Clay
- Starting price: Free / $134/mo (annual)
- Free plan: Yes (limited credits)
- Founded: 2017
- HQ: New York, NY
Updated
Clay vs Expandi vs Derrick: Which Is Better in 2026?
- Short answer
- Clay vs Expandi vs Derrick: Clay is a multi-source data enrichment with ai workflows, Expandi is a cloud-based linkedin automation with smart conditional sequences. 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 Expandi) 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 Expandi 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 Expandi vs Derrick at a glance
Expandi
- Starting price: $79/mo (Business, annual) · 14-day free trial
- Free plan: 14-day free trial (no credit card)
- Founded: 2019
- HQ: Eindhoven, Netherlands
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 Expandi
3 core reasons SDRs and ops teams switch to Derrick. Click to expand each.
01 Native enrichment without data quality concerns
Clay and Expandi struggle with data freshness and verification at scale, often delivering inconsistent enrichment and requiring manual validation. Derrick fixes this by delivering native enrichment inside Google Sheets with real-time email validation and AI-driven scoring, segmentation, and summarization, all from 100% native Sheet data. This eliminates the need for CSV exports or complex setups, saving 5-10 hours per month and reducing data quality concerns. A practical use case is instantly enriching a prospect list in Sheets while maintaining high accuracy across 50+ attributes per contact.
02 Streamlined onboarding with zero setup complexity
Clay and Expandi both require non-trivial setup and manual configuration to optimize outreach flows, which slows time-to-value. Derrick delivers a zero-setup, 100% native Google Sheets experience with no CSV exports or complex integrations, eliminating onboarding friction. Users save 5-10 hours per month and can deploy enriched prospects immediately within Sheets, thanks to Derrick’s native enrichment and instant validation. A typical use case: spin up a campaign in minutes, leverage 50+ enrichment attributes, and start reaching out without shifting tools.
03 Native data validation with industry-grade accuracy assurance
Clay and Expandi struggle with real-time, industry-grade data validation at scale, often delivering inconsistent accuracy and stale contact details. Derrick delivers native data validation within 100% native Google Sheets, ensuring real-time email verification and up-to-date enrichment without exporting data or complex setup. This translates to measurable gains: up to 15-25% higher deliverability and faster campaign readiness, with credits repurposed and no added CS burdens. Derrick’s integrated AI scoring and 50+ attributes per contact further anchor accuracy for high-stakes outreach.
Honest Comparison 
derrick
What each tool does better
We're upfront - every tool has strengths. Here's where Clay, Expandi, 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 Expandi does better
- Smart conditional sequences (best in the cloud category)
- Cloud-based with dedicated country IPs
- Comprehensive LinkedIn feature set
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 | Expandi | Derrick | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting price (monthly) | Free / $134/mo (annual) | $79/mo (Business, annual) · 14-day free trial | €0 (free) · €9/mo paid |
| Annual cost (base) | ~€1,608/yr | ~€948/yr | €0/yr free · ~€108/yr paid |
| Free plan? | Yes (limited credits) | 14-day free trial (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 Expandi vs Derrick: full feature comparison
| Clay | Derrick App | Expandi | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | 99$/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 →
LinkedIn Automation (Cloud, Agency-Established)
Clay vs Expandi 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 outbound automation, starting from an entry-level tier and scalable paid plans; for exact prices and limits, see the full pricing breakdown on the Pricing Clay page.
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.
LinkedIn Automation (Cloud, Agency-Established) Expandi
$79/mo (Business, annual) · 14-day free trial
Best for: Established agencies + B2B teams running smart LinkedIn sequences
Expandi offers a free tier with limited credits and paid plans starting at competitive monthly rates; for exact pricing by plan and usage, see the full pricing breakdown on the dedicated page. View complete pricing details now.
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 Expandi if…
- You specifically need established agencies + b2b teams running smart linkedin sequences
- Smart conditional sequences (best in the cloud category)
- Cloud-based with dedicated country IPs
- You're already invested in the Expandi 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 Expandi
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
How does Derrick compare to Clay for data enrichment?
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Derrick and Clay take different approaches to data enrichment. Clay excels at aggregating data from 50+ sources through API integrations and offers sophisticated workflow automation, making it ideal for teams building complex prospecting sequences. However, Clay requires significant setup time, demands technical expertise for advanced configurations, and depends heavily on third-party data sources that can vary in accuracy. Derrick, by contrast, operates natively within Google Sheets with no external platform needed, delivering 50+ enrichment attributes per contact with real-time email validation. Derrick's integrated AI capabilities using Claude and ChatGPT enable automatic scoring and segmentation without manual configuration, while rollover credits and no credit card requirement for the free tier provide greater flexibility. For teams prioritizing simplicity, speed, and direct Sheets-based workflows, Derrick streamlines the entire enrichment process without the learning curve Clay demands.
Is Derrick a better alternative to Clay for outreach?
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Whether Derrick is a better alternative to Clay depends on your priorities. Clay excels at complex workflow automation and aggregating data from multiple sources, making it ideal for teams running high-volume campaigns requiring sophisticated custom sequences. However, Derrick offers a more streamlined approach by operating entirely within Google Sheets, eliminating setup complexity and CSV exports. Derrick's real-time email validation, integrated AI capabilities with Claude and ChatGPT, and rollover credits provide better flexibility for teams seeking simplicity and cost efficiency. If you prioritize speed and ease of use over advanced automation workflows, Derrick delivers faster time-to-value without the learning curve Clay demands.
What’s the Derrick vs Clay difference in pricing?
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Derrick offers more transparent and flexible pricing compared to Clay. Clay operates on a usage-based model with variable costs depending on data sources and API integrations, often requiring significant investment for teams running high-volume campaigns. Derrick provides fixed-tier pricing starting at zero dollars for 100 credits with no credit card required, plus rollover credits monthly. This means you only pay for what you use, with predictable costs and no surprise charges, making budget forecasting simpler for growing B2B teams.
How does Derrick vs Expandi compare for LinkedIn outreach?
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Derrick vs Expandi for LinkedIn outreach: Expandi excels at LinkedIn-specific automation-connection requests, follow-ups, and campaign analytics within the LinkedIn ecosystem-delivering quick setup and strong ease of use for high-volume, LinkedIn-focused outreach. Derrick, however, complements Expandi by providing 100% native Google Sheets enrichment, multi-channel prospecting capabilities, and real-time email validation, plus 50+ enrichment attributes per contact and AI-driven scoring. For LinkedIn-only campaigns, Expandi is a solid choice; for broader outreach and data reliability beyond LinkedIn, Derrick adds depth with flexible integrations, transferable credits, and robust data quality, making it the more versatile option when you need multi-source prospecting alongside LinkedIn efforts.
Which is better: Derrick vs Clay vs Expandi for simplification?
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Derrick prioritizes simplification through its native Google Sheets integration, eliminating complex setup and CSV exports that Clay and Expandi require. While Clay excels at workflow automation and Expandi at LinkedIn-specific outreach, both demand significant configuration time and technical knowledge. Derrick streamlines the entire process by keeping your data in Sheets with built-in AI enrichment, real-time email validation, and 50+ attributes per contact, requiring zero learning curve. For teams valuing speed and ease of use over advanced automation complexity, Derrick delivers maximum simplification with rollover credits and no upfront payment required.
Can Clay replace Expandi for multi-channel prospecting?
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Clay cannot fully replace Expandi for multi-channel prospecting. Clay excels at data enrichment and outbound automation across multiple data sources and channels, offering real-time verification and robust integrations, but it is not a LinkedIn-native outreach platform and requires more setup for multi-channel sequences. Expandi, by contrast, specializes in LinkedIn automation with intuitive sequences, warm-up features, and native LinkedIn workflow integration. Derrick complements both by providing 100% native Google Sheets prospecting, real-time email validation, AI scoring, and broad integration options, delivering a simpler, faster path to multi-channel prospecting without heavy configuration. If your priority is LinkedIn-centric multi-channel outreach, Expandi is stronger; for data richness and automation breadth, Clay shines, while Derrick offers a streamlined, sheet-native alternative with strong verification and AI capabilities.
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-oneExpandi vs Derrick - solo duel
Drop the third-party context and see how Expandi 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
