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Head to head · Lead search · October 2026 research run

Clay vs LeadMagic API + MCP

LeadMagic API + MCP scores 60.2 (C) on agent readiness against Clay's 57.7 (C), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Clay leads on agent ergonomics, payments & pricing and maintenance & community. 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 LeadMagic API + MCPLeadMagic · HTTP API C60.2/100#555 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

  • Agent ergonomics, 66 against 61
  • Payments & pricing, 30 against 20
  • Maintenance & community, 75 against 65

Watch for

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

LeadMagic API + MCP C

Best for Verification and email or mobile finding in automated pipelines, especially at volume on the plans with credit-free search.

Ahead on

  • Reliability, 55 against 45
  • Schema & documentation, 93 against 84
  • Security & auth, 60 against 48

Watch for

No free tier or trial credits, plans from $99 a month

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runClayLeadMagic API + MCPEdge
Reliability16%204555LeadMagic API + MCP +10
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.28493LeadMagic API + MCP +9
Agent ergonomics13%16.26661Clay +5
Security & auth14%17.54860LeadMagic API + MCP +12
Payments & pricing10%12.53020Clay +10
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.87565Clay +10
Transparency & trust7%8.86463Clay +1
Negative events≤1500
TotalC 57.7/100C 60.2/100

Facts side by side

FactClayLeadMagic API + MCP
KindHTTP APIHTTP API
VendorClay Labs Inc.LeadMagic
Hosted endpointhttps://api.clay.com/public/v0https://api.leadmagic.io
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
Tools exposednone48
Read-only variant documentednono
llms.txtyesyes
Last release2026-10-062026-09-17
Terms last updated2024-05-232026-08-31
Privacy policy last updated2020-09-112026-09-20
Customer content may train modelsnot found in the textnot found in the text
Terms restrict automated accessnot found in the textyes
Terms restrict benchmarkingnot found in the textyes
Terms or service can change without noticenot found in the textyes
Arbitration or class-action waiveryesyes
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.

LeadMagic API + MCP

RFC 9457 problem-details errors with request_id, and Retry-After on 429. No free tier or trial credits, plans from $99 a month.

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

LeadMagic API + MCP

  1. Call preview_cost before bulk work. It's free
  2. Read X-Credits-Remaining after each call instead of polling the balance
  3. Treat 402 as out of credits and wait out Retry-After on 429
  4. Keep credit-free search under 13,333 calls a day per account
  5. Retry unknown validations later. They cost nothing

Questions

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

LeadMagic API + MCP scores 60.2 (C) on agent readiness against Clay's 57.7 (C), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Clay leads on agent ergonomics, payments & pricing and maintenance & community.

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

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

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

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

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