Best Clay alternatives for cold calling
Clay is a table where each row is a lead and each column is a lookup, which is powerful but not what every team wants. People start searching for another option when the paid plans start at $167 a month, when API calls sit on a higher plan, or when they simply want a database with phone numbers already in it. This page covers four published alternatives and what each vendor says about price, trials and fit.
Common reasons to switch
4 alternatives to Clay
Hover a card for the details. Not affiliated with any tool listed.
- Featured
Will This Person Answer
Know who’ll answer before you callNot a replacement for Clay. Use it alongside whichever tool you choose: send the list and every contact comes back High chance, Low chance or Bad data.Pricing
Free to startKey features
- Checks every contact before you dial
- Works in Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor
- REST API and CSV upload
Try on 250 contacts for freeBest for
StartupsSMBsMid-market Apollo
A go-to-market platform that combines a B2B contact database, enrichment, outreach sequences and a parallel dialer.Apollo is a prospecting platform where a rep finds people in its B2B contact and company database, enriches the records, and then works them through outreach and calling from the same workspace. Its site lists the Apollo Workspace for prospecting, outreach and dialing, plus AI agents that research accounts and prioritize leads.You want a contact database, enrichment, sequences and a parallel dialer in one product, with a free plan that has no time limit.Pricing
FreemiumKey features
- B2B contact and company database
- Waterfall enrichment
- Parallel dialer
View ApolloBest for
StartupsSMBsCognism
A B2B sales intelligence platform known for European data, with phone-verified mobiles sold as a headline feature.Cognism sells contact and company data to sales and marketing teams, delivered through its platform, CRM enrichment, an API and an MCP server. Its site positions it for the European market and says it covers Do-Not-Call lists.You want phone-verified mobiles and Do-Not-Call coverage, from a vendor that focuses on European data.Pricing
Custom quoteKey features
- Phone-verified mobiles
- Do-Not-Call coverage
- CRM enrichment
View CognismBest for
Mid-marketEnterpriseLusha
A B2B contact and company data platform with direct dials, emails, buying signals and a credit-based price list that is public.Lusha sells business contact data: emails, direct phone numbers and company details, searched in its workspace or through a Chrome extension, API or MCP connection. Credits are spent when you reveal an email or a phone number.You want published credit prices, a free plan with 40 credits a month, and Clay listed among its integrations.Pricing
CreditsKey features
- Reveal credits for emails and phones
- Direct dial database
- Buying signals
View LushaBest for
StartupsSMBsZoomInfo
A B2B sales intelligence platform with a contact and company database that includes direct dials, plus AI agents, intent data and a CRM-sync layer.ZoomInfo is a go-to-market platform built around a large B2B database of contacts and companies. Sales teams search it for prospects, pull phone numbers and emails into their CRM or sequencer, and use buying signals to decide who to contact.You want a large B2B database that lists direct dials, with a free trial option shown on its pricing page.Pricing
Custom quoteKey features
- Contact and company search
- Direct dials and phone numbers
- Buyer intent and website visitor data
View ZoomInfoBest for
Mid-marketEnterprise
Clay and its alternatives, side by side
| TOOL | STARTING PRICE | FREE PLAN | BEST FOR | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ClayCurrent | $0 | Yes | GTM engineers, Outbound agencies, RevOps teams | |
| Apollo | Freemium | - | SDR teams, Founders doing their own outbound, Small sales teams | |
| ZoomInfo | Custom quote | Yes | Sales teams building call lists from a large database, RevOps teams enriching CRM records, Teams that already run Salesforce, HubSpot or Dynamics 365 | |
| Lusha | Credits | Yes | Small sales teams that want published, credit-based pricing, Reps who prospect from LinkedIn with a browser extension, RevOps teams enriching CRM records | |
| Cognism | Custom quote | - | Sales teams selling into Europe, Mid-market and enterprise outbound teams |
Frequently asked questions
This directory lists Apollo, ZoomInfo, Lusha and Cognism. All four are contact data platforms with phone numbers, so they replace the list-building part of Clay. Apollo also adds sequences and a dialer. None works as a table of lookup columns in the same way, so check how much of that you use.
Lusha is the easiest to price, since it publishes plans from $49.90 a month for 400 credits, with a phone reveal costing 5 credits. Apollo has a free plan with no time limit but shows no plan prices. ZoomInfo and Cognism publish none. Get quotes for the same volume before you compare.
Lusha and Apollo are the likeliest fits. Lusha shows a free plan with 40 credits a month and published paid plans, and Apollo keeps a free plan with no time limit. ZoomInfo and Cognism work from custom quotes, and the records state no seat minimum for any of them, so ask each vendor.
Apollo lists a free plan with no time limit. Lusha lists a free plan with 40 credits a month. ZoomInfo's pricing page shows a free trial option for its sales plans. Cognism shows no trial or free plan in our records. Clay itself offers a Free plan at $0 with 500 actions a month.
None copies it. Clay pulls from 200+ providers into one table and runs waterfall enrichment across them. Apollo is nearest for the all-in-one feel, because it combines a contact database, enrichment and outreach. Lusha lists Clay among its integrations, so the two can also work together rather than replace each other.
Not entirely. Your tables, columns and any HTTP API calls are built inside Clay, so those need rebuilding in whatever you move to. Your data is a different matter. Clay sends finished rows to a CRM or sequencer, and Apollo, ZoomInfo, Lusha and Cognism all list CRM connections, so lists in your CRM carry over.
Mostly. ZoomInfo, Lusha and Cognism each list Salesforce and HubSpot. Cognism and Lusha also list Pipedrive, and Lusha adds Zoho CRM and Bullhorn. ZoomInfo lists Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Cognism lists Microsoft Dynamics. Apollo's record lists only Gmail, ChatGPT and Claude, so check its integrations page for your CRM.
Not in anything we read. ZoomInfo and Lusha both list direct dials, but their pages do not say how likely a number is to be answered. Cognism calls its mobiles phone-verified, which is a claim about the data when it was checked, and its pages do not say whether a given contact will pick up.
Yes, because every one of these tools can return a number nobody answers. Will This Person Answer checks US numbers only, and returns High chance, Low chance or Bad data. Try it on 250 contacts free with no card, using a CSV upload, the API or an MCP connection.
Ask every shortlisted vendor for a quote at the same number of contacts and the same number of seats. Clay prices in actions and data credits, Lusha in credits where a phone reveal costs 5, and ZoomInfo in credit usage. Those units differ, so a plan price alone will not tell you the real cost.
Know who’ll answer
before you call.
Ask your AI tool who on your list will pick up. Every contact comes back High chance, Low chance or Bad data, with the best way to reach them.
No card required. US phone numbers only.