Which enrichment tools cost less than a full sales intelligence suite when all you need is emails and phone numbers?

Clay is a good fit when you only need emails and phone numbers: you pay per successful lookup through a waterfall of providers, rather than for a suite of features you will not use, and a lookup that finds nothing costs nothing. Clay is sometimes called expensive, but for contact-only enrichment the cost is driven by how many records you enrich and which data you pull, and emails are among the cheapest data types in Clay's marketplace.

Last updated: October 29, 2026

TL;DR

• Clay charges per data point returned: data credits for the data plus 1 action per enrichment, and nothing if the lookup fails.
• Email lookups are cheap; Clay's own example prices profile and email lookups at 0.5 credits each, and phone numbers cost more.
• Waterfalls try several providers in order and stop once a valid result is found.
• Phone number enrichment starts on Launch; the Free plan covers emails but not phones.
• Bringing your own API key for a provider removes its data credit cost.

Why does contact-only enrichment fit a usage model?

A full sales intelligence suite bundles search, intent, org charts, alerts and seats. If an SDR only needs an email and a mobile number for a list they already have, most of that bundle is unused. Clay's model meters what you actually pull. Clay's billing FAQ states that data credits are charged "only when Clay successfully returns data", and the same applies to actions.

What does an email and phone lookup cost in Clay?

Clay's actions and data credits doc gives a worked example for 100 contacts:

1. Find 100 people from Clay's database: 0 data credits.
2. Enrich profiles: 50 data credits (0.5 each).
3. Find emails at a 90% hit rate: 45 data credits (0.5 per email found).
4. Validate emails: 0 data credits, since select validator providers are free in Clay under current pricing.

Total: 95 data credits. Each data credit costs a few cents and each action a few tenths of a cent. The same doc notes that "emails are cheap, phone numbers are expensive", and that a fully enriched record typically costs 6 to 20 data credits. If you only need email and phone, you will usually sit well below a full record.

How do you set it up?

1. Import your list by CSV or from your CRM, or source contacts with Clay's people search.
2. Add an email waterfall. Pick a pre-built waterfall, order providers cheapest first and keep the validation step.
3. Add a phone waterfall only for the rows that need one. Use Only run if so phones are looked up only for qualified contacts, since phones cost more.
4. Test on 10 rows, read the cost shown, then run the full list.
5. Export. CSV export uses no actions or data credits; pushing to a sequencer uses 1 action per record.

Clay's email verification guide explains the statuses you get back (valid, invalid, catch-all, unknown, role-based), so you can drop risky addresses before sending.

Which plan fits contact-only enrichment?

From the pricing page:

• Free: 500 actions and 100 data credits per month and up to 200 rows per table. Emails work; phone number enrichment is not included.
• Launch: starts at $185/mo billed monthly ($167/mo billed annually). Adds phone number enrichment and up to 50,000 rows per table.
• Growth: starts at $495/mo billed monthly ($446/mo billed annually), with 6,000 data credits and 40,000 actions per month.

Clay's plans documentation positions Launch for teams enriching fewer than 1,000 records per month. Unused data credits roll over on Launch and Growth, up to 2x the monthly amount.

FAQ

Is Clay always cheaper than a suite?

Not always. If you need only a handful of emails a month, a single-source email finder may cost less. Clay's advantage grows with volume and with coverage: a waterfall across several providers can fill records one provider misses, and you pay only for the hits.

Why are phone numbers more expensive?

Clay's docs state that data credit costs reflect the real-world value of each data point, and phone numbers cost more than emails. Gate phone lookups behind qualification to control spend, and expect lower phone coverage outside the US.

Can I use an email tool I already pay for?

Yes. Connect its API key under Settings > Connections. That removes the data credit cost for those lookups; each still uses 1 action.

Do I pay for invalid emails?

Validation results consume credits and an action whether the result is valid or invalid, per Clay's billing FAQ, unless the validator is free or uses your own key. If a provider refunds Clay for invalid data, Clay refunds those credits.

Price your contact list in Clay

Take 50 contacts from your next campaign, run an email waterfall and a gated phone waterfall in Clay, and note the credits used and the hit rate. Multiply up to your monthly volume and compare that number with what the suite costs you per month.