Clay vs PhantomBuster
We give Clay a 2.8 GPA and PhantomBuster a 2.6, out of 4.0. Clay grades higher on features. PhantomBuster grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on the free plan, 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
PhantomBuster
Cloud automations that collect and enrich leads from LinkedIn
How we grade them
| 2.8GPAClayGood | 2.6GPAPhantomBusterGood | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | AStart is $56 a month billed yearly for one shared workspace, about $11.20 a head for five, under 60% of this category's cheaper quarter ($34). It buys 20 run hours, 5 automation slots, 500 email credits and 10,000 AI credits a month. |
| 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. | CA free plan with 30 minutes of running time and 1 slot a month, and a 14-day trial with no card. Both cap exports at 10 rows, which makes them a demo. |
| 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. | CPhantoms for LinkedIn, Sales Navigator, Facebook, X and Instagram, multi-step workflows, an email finder, a Chrome extension and two-way HubSpot sync. The gaps: it pulls from other sites rather than a database, and Salesforce sync is one-way. |
| 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 App Store rating on record, and this is a tool where you build the automations and chain the steps yourself. No code needed, but there's a learning curve. |
| 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 and a Chrome extension, with HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, Zapier, Make, Google Sheets, lemlist and Hunter, plus an API. No desktop or phone apps. |
| Best for | building custom lead lists from many data sources | pulling lead lists out of LinkedIn searches |
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 PhantomBuster. 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. PhantomBuster starts at $56 a month and scores 2.3.
Clay scores higher, and starts $111 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 12 score higher than PhantomBuster 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 starts at $167 per month for 2,500 data credits, billed annually. PhantomBuster starts at $56 per month, billed annually.
- Only PhantomBuster lists a browser extension.
- Clay also covers email campaigns.
At a glance
| Clay | PhantomBuster | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $167 per month for 2,500 data credits, billed annually | $56 per month, billed annually |
| 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. | 30 minutes of running time a month, 1 automation slot and 50 MB of storage, with no email or AI credits and exports capped at 10 rows. |
| Free trial | 14-day trial of paid plans | 14-day free trial, no credit card required, with 2 run hours, 5 slots and small credit allowances |
| Web | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Clay Labs Inc. | PhantomBuster |
| Price read from | clay.com | phantombuster.com |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Clay
- Growth and operations teams building custom lead lists
- Teams that want several data providers behind one bill
- People comfortable setting up spreadsheet-style workflows
PhantomBuster
- Building lead lists from LinkedIn and Sales Navigator searches
- Growth and sales ops people who chain lead steps without writing code
- HubSpot users who want LinkedIn leads kept in sync with their CRM
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.
PhantomBuster
- Prices come from PhantomBuster's July 2026 pricing guide on its own site; its pricing page could not be read when checked.
- An email credit is used for every lookup attempt, even when no email is found, and credits reset monthly without rolling over.
- The Free plan and the trial cap exports and API output at 10 rows.
- The Salesforce and Pipedrive connections are one-way, and Salesforce needs its Enterprise edition or above.
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.
PhantomBuster
- Phantoms
- Ready-made automations that collect data from LinkedIn, Sales Navigator, Facebook, X and Instagram, such as exporting the people in a search.
- Multi-step workflows
- Chain steps that collect leads, filter them, find emails, qualify them with AI and send them on, all in one shared workspace.
- Email discovery
- A built-in email finder, run on BetterContact's waterfall enrichment, or a connected Hunter, Snov.io or Dropcontact account using its own API key.
- Chrome extension
- Shows emails, phone numbers and company details on a LinkedIn profile when clicked, and saves the lead to PhantomBuster or HubSpot.
- HubSpot sync
- A two-way HubSpot connection that sends leads, enriches contacts, finds their LinkedIn profiles and tracks job changes.
- Zapier, Make and API
- Launch automations and fetch their results from Zapier, Make, Google Sheets or the API, or send leads to lemlist for outreach.
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.
PhantomBuster
Free$0
30 minutes of running time a month, 1 slot and 50 MB of storage; exports and API output limited to 10 rows.
Start$56
per month, billed annually ($69 billed monthly)
20 run hours, 5 automation slots, 500 email credits, 10,000 AI credits and 1,000 URL Finder credits a month.
Grow$128
per month, billed annually ($159 billed monthly)
80 run hours, 15 automation slots, 2,500 email credits, 30,000 AI credits and 10,000 URL Finder credits a month.
Scale$352
per month, billed annually ($439 billed monthly)
300 run hours, 50 automation slots, 10,000 email credits, 90,000 AI credits and 20,000 URL Finder credits a month.
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.
PhantomBuster
- Annual discount
About 20% off with yearly billing
PhantomBuster's pricing guide gives Start at $56 a month billed yearly against $69 monthly, Grow at $128 against $159 and Scale at $352 against $439.
