{ "data": { "a": { "slug": "clay", "name": "Clay", "vendor": "Clay Labs Inc.", "vendorUrl": "https://www.clay.com", "kind": "http-api", "category": "lead-data", "summary": "Clay is a go-to-market data and automation platform that searches its own database of companies and people and runs enrichment across 150+ data providers. Agents use it through the Public API v0, the clay CLI and a coding-agent plugin.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/clay", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/clay.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/clay.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/clay.json", "repo": "https://github.com/clay-run/agent-plugins", "license": "Proprietary service under the Clay Terms of Service. The agent plugin repository carries no licence file", "transports": [ "http" ], "remoteUrl": "https://api.clay.com/public/v0", "packages": [], "auth": "mixed", "authNotes": "The Public API takes a personal API key in the clay-api-key header, tied to a Clay user and their workspace access, created in the app, with the CLI (clay api-keys create) or by an agent through the plugin. The CLI signs in with OAuth in a browser or with a device code (clay login --device), one workspace per sign-in. Custom functions need API or MCP access switched on per function (https://developers.clay.com/public-api/authentication).", "pricing": "freemium", "pricingNotes": "Free plan with 100 data credits and 500 actions a month. Launch from $167 a month and Growth from $446 a month on the plan cards, while the FAQ on the same page says $185 and $495. Data credits start at $0.05 and actions at under a cent. Failed enrichments aren't charged. The FAQ lists Clay API access under Enterprise, while the developer docs give search limits for Free, Trial and paid plans (https://www.clay.com/pricing, https://developers.clay.com/searches, checked 2026-10-14).", "priceSummary": "$0.05 / credit", "where": "hosted", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the developer docs, the OpenAPI spec or the pricing page (checked 2026-10-14).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": null, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-10-14" }, "docsUrl": "https://developers.clay.com", "llmsTxt": "https://developers.clay.com/llms.txt", "openapi": "https://developers.clay.com/openapi.json", "capabilities": [ "lead.search", "lead.enrichment", "email.finder", "data.company" ], "tags": [ "hosted", "freemium", "api-key", "openapi", "llms-txt", "cli", "closed-source", "lead-search", "enrichment", "soc2", "webhooks" ], "lastRelease": "2026-10-06", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 57.7, "grade": "C", "agentReady": false, "rank": 633, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 1076, "categoryRank": 8, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 66, "maintenance": 75, "payments": 30, "reliability": 45, "schema": 84, "security": 48, "transparency": 64 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-14" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "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.", "bestFor": "Agents building prospect lists and enriching contacts or accounts through many providers at once.", "strengths": [ "Public OpenAPI spec, llms.txt and Markdown copies of the docs", "Search and enrichment across Clay's database and 150+ providers through one API", "Failed enrichments use no credits or actions", "CLI with JSON output and typed exit codes, released five times between 25 September and 6 October 2026", "Valid security.txt and SOC 2 Type II listed" ], "weaknesses": [ "API keys carry no scopes and act with the user's workspace access", "The Claude Code plugin auto-approves most clay CLI commands, including ones that spend credits", "No request-rate number published, and error bodies have no stable codes", "Privacy policy dated September 2020 with no retention periods", "Pricing page gives two different prices for Launch and Growth, and says API access is Enterprise" ], "agentNotes": [ "Fetch GET /search/query-mode/reference before writing a search query", "Poll routine results until a terminal 200, since 202 means still running", "Expect HTTP 402 when a plan's search cap is hit, and tell the user the reset date", "Check GET /credits/balance before large batch runs", "Ask the user before enabling the plugin's auto-approve hook in a shared workspace" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "C", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 57.7 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 66, "maintenance": 75, "payments": 30, "reliability": 45, "schema": 84, "security": 48, "transparency": 28 }, "provenanceScore": 99 }, "connect": { "http": "curl https://api.clay.com/public/v0/me \\\n -H \"clay-api-key: $CLAY_PUBLIC_API_KEY\"", "claudeCode": "Set up the Clay plugin by following the steps in https://github.com/clay-run/agent-plugins" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/lead.search", "tool": "https://letme.dev/clay" }, "area": "web-data", "unitPrices": [ { "item": "Data credit", "unit": "credit", "usd": 0.05, "note": "Starting price per the pricing FAQ. Used when buying data from Clay's providers. Cheaper at volume" }, { "item": "Launch plan", "unit": "month", "usd": 167, "note": "Plan card headline. The FAQ says from $185 a month" } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Clay Labs Inc.", "domain": "clay.com", "domainRegistered": "1992-11-13", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://www.clay.com/terms-of-service", "privacy": "https://www.clay.com/privacy", "statusPage": "https://status.clay.com", "changelog": "https://www.clay.com/changelog", "securityTxt": "valid", "checked": "2026-10-14", "notes": [ "The terms (last updated 23 May 2024) name Clay Labs Inc. with New York law. The privacy policy is dated 11 September 2020.", "clay.com/.well-known/security.txt names security@clay.com and trust.clay.com, expiring 2027-07-31.", "status.clay.com answered with a bot check to both curl and WebFetch, so its components and history weren't read.", "The API answers at api.clay.com and the docs at developers.clay.com.", "RDAP gives clay.com a registration date of 1992-11-13." ], "score": 99 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/clay.json", "live": { "slug": "clay", "probe": { "target": "https://api.clay.com/public/v0", "method": "get", "lastAt": "2026-10-14T09:41:46.249843895Z", "lastOk": true, "lastStatus": 401, "lastMs": 152, "lastNote": "asks for credentials", "authRequired": true, "uptime24h": 100, "uptime30d": 100, "p50ms24h": 149, "p95ms24h": 229, "samples24h": 17, "samples30d": 17, "days": [ { "date": "2026-10-14", "probes": 17, "ok": 17 } ] }, "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://status.clay.com", "indicator": "unknown", "summary": "no machine-readable status found", "checkedAt": "2026-10-14T08:52:50.29728454Z" }, "updatedAt": "2026-10-14T09:41:46.249843895Z" } }, "answer": "People Data Labs scores 64.2 (B) on agent readiness against Clay's 57.7 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Clay leads on schema \u0026 documentation and security \u0026 auth.", "b": { "slug": "people-data-labs", "name": "People Data Labs", "vendor": "People Data Labs, Inc.", "vendorUrl": "https://www.peopledatalabs.com", "kind": "http-api", "category": "lead-data", "summary": "People Data Labs sells person, company and job posting data through a REST API. Agents enrich a known person or company, resolve an identity, or search the datasets with Elasticsearch or SQL queries, using an API key.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/people-data-labs", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/people-data-labs.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/people-data-labs.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/people-data-labs.json", "repo": "https://github.com/peopledatalabs/peopledatalabs-python", "license": "Proprietary service under the Services Subscription Agreement. The Python and JavaScript SDKs are MIT", "transports": [ "http" ], "remoteUrl": "https://api.peopledatalabs.com/v5", "packages": [ { "registry": "pypi", "name": "peopledatalabs" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "peopledatalabs" }, { "registry": "go", "name": "github.com/peopledatalabs/peopledatalabs-go" } ], "auth": "api-key", "authNotes": "Self-serve API key from the dashboard after a free signup, sent in the `X-Api-Key` header or as an `api_key` query parameter. Keys have no scopes. A Free account holds 1 active key, Pro 3 and Enterprise 5. Webhooks and data licence deliveries are arranged through sales.", "pricing": "freemium", "pricingNotes": "Free plan with up to 100 records a month and emails, phone numbers and addresses obfuscated. Pro starts at $98 a month for 350 person records or $100 for 1,000 company records, with 20 per cent off on annual terms. Enterprise is priced by sales. One credit per match or per search record returned, and requests without a match are not charged. The sandbox is free. Higher volume steps and field-bundle prices are shown in the dashboard only (https://www.peopledatalabs.com/pricing, https://docs.peopledatalabs.com/docs/create-an-account, checked 2026-10-08).", "priceSummary": "$98 / mo", "where": "hosted", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the docs index, the pricing page or the Services Subscription Agreement (checked 2026-10-08).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": 40, "npmWeekly": 132937, "pypiWeekly": 29514, "asOf": "2026-10-08" }, "docsUrl": "https://docs.peopledatalabs.com", "llmsTxt": "https://docs.peopledatalabs.com/llms.txt", "capabilities": [ "lead.search", "lead.enrichment", "data.company", "data.person" ], "tags": [ "lead-search", "enrichment", "hosted", "api-key", "free-tier", "sandbox", "llms-txt", "python", "javascript", "go", "ruby", "rust", "status-page", "soc2", "closed-source" ], "lastRelease": "2026-09-16", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 64.2, "grade": "B", "agentReady": false, "rank": 386, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 1076, "categoryRank": 2, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 77, "maintenance": 79, "payments": 35, "reliability": 78, "schema": 70, "security": 43, "transparency": 67 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-08" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "Monthly dated release notes, a free sandbox with synthetic data, response headers that report credits and rate limits, and a free plan of 100 records a month make the API easy to start with. No OpenAPI file was found, keys carry no scopes and may travel in the URL, and the agreement allows changes without notice.", "bestFor": "Products and pipelines that enrich or search person and company records at volume and can write Elasticsearch or SQL queries.", "strengths": [ "Credits are charged only on a match (a `200`), and each response reports credits spent and remaining in headers", "Seven sandbox endpoints at `sandbox.api.peopledatalabs.com` return synthetic records at no charge on every plan", "Release notes are dated monthly, the latest on 15 September 2026 (dataset v35.2), with schema changes labelled", "`data_include`, `size` and `scroll_token` let a caller limit fields and page through search results", "The published DPA commits to deletion within 90 days of termination and breach notice within 72 hours" ], "weaknesses": [ "No OpenAPI file was found. The machine-readable material is a Postman collection and Elasticsearch mappings", "API keys have no scopes, and the docs show the key passed as `api_key` in the URL query string", "The Services Subscription Agreement says data and services may be modified without prior notice", "Free-plan records have emails, phone numbers and addresses obfuscated, and person search defaults to 10 requests a minute", "No SLA, security.txt, bug bounty or disclosure policy was found in the reviewed pages" ], "agentNotes": [ "Send the key in the `X-Api-Key` header. The `api_key` query parameter puts the secret in URLs and logs", "Build and test queries against `https://sandbox.api.peopledatalabs.com/v5/...` first. It costs no credits and allows five calls a minute", "Set `size` deliberately on search. Every record returned costs one credit, and responses over 1 MB fail", "Treat `404` on enrichment as no match, not an error, and `402` as credits exhausted. Neither is worth a retry", "On `429`, wait until the `x-ratelimit-reset` time. Limits are fixed-window per key and per endpoint" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "B", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 64.2 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 77, "maintenance": 79, "payments": 35, "reliability": 78, "schema": 70, "security": 43, "transparency": 53 }, "provenanceScore": 80 }, "connect": { "install": "pip install peopledatalabs", "http": "curl -X GET -G 'https://api.peopledatalabs.com/v5/person/enrich' -H 'X-Api-Key: YOUR API KEY' --data-urlencode 'profile=linkedin.com/in/seanthorne'" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/lead.search", "tool": "https://letme.dev/people-data-labs" }, "area": "web-data", "unitPrices": [ { "item": "Pro plan, person data", "unit": "month", "usd": 98, "note": "350 person records a month, entry step" }, { "item": "Pro plan, company data", "unit": "month", "usd": 100, "note": "1,000 company records a month, entry step" }, { "item": "Person record", "unit": "record", "usd": 0.28, "note": "Derived from $98 for 350 records at the Pro entry step" }, { "item": "Company record", "unit": "record", "usd": 0.1, "note": "Derived from $100 for 1,000 records at the Pro entry step" } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "People Data Labs, Inc.", "domain": "peopledatalabs.com", "domainRegistered": "2017-07-16", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://privacy.peopledatalabs.com/policies?name=services-subscription-agreement", "privacy": "https://privacy.peopledatalabs.com/policies?name=privacy-policy", "statusPage": "https://status.peopledatalabs.com", "changelog": "https://docs.peopledatalabs.com/links/release-notes", "securityTxt": "none", "checked": "2026-10-08", "notes": [ "The Services Subscription Agreement names People Data Labs, Inc., 455 Market St Ste 1940, PMB 25778, San Francisco, CA 94105, and is governed by California law. It applies to accounts opened on peopledatalabs.com as well as order forms.", "The legal pages on privacy.peopledatalabs.com are drawn by script. We read their text from the data file the page itself loads, `/static/privacy.peopledatalabs.com/privacyCenterMessages-en.json`. A plain HTML reader sees only the page title.", "The API answers at api.peopledatalabs.com and the sandbox at sandbox.api.peopledatalabs.com.", "www.peopledatalabs.com/.well-known/security.txt and the same path on the docs host return 404.", "RDAP gives a registration date of 2017-07-16 for peopledatalabs.com.", "The privacy policy says PDL is registered as a data broker in Texas and has certified to the EU-U.S., UK and Swiss-U.S. Data Privacy Frameworks." ], "score": 80 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/people-data-labs.json", "live": { "slug": "people-data-labs", "probe": { "target": "https://api.peopledatalabs.com/v5", "method": "get", "lastAt": "2026-10-14T09:42:02.191594116Z", "lastOk": true, "lastStatus": 404, "lastMs": 647, "authRequired": false, "uptime24h": 100, "uptime30d": 100, "p50ms24h": 587, "p95ms24h": 619, "samples24h": 248, "samples30d": 1258, "days": [ { "date": "2026-10-09", "probes": 169, "ok": 169 }, { "date": "2026-10-10", "probes": 247, "ok": 247 }, { "date": "2026-10-11", "probes": 247, "ok": 247 }, { "date": "2026-10-12", "probes": 247, "ok": 247 }, { "date": "2026-10-13", "probes": 248, "ok": 248 }, { "date": "2026-10-14", "probes": 100, "ok": 100 } ] }, "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://status.peopledatalabs.com", "indicator": "none", "summary": "All Systems Operational", "checkedAt": "2026-10-14T09:39:35.391765939Z" }, "versions": [ { "registry": "github", "name": "peopledatalabs/peopledatalabs-python", "version": "v6.4.13", "released": "2026-01-12", "seenAt": "2026-10-13T23:16:48.953513766Z" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "peopledatalabs", "version": "14.6.0", "seenAt": "2026-10-13T23:16:48.174104988Z" }, { "registry": "pypi", "name": "peopledatalabs", "version": "6.4.13", "released": "2026-01-12", "seenAt": "2026-10-13T23:16:47.981979097Z" } ], "githubStars": 40, "npmWeekly": 97994, "pypiWeekly": 23312, "securityTxt": { "url": "https://peopledatalabs.com/.well-known/security.txt", "state": "none", "checkedAt": "2026-10-13T15:45:37.544923658Z" }, "llmsTxt": { "url": "https://docs.peopledatalabs.com/llms.txt", "ok": true, "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-13T14:12:18.834125051Z" }, "domain": { "domain": "peopledatalabs.com", "registered": "2017-07-16", "source": "https://rdap.verisign.com/com/v1/domain/peopledatalabs.com", "checkedAt": "2026-10-11T13:26:27.702896833Z" }, "pages": [ { "url": "https://docs.peopledatalabs.com/links/release-notes", "kind": "changelog", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-13T20:15:30.399040302Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "6878b79746c4" }, { "url": "https://www.peopledatalabs.com/pricing", "kind": "pricing", "status": 304, "checkedAt": "2026-10-13T20:30:51.066633795Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "6dbb06fe8460" }, { "url": "https://privacy.peopledatalabs.com/policies?name=privacy-policy", "kind": "privacy", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-13T20:21:41.335606645Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "e3b0c44298fc" }, { "url": "https://privacy.peopledatalabs.com/policies?name=services-subscription-agreement", "kind": "terms", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-13T20:21:43.730836379Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "e3b0c44298fc" } ], "updatedAt": "2026-10-14T09:42:02.191594116Z" } }, "facts": [ { "a": "HTTP API", "b": "HTTP API", "name": "Kind" }, { "a": "Clay Labs Inc.", "b": "People Data Labs, Inc.", "name": "Vendor" }, { "a": "https://api.clay.com/public/v0", "b": "https://api.peopledatalabs.com/v5", "name": "Hosted endpoint" }, { "a": "HTTP", "b": "HTTP", "name": "Transports" }, { "a": "OAuth or key", "b": "API key", "name": "Auth" }, { "a": "Freemium", "b": "Freemium", "name": "Pricing" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "x402" }, { "a": "Proprietary service under the Clay Terms of Service. The agent plugin repository carries no licence file", "b": "Proprietary service under the Services Subscription Agreement. The Python and JavaScript SDKs are MIT", "name": "Licence" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "Read-only variant documented" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "yes", "name": "llms.txt" }, { "a": "2026-10-06", "b": "2026-09-16", "name": "Last release" }, { "a": "2024-05-23", "b": "couldn't be read", "name": "Terms last updated" }, { "a": "2020-09-11", "b": "couldn't be read", "name": "Privacy policy last updated" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "couldn't be read", "name": "Customer content may train models" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "couldn't be read", "name": "Terms restrict automated access" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "couldn't be read", "name": "Terms restrict benchmarking" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "couldn't be read", "name": "Terms or service can change without notice" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "couldn't be read", "name": "Arbitration or class-action waiver" }, { "a": "none", "b": "40 stars, 133k npm/wk, 30k PyPI/wk", "name": "Popularity" } ], "faq": [ { "answer": "People Data Labs scores 64.2 (B) on agent readiness against Clay's 57.7 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Clay leads on schema \u0026 documentation and security \u0026 auth.", "question": "Which is better for AI agents, Clay or People Data Labs?" }, { "answer": "Clay takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in. People Data Labs needs an API key.", "question": "Do Clay and People Data Labs need an API key?" }, { "answer": "Yes. Clay has a hosted endpoint at https://api.clay.com/public/v0 and People Data Labs at https://api.peopledatalabs.com/v5.", "question": "Can an agent call Clay and People Data Labs without installing anything?" } ], "goodFor": [ { "aheadOn": [ "Schema \u0026 documentation, 84 against 70", "Security \u0026 auth, 48 against 43" ], "also": null, "goodFor": "Agents building prospect lists and enriching contacts or accounts through many providers at once.", "slug": "clay", "watchFor": "API keys carry no scopes and act with the user's workspace access" }, { "aheadOn": [ "Reliability, 78 against 45", "Agent ergonomics, 77 against 66", "Payments \u0026 pricing, 35 against 30" ], "also": null, "goodFor": "Products and pipelines that enrich or search person and company records at volume and can write Elasticsearch or SQL queries.", "slug": "people-data-labs", "watchFor": "No OpenAPI file was found. The machine-readable material is a Postman collection and Elasticsearch mappings" } ], "job": { "capability": "lead.search", "name": "Lead search" }, "others": [ { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/apollo-vs-clay.json", "title": "Apollo API + MCP vs Clay", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/apollo-vs-clay" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/apollo-vs-people-data-labs.json", "title": "Apollo API + MCP vs People Data Labs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/apollo-vs-people-data-labs" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-coresignal.json", "title": "Clay vs Coresignal API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-coresignal" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-crustdata.json", "title": "Clay vs Crustdata API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-crustdata" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-enrich-layer.json", "title": "Clay vs Enrich Layer API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-enrich-layer" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-explorium-agentsource.json", "title": "Clay vs Explorium AgentSource", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-explorium-agentsource" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-fullenrich.json", "title": "Clay vs FullEnrich API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-fullenrich" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-fuse-mcp.json", "title": "Clay vs Fuse MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-fuse-mcp" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-gojiberry.json", "title": "Clay vs Gojiberry", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-gojiberry" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-hunter.json", "title": "Clay vs Hunter API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-hunter" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-leadmagic.json", "title": "Clay vs LeadMagic API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-leadmagic" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-lusha.json", "title": "Clay vs Lusha API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-lusha" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-prospeo.json", "title": "Clay vs Prospeo API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-prospeo" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-rocketreach.json", "title": "Clay vs RocketReach API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-rocketreach" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-zoominfo.json", "title": "Clay vs ZoomInfo API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-zoominfo" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coresignal-vs-people-data-labs.json", "title": "Coresignal API + MCP vs People Data Labs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coresignal-vs-people-data-labs" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crustdata-vs-people-data-labs.json", "title": "Crustdata API + MCP vs People Data Labs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crustdata-vs-people-data-labs" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/enrich-layer-vs-people-data-labs.json", "title": "Enrich Layer API + MCP vs People Data Labs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/enrich-layer-vs-people-data-labs" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/explorium-agentsource-vs-people-data-labs.json", "title": "Explorium AgentSource vs People Data Labs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/explorium-agentsource-vs-people-data-labs" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fullenrich-vs-people-data-labs.json", "title": "FullEnrich API + MCP vs People Data Labs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fullenrich-vs-people-data-labs" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fuse-mcp-vs-people-data-labs.json", "title": "Fuse MCP vs People Data Labs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fuse-mcp-vs-people-data-labs" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gojiberry-vs-people-data-labs.json", "title": "Gojiberry vs People Data Labs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gojiberry-vs-people-data-labs" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hunter-vs-people-data-labs.json", "title": "Hunter API + MCP vs People Data Labs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hunter-vs-people-data-labs" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leadmagic-vs-people-data-labs.json", "title": "LeadMagic API + MCP vs People Data Labs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leadmagic-vs-people-data-labs" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lusha-vs-people-data-labs.json", "title": "Lusha API + MCP vs People Data Labs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lusha-vs-people-data-labs" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/people-data-labs-vs-prospeo.json", "title": "People Data Labs vs Prospeo API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/people-data-labs-vs-prospeo" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/people-data-labs-vs-rocketreach.json", "title": "People Data Labs vs RocketReach API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/people-data-labs-vs-rocketreach" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/people-data-labs-vs-zoominfo.json", "title": "People Data Labs vs ZoomInfo API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/people-data-labs-vs-zoominfo" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-clearbit.json", "title": "Clay vs Clearbit", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-clearbit" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-dropcontact.json", "title": "Clay vs Dropcontact API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-dropcontact" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-fullcontact.json", "title": "Clay vs FullContact", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-fullcontact" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clearbit-vs-people-data-labs.json", "title": "Clearbit vs People Data Labs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clearbit-vs-people-data-labs" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/dropcontact-vs-people-data-labs.json", "title": "Dropcontact API + MCP vs People Data Labs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/dropcontact-vs-people-data-labs" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fullcontact-vs-people-data-labs.json", "title": "FullContact vs People Data Labs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fullcontact-vs-people-data-labs" } ], "scores": [ { "by": 33, "clay": 45, "edge": "people-data-labs", "key": "reliability", "name": "Reliability", "people-data-labs": 78, "weight": 16 }, { "key": "performance", "name": "Performance", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 14, "clay": 84, "edge": "clay", "key": "schema", "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "people-data-labs": 70, "weight": 13 }, { "by": 11, "clay": 66, "edge": "people-data-labs", "key": "ergonomics", "name": "Agent ergonomics", "people-data-labs": 77, "weight": 13 }, { "by": 5, "clay": 48, "edge": "clay", "key": "security", "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "people-data-labs": 43, "weight": 14 }, { "by": 5, "clay": 30, "edge": "people-data-labs", "key": "payments", "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "people-data-labs": 35, "weight": 10 }, { "key": "tasks", "name": "Task success", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 4, "clay": 75, "edge": "people-data-labs", "key": "maintenance", "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "people-data-labs": 79, "weight": 7 }, { "by": 3, "clay": 64, "edge": "people-data-labs", "key": "transparency", "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "people-data-labs": 67, "weight": 7 } ], "summary": "People Data Labs scores 64.2 (B) on agent readiness against Clay's 57.7 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Clay leads on schema \u0026 documentation and security \u0026 auth. Both do lead search.", "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.", "people-data-labs": "Monthly dated release notes, a free sandbox with synthetic data, response headers that report credits and rate limits, and a free plan of 100 records a month make the API easy to start with. No OpenAPI file was found, keys carry no scopes and may travel in the URL, and the agreement allows changes without notice." } }, "kind": "anchor.page", "links": { "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json", "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-people-data-labs", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-people-data-labs.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-people-data-labs.md", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-people-data-labs.min.md" }, "markdown": "People Data Labs scores 64.2 (B) on agent readiness against Clay's 57.7 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Clay leads on schema \u0026 documentation and security \u0026 auth. Both do lead search.\n\n- 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\n- People Data Labs: grade B, 64.2/100, rank #386 of 1076. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/people-data-labs.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/people-data-labs.json\n- Best lead, contact and company data APIs for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/lead-data/index.md\n- All 171 leads comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lead-data/index.md\n\n## Which one, for what\n\n### Clay (C)\n\nGood for: Agents building prospect lists and enriching contacts or accounts through many providers at once.\n\nAhead on:\n- Schema \u0026 documentation, 84 against 70\n- Security \u0026 auth, 48 against 43\n\nWatch for: API keys carry no scopes and act with the user's workspace access\n\n### People Data Labs (B)\n\nGood for: Products and pipelines that enrich or search person and company records at volume and can write Elasticsearch or SQL queries.\n\nAhead on:\n- Reliability, 78 against 45\n- Agent ergonomics, 77 against 66\n- Payments \u0026 pricing, 35 against 30\n\nWatch for: No OpenAPI file was found. The machine-readable material is a Postman collection and Elasticsearch mappings\n\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | Clay | People Data Labs | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 45 | 78 | People Data Labs +33 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 84 | 70 | Clay +14 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 66 | 77 | People Data Labs +11 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 48 | 43 | Clay +5 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 30 | 35 | People Data Labs +5 |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 75 | 79 | People Data Labs +4 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 64 | 67 | People Data Labs +3 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |\n| **Total** | | **57.7 · C** | **64.2 · B** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | Clay | People Data Labs |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |\n| Vendor | Clay Labs Inc. | People Data Labs, Inc. |\n| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.clay.com/public/v0` | `https://api.peopledatalabs.com/v5` |\n| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |\n| Auth | OAuth or key | API key |\n| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |\n| x402 | no | no |\n| Licence | Proprietary service under the Clay Terms of Service. The agent plugin repository carries no licence file | Proprietary service under the Services Subscription Agreement. The Python and JavaScript SDKs are MIT |\n| Read-only variant documented | no | no |\n| llms.txt | yes | yes |\n| Last release | 2026-10-06 | 2026-09-16 |\n| Terms last updated | 2024-05-23 | couldn't be read |\n| Privacy policy last updated | 2020-09-11 | couldn't be read |\n| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | couldn't be read |\n| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | couldn't be read |\n| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | couldn't be read |\n| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | couldn't be read |\n| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | couldn't be read |\n| Popularity | none | 40 stars, 133k npm/wk, 30k PyPI/wk |\n\n## Verdicts\n\n**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.\n\n**People Data Labs.** Monthly dated release notes, a free sandbox with synthetic data, response headers that report credits and rate limits, and a free plan of 100 records a month make the API easy to start with. No OpenAPI file was found, keys carry no scopes and may travel in the URL, and the agreement allows changes without notice.\n\n## Before you call either\n\n### Clay\n\n1. Fetch GET /search/query-mode/reference before writing a search query\n2. Poll routine results until a terminal 200, since 202 means still running\n3. Expect HTTP 402 when a plan's search cap is hit, and tell the user the reset date\n4. Check GET /credits/balance before large batch runs\n5. Ask the user before enabling the plugin's auto-approve hook in a shared workspace\n\n### People Data Labs\n\n1. Send the key in the `X-Api-Key` header. The `api_key` query parameter puts the secret in URLs and logs\n2. Build and test queries against `https://sandbox.api.peopledatalabs.com/v5/...` first. It costs no credits and allows five calls a minute\n3. Set `size` deliberately on search. Every record returned costs one credit, and responses over 1 MB fail\n4. Treat `404` on enrichment as no match, not an error, and `402` as credits exhausted. Neither is worth a retry\n5. On `429`, wait until the `x-ratelimit-reset` time. Limits are fixed-window per key and per endpoint\n\n## Questions\n\n### Which is better for AI agents, Clay or People Data Labs?\n\nPeople Data Labs scores 64.2 (B) on agent readiness against Clay's 57.7 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Clay leads on schema \u0026 documentation and security \u0026 auth.\n\n### Do Clay and People Data Labs need an API key?\n\nClay takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in. People Data Labs needs an API key.\n\n### Can an agent call Clay and People Data Labs without installing anything?\n\nYes. Clay has a hosted endpoint at https://api.clay.com/public/v0 and People Data Labs at https://api.peopledatalabs.com/v5.\n\n\n## For agents\n\n- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-people-data-labs.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-people-data-labs.min.md\n- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {\"a\": \"clay\", \"b\": \"people-data-labs\"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare clay people-data-labs`\n- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/clay.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/people-data-labs.json\n\n## Other comparisons with Clay or People Data Labs\n\n- [Apollo API + MCP vs Clay](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/apollo-vs-clay.md)\n- [Apollo API + MCP vs People Data Labs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/apollo-vs-people-data-labs.md)\n- [Clay vs Coresignal API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-coresignal.md)\n- [Clay vs Crustdata API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-crustdata.md)\n- [Clay vs Enrich Layer API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-enrich-layer.md)\n- [Clay vs Explorium AgentSource](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-explorium-agentsource.md)\n- [Clay vs FullEnrich API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-fullenrich.md)\n- [Clay vs Fuse MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-fuse-mcp.md)\n- [Clay vs Gojiberry](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-gojiberry.md)\n- [Clay vs Hunter API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-hunter.md)\n- [Clay vs LeadMagic API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-leadmagic.md)\n- [Clay vs Lusha API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-lusha.md)\n- [Clay vs Prospeo API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-prospeo.md)\n- [Clay vs RocketReach API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-rocketreach.md)\n- [Clay vs ZoomInfo API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-zoominfo.md)\n- [Coresignal API + MCP vs People Data Labs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coresignal-vs-people-data-labs.md)\n- [Crustdata API + MCP vs People Data Labs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crustdata-vs-people-data-labs.md)\n- [Enrich Layer API + MCP vs People Data Labs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/enrich-layer-vs-people-data-labs.md)\n- [Explorium AgentSource vs People Data Labs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/explorium-agentsource-vs-people-data-labs.md)\n- [FullEnrich API + MCP vs People Data Labs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fullenrich-vs-people-data-labs.md)\n- [Fuse MCP vs People Data Labs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fuse-mcp-vs-people-data-labs.md)\n- [Gojiberry vs People Data Labs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gojiberry-vs-people-data-labs.md)\n- [Hunter API + MCP vs People Data Labs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hunter-vs-people-data-labs.md)\n- [LeadMagic API + MCP vs People Data Labs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leadmagic-vs-people-data-labs.md)\n- [Lusha API + MCP vs People Data Labs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lusha-vs-people-data-labs.md)\n- [People Data Labs vs Prospeo API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/people-data-labs-vs-prospeo.md)\n- [People Data Labs vs RocketReach API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/people-data-labs-vs-rocketreach.md)\n- [People Data Labs vs ZoomInfo API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/people-data-labs-vs-zoominfo.md)\n- [Clay vs Clearbit](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-clearbit.md)\n- [Clay vs Dropcontact API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-dropcontact.md)\n- [Clay vs FullContact](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-fullcontact.md)\n- [Clearbit vs People Data Labs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clearbit-vs-people-data-labs.md)\n- [Dropcontact API + MCP vs People Data Labs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/dropcontact-vs-people-data-labs.md)\n- [FullContact vs People Data Labs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fullcontact-vs-people-data-labs.md)\n", "meta": { "attribution": "Anchor Terminal (https://www.anchorterminal.com)", "docs": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/docs/", "generatedAt": "2026-10-14", "license": "CC-BY-4.0", "method": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/", "methodology": "0.4", "openapi": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/openapi.json", "preview": false, "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run" }, "page": { "breadcrumbs": [ { "name": "Home", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/" }, { "name": "Compare", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/" }, { "name": "Clay vs People Data Labs", "url": "" } ], "description": "People Data Labs scores 64.2 (B) to Clay's 57.7 (C) for lead search. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.", "facts": [ "Clay C 57.7", "People Data Labs B 64.2", "scores" ], "h1": "Clay vs People Data Labs", "image": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/og/compare-clay-vs-people-data-labs.png", "path": "/compare/clay-vs-people-data-labs", "published": "2026-10-01", "section": "tools", "title": "Clay vs People Data Labs for AI agents in 2026: scores and prices", "toc": null, "updated": "2026-10-14", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-people-data-labs" }, "tokens": { "markdown": 2650, "slim": 680 }, "version": 1 }