{ "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", "dns": "clay.grade.anchorterminal.com", "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 2026-11-04).", "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": "2026-11-04", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 56.4, "grade": "C", "agentReady": false, "rank": 831, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 1510, "categoryRank": 12, "methodology": "0.7", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 66, "maintenance": 75, "payments": 30, "reliability": 40, "schema": 84, "security": 48, "transparency": 61 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-11-04" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "A documented Public API with an OpenAPI spec, llms.txt and plan-capped search, plus a JSON-first CLI and plugin released 36 times since 7 August, give agents Clay's people search and multi-provider enrichment. Keys have no scopes, the Claude Code plugin auto-approves most CLI calls, the new terms set no uptime target, 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 and plugin with JSON output and typed exit codes, released 36 times between 7 August and 4 November 2026", "Valid security.txt to July 2027 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", "The 1 November 2026 terms dropped the 99.0 per cent uptime target, and no SLA was found", "Privacy policy dated September 2020 with no retention periods, and pricing gives two prices each for Launch and Growth" ], "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", "When a CLI command answers approval_required, tell the user what it would do and let them approve or deny it", "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": "0.7", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 56.4 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 66, "maintenance": 75, "payments": 30, "reliability": 40, "schema": 84, "security": 48, "transparency": 28 }, "provenanceScore": 94, "checked": { "categories": { "ergonomics": "2026-11-04", "maintenance": "2026-11-04", "payments": "2026-11-04", "reliability": "2026-11-04", "schema": "2026-11-04", "security": "2026-11-04", "transparency": "2026-11-04" }, "last": "2026-11-04", "lastMoved": "2026-11-04", "oldest": "2026-11-04", "stale": false, "staleAfterDays": 90 } }, "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/legal/terms-of-service", "privacy": "https://www.clay.com/privacy", "statusPage": "https://status.clay.com", "changelog": "https://www.clay.com/changelog", "securityTxt": "valid", "checked": "2026-11-04", "notes": [ "The Clay Services Agreement (last updated 1 November 2026) names Clay Labs, Inc. with New York law; the May 2024 version is archived at /legal/terms-of-service-may-23-2024. The privacy policy is dated 11 September 2020.", "clay.com/.well-known/security.txt (served at www.clay.com) names security@clay.com and trust.clay.com, expiring 2027-07-31.", "status.clay.com answered robots.txt with a Cloudflare bot check on 4 November, 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": 94 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/clay.json", "live": { "slug": "clay", "probe": { "target": "https://api.clay.com/public/v0", "method": "get", "lastAt": "2026-11-07T19:21:59.584275726Z", "lastOk": true, "lastStatus": 401, "lastMs": 171, "lastNote": "asks for credentials", "authRequired": true, "uptime24h": 100, "uptime30d": 100, "p50ms24h": 117, "p95ms24h": 240, "samples24h": 238, "samples30d": 6058, "days": [ { "date": "2026-10-14", "probes": 166, "ok": 166 }, { "date": "2026-10-15", "probes": 253, "ok": 253 }, { "date": "2026-10-16", "probes": 252, "ok": 252 }, { "date": "2026-10-17", "probes": 253, "ok": 253 }, { "date": "2026-10-18", "probes": 256, "ok": 256 }, { "date": "2026-10-19", "probes": 255, "ok": 255 }, { "date": "2026-10-20", "probes": 252, "ok": 252 }, { "date": "2026-10-21", "probes": 253, "ok": 253 }, { "date": "2026-10-22", "probes": 253, "ok": 253 }, { "date": "2026-10-23", "probes": 248, "ok": 248 }, { "date": "2026-10-24", "probes": 251, "ok": 251 }, { "date": "2026-10-25", "probes": 250, "ok": 250 }, { "date": "2026-10-26", "probes": 252, "ok": 252 }, { "date": "2026-10-27", "probes": 249, "ok": 249 }, { "date": "2026-10-28", "probes": 251, "ok": 251 }, { "date": "2026-10-29", "probes": 249, "ok": 249 }, { "date": "2026-10-30", "probes": 248, "ok": 248 }, { "date": "2026-10-31", "probes": 251, "ok": 251 }, { "date": "2026-11-01", "probes": 249, "ok": 249 }, { "date": "2026-11-02", "probes": 250, "ok": 250 }, { "date": "2026-11-03", "probes": 248, "ok": 248 }, { "date": "2026-11-04", "probes": 246, "ok": 246 }, { "date": "2026-11-05", "probes": 185, "ok": 185 }, { "date": "2026-11-06", "probes": 241, "ok": 241 }, { "date": "2026-11-07", "probes": 197, "ok": 197 } ] }, "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://status.clay.com", "indicator": "none", "summary": "All Systems Operational", "checkedAt": "2026-11-07T19:21:15.637933991Z" }, "versions": [ { "registry": "github", "name": "clay-run/agent-plugins", "version": "clay-cli-v1.15.0", "released": "2026-11-06", "seenAt": "2026-11-06T23:14:54.580004044Z" } ], "githubStars": 145, "securityTxt": { "url": "https://clay.com/.well-known/security.txt", "state": "valid", "expires": "2027-07-31T00:00:00.000Z", "checkedAt": "2026-11-07T16:01:08.68833272Z" }, "llmsTxt": { "url": "https://developers.clay.com/llms.txt", "ok": true, "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-11-07T15:31:50.487667533Z" }, "domain": { "domain": "clay.com", "registered": "1992-11-13", "source": "https://rdap.verisign.com/com/v1/domain/clay.com", "checkedAt": "2026-11-01T14:08:06.234810244Z" }, "pages": [ { "url": "https://www.clay.com/changelog", "kind": "changelog", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-11-07T14:26:44.766106735Z", "changedAt": "2026-11-06T13:47:45.368062873Z", "fingerprint": "a6a43e7d37b0" }, { "url": "https://www.clay.com/pricing", "kind": "pricing", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-11-07T14:26:49.021799488Z", "changedAt": "2026-11-07T14:26:49.021799488Z", "fingerprint": "bb5d6ec962be" }, { "url": "https://www.clay.com/privacy", "kind": "privacy", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-11-07T14:26:51.021118326Z", "changedAt": "2026-11-06T13:47:51.71498752Z", "fingerprint": "16c5785fb595" }, { "url": "https://www.clay.com/legal/terms-of-service", "kind": "terms", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-11-07T14:26:47.231659851Z", "changedAt": "2026-11-06T13:47:47.817841965Z", "fingerprint": "8a7faa9726c3" }, { "url": "https://www.clay.com/terms-of-service", "kind": "terms", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-11-04T08:38:40.984132884Z", "changedAt": "2026-11-03T08:04:32.731555169Z", "fingerprint": "149d41c853e1" } ], "github": { "repo": "clay-run/agent-plugins", "checkedAt": "2026-11-02T08:38:56.306769721Z", "stars": 145, "archived": false, "issuesEnabled": true, "pushedAt": "2026-10-30T18:59:01Z", "openIssues": 10, "openPRs": 3, "issuesOpened90d": 7, "issuesClosed90d": 0, "prsMerged90d": 0, "replies": { "sampled": 11, "unanswered": 10, "medianDays": 1.6 } }, "updatedAt": "2026-11-07T19:21:59.584275726Z" } }, "answer": "ZeroBounce scores 62.4 (B) on agent readiness against Clay's 56.4 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Clay leads on schema \u0026 documentation and maintenance \u0026 community.", "b": { "slug": "zerobounce", "name": "ZeroBounce", "vendor": "Hertza L.L.C. (ZeroBounce)", "vendorUrl": "https://www.zerobounce.net", "kind": "http-api", "category": "lead-data", "summary": "ZeroBounce is an email verification API from Hertza L.L.C. that checks single addresses and lists for deliverability, with status and sub-status codes, plus AI scoring, email finder, domain search and activity data, and an open-source MCP server.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/zerobounce", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/zerobounce.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/zerobounce.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/zerobounce.json", "dns": "zerobounce.grade.anchorterminal.com", "repo": "https://github.com/zerobounce", "license": "Proprietary service under ZeroBounce's terms of use; SDKs and the MCP server are open source", "transports": [ "http", "stdio" ], "remoteUrl": "https://api.zerobounce.net/v2", "packages": [ { "registry": "npm", "name": "@zerobounce/zero-bounce-sdk" } ], "auth": "api-key", "authNotes": "API key from the dashboard, sent as the `api_key` query parameter in the documented calls. Several keys per account besides a Master key; keys can be named, switched off, regenerated, deleted and limited to whitelisted IPs or ranges. No endpoint scopes found.", "pricing": "usage", "pricingNotes": "Pay as you go from $39 for 2,000 validations, one credit per email, 20 per successful Email Finder query, nothing for unknown results. ZeroBounce ONE from $99 a month, minimum 10,000 credits. Freemium of 100 validations a month for business or premium domains. Credits bought after 1 June 2026 expire two years after the last purchase (https://www.zerobounce.net/pricing, https://www.zerobounce.net/terms-of-use, checked 2026-11-06).", "priceSummary": "$0.0195 / call", "where": "both", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the docs, pricing or MCP page (checked 2026-11-06).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": 0, "popularity": { "githubStars": null, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-11-06" }, "docsUrl": "https://www.zerobounce.net/docs/", "llmsTxt": "https://www.zerobounce.net/llms.txt", "capabilities": [ "email.verification", "email.finder", "lead.enrichment" ], "tags": [ "hosted", "mcp", "status-page", "soc2", "iso27001", "free-tier", "usage-based", "typescript", "eu-region", "closed-source" ], "lastRelease": "2026-10-25", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 62.4, "grade": "B", "agentReady": false, "rank": 561, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 1510, "categoryRank": 4, "methodology": "0.7", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 69, "maintenance": 70, "payments": 35, "reliability": 75, "schema": 54, "security": 65, "transparency": 63 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-11-06" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "ZeroBounce's v2 API verifies emails with detailed status and sub-status codes, publishes per-endpoint limits, a Statuspage with short incidents only in the last 90 days, SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO 27001, and $0.0195 per email at the smallest pack. The documented key travels in the query string, and there is no OpenAPI contract.", "bestFor": "Email verification before outreach, the verification-first listing in lead-data.", "strengths": [ "Status and sub-status codes per address, and unknown results don't use credits", "Statuspage with API, API-US, API-EU and Bulk API components; three short incidents in the 90 days to 6 November 2026", "Rate limits published per endpoint group, with the block length for each", "SOC 2 Type 2, ISO/IEC 27001:2022, Intigriti testing and a published sub-processor list", "Freemium of 100 validations a month for business domains, and pay-as-you-go from $39 for 2,000" ], "weaknesses": [ "Every documented example sends the key as an `api_key` query parameter", "No OpenAPI or other machine-readable contract; a Postman collection only", "Going over a limit blocks the key for a minute to a day, with no Retry-After documented", "llms.txt lists marketing pages, not the API docs", "Keys can be IP-whitelisted but not scoped to endpoints" ], "agentNotes": [ "Use the regional host (api-us or api-eu) that matches the data, and test with the sandbox addresses, which spend no credits", "Set `timeout` (3 to 60 seconds); slow mail servers return unknown, which is free to retry later", "Stay under 80,000 validations per 10 seconds and avoid repeated bad requests, which block the key for an hour", "Use the bulk file API for large lists instead of looping on /v2/validate", "Keep the key out of logs; the API takes it only as `api_key` in the URL" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "B", "methodology": "0.7", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 62.4 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 69, "maintenance": 70, "payments": 35, "reliability": 75, "schema": 54, "security": 65, "transparency": 59 }, "provenanceScore": 67, "checked": { "categories": { "ergonomics": "2026-11-06", "maintenance": "2026-11-06", "payments": "2026-11-06", "reliability": "2026-11-06", "schema": "2026-11-06", "security": "2026-11-06", "transparency": "2026-11-06" }, "last": "2026-11-06", "oldest": "2026-11-06", "stale": false, "staleAfterDays": 90 } }, "connect": { "http": "curl \"https://api.zerobounce.net/v2/validate?api_key=$ZEROBOUNCE_API_KEY\u0026email=valid@example.com\"" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/email.verification", "tool": "https://letme.dev/zerobounce" }, "area": "web-data", "unitPrices": [ { "item": "Email validation, smallest pay-as-you-go pack", "unit": "call", "usd": 0.0195, "note": "$39 for 2,000 validations" }, { "item": "ZeroBounce ONE", "unit": "month", "usd": 99, "note": "From $99 a month" } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Hertza L.L.C.", "domain": "zerobounce.net", "domainRegistered": "", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://www.zerobounce.net/terms-of-use", "privacy": "https://www.zerobounce.net/privacy-policy", "statusPage": "https://status.zerobounce.net", "changelog": "", "securityTxt": "unknown", "checked": "2026-11-06", "notes": [ "Terms of use name Hertza L.L.C., doing business as ZeroBounce, a Nevada LLC, under Nevada law; the terms take effect on the date accepted. Privacy policy last updated 30 June 2026.", "www.zerobounce.net/robots.txt allows all and names ClaudeBot as allowed. status.zerobounce.net disallows /api/ and /embed/; its history was read from history.rss.", "No public changelog for the API was found.", "security.txt was not checked." ], "score": 67 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/zerobounce.json", "live": { "slug": "zerobounce", "probe": { "target": "https://api.zerobounce.net/v2", "method": "get", "lastAt": "2026-11-07T19:22:46.255334057Z", "lastOk": true, "lastStatus": 404, "lastMs": 94, "authRequired": false, "uptime24h": 100, "uptime30d": 100, "p50ms24h": 70, "p95ms24h": 170, "samples24h": 210, "samples30d": 210, "days": [ { "date": "2026-11-06", "probes": 13, "ok": 13 }, { "date": "2026-11-07", "probes": 197, "ok": 197 } ] }, "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://status.zerobounce.net", "indicator": "none", "summary": "All Systems Operational", "checkedAt": "2026-11-07T19:24:02.77448048Z" }, "versions": [ { "registry": "npm", "name": "@zerobounce/zero-bounce-sdk", "version": "3.0.0", "seenAt": "2026-11-07T00:19:09.899173295Z" } ], "npmWeekly": 36734, "securityTxt": { "url": "https://zerobounce.net/.well-known/security.txt", "state": "none", "checkedAt": "2026-11-07T15:59:52.305113224Z" }, "llmsTxt": { "url": "https://www.zerobounce.net/llms.txt", "ok": true, "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-11-07T15:34:27.000344109Z" }, "pages": [ { "url": "https://www.zerobounce.net/pricing", "kind": "pricing", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-11-07T14:37:41.302855774Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "6cbf992fb3f3" }, { "url": "https://www.zerobounce.net/privacy-policy", "kind": "privacy", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-11-07T14:37:45.799553831Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "6267cfec1592" }, { "url": "https://www.zerobounce.net/terms-of-use", "kind": "terms", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-11-07T14:37:45.965675933Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "08727e5bbf09" } ], "updatedAt": "2026-11-07T19:24:02.77448048Z" } }, "edges": [ { "by": 35, "category": "reliability", "leads": "zerobounce", "name": "Reliability", "reasons": { "a": "Graded with the hosted lines on the Public API. status.clay.com is linked from every page footer but answered with a Cloudflare bot check on 14 October, and on 4 November its robots.txt answered the same check, so the host is treated as blocked and its components stay unconfirmed (10 of 20, per the 14 October check, not re-read on 4 November). No readable history (5). A per-workspace request limit with no number, and published search-result caps per plan (8 of 15). 429 with Retry-After and X-RateLimit headers, backoff with jitter, and retries of 5xx only when a request is safe to retry, re-read on 4 November. No idempotency keys (12 of 15). The terms of 1 November 2026 replaced the May 2024 version and no longer set the 99.0 per cent monthly uptime target with fee credits, and no other SLA was found (0). The API is v0, and Workflows and run search are labelled alpha or beta (5 of 10). 10 + 5 + 8 + 12 + 0 + 5 = 40.", "b": "Hosted lines. Statuspage at status.zerobounce.net with API, API-US, API-EU, Bulk API, website and Cloudflare components (20). The incident feed for 8 August to 6 November shows a 6-minute members platform disruption on 9 September, about 3 minutes of reduced EU API availability on 1 October, and a file upload issue on 26 October resolved within 6 minutes, all minor (20). Limits published per endpoint group with numbers and block lengths (15). 429 is documented with advice to throttle, but no Retry-After, and a block can last an hour or a day (10 of 15). No SLA found (0). Generally available (10). 20+20+15+10+0+10 = 75." }, "scores": { "a": 40, "b": 75 } }, { "by": 30, "category": "schema", "leads": "clay", "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "reasons": { "a": "A public OpenAPI 3 spec, per the 14 October check (25). llms.txt and Markdown copies of every page, re-read on 4 November, with 18 API reference pages now that Audiences privacy deletion and its status call were added in the week of 26 October (10). Pages say when to use each primitive, and deprecated filters-mode endpoints name their replacement (16 of 20). Typed request bodies, with a query grammar fetched from a reference endpoint rather than enums (12 of 15). curl examples on every guide, but error bodies carry only a message, and the errors page says they don't include stable codes (9 of 15). v0 in the path and a weekly product changelog that names CLI, MCP and API changes, without an API-specific log (12 of 15). 25 + 10 + 16 + 12 + 9 + 12 = 84.", "b": "No OpenAPI or other machine-readable contract found; a Postman collection is linked (5 of 25). llms.txt lists marketing pages, and the docs have no Markdown twins (5 of 10). Endpoint pages explain timing, credits and when to use batch or file APIs (14 of 20). Parameter tables and listed status and sub-status values, including the ai_agent_mailbox sub-status added in July 2026 (10 of 15). Examples per endpoint, a sandbox and an error-code page (12 of 15). v2 paths, an API migration page and dated maintenance notices on the status page, with no API changelog (8 of 15). 5+5+14+10+12+8 = 54." }, "scores": { "a": 84, "b": 54 } }, { "by": 17, "category": "security", "leads": "zerobounce", "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "reasons": { "a": "A personal API key tied to the user's workspace access, with no scopes documented. The CLI uses OAuth per workspace (15 of 30). Functions need API or MCP access switched on one by one, workspace roles apply, and the changelog adds IP access restrictions (week of 21 September) and MCP client allowlisting (week of 26 October). CLI 1.14.0 (3 November) can hold commands that delete, send or run at scale for the user's approval, but the Claude Code plugin's hook still auto-approves most clay CLI commands, including ones that spend credits (8 of 20). Claygent web research returns untrusted text, and no injection guidance was found (3 of 15). Credit balances and a workflow-run query, with no per-call audit log found (6 of 15). security.txt valid to 31 July 2027 naming security@clay.com and trust.clay.com, re-read on 4 November, and SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001 and ISO 42001 listed on the pricing page. No bug bounty found (16 of 20). 15 + 8 + 3 + 6 + 16 = 48.", "b": "Several named keys besides a Master key, regeneration, deactivation and IP whitelists (25), less 10 because the documented calls carry the key in the `api_key` query string (15 of 30). Validation only reads, though file and list endpoints can delete uploads (12 of 20). Results are structured status codes with little free text (10 of 15). API usage and dashboard statistics endpoints (10 of 15). SOC 2 Type 2, ISO/IEC 27001:2022, continuous testing with Intigriti and penetration testing with BitSentinel; no public disclosure policy found (18 of 20). 15+12+10+10+18 = 65." }, "scores": { "a": 48, "b": 65 } }, { "by": 5, "category": "payments", "leads": "zerobounce", "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "reasons": { "a": "No x402, MPP or L402 (0). Data credits from $0.05 and plan prices public, though on 4 November the plan cards still say $167 and $446 a month for Launch and Growth while the FAQ says $185 and $495 (15 of 20). A free plan with 100 data credits and 500 actions a month, and a page footer saying no credit card is required, while the FAQ lists Clay API access under Enterprise (15 of 20). A person signs up in a browser, and CLI sign-in opens a browser or a device code (0). 0 + 15 + 15 + 0 = 30.", "b": "No x402, MPP or L402 (0). Per-credit prices public, from $39 for 2,000 validations (20). Freemium of 100 validations a month for business or premium domains; a card requirement isn't stated, and free webmail addresses don't qualify (15 of 20). A person signs up in a browser (0). 0+20+15+0 = 35." }, "scores": { "a": 30, "b": 35 } }, { "by": 5, "category": "maintenance", "leads": "clay", "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "reasons": { "a": "clay plugin 2.35.0 on 4 November 2026, requiring CLI 1.14.0, whose tag sits on the 3 November release commit (30). 36 plugin releases from 7 August to 4 November, the last three (15 October, 3 and 4 November) changing skill content, plus weekly dated product roundups to the week of 26 October (20). Weekly dated product roundups and a support address, with the plugin's issue handling not visible (12 of 15). No official SDKs, the CLI is current (8 of 15). CLI binaries ship from GitHub releases, and the repository has no licence file (5 of 10). 30 + 20 + 12 + 8 + 5 = 75.", "b": "Closed service. The JavaScript SDK 3.0.0 was published on 25 October 2026 (30). No API changelog; the dated changes found in 90 days are that release and status-page notices, fewer than three releases (10 of 20). Support by email and 24/7 chat per the docs, a public status page; replies not tested (10 of 15). Official SDKs in many languages and an MCP server (15). Package health not checked (5 of 10). 30+10+10+15+5 = 70." }, "scores": { "a": 75, "b": 70 } } ], "facts": [ { "a": "HTTP API", "b": "HTTP API", "name": "Kind" }, { "a": "Clay Labs Inc.", "b": "Hertza L.L.C. (ZeroBounce)", "name": "Vendor" }, { "a": "https://api.clay.com/public/v0", "b": "https://api.zerobounce.net/v2", "name": "Hosted endpoint" }, { "a": "HTTP", "b": "HTTP, stdio", "name": "Transports" }, { "a": "OAuth or key", "b": "API key", "name": "Auth" }, { "a": "Freemium", "b": "Pay per use", "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 ZeroBounce's terms of use; SDKs and the MCP server are open source", "name": "Licence" }, { "a": "none", "b": "0", "name": "Tools exposed" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "Read-only variant documented" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "yes", "name": "llms.txt" }, { "a": "2026-11-04", "b": "2026-10-25", "name": "Last release" }, { "a": "not read yet", "b": "2026-05-05", "name": "Terms last updated" }, { "a": "2020-09-11", "b": "2026-06-30", "name": "Privacy policy last updated" }, { "a": "not read yet", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Customer content may train models" }, { "a": "not read yet", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Terms restrict automated access" }, { "a": "not read yet", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Terms restrict benchmarking" }, { "a": "not read yet", "b": "yes", "name": "Terms or service can change without notice" }, { "a": "not read yet", "b": "yes", "name": "Arbitration or class-action waiver" } ], "faq": [ { "answer": "ZeroBounce scores 62.4 (B) on agent readiness against Clay's 56.4 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Clay leads on schema \u0026 documentation and maintenance \u0026 community.", "question": "Which is better for AI agents, Clay or ZeroBounce?" }, { "answer": "Clay takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in. ZeroBounce needs an API key.", "question": "Do Clay and ZeroBounce need an API key?" }, { "answer": "Yes. Clay has a hosted endpoint at https://api.clay.com/public/v0 and ZeroBounce at https://api.zerobounce.net/v2.", "question": "Can an agent call Clay and ZeroBounce without installing anything?" } ], "goodFor": [ { "aheadOn": [ "Schema \u0026 documentation, 84 against 54", "Maintenance \u0026 community, 75 against 70" ], "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, 75 against 40", "Security \u0026 auth, 65 against 48", "Payments \u0026 pricing, 35 against 30" ], "also": [ "Runs on your own machine" ], "goodFor": "Email verification before outreach, the verification-first listing in lead-data.", "slug": "zerobounce", "watchFor": "Every documented example sends the key as an `api_key` query parameter" } ], "history": { "clay": [ { "causes": [ "terms" ], "date": "2026-11-04", "delta": -1.3, "from": 57.7, "fromGrade": "C", "to": 56.4, "toGrade": "C" } ], "zerobounce": null }, "job": { "capability": "lead.enrichment", "name": "Lead enrichment" }, "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/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-databar.json", "title": "Clay vs Databar", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-databar" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-dievio.json", "title": "Clay vs Dievio", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-dievio" }, { "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-people-data-labs.json", "title": "Clay vs People Data Labs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-people-data-labs" }, { "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/apollo-vs-zerobounce.json", "title": "Apollo API + MCP vs ZeroBounce", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/apollo-vs-zerobounce" }, { "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-zerobounce.json", "title": "Clearbit vs ZeroBounce", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clearbit-vs-zerobounce" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coresignal-vs-zerobounce.json", "title": "Coresignal API + MCP vs ZeroBounce", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coresignal-vs-zerobounce" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crustdata-vs-zerobounce.json", "title": "Crustdata API + MCP vs ZeroBounce", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crustdata-vs-zerobounce" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/databar-vs-zerobounce.json", "title": "Databar vs ZeroBounce", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/databar-vs-zerobounce" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/dievio-vs-zerobounce.json", "title": "Dievio vs ZeroBounce", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/dievio-vs-zerobounce" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/dropcontact-vs-zerobounce.json", "title": "Dropcontact API + MCP vs ZeroBounce", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/dropcontact-vs-zerobounce" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/enrich-layer-vs-zerobounce.json", "title": "Enrich Layer API + MCP vs ZeroBounce", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/enrich-layer-vs-zerobounce" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/explorium-agentsource-vs-zerobounce.json", "title": "Explorium AgentSource vs ZeroBounce", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/explorium-agentsource-vs-zerobounce" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fullcontact-vs-zerobounce.json", "title": "FullContact vs ZeroBounce", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fullcontact-vs-zerobounce" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fullenrich-vs-zerobounce.json", "title": "FullEnrich API + MCP vs ZeroBounce", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fullenrich-vs-zerobounce" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gojiberry-vs-zerobounce.json", "title": "Gojiberry vs ZeroBounce", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gojiberry-vs-zerobounce" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lusha-vs-zerobounce.json", "title": "Lusha API + MCP vs ZeroBounce", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lusha-vs-zerobounce" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/people-data-labs-vs-zerobounce.json", "title": "People Data Labs vs ZeroBounce", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/people-data-labs-vs-zerobounce" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/prospeo-vs-zerobounce.json", "title": "Prospeo API + MCP vs ZeroBounce", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/prospeo-vs-zerobounce" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/zerobounce-vs-zoominfo.json", "title": "ZeroBounce vs ZoomInfo API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/zerobounce-vs-zoominfo" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hunter-vs-zerobounce.json", "title": "Hunter API + MCP vs ZeroBounce", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hunter-vs-zerobounce" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fuse-mcp-vs-zerobounce.json", "title": "Fuse MCP vs ZeroBounce", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fuse-mcp-vs-zerobounce" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leadmagic-vs-zerobounce.json", "title": "LeadMagic API + MCP vs ZeroBounce", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leadmagic-vs-zerobounce" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/rocketreach-vs-zerobounce.json", "title": "RocketReach API vs ZeroBounce", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/rocketreach-vs-zerobounce" } ], "panel": null, "scores": [ { "by": 35, "clay": 40, "edge": "zerobounce", "key": "reliability", "name": "Reliability", "weight": 16, "zerobounce": 75 }, { "key": "performance", "name": "Performance", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 30, "clay": 84, "edge": "clay", "key": "schema", "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "weight": 13, "zerobounce": 54 }, { "by": 3, "clay": 66, "edge": "zerobounce", "key": "ergonomics", "name": "Agent ergonomics", "weight": 13, "zerobounce": 69 }, { "by": 17, "clay": 48, "edge": "zerobounce", "key": "security", "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "weight": 14, "zerobounce": 65 }, { "by": 5, "clay": 30, "edge": "zerobounce", "key": "payments", "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "weight": 10, "zerobounce": 35 }, { "key": "tasks", "name": "Task success", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 5, "clay": 75, "edge": "clay", "key": "maintenance", "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "weight": 7, "zerobounce": 70 }, { "by": 2, "clay": 61, "edge": "zerobounce", "key": "transparency", "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "weight": 7, "zerobounce": 63 } ], "summary": "ZeroBounce scores 62.4 (B) on agent readiness against Clay's 56.4 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Clay leads on schema \u0026 documentation and maintenance \u0026 community. Both do lead enrichment.", "tasks": null, "tutorials": [], "verdicts": { "clay": "A documented Public API with an OpenAPI spec, llms.txt and plan-capped search, plus a JSON-first CLI and plugin released 36 times since 7 August, give agents Clay's people search and multi-provider enrichment. Keys have no scopes, the Claude Code plugin auto-approves most CLI calls, the new terms set no uptime target, and the privacy policy dates from 2020.", "zerobounce": "ZeroBounce's v2 API verifies emails with detailed status and sub-status codes, publishes per-endpoint limits, a Statuspage with short incidents only in the last 90 days, SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO 27001, and $0.0195 per email at the smallest pack. The documented key travels in the query string, and there is no OpenAPI contract." } }, "kind": "anchor.page", "links": { "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json", "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-zerobounce", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-zerobounce.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-zerobounce.md", "mcp": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-zerobounce.min.md" }, "markdown": "ZeroBounce scores 62.4 (B) on agent readiness against Clay's 56.4 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Clay leads on schema \u0026 documentation and maintenance \u0026 community. Both do lead enrichment.\n\n- Clay: grade C, 56.4/100, rank #831 of 1510. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/clay.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/clay.json\n- ZeroBounce: grade B, 62.4/100, rank #561 of 1510. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/zerobounce.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/zerobounce.json\n- Best lead, contact and company data APIs for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/lead-data/index.md\n- All 231 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 54\n- Maintenance \u0026 community, 75 against 70\n\nWatch for: API keys carry no scopes and act with the user's workspace access\n\n### ZeroBounce (B)\n\nGood for: Email verification before outreach, the verification-first listing in lead-data.\n\nAhead on:\n- Reliability, 75 against 40\n- Security \u0026 auth, 65 against 48\n- Payments \u0026 pricing, 35 against 30\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- Runs on your own machine\n\nWatch for: Every documented example sends the key as an `api_key` query parameter\n\n\n## Why the edge\n\n### Reliability: ZeroBounce +35\n\n- Clay (40): Graded with the hosted lines on the Public API. status.clay.com is linked from every page footer but answered with a Cloudflare bot check on 14 October, and on 4 November its robots.txt answered the same check, so the host is treated as blocked and its components stay unconfirmed (10 of 20, per the 14 October check, not re-read on 4 November). No readable history (5). A per-workspace request limit with no number, and published search-result caps per plan (8 of 15). 429 with Retry-After and X-RateLimit headers, backoff with jitter, and retries of 5xx only when a request is safe to retry, re-read on 4 November. No idempotency keys (12 of 15). The terms of 1 November 2026 replaced the May 2024 version and no longer set the 99.0 per cent monthly uptime target with fee credits, and no other SLA was found (0). The API is v0, and Workflows and run search are labelled alpha or beta (5 of 10). 10 + 5 + 8 + 12 + 0 + 5 = 40.\n- ZeroBounce (75): Hosted lines. Statuspage at status.zerobounce.net with API, API-US, API-EU, Bulk API, website and Cloudflare components (20). The incident feed for 8 August to 6 November shows a 6-minute members platform disruption on 9 September, about 3 minutes of reduced EU API availability on 1 October, and a file upload issue on 26 October resolved within 6 minutes, all minor (20). Limits published per endpoint group with numbers and block lengths (15). 429 is documented with advice to throttle, but no Retry-After, and a block can last an hour or a day (10 of 15). No SLA found (0). Generally available (10). 20+20+15+10+0+10 = 75.\n\n### Schema \u0026 documentation: Clay +30\n\n- Clay (84): A public OpenAPI 3 spec, per the 14 October check (25). llms.txt and Markdown copies of every page, re-read on 4 November, with 18 API reference pages now that Audiences privacy deletion and its status call were added in the week of 26 October (10). Pages say when to use each primitive, and deprecated filters-mode endpoints name their replacement (16 of 20). Typed request bodies, with a query grammar fetched from a reference endpoint rather than enums (12 of 15). curl examples on every guide, but error bodies carry only a message, and the errors page says they don't include stable codes (9 of 15). v0 in the path and a weekly product changelog that names CLI, MCP and API changes, without an API-specific log (12 of 15). 25 + 10 + 16 + 12 + 9 + 12 = 84.\n- ZeroBounce (54): No OpenAPI or other machine-readable contract found; a Postman collection is linked (5 of 25). llms.txt lists marketing pages, and the docs have no Markdown twins (5 of 10). Endpoint pages explain timing, credits and when to use batch or file APIs (14 of 20). Parameter tables and listed status and sub-status values, including the ai_agent_mailbox sub-status added in July 2026 (10 of 15). Examples per endpoint, a sandbox and an error-code page (12 of 15). v2 paths, an API migration page and dated maintenance notices on the status page, with no API changelog (8 of 15). 5+5+14+10+12+8 = 54.\n\n### Security \u0026 auth: ZeroBounce +17\n\n- Clay (48): A personal API key tied to the user's workspace access, with no scopes documented. The CLI uses OAuth per workspace (15 of 30). Functions need API or MCP access switched on one by one, workspace roles apply, and the changelog adds IP access restrictions (week of 21 September) and MCP client allowlisting (week of 26 October). CLI 1.14.0 (3 November) can hold commands that delete, send or run at scale for the user's approval, but the Claude Code plugin's hook still auto-approves most clay CLI commands, including ones that spend credits (8 of 20). Claygent web research returns untrusted text, and no injection guidance was found (3 of 15). Credit balances and a workflow-run query, with no per-call audit log found (6 of 15). security.txt valid to 31 July 2027 naming security@clay.com and trust.clay.com, re-read on 4 November, and SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001 and ISO 42001 listed on the pricing page. No bug bounty found (16 of 20). 15 + 8 + 3 + 6 + 16 = 48.\n- ZeroBounce (65): Several named keys besides a Master key, regeneration, deactivation and IP whitelists (25), less 10 because the documented calls carry the key in the `api_key` query string (15 of 30). Validation only reads, though file and list endpoints can delete uploads (12 of 20). Results are structured status codes with little free text (10 of 15). API usage and dashboard statistics endpoints (10 of 15). SOC 2 Type 2, ISO/IEC 27001:2022, continuous testing with Intigriti and penetration testing with BitSentinel; no public disclosure policy found (18 of 20). 15+12+10+10+18 = 65.\n\n### Payments \u0026 pricing: ZeroBounce +5\n\n- Clay (30): No x402, MPP or L402 (0). Data credits from $0.05 and plan prices public, though on 4 November the plan cards still say $167 and $446 a month for Launch and Growth while the FAQ says $185 and $495 (15 of 20). A free plan with 100 data credits and 500 actions a month, and a page footer saying no credit card is required, while the FAQ lists Clay API access under Enterprise (15 of 20). A person signs up in a browser, and CLI sign-in opens a browser or a device code (0). 0 + 15 + 15 + 0 = 30.\n- ZeroBounce (35): No x402, MPP or L402 (0). Per-credit prices public, from $39 for 2,000 validations (20). Freemium of 100 validations a month for business or premium domains; a card requirement isn't stated, and free webmail addresses don't qualify (15 of 20). A person signs up in a browser (0). 0+20+15+0 = 35.\n\n### Maintenance \u0026 community: Clay +5\n\n- Clay (75): clay plugin 2.35.0 on 4 November 2026, requiring CLI 1.14.0, whose tag sits on the 3 November release commit (30). 36 plugin releases from 7 August to 4 November, the last three (15 October, 3 and 4 November) changing skill content, plus weekly dated product roundups to the week of 26 October (20). Weekly dated product roundups and a support address, with the plugin's issue handling not visible (12 of 15). No official SDKs, the CLI is current (8 of 15). CLI binaries ship from GitHub releases, and the repository has no licence file (5 of 10). 30 + 20 + 12 + 8 + 5 = 75.\n- ZeroBounce (70): Closed service. The JavaScript SDK 3.0.0 was published on 25 October 2026 (30). No API changelog; the dated changes found in 90 days are that release and status-page notices, fewer than three releases (10 of 20). Support by email and 24/7 chat per the docs, a public status page; replies not tested (10 of 15). Official SDKs in many languages and an MCP server (15). Package health not checked (5 of 10). 30+10+10+15+5 = 70.\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | Clay | ZeroBounce | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 40 | 75 | ZeroBounce +35 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 84 | 54 | Clay +30 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 66 | 69 | ZeroBounce +3 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 48 | 65 | ZeroBounce +17 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 30 | 35 | ZeroBounce +5 |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 75 | 70 | Clay +5 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 61 | 63 | ZeroBounce +2 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |\n| **Total** | | **56.4 · C** | **62.4 · B** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | Clay | ZeroBounce |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |\n| Vendor | Clay Labs Inc. | Hertza L.L.C. (ZeroBounce) |\n| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.clay.com/public/v0` | `https://api.zerobounce.net/v2` |\n| Transports | HTTP | HTTP, stdio |\n| Auth | OAuth or key | API key |\n| Pricing | Freemium | Pay per use |\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 ZeroBounce's terms of use; SDKs and the MCP server are open source |\n| Tools exposed | none | 0 |\n| Read-only variant documented | no | no |\n| llms.txt | yes | yes |\n| Last release | 2026-11-04 | 2026-10-25 |\n| Terms last updated | not read yet | 2026-05-05 |\n| Privacy policy last updated | 2020-09-11 | 2026-06-30 |\n| Customer content may train models | not read yet | not found in the text |\n| Terms restrict automated access | not read yet | not found in the text |\n| Terms restrict benchmarking | not read yet | not found in the text |\n| Terms or service can change without notice | not read yet | yes |\n| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not read yet | yes |\n\n## How the scores have moved\n\n### Clay\n\n- -1.3 on 4 November 2026: terms\n\n### ZeroBounce\n\nNo score change since it was listed.\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 and plugin released 36 times since 7 August, give agents Clay's people search and multi-provider enrichment. Keys have no scopes, the Claude Code plugin auto-approves most CLI calls, the new terms set no uptime target, and the privacy policy dates from 2020.\n\n**ZeroBounce.** ZeroBounce's v2 API verifies emails with detailed status and sub-status codes, publishes per-endpoint limits, a Statuspage with short incidents only in the last 90 days, SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO 27001, and $0.0195 per email at the smallest pack. The documented key travels in the query string, and there is no OpenAPI contract.\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. When a CLI command answers approval_required, tell the user what it would do and let them approve or deny it\n6. Ask the user before enabling the plugin's auto-approve hook in a shared workspace\n\n### ZeroBounce\n\n1. Use the regional host (api-us or api-eu) that matches the data, and test with the sandbox addresses, which spend no credits\n2. Set `timeout` (3 to 60 seconds); slow mail servers return unknown, which is free to retry later\n3. Stay under 80,000 validations per 10 seconds and avoid repeated bad requests, which block the key for an hour\n4. Use the bulk file API for large lists instead of looping on /v2/validate\n5. Keep the key out of logs; the API takes it only as `api_key` in the URL\n\n## Questions\n\n### Which is better for AI agents, Clay or ZeroBounce?\n\nZeroBounce scores 62.4 (B) on agent readiness against Clay's 56.4 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Clay leads on schema \u0026 documentation and maintenance \u0026 community.\n\n### Do Clay and ZeroBounce need an API key?\n\nClay takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in. ZeroBounce needs an API key.\n\n### Can an agent call Clay and ZeroBounce without installing anything?\n\nYes. Clay has a hosted endpoint at https://api.clay.com/public/v0 and ZeroBounce at https://api.zerobounce.net/v2.\n\n\n## For agents\n\n- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-zerobounce.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-zerobounce.min.md\n- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {\"a\": \"clay\", \"b\": \"zerobounce\"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare clay zerobounce`\n- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/clay.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/zerobounce.json\n\n## Other comparisons with Clay or ZeroBounce\n\n- [Apollo API + MCP vs Clay](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/apollo-vs-clay.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 Databar](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-databar.md)\n- [Clay vs Dievio](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-dievio.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 People Data Labs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-people-data-labs.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- [Apollo API + MCP vs ZeroBounce](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/apollo-vs-zerobounce.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 ZeroBounce](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clearbit-vs-zerobounce.md)\n- [Coresignal API + MCP vs ZeroBounce](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coresignal-vs-zerobounce.md)\n- [Crustdata API + MCP vs ZeroBounce](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crustdata-vs-zerobounce.md)\n- [Databar vs ZeroBounce](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/databar-vs-zerobounce.md)\n- [Dievio vs ZeroBounce](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/dievio-vs-zerobounce.md)\n- [Dropcontact API + MCP vs ZeroBounce](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/dropcontact-vs-zerobounce.md)\n- [Enrich Layer API + MCP vs ZeroBounce](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/enrich-layer-vs-zerobounce.md)\n- [Explorium AgentSource vs ZeroBounce](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/explorium-agentsource-vs-zerobounce.md)\n- [FullContact vs ZeroBounce](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fullcontact-vs-zerobounce.md)\n- [FullEnrich API + MCP vs ZeroBounce](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fullenrich-vs-zerobounce.md)\n- [Gojiberry vs ZeroBounce](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gojiberry-vs-zerobounce.md)\n- [Lusha API + MCP vs ZeroBounce](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lusha-vs-zerobounce.md)\n- [People Data Labs vs ZeroBounce](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/people-data-labs-vs-zerobounce.md)\n- [Prospeo API + MCP vs ZeroBounce](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/prospeo-vs-zerobounce.md)\n- [ZeroBounce vs ZoomInfo API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/zerobounce-vs-zoominfo.md)\n- [Hunter API + MCP vs ZeroBounce](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hunter-vs-zerobounce.md)\n- [Fuse MCP vs ZeroBounce](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fuse-mcp-vs-zerobounce.md)\n- [LeadMagic API + MCP vs ZeroBounce](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leadmagic-vs-zerobounce.md)\n- [RocketReach API vs ZeroBounce](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/rocketreach-vs-zerobounce.md)\n", "meta": { "attribution": "Anchor Terminal (https://www.anchorterminal.com)", "attributionRequired": true, "credit": "CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link the page or API address you took it from (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)", "docs": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/docs/", "generatedAt": "2026-11-07", "license": "CC-BY-4.0", "method": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/", "methodology": "0.7", "openapi": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/openapi.json", "preview": false, "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "terms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data" }, "page": { "breadcrumbs": [ { "name": "Home", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/" }, { "name": "Compare", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/" }, { "name": "Clay vs 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Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.", "facts": [ "Clay C 56.4", "ZeroBounce B 62.4", "scores" ], "h1": "Clay vs ZeroBounce", "image": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/og/default.png", "path": "/compare/clay-vs-zerobounce", "published": "2026-10-01", "section": "tools", "title": "Clay vs ZeroBounce for AI agents in 2026: scores and prices", "toc": null, "updated": "2026-11-07", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clay-vs-zerobounce" }, "tokens": { "markdown": 4400, "slim": 2330 }, "version": 1 }