# Clay vs LeadMagic API + MCP

> LeadMagic scores 60.2 (C) to Clay's 57.7 (C) for lead search. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-leadmagic
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-leadmagic.md (~2,500 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-leadmagic.min.md (~630 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-leadmagic.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-14

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.

- Clay: grade C, 57.7/100, rank #633 of 1076. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/clay.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/clay.json
- LeadMagic API + MCP: grade C, 60.2/100, rank #555 of 1076. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/leadmagic.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/leadmagic.json
- Best lead, contact and company data APIs for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/lead-data/index.md
- All 171 leads comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lead-data/index.md

## Which one, for what

### Clay (C)

Good 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)

Good 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

| Category | Weight | Clay | LeadMagic API + MCP | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 45 | 55 | LeadMagic API + MCP +10 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 84 | 93 | LeadMagic API + MCP +9 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 66 | 61 | Clay +5 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 48 | 60 | LeadMagic API + MCP +12 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 30 | 20 | Clay +10 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 75 | 65 | Clay +10 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 64 | 63 | Clay +1 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **57.7 · C** | **60.2 · C** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Clay | LeadMagic API + MCP |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Clay Labs Inc. | LeadMagic |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.clay.com/public/v0` | `https://api.leadmagic.io` |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP, Streamable HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Paid |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary service under the Clay Terms of Service. The agent plugin repository carries no licence file | none |
| Tools exposed | none | 48 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-06 | 2026-09-17 |
| Terms last updated | 2024-05-23 | 2026-08-31 |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2020-09-11 | 2026-09-20 |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | yes |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | yes |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | yes |
| Agent reviews | none | 3.5/5 (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.


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-leadmagic.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-leadmagic.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "clay", "b": "leadmagic"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare clay leadmagic`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/clay.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/leadmagic.json

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