Census vs Clay
Census and Clay are both data integration & ETL tools. Census is aimed at enterprise, while Clay is aimed at small businesses and enterprise. Both have a free plan.
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium · $185 |
| Starting price | Not published | $185/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | 14 days | 14 days |
| Built for | Enterprise | Small businesses, Enterprise |
| Platforms | web | web |
| Country | US · 2018 | US · 2017 |
| Rating | — | — |
Choose Census if
Data teams activating warehouse data.
- Warehouse-native activation
- Strong reliability
- dbt-friendly
Look elsewhere if: Teams without a warehouse.
Choose Clay if
GTM operations and outbound teams with volume and a willingness to learn.
- Dramatically better enrichment coverage via waterfalls
- AI research personalization at scale
- Flexible, spreadsheet mental model
Look elsewhere if: Solo founders who need a simple list (Apollo) or teams without ops capacity.
Census vs Clay pricing
Census
- Free$03,500 MAR for activations, 500,000 MAR for connections
- StandardUsage-basedPriced on monthly active rows; unlimited users
- EnterpriseUsage-based1-minute syncs, Audience Hub
- Business CriticalUsage-basedCustomer-managed keys, PCI DSS, private networking
Clay
- Free$0500 actions and 100 data credits per month
- Launch$185/mo$167/mo billed annually; 15K actions, 2.5K data credits
- Growth$495/mo$446/mo billed annually; 40K actions, 6K data credits
- EnterpriseCustom100K+ data credits, 200K+ actions, annual contract
Census · Key features
- Reverse ETL
- Audience Hub
- Entity resolution
- Observability
- 200+ destinations
- dbt integration
Cons
- Pricing grows
- Requires warehouse
- Overlap with Hightouch
Clay · Key features
- Waterfall enrichment across 100+ data providers
- Claygent AI agents for custom web research
- Formulas, conditional logic and scoring
- CRM and sequencer integrations with two-way sync
- Signals: job changes, hiring, funding, tech installs
- Templates and shared workspaces
Cons
- Credit costs add up quickly
- Steep learning curve
- Easy to build fragile tables
Census vs Clay: FAQ
Do Census and Clay have a free plan?
Yes, both Census and Clay have a free plan; paid plans add more usage and features.
Which is better for small businesses, Census or Clay?
Clay lists small businesses as a core audience, while Census is aimed more at enterprise.