ClayBuild systems to grow revenue
vs
CloseThe CRM that does the work
Comparison · Sales Engagement · weekly run Nov 3
Clay vs Close
Which one do AI engines recommend, and how do they differ on price, fit and features?
The short answer
Clay is the stronger AI pick in Sales Engagement: it has a visibility score of 2.9 versus 2.8 for Close.
Choose Clay if…
- You want the brand AI engines rank higher (2.9 vs 2.8)
- You want a free plan to start
- You need ISO 27001 coverage
- You prefer a larger, established vendor (1,001–5,000 employees)
Choose Close if…
- You want a lower entry price ($19 vs $167)
- AI answers describe it more positively (52% vs 33% positive)
- Per seat pricing suits your budget better than usage-based
- Best for high-velocity and outbound sales teams
AI visibility side by side
Latest weekly run · Nov 3
| Metric | Clay | Close |
|---|---|---|
| Visibility score | 2.9% | 2.8% |
| Change vs last week | down−1.5% | down−0.6% |
| Rank in Sales Engagement | #25 | #26 |
| Share of voice | 1.2% | 1% |
| Mentions this run | 9 | 6 |
| Positive in AI answers | 33% | 52% |
The stronger value in each row is marked with a ✓.
Visibility score trend
Weekly runs over the last 60 days
Clay −1.5000000000000004pp · Close −0.5pp over 1 weekly runs.
Engine by engine
Clay leads on 2 of 3 engines
ChatGPT
AI Mode
Perplexity
ClayClose
Head to head in AI answers
0 engine answers name both brands
0Clay ranked higher
0Close ranked higher
Features, pricing & fit
| Dimension | Clay | Close |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Usage-based | Per seat |
| Entry price | Free; paid from $167 / mo | $19 per seat / mo |
| Free plan | Yes | No · 14-day trial |
| Deployment | — | Cloud (SaaS) |
| Integrations | — | 100+ |
| Compliance | SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, GDPR, CCPA | SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, CCPA |
| Support | Priority support queue on Growth plan, Dedicated Slack channel on Enterprise plan, Dedicated growth strategist on Enterprise plan | Knowledge base, Email support |
| Founded | 2017 | 2013 |
| Headquarters | New York City, NY, United States | Austin, Texas, United States |
| Employees | 1,001–5,000 | 51–200 |
| Funding | Series B Expansion | Angel |
| Best for | GTM engineers and revenue teams that build their own prospecting, enrichment and outbound workflows. | Founders, small businesses and sales teams that sell through calls, email and SMS |
Plans side by side
Clay
Free$0month
Launch$167month (starting price as shown; monthly from $185 per FAQ)
Growth$446month (starting price as shown; monthly from $495 per FAQ)
EnterpriseCustomcustom, annual commitment
Close
Solo$19per user / month (billed monthly; $9 billed annually)
Essentials$49per user / month (billed monthly; $35 billed annually)
Growth$109per user / month (billed monthly; $99 billed annually)
Scale$149per user / month (billed monthly; $139 billed annually)
Pros and cons
Themes from the AI answers that mention each brand
Clay
Profile in progress.
Close
- Best for high-velocity and outbound sales teams
- Straightforward, predictable per-seat pricing
- All-in-one calling, SMS, and email cadences
- Strong customer satisfaction in recent reviews
- Frequently included in CRM shortlists
Data collected ·ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Mode·coverage 98.8%·next run
Cite as: SlateIndex, “Clay vs Close”, https://slateindex.ai/compare/clay-vs-close, data of Nov 3, 2026. Licence: CC BY 4.0.