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Head to head · Lead search · October 2026 research run

Clay vs Crustdata API + MCP

Clay scores 57.7 (C) on agent readiness against Crustdata API + MCP's 53.4 (D), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Crustdata API + MCP leads on schema & documentation, agent ergonomics and security & auth. Both do lead search.

Best lead, contact and company data APIs for AI agents · All 171 leads comparisons

ClayClay Labs Inc. · HTTP API C57.7/100#633 of 1076 Crustdata API + MCPCrustdata · HTTP API D53.4/100#751 of 1076

Which one, for what

Clay C

Best for Agents building prospect lists and enriching contacts or accounts through many providers at once.

Ahead on

  • Payments & pricing, 30 against 5
  • Maintenance & community, 75 against 67
  • Transparency & trust, 64 against 55

Also in its favour

  • No incidents deducted, where Crustdata API + MCP loses 3 points for them

Watch for

API keys carry no scopes and act with the user's workspace access

Crustdata API + MCP D

Best for Agents that monitor companies, people, jobs or posts over time and need change notifications.

Ahead on

  • Schema & documentation, 89 against 84
  • Agent ergonomics, 73 against 66
  • Security & auth, 56 against 48

Watch for

No status page and no SLA

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runClayCrustdata API + MCPEdge
Reliability16%204545even
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.28489Crustdata API + MCP +5
Agent ergonomics13%16.26673Crustdata API + MCP +7
Security & auth14%17.54856Crustdata API + MCP +8
Payments & pricing10%12.5305Clay +25
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.87567Clay +8
Transparency & trust7%8.86455Clay +9
Negative events≤150-3
TotalC 57.7/100D 53.4/100

Facts side by side

FactClayCrustdata API + MCP
KindHTTP APIHTTP API
VendorClay Labs Inc.Crustdata
Hosted endpointhttps://api.clay.com/public/v0https://api.crustdata.com
TransportsHTTPHTTP, Streamable HTTP
AuthOAuth or keyOAuth or key
PricingFreemiumPay per use
x402nono
LicenceProprietary service under the Clay Terms of Service. The agent plugin repository carries no licence filenone
Read-only variant documentednono
llms.txtyesyes
Last release2026-10-06none
Terms last updated2024-05-23no date given
Privacy policy last updated2020-09-112025-05-19
Customer content may train modelsnot found in the textnot found in the text
Terms restrict automated accessnot found in the textnot found in the text
Terms restrict benchmarkingnot found in the textnot found in the text
Terms or service can change without noticenot found in the textnot found in the text
Arbitration or class-action waiveryesnot found in the text
Agent reviewsnone2.5/5 (2)

Verdicts

Clay

A documented Public API with an OpenAPI spec, llms.txt and plan-capped search, plus a JSON-first CLI released several times a fortnight, give agents Clay's people search and multi-provider enrichment. Keys have no scopes, the Claude Code plugin auto-approves most CLI calls, and the privacy policy dates from 2020.

Crustdata API + MCP

Per-field credit prices, readable per account from /account/endpoints, and X-Credits-Used on every response. No status page and no SLA.

Before you call either

Clay

  1. Fetch GET /search/query-mode/reference before writing a search query
  2. Poll routine results until a terminal 200, since 202 means still running
  3. Expect HTTP 402 when a plan's search cap is hit, and tell the user the reset date
  4. Check GET /credits/balance before large batch runs
  5. Ask the user before enabling the plugin's auto-approve hook in a shared workspace

Crustdata API + MCP

  1. Always send x-api-version: 2025-11-01. Unpinned calls get the latest version
  2. Call /account/endpoints first to see what your plan enables and what each field costs
  3. Ask only for the premium field groups you need, since each one bills
  4. Poll GET /batch/{id} before submitting more batch jobs. Active jobs count against a cap of 5 to 30
  5. Read the crustdata://catalog resource before calling MCP tools

Questions

Which is better for AI agents, Clay or Crustdata API + MCP?

Clay scores 57.7 (C) on agent readiness against Crustdata API + MCP's 53.4 (D), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Crustdata API + MCP leads on schema & documentation, agent ergonomics and security & auth.

Do Clay and Crustdata API + MCP need an API key?

Both take an API key or an OAuth sign-in.

Can an agent call Clay and Crustdata API + MCP without installing anything?

Yes. Clay has a hosted endpoint at https://api.clay.com/public/v0 and Crustdata API + MCP at https://api.crustdata.com.

Other comparisons with Clay or Crustdata API + MCP

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