People leave Clay because the credit meter is hard to forecast and HTTP API columns sit behind a higher plan. Clay bills Actions for the work and Data Credits for the data. Launch is $185 a month, or $167 billed yearly, and includes 15,000 Actions and 2,500 Data Credits (Clay pricing, September 2026).
A fully enriched record typically costs 6 to 20 Data Credits, plus an Action per step (LeadMagic, July 2026). The Public API is on every plan, Free included. HTTP API integrations start on Growth at $495 a month billed monthly, or $446 billed yearly (Clay docs, September 2026). Enriching over 50K records at once is Enterprise only (Clay pricing, September 2026).
These six charge differently. See also LeadOcean vs Clay, Clay alternatives and Clay API alternatives.
TL;DR
| Tool | Best for | Starting price | Cost at 1M records a month |
|---|---|---|---|
| LeadOcean | API, agent and volume buyers | Free, 1,000 records one-off. Pro $499 a month | $499 a month flat (fair use applies) |
| Prospeo | Cheap verified emails by credit | Free, 100 credits a month. Paid from $49 a user a month | No add-on reaches 1M. Cheapest public path is $14,456 a month |
| FullEnrich | Waterfall, pay only when found | Free, 50 credits. Pro $29 a month for 500 credits | No public price at 1M. Top monthly tier is 100,000 credits for $3,500 |
| Apollo | Reps who also need sequencing | Free. Basic $49 a seat a month | About $19,600 a month on yearly billing (400 Basic seats at $49). $24,750 a month on monthly billing (250 Professional seats at $99) |
| BetterContact | Waterfall without API keys | Free, 50 credits. $49 for 1,000 credits | No public price at 1M. Top tier is 50,000 credits for $1,999 a month |
| People Data Labs | Product teams embedding person data | Free, 100 credits. Pro from $98 for 350 credits | No public 1M price. Pro is about $0.20 to $0.28 a profile, and above about 100,000 profiles a year it is quote only |
Cost at 1M is from each pricing page, September 2026, at one credit per record. Where a vendor sells no plan at 1M, the cell names its highest public tier. Volume discounts will lower most of it.
What we evaluated
- Price model. What you pay for, what a miss costs, rollover.
- Cost at 1M records a month. List-price arithmetic.
- API access. Which plan, and the published rate limit.
- MCP server. Whether an agent can call it directly.
- Data source. One dataset, a waterfall, or a seat-based platform.
1. LeadOcean: best for API, agent and volume buyers
LeadOcean is one B2B dataset you call over REST or MCP at one flat price. It holds 693M people (366M with an email, 166M with a phone) and 63M companies. We built it, so weigh this entry accordingly.
Search has 50 people filters and 34 company filters. Enrichment is POST /v1/people/enrich, and a person we hold nothing for is a free 404. The MCP server has 12 tools and signs in with OAuth 2.1. The Free plan includes REST and MCP.
It has no table UI. If your team lives in a visual builder, keep Clay and use LeadOcean as the data source behind it.
Pros
- Flat $499 a month on Pro. No credits, no overage invoice.
- 100 requests per second per key, on every plan.
- Bulk export of 50,000 rows per request.
Cons
- No visual table builder and no waterfall across providers.
- A very large month is paced to one request a minute past the fair-usage line.
Best for: engineers, RevOps and agents that pull people and company data at volume. Pricing: Free (1,000 records, one-off, no card) and Pro at $499 a month (LeadOcean pricing, September 2026).
2. Prospeo: best for cheap verified emails by credit
Prospeo sells search and enrichment on per-user plans with a credit pool. One credit buys one verified email, a direct mobile costs 10 credits, and unused credits expire at the end of each billing cycle (Prospeo help center, September 2026). One variant of the pricing page shows rollover, but the help center says they do not roll over.
Extra credits start at 500 for $10, and 1,000 cost $20, or $0.02 a credit. The 350,000-credit monthly add-on is $0.01 a credit, a fifth of Clay's $0.05 list price (Prospeo pricing, September 2026). No add-on reaches 1M in a month. The cheapest public path is 44 Pro seats at $249 plus that add-on at $3,500, or $14,456 a month.
Pros
- A missed email costs nothing. Credits expire each cycle.
- 41 search filters on Pro, and an MCP server listed on the pricing page.
Cons
- Priced per user, so seats grow with your team.
- Mobile numbers cost 10 credits each.
Best for: teams that want a low per-email price. Pricing: Free 100 credits a month. Starter $49, Growth $99 and Pro $249 a user a month, or $37, $74 and $187 billed yearly (Prospeo pricing, September 2026).
3. FullEnrich: best for waterfall where you pay only when found
FullEnrich runs a waterfall across providers and charges only when it finds verified data. A work email costs 1 credit and a mobile 10. Credits roll over for 3 months on monthly plans (FullEnrich pricing, September 2026).
Pro includes the API, search and an MCP server. Pro is $29 a month for 500 credits ($0.058 each), and the 1,000-credit tier is $0.055 a credit. The calculator shows 15K credits for $720. The default API limit is 60 calls a minute, with 100 contacts per bulk call (FullEnrich docs, September 2026).
Pros
- You pay only for data it finds and verifies.
- Waterfall, API and MCP on one plan.
Cons
- Cost scales per record. There is no public price at 1M: the top monthly tier is 100,000 credits for $3,500 a month.
- Higher rate limits need the vendor.
Best for: teams that want a waterfall with a simpler bill. Pricing: Free 50 credits. Pro at $29 a month for 500 credits. The 1,000-credit tier is $0.055 a credit. The highest monthly tier is 100,000 credits for $3,500, and above that you contact sales (FullEnrich pricing, September 2026).
4. Apollo: best for reps who also need sequencing
Apollo is a sales platform priced per seat with a credit allowance. Basic is $49 a seat a month billed annually and includes 30,000 credits a seat a year (Apollo pricing, September 2026).
That works out to about $0.0196 a credit, well under Clay's. Unused credits expire each billing cycle. Paid plans get 1,000 enrichment requests a minute (Apollo docs, September 2026), and Apollo runs an MCP server (September 2026).
Pros
- Lowest per-credit price on this list at Basic.
- Sequencing, dialer and CRM sync in the same product.
Cons
- Seat-based: a pipeline nobody opens still pays per seat.
- Credits reset each cycle and do not roll over.
Best for: sales teams that want data and outreach in one tool. Pricing: Free 900 credits a seat a year. Basic $49, Professional $79 and Organization $119 a seat a month billed annually (Apollo pricing, September 2026).
5. BetterContact: best for waterfall without bringing API keys
BetterContact is a waterfall across 20+ data sources. One credit finds a verified email, 10 find a mobile, and you pay only when valid data is found (BetterContact pricing, September 2026).
Entry is $49 a month for 1,000 credits, with no provider keys to manage. Published Pro steps run to 50,000 credits for $1,999 a month. Above that is a custom quote, and Enterprise starts from $799. It lists a REST API and native integrations, Clay among them. The API allows 100 requests a minute on Starter and 200 on Pro, per key across all endpoints (BetterContact API docs, September 2026). We found no MCP server in its docs index (BetterContact API index, September 2026).
Pros
- 20+ providers for $49 a month, no keys needed.
- Credits roll over, capped at twice your plan size.
Cons
- The credit meter remains, and mobiles cost 10 credits.
- Rate limit and MCP details are not on the pricing page.
Best for: small teams that want waterfall enrichment without provider keys. Pricing: 50 free credits. $49 a month for 1,000 credits. Enterprise from $799 a month (BetterContact pricing, September 2026).
6. People Data Labs: best for product teams embedding person data
People Data Labs (PDL) sells person and company data by API, billed in credits. Pro starts at $98 a month for as few as 350 credits. Free gives up to 100 credits a month with contact data obfuscated (PDL pricing, September 2026).
Rate limits are set per key per minute, and requests return 402 when credits run out (PDL docs, September 2026). PDL puts Pro at about $0.20 to $0.28 a profile (PDL blog, February 2026). Above about 100,000 profiles a year it is quote only, so there is no public 1M price. We found no MCP page in PDL's docs index (PDL docs, September 2026).
Pros
- API-first, with data licensing for large builds.
- SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO compliance stated.
Cons
- Highest entry price per credit here.
- Contact data is obfuscated on Free.
Best for: product teams embedding person data in software. Pricing: Free 100 credits a month. Pro from $98 a month for 350 credits. Enterprise custom (PDL pricing, September 2026).
Comparison table
| Tool | Best for | Starting price | Cost at 1M records a month | API | MCP | Rate limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LeadOcean | API, agent and volume | Free, then $499 a month | $499 flat | REST, every plan | Yes, 12 tools | 100 requests per second per key |
| Prospeo | Cheap verified emails | Free, paid from $49 a user a month | No add-on reaches 1M. $14,456 a month cheapest public path | Starter and up | Listed | Pro enrich: 30/1,800/500,000 (second, minute, day) |
| FullEnrich | Pay-when-found waterfall | Pro $29 a month for 500 credits | No public price at 1M. Top tier 100,000 credits for $3,500 a month | Pro | Pro | 60 calls a minute, 100 contacts per bulk call |
| Apollo | Sequencing plus data | Basic $49 a seat | $19,600 a month yearly, $24,750 monthly | Every plan, including Free | Yes | Enrichment 1,000 a minute on paid plans |
| BetterContact | Waterfall, no keys | $49 for 1,000 credits | No public price at 1M. Top tier 50,000 credits for $1,999 a month | REST | Not found in docs index | 100 a minute on Starter, 200 on Pro, per key |
| People Data Labs | Embedded person data | Pro from $98 | No public 1M price | Yes | Not listed | Per key, per minute, set in dashboard |
How to choose
- You pull data through an API, an agent or at volume: LeadOcean. A flat price beats any per-record rate once volume is high.
- You want cheap verified emails and a search UI: Prospeo.
- You like Clay's waterfall but not its two meters: FullEnrich or BetterContact.
- Your reps need sequencing too: Apollo.
- You are building a product on person data: PDL.
- You live in Clay tables: keep Clay and call a cheaper source from an HTTP API column.
Verdict
LeadOcean wins for API, agent and volume buyers: $499 flat against credit meters that grow with every record. Prospeo wins on cheap verified emails and FullEnrich on pay-when-found waterfalls. Apollo suits reps who want outreach, BetterContact small waterfall runs and PDL product teams. Clay still wins if you want a visual builder.
FAQ
How much does a Clay Data Credit cost?
Data Credits start at $0.05 each on list, with volume discounts at higher tiers. Extra credits bought mid-plan cost a 30% premium (Clay pricing, September 2026).
How many credits does one Clay record cost?
Typically 6 to 20 Data Credits, plus an Action per step (LeadMagic, July 2026). At 6 credits and $0.05, 1M records is $300,000 at list before discounts.
Can I keep Clay and swap the data source?
Yes. Growth and above include HTTP API integrations (Clay pricing, September 2026). Call a REST source from an HTTP column and keep Clay for the table.
Which of these has an MCP server?
LeadOcean has 12 tools. Apollo, Prospeo and FullEnrich list MCP servers. BetterContact and PDL show none on the pages we checked.
Is there a free option?
Yes, on all six. LeadOcean gives 1,000 records one-off with no card (pricing). Prospeo and PDL give 100 credits a month, BetterContact and FullEnrich 50, and Apollo 900 a seat a year.
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