Clay
The value is the network, the data or the infrastructure. Keep paying.
A spreadsheet that enriches itself: put a list of companies in and it fills columns from dozens of data providers, then writes outreach from what it found.
Do not build this. The product is contracts with data vendors, not software. What it does is call a dozen providers in sequence until one returns an answer, and bill you for whichever did. Reproducing that means signing with each of them yourself, at list price, which is more than this costs. AND THE PART THAT IS NOT COMMERCIAL - Most of what is being enriched is personal data about people who did not provide it. In the EU and the UK that needs a lawful basis, and buying it from a vendor does not create one - Several of these providers have been the subject of regulatory action. Using the output is your exposure, not theirs - So before the build question there is a use question, and it is worth answering honestly WHAT YOU CAN BUILD, AND SHOULD **Enrichment from what you already have**, which is free and often better: - The email domain gives you the company. The company website gives you the description, the technology, sometimes the size and the location — all published deliberately - Your own mailbox already holds everybody you have dealt with, with dates. That is a better signal than any purchased attribute - Your own product data tells you what a customer actually does, which no vendor knows - Record the source and the date on every enriched field, so a stale value is visible rather than trusted AND THE WATERFALL IDEA, WHICH IS WORTH COPYING - Try the cheap source first, fall back to the next, stop at the first answer, and record which one answered. That is a good pattern for any lookup and it costs nothing - Cache by key with an expiry, because the expensive part is asking twice THE ONE-LINE VERSION You are buying data contracts and somebody else's compliance risk. Enrich from your own mailbox and the company's own website, and check the rules before using anything bought.
What you lose
- Contracts with dozens of data providers, resold by the row, which is the entire product
- Waterfall enrichment — trying provider after provider until one answers — with the billing handled
- Coverage no single source has, because the point is combining them
- Somebody else holding the contracts for data about people
If you would rather not build
- The company’s own website, which publishes most of it deliberately
- Your own mailbox, which knows everybody you actually deal with
- Asking the customer, which is legal everywhere
The escape hatch
open source · no votes, no paid placement
Monica
$0A personal CRM built around relationships rather than purchased data.
monicahq/monicafree · open source
Why this verdict
our own opinion · changed only by a person
20/100
Verdict no at 20: reselling a dozen data vendors is not reproducible, and the legal position around purchased personal data is the sharper half of the answer.
History
tracked since 14 Aug 2026 · nothing is ever overwritten
Nothing recorded yet. This chart fills in once the page has visitors, votes or prompt copies — it will not draw a flat line to look busy.
Questions about Clay
answered from the record above
Is Clay free?
No — the plan we track is $149 a month. Starter from around $149/month billed monthly, priced on enrichment credits.
Can you replace Clay by building your own?
KEEP IT. The value is the network, the data or the infrastructure. Keep paying. Replacement score 20 out of 100, build time longer than it saves. Read what you lose before you decide.
How much does Clay cost?
$149 a month on Starter — $1,788 a year. Recorded 14 Aug 2026.
What do you lose by replacing Clay?
Contracts with dozens of data providers, resold by the row, which is the entire product; Waterfall enrichment — trying provider after provider until one answers — with the billing handled; Coverage no single source has, because the point is combining them; Somebody else holding the contracts for data about people. If any of those carry weight for you, keep paying.
Is there an open-source alternative to Clay?
Yes: Twenty, Monica. The prompt on this page is for when you want it your way instead.
Related entries
same category first, most replaced first
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