Clay Pricing (2026): Credits, Plans & the Real Math

Clay's pricing looks simple on the surface, but the credit system means your actual cost depends heavily on how many enrichments you run. Here's how to budget.

Clay pricing starts at $0 (100 credits/mo) for the Free plan.

Published Pricing

Free

$0
100 credits/mo
  • Basic enrichment
  • Limited integrations
  • Single user
  • Community support

Starter

$149/mo
2,000 credits/mo
  • Most integrations
  • Basic workflows
  • Email support
  • CSV import/export

Explorer

$349/mo
10,000 credits/mo
  • All integrations
  • Advanced workflows
  • CRM sync
  • Priority support

Enterprise

Custom
Custom credits
  • Unlimited users
  • Custom credit volumes
  • Dedicated support
  • Custom integrations
  • SLA guarantees

What They Don't Tell You

The listed price is just the starting point. Here are the costs that show up after you sign:

Credit overages $0.01-$0.50/credit

Credit costs vary by enrichment provider. A simple email lookup might cost 1 credit, while a full company enrichment can burn 5-10. Overages add up fast on high-volume workflows.

Third-party data provider costs Varies

Clay orchestrates enrichments, but the data comes from providers like Clearbit, Apollo, and Hunter. Some providers charge separately on top of Clay credits.

Learning curve 2-4 weeks ramp-up

Clay's workflow builder is powerful but not intuitive. Plan for dedicated setup time before your team is productive.

What It Actually Costs: A Real Example

RevOps team enriching 5,000 leads/month

Pro plan $9,600
Average credit overage ($200/mo) $2,400
Total Annual Cost ~$12,000/year
Real cost per user: $1,000/mo (team cost)

The Bottom Line

Clay's real cost is the Pro plan ($800/mo) plus enrichment credits from third-party providers. Budget $12K-20K/year for a team actively using it. If you just need basic enrichment without workflow automation, Apollo or ZoomInfo are simpler.

Read the full Clay review โ†’

Frequently Asked Questions

How does Clay's credit system work?

Each action in Clay (enriching a contact, looking up a company, running a waterfall) consumes credits. Simple lookups cost 1 credit. Complex multi-provider enrichments can cost 5-10 credits per record. Your plan includes a monthly credit allotment, and overages are billed separately.

Is Clay worth it vs. ZoomInfo or Apollo?

Different tools for different jobs. Clay excels at multi-source enrichment workflows and data orchestration. ZoomInfo and Apollo are better for straightforward contact lookup and outreach. If you're running complex enrichment pipelines across 3+ data sources, Clay pays for itself.

Can I use Clay for free?

Yes. The free tier gives you 100 credits/month, which is enough to test workflows and enrich a small batch of contacts. You'll need a paid plan for any real volume.

Does Clay replace my data providers?

No. Clay sits on top of your data providers and orchestrates them. Think of it as the workflow layer, not the data layer. You'll still need subscriptions to the underlying enrichment sources for best results.

About the Author

Rome Thorndike has spent over a decade working with B2B data and sales technology. He led sales at Datajoy, an analytics infrastructure company acquired by Databricks, sold Dynamics and Azure AI/ML at Microsoft, and covered the full Salesforce stack including Analytics, MuleSoft, and Machine Learning. He founded DataStackGuide to help RevOps teams cut through vendor noise using real adoption data.