CClay

Clay is a data workspace where AI agents build and enrich prospect lists, and it suits revenue teams with someone ready to own the workflows. More than 17,000 customers use it, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and Stripe, and its Claygent research agent passed 1 billion completed tasks in 2025. In September 2026 the company raised $115 million at a $7.1 billion valuation.

The main trade-off is setup effort: G2 reviewers rate Clay 4.6 out of 5 but often mention a learning curve. A free plan includes Claygent, and paid plans start at $167 a month. Clay scores 8.6/10 on our scale, with integrations and security its highest marks.

Clay by the Numbers

Clay has published funding and usage figures in two press releases a year apart, which makes its growth easy to trace.

The customer count rose from more than 10,000 in August 2025 to more than 17,000 in September 2026. That is about 70% growth in a year, and the valuation more than doubled over the same period. For a buyer, this points to a vendor with money to keep building and a large user community to learn from.

The named customers are mostly AI and software companies with technical sales and marketing teams. That matches what Clay asks of users: someone comfortable building multi-step tables and testing prompts. Traditional field sales teams should ask for references closer to their own setup.

The partner figures matter too. Clay reported 108 agency partners, seven independent bootcamps with more than 2,500 graduates and 60 community clubs in 30 countries in August 2025. A buyer without in-house skills can hire help or train a team member, which lowers the risk of a stalled rollout.

How Clay Runs Prospect Research

Every Clay workflow lives in a table. Rows are companies or people, and each column is an action that fills in data or makes a decision. Once the columns are set, Clay runs them across thousands of rows without further input.

Building the List

Lists come from a CRM import, a CSV, a webhook or Audiences, Clay’s search for companies and people. Launch includes unlimited Audiences searches. Signals add rows on their own: job changes, promotions, new hires, company news and, on Growth, web intent and webhook signals.

Waterfall Enrichment for Emails and Phones

A waterfall asks one data provider for a field, and if it comes back empty, asks the next. Clay connects more than 150 providers this way. Teams can also bring their own API keys for providers they already pay for. Phone number enrichment starts on Launch.

Claygent Research Columns

Claygent is the agent layer. A column prompt might ask it to read a prospect’s careers page and count open sales roles, or find whether a company uses a certain payment tool. It browses the web for each row and writes the answer back. Clay says an auto-mode for Claygent cuts cost by 47% compared with always using the most capable model, and Sculptor lets users build Claygents in plain language.

Scoring and Routing

Formulas and AI columns turn the research into a score or a segment. On Growth, records sync automatically to a CRM or data warehouse such as Snowflake, BigQuery or Databricks. Clay also has its own sequencer and can export ad audiences. The September 2026 Series D post describes newer account agents and an inbound SDR agent built on the same data.

Where People Stay Involved

Humans decide which columns to run, write the prompts, test on a small sample and approve where data goes. A bad prompt run over 10,000 rows spends credits fast, so most teams test on a small sample first. Enterprise adds credit budgets and workflow limits for this reason.

Clay Plans and Credit Costs

Clay meters two things. Actions cover workflow steps such as running a column. Data credits pay for enriched data from the marketplace. Every plan has unlimited seats.

Higher tiers can be bought within Launch and Growth. Launch data credit tiers run from $125 a month for 2,500 credits up to $2,125 a month for 50,000, and Growth action tiers run up to 200,000 actions a month for $850. Unused credits roll over within limits set on the pricing page.

What Uses Actions and What Uses Data Credits

Actions are spent when a column runs: a Claygent prompt, a formula, a CRM update or a send. Data credits are spent when Clay buys a field from a marketplace provider, such as a verified email or a mobile number.

This split explains why two teams on the same plan can see very different bills. A team running research-heavy Claygent columns uses actions quickly. A team pulling phone numbers for every row uses data credits first. Clay shows separate tiers for each, so a team can raise one without the other.

Clay Costs for Three Sales Teams

A founder testing outbound can stay on Free. With 100 data credits and 200 rows per table, that covers small research tests and a few hundred Claygent runs a month at no cost.

A five-person SDR team on Launch pays $167 a month, or $2,004 a year on monthly billing. Annual billing at 10% off brings that to about $1,804. Seats are unlimited, so all five reps and a manager share one plan. The 3,000 data credits a month are the limit to watch if every lead needs an email and a phone.

A revenue operations team that needs Salesforce or HubSpot auto-sync must move to Growth at $446 a month, or $5,352 a year before the annual discount and about $4,817 with it. Teams enriching tens of thousands of records a month will likely need a larger credit tier on top.

Clay Compared With Artisan Ava, HubSpot Breeze Agents and 11x Alice

These rivals overlap with Clay on prospect research. The main difference is that Clay builds the data and leaves outreach to your team or sequencer, while AI SDRs run the outreach too.

Clay is the more flexible data layer. Artisan Ava and 11x Alice fit buyers who want the outreach handled as well. HubSpot Breeze Agents suit teams that already live in HubSpot and want prospect research there. More options are on our lead generation agents and sales agents pages.

Teams That Get the Most From Clay

GTM engineers and revenue operations teams get the most out of Clay. They can design tables, write Claygent prompts and decide which providers to pay for. Clay says more than 280 GTM engineer job postings existed in August 2025, and 108 agencies build Clay workflows for clients.

Companies with an unusual ideal customer profile also gain. If your best leads are defined by something a standard database does not track, such as a tech stack, a hiring pattern or a line on a pricing page, Claygent can read it from the web. Teams that already pay for several data vendors can consolidate them in one waterfall.

Larger companies with security reviews are a fit as well. Enterprise adds SSO and SAML, SCIM provisioning, IP allowlists, role-based access, credit budgeting and a custom data processing agreement, along with a dedicated strategist and a shared Slack channel. Those controls let a central operations team give many reps access without losing track of spend.

Teams That May Prefer a Simpler Tool Than Clay

A two-person sales team that wants to search a database and start emailing the same afternoon may find Clay more than it needs. Clay could suit these buyers better with more guided starter templates, since the table model takes time to learn.

Teams that want an agent to run the whole outbound motion, from list to booked meeting, may also prefer an AI SDR. Clay has a sequencer and newer inbound agents, but its core is data. Buyers on a fixed budget should note that credits scale with list size.

Clay Setup Questions to Raise

Ask how many data credits a typical enriched lead uses in your segment. Emails, phone numbers and Claygent runs each draw from the budget, and a waterfall that checks five providers costs more than one that stops at the first hit.

Check which plan you need for CRM sync. Auto-sync to Salesforce or HubSpot, HTTP API calls and webhooks start on Growth, so a Launch team may export by hand at first.

Plan for ownership. Clay works best with one person maintaining tables, prompts and provider choices. Without that, workflows drift as data vendors and target lists change.

Review data rules for your region. Clay lists GDPR and CCPA, and Enterprise offers a custom DPA. Teams emailing prospects in Europe should still set lawful-basis rules for their outreach.

Clay Funding Rounds and Agent Launches

On August 5, 2025, Clay raised a $100 million Series C at a $3.1 billion valuation, led by CapitalG, with Sequoia, Meritech and Sapphire Ventures taking part. It reported more than 10,000 customers and over 1 billion tasks completed by its research agent.

On September 9, 2026, Clay announced a $115 million Series D led by Wellington at a $7.1 billion valuation. It reported more than 17,000 customers, 4x revenue growth in 2025, a $1 million scholarship fund for GTM engineers and agents for accounts and inbound leads.

How Clay Scores on Our Scale

Clay scores 8.6/10 on our scale. Integrations and trust and security earn 9.5 each, backed by 150+ data providers, warehouse sync and a list of certifications that includes ISO 42001. Autonomy earns 8.5 because Claygent researches and fills data without help once a table is set. Ease of setup is lower at 7.5, reflecting the learning curve reviewers describe.

For teams with a GTM engineer or a revenue operations lead, Clay is a well-funded, flexible way to build prospect data that no single database holds. Small teams can start on the free plan and move up when credits run short.

Revenue Team Questions About Clay

How Much Does Clay Cost per Month?

Clay has a free plan. Launch starts at $167 a month and Growth at $446 a month, with higher action and credit tiers costing more. Enterprise is a custom annual contract, and annual billing saves 10%.

Does the Free Clay Plan Include Claygent?

Yes. The Free plan includes Claygent, multi-provider waterfalls and bring-your-own API keys, with 500 actions and 100 data credits a month and up to 200 rows per table.

Can Clay Find Phone Numbers as Well as Emails?

Yes. Phone number enrichment is included from the Launch plan. Clay runs waterfalls across many providers to fill work emails and mobile numbers.

Is Clay Compliant With GDPR and SOC 2?

Clay lists SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, ISO 42001, GDPR and CCPA on its pricing page. Enterprise adds SSO, SCIM, RBAC, IP allowlists and a custom DPA.

Does Clay Send Outreach for You?

Clay includes email sending and its own sequencer from Launch and connects to sequencing tools. Its focus is building and enriching lists; teams that want an agent to run full outbound conversations may pair it with an AI SDR.