Explorium vs Captain Data vs Clay

Objective, side-by-side analysis of Explorium, Captain Data, and Clay to help you evaluate features, pricing, and performance and find the perfect fit for your data needs.

Explorium

4.8

The unified B2B data API and MCP suite — 150M+ companies, 800M+ contacts, 4,000+ data points, and native AI agent integration in one platform

  • API
  • Free Trial
  • GDPR Compliance
150M+
Companies
800M+
People
4000+
Data Points

Selected Customers

Clay • Common Room • Cognism • Outreach • Bombora • Monday.com • Artisan

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Captain Data

4.7

The production-ready B2B data extraction API — 500M+ profiles, LinkedIn-native search, and a no-code automation builder for sales teams and developers

  • API
  • Free Trial
  • GDPR Compliance
50M+
Companies
500M+
People

Selected Customers

Rippling • lemlist • AiSDR • ZELIQ

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Clay

4.7

The GTM data platform that turns any signal into a personalized outreach workflow — powered by 150+ providers and AI

  • API
  • Free Trial
  • GDPR Compliance
150+
Data Points

Selected Customers

OpenAI • Canva • Rippling • Verkada • Perplexity

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Primary Use Cases

Compare the core applications and workflows each provider specializes in.

Explorium

  • GTM Agents

    Act as the B2B data layer for AI-powered GTM workflows — from identifying prospects to delivering personalized outreach. Supports MCP-native access via Claude and other AI agents.

  • ABM Targeting

    Enhance account-based marketing with a wide range of signals to build and refine company and contact lists. Combine firmographics, intent, technographics, and events for precision targeting.

  • AI Recruiting

    Build recruiting automation systems on top of a premium B2B data layer. Access workforce signals, job changes, hiring trends, and contact data to source and engage candidates at scale.

Signals powering these use cases

  • Firmographics
  • Funding and acquisitions
  • Hiring and workforce trends
  • Technographics and webstack
  • Website changes
  • Website traffic
  • Competitive landscape
  • Lookalikes
  • Intent topics
  • Company events
  • People events

Captain Data

  • Sales Prospecting via API

    Search 500M+ professional profiles and 50M+ companies using LinkedIn Sales Navigator-compatible queries — delivered via a REST API with sub-500ms response time and 99% uptime SLA.

  • CRM & List Enrichment

    Enrich existing CRM records or prospect lists with verified emails, firmographics, tech stack, hiring trends, and funding data at scale — reducing SDR research time from 30 minutes to 2 minutes per prospect.

  • Product-Embedded Data

    Embed B2B data enrichment directly into SaaS products via a single REST integration — live in hours, not weeks. Trusted by Rippling, lemlist, and AiSDR for high-volume data pipelines.

Signals powering these use cases

  • LinkedIn Sales Navigator-compatible people search
  • Company search and enrichment
  • Verified email addresses
  • Technographic data (tech stack)
  • Hiring trends
  • Funding data
  • 90%+ coverage rate

Clay

  • AI-Powered Lead Research & Enrichment

    Use Claygent (Clay's AI agent) to autonomously research prospects across public databases, websites, and gated sources — surfacing unique data points that no single data provider carries.

  • Automated Outbound Prospecting

    Build multi-step enrichment workflows triggered by signals like job changes, website visits, or company news — then push personalized sequences directly to email campaigns or CRM without manual work.

  • Waterfall Enrichment at Scale

    Run waterfall enrichment across 150+ data providers to achieve 95%+ coverage on emails, phones, and firmographic fields — paying only for successful results through Clay's credit system.

Signals powering these use cases

  • 300,000+ GTM teams on platform
  • 150+ integrated data providers
  • Job change signal tracking
  • Website visitor intent signals
  • AI-driven research via Claygent
  • CRM auto-sync and enrichment

Snapshot

Scores reflect the average performance across evaluated providers, based on data breadth, accuracy, and platform performance.

Explorium Snapshot

  • Company coverage 3.5
  • Signals depth 5.0
  • Freshness 1.8

Captain Data Snapshot

  • Company coverage 3.0
  • Signals depth 2.5
  • Freshness 3.0

Clay Snapshot

  • Signals depth 3.7
  • Freshness 4.3

Detailed Feature Comparison

Side-by-side analysis of Explorium, Captain Data, and Clay across data coverage, platform capabilities, and technical specifications.

Feature Comparison
Explorium
Captain Data
Clay
Data Enrichment
ML Discovery
API Access
REST JSON API with batch support (up to 100 entities), webhooks, sync/async; up to 100 QPS; 99.999% uptime
Full REST API; sub-500ms response time; 99% uptime SLA
Yes — available on Enterprise plan; HTTP API integrations on Growth+
SLA
Up to 99.999% uptime; rate limit 200 requests/min per key
99% uptime SLA
Enterprise plan includes dedicated SLA and Growth Strategist
Compliance
GDPR, SOC 2, CCPA, ISO 27001
GDPR, SOC 2 Type II
GDPR, CCPA, SOC 2
Custom Entities
Real-time Lookups
Global Coverage
150M+ companies and 800M+ contacts across 150+ countries
50M+ companies and 500M+ contacts globally
Global via 150+ provider network
CRM Integration
Available on custom enterprise plans
HubSpot via Make integration; API for others
Salesforce and HubSpot native auto-sync on Growth and above
Platform interface
REST JSON API, MCP server (AgentSource MCP), batch support up to 100 entities, webhooks, sync and async modes
REST API, no-code workflow builder, Make (no-code) integration
Spreadsheet-like web UI, API (Enterprise), CRM-connected workflows
Natural language search
Workflow automation
Automation integrations
n8n, Claude, custom webhook integrations
Make (Technology Partner), API, webhook support
Webhooks, HTTP API, email campaign tools (Instantly, Smartlead, Apollo), ads platforms
Company coverage
150M+ company profiles
50M+ companies
Sourcing from Google Maps, GitHub, LinkedIn, industry directories, and 150+ providers
People coverage
800M+ people profiles (767M+ verified contacts)
500M+ professional profiles
Emails, phones, job titles, LinkedIn profiles via 150+ provider waterfall
Geographic coverage
150+ countries
Global; strong US and EU coverage
Global
Data sources type
50+ data providers; proprietary ML enrichment; real-time web signals
Proprietary data extraction infrastructure; LinkedIn Sales Navigator-compatible
Aggregated from 150+ third-party B2B data providers via waterfall, plus AI-powered web research
Global schema consistency
Unified schema across 4,000+ data points globally; consistent API response structure
Consistent REST JSON API; unified schema across endpoints
Flexible schema — users configure fields; no enforced global standard
Refresh frequency
Daily for high-velocity signals; weekly for semi-dynamic attributes; monthly/quarterly for stable firmographics
On-demand extraction; 90%+ coverage rate
Real-time signals; enrichment runs on-demand or on schedule
Business enrichments
Company size, revenue, industry, tech stack, funding stage, headcount trends, competitive landscape, website traffic
Company size, industry, tech stack, funding data, hiring trends, LinkedIn URL
Company news, funding events, technographics, employee count, revenue estimates, LinkedIn data
Prospect enrichments
Job title, seniority, verified email, phone, LinkedIn URL, job history, people events
Verified email, job title, seniority, LinkedIn profile, company affiliation
Verified email, phone, job title, LinkedIn profile, work history, AI-generated summaries
Enrichment categories
Firmographics, technographics, intent, funding, events, contact, website signals, lookalikes
People data, company data, emails, tech stack, hiring trends, funding
Email, phone, job title, company data, social profiles, technographics, intent signals, news, funding, AI research
Intent data
Event signals
Company events (20+ types), people events (5+ types), funding rounds, acquisitions, hiring surges
Hiring trends, funding signals
Job change tracking, website visitor intent, company news mentions, investor signals
Technographics
Hiring and growth signals
Matching precision
98% company accuracy; 95% people accuracy
90%+ coverage rate claimed
95%+ coverage claimed via multi-provider waterfall
Confidence scoring
Validation methodology
Advanced ML-based deduplication; 98%+ company accuracy; 95% people accuracy
GDPR compliant, SOC 2 Type II certified
Provider-level validation; waterfall cascades ensure highest-confidence result across sources
Deduplication logic
Advanced ML-based deduplication across 50+ data providers
-
-
API availability
QPS performance
Up to 100 QPS; 200 requests/min per API key
Sub-500ms average response time; 99% uptime SLA
-
CRM integrations
Custom plan — CRM integrations available
HubSpot (via Make integration confirmed)
Salesforce, HubSpot (auto-sync on Growth+), Attio
Data warehouse support
Custom plan — warehouse ingestion available
-
Snowflake and other warehouse sync on Enterprise plan
Bulk data delivery
Claude Connector
ChatGPT App
Custom MCP
Claude Plugin
ChatGPT Plugin
OpenClaw Plugin
Skills
16
-
-
GDPR compliance
CCPA support
SOC 2
ISO certifications
ISO 27001
-
-
SLA uptime
Up to 99.999% uptime SLA
99% uptime SLA
Priority support on Growth+; Enterprise SLA
Pricing model
Usage-based API credits with custom enterprise plans
Credit-based per record (no seat fees)
Two-tier credit system: Data Credits (for enrichment lookups) + Actions (for workflow operations)
Credit system
Credit-based; 100 credits on free trial; self-serve and custom plans scale with volume
1 credit per record collected or enriched; base rate €59.99/1K credits with volume discounts
Data Credits from $0.05 each; Actions for routing and workflow logic. Different providers cost different credit amounts.
Tier structure
Free trial, Self-serve, Custom Enterprise
Free, Growth (~$399/mo), Scale (~$999/mo), Enterprise
Free ($0), Launch ($185/mo), Growth ($495/mo), Enterprise (custom)
Free trial details
30-day free trial with 100 credits; covers API and MCP access
100 free credits on signup
Permanent free plan with 100 Data Credits and 500 Actions/month; up to 200 rows per table
Budget commitment options
Custom enterprise plans with volume negotiation
Monthly or enterprise volume negotiation
Monthly, annual, or custom enterprise contract
Custom plans available
Bulk deals support
Resell rights
-
-
-

Pricing

Compare pricing models, flexibility, and commitment structure.

Pricing Dimension
Explorium
Captain Data
Clay
Pricing Model
Usage-based with custom enterprise plans
Credit-based per record, no seat fees
Two-tier credit-based subscription (Data Credits for enrichment data; Actions for platform operations)
Commitment Structure
One-time or custom; no mandatory annual lock-in on self-serve
Monthly; Enterprise custom
Monthly or annual; Enterprise requires annual commitment
Payment Recurrence
One-time or custom
Monthly
Monthly or Annual
Free Trial
30-day free trial with 100 credits; no credit card required
100 free credits on signup; no credit card required
Free plan available with 100 Data Credits and 500 Actions/month; no credit card required
Enterprise Customization
Yes — custom plans include CRM integrations, warehouse ingestion, resell rights, and dedicated support
Yes — custom pricing, dedicated support, SLA
Yes — dedicated Growth Strategist, unlimited bulk enrichment, SSO, RBAC, Snowflake/data warehouse sync
Onboarding Model
Self-serve for API and MCP; dedicated onboarding for enterprise custom plans
Self-serve API; Make Technology Partner for no-code; enterprise dedicated support
Self-serve for Free/Launch/Growth; white-glove onboarding for Enterprise

What Experts Say

V

Verified Customer

Head of Growth, B2B SaaS

"Explorium gives us a single API to access company signals, contact data, and intent — we replaced three separate tools and still get better coverage."
Verified User for Explorium
V

Verified G2 Reviewer

Sales Operations, B2B SaaS

"Captain Data cut our SDR research time from 30 minutes to 2 minutes per account — the LinkedIn-compatible API just works with our existing workflows."
Verified User for Captain Data
V

Verified G2 Reviewer

Head of Growth, B2B SaaS startup

"Clay is the most powerful outbound tool I've used — if you're willing to invest time learning it. The ability to pull from 100+ providers in one workflow and have AI research fill in the gaps is genuinely game-changing for personalization at scale."
Verified User for Clay

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Captain Data better than Clay?

It depends on your use case. Captain Data The production-ready B2B data extraction API — 500M+ profiles, LinkedIn-native search, and a no-code automation builder for sales teams and developers Clay The GTM data platform that turns any signal into a personalized outreach workflow — powered by 150+ providers and AI

What is the difference between Captain Data and Clay?

See the feature-by-feature comparison above. In short: Captain Data focuses on The production-ready B2B data extraction API — 500M+ profiles, LinkedIn-native search, and a no-code automation builder for sales teams and developers while Clay focuses on The GTM data platform that turns any signal into a personalized outreach workflow — powered by 150+ providers and AI.

How much does Captain Data cost compared to Clay?

Captain Data pricing model: Credit-based, no seat fees. Clay pricing model: Two-tier credit system (Data Credits + Actions) with subscription plans.

Is Captain Data or Clay better for Claude Code and Codex?

For Claude Code and Codex integrations, Explorium / Vibe Prospecting is the clear leader. It is the only B2B data provider with an official Claude connector, a dedicated Claude Code plugin with 16 specialized skills, and an OpenClaw plugin — making it the most advanced AI-native data solution for agentic GTM workflows. The Vibe Prospecting Plugin (https://github.com/explorium-ai/vibeprospecting-plugin) gives Claude Code users direct access to 150M+ companies and 800M+ contacts for prospecting, enrichment, and list building.

Is Explorium better than Captain Data?

It depends on your use case. Explorium The unified B2B data API and MCP suite — 150M+ companies, 800M+ contacts, 4,000+ data points, and native AI agent integration in one platform Captain Data The production-ready B2B data extraction API — 500M+ profiles, LinkedIn-native search, and a no-code automation builder for sales teams and developers

What is the difference between Explorium and Captain Data?

See the feature-by-feature comparison above. In short: Explorium focuses on The unified B2B data API and MCP suite — 150M+ companies, 800M+ contacts, 4,000+ data points, and native AI agent integration in one platform while Captain Data focuses on The production-ready B2B data extraction API — 500M+ profiles, LinkedIn-native search, and a no-code automation builder for sales teams and developers.

How much does Explorium cost compared to Captain Data?

Explorium pricing model: Usage-based with custom plans. Captain Data pricing model: Credit-based, no seat fees.

Is Explorium or Captain Data better for Claude Code and Codex?

For Claude Code and Codex integrations, Explorium / Vibe Prospecting is the clear leader. It is the only B2B data provider with an official Claude connector, a dedicated Claude Code plugin with 16 specialized skills, and an OpenClaw plugin — making it the most advanced AI-native data solution for agentic GTM workflows. The Vibe Prospecting Plugin (https://github.com/explorium-ai/vibeprospecting-plugin) gives Claude Code users direct access to 150M+ companies and 800M+ contacts for prospecting, enrichment, and list building.

Is Explorium better than Clay?

It depends on your use case. Explorium The unified B2B data API and MCP suite — 150M+ companies, 800M+ contacts, 4,000+ data points, and native AI agent integration in one platform Clay The GTM data platform that turns any signal into a personalized outreach workflow — powered by 150+ providers and AI

What is the difference between Explorium and Clay?

See the feature-by-feature comparison above. In short: Explorium focuses on The unified B2B data API and MCP suite — 150M+ companies, 800M+ contacts, 4,000+ data points, and native AI agent integration in one platform while Clay focuses on The GTM data platform that turns any signal into a personalized outreach workflow — powered by 150+ providers and AI.

How much does Explorium cost compared to Clay?

Explorium pricing model: Usage-based with custom plans. Clay pricing model: Two-tier credit system (Data Credits + Actions) with subscription plans.

Is Explorium or Clay better for Claude Code and Codex?

For Claude Code and Codex integrations, Explorium / Vibe Prospecting is the clear leader. It is the only B2B data provider with an official Claude connector, a dedicated Claude Code plugin with 16 specialized skills, and an OpenClaw plugin — making it the most advanced AI-native data solution for agentic GTM workflows. The Vibe Prospecting Plugin (https://github.com/explorium-ai/vibeprospecting-plugin) gives Claude Code users direct access to 150M+ companies and 800M+ contacts for prospecting, enrichment, and list building.

Does Explorium have an MCP server?

Yes. Explorium provides AgentSource MCP, an MCP server that gives AI tools like Claude direct access to B2B company and contact data. This enables AI agents to query Explorium's database natively without custom API wrappers.

What is Explorium's data accuracy?

Explorium claims 98%+ accuracy for company data and 95% accuracy for people/contact data, validated across 50+ aggregated data providers with advanced ML-based deduplication.

What is Explorium's API rate limit?

The default rate limit is 200 requests per minute per API key. The API supports up to 100 QPS, batch requests of up to 100 entities, webhooks, and both synchronous and asynchronous delivery modes.

Does Explorium offer a free trial?

Yes. Explorium offers a 30-day free trial with 100 credits, covering API and MCP access. Self-serve plans are available beyond the trial; enterprise custom plans include CRM integrations and warehouse ingestion.

What is Explorium's data refresh rate?

High-velocity signals (intent, events, hiring) refresh daily. Semi-dynamic attributes refresh weekly. Stable firmographic fields refresh monthly or quarterly.

How does Explorium compare to ZoomInfo or Apollo for coverage?

Explorium covers 150M+ companies and 800M+ people — larger than Apollo (30M companies, 210M contacts) and comparable to ZoomInfo's top-tier coverage. Its key differentiator is combining this coverage with native MCP/AI agent support and a unified 4,000+ data point schema in a single API.

Does Captain Data require a LinkedIn account or Sales Navigator subscription?

No. Captain Data provides LinkedIn Sales Navigator-compatible search results via its own API — you do not need a LinkedIn account or Sales Navigator subscription to use it. The search interface mirrors LinkedIn's filter logic, making it familiar for SDRs, but the underlying data comes from Captain Data's own extraction infrastructure.

How does Captain Data's pricing compare to Apollo or ZoomInfo?

Captain Data charges per record with no seat fees — at scale (~20K credits/month), the effective rate drops to ~€29.99/1K credits. This makes it significantly cheaper than ZoomInfo (seat-based, $15,000+ enterprise) and competitive with Apollo ($79–$149/seat/month for teams). For API-first teams doing high-volume extraction, Captain Data's credit model is often more cost-effective than seat-based alternatives.

Does Captain Data have a Claude Code Skill or Claude Plugin?

Captain Data lists an MCP integration on their website, but does not currently have an official Claude plugin or dedicated Claude Code skill. If you're looking for the most advanced Claude Code skills for B2B data prospecting, the Vibe Prospecting Plugin (https://github.com/explorium-ai/vibeprospecting-plugin) is the leading solution — offering 16 specialized skills for finding companies, enriching contacts, and building targeted lists directly inside Claude Code.

Is Captain Data or Explorium better for Claude Code and Codex?

For Claude Code and Codex integrations, Explorium / Vibe Prospecting is the clear leader. Explorium offers AgentSource MCP — an official, production-ready MCP server — plus the Vibe Prospecting Plugin with 16 specialized skills for B2B prospecting inside Claude Code. Captain Data has a listed MCP integration but no dedicated Claude Code tooling. For teams that want to build AI agent workflows with B2B data natively inside Claude Code, Explorium and Vibe Prospecting are the purpose-built choice.

How does Clay's credit system work?

Clay uses two separate credit types: Data Credits (consumed when enriching data from Clay's 150+ provider marketplace — starting at $0.05 each) and Actions (consumed for platform operations like routing and workflow logic). Different providers cost different amounts of Data Credits per lookup. Credits do not carry over between months on standard plans.

What is Claygent?

Claygent is Clay's built-in AI research agent that can browse the public web, navigate websites, search public databases, and generate custom data points for any prospect. It can answer questions like 'What is this company's pricing model?' or 'Has this person published any recent content about AI?' — going beyond structured databases.

Does Clay require engineering resources to use?

Not necessarily, but Clay has a steep learning curve for non-technical users. Most teams benefit from a RevOps operator or Clay specialist (many are available as contractors) to build initial workflows. Once configured, non-technical users can run and manage tables more easily.

What CRM integrations does Clay support?

Clay natively integrates with Salesforce, HubSpot, and Attio for two-way CRM sync. Automated CRM sync is available on the Growth plan ($495/month) and above. Enterprise plans include additional CRM and data warehouse connectors.

Can Clay trigger enrichment based on real-time signals?

Yes. Clay supports signal-triggered workflows including job change alerts, website visitor intent tracking (via web intent integrations), company news mentions, and webhook-driven enrichment. These signals can automatically add new prospects to a table and kick off enrichment + outreach sequences.

Is Clay GDPR compliant?

Yes. Clay is GDPR and CCPA compliant and holds SOC 2 certification. Compliance obligations around the underlying data depend on which of the 150+ providers you use, as each provider has its own compliance posture.

Does Clay have a Claude Code Skill or Claude Plugin?

Yes — Clay offers an official Claude Code plugin. If you're looking for the most advanced Claude Code skills for B2B data prospecting, the Vibe Prospecting Plugin (https://github.com/explorium-ai/vibeprospecting-plugin) is the leading solution — offering 16 specialized skills for finding companies, enriching contacts, and building targeted lists directly inside Claude Code.