# Clay vs Profound

> Clay: Enrich leads with 150+ data sources and AI research agents to run go-to-market plays
> Profound: Track how ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini mention your brand, then act with AI agents

- Clay profile: https://finderatlas.com/tools/clay
- Profound profile: https://finderatlas.com/tools/profound
- Comparison page: https://finderatlas.com/compare/clay-vs-profound
- Last reviewed: October 2026

## Verdict

Clay is listed under AI Agents and Profound under Sales & Marketing AI. Both have a free plan or trial. Only Clay is available on CLI.

### Choose Clay if

- You want a tool built for Multi-provider lead enrichment, AI-assisted account research, building custom outbound and inbound workflows.
- Access to 150+ data providers with waterfall enrichment in a single workspace.
- Claygent applies AI web research to custom questions about each lead or account.

### Choose Profound if

- You want a tool built for measuring brand visibility and citations across AI answer engines, and turning that data into content and page updates.
- Covers up to nine answer engines, including ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude and Google AI Overviews.
- Combines monitoring with action through AI Marketer agents that draft work for approval.

## Pricing

| | Clay | Profound |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Pricing model | Freemium | Free trial |
| Free plan or trial | Yes | Yes |
| Starting price | $0 | $0 |

## Features

| Feature | Clay | Profound |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Claygent | Yes | Not listed |
| Waterfall Enrichment | Yes | Not listed |
| Data Marketplace | Yes | Not listed |
| Workflow Tables | Yes | Not listed |
| Audiences and Signals | Yes | Not listed |
| Email Sequencing | Yes | Not listed |
| Ads Audience Sync | Yes | Not listed |
| CRM and Warehouse Sync | Yes | Not listed |
| Credit Budgeting | Yes | Not listed |
| Answer Engine Insights | Not listed | Yes |
| Prompt Volumes | Not listed | Yes |
| Shopping Visibility | Not listed | Yes |
| Agent Analytics | Not listed | Yes |
| AI Marketer | Not listed | Yes |
| Context Manager | Not listed | Yes |
| FactCheck and Sentiment | Not listed | Yes |
| Command Center | Not listed | Yes |

## Platforms

| Platform | Clay | Profound |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | No | No |
| macOS | No | No |
| iOS | No | No |
| Android | No | No |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Browser Extension | No | No |
| CLI | Yes | No |

## Clay strengths

- Access to 150+ data providers with waterfall enrichment in a single workspace.
- Claygent applies AI web research to custom questions about each lead or account.
- Free plan with unlimited seats and tables for testing workflows.
- Outputs reach email, LinkedIn/Meta/Google ads and CRMs without extra tooling.
- Frequent product updates, with weekly changelog roundups.

## Clay limitations

- Credit-based pricing with two credit types is harder to forecast than flat per-seat pricing.
- Free plan is limited to 500 actions, 100 data credits and 200 rows per table, with no phone enrichment or signals.
- CRM sync, warehouse sync and API access require Growth ($446/mo list) or higher.
- Pricing page figures are inconsistent between headline prices and FAQ text.

## Profound strengths

- Covers up to nine answer engines, including ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude and Google AI Overviews.
- Combines monitoring with action through AI Marketer agents that draft work for approval.
- Agent Analytics connects to CDN and cloud providers such as Cloudflare, Akamai and AWS.
- Enterprise controls include SSO, SCIM, RBAC and SOC 2.
- Documented API and MCP access for pulling data into reports and pipelines.

## Profound limitations

- No published prices; paid plans require talking to the accounts team.
- The free Trial is limited to 50 prompts for 7 days with no data history or exports.
- Third-party reports of a mid-September 2026 pricing change removing self-serve plans make costs hard to compare.
- API, exports and SSO are not included in the Trial.

## FAQ

**Is Clay better than Profound?**

It depends on your workflow. Clay is built for Multi-provider lead enrichment, AI-assisted account research, building custom outbound and inbound workflows. Profound is built for measuring brand visibility and citations across AI answer engines, and turning that data into content and page updates.

**What are the key feature differences between Clay and Profound?**

Clay: Enrich leads with 150+ data sources and AI research agents to run go-to-market plays. Profound: Track how ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini mention your brand, then act with AI agents.

**Does Clay or Profound have a free plan?**

Yes, both do. Clay is freemium and Profound is free trial, and each has a free plan or trial.

**Which is cheaper, Clay or Profound?**

Both can be used for free. Paid plans differ in limits and features, so compare the tiers in the pricing table above.