Clay
- Starting price: Free / $134/mo (annual)
- Free plan: Yes (limited credits)
- Founded: 2017
- HQ: New York, NY
Updated
Clay vs AeroLeads vs Derrick: Which Is Better in 2026?
- Short answer
- Clay vs AeroLeads vs Derrick: Clay is a multi-source data enrichment with ai workflows, AeroLeads is a b2b email and phone finder pulling data from linkedin, crunchbase, angellist and xing. Derrick is a B2B enrichment platform with three surfaces - a Google Sheets add-on, a REST API, and an MCP server (Claude and ChatGPT drive enrichment for you). Hit rates are noticeably higher (more emails + phone numbers returned per query than Clay or AeroLeads) and pricing is lower - free forever with 100 credits/month, paid plans from €9/month. Most teams pair Derrick for the data layer with Clay or AeroLeads for outreach.
Email + phone finders like Clay live on data freshness and source diversity. The side-by-side comparison below pits Clay's coverage by region, free-tier ceiling and credit-burn rate against Derrick's flat-credit pool that funds email + phone + LinkedIn + firmographics from one wallet.
Free plan Yes - 100 credits/mo
Starts at €9/mo
Setup time 30 seconds
Where it lives Google Sheets
✓ Free forever · ✓ No credit card · ✓ Cancel anytime · ✓ Your data stays in your Sheet
Trusted by 31,000+ users worldwide.
CURSOR Quick Facts
Clay vs AeroLeads vs Derrick at a glance
AeroLeads
- Starting price: Free trial · Take Off $49/mo (2K credits)
- Free plan: Free trial available (no credit card)
- Founded: 2015
- HQ: Bangalore, India
Derrick
★ Recommended- Starting price: Free · Paid from €9/mo
- Free plan: Yes - 100 credits/mo permanent
- Founded: 2023
- HQ: Marseille, FR
Why Derrick wins 01
02
03
Why teams pick Derrick over Clay and AeroLeads
3 core reasons SDRs and ops teams switch to Derrick. Click to expand each.
01 Real-time validation without data quality bottlenecks
Clay struggles with real-time validation due to reliance on multiple data sources and potential data freshness gaps, often requiring additional verification steps. Derrick delivers real-time validation directly inside 100% native Google Sheets, eliminating data quality bottlenecks without exporting or complex setups. This results in faster, cleaner outreach readiness and reduces wasted credits by ensuring contacts meet current validity standards before you ship campaigns. For quick wins, use Derrick to validate emails in real time as you build lists, without leaving Sheets.
02 Streamlined setup with no technical training required
Clay and AeroLeads require time-consuming setup or rely on multiple data sources with inconsistent real-time validation, which slows onboarding. Derrick delivers a streamlined, no-training setup by turning Google Sheets into a 100% native, plug-and-play prospecting center, with no CSV exports or complex configurations. Users typically save 5-10 hours per month and avoid onboarding friction, thanks to Derrick’s native Sheets experience and guided workflows. A quick use case shows Derrick enabling immediate lead enrichment and validation within Sheets, with credits remaining configurable monthly.
03 Deeper data depth without extra tooling or cost
Clay and AeroLeads struggle to deliver deeper data depth without added cost or tooling, often citing limited enrichment layers and variable data freshness. Derrick differs by delivering 50+ enriched attributes natively within Google Sheets, eliminating exports or complex configurations. This translates to measurable gains: up to 5-10 hours saved per month and richer profiles without extra subscriptions, while credits remain reportable. With Derrick, you access deeper firmographic and technographic context directly in your sheet, enabling more precise targeting on day one.
Honest Comparison 
derrick
What each tool does better
We're upfront - every tool has strengths. Here's where Clay, AeroLeads, and Derrick each genuinely win.
What Clay does better
- Best-in-class waterfall enrichment
- Claygent AI for research at scale
- Open architecture (HTTP API + custom functions)
What AeroLeads does better
- Guaranteed phone numbers per tier (unique positioning)
- Multi-source prospect data (LinkedIn + Crunchbase + AngelList + Xing)
- Solid CRM integration ecosystem
What Derrick does better
- Free forever - €0/mo with 100 credits permanent in Google Sheets
- 100+ data points per lead - verified emails, phones, LinkedIn, tech stack, SIRET
- Zero LinkedIn ban risk + real-time email verification built in
- Pair with any sequencer - LaGrowthMachine, Smartlead, Lemlist, HeyReach
Real Annual Cost
True cost over 12 months
Headline pricing rarely tells the whole story. Here's the real cost of running each tool for a year.
| Clay | AeroLeads | Derrick | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting price (monthly) | Free / $134/mo (annual) | Free trial · Take Off $49/mo (2K credits) | €0 (free) · €9/mo paid |
| Annual cost (base) | ~€1,608/yr | ~€588/yr | €0/yr free · ~€108/yr paid |
| Free plan? | Yes (limited credits) | Free trial available (no credit card) | ✓ Forever - 100 credits/mo |
| Setup cost | Hours to days | Hours to days | 30 seconds via Marketplace |
| Switching cost | CSV export + retraining | CSV export + retraining | Zero - works alongside any stack |
💡 Most teams pay 2-5x more on add-ons (extra seats, phone credits, integrations) than on the headline base price. Derrick keeps everything in one transparent tier.
Feature-by-Feature
Clay vs AeroLeads vs Derrick: full feature comparison
| Clay | Derrick App | AeroLeads | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Works natively in Google Sheets | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ |
| Requires LinkedIn Sales Navigator ($100/month) | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ |
| Sales Navigator 1-click import | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Email finder with real-time validation | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Phone finder from LinkedIn | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Company tech stack lookup | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ |
| SimilarWeb & G2 insights integrated | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ |
| AI integration (Claude & ChatGPT) | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ |
| Automatic AI Lead Scoring | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ |
| Data cleaning & normalization | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Multi-platform scraping (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook) | ✓ | ✕ | ✓ |
| Zapier, Make, n8n integrations | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Public API available | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ |
| Native CRM integrations (HubSpot, Salesforce) | ✓ | ✕ | ✓ |
| Entry price (paid plan) | 149$/mois | 9€/mois | 39$/mois |
| Permanent free plan | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Rollover credits to next month | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ |
| Simple and transparent credit system | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Simple setup & onboarding | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Complete documentation | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Pricing in a nutshell Data Enrichment derrick
best value for money
Results first.
Discover Derrick →
B2B Email + Phone Finder (LinkedIn-First)
Clay vs AeroLeads vs Derrick pricing breakdown
Data Enrichment Clay
Free / $134/mo (annual)
Best for: GTM ops & technical SDR teams
Clay offers tiered pricing with an entry-level plan and paid options, plus a pricing page with full details on features and limits. See full pricing breakdown for complete pricing details.
Results first.
Complexity removed.
Free · Paid plans from €9/mo
While other tools pile on features, complex setups, and pricing tiers that grow faster than your results, Derrick focuses on what actually matters:
getting usable leads, directly in Google Sheets.
No heavy workflows, No endless configuration. No learning curve.
B2B Email + Phone Finder (LinkedIn-First) AeroLeads
Free trial · Take Off $49/mo (2K credits)
Best for: Solo SDRs needing guaranteed phone numbers + email finder bundle
AeroLeads offers entry-level pricing with a free tier to start building contact lists, followed by scalable paid plans-details available on the dedicated pricing page. See full pricing breakdown for all features, limits, and enterprise options.
Migration Guide
How to switch from Clay to Derrick in 3 steps
Derrick is a Google Workspace app - no formulas to learn, no pipelines to migrate, no engineering work. Add it to Google Sheets and you're enriching in under a minute.
1
~30 sec Install Derrick from Google Workspace Marketplace
Click the install button on our Marketplace listing and grant Google Sheets access. No credit card required - you start with 100 free credits per month.
2
~30 sec Open any Google Sheet → Extensions → Derrick
Open a Sheet with your prospect list (paste a CSV from Clay, scrape from LinkedIn Sales Navigator, or import from your CRM). Click Extensions → Derrick and the sidebar opens with all enrichment features ready to use.
3
~1 min Enrich your list with one click
Select the column with names, LinkedIn URLs, or company domains. Pick what you want - emails, phone numbers, LinkedIn data, company info, tech stack - and click "Enrich". Derrick fills the columns directly in your Sheet. No exports, no pipelines, no waiting.
Install Derrick free →
100 free credits / month · No credit card · Cancel anytime
Decision in 60 seconds
Which one is right for you?
Pick Clay if…
- You specifically need gtm ops & technical sdr teams
- Best-in-class waterfall enrichment
- Claygent AI for research at scale
- You're already invested in the Clay ecosystem
Pick AeroLeads if…
- You specifically need solo sdrs needing guaranteed phone numbers + email finder bundle
- Guaranteed phone numbers per tier (unique positioning)
- Multi-source prospect data (LinkedIn + Crunchbase + AngelList + Xing)
- You're already invested in the AeroLeads ecosystem
Pick Derrick if…
- You want B2B enrichment directly in Google Sheets
- You need a usable free plan (100 credits/mo, no card)
- You don't want long contracts, lock-in, or sales calls
- You need 100+ data points per lead in one tool
What teams say after switching from Clay vs AeroLeads
See what our customers say about Derrick.
"This app saved me so much time and effort. Great for anyone looking to build a contact list or network at scale quickly. As a start-up it's been invaluable."
Alex Clark
Director | SaaS GTM Leader
"Working pretty nifty compared to Snov.Io. Price wise it does give a fair shake, and IMO better interface since it's google sheets."
David Sire
Mortgage Broker at Zero Point Mortgage
"Derrick is a very simple and user-friendly app to enrich your contacts database. Best thing: you can test it for free. And then the price is so low, it's a no brainer."
Etienne Grange
CEO Form'actions
"Super easy to enrich linkedin urls using this tool. Both personal and company url data can be easily enriched with a click of a button."
Zaid Bilal
RevOps Professional
"Amazing Tool, I would like to advocate this to my colleagues. So that you can get more users. Keep it Up. 5 Stars!"
Asif Hanzala
Lead Generation Specialist at IdeaPeel
"This app is fantastic. Brilliantly created to help small and mid sized businesses."
Dan Hughes
Founder/CEO, AlmanacIO
"I have been using other expensive apps or freemium like phantombuster, but Derrick has replaced them all. I love the simplicity of the Google sheet add-in, but what is best is the efficiency it delivers."
Julien Walon Cohen
CEO & Co-founder @ Diffly | B2B Sales Advisor
"The LinkedIn scraping and email finder combo is incredibly powerful. I can build a complete prospect list with contact info in under an hour. Absolute must-have for outbound."
Michael Kim
SDR Team Lead at CloudScale
"Have tested over 10+ LI scraper apps, Derrick beats them all. Simple to use, accurate data, and affordable price."
AJ Alexander
Opportunity Prospector
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the main difference between Derrick and Clay for enrichment?
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Derrick and Clay take fundamentally different approaches to enrichment. Clay excels at workflow automation and aggregating data from 50+ sources through visual builders, making it ideal for teams running high-volume campaigns needing complex prospecting sequences. Derrick, however, operates natively within Google Sheets, eliminating the need for external platforms or CSV exports while offering real-time email validation and 50+ enrichment attributes per contact. Derrick's integrated AI with Claude and ChatGPT enables automatic scoring and segmentation directly in your spreadsheet, plus rollover credits and no credit card requirement for the free tier, making it more accessible for teams prioritizing simplicity and speed over workflow complexity.
Is Derrick a better alternative to Clay for simplicity?
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Derrick prioritizes simplicity through its native Google Sheets integration, eliminating the need for complex setup, CSV exports, or external platforms that Clay requires. While Clay excels at workflow automation and data aggregation, it demands significant configuration time and technical knowledge for optimal results. Derrick streamlines the entire process directly within Google Sheets with one-click enrichment, real-time email validation, and integrated AI scoring using Claude and ChatGPT. For teams valuing speed and ease over advanced automation, Derrick delivers faster time-to-prospecting without the learning curve Clay demands, making it the simpler choice for straightforward enrichment workflows.
How does Derrick compare to Clay for automation workflows?
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Derrick offers a more streamlined automation approach compared to Clay, which requires complex workflow setup and technical expertise. While Clay excels at building sophisticated multi-step sequences, it demands significant configuration time and carries data accuracy inconsistencies across sources. Derrick simplifies automation directly within Google Sheets with integrated AI scoring and segmentation powered by Claude and ChatGPT, eliminating the need for external platforms or CSV exports. Both handle outreach workflows, but Derrick prioritizes speed and accessibility for teams seeking faster deployment without technical overhead or lengthy onboarding requirements.
Which has better pricing: Derrick vs AeroLeads?
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In terms of pricing, Derrick generally offers more favorable value for teams embedded in Google Sheets and seeking max flexibility without complex setup. Derrick’s free tier and credits system (with rollover) can lower upfront costs, especially since there’s no credit card required for the free option. AeroLeads tends to position itself as affordable, but reviews frequently call out data accuracy concerns and the potential for hidden costs through credit-based pricing. If you want a straightforward, scalable cost model tied to your actual prospecting activity, Derrick’s tiered credits and no-CB Free tier provide a clearer, potentially more economical path than AeroLeads for many B2B teams.
What do reviews say about Derrick as a Clay alternative?
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Reviews consistently highlight Derrick as a streamlined alternative to Clay for teams prioritizing simplicity and speed over complex workflow setup. While Clay excels at sophisticated automation, users report that Derrick's native Google Sheets integration eliminates the need for CSV exports and technical configuration, saving five to ten hours monthly. Derrick's real-time email validation, rollover credits, and integrated AI capabilities with Claude and ChatGPT provide comparable enrichment depth without Clay's steep learning curve, making it ideal for teams seeking faster onboarding and immediate productivity without sacrificing data quality or enrichment attributes.
Can Derrick replace both Clay and AeroLeads in one platform?
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Derrick cannot be a direct one-for-one replacement for both Clay and AeroLeads in a single platform, but it can cover the core needs of many teams more efficiently. Unlike AeroLeads, Derrick is 100% native to Google Sheets with real-time email validation and 50+ enrichment attributes per contact, plus AI scoring and segmentation, all without CSV exports or complex setup. Compared to Clay, Derrick streamlines data enrichment and prospecting workflows through familiar Sheets workflows, reduces setup time, and offers roll-over credits and a free tier, which can lower total cost of ownership. However, Clay provides more advanced multi-source enrichment hubs and native CRM integrations, while AeroLeads emphasizes rapid email discovery and deliverability. If your priority is simplicity, speed, and cost efficiency within a single environment, Derrick is a strong alternative; if you need deep multi-source enrichment or robust email discovery at scale, you may still need specialized tools alongside Derrick.
One-on-one
Clay vs Derrick - solo duel
Drop the third-party context and see how Clay compares to Derrick alone.
Open the head-to-head → One-on-oneAeroLeads vs Derrick - solo duel
Drop the third-party context and see how AeroLeads compares to Derrick alone.
Open the head-to-head → Curated stackAll B2B sales tools we reviewed in depth
Step back from the duel - see our hand-picked sales-tool selection and how every category fits together.
See the full curation → Keep Exploring
