Top 5 Clay Alternatives to Improve Sales Outbound

Prospecting is never easy. The constant struggle to filter through contact data manually and find the right emails for outreach sequences makes every sales rep’s head spin. Now, it’s contact enrichment tools to the rescue!

Clay is a powerful data enrichment tool that allows you to scale your lead lists and personalize your outbound motion. But is Clay the right fit for you?
Read ahead to learn more about Clay and five other Clay alternatives you can evaluate to find the perfect contact enrichment tool for your needs ⬇️ 

About Clay: Pros, Cons, and Pricing

Clay is a data automation platform that helps you build enriched prospect lists. With over 75 enrichment tools and a built-in AI agent, it's easily the most powerful enrichment tool for sales teams of all sizes. The only downside is that it gets expensive if you don't use the credits efficiently.

Here’s a breakdown of Clay’s pricing:

What should you look for in a Clay alternative?

Cost-effectiveness: As mentioned above, Clay credits can become expensive and drive up your company's costs. You must find a solution that offers the most bang for your buck.

Intent signals: Along with contact enrichment, it is crucial to ensure your emails resonate with your target prospects. When you layer in signal-based selling, you can drive consideration quicker.

Learning Curve: While Clay has a user-friendly interface, mastering all its features can take some time. You must ensure you invest in a tool that is easy to use for all sales team members.

5 Clay alternatives you must consider

Now that you know what you should look for before investing in a contact enrichment tool, here are 8 Clay alternatives to review: 

Apollo.io

Apollo.io is a data intelligence and sales engagement platform with a vast B2B contact database of over 275M professional contacts. 

Why Apollo.io is a good Clay Alternative

• Apollo has comprehensive CRM capabilities, which aren't currently present in Clay. 
• Apollo also has advanced reporting features and detailed filtering options that allow users to build better-targeted lists.

Limitations 

• Users have reported that the Chrome extension sometimes doesn’t provide accurate phone numbers.
• The platform can be tricky to use since it has a vast range of features and multiple use cases.

Pricing

Cognism

Cognism is a sales intelligence platform specializing in machine learning to accelerate sales and recruitment leads. Their key features include international coverage and unrestricted access to people and company-level data.

Why Cognism is a good alternative to Clay

• Cognism is designed specifically for B2B sales, offering high-quality data that is essential for prospecting and lead generation. For businesses focused primarily on B2B outreach, Cognism offers a more targeted solution.
• Cognism’s emphasis on providing accurate data and maintaining compliance with GDPR and CCPA makes it a strong choice for businesses that prioritize data integrity and legal compliance.
• Cognism’s user-friendly interface and focused feature set make it easier for sales teams to deploy and use compared to Clay's potentially more complex setup.

Limitations 

• Clay’s ability to create custom workflows and automate a wide range of processes makes it a more versatile tool. It can be used across departments, not just for sales.
• While Cognism excels in providing sales data, Clay’s strength lies in enriching data from various sources, giving businesses a more holistic view.
• Clay’s strong integration capabilities allow businesses to create a more cohesive and efficient tech stack, which is particularly beneficial for companies looking to streamline multiple business processes.

Pricing

Cognism currently doesn’t offer pricing details on their website. However we did some digging and wrote it in our article here: Cognism Pricing, Alternatives & More | 2024

Instantly

Why Instantly is a good alternative to Clay

• Instantly is designed specifically for email outreach and lead generation, making it more effective and streamlined for this purpose.
• Instantly may offer a more affordable solution for businesses primarily needing email automation compared to Clay.com's broader, more complex feature set.
• Instantly’s specific tools to improve email deliverability, such as spam testing and email warm-up, can directly enhance the effectiveness of email campaigns

Limitations 

• Instantly’s lead management features are lacklustre when compared to Clay
• Instantly.ai’s performance speed has been flagged as a concern. Many users have experienced delays and sluggishness in executing tasks and accessing functionalities.
• Integrating Instantly.ai with other systems and applications has posed challenges for users. This has caused compatibility issues and disruptions in workflow integration.

Pricing

LeadIQ

LeadIQ is a prospecting and sales intelligence tool that simplifies the process of capturing, enriching, and engaging with leads. It is designed to help sales teams find contact information quickly and efficiently and use that data for outreach.

Why LeadIQ is a good alternative to Clay

• LeadIQ offers a more user-friendly experience for teams that must ramp up quickly without diving into complex workflows. 
• LeadIQ excels in capturing and enriching prospect data in real time directly from LinkedIn and other sources.

Limitations 

• Users have stated that the Chrome extension doesn’t work effectively on LinkedIn
• Multiple G2 reviews mention that the UX feels a bit cluttered

Pricing

Lusha

Lusha is a sales prospecting tool that has earned its reputation for simplicity and reliability. It’s particularly known for its extensive database of contact information, providing users with accurate direct dials and email addresses. 

Why Lusha is a good alternative to Clay

• Lusha offers a user-friendly interface for teams seeking a simple sales prospecting tool.
• The browser extension integrates directly with LinkedIn, instantly capturing prospect details.
• Best suited for smaller teams or those new to sales prospecting who need an efficient and simple solution.

Limitations 

• ​​Lusha's database, although extensive, may not cover all industries or geographic areas comprehensively.
• The solution has limited filter choices
• Sometimes it auto-populates the wrong information in the incorrect field, leading to multiple inaccuracies.

Pricing

Factors + Clay: A new era of outbound sales

What’s the one thing that can take your sales strategy to the next level? Two words: Intent data. When you combine Clay’s enrichment solution with Factors’ intent signals, you get a complete view of in-market accounts, thereby allowing you to refine your outreach strategy.

Check out our Factors x Clay playbook to understand how to make the most of both platforms and supercharge your outbound motion. 

Choose the best Clay alternative today

With so many tools in the market, finding the right contact enrichment tool can be tricky. You must ensure that you choose the right sales prospecting tool that offers accurate information and can be adopted by everyone on the sales team.