Cognism vs Clay Pricing (2026)
Compare / Cognism vs Clay
Shortlist
Team size
25 seats

Cognism vs Clay

AI Sales Tools pricing comparison · 2026

Cognism pricing ranges from $0–$3375/annual, while Clay ranges from $0–$800/month. Clay is typically 85% more affordable, though your actual cost depends on tier and team size.

Visit
See pricing on each vendor's site
Above-the-fold path — each link opens the vendor's pricing page in a new tab.
Visit Cognism pricing
Free plan limits → Discount programs →
Visit Clay pricing
Free plan limits → Discount programs →
Compare
2 products · AI Sales Tools
Side-by-side · live
Cognism
Cognism is an AI sales platform that helps sales teams close more deals.
verified 27d ago
$1.0K $1.7K
View pricing →
Clay
Clay is a data enrichment and workflow automation platform purpose-built for go-to-market
verified 27d ago
$1.0K $1.7K
View pricing →
Verdict · Vendr median · year 1
Clay saves $668 vs Cognism · 25 seats
Cheapest $1.0K
Spread 40%
Estimated license cost
at 25 seats
List price × seats. Click a tier below to lock it.
Elevate (formerly Diamond)
$1.0M/yr
year 1 license · $3.4K/seat
Explorer
$105K/yr
year 1 license · $349/seat
What buyers actually pay
median, annual
Vendr deal-flow data. The real benchmark, not list price.
Median annual
$1.7K/yr
Vendr · n=15
↓ Lowest median
Median annual
$1.0K/yr
Vendr · n=175
REF · 01

Sources & confidence

Every dollar amount and contract clause below traces back to a sourced fact. We don't manufacture composite scores.

Where this data comes from
Vendr · TrustRadius · Reddit · BBB · official docs
Sources 6 sourced facts
4 hidden-cost · 1 contract · Vendr median
Last verified 3w ago
Confidence High confidence
Sources 1 sourced fact
Vendr median
Last verified 3w ago
Confidence Medium confidence
REF · 02

Plans at a glance

Every tier per product. Lock one to drive the cost row above and reveal a tier-specific outbound CTA.

Tier ladder
Click a tier to lock the cost row to it. Locking surfaces a tier-specific Visit CTA.
REF · 03

Hidden costs

Each cost is severity-ranked, with the dollar range quoted from its source (Vendr, Reddit, TrustRadius, BBB, official docs) — never our estimate.

Beyond the sticker
Severity-ranked, sourced
2 documented
  • Mandatory Sales Meeting Before Pricing Access
    5-10% of license costs
    1 source
  • Premium Pricing Relative to Alternatives
    10-20% of license costs
    3 sources
No hidden costs documented
REF · 05

What users say

Aggregated, with sample sizes. We use whichever review platform has data.

User reviews
TrustRadius · Trustpilot · G2
No public ratings yet
Best for
Sales teams evaluating data quality before committing to annual contract
Watch out
Opaque pricing requires sitting through a mandatory sales meeting
No public ratings yet
Best for
Individuals and small teams evaluating Clay's data enrichment capabilities before committing to a paid plan
Decide
Get a quote from each vendor
Each link opens the vendor's pricing page in a new tab.
Visit Cognism pricing
Free plan limits → Discount programs →
Visit Clay pricing
Free plan limits → Discount programs →
License cost is computed from publicly listed plans (real math, list price × seats). Median annual cost is from Vendr's deal flow when available — see source badges. Hidden costs and contract terms each cite their own sources. We do not invent composite scores.
AI Sales Tools

Cognism

$0–$3375
/annual
4 plans · Free tier
Full pricing breakdown →
VS
AI Sales Tools

Clay

$0–$800
/month
5 plans · Free tier
Full pricing breakdown →

Cognism and Clay both operate in the ai sales tools category. This page compares their list pricing.

Plan-by-Plan Pricing

Plan Cognism Clay
Free Lead Sample Free /one-time Free /month
Grow (formerly Platinum) $1.4K /user/year $149 /month
Elevate (formerly Diamond) $3.4K /user/year $349 /month
Enterprise Custom $800 /month
Enterprise — Custom

Cost at Scale

Total cost of ownership — licenses, implementation, and hidden costs included.

Cognism

5 scenarios
$0/month (free tier with basic features)
Solo / Getting Started
$3,375/month
Growing Business
Custom pricing — typically negotiated annually, contact sales for quote
Enterprise (100+ users)
See all 5 scenarios →

Clay

3 scenarios
$149
Solo SDR or Small Team (Basic Enrichment)
$200/month - Starter plan at $149/month ($134 annually) provides 2,000 credits, sufficient for approximately 165-250 fully enriched contacts per month (at 8-12 credits per contact). Budget an additional $30-50/month for credit top-ups during busy periods. Total annual cost: $1,600-$2,400. Best paired with a separate outreach tool like Instantly or Lemlist ($30-97/month).
$349
Growing GTM Team (High-Volume Enrichment)
$500/month - Explorer plan at $349/month ($314 annually) provides 10,000 credits, sufficient for approximately 830-1,250 enriched contacts per month. Webhook and email sequencing integrations enable automated workflows. Budget 20-30% additional for credit overages ($70-$105/month). Total annual cost: $4,200-$6,000. Note: CRM integration requires upgrading to Pro.
$800
Scaled RevOps Operation (Full Platform)
$1,200/month - Pro plan at $800/month ($720 annually) provides 50,000 credits with native Salesforce/HubSpot CRM integration and the best per-credit economics ($0.016/credit). Supports approximately 4,150-6,250 fully enriched contacts per month. Budget 20-30% for overages and external API costs. Total annual cost: $8,640-$14,400+. Enterprise contracts (median $30,400/year per Vendr) add SSO, Snowflake, and dedicated support.

Market Intelligence

Cognism

Median annual cost
$1,668
Based on
15 deals

Clay

Median annual cost
$1,000
Based on
175 deals

Continue researching

Cognism

Clay

Related Comparisons