Cleverly vs Valley (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Valley grades higher than Cleverly: 1.8 against 1.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Cleverly grades higher on ease of use. Valley grades higher on the free plan and platforms. They get the same grade on value for money and features.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Cleverly
Done-for-you LinkedIn and cold email lead generation agency
Valley
AI outbound platform for signal-based LinkedIn and email outreach
Which one is for you
Pick Cleverly if
- Fits if you want someone else to run outreach and you have the monthly budget
- Works for a founder with no time to learn a sequencing tool
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you want software you control, as this is a service
- Watch out: no number of leads is guaranteed, and the FAQ says most clients see 20 to 40 a month
- Pricey if you're small: $397 a month is where it starts
- Skip it if you need the cold email price, as only a LinkedIn range is published
Pick Valley if
- Fits if you sell through LinkedIn first and email second
- Works for a team that wants buyer signals feeding the messages
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you add email, because Starter at $149 is LinkedIn only and Plus is $249 a seat
- Skip it if you will not hand over a payment method, since the 7-day trial needs one
- Watch out: a banner says Starter returns to $395 a seat from 9 November, yet the plan cards still showed $199 on 13 November
- Tight if you want credits, because prospect discovery and enrichment spend them and the credit price is not shown
- Not for you if you want a managed service, as the $1,499 a month Done-For-You plan had a waitlist
How we grade them
| 1.2GPACleverlyWeak | 1.8GPAValleyWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | D$397 to $997 a month for LinkedIn lead generation, paid to staff who run your campaigns. That's well above the $39 software middle, though a different kind of thing. | D$149 a seat a month on quarterly billing for LinkedIn only, $249 once email is added. The category's dearest tenth starts at $120. |
| Free plan and trial | FNothing free: no plan and no trial, since you pay a monthly fee for the agency work. | DA 7-day trial that asks for a payment method. No free plan. |
| Features | CLinkedIn lead generation, cold email outreach and appointment setting, done by Cleverly's people. The FAQ says no number of leads is guaranteed. | CBuyer signals, research, LinkedIn and email sequences and a shared inbox. Email sending is an add-on on Starter, and credits for finding and verifying prospects cost extra. |
| Ease of use | BNothing to install or set up on your side, since the agency runs the campaigns. | CNo store rating on record. You connect LinkedIn, email and a CRM, and credits need managing. |
| Platforms and integrations | FThere's no product to run or connect: it's a service, with no apps or integrations on record. | BWeb only, with HubSpot, Claude, Gmail, Microsoft 365 and Slack plus an API and MCP. |
| Best for | hiring out LinkedIn and cold email outreach | signal-based LinkedIn outreach |
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: Cleverly and Valley. How we grade
Price against what you get
Cleverly starts at $397 a month and scores 1.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Valley starts at $149 a month for each person and scores 2.3.
Valley scores higher and starts $248 a month lower. Of the other cold outreach tools on the chart, 66 score higher than Cleverly for less, and 17 score higher than Valley 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
- Cleverly also covers marketing automation and email campaigns.
- Valley also covers shared inbox, AI agents and reports.
At a glance
| Cleverly | Valley | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Free trial |
| Starts at | $397 per month and up (LinkedIn lead generation) | $149 per seat / month, billed quarterly ($199 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | None listed | 7-day trial for eligible new subscribers; a payment method is required |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Lead Generation, Inc. | Valley |
| Price read from | cleverly.co | joinvalley.co |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Cleverly
- It is a service, not software: the price covers Cleverly staff running campaigns.
- Only a price range for LinkedIn lead generation is published; the cold email per-lead price and other services are not shown as figures.
- The FAQ says no number of leads is guaranteed, and that most clients see 20 to 40 new leads a month.
- Cold email is sold month to month with no contracts, according to the FAQ.
Valley
- A banner on the pricing page says the $199 Starter price runs until 8 Nov and returns to $395 a seat from 9 Nov, yet the plan cards still showed $199 on 13 Nov.
- Credits pay for finding prospects, verifying emails and upgraded message writing; the credit price is not shown.
- Email sending is an optional add-on on Starter; Plus and Growth include 1,000 email messages a month.
- Valley Done-For-You, a managed service at $1,499 a month, was not accepting new users and had a waitlist.
Key features
Cleverly
- LinkedIn lead generation
- Connection requests followed by a 3-touch drip sequence, with a nurture campaign for people who have not replied.
- Cold email outreach
- A managed service that the site says books qualified B2B meetings each month, sold per meeting-ready lead on a month-to-month basis.
- Appointment setting
- A dedicated response handler takes over replies for clients on the appointment setting plan.
- Other services
- Cold calling lead generation, outsourced SDRs, LinkedIn recruiting and white-label lead generation are listed on the site.
Valley
- Buyer signals
- The site lists hiring signals, job-change alerts, funding rounds, and LinkedIn post and profile engagers, including those of competitors.
- Research and personalized messages
- Valley researches each prospect and writes messages in your voice; drafts can be reviewed and edited before sending.
- LinkedIn and email sequences
- LinkedIn campaigns and follow-ups run on every plan; email can be combined in the same sequence from a connected Gmail or Microsoft inbox.
- Unified inbox and analytics
- Replies are managed in one inbox, with campaign analytics, ICP scoring and a copilot called Scout.
- CRM, API and MCP
- Integrations include HubSpot and Claude through MCP, plus an API.
Plans
Cleverly
LinkedIn Lead Generation$397
per month and up
The FAQ gives a range of $397 to $997 a month depending on campaign needs, with discounts for team plans of 3 or more users.
Valley
Starter$149
per seat / month, billed quarterly ($199 billed monthly)
LinkedIn only: prospecting, research, messages in your voice, campaigns, unified inbox, ICP scoring and a copilot. Email sending is an add-on.
Plus$249
per seat / month, billed quarterly ($299 billed monthly)
LinkedIn and email: 1,000 email messages a month, priority Slack support, an onboarding call, a customer success manager and email waterfall enrichment.
Growth$499
per seat / month, billed monthly
Everything in Plus with $300 in extra credits every month for prospect discovery and enrichment. A quarterly price was not shown.
ScaleCustom
Custom pricing for teams of five seats or more, through sales.
Ways to pay less
Cleverly
No public discounts listed.
Valley
- Annual discount
Save with quarterly billing
Starter drops from $199 to $149 a seat a month and Plus from $299 to $249 when billed quarterly.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Cleverly or Valley?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Cleverly starts at $397 per month and up (LinkedIn lead generation), and Valley starts at $149 per seat / month, billed quarterly ($199 billed monthly). One is priced for each person and the other is not, so which costs less depends on how many of you use it.
Which has a free plan, Cleverly or Valley?
As of Nov 13, 2026, neither Cleverly nor Valley has a free plan. Valley has a free trial.
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.