Cognism vs Clay
Clay is good if you want to build a lead-gen stack brick by brick. But if speed, scale, and data quality matter, Cognism gets you to revenue faster, without the heavy lifting.
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Why thousands of brands have switched to Cognism
30% better data quality
Cognism is known for its mobile data, which is why many customers have made the switch.
They report higher first‑connect rates and fewer wasted dials.
"Cognism’s data quality was about 30% better than everything else we were looking at.” Dave, Mollie
30-40% tech overhead costs cut
Waterfall models add hidden costs and complicated setups. Cognism has an easy-to-use UX, transparent pricing and no credit ceilings.
“In 2 months, we’ve seen the same number of sales opportunities generated in Q4 before Cognism. With this trend continuing, we’ll see a 100% increase in opportunities this quarter.” Dan, UpCloud
80% more accurate data
Customers switching to Cognism consistently see better match rates, powered by governed, phone-verified data.
“We’re really happy with Cognism’s data quality, which was 80% accurate after evaluation. Apollo and Lusha had inconsistent data, especially for European prospects.” Victor, Docfield
What’s the difference between Clay and Cognism?
Clay is known for its waterfall method of enriching data. This means the tool can access multiple data sources, which it scrapes to find the data you’re looking for. While access to numerous data providers sounds like a great idea, it does come with compliance concerns. Moreover, each vendor has their own data standards, which may lead to data quality degradation and inaccuracy.
Cognism has its own dataset and is a trusted contact data leader. This is especially true for EMEA data and the quality of US mobiles. Cognism’s data quality also excels in APAC and NAM.
Another difference between Clay and Cognism is the lack of features and complicated pricing. Clay has intent data but doesn’t have a verification on-demand service. It uses a credit-based pricing model that includes hidden costs from unsuccessful API calls.
With Cognism, what you get is what you see. The platform includes intent data, exclusive phone-verified Diamond Data® mobiles, and an on-demand verification service. You also get unrestricted access to global data, profile views, and page-level exporting.*
Here’s a side-by-side comparison of Cognism vs Clay:
Alternatively, see other Cognism comparisons👇
Key features of Cognism vs Clay
Cognism is well-established and trusted across B2B industries and markets. It aims to give businesses the tools to connect with key decision makers and increase revenue month-on-month.
With Cognism, you can access Europe’s leading B2B database of senior-level contacts, compliant with GDPR.
Clay describes itself as a creative tool for growth. It uses a waterfall method to enrich contact and company data by integrating with well-known data providers. It advertises several products to help B2B teams scale.
Here’s a list of both tools’ features, side by side:Cognism
For personalised access to in-depth account data to ensure fresh and fast outreach.
To help you connect with 87% of your list.
Exclusive on-demand verified cell phone and email data set.
Subject to a generous fair usage policy.
API enrichment and on-demand CSV enrichment.
Intent data by Bombora. Real time signal data for hiring trends, funding rounds, and technographic insights.
EMEA, NAM, APAC.
Salesforce, HubSpot, MS Dynamics, Pipedrive, Salesloft, Outreach & Zapier.
SOC 2 accreditations, TPS & DNC screening across 14 countries & notified database.
Find prospects using ChatGPT-style textual or voice prompts.
Clay
Updates and enriches CRM records with new contact details.
Layers multiple data providers together, pulling from the next source if the first doesn’t return results.
Surfaces company insights and contact details.
Tailored outreach copy for prospects using AI prompts and data inputs.
Buying signal insights via third-party integrations, flagging accounts that show potential interest in a product or service.
Why Cognism?
Global Head of Inside Sales @Expert.ai
Global Director Best Practices Program @AVEVA
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Clay versus Cognism: Compliance
The Clay homepage states that the tool is GDPR and CCPA-compliant, with CCPA DNC list support.
However, due to Clay’s waterfall enrichment method, compliance may not be guaranteed.
Not all data providers are CCPA and GDPR-compliant, and relying on partner-provided data can lead to compliance uncertainties around data origin and regulatory adherence.
IT Director @Henderson Scott
Cognism is GDPR and CCPA compliant and scrubs all mobile numbers against:
- TPS/CTPS lists in the UK.
- Do-Not-Call lists in the USA, Canada, Australia and European countries, including Germany, France, Spain, Ireland, Belgium, Croatia, Portugal, Sweden, Italy and more.
If a number is marked as TPS or DNC, it means that the user has opted out of receiving unsolicited phone calls by applying to the national do-not-call registry.
Cognism allows admins to choose whether to hide or show contacts that are on DNC lists from reps. Meaning that its customers have complete confidence in the legality of its outreach.
The Cognism platform follows these compliance-based actions:
- A stringent B2B data verification process.
- Ensures all data is legally sourced and of the utmost quality.
- Is regulated by the ICO and provides users with a notified database.
Clay vs Cognism: Usability & Integrations
Clay reviews mention that it’s a great concept, but there’s a learning curve, and integrations with CRMs and LinkedIn could be easier.
There’s a 5,000-connection limit when enriching data, which is reached quickly as you can’t choose to exclude LinkedIn or Facebook.
Integrations include Outreach, Salesloft, HubSpot, MS Dynamics, Salesforce and more.
In comparison, Cognism customers speak highly of the interface, usability, and support. All packages include integrations with Salesforce, HubSpot, MS Dynamics, Pipedrive, Salesloft, Bullhorn, Outreach, and Zapier.
The Cognism web app makes it simple for teams to build targeted lists, while the Sales Companion browser extension lets reps prospect seamlessly across LinkedIn, corporate websites, and CRMs. Instead of hunting through multiple tools, salespeople get compliant, high-quality data wherever they work online.
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Sounds great, but...
Clay looks more flexible and lets us build custom workflows.
Yes, Clay offers flexibility, but it comes with steep learning curves, hours spent maintaining workflows, and heavy reliance on RevOps.
Most sales teams don’t want to become workflow engineers; they need high-quality, compliant data they can act on today. With Cognism, reps are productive from day one: no mini-developers required, just faster connects, fewer wasted dials, and quicker revenue.
increase in meetings booked (Lockton)
Better conversion rates (Lead Forensics)
Time saved each week (UpCloud)
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Clay doesn’t have its own database. Instead, it uses a waterfall method to enrich users’ databases by searching across multiple data providers until it finds a match. Some of the data providers it scrapes include:
Its list of providers doesn’t include industry leaders ZoomInfo or Cognism.
Cognism is a leading global data provider, with data coverage enhancements occurring regularly. The tool has EU and US research teams, making it an excellent option for anyone looking to find highly targeted global leads, including NAM and APAC.
Quality is of utmost importance to Cognism, which offers phone-verified numbers, the most complete coverage in the EMEA, and next-level mobile number coverage in the United States (2x more than other providers).
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Clay gets data from the following sources:
- Personal information provided directly to Clay. This includes newsletter subscriptions, job applications, email correspondence, and account sign-ups.
- Information from cookies and similar technologies.
- Third-party sources including data providers, data enrichment providers, and third-party login tools.
- Web scraping.
Cognism gathers data via its proprietary sources and fills in the gaps from third-party data providers, publicly available sources, manual research and strategic partnerships. Cognism doesn’t use user-submitted data to supplement its database.
Machine learning processes check millions of data points daily, and a team of researchers verifies the data. This ensures accuracy and compliance, and the stringent verification process applies to Cognism’s entire database.
However, Cognism takes data verification to the next level through its exclusive data asset, Diamond Data®.
Diamond Data® comprises phone-verified mobile numbers that make it 3x more likely you’ll connect with your ideal customer. The team phone verifies mobile numbers and includes contacts specifically requested by customers leveraging the Diamonds-on-Demand® service. A service Clay does not provide.
Diamond Data® allows sales teams to connect with 87% of prospecting lists. Companies are seeing a 54% increase in mobile coverage, and ROI is increasing due to 70% of outbound meetings booked from Cognism mobiles.
Here’s how Cognism mobile phone numbers differ from standard mobile numbers. 👇
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Sounds great, but...
Clay lets us connect other vendors via API enrichment.
Clay’s API flexibility sounds great on paper, but in practice, it means you’re stuck managing multiple vendors, data contracts, and variable quality. Plus paying for every API call.
With Cognism, you cut through that complexity:
Our Diamond Data® is already verified, compliant, and connect-ready, so reps get accurate mobiles and emails without six months of trial-and-error or API maintenance. Instead of stitching together enrichment sources, Cognism gives you a single, governed platform that delivers quality, speed, and scale, without the overhead.
success rates in European data (Toucan)
Improvement in connect rates (mollie)
Data enrichment match rate (Darwinbox)
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Cognism vs Clay pricing
**Cognism and Clay pricing information is dependent on your company’s needs. For accurate pricing, please contact your preferred data provider.
Cognism Pricing
Cognism’s main packages allow reps unrestricted data views and exports of 25 records at a time.
Cognism’s pricing model is split into two tiers:
- Grow gives you the essential quality data you need for your prospecting. With contact and company data, including Cognism’s phone verified Diamond Data®.
- Elevate gives you all the benefits of Grow with the added benefit of combining Cognism’s high-quality data with advanced intelligence and actionable signals.
In addition to this, users can add more intent data topics (12 are included in the Elevate package) and Diamonds-on-Demand® to their package.
Clay Pricing
Clay pricing includes five packages - Free, Starter, Explorer, Pro and Enterprise.
Packages are credit-based, starting at 1,200 credits with the Free subscription. Credits go up for paid plans, excluding Enterprise, which is custom.
Once credits are used, more will need to be purchased, which creates a scarcity mindset and keeps teams from prospecting efficiently.
Base packages include access to the following:
- Access to integration providers.
- Export to CSV.
- Chrome Extension.
- AI/Clay Agent.
- Up to 100 per people/company search.
Email sequencing, CRM, and API Integrations are only available on higher-tier plans. The same is true for access to custom automation templates, credit reporting analytics, and Slack support.
Loved by Revenue Teams
From Reddit to G2: Discover why sales, marketing and GTM teams trust Cognism for verified contact data, quality coverage, and measurable results.
FAQs about Clay vs Cognism
Clay’s waterfall enrichment aggregates data from various sources, including public databases, social media, and several B2B data providers. The tool then enriches your data based on the most valid match.
Clay claims that this improves your data coverage and quality. However, a waterfall enrichment method opens companies up to challenges related to cost, data privacy, accuracy, complexity, scalability, data overload, technology dependence, and potential biases.
Remove the risks and choose a trusted data provider with verified emails and cell numbers. Cognism is a leader in data compliance, coverage, and accuracy.
👉 See how you can use Cognism data enrichment in this quick on-demand demo.
Cognism is the better choice for businesses looking for a data enrichment and sales automation platform that offers up-to-date, accurate data in an easy-to-use interface.
The quality of its verified mobiles and B2B emails are unmatched by Clay, as are its extensive features and excellent customer service.
So, if you’re looking for the best tool to help you reach out to potential leads and target customers, Cognism is a winner.
Clay includes numerous integrations with various tools. These include data providers like Apollo and Clearbit.
There are no MS Dynamics, ZoomInfo or Cognism integrations, and email sequencing, CRM, and API Integrations are only available on higher-tier plans.
Cognism integrates with your teams’ daily tools: Salesforce, Hubspot, MS Dynamics, Pipedrive, Salesloft, Outreach and Zapier.
Even better, Cognism integrations are included across all of its pricing plans.
The cost of Clay is based on five packages: Free, Starter, Explorer, Pro and Enterprise.
Packages are credit-based, starting at 100 credits with the Free subscription. Credits go up from 2,000 to 50,000 for paid plans, excluding Enterprise, which is custom.
While Clay might appear affordable because it accumulates data providers, some users mention it is far too easy to use up your credits. Once credits are used up, more will need to be purchased, which may result in higher costs. This creates a scarcity mindset and keeps teams from prospecting efficiently.
What’s more, you’ll need to consider the features, compliance, accuracy and coverage of the data you need for your business to determine if the price is really worth it.
For instance, there’s no intent data product or verification on-demand service like its competitor, Cognism.
Cognism pricing offers unlimited contact data credits subject to a generous, fair usage policy. It takes data verification to the next level through its exclusive data asset, Diamond Data®, which provides phone-verified mobile number accuracy to help you connect with 87% of your list.
👉Put Cognism to the test! Speak to a data expert for 25 sample leads based on your ICP!
Cognism is a sales intelligence platform that is one of the best Clay alternatives.
Cognism has been a trusted contact data provider for over eight years, resulting in robust sales intelligence experience and a strong partnership with Bombora that prioritises quality data over quantity.
This ensures customers connect with the right customers instead of wasting precious time attempting to connect with an extensive database of incorrect numbers and emails.
Yes, Cognism is an excellent alternative when comparing Clay competitors.
Cognism provides highly accurate and up-to-date contact information that helps sales and marketing teams find the information they need to make fewer calls, contact the most relevant people, and hit quota faster.
Furthermore, Cognism has received overwhelmingly positive reviews from its users. Many users praise its user-friendly interface, accurate data, and excellent customer service.