, ZoomInfo's proprietary data is still the benchmark. But Clay's waterfall approach queries 75+ providers per contact, which often surfaces data ZoomInfo misses. In head-to-head tests, Clay's aggregate coverage tends to match or beat ZoomInfo on email accuracy while trailing on phone number quality.
Which tool has more career demand?
ZoomInfo shows 85 job postings vs 26 for Clay. But Clay's growth trajectory is steep. It's increasingly listed in RevOps and growth engineering job descriptions. ZoomInfo experience is more broadly recognized today, but Clay skills are becoming a differentiator for technical ops roles.