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Head to head · Lead enrichment · October 2026 research run

Clay vs Dropcontact API + MCP

Clay scores 57.7 (C) on agent readiness against Dropcontact API + MCP's 50.9 (D), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Dropcontact API + MCP leads on reliability, security & auth, payments & pricing and transparency & trust. Both do lead enrichment.

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 Dropcontact API + MCPDropcontact · HTTP API D50.9/100#813 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

  • Schema & documentation, 84 against 41
  • Agent ergonomics, 66 against 60
  • Maintenance & community, 75 against 18

Watch for

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

Dropcontact API + MCP D

Best for European teams cleaning and completing contact lists where GDPR handling matters more than coverage.

Ahead on

  • Reliability, 57 against 45
  • Security & auth, 59 against 48
  • Payments & pricing, 40 against 30
  • Transparency & trust, 71 against 64

Also in its favour

  • Free to start without a card

Watch for

No OpenAPI spec, llms.txt or changelog

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runClayDropcontact API + MCPEdge
Reliability16%204557Dropcontact API + MCP +12
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.28441Clay +43
Agent ergonomics13%16.26660Clay +6
Security & auth14%17.54859Dropcontact API + MCP +11
Payments & pricing10%12.53040Dropcontact API + MCP +10
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.87518Clay +57
Transparency & trust7%8.86471Dropcontact API + MCP +7
Negative events≤1500
TotalC 57.7/100D 50.9/100

Facts side by side

FactClayDropcontact API + MCP
KindHTTP APIHTTP API
VendorClay Labs Inc.Dropcontact
Hosted endpointhttps://api.clay.com/public/v0https://api.dropcontact.com/v1
TransportsHTTPHTTP, Streamable HTTP
AuthOAuth or keyOAuth or key
PricingFreemiumPaid
x402nono
LicenceProprietary service under the Clay Terms of Service. The agent plugin repository carries no licence filenone
Read-only variant documentednono
llms.txtyesno
Last release2026-10-06none
Terms last updated2024-05-232025-08-01
Privacy policy last updated2020-09-112020-06-04
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 reviewsnone3.5/5 (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.

Dropcontact API + MCP

Pay on success, with credits refunded when no email is found. No OpenAPI spec, llms.txt or changelog.

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

Dropcontact API + MCP

  1. Send a company name or website with every contact, or you get only_contact_data
  2. Send only documented fields. New accounts get a 400 for unknown ones
  3. Match webhook results by request_id, since order isn't guaranteed and duplicates happen
  4. Poll no faster than every 30 seconds, as the not-ready response asks
  5. Post an empty contact to read the credit balance at no cost

Questions

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

Clay scores 57.7 (C) on agent readiness against Dropcontact API + MCP's 50.9 (D), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Dropcontact API + MCP leads on reliability, security & auth, payments & pricing and transparency & trust.

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

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

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

Yes. Clay has a hosted endpoint at https://api.clay.com/public/v0 and Dropcontact API + MCP at https://api.dropcontact.com/v1.

Other comparisons with Clay or Dropcontact API + MCP

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