Comparison · Pricing checked October 2026
LeadMerlin vs Clay
Both can help you build lead lists, but they are different kinds of tools. Clay is a spreadsheet-style data enrichment and orchestration. LeadMerlin is a live local-business search with a full enrichment pipeline on every lead, built to be called from an API or an AI agent.
Verdict
Pick Clay for: GTM teams orchestrating many enrichment providers over lists they already have.
Pick LeadMerlin for: enriched local business leads — owner names, labelled emails, phone line types and tech stack — at one price per lead.
Side by side
| Feature | Clay | LeadMerlin |
|---|---|---|
| Finds local businesses | Via integrations | Yes, native Google Maps search |
| Free plan | 500 actions + 100 data credits/mo | 100 leads |
| Phone enrichment on free plan | No | Yes (line type + carrier) |
| Multi-provider waterfalls | Yes | No — one integrated pipeline |
| Interface | Spreadsheet workspace | API, agent skill, dashboard + CSV |
Pricing checked October 2026. “Not listed” means we could not find it on Clay’s public pages — it may still exist.
What Clay is
Clay is a spreadsheet-style workspace that enriches rows through many data providers, AI research agents and waterfalls, priced by actions and data credits.
- Multi-provider enrichment waterfalls, AI research (Claygent) and bring-your-own API keys. [1]
Clay pricing
- Free plan: 500 actions/mo and 100 data credits/mo, up to 200 rows per table, no phone number enrichment. [1]
- Paid plans are priced by monthly actions and data credits. The public page showed inconsistent figures when we checked, so we do not quote them. [1]
LeadMerlin pricing
- Free — $0, 100 leads to start
- Starter — $39/mo ($29/mo yearly), 10,000 leads/mo
- Pro — $49/mo ($39/mo yearly), 20,000 leads/mo
- Agency — $97/mo ($79/mo yearly), 50,000 leads/mo
- That works out to about $1.94–$3.90 per 1,000 enriched leads at full plan usage, with the full pipeline on every lead.
How LeadMerlin credits work
- 1 lead credit per business that has a website to enrich.
- Listings without a website are never charged (counted as skipped, not returned in results).
- Off-niche listings removed by the niche filter are never charged.
- Failed enrichments are refunded automatically.
- A search charges only what your balance covers: with 40 credits left, it enriches the 40 top-ranked matches. Set max_leads to cap any search.
- Locations, niche suggestions, polling and demo endpoints are free.
- Phone line-type lookups have a monthly allowance: 100 on the free start, 1,000 Starter, 2,000 Pro, 4,000 Agency. Numbers looked up before are free. Past the allowance, phones still come back without a line type.
Where Clay is better
- Combining many data providers in one table with waterfalls.
- Flexible AI research columns for custom questions.
- Deep CRM and workflow integrations for go-to-market teams.
Where LeadMerlin is better
- Discovers the local businesses in the first place — search a niche and city, not just enrich rows you already have.
- One credit per lead covers the full pipeline, so costs are easy to predict.
- Phone line type is included on every plan, including the free 100 leads (monthly allowance on paid plans).
Choose Clay if…
- You want to combine many providers and custom AI research per row.
- Your team lives in a spreadsheet-style workflow tool.
Choose LeadMerlin if…
- You need to find local businesses, not only enrich existing rows.
- You want a fixed per-lead price for search plus enrichment.
- You work from an AI agent or code rather than a spreadsheet UI.
Sources
Checked on 2026-10-18. Competitor pricing and features change often — confirm on www.clay.com before deciding. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we will fix it.
Shopping around? See our Clay alternative page.
More comparisons
Try LeadMerlin free.
Your first 100 enriched leads are free. No credit card. Run it from the dashboard, the API, or your AI agent.