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Exa vs Clay in 2026

One request in place of two tools.

Exa Websets finds companies and people that meet your criteria and bills Websets credits at rates shown inside your account. Clay enriches a table you build from 150+ providers, from $185 a month for 15,000 Actions and 2,500 Data Credits.

SpecStream is the live web data engine for teams and agents. Describe the accounts once, and every match that meets each condition reaches your CRM as a row with its people, at 5¢, 15¢ or $1 a row, priced before it runs.

Describe your data

New accounts get $10 of credit, no card.

SpecStream, Exa Websets and Clay side by side

SpecStreamExa WebsetsClay
What you sendThe accounts you want in plain words, with the conditions every row must meet and the facts to bring backA query in plain words, a result count, and optional criteria and enrichments of text, numbers, dates or multiple choiceA table you build. Each enrichment column calls one of 150+ providers on every row
What you get backStructured rows, one record per company or person, with facts from many sites joined. Source URL and read time on every valueItems that pass every criterion, with their enrichments, in the dashboard, by API or by webhook. count is a target, so the final count can be lower than requestedThe values each provider returns, in the columns of your table. A fully enriched record typically takes 6 to 20 Data Credits
The unit you pay forA delivered row: 5¢, 15¢ or $1 by how much the row needs, plus 5¢ for an email and 15¢ for a phone. The same rate on every planWebsets credits, kept apart from Search API credits. Verified results, enrichments, contact data, imports and API previews each use credits, at rates shown on the billing page inside your accountTwo meters. An Action for each record enriched or exported, from under $0.01. Data Credits from $0.05 each, 6 to 20 for a fully enriched record
How to start$10 of credit, no card. Pro $19, Scale $99 and Team $499 a month, all spent as credit at the same row ratesFree credits on a new account, with each webset stopped at 25 verified results. The Websets API requires a paid Websets planFree: 500 Actions and 100 Data Credits a month, 200 rows per table and no phone enrichment. Launch from $185 a month, Growth from $495
The price before a runThe most the run can cost, quoted before it starts and good for 30 minutes. Nothing runs until you approve itA result count, which is a target. An API preview of a webset uses creditsAn estimate for AI columns: Clay says 75% of runs cost less than it. When the Actions run out, you move up to the next Action tier
What empty work costsNothing. Duplicates, rows you already own and rows a page contradicts are not charged, and a run that finds nothing costs nothingVerified results are billed; a webset returns only the items that pass every criterionMany actions charge whether or not the provider finds a match, and a run that ends as Empty response is not refunded
A list you already haveImport a CSV, Excel file, Google Sheet or Airtable base of up to 20,000 rows. SpecStream fills in or checks each row and matches it to one identity. Import is freeA CSV with a URL column: LinkedIn profile URLs for people and homepage URLs for companies. Imports use credits, up to a maximum set by your plan200 rows per table on Free and up to 50,000 on Launch. Unlimited row bulk enrichment is on Enterprise
RerunsHourly to yearly. Each row comes back labeled changed, unchanged or no longer matching. A changed or new row costs half its rate, an unchanged row 1¢A monitor searches for new items on a schedule that triggers at most once a dayScheduled enrichment runs from Launch. Sources sync once a day on Free through Growth and every 15 minutes on Enterprise
Into your CRMHubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, Attio and more on every plan, plus Google Sheets, Excel, Airtable, Notion, Slack, Teams, Zapier, Make, n8n and signed webhooksPeople websets export to Salesforce as Leads and to HubSpot as Contacts. Any webset exports to Clay by webhook, which requires a Clay Pro accountCRM integrations, HTTP API integrations and webhooks start on Growth, from $495 a month
API and agentsMCP server, REST API, Python and TypeScript SDKs and a CLI, from the same balance as your teamThe Websets API on a paid Websets plan. For new list building, Exa's docs point to Exa Agent, from $0.012 to $1.00 a request plus $0.02 an email and $0.07 a phoneClay API access is on Enterprise, at custom pricing with an annual commitment

Why teams choosing between Exa and Clay use SpecStream

One request does what the two tools split

Exa sends websets of any kind to Clay by webhook, on a Clay Pro account: one tool finds the accounts and the other enriches them. SpecStream does both in one request: it finds every account that meets your conditions, joins the facts it reads on many sites into one record, adds the people and their emails, and writes the rows to your CRM. 1,000 accounts with the buying committee cost $150, plus 5¢ for each row with an email.

Your CRM on every plan

Clay's CRM integrations, HTTP API integrations and webhooks start on Growth, from $495 a month, and its API is on Enterprise. Websets documents its Salesforce and HubSpot exports for people websets only. SpecStream writes companies, people and emails into HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive or Attio on every plan, starting from the $10 of credit a new account gets.

The rate is on the page and the maximum comes first

Websets shows its credit rates on the billing page inside an account. Clay meters Actions and Data Credits, and a fully enriched record typically takes 6 to 20 Data Credits. SpecStream's rates are public: 5¢ for a row with up to 5 facts, 15¢ for up to 15 facts and one set of related records, and $1 for a deep row. Every request gets a quote of the most it can cost, and nothing runs until you approve it.

Every row meets the conditions you wrote

A result that fails one of your conditions is not delivered and not billed, and duplicates and rows you already own are never charged. For any row, get_find_decisions returns each condition's answer with its reason, the value, the source and the time it was read.

Reruns every hour, with each row labeled

A Websets monitor triggers at most once a day, and Clay syncs sources once a day below Enterprise. A saved SpecStream request reruns hourly to yearly, and each row comes back labeled changed, unchanged or no longer matching. Rechecking 1,000 accounts that did not change costs $10.

The most accurate web search API in the world

The search underneath is measured in public. The SpecStream Search API scores a 97.9 F-score on all 1,000 official SimpleQA Verified questions, with 978 correct, and 64.0 item F1 and 43.4 row F1 on all 200 official WideSearch tasks. The scores and the method are at benchmarks.

Other tools teams price against Exa and Clay

Parallel FindAll

Finds entities that match criteria, priced per run and per match: from $0.10 a run on preview up to $10.00 a run plus $1.00 a match on pro, and a cancelled run is charged for the work completed. SpecStream bills only delivered rows, under a maximum you approve first.

Apollo

A contact database of 240M contacts and 30M companies, sold by plan and credits. SpecStream finds accounts by traits no filter lists, from the live web, and writes them to your CRM at 5¢ to $1 a row.

ZoomInfo

A contact and company database sold by annual contract. Vendr reports a median contract of $33,500 a year, from 1,581 purchases. SpecStream has no seats and no annual minimum: $10 of credit to start, then 5¢ to $1 a row.

Crustdata

A company and people data API: new accounts start with $20 in free credits, search costs 0.03 credits per result, and the real time API is from four figures a month. SpecStream delivers finished rows into your CRM, with no code.

How SpecStream scores

The same numbers as the benchmarks page, from the official tasks and scorers.

SpecStreamParallelExaTavilyPerplexity
Web researchWideSearch, GPT-5.6 Luna60.945.553.047.947.0
Factual accuracySimpleQA Verified, GPT-5.6 Luna9694919494
Factual accuracySimpleQA Verified, GPT-5.6 Sol9997919295

How to move a Websets or Clay job to SpecStream

1. Write the query and criteria you give Websets, or the columns of your Clay table, as one request in plain words. Sign up and you get $10 of credit, no card. At 5¢ a row, that is up to 200 rows.

2. Or import the CSV you exported from Websets or Clay, up to 20,000 rows, and SpecStream fills in or checks each row.

3. Or send the request from code. This call spends nothing: the 402 reply shows how SpecStream read the request, the columns and the most it can cost.

curl -i https://api.specstream.ai/v1/agent/lists \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"request": "B2B software companies in North America with 50 to 500 employees that are hiring their first RevOps lead, with the VP of Sales and a work email for each", "count": 25}'

4. Connect HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive or Attio once, save the request, and new accounts reach your CRM on the schedule you choose. Your agent uses the MCP server at https://api.specstream.ai/mcp from the same balance.

Companies that name Exa as a sub-processor and companies that name Clay on their own published lists, each with the page and the day we read it.

Describe your data

Frequently asked questions

Something we didn't answer? Talk to a human

Is Exa better than Clay?
For a team that needs accounts found, enriched and in the CRM, SpecStream does the whole job in one request at 5¢, 15¢ or $1 a delivered row, plus 5¢ for an email. Websets finds and checks the list, Clay enriches a table you build, and a team that uses both joins them by webhook on a Clay Pro account.
Exa Websets vs Clay pricing: what does each cost?
Websets bills Websets credits for verified results, enrichments, contact data, imports and API previews, at rates shown inside your account, and its API needs a paid Websets plan. Clay Launch starts at $185 a month for 15,000 Actions and 2,500 Data Credits, and Growth at $495. SpecStream starts with $10 of credit and no card, and 1,000 accounts with an email each cost $100 at 5¢ a row.
Can I use Exa inside Clay?
Exa exports websets of any kind to Clay by webhook, and that requires a Clay Pro account. SpecStream finds and enriches in one request and writes the rows straight to HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive or Attio.
Which one sends data to my CRM?
SpecStream, on every plan: HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive and Attio, plus Sheets, Slack and Teams. Clay's CRM integrations start on Growth at $495 a month, and Websets exports people websets to Salesforce as Leads and HubSpot as Contacts.
Do Exa and Clay have APIs?
The Websets API needs a paid Websets plan, and Clay API access is on Enterprise. SpecStream's REST API, SDKs, CLI and MCP server work on every account, including the $10 of free credit.
How often can a saved list rerun?
A Websets monitor triggers at most once a day, and Clay syncs sources once a day below Enterprise. A saved SpecStream request reruns as often as every hour, a changed or new row costs half its rate and an unchanged row 1¢.

Sources

SpecStream wrote this page. Each figure for Exa, Clay and the other tools comes from that company's own page.

  1. SpecStream pricingspecstream.ai/pricing, read Nov 12, 2026
  2. SpecStream for agentsspecstream.ai/agents.md, read Nov 12, 2026
  3. SpecStream benchmarksspecstream.ai/benchmarks, read Nov 12, 2026
  4. Exa Websets overviewexa.ai/docs/reference/websets-overview, read Nov 12, 2026
  5. Exa Websets quickstartexa.ai/docs/websets/quickstart.md, read Nov 12, 2026
  6. Exa Websets FAQexa.ai/docs/websets/faq.md, read Nov 12, 2026
  7. Exa Websets integrationsexa.ai/docs/websets/dashboard/integrations.md, read Nov 12, 2026
  8. Exa Websets CSV importexa.ai/docs/websets/dashboard/import-from-csv.md, read Nov 12, 2026
  9. Exa Websets monitorsexa.ai/docs/websets/api/monitors/create-a-monitor.md, read Nov 12, 2026
  10. Exa pricingexa.ai/pricing, read Nov 12, 2026
  11. Clay pricingclay.com/pricing, read Nov 12, 2026
  12. Clay docs, Actions and Data Creditsuniversity.clay.com/docs/actions-data-credits, read Nov 12, 2026
  13. Clay docs, credit refundsuniversity.clay.com/docs/credit-refunds, read Nov 12, 2026
  14. Parallel pricingdocs.parallel.ai/getting-started/pricing.md, read Nov 12, 2026
  15. Parallel FindAll generatorsdocs.parallel.ai/findall-api/core-concepts/findall-generator-pricing.md, read Nov 12, 2026
  16. Apollo pricingapollo.io/pricing, read Nov 12, 2026
  17. Vendr, ZoomInfo pricingvendr.com/marketplace/zoominfo, read Nov 12, 2026
  18. Crustdata pricingcrustdata.com/pricing, read Nov 12, 2026