Clay is a popular sales intelligence tool for B2B lead generation. Yet despite solid AI functionality and impressive flexibility, it’s not without limitations, with credit-based pricing and a lack of sales engagement features among the biggest downsides.Â
If you’re unsure which Clay alternative is best for powering your outbound lead generation system, don’t worry. We’ve reviewed seven Clay alternatives and outlined how they compare across features, pricing, and use cases.Â
Why Look for Clay Alternatives?
There are several reasons why businesses look to replace Clay with another tool.
Here are the top complaints about Clay:Â
Opaque pricing: Understanding how many credits will be consumed by different enrichment actions and AI automations is difficult.Â
Credit burn: It’s easy to rip through credits accidentally, especially if the user is unfamiliar with the credit system and running multi-step workflows.Â
Complex setup: Non-technical users might find the spreadsheet-style interface confusing, which can make it hard to use and set up.Â
Plus, to stay competitive and scalable, modern sales teams are looking for tools that offer faster onboarding, multichannel outreach features, and better CRM integrations.Â
Read on to see which tool is best for your business’s unique prospecting and data enrichment needs.Â
1. Artisan (Best Overall Clay Alternative)
Artisan is our top Clay alternative because it single-handedly automates all of the early and middle stages of the outbound sales process.Â
Artisan is built around AI business development representative (BDR) Ava. She finds leads that fit your ideal customer profile, researches them, builds multichannel outreach sequences, and sends personalized messages and follow-ups over LinkedIn and email.
Artisan brings together multiple strands of sales functionality under one roof, which helps sales teams create a lean tech stack. Thanks to Ava, teams can also scale their cold outreach efforts without increasing headcount.Â
Key Features
AI SDR: Ava automates 80% of outbound tasks and books meetings on autopilot
B2B database: 300M+ B2B, ecommerce, and local contacts with ongoing enrichment and hygiene monitoring
Multichannel outreach: LinkedIn outreach and email automation in one user interfaceÂ
Deliverability tools: Email warmup, send limits, and deliverability optimization
Drag-and-drop sequence builder: Automated outreach sequences personalized to specific leads
CRM integrations: CRM sync with popular tools like Salesforce and HubSpot
Pricing & Plans (Monthly)
Reach out to sales for a custom quote (pricing is straightforward and usage-based).
How Artisan Compares to Clay
Easier to set up and scale
No spreadsheet-style builder or credits to manage
Covers email, LinkedIn, enrichment, and automation natively
All-in-one platform
Ideal Use Case
Startups and scaleups with lean sales teamsÂ
GTM teams seeking an AI-first platform
Ops teams looking to replace sales tools with one dashboard
2. Apollo.io
Apollo is a sales intelligence solution that combines a B2B lead database and a sales engagement tool.Â
Reps use Apollo for prospecting, lead generation, and cold outreach. They can discover new leads, find contact information, research companies, and create automated multichannel outreach sequences.Â
Key Features
B2B database: Search for intel on millions of contacts and companies.Â
Search and filtering: Find ideal leads using filters like job title, location, and revenue
Automated sequences: Build multi-channel cadences with email, call, and LinkedIn touches
Built-in dialer: Make and receive calls directly from the platform.
AI sales assistant: Automate outreach content writing with generative AI
Pricing & Plans
Apollo offers a barebones free plan and three pricing tiers that increase in data access and feature breadth as you climb up the tiers.Â
Free: 1,200 credits per user
Basic: $49/user/monthÂ
Professional: $79/user/month
Organization: $119/user/month
How Apollo Compares to Clay
Compared to Clay, Apollo is more structured and less customizable—which is to be expected, since Clay is one of the most flexible prospecting tools out there. This has a benefit, though. Apollo is much easier to use. In fact, Apollo scores a 9.1 ease of use rating on G2—far better than Clay’s 8.0.Â
Ideal Use Case
Outbound sales teams that need an easy-to-use prospecting tool
Teams that want data enrichment and outreach automation in one place
Founders or SDRs looking to implement an outbound tool quicklyÂ
3. ZoomInfo
ZoomInfo is a B2B go-to-market intelligence platform with a vast amount of data on companies and contacts.Â
Sales, revenue ops, and marketing ops teams use it primarily to collect and enrich B2B data—such as intent signals, contact data, firmographics, and technographics—that helps them personalize and automate sales outreach. Â
Key Features
SalesOS platform: Sales prospecting package with contact database (70+ million direct dials)
Intent data signals: Identify leads researching solutions like yours  Â
CRM enrichment and scoring: Update CRM contact records with fresh data, score leads based on behavior and ICP-fit
Conversation intelligence tools: Analyze sales calls and interactions to uncover what’s working
Web visitor tracking: Discover which businesses are visiting your websiteÂ
Pricing & Plans
ZoomInfo’s pricing is not publicly listed. You’ll have to call for a custom quote. Plans typically cost around $15,000 per year, and most contracts are annual or multi-year, making it a large investment.Â
How ZoomInfo Compares to Clay
ZoomInfo has more high-quality and advanced B2B data than Clay. It offers advanced intent data, as well as account insights and market research data that help GTM teams run targeted account-based marketing campaigns.Â
On the downside, ZoomInfo is less flexible. You won’t be able to design highly custom workflows like you can with Clay. The feature set is also broad, making it overkill for startups and difficult to set up if you lack data ops support.Â
Ideal Use Case
Large teams with a dedicated sales operations functionÂ
Enterprises that care most about data volumeÂ
Sales teams with few budget concerns Â
4. Lusha
Lusha is a sales intelligence and prospecting tool that helps small- and medium-sized businesses find B2B contact data.Â
It comes with a searchable database and a Chrome extension for prospecting on the go. Lusha also offers AI-generated email sequencing to streamline cold email outreach.Â
Key Features
Lead database: Access a large database of over 150 million leads
Chrome extension for contact reveal: Discover email addresses, phone numbers, and other intel while exploring a company website or LinkedIn profileÂ
Bulk enrichment options: Enrich lead lists and CRM profiles with up-to-date B2B contact data
CRM sync: Automatically send new leads found in Lusha to your CRM
Intent filters: Track prospects searching for topics related to your product or service
Pricing & Plans
Lusha offers one free plan and three paid tiers. Higher-tier plans give you more data credits, seats, and features.Â
Free: 40 credits per month
Pro: $19.40/month (3 seats included)
Premium: $45.45/month (5 seats included)
Scale: Custom pricing (custom seats)
How Lusha Compares to Clay
Lusha is one of the easiest prospecting tools to set up. The learning curve is much smaller than Clay’s—reps can get the hang of the Chrome Extension in minutes, for example. The database is also easy. You simply set your ICP criteria, and the platform finds prospects that match.  Â
However, Lusha does have its limitations, especially around contact data. Compared to Clay, which scores an 8.9 in contact availability on G2, Lusha has a 7.8. Lusha’s data accuracy is also lower than Clay’s. So, if you do switch from Clay to Lusha, you’re sacrificing accuracy and customization for simplicity and ease of setup. You also gain more in terms of outreach automation, though it’s confined to email outreach.Â
Ideal Use Case
Smaller B2B sales teams that prospect on LinkedIn and want to enrich leads on the go with a Chrome Extension
Salespeople who want fast access to lead data without complex setup
5. Seamless.AI
Seamless AI is a real-time lead search engine that helps B2B salespeople find and verify contact information and company details.Â
It comes with live search for phone numbers and emails, CRM integrations for data enrichment, and other prospecting tools like automated lead list building.Â
Key Features
Live search for emails/phones: Look up email addresses and cell phone numbers of your target prospects
Chrome plugin for LinkedIn: Uncover contact info associated with LinkedIn profiles
CRM sync: Connect your CRM and automatically enrich contact records with fresh data
Pitch intelligence: Receive data-driven AI suggestions on how to personalize call scripts and sales emailsÂ
Pricing & Plans
Seamless AI offers three different plans. Higher tiers give you access to more credits, which unlock contact details, and to advanced features like AI-powered outreach automation.Â
Free: 1 user, 50 creditsÂ
Pro: Contact for a quote (pay per user, daily credit refresh)
Enterprise: Contact for a quote (unlimited users, custom credits)
How Seamless AI Compares to Clay
Seamless is more focused on surfacing real-time data than Clay, so you can expect fewer encounters with outdated contact information. The platform is also easier to set up and use. However, that simplicity comes at a cost—it’s not as flexible and provides far less in terms of AI workflow features.Â
Ideal Use Case
Sales teams focused on fast lead scraping
SDRs who want verified mobile phone numbers and direct dials
AEs that want an easy way to research prospects before sales meetings
6. Instantly
Instantly is a sales engagement and lead intelligence platform. It helps SDRs find ideal leads, research them, and create scalable email campaigns that are personalized with AI.Â
Key Features
Lead database: Advanced search filters and 450+ million B2B contactsÂ
Built-in warmup tools: Automate email warmup with the Slow Ramp feature to boost deliverabilityÂ
Email sequencing: Over 600 email templates, AI writing tools, and a sequence builderÂ
Unlimited sending accounts: Add as many email accounts as you want
Pricing & Plans
Instantly offers four pricing tiers. You’ll be able to access the majority of Instantly features in the Growth plan, but you might bump into credit limits, forcing you to upgrade.Â
Growth: $42.30/month (1500-2000 monthly credits)
Supersonic: $87.30/month (5000-7500 monthly credits)Â
Hyper Credits: $177.30/month (10K-200,000 monthly credits)
Custom: Book a demo for a quote (comes with a dedicated account manager)
How Instantly Compares to Clay
Unlike Clay, Instantly doesn’t offer data enrichment tools or live web scraping. It’s also focused only on providing data and outreach automation tools for email outreach, which might be a problem for outbound teams that take a more multichannel approach.
The good thing about Instantly is that it does come with outreach automation. Whereas Clay only helps you write sales emails, with Instantly you can sequence, track, and analyze them. Instantly also offers email deliverability tools and a built-in basic CRM.Â
Ideal Use Case
Sales teams investing heavily in cold email as their primary outreach method
Freelancers or small agencies that need a simple-to-use platform with a CRM, lead database, and email outreach toolsÂ
7. LeadIQ
LeadIQ is an AI-driven B2B prospecting platform. It helps outbound sales find leads, sync contact data, track sales triggers, and research new accounts and professionals.
It’s an affordable point solution for finding email addresses, phone numbers, and other intel on your leads. It will then push this data to your CRM and other sales tools for streamlined outreach.
Key Features
Database: GDPR- and CCPA-aligned B2B contact database
Chrome plugin: Find lead contact info on sites like LinkedIn
Email and phone capture: Save email addresses and phone numbers to the LeadIQ hub in one click
Enrichment from job changes: Get notified when target leads (champions) change jobsÂ
CRM push: Send contact data directly to your CRM and sales engagement software
Pricing & Plans
LeadIQ offers two paid plans and one free option, which is limited to one user and includes only basic features and 50 credits. The total cost of the Pro and Enterprise plans depends heavily on how many credits you need. For instance, the Pro plan is $15/month for 2,400 yearly credits but $37.50 per month for 12,000 credits.   Â
Free: 1 user and 50-credit limit
Pro: $15/month (2,400 credits per year)
Enterprise: Call for a custom quoteÂ
How LeadIQ Compares to Clay
Compared to Clay, LeadIQ is a much more SDR-friendly tool. It’s designed for sales reps to use in their daily prospecting workflow, especially if they use LinkedIn. Instead of a spreadsheet-style interface, reps can access a plugin sidebar that allows them to look up contact info in a single click. This makes it great for building lead lists for cold outreach.Â
Ideal Use Case
LinkedIn-first prospecting and lead discovery
Startups building an initial outbound engine
Solopreneurs and freelancers who want an email and phone lookup toolÂ
How to Choose the Best Clay Alternative
To find the best possible Clay alternative, you should match features to your particular use case and consider what additional value is offered, for example, in regards to customer service and integrations.Â
Match Features to Use Case
Define your ideal outbound sales workflow—in terms of automation, channels, CRM integrations, and data type—and then choose features that support it.Â
Here are the most important workflow questions to ask:Â
Do you need AI workflows or just contact data?
Are you running outreach campaigns on LinkedIn, email, or both?
Do you already use Salesforce, HubSpot, or another sales tool?Â
Are you trying to use intent data to trigger outreach?
Create a shopping list containing the specific features and functions you’ll need in order to reduce frictions, eliminate issues, and optimize your workflow. Â
Key Buying Factors
When selecting sales intelligence and outreach solutions, consider more than just their features. Look at what extra value is provided in relation to onboarding, customer service, integrations, and compliance.Â
Evaluate each platform on the following criteria:Â
Learning curve: Typically, the harder the platform is to learn, the more training you’ll have to provide.
Credit-based vs. unlimited plans: Usage-based pricing is OK if you prefer to pay only for what you need, but some teams might want unlimited plans to make costs predictable.Â
CRM and channel integrations: Make sure the tool transfers data seamlessly to and from your CRM and your sales channels so teams are operating from accurate, up-to-date information.Â
GDPR/CCPA compliance: If you’re planning to access personal contact data in Europe or California, check to see if the platform is compliant with relevant government regulations to avoid potential fines.Â
Don’t Just Scrape Data, Deploy an AI BDR Instead
Clay offers strong data enrichment tools and AI workflow automation. But for many modern teams, the automation doesn’t go far enough.
Artisan’s AI SDR platform takes lead generation software to the next level. It’s a true all-in-one platform, automating all of the early and middle stages of the outbound sales process.Â
The result? A consolidated tech stack that allows sales reps to focus on what they do best—leading conversations with qualified prospects.Â
