CRM & Sales · head to head
Clay vs Hunter
Hunter
CRM & Sales
Email finding, verification and cold outreach platform for B2B prospecting
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only Hunter has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Clay two separate meters run at once, actions and data credits, and a plan can exhaust either independently; Hunter free plan is limited to 50 credits per month and a single connected inbox, restricting real usage.
- They diverge on capability: Clay covers Data enrichment, Hunter covers Domain search.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Clay and Hunter actually diverge.
Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (CRM & Sales).
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 Clay
- Data enrichment
- Contact management
- Workflow automation
- Integration
- API access
- Salesforce
- HubSpot
- Zapier
Only in Hunter
- Domain search
- Email verifier
- Campaign sender
- AI writing assistant
- Browser extension
- CRM integrations
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Clay
- Enriching prospect lists from multiple data providers in one tablenot Hunter
- Building automated outbound research and outreach workflowsnot Hunter
Hunter
- Finding verified email addresses for a target companynot Clay
- Verifying email lists before a campaignnot Clay
- Running cold outreach sequences from connected inboxesnot Clay
- Enriching CRM records with contact emailsnot Clay
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
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 $167 a month, and both paid prices are starting figures rather than fixed
- The free plan cannot buy overage at all, so hitting the limit stops work rather than billing for it
Hunter
- Free plan is limited to 50 credits per month and a single connected inbox, restricting real usage.
- Mobile phone or firmographic data is thinner than dedicated sales intelligence platforms.
- Multichannel outreach (LinkedIn, calls, SMS) is not supported, unlike some competitors.
- Higher-volume plans require annual billing to get the advertised discounted price.
Pricing, plan by plan
Clay
On request- Pricing upon request$undefined/month
- Data enrichment
- Integration
- Support
Hunter
Free- FreeFree
- 50 credits per month
- 1 connected email account
- Up to 500 recipients per sequence
- Starter$34/month
- 2,000 monthly credits (billed yearly)
- 3 connected email accounts
- Advanced filters
- Growth$104/month
- 10,000 monthly credits (billed yearly)
- 10 connected email accounts
- Priority support
- Scale$209/month
- 25,000 monthly credits (billed yearly)
- 20 connected email accounts
- Account manager included
Which should you pick?
Choose Hunter if
- You need domain search.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on web, api.
- You also want email verifier.
Questions people ask
- Is Clay or Hunter better?
- Neither clearly leads. Clay starts at On request and Hunter at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Clay or Hunter?
- Hunter has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Clay and Free for Hunter.
- Does Clay or Hunter run on more platforms?
- Clay runs on Web. Hunter runs on web, api.
- Can I use Hunter for free?
- Yes. Hunter has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Clay starts at On request.
- What is Clay best used for?
- Clay is most often used for enriching prospect lists from multiple data providers in one table, building automated outbound research and outreach workflows. Of those, enriching prospect lists from multiple data providers in one table and building automated outbound research and outreach workflows are not what Hunter is typically brought in for.
- What can Clay do that Hunter cannot?
- Clay covers Data enrichment, Contact management, Workflow automation, Integration. Hunter covers Domain search, Email verifier, Campaign sender, AI writing assistant.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Hunter: What does Hunter cost?
Hunter's Free plan gives 50 credits/month. Paid plans (billed yearly) start at $34/month for Starter (2,000 credits), rising to $104/month for Growth and $209/month for Scale, with custom Enterprise pricing above that.
SourceHunter: Is there a free plan, and what are its limits?
Yes, Hunter's Free plan includes 50 monthly credits, basic database filters, one connected email account, and sequences capped at 500 recipients.
SourceHunter: How is usage metered?
Hunter meters usage in credits, consumed once per billing cycle for searches and verifications; credits reset monthly or accumulate annually depending on the billing plan.
SourceHunter: What does Hunter integrate with?
Hunter offers a browser extension, a Google Sheets add-on, CRM connections, and an API, alongside MCP support for AI tool integrations.
SourceRelated pages
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