Clay vs LeadMagic (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Clay grades higher than LeadMagic: 2.8 against 2.0 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Clay grades higher on value for money, the free plan and features. They get the same grade on ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Clay
Data enrichment tables that query 150+ data providers in one place
Which one is for you
Pick Clay if
- Fits if you build lists with odd criteria no single database sells
- Works for teams that want several data providers behind one bill and don't mind building spreadsheet workflows
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you're on your own, as the first paid plan is $167 a month billed yearly, or $185 monthly
- Tight if you're staying free, with 200 rows per table, 100 data credits a month and no phone enrichment
- Watch out: two meters apply, data credits and actions, and extra credits cost 30% more than plan credits
- Skip it if you just want to look someone up, as it's built for building workflows
- Watch out: CRM auto-sync and webhooks start on Growth at $446 a month, and the Clay API is Enterprise only
Pick LeadMagic if
- Fits if you want emails and mobiles verified and are happy to pay up front
- Works for developers who want the same credits across app and API
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you want to test first, as there are no free credits or trial
- Pricey if you top up, as top-ups cost $0.016 to $0.024 a credit, above the plan rate
- Watch out: extra seats are $20 a month each, and Tables editors are $49.99 a month each
- Skip it if you are a solo user on a small budget, as the entry plan is $99 a month
How we grade them
| 2.8GPAClayGood | 2.0GPALeadMagicFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BLaunch is $167 a month billed yearly with unlimited seats, about $33.40 a head for five, just inside this category's cheaper quarter ($34). It buys 2,500 data credits and 15,000 actions a month. On your own, the whole $167 is yours to pay. | C$99 a month for 5,000 credits sits at the dearer end of a category where the dearer quarter starts at $74, and one user is included. |
| Free plan and trial | CA free plan with 100 data credits and 500 actions a month, unlimited seats, waterfalls and Claygent, plus a 14-day trial. But tables stop at 200 rows and there's no phone enrichment. | FNo free credits, trial or free plan; a paid plan is chosen at signup. |
| Features | AWaterfalls across 150-plus providers, where a lookup that finds nothing costs nothing, plus Claygent for web research, job-change signals, its own sequencer and CRM and warehouse sync. No rival here draws on so many sources. | BEmail finder and validation, mobile and personal email finder, company and profile search, and a job-change detector, with nothing missing from the core job. |
| Ease of use | CNo App Store rating on record, and this is a web app where the work is building the table itself. If spreadsheet formulas make you nervous, expect a learning curve. | CNo store rating on record. It has a web app and tables to learn, plus an API, CLI and MCP for developers. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, but with HubSpot, Pipedrive, Attio, Outreach, Instantly, lemlist, Apollo.io and Snowflake on the list, and webhooks from Growth. No desktop or phone apps. | BWeb, with eight listed integrations, an API, a CLI and an MCP connection. No desktop or phone app. |
| Best for | building custom lead lists from many data sources | credit-based email and mobile lookups |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Clay and LeadMagic. How we grade
Price against what you get
Clay starts at $167 a month and scores 3.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. LeadMagic starts at $99 a month and scores 2.7.
Clay scores higher, and starts $68 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other lead and email finders on the chart, none scores higher than Clay for less, and 1 scores higher than LeadMagic for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Clay also covers email campaigns.
- LeadMagic also covers email verification.
At a glance
| Clay | LeadMagic | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Paid |
| Starts at | $167 per month for 2,500 data credits, billed annually | $99 per month for 5,000 credits, billed monthly |
| Free plan | 100 data credits and 500 actions a month, unlimited seats and tables, up to 200 rows per table, waterfalls and Claygent. No phone number enrichment. | None |
| Free trial | 14-day trial of paid plans | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Clay Labs Inc. | LeadMagic |
| Price read from | clay.com | leadmagic.io |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Clay
- Two meters apply: data credits pay providers for data, and actions count each enrichment or export. Both are sized separately on paid plans.
- Data credits start at $0.05 each; extra credits cost 30% more than plan credits on Launch and Growth.
- Actions reset each billing cycle; data credits roll over up to twice the monthly amount on Launch and Growth.
- The free plan has no phone number enrichment and stops at 200 rows per table.
LeadMagic
- There are no free credits or free plan; a paid plan is chosen at signup.
- Top-ups cost more per credit than the plan rate, from $0.016 to $0.024 a credit.
- Extra seats are $20 a month each, and Tables editors are $49.99 a month each.
Key features
Clay
- Waterfall enrichment
- A column asks one data provider after another until a value is found, drawing on more than 150 providers. A lookup that returns nothing costs nothing.
- Claygent
- An AI agent with web research that fills in custom data points a provider does not sell. It is included on every plan, the free one too.
- Audiences and search
- Build lists of companies and people from Clay's search and imports. Paid plans add unlimited search and CSV uploads.
- Signals
- Track job changes, promotions, new hires, company news and social posts from Launch, and website intent from Growth.
- Sequencer and integrations
- Send email from Clay's own sequencer or push leads to Instantly, lemlist, Outreach and HubSpot sequences.
- CRM and warehouse sync
- Growth syncs and enriches CRM records automatically and connects to Snowflake, BigQuery, Databricks and Postgres.
LeadMagic
- Email Finder and validation
- A found work email costs 1 credit and a validation 0.25 credits; the site says failed lookups are not charged.
- Mobile and personal email finder
- Direct mobiles cost 5 credits each and personal emails 2 credits, charged only on a valid result.
- Company and profile search
- Search for companies, profiles, roles and jobs from the app or the API; search is included in each plan.
- Job change detector
- Flags when a contact has changed jobs, at 3 credits per request.
- API, CLI and MCP
- Every plan includes API, CLI and MCP server access, plus Clay, Apollo and Zapier integrations.
Plans
Clay
Free$0
100 data credits and 500 actions a month, unlimited seats, 200 rows per table, waterfalls, Claygent and your own API keys.
Launch$167
per month for 2,500 data credits, billed annually ($185 monthly)
Plus 15,000 actions a month, phone enrichment, job-change signals and email sending. Data credits alone are $414 a month at 10,000 a month, billed annually.
Growth$446
per month for 6,000 data credits, billed annually ($495 monthly)
Plus 40,000 actions a month, CRM auto-sync, HTTP API and webhook automation, web intent signals, ad audiences and priority support.
EnterpriseCustom
Annual commitment, 100,000+ data credits, Clay API access, SSO, SCIM, role-based access and a dedicated growth strategist.
LeadMagic
Essential$99
per month for 5,000 credits, billed monthly
1 user, then $20 a month per extra user; $990 billed yearly. Top-ups cost $0.024 a credit.
Growth$249
per month for 20,000 credits, billed monthly
3 users included, 50k export rows a day, Slack support and a success rep; $2,490 billed yearly.
Professional$499
per month for 50,000 credits, billed monthly
5 users included, team analytics and data mapping help; $4,990 billed yearly.
Ultimate$849
per month for 100,000 credits, billed monthly
10 users included, lowest rate per credit, integration consulting; $8,490 billed yearly.
Ways to pay less
Clay
- Annual discount
Save 10% with annual billing
Clay's pricing page marks annual billing as a 10% saving: Launch starts at $167 a month billed yearly against $185 billed monthly.
LeadMagic
- Annual discount
Two months free with annual billing
Annual billing is paid upfront and the page says it includes two months free, for example $990 a year on Essential.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Clay or LeadMagic?
As of Nov 13, 2026, LeadMagic is cheaper to start with: $99 a month, against $167 a month for Clay. Clay starts at $167 per month for 2,500 data credits, billed annually, and LeadMagic starts at $99 per month for 5,000 credits, billed monthly.
Which has a free plan, Clay or LeadMagic?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Clay has a free plan. LeadMagic does not.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.