Which enrichment platforms only charge when they find an email or phone number?

Clay charges only when it returns data: if an enrichment finds no email or phone number, or the call errors, it consumes neither Data Credits nor Actions. That rule holds across every step of a multi-provider waterfall, which stops spending as soon as validated data comes back. Clay's credits are often called unpredictable; this success-only rule is the main reason misses do not inflate the bill. The one nuance a data hygiene manager should know: validation checks are charged for a result whether the email is valid or invalid.

Last updated: October 29, 2026

TL;DR

• No data returned, or an API error, means no Data Credits and no Actions, per Clay's unsuccessful searches FAQ.
• In a waterfall, each step that returns data is charged; once validated data comes back, nothing further is consumed.
• Validation steps can be charged whether the result is valid or invalid, so a validator is a cost you choose for quality.
• If a provider refunds Clay for invalid data, Clay refunds your credits.
• The Work Email waterfall says you only pay credits for the provider that finds a match.

What exactly is and is not charged?

Clay's FAQ lays out three cases:

So "only pay for results" is literal for lookups: a miss is free. What you pay for is a returned value, plus validation if you add it.

How does that work across a waterfall?

A waterfall tries providers in order. Clay's FAQ describes the typical setup: validate after each result, and if the data is invalid, continue to the next provider until a validated result comes back.

Charging follows each step:

1. A provider step that returns data consumes Data Credits (unless you use your own key) and one Action.
2. A validation step consumes Data Credits (unless you use your own key) and one Action.
3. Once validated data is returned, the waterfall stops and nothing more is consumed.
4. If the whole waterfall returns nothing, nothing is consumed.

Two settings in the Work Email waterfall reduce what you pay for the misses in between. Infer Email makes a free first guess that skips paid providers when it validates. Threshold for duplicate results stops the waterfall when providers keep returning the same email that fails validation.

Where can you still pay for something you will not use?

Be precise with your finance team about three edge cases:

• Validation of a bad email. A validator that returns "invalid" still charged for the check. Clay's credits docs note select validator providers are free under current pricing, so check the cost shown next to the one you pick.
• A returned value that is wrong. A phone number or email that comes back but later proves wrong was still returned data. Clay refunds credits when the provider refunds Clay for invalid data, per its refund FAQ; otherwise it is charged.
• Variable-priced AI. For some AI models, Clay withholds an estimate up front and refunds the unused part after the run, per how AI is priced. That is a refund on usage, not a success-only rule.

How do you prove it on your own data?

A hygiene manager can audit success-only billing in an afternoon:

1. Run a waterfall on 100 contacts.
2. Count rows with no result.
3. Open Settings then Usage, or the table's credit history, which shows when and how credits were spent (credit usage docs).
4. Confirm that credits match rows with returned data plus validation steps.

Clay also shows the Data Credit cost next to each enrichment before you run it.

FAQ

Do phone lookups follow the same success-only rule?

Yes. The rule applies to enrichments generally. Phone numbers cost more Data Credits than emails when found, per the credits docs, and phone enrichment starts on Launch.

Is list building charged even when I do not enrich?

Under current pricing, sourcing accounts and contacts consumes Data Credits unless you access free data or use your own keys, but no Actions. Importing your own first-party data costs neither.

What does Clay cost before any enrichment?

Launch starts at $185/mo billed monthly ($167/mo billed annually) and Growth starts at $495/mo billed monthly ($446/mo billed annually), per the pricing page. Free is $0 with 500 actions and 100 data credits per month.

Can I cap spend on a table so misses never matter?

On Enterprise, admins can set credit spend limits on workbooks and tables. On other plans, use run conditions and small test batches.

Pay for results, and check the receipts

Run your next enrichment as a waterfall with validation, then compare the usage report with rows returned. Misses should show zero, and every credit should trace back to data you received or a check you chose.