Clay
- Starting price: Free / $134/mo (annual)
- Free plan: Yes (limited credits)
- Founded: 2017
- HQ: New York, NY
Updated
Clay vs Emelia vs Derrick: Which Is Better in 2026?
- Short answer
- Clay vs Emelia vs Derrick: Clay is a multi-source data enrichment with ai workflows, Emelia is a affordable all-in-one b2b prospecting tool for cold email + linkedin at fixed pricing. 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 Emelia) 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 Emelia 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 Emelia vs Derrick at a glance
Emelia
- Starting price: PAYG credits €19/mo · Start €37/mo (3 mailboxes, unlimited sending)
- Free plan: 7-day free trial (no card) - paid entry Start €37/mo
- Founded: 2020
- HQ: Paris, Île-de-France, 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 Emelia
3 core reasons SDRs and ops teams switch to Derrick. Click to expand each.
01 Enrich data faster without complex setup
Clay struggles with setup complexity and data accuracy when enriching at scale, often requiring careful configuration and ongoing validation. Derrick delivers 100% native Google Sheets enrichment with no CSV exports or complex onboarding, accelerating data quality without heavy tech lift. Users save 5-10 hours per month and gain access to 50+ enrichment attributes per contact, plus real-time email validation to improve deliverability. For a rapid use case, Derrick turns a sheet into a fully functional prospecting hub in minutes, not hours.
02 Low-risk data enrichment with turnkey deployment
Clay struggles with accuracy and setup complexity, often needing careful validation and lengthy configuration before reliable enrichment. Derrick delivers low-risk, turnkey deployment by staying 100% native to Google Sheets and requiring no heavy setup, unlike Clay or Emelia’s more fragmented ecosystems. You can expect measurable gains: 50+ enrichment attributes per contact, real-time email validation, and credits-based usage that reduces onboarding time, saving 5-10 hours per month. With Derrick, teams deploy immediate enrichment workflows straight from Sheets, plus monthly carryover credits to avoid wasted spend.
03 Real-time data quality controls for confident outreach success
Clay struggles with real-time data quality verification, often delivering outdated or incomplete details that threaten outreach confidence. Derrick differs by delivering real-time data quality controls within 100% native Google Sheets, avoiding complex setups that slow campaigns. This enables measurable gains: up to 20% higher deliverability and a 15% reduction in bounced emails due to immediate validation and deduplication at the point of use. For quick wins, Derrick’s real-time validation applies instantly to new leads, maintaining list hygiene as you scale.
Honest Comparison 
derrick
What each tool does better
We're upfront - every tool has strengths. Here's where Clay, Emelia, 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 Emelia does better
- Cheapest meaningful cold-email tool in the category
- All-in-one bundle (built-in warm-up + sender rotation + spintext + LinkedIn)
- Fast and efficient for small-team workflows
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 | Emelia | Derrick | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting price (monthly) | Free / $134/mo (annual) | PAYG credits €19/mo · Start €37/mo (3 mailboxes, unlimited sending) | €0 (free) · €9/mo paid |
| Annual cost (base) | ~€1,608/yr | ~€228/yr | €0/yr free · ~€108/yr paid |
| Free plan? | Yes (limited credits) | 7-day free trial (no card) - paid entry Start €37/mo | ✓ 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 Emelia vs Derrick: full feature comparison
| Clay | Derrick App | emelia | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | 37€/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 →
Affordable Cold Email + LinkedIn Multichannel
Clay vs Emelia 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 and a likely free or low-cost entry option, plus paid plans scaling with usage-see full pricing breakdown for all details and limits.
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.
Affordable Cold Email + LinkedIn Multichannel Emelia
PAYG credits €19/mo · Start €37/mo (3 mailboxes, unlimited sending)
Best for: Solo founders + small teams running cold email on a budget
Emelia offers a free tier with limited credits and paid plans starting at a modest monthly rate; detailed options and limits are outlined on the pricing page-see full pricing breakdown for all specifics.
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 Emelia if…
- You specifically need solo founders + small teams running cold email on a budget
- Cheapest meaningful cold-email tool in the category
- All-in-one bundle (built-in warm-up + sender rotation + spintext + LinkedIn)
- You're already invested in the Emelia 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 Emelia
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 data enrichment and outreach?
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Both platforms excel at different aspects of B2B prospecting. Clay is stronger for complex workflow automation and aggregating data from multiple sources, making it ideal for teams building sophisticated multi-step enrichment sequences. However, Derrick offers a more streamlined alternative that operates natively within Google Sheets, eliminating export friction and reducing setup time by five to ten hours monthly. Derrick also provides real-time email validation, integrated AI capabilities with Claude and ChatGPT, and rollover credits with no credit card required for the free tier, making it more accessible for teams prioritizing simplicity and data enrichment speed over advanced automation complexity.
Is Derrick a stronger alternative to Clay for speed and simplicity?
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Derrick offers a more streamlined approach compared to Clay, particularly for teams prioritizing speed and simplicity. While Clay excels at complex workflow automation, it requires significant setup time and technical knowledge, whereas Derrick operates natively within Google Sheets with zero configuration overhead. Derrick's real-time email validation, integrated AI capabilities with Claude and ChatGPT, and rollover credits provide faster deployment without the learning curve Clay demands. For organizations seeking immediate prospecting capability without complex integrations, Derrick delivers superior speed and ease of use.
Derrick vs Clay vs emelia: which offers the best overall comparison?
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Derrick, Clay, and Emelia each serve different prospecting needs. Clay excels at workflow automation and data aggregation but requires significant setup time and technical expertise. Emelia focuses narrowly on email automation with limited enrichment depth, making it best as a complementary tool. Derrick stands out as the most accessible solution, operating natively within Google Sheets without complex configuration, offering fifty-plus enrichment attributes per contact, integrated AI with Claude and ChatGPT, real-time email validation, and rollover credits with no credit card required for the free tier. For teams prioritizing simplicity, speed, and comprehensive enrichment without leaving their existing spreadsheet workflow, Derrick delivers the most streamlined overall experience.
How does Clay compare to emelia for email verification and outreach?
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Clay and emelia both target email verification and outreach, but they approach it differently. Clay excels at real-time data enrichment and automated outreach within a flexible, multi-source framework, offering strong email validation and CRM integrations; however, data accuracy can vary by source and setup requires effort. Emelia shines in high-velocity email outreach with AI-driven personalization and deep ease of use, delivering solid verification speed and dependable deliverability, yet its data enrichment depth and multi-channel breadth are narrower. Derrick, by contrast, provides 100% native Google Sheets enrichment, 50+ attributes per contact, real-time email validation, and AI scoring, all in a familiar spreadsheet workflow with generous credits and no credit card for the free tier, making it a more streamlined option for teams seeking simplicity and speed while still offering robust data intelligence.
Does Clay have better pricing than emelia for startups?
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Clay and Emelia target different use cases, making direct pricing comparison challenging for startups. Clay focuses on data enrichment and automation workflows, while Emelia specializes in email outreach. For budget-conscious startups, Clay's pay-as-you-go model may offer flexibility, but both platforms require significant setup investment. Derrick provides a more accessible alternative with transparent, rollover-friendly credits starting at just nine dollars monthly, no credit card required for the free tier, and native Google Sheets integration that eliminates costly exports and complex configuration overhead typical of Clay and Emelia.
Can Derrick replace both Clay and emelia in a single workflow?
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No. Derrick cannot fully replace both Clay and Emelia in a single workflow without some trade-offs. Derrick excels as a 100% native Google Sheets enrichment platform with robust data attributes, real-time email validation, AI-powered scoring, and extensive integrations, making it ideal for centralizing prospect research and automation inside Sheets. Clay offers strong multi-source data enrichment and flexible, no-code workflow automation across multiple tools, while Emelia specializes in scalable email outreach and personalization. Derrick can complement or replace elements of both by providing data enrichment and scoring within Sheets, but for high-volume, multi-channel outreach (Emelia) or specialized enrichment pipelines (Clay), you’d typically use Derrick alongside one or both of the others to maintain the depth and breadth of capabilities. If your goal is to streamline a single workflow end-to-end, Derrick shines when the core prospect data lives in Sheets and you prioritize simplicity, cost-efficiency, and AI-assisted segmentation, but you may still need Emelia for multi-channel outreach or Clay for advanced data sourcing depending on your exact requirements.
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-oneemelia vs Derrick - solo duel
Drop the third-party context and see how emelia 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
