Clay Pricing in 2026: What Each Plan Really Costs per Enriched Lead

Clay pricing is $0 on Free, $185 a month on Launch and $495 a month on Growth when billed monthly, with roughly 10% off on annual billing, as of October 2026. Each plan bundles two meters: Actions for platform work and Data Credits for data you buy. A lead with a found and validated email costs about 7 to 8 cents on Launch. A fully enriched record with a phone number costs closer to $1.

How much does Clay cost in 2026?

Clay has four plans: Free, Launch, Growth and Enterprise, and every paid plan price is the sum of an Action tier and a Data Credit tier. The pricing page shows the default tiers below. You can slide either meter up, and the price rises with it.

Plan	Monthly billing	Annual billing (per month)	Actions	Data Credits	Key gate
Free	$0	$0	500/mo	100/mo	200 rows per table, no phone enrichment
Launch	$185 ($60 Actions + $125 credits)	$167 ($54 + $113)	15,000/mo	2,500/mo (30,000/yr)	Phone numbers, signals, sequencer
Growth	$495 ($205 Actions + $290 credits)	$446 ($185 + $261)	40,000/mo	6,000/mo (72,000/yr)	CRM auto-sync, HTTP API, webhooks
Enterprise	Custom	Custom, annual	200,000+/mo	100,000+	SSO, RBAC, Clay API, workbook budgets

Seats are unlimited on every plan, which matters if you are pricing Clay against per-seat tools. A five-person team pays the same $185 as a solo founder.

The Launch credit slider runs from 2,500 credits a month ($125) to 50,000 a month ($2,125). The Action slider runs from 15,000 a month ($60) to 200,000 a month ($540). Growth uses the same credit tiers but starts higher on Actions.

Enterprise prices are not published. Procurement platform Vendr reports a median Clay contract of $59,996 a year across 96 purchases, with a range of $16,500 to $170,000. That data covers all Clay purchases, not only Enterprise.

What is the difference between Actions and Data Credits?

Actions pay for what Clay does, and Data Credits pay for what you buy from Clay's data marketplace. Clay's docs put an Action at "a few tenths of a penny" and a Data Credit at "a few pennies".

From the default tiers you can work out the effective unit prices:

Plan and billing	Cost per Data Credit	Cost per Action
Launch, monthly	$125 / 2,500 = $0.050	$60 / 15,000 = $0.0040
Launch, annual	$1,356 / 30,000 = $0.045	$648 / 180,000 = $0.0036
Growth, monthly	$290 / 6,000 = $0.048	$205 / 40,000 = $0.0051
Growth, annual	$3,132 / 72,000 = $0.044	$2,220 / 480,000 = $0.0046

Clay's FAQ confirms Data Credits "start at $0.05 each" and get cheaper at higher tiers. The 20,000-credit monthly tier, for example, costs $880, which is $0.044 a credit.

The two meters behave differently. Data Credits roll over up to 2x your monthly amount and can be topped up. Actions reset every billing cycle and cannot be topped up at all. If you run out of Actions, you move to a higher Action tier.

What uses up Clay credits and Actions?

Every enrichment costs 1 Action, plus a variable number of Data Credits unless you bring your own API key. Clay's docs list what counts:

Activity	Actions	Data Credits
Sourcing accounts or contacts from Clay's database	0	Yes, unless free data or your own keys
Importing your own data, CRM imports	0	0
Formulas, filters, transforming data in Clay	0	0
Each enrichment from any provider (including signals)	1 per enrichment	Yes, unless free data or your own keys
Each AI run	1 per run	Yes, unless your own AI keys
Exports, CRM syncs, HTTP API calls, adding a lead to a sequence	1 per record	0

Data Credit prices vary by data type, from 0.5 to 10+ credits per enrichment. Clay's own example prices a LinkedIn profile at 0.5 credits and a found email at 0.5 credits. Phone numbers are the expensive line. Clay does not publish a per-provider phone price; its docs say the exact cost appears in the product next to each enrichment option. Check it before you build a phone waterfall.

Two rules work in your favour. If an enrichment returns nothing, Clay charges neither Actions nor Data Credits. And some email validators are free under the new pricing.

What does one enriched lead cost on Clay?

A lead with a found, validated email costs about $0.07 to $0.08 on Launch, and a fully enriched record costs $0.32 to $1.02. Here is the maths for four common workflows, using Launch monthly prices ($0.05 per credit, $0.004 per Action).

Example 1: email-only leads (Clay's own example)

Clay's docs walk through enriching 100 contacts with LinkedIn profiles and emails:

1. Find 100 people in Clay's database: 0 credits, 0 Actions.
2. Enrich 100 LinkedIn profiles at 0.5 credits: 50 credits, 100 Actions.
3. Find emails, 90% success at 0.5 credits: 45 credits, 90 Actions (misses are free).
4. Validate 90 emails: 0 credits, 90 Actions.
5. Push 90 leads to your sequencer: 0 credits, 90 Actions.

That is 95 credits ($4.75) and 370 Actions ($1.48), or $6.23 for 90 usable leads. The marginal cost is $0.069 per lead.

Now check the plan ceiling. Each lead uses 1.06 credits and 4.1 Actions. Launch's 2,500 credits cover about 2,368 leads a month, and its 15,000 Actions cover about 3,649. Credits run out first, so a fully used Launch plan costs $185 / 2,368 = $0.078 per lead.

Example 2: fully enriched records with phone numbers

Clay's docs say a fully enriched record "typically costs 6 to 20 Data Credits", driven mainly by phone lookups and waterfalls. At $0.05 a credit that is $0.30 to $1.00 in credits. Add six Actions (five enrichments and one export) at $0.004 and you get $0.32 to $1.02 per record.

On default Launch, 2,500 credits cover only 125 to 416 such records a month. For 1,000 phone-heavy records at 20 credits each, you need 20,000 credits. That tier costs $880, plus $60 for 15,000 Actions (you use 6,000). Total: $940 a month, or $0.94 per record.

Then adjust for accuracy. In Drevon's 100-account test, Clay returned contacts with a 91% role accuracy rate. If 9% of records point at someone who has moved on, the cost per record with a current title rises to $0.94 / 0.91 = $1.03.

Example 3: an AI research column

Clay's AI pricing docs use a fixed-price model at 1 credit per row. That adds $0.05 in credits plus 1 Action ($0.004), so $0.054 per row on Launch. About 80% of models in Clay are fixed price. The other 20%, the advanced reasoning models, are priced per run at the provider's cost with no markup. Clay withholds an estimate based on the 75th percentile of past runs and refunds the difference after the run.

Example 4: bring your own API keys

With your own provider key, Clay charges 0 Data Credits and 1 Action per enrichment. A five-step enrichment then costs Clay $0.02 a record on Launch. You still pay your provider separately, and Clay's dashboard will not show that spend. Clay's docs say connecting your own keys saves 50% to 80% on Data Credits.

The general method behind these numbers is in our guide to calculating the true cost of a lead on a credit-based platform.

What are the hidden costs in Clay pricing?

The sticker price is honest, but five rules push real spend above it.

1. Top-ups cost 30% more. One-time and automatic top-ups carry a 30% premium (50% on legacy plans), so a $0.05 credit becomes about $0.065. Minimum top-up is 250 credits, capped at 4x your monthly allocation.
2. Actions have no top-up. Hit the Action ceiling mid-month and your only option is a higher Action tier.
3. Growth gates the integrations most teams want. CRM auto-sync, HTTP API calls and webhooks are Growth-only, so a team that needs them pays $495, not $185, on monthly billing.
4. Rollover is capped. Unused credits bank up to 2x your monthly amount. Enterprise customers roll over 15% of the prior year, and only if they renew at the same or higher commitment.
5. Waterfalls multiply usage. Each provider tried in a waterfall is its own enrichment. Misses are free, but each provider that returns data charges both meters.

The cost that does not show on any invoice is build time. Clay is a workspace, not a list. Someone has to design tables, test waterfalls on 10 to 20 rows and maintain them. If that person is an agency, read our breakdown of Clay agencies versus building in-house.

How did Clay's pricing change in 2026?

Clay replaced its Starter, Explorer and Pro plans with Launch and Growth in March 2026, and split one credit balance into Actions and Data Credits. SyncGTM's analysis of the change lists the old plans as Starter at $149 (2,000 credits), Explorer at $349 (10,000 credits) and Pro at $800 (50,000 credits).

The trade-off depends on your old plan. SyncGTM calls the mid-tier "squeezed": Explorer at $349 with 10,000 credits became Growth at $446 with 6,000 credits. On the other side, CRM integrations, HTTP requests and webhooks moved down from the $800 Pro plan to Growth, and bring-your-own keys now work on every plan.

If you are on a legacy plan, model your current monthly usage in both meters before you migrate. Teams that ran heavy waterfalls on Clay-managed providers feel the change most.

When is Clay worth it, and when is it not?

Clay is worth it when you have a technical owner and you combine several data sources per lead. It is poor value when a rep just needs emails and phone numbers for a few hundred accounts.

Clay is the right pick if:

• You run waterfalls across providers and want misses to cost nothing.
• You already pay for data providers and can connect your own keys.
• You need AI research columns, signals and CRM sync in one workspace.
• Your team is larger than a few seats, so unlimited seats beat per-seat pricing.

Pick something else if:

• You only need contact data. Apollo's annual Basic plan works out to about 2 cents per credit, as our Apollo pricing breakdown shows.
• Your workflow is phone-first at volume. Phone lookups push Clay toward $1 a record.
• Nobody on the team will own the tables. A self-serve database will deliver more per dollar.
• You need one vendor contract with direct dials and intent data for an enterprise sales floor. Compare ZoomInfo's pricing and our Clay vs ZoomInfo comparison.

Credit pricing also changes behaviour. When every lookup costs money, teams enrich fewer speculative accounts, which is the problem we cover in why credit-based pricing penalizes discovery. One fix is to research before you enrich. Drevon reads LinkedIn, Reddit, job boards and company sites in your own browser, returns accounts with a source link for every buying signal, and exports them to Clay. You then spend Clay credits only on accounts that already have a reason to buy.

If Clay's pricing does not fit, our list of Clay alternatives for B2B prospecting groups options by use case. For accuracy data, see the 100-lead test of sales intelligence tools.

Frequently asked questions

Does Clay have a free plan?

Yes. Free includes 100 Data Credits and 500 Actions a month, unlimited seats, and up to 200 rows per table. Phone enrichment is not included.

How much is one Clay credit?

A Data Credit starts at $0.05 on Launch monthly and drops to about $0.044 on larger tiers or annual billing. Top-ups cost 30% more.

Do Clay credits roll over?

Data Credits roll over up to 2x your monthly allocation on Launch and Growth. Actions do not roll over; they reset every billing cycle.

Am I charged when Clay finds nothing?

No. If an enrichment returns no result, Clay charges neither Actions nor Data Credits.

Is Clay cheaper with my own API keys?

Usually. Your own keys remove the Data Credit charge, and each enrichment then costs 1 Action. You pay the data provider directly instead.

Is annual billing worth it on Clay?

If your usage is steady, yes. Launch drops from $185 to $167 a month and Growth from $495 to $446, and annual plans get all credits up front.

Want to spend Clay credits only on accounts with a sourced reason to buy? Download Drevon and run your first research job in the AI subscription you already have, or book a demo.

Sources

1. Clay, "Pricing", accessed 2026-10-10.
2. Clay University, "Actions & Data Credits", accessed 2026-10-10.
3. Clay University, "AI pricing", accessed 2026-10-10.
4. SyncGTM, "Clay Pricing Change: What You Should Know", accessed 2026-10-10.
5. Drevon, "Best Sales Intelligence Tools in 2026, Tested on 100 Leads", accessed 2026-10-10.
6. Apollo.io, "Pricing", accessed 2026-10-10.
7. Vendr, "Clay Software Pricing & Plans 2026: See Your Cost", accessed 2026-10-13.