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CRM · head to head

Affinity vs Clay

Affinity logo

Affinity

CRM

Relationship intelligence platform for professionals

From
$2000/year
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Clay logo

Clay

CRM

Data platform for sales teams

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Clay has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Affinity enterprise tier requires custom quote, pricing not transparent; Clay two separate meters run at once, actions and data credits, and a plan can exhaust either independently
  • They diverge on capability: Affinity covers Deal tracking, Clay covers Data enrichment.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Affinity and Clay actually diverge.

Attributes where Affinity and Clay differ
AttributeAffinityClay
Starting price$2000/yearFree
Free tierNoYes
Founded20132021

Identical on both: pricing model (subscription), platforms (Web), user rating (Not yet rated), category (CRM).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Affinity

  • Deal tracking
  • Intelligence engine
  • Relationship mapping
  • Integration aggregation
  • Gmail
  • Outlook
  • LinkedIn
  • Crunchbase

Only in Clay

  • Data enrichment
  • Workflow automation
  • Integration
  • API access
  • Salesforce
  • HubSpot
  • Zapier
  • Slack

Both cover

  • Contact management
  • GDPR
  • Cloud deployment
  • Web support
  • English language support

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Affinity

  • Deal sourcing and pipeline management for venture capital and private equitynot Clay
  • Automatic capture of email and meeting activity into relationship recordsnot Clay
  • Finding warm introductions through existing relationship networksnot Clay
  • Investor relations and fundraising trackingnot Clay
  • Portfolio company support and reportingnot Clay

Clay

  • Data enrichment and intelligencenot Affinity
  • Growth campaign automationnot Affinity
  • CRM workflow integrationnot Affinity

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Affinity

  • Enterprise tier requires custom quote, pricing not transparent
  • Scale tier API calls capped at 100000 per month
  • All plans charge per user annually

Clay

  • Two separate meters run at once, actions and data credits, and a plan can exhaust either independently
  • Data credit overage is sold at a 30% premium over the plan rate, so exceeding the allowance costs more per unit than planning for it
  • The free plan allows 500 actions, 100 data credits and 200 rows per table
  • The entry paid plan starts at $167 a month, and both paid prices are starting figures rather than fixed
  • The free plan cannot buy overage at all, so hitting the limit stops work rather than billing for it

Pricing, plan by plan

Affinity

$2000/year
  • Essential$2000/year
    • Activity capture (email and calendar)
    • Relationship scoring and interaction history
    • Deal pipeline tracking
  • Scale$2300/year
    • Automatic meeting capture (Notetaker)
    • AI Chat conversational access
    • Affinity Ascend agent platform
  • Advanced$2700/year
    • Third-party data enrichment (PitchBook, Dealroom, Crunchbase)
    • Company growth insights
    • Packaged integrations (Slack, Salesforce, Box)
  • Enterprise$null/year
    • Fund-level permissions
    • Enterprise SSO
    • Custom data retention

Clay

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 500 actions per month
    • 100 data credits per month
    • Unlimited seats
  • Launch$167/month
    • 15000 actions per month
    • 3000 data credits per month
    • Phone enrichment
  • Growth$446/month
    • 40000 actions per month
    • 6000 data credits per month
    • CRM sync
  • Enterprise$null/custom
    • Unlimited capabilities across most features
    • SSO
    • Role-based access control

Which should you pick?

Choose Affinity if

  • You need deal tracking.
  • You also want intelligence engine.
Affinity review

Choose Clay if

  • You need data enrichment.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want workflow automation.
Clay review

Questions people ask

Is Affinity or Clay better?
Neither clearly leads. Affinity starts at $2000/year and Clay at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Affinity or Clay?
Clay has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $2000/year for Affinity and Free for Clay.
Does Affinity or Clay run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Clay for free?
Yes. Clay has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Affinity starts at $2000/year.
What is Affinity best used for?
Affinity is most often used for deal sourcing and pipeline management for venture capital and private equity, automatic capture of email and meeting activity into relationship records, finding warm introductions through existing relationship networks, investor relations and fundraising tracking. Of those, deal sourcing and pipeline management for venture capital and private equity and automatic capture of email and meeting activity into relationship records are not what Clay is typically brought in for.
What can Affinity do that Clay cannot?
Affinity covers Deal tracking, Intelligence engine, Relationship mapping, Integration aggregation. Clay covers Data enrichment, Workflow automation, Integration, API access. Both handle Contact management, GDPR, Cloud deployment, Web support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Affinity: How much does Affinity CRM cost per user?

Affinity CRM pricing starts at 2000 USD per user per year for the Essential plan, 2300 USD for Scale, and 2700 USD for Advanced. Enterprise tier requires custom pricing.

Source
Clay: Can I use Clay for free?

Yes, Clay's free plan includes 500 actions and 100 data credits per month with unlimited seats and tables (200 rows max per table).

Source
Affinity: What is the API call limit on Affinity's Scale tier?

The Scale and Advanced tiers provide 100000 API calls per month. Enterprise tier customers receive unlimited API access.

Source
Clay: How much can I save with Clay's annual billing?

Clay offers significant annual discounts: Launch tier drops from $167/month to $54/month, and Growth tier drops from $446/month to $185/month when billed yearly.

Source
Affinity: Which Affinity tier includes Notetaker and MCP integration?

The Scale tier (2300 USD per user per year) includes automatic meeting capture via Notetaker and Model Context Protocol server integration for AI tool connections.

Source
Clay: What happens when I exceed my monthly actions or data credits on Clay?

Actions and data credits cost less than $0.01 each when purchased at scale, with unused data credits rolling over up to 2x monthly allocation on paid plans. Customers can bring their own API keys to avoid data credit costs.

Source
Affinity: When does Affinity offer Enterprise SSO capabilities?

Enterprise SSO (single sign-on) capability is included only in the Enterprise tier, which requires custom pricing and is designed for established firms with multi-fund complexity.

Source
Clay: Does the Growth plan limit the number of users or team members?

No, Clay's Growth plan supports unlimited seats with 40000 monthly actions, 6000 data credits, and CRM sync, designed for teams with CRM-based workflows and growth campaigns.

Source
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