What are teams using instead of an expensive sales intelligence platform for intent data they barely use?

Many teams move intent tracking into Clay, where signals such as topic intent, website visits, job postings, new hires and funding news are billed by usage on top of a plan, instead of a large bundled license. To be precise: Clay is not pure pay as you go. You pick a plan (including a Free plan), and signals and enrichments draw from metered data credits and actions, so you pay mainly for the signals you actually run.

Last updated: October 29, 2026

TL;DR

• Clay signals cover topic intent, web intent, job postings, new hires, promotions, job changes, and news and fundraising.
• Signals run on credits: depending on the signal, you are charged per result returned or per record checked, and Clay shows an estimated cost before the signal starts.
• Web intent charges per unique visitor IP that returns data, at most once per 30 days, and you can cap monthly spend.
• Plans start with Free; Launch starts at $185/mo billed monthly and Growth at $495/mo billed monthly. Web intent needs Growth or Enterprise.
• Unused data credits roll over on Launch and Growth, up to 2x the monthly amount.

Why do teams overpay for intent data?

Intent data is often sold as part of a broad license: every topic, every account, every seat, whether you act on it or not. If reps only check a few accounts a week, most of that spend buys data nobody uses. The alternative is to monitor only the accounts and topics that matter, at a frequency you choose, and pay for what runs.

What intent and timing signals does Clay offer?

Clay's Signals documentation lists:

• Topic intent: companies and people researching topics you care about, with updates when interest changes.
• Web intent: companies visiting your own website, the pages they viewed and how they arrived.
• Job postings: new roles at target companies.
• New hires, promotions and job changes: people moves at accounts and among your contacts.
• News and fundraising: significant company events.

You can run signals on a table of target accounts or directly on an Audiences segment. Frequency options are daily, weekly, biweekly, monthly and quarterly; topic intent runs weekly at most.

The Signals doc explains that web intent and topic intent differ: web intent shows accounts already engaging with your content, while topic intent surfaces net-new accounts researching your topics across a provider's intent network.

How is a signal billed?

The Signals doc states that signals "run on Clay credits". Depending on the signal, you are charged for each result it returns or for each record it checks on a run, and Clay shows an estimated cost for the cadence you pick before the signal starts.

For web intent:

• Each successful IP enrichment costs 1 action plus the provider's data credits.
• You are charged at most once per 30-day period per visitor IP.
• You can turn on Cap monthly credit spend for the connection; once the cap is hit, new sessions stop until next month.
• Clay recommends filters such as at least 20 to 30 seconds on site and 2 or more pages viewed to focus spend on real interest.

More generally, Clay's billing FAQ says data credits are charged only when data is returned.

What does the plan cost around the signals?

From the pricing page:

• Free: 500 actions and 100 data credits per month. Signals are not included.
• Launch: starts at $185/mo billed monthly ($167/mo billed annually). Includes job change, company news and social listening signals.
• Growth: starts at $495/mo billed monthly ($446/mo billed annually). Adds web intent signals and webhook automation for any signal.
• Enterprise: custom pricing with annual commitment.

Clay's rollover FAQ says unused data credits on Launch and Growth accumulate up to 2x your monthly amount, so quiet months are not wasted. Actions reset each cycle.

FAQ

Is Clay really pay as you go?

Not strictly. You subscribe to a plan with included actions and data credits, and usage beyond that is bought as data credit top-ups or a higher tier. What changes from a bundled license is that signal spend scales with the accounts and cadence you choose.

Will I lose the intent coverage I have today?

That depends on which intent sources you rely on. Test topic intent on your current target account list for a few weeks before cancelling anything, and compare which accounts each source flags.

Can I stop paying for a signal quickly?

Yes. For web intent, disabling the website connection stops Clay processing new sessions and charging credits. Other signals can be edited or have their frequency lowered.

How do I see what each signal costs?

The credit usage dashboard has a Signals tab with credits and actions used per signal, plus an All Signals total.

Try usage-based signals in Clay

List the 200 accounts your team actually works and the two or three signals reps act on. Set those up in Clay at a weekly or monthly cadence, check the estimated cost Clay shows, and run them for one cycle. Compare the spend and the accounts flagged with what your current license delivers.