Clay and Cargo are both trying to solve the same problem: make enrichment-driven outbound less painful. But they make very different bets on how to do it — and choosing the wrong one is an expensive mistake. Here is an honest breakdown of both tools as of April 2026, including the pricing change Clay pushed through in March that a lot of teams are still figuring out.
$495/mo
Clay Growth plan
$250/mo
Cargo mid-tier
50K rows
Clay row limit
Unlimited
Cargo row limit
Quick Verdict
Neither tool is a clear winner. They serve different teams:
- →Clay is better for non-technical teams that want a spreadsheet-style interface, a massive provider network, and community support.
- →Cargo is better for GTM engineers who want unlimited rows, no action caps, and a proper workflow engine — and are willing to invest 2–4 weeks ramping up.
- →If your end goal is LinkedIn outreach, both tools still leave a gap. You will pay for enrichment plus a separate LinkedIn tool on top.
Pricing: Clay vs Cargo
Clay overhauled its pricing on March 11, 2026 — switching from a single credit system to a dual-currency model. If you have not looked at Clay pricing in the last few months, you are looking at a different product.
Clay (post-March 2026)
| Plan | Price | Data Credits/mo | Actions/mo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 100 | 500 |
| Launch | $185/mo | 2,500 | 15,000 |
| Growth | $495/mo | 6,000 | 40,000 |
| Enterprise | Custom | 100,000+ | 200,000+ |
What changed in March 2026
Clay split its single credit system into two currencies: Data Credits (for enrichment data) and Actions (for every platform operation — routing, AI runs, CRM exports, even bring-your-own-key lookups). A work email lookup that cost 3 credits before now costs 3 Data Credits + 1 Action. Growth plan tops out at 40,000 Actions/month — hit that and your workflows stop until next billing cycle.
Cargo (April 2026)
| Plan | Price | Credits/mo |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 100 (one-time, non-renewing) |
| Starter | $165/mo | 1,500 |
| Pro | $250/mo | 2,500 |
| Scale | $1,190/mo | 17,000 |
| Enterprise | $3,000+/mo | 50,000+ |
Cargo's pricing gap
Cargo has a brutal jump from $250/mo (2,500 credits) to $1,190/mo (17,000 credits) with nothing in between. 2 SDRs running 500 leads/week with a 5-step enrichment flow burn roughly 10,200 credits/month — which means you are forced onto the $1,190 plan. Factor that into your evaluation.
Real Cost Per Enrichment
The headline price is not the whole story. Here is what you actually pay per enrichment action on each platform:
| Enrichment type | Cargo credits | Clay (DC + Actions) |
|---|---|---|
| Work email find | 1.01 cr | ~4 (3 DC + 1 Action) |
| Email verification | 0.11 cr | ~2 (1 DC + 1 Action) |
| Mobile phone waterfall | 6.01 cr | ~14.7 (13.7 DC + 1 Action) |
| Company enrichment | 1.01 cr | ~2 (1 DC + 1 Action) |
| Person enrichment | 0.51 cr | ~5 (4 DC + 1 Action) |
| LinkedIn profile | 0.26 cr | ~1.25 (0.25 DC + 1 Action) |
Source: Cargo's official pricing comparison page vs. Clay's published Data Credit rates. Clay's Action charge applies to every step including bring-your-own-key lookups.
Limits: Where Each Tool Caps Out
Row limits
Clay caps every table at 50,000 rows and 75 columns across all paid plans. Enterprise gets a beta "Audiences" feature for unlimited rows, but it is designed for ad audience syncing, not general enrichment. Cargo has no row or column limits on any plan.
Action caps
Clay Growth tops out at 40,000 Actions/month. One viral LinkedIn post showed a team consuming the equivalent of 17 million HTTP calls/week on a legacy plan — Clay's pricing change was specifically designed to cap that. Cargo has no action or workflow step ceiling on any plan.
API access
Clay's full programmatic API is Enterprise-only. HTTP API and webhooks require Growth ($495/mo). Cargo's full REST API is available on all paid plans, including their $165/mo Starter tier.
CRM integrations
Clay gates CRM sync (HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive) to Growth and above. Cargo includes all integrations on all plans — no feature gating by tier.
Enrichment Providers
Clay's 150+ provider marketplace is its biggest moat. It covers more ground than any other platform — email, phone, company data, technographics, intent signals, financial data, AI models, and ad audiences all in one place. The waterfall enrichment (try Provider A, then B, then C — charged only on success) is genuinely useful and available on all plans.
Cargo lists 30+ native providers with a similar category spread — email, phone, intent, web scraping, AI. Smaller network by count but covers the core use cases. Both platforms let you bring your own API keys for providers you already pay for; on Cargo that costs 0.01 credits per call, on Clay it still consumes 1 Action.
LinkedIn Capabilities
This is where both tools hit the same wall.
Clay can pull LinkedIn profile data through its native "Companies, People, and Jobs" source and import lists from Sales Navigator — but it cannot send connection requests, send messages, or scrape live post engagers. It is enrichment only.
Cargo integrates with LinkedIn Ads and connects to LinkedIn automation tools like HeyReach and Expandi — but again, no native LinkedIn actions. You still need a separate tool to execute outreach.
The gap both tools share
Neither Clay nor Cargo can scrape post engagers, pull first-degree connections from a profile, fetch follower lists, or send LinkedIn messages. Both are enrichment platforms — the LinkedIn action layer is always an additional tool and additional cost.
Who Each Tool Is Actually For
Clay is a better fit if:
- →You are non-technical and want a spreadsheet UI you can use without engineering support
- →You process under 500 enrichments/month (the free credits cover you)
- →You want access to the widest possible provider marketplace (150+)
- →You need pre-built templates and community resources to get started quickly
Cargo is a better fit if:
- →You have a GTM engineer or RevOps team that can handle a 2–4 week ramp-up
- →You are hitting Clay's 50K row cap or 40K Action limit and need more headroom
- →You want a proper workflow engine with version control, CRM routing, and AI agents in one place
- →You can absorb the $250–$1,190/mo jump when you scale past 2,500 credits
What If Neither Fits?
Both tools have the same core tension: complex credit systems that are hard to predict at scale, and pricing cliffs that force you onto a higher tier before you feel ready. Clay's dual-currency model adds mental overhead on every enrichment step. Cargo's $250 to $1,190 jump has no middle ground.
If that is the friction you are running into, Pipeline's enrichment tables are worth a look. Bring your own API keys — no markup on data costs. No row limits. No per-action charges. HTTP API and webhooks included on every plan. If you also run LinkedIn outreach and want LinkedIn-specific data pulls (post engagers, first-degree connections, follower lists) built into the same tool, that is available too — but the tables work standalone if that is all you need.
Pipeline enrichment tables at a glance
- →Bring your own API keys — no markup on data costs
- →No row limits — no table caps regardless of plan
- →No per-action charges — workflow steps do not count against a hard cap
- →HTTP API + webhooks included on every plan
- →Optional: LinkedIn-native data pulls (post engagers, connections, follower lists) if you connect a LinkedIn seat