Clay vs Lightfield

Clay

Clay is the tool to reach for when a prospect list needs more than one data vendor and some judgement per row - the waterfall enrichment and the research agent do in one table what used to take three subscriptions and a VA. It is not a cheap or simple tool: the useful plan starts at a few hundred dollars a month, credits are spent per column per row, and CRM sync and webhooks only arrive on the $446 tier. A one-person outbound effort can live on the free plan; a team that already runs sequences will want Growth and a budget for overages.

Pros

• +Waterfall enrichment tries many providers per field, so coverage is higher than any one vendor
• +Claygent runs open web research per row with a prompt, not just database lookups
• +Free plan has unlimited seats and tables, so a team can trial it without buying seats
• +Large integration and template ecosystem, and the company is well funded

Cons

• −Launch at $167 a month still lacks CRM integrations, HTTP API and webhooks - those start at $446
• −Actions and data credits are two separate meters, and the pricing page itself shows two different credit figures for Launch
• −The spreadsheet metaphor hides real complexity; building a reliable table takes learning time
• −Overage billing makes the monthly bill hard to forecast

Lightfield

Lightfield tries to remove the part of CRM use that reps hate — manual data entry — by generating pipeline context from calls, emails, and meetings automatically instead of relying on someone to log it. The pricing is unusually structured: a genuinely self-serve, pay-as-you-go Starter tier sits next to two much larger tiers that require a sales call, suggesting the self-serve tier is meant as a trial funnel into an enterprise sale rather than a permanent home for small teams. Whether the auto-generated pipeline data is accurate enough to trust isn't something that can be judged from the marketing site alone.

Pros

• +Builds pipeline and account context automatically from calls, emails, and meetings instead of manual entry
• +Genuinely self-serve Starter tier with 5,000 free credits before any payment
• +Includes call recording and summarization plus personalized outbound email drafting in the same product

Cons

• −Real pricing beyond the free credits is usage-based at $0.04/credit rather than a flat, predictable monthly fee
• −Pro and Growth tiers require a sales call — there's no visible self-serve path once you outgrow Starter

Is Clay cheaper than Lightfield?

They charge in different units, so there is no like-for-like answer: Clay starts at $167/mo, Lightfield at $0.04/credit. Entry price is the lowest paid plan as we last verified it.

Does Clay or Lightfield have a free tier?

Both: Clay has a free tier, and Lightfield has a free tier.

Which has a public API, Clay or Lightfield?

Clay ships a public API, as of our last verification. A public API for Lightfield is not confirmed by us — check its developer docs before you plan an integration.