A side-by-side look at how the two compare, and which one fits your use case.
| Dimension | PersistData | Clay (clay.com) |
|---|---|---|
| Data model | Server-side single-source data API | Waterfall aggregator/orchestration across 150+ third-party providers (stops at first hit; Clay markets 80%+ email match rates). LinkedIn/Sales Nav data comes via a Chrome extension on your own logged-in session or external scrapers, not a native owned dataset |
| Login / seat required | No login, no seat | Mixed. Core provider enrichment is server-side and needs no LinkedIn login; pulling LinkedIn/Sales Nav data relies on the Chrome extension and your own LinkedIn session. Clay account advertises unlimited seats |
| LinkedIn account ban risk | None; fully server-side | Low for pure API enrichment (no LinkedIn account touched). Elevated for the LinkedIn/Sales Nav path, which runs through your own logged-in session via the extension and carries the usual anti-scraping exposure; reviewers note it is fragile to LinkedIn DOM changes |
| Pricing model | One-time packs or month-to-month, single transparent per-credit meter (PersistData's published terms) | Free; Launch ~$167-185/mo; Growth (recommended) ~$446-495/mo; Enterprise custom. Dual-meter: Data Credits AND Actions billed separately. Annual saves ~20% |
| Approx. $ per record | ~$0.02-$0.10 per credit; 1 credit per profile/company, 5 per verified email (PersistData's stated rates) | Highly variable, priced per field and per provider in the waterfall. Basic enrichment ~14 credits, full ~34 credits; a complex waterfall can burn 20-50+ credits per lead. Effective per-contact cost estimated at roughly $0.22-$2.55 depending on tier (third-party estimates, not an official Clay rate card) |
| Pay only for found | Yes; a not-found costs 0 credits (per PersistData's terms) | No; credits are consumed per attempt, not per result. If three providers in a waterfall all return nothing, you still pay for all three. Failed lookups cost credits (a repeatedly cited weakness) |
| Free tier | Evaluation via low-cost packs | Yes; perpetual free plan ($0/mo, 100 data credits + 500 actions, 200-row table cap, 100+ providers, unlimited seats, Claygent). Trial-grade due to the row cap |
| Annual lock-in | None | Not strictly required (monthly available on all paid tiers), but annual is pushed hard for the ~20% discount, so the best per-credit economics effectively assume a 12-month commitment |
| API access | API-first; programmatic access at the entry level, no high-tier gate | Yes but gated; the HTTP API is restricted to the Growth plan (~$446-495/mo) and Enterprise. Bring-your-own provider API keys is supported. Clay is fundamentally a UI-first table product; the API is an add-on |
Clay is the power tool for RevOps and GTM-engineering teams: waterfall enrichment across 150+ providers pushes aggregate match rates above any single source, and it layers on an AI research agent (Claygent), a sequencer, intent/job-change signals, CRM auto-sync, and web scraping. It has a huge integration ecosystem, a large community and template library, SOC 2 Type 2 compliance, and strong momentum (approximately 4.9/5 on G2 across ~312 reviews as of mid-2026, treated as approximate given the small count). Note: the Growth plan's exact credit allotment is described differently across sources after the March 2026 restructure (some list ~6,000 data credits + 40,000 actions, others unlimited); confirm the current Clay pricing page.
PersistData fits when you want cost predictability and simplicity for a data-only use case. Pay-only-for-found means a miss costs 0 credits, versus Clay charging per attempt including failed lookups, a major difference on low-hit lists. Pricing is a single flat per-credit meter rather than variable per-provider credits plus a separate Actions meter and a ~30% top-up markup (down from ~50% pre-March-2026). Programmatic access is available at the entry level with no ~$446/mo Growth-tier gate, no Chrome extension, no LinkedIn session, and no learning curve.