Clay vs Zapier Comparison
Compare Clay vs Zapier features, pricing, and more.
Last updated: November 2026
Clay
6.4/10
Clay is a go-to-market data platform that enriches leads and accounts from many data providers and automates prospecting workflows for B2B sales and marketing teams.
Zapier
7.2/10
Zapier is a no-code automation platform that connects thousands of business apps and adds AI steps, agents, and chatbots to workflows for teams of any size.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | | |
|---|---|---|
| Scores | ||
| Overall Rating | 6.4/10 | 7.2/10 |
| Analytics | 4/10 | 6/10 |
| Cost | 4/10 | 4/10 |
| Customization | 9/10 | 7/10 |
| Ease of Use | 4/10 | 9/10 |
| Integration | 9/10 | 10/10 |
| Scalability | 8/10 | 7/10 |
| Security | 7/10 | 8/10 |
| Support | 6/10 | 6/10 |
| Output Quality | Not listed | 7/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Cheapest paid plan | $185/mo Launch | $30/mo Professional |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | Free Free | $104/mo Team |
| Features | ||
| AI Agents | Not listed | |
| API Access | Not listed | |
| Chatbots | Not listed | |
| Enterprise Controls | Not listed | |
| Private Deployment | Not listed | |
| Text Generation | Not listed | |
| Workflow Automation | Not listed | |
| More features | ||
| Marketing Automation | Not listed | |
| Collaboration | Not listed | |
| Customer Support Management | Not listed | |
| Lead Management | Not listed | |
| Integrations | Not listed | |
| Sales Automation | Not listed | |
| Opportunity Management | Not listed | |
| Contact Management | Not listed | |
Clay vs Zapier cost by team size
Clay and Zapier cost the same at 1 user; Clay costs less from 5 to 25 users.
| Team size | Clay | Zapier |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | FreeFree | FreeFree |
| 5 users | FreeFree | $104/moTeam |
| 10 users | FreeFree | $104/moTeam |
| 25 users | FreeFree | $104/moTeam |
| 50 users | FreeFree | Contact for pricing |
The plan that fits each team size, billed monthly, before add-ons and usage charges. Each cost opens that tool's pricing calculator for the team size.
Which One Should You Choose?
Why choose Clay
- Lower estimated cost for 10 users: Free vs $104/mo
- Higher Customization score (9/10 vs 7/10)
- Higher Scalability score (8/10 vs 7/10)
Why choose Zapier
- Higher Ease of Use score (9/10 vs 4/10)
- Higher Analytics score (6/10 vs 4/10)
- Better fit for small business (9/10 vs 4/10)
- Better fit for customer support teams (5/10 vs 1/10)
Pros & Cons
Clay
Pros
- Waterfall enrichment across more than 150 providers raises match rates, and failed lookups are not charged.
- Every plan includes unlimited seats, so whole teams can work in shared tables.
- Claygent can research accounts on the web with custom AI prompts.
- Growth includes native sync with HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive and Close, plus Snowflake and BigQuery.
- Clay University and an active community provide a lot of free training.
Cons
- Reviewers widely report a steep learning curve, and some teams hire consultants to build their first workflows.
- The two meters, actions and data credits, make it easy to burn through allowances.
- CRM sync, the HTTP API and webhooks require Growth at $446 a month or more.
- Top-ups cost 30 percent more than plan credits.
- There is no pipeline or deal management, so a separate CRM is still needed.
- Standard source syncs run daily, and only Enterprise gets 15-minute syncs.
Zapier
Pros
- Its app catalog is the largest among automation tools, which reviewers single out as unmatched.
- Non-technical users can build simple two- or three-step workflows quickly from templates or Copilot prompts.
- Agents, chatbots, and AI steps sit alongside existing workflows, so you do not need a second platform for AI.
- Holds a SOC 2 Type II attestation and SOC 3 report, with SAML SSO and audit logs from the Team plan.
Cons
- Every action step uses a task, so multi-step and high-volume workflows get expensive quickly.
- Overage on monthly plans is charged at 2.5 times the base task rate.
- The free plan allows only two-step Zaps and lacks filters and AI by Zapier.
- There is no self-hosted or private deployment option, unlike n8n or Activepieces.
- Users report complaints about billing, refunds, and an all-day outage in October 2025.
Not sold on either?
Frequently Asked Questions
Zapier scores higher on our AI Software criteria: 7.2/10 against 6.4/10 for Clay. The largest gap is in Ease of Use: 4/10 for Clay and 9/10 for Zapier.
Clay costs less for 10 users: free on its Free plan, against about $104/mo on its Team plan for Zapier, billed monthly.
Yes, both Clay and Zapier have a free plan.
Zapier is the better fit for small business: we rate it 9/10 for them, against 4/10 for Clay.
