A Clay alternative for lead qualification
Write your question as a column header. Columns answers every row and tells you which answers to check.
Who this is for
You have a list of 2,000 or 5,000 companies and one question: is this one worth contacting? You, a VA or a small sales team have been opening tabs to decide. You looked at Clay, saw an enrichment workbench with a price to match, and you want something smaller. If that is you, this page is the honest comparison.
The difference in one paragraph
Clay is an enrichment and waterfall workbench. You build a table, chain data providers to find emails, phone numbers and company data, add signals and send the result into your CRM or outreach tools. It is a big tool because that job is big.
Columns does one job. You write a yes/no or fit question as a column header, for example "Do they sell to dentists?", and every row gets an answer plus a confidence score. Sort by the score and check the low ones. Leave the high ones alone, or spot check a few.
A confidence score is a signal, not a guarantee. Some high-confidence answers will still be wrong, so spot check until you trust how your question behaves.
What the work looks like
- 01Upload a CSV with company names and websites.
- 02Type a question as a column header. One thing per column, with a rule you can check, such as "Under 50 employees" instead of "small".
- 03Every row fills in with a typed answer and a confidence score.
- 04Sort by confidence and read the low rows. That is your review pile.
Need ideas for the question? See how Columns qualifies a list, including questions agencies paste in as headers.
Price comparison
Prices in US dollars. Clay figures checked on clay.com/pricing on 2026-10-15.
| Item | Columns | Clay |
|---|---|---|
| Free | 500 row-questions, no card | 500 actions/mo, up to 200 rows per table |
| Entry paid plan | Starter, $29/mo | Launch, $167/mo billed annually, $185/mo billed monthly |
| Next plan up | Pro, $99/mo | Growth, $446/mo billed annually |
| Top plan | Agency, $299/mo | Enterprise, custom pricing with annual commitment |
| Billed by | Row-question (one question, one row) | Actions and data credits |
The units differ, so do not compare plan sizes line by line. A row-question is one question answered for one row. Clay meters platform work as actions and data purchases as credits. If your whole job is qualifying rows, the Columns number is easier to forecast. See the full Columns pricing and the side-by-side on the pricing page.
When Clay is the better pick
Pick Clay if you need any of these:
- Email addresses, phone numbers or other contact data pulled from many providers, with waterfalls to fill gaps.
- Signals such as job changes or company news that trigger work.
- A workflow that syncs with your CRM or data warehouse, or sends sequences.
- A tool that builds the whole prospecting pipeline, not one step of it.
Columns does none of that. It does not find contacts. It tells you which companies on a list you already have are worth your time, and which of its own answers to double-check. Plenty of teams use a list-building tool upstream and Columns before outreach.
FAQ
- Is Columns a replacement for Clay?
- Not for enrichment. Columns answers a question about each row and scores its confidence. If you need contact data, waterfalls or CRM sync, Clay does those and Columns does not.
- What does a Clay alternative for agencies cost with Columns?
- Free is 500 row-questions with no card. Starter is $29/mo, Pro is $99/mo and Agency is $299/mo. Clay's entry paid plan is $167/mo billed annually or $185/mo billed monthly.
- Are the answers always right?
- No. Each answer comes with a confidence score so you know which rows to check first. Spot check some high-confidence rows too.
- How do I try it before paying?
- Try 50 rows with no signup, or start free with 500 row-questions and no card. Agencies can also send us up to 1,000 rows.
Check the low ones
Write the question. Let it fill. Check the low ones.
Start free, no card