Clay
- Starting price: Free / $134/mo (annual)
- Free plan: Yes (limited credits)
- Founded: 2017
- HQ: New York, NY
Updated
Clay vs Captain Data vs Derrick: Which Is Better in 2026?
- Short answer
- Clay vs Captain Data vs Derrick: Clay is a multi-source data enrichment with ai workflows, Captain Data is a api-first data infrastructure platform for product builders (formerly no-code workflow automation). 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 Captain Data) 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 Captain Data 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 Captain Data vs Derrick at a glance
Captain Data
- Starting price: €399/mo (post-pivot API tier) · €29.99 per 1K credits
- Free plan: 100 free credits on signup
- Founded: 2019
- HQ: Paris, France
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 Captain Data
3 core reasons SDRs and ops teams switch to Derrick. Click to expand each.
01 Save time with native Sheets-only enrichment, no setup
Clay and Captain Data require setup and multi-tool workflows, which slows time-to-prospecting. Derrick delivers 100% native Sheets enrichment with zero setup, eliminating CSV exports or complex configurations. This directly saves 5-10 hours per month by turning Google Sheets into a self-contained enrichment hub, with 50+ attributes per contact and real-time validation to keep campaigns moving. Derrick’s Sheets-only approach means you deploy instantly in your existing workflow, without switching apps or importing data.
02 No more data dumps: real-time accuracy for niche markets
Clay struggles with real-time accuracy in niche markets, often delivering outdated or shallow data when speed and precision matter. Derrick differs by providing 100% native Google Sheets enrichment with real-time validation and 50+ attributes per contact, reducing reliance on external refresh cycles. This translates to tangible results: up to 20% faster campaign readiness and a 15% higher deliverability rate due to instant email verification. For a rapid, niche-focused workflow, Derrick keeps data current without export pitfalls or complex setups.
03 Deep, scalable enrichment with automated validation at scale
Clay and Captain Data rely on distributed sources and batch validation, which can struggle with real-time accuracy and granular validation at scale. Derrick delivers deep, scalable enrichment with automated validation that runs natively inside Google Sheets, avoiding data dumps or fragile integrations. You gain consistent, 50+ attribute enrichment per contact with real-time email validation and scalable quality checks, reducing mis-targets by up to 30% and speeding campaigns by hours. With Derrick, ongoing, automated validation updates keep your lists fresh at scale, without leaving Sheets.
Honest Comparison 
derrick
What each tool does better
We're upfront - every tool has strengths. Here's where Clay, Captain Data, 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 Captain Data does better
- Strong API-first architecture (post-pivot)
- Workflow library was best-in-class (legacy)
- Strong integration breadth
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 | Captain Data | Derrick | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting price (monthly) | Free / $134/mo (annual) | €399/mo (post-pivot API tier) · €29.99 per 1K credits | €0 (free) · €9/mo paid |
| Annual cost (base) | ~€1,608/yr | ~€4,788/yr | €0/yr free · ~€108/yr paid |
| Free plan? | Yes (limited credits) | 100 free credits on signup | ✓ 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 Captain Data vs Derrick: full feature comparison
| Clay | Derrick App | Captain Data | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | 399$/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 →
Workflow Automation API (Pivot from No-Code)
Clay vs Captain Data vs Derrick pricing breakdown
Data Enrichment Clay
Free / $134/mo (annual)
Best for: GTM ops & technical SDR teams
Clay offers real-time data enrichment with flexible pricing tiers, starting at an entry-level plan and scalable credits for outbound workflows-details are on the pricing page. See full pricing breakdown for all plans and credits.
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.
Workflow Automation API (Pivot from No-Code) Captain Data
€399/mo (post-pivot API tier) · €29.99 per 1K credits
Best for: Engineering teams building data infrastructure (not SDRs)
Captain Data offers accessible entry pricing with a free tier and scalable paid plans to accommodate growing data needs-details are available on the pricing page with a full breakdown of features and limits. See the complete pricing details for all plans and usage allowances.
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 Captain Data if…
- You specifically need engineering teams building data infrastructure (not sdrs)
- Strong API-first architecture (post-pivot)
- Workflow library was best-in-class (legacy)
- You're already invested in the Captain Data 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 Captain Data
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
Derrick vs Clay: which is better for speed and simplicity?
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Derrick and Clay both prioritize speed and simplicity, but take different approaches. Clay excels at workflow automation and multi-source data aggregation, making it powerful for complex prospecting sequences, though it requires significant setup time and technical configuration. Derrick, by contrast, operates natively within Google Sheets with zero external setup, enabling you to enrich contacts and companies directly without CSV exports or complex integrations. For teams valuing pure simplicity and immediate productivity, Derrick's native Google Sheets environment eliminates onboarding friction entirely. Clay suits organizations willing to invest setup time for advanced automation, while Derrick delivers faster time-to-value with minimal learning curve and rollover credits for flexible usage.
Is Derrick a solid alternative to Clay for data enrichment?
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Yes, Derrick is a solid alternative to Clay for data enrichment, particularly if you prioritize simplicity and speed over complex workflow automation. While Clay excels at multi-step prospecting sequences and requires significant setup time, Derrick operates natively within Google Sheets with zero configuration needed, saving teams five to ten hours monthly. Derrick enriches contacts with fifty plus attributes and includes real-time email validation for better deliverability. Unlike Clay's rate-limiting challenges, Derrick offers rollover credits monthly and requires no credit card for the free tier, making it more accessible for teams seeking straightforward, efficient data enrichment without technical overhead.
Derrick vs Captain Data: which offers better automation?
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Derrick and Captain Data both offer automation, but with different strengths. Captain Data excels at LinkedIn-based prospecting and multi-channel enrichment, particularly for teams focused on social selling. However, Derrick provides superior automation directly within Google Sheets without external platforms or CSV exports, saving teams 5-10 hours monthly. Derrick's integrated AI with Claude and ChatGPT enables advanced scoring and segmentation automation that Captain Data lacks. Additionally, Derrick's rollover credits and no credit card requirement for the free tier offer greater flexibility for teams with variable automation needs, making it the more streamlined choice for comprehensive automation workflows.
What’s the main difference Derrick, Clay, and Captain Data?
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The main difference is how they approach data enrichment and workflow design. Derrick is 100% native to Google Sheets, turning Sheets into a complete prospecting hub with zero complex setup, real-time email validation, AI scoring and segmentation, and extensive integrations via Zapier/Make/n8n. Clay focuses on real-time data enrichment and outbound automation across multiple data sources, but can require more initial configuration and ongoing data quality checks. Captain Data emphasizes LinkedIn-based prospecting and scrapes for quick, user-friendly data collection, with less depth in general data enrichment. Derrick stands out for simplicity, cost-controlled credits, and seamless Google Sheets-centric workflows that reduce manual tasks and onboarding friction.
Clay vs Captain Data: which handles pricing better?
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Both Clay and Captain Data handle pricing differently based on their core strengths. Clay uses a usage-based model tied to data enrichment volume and workflow complexity, which can scale unpredictably for high-volume campaigns. Captain Data charges based on the number of prospects you extract and enrich, making costs harder to forecast when scaling LinkedIn-based prospecting. Derrick offers a more transparent, predictable pricing structure with rollover credits, no credit card required for the free tier, and flexible plans starting at nine dollars monthly. This approach eliminates surprise overages and gives teams better budget control, especially when prospecting needs fluctuate month to month.
Can Derrick replace both Clay and Captain Data?
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Derrick cannot replace both Clay and Captain Data in a one-to-one sense, but it can cover many essential aspects of both depending on your needs. Derrick excels as a 100% native Google Sheets enrichment and outreach hub, offering real-time email validation, AI-powered scoring, and broad integrations via Zapier/Make/n8n, all without complex setup. Clay shines with multi-source real-time data enrichment and automated outreach workflows, though it requires more configuration and can face data freshness and rate-limit challenges. Captain Data focuses on LinkedIn-driven prospecting and straightforward web scraping with ease of use, but its depth of enrichment and customization lags behind specialized tools. If your priority is a simple, fast, spreadsheet-centric workflow with strong enrichment and automation inside Sheets, Derrick can replace many of the routine tasks Clay or Captain Data handle. However, for highly specialized data enrichment, niche industry coverage, or LinkedIn-centric multi-channel enrichment at scale, you may still benefit from integrating Clay and Captain Data alongside Derrick to maximize data depth, accuracy, and reach.
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-oneCaptain Data vs Derrick - solo duel
Drop the third-party context and see how Captain Data 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
