Compare/Head to head

Clay vs Octave

Same facts, side by side: starting price, free tier, MCP, API and what each one is actually built for.

Starting price

Clay

$185/mo Free tier 14 day free trial

Waterfall enrichment plus Claygent research columns for GTM and recruiting list work. Free plan exists; paid Launch starts at $185/mo, with a 14-day trial.

Where Clay fits

  • Sourcers building enriched spreadsheets
  • Teams chaining many data vendors
  • Desks that want Claygent research columns
  • RevOps pushing clean rows to a sequencer or ATS

Octave

Quote Free trial

Octave is a GTM context platform that stores your ICP, personas, positioning and proof points and feeds them to AI agents that write and qualify outreach. It suits staffing firms and agencies running Clay or AI-driven outbound that want every message to match one agreed pitch. Pricing is a flat annual platform fee plus usage credits with no published price, and the site offers a free trial.

Where Octave fits

  • Agencies selling several services to distinct buyer personas
  • Teams running Clay tables that need consistent messaging
  • GTM engineers wiring AI assistants through MCP
  • Sales leaders who want call insights fed back into messaging

At a glance

DetailClayOctave
Starting price$185/moQuote
Free tier✓Yes–No
Free trial14 day free trialYes
MCP server✓Yes✓Yes
Public API✓Yes✓Yes
Listed underLead generation, OutreachOutreach, Lead generation

Where they pull apart

Clay

Stands out: 150+ provider waterfall plus Claygent on every row, with MCP and API.

Watch out: Not a sender. Paid plans start at $185/mo on Launch, CRM sync needs Growth from $495/mo, and credit burn adds up.

Not the right fit for

  • Teams that need Clay to send the email
  • Buyers who want a cheap single-finder

Octave

Stands out: Octave is built as a context layer, not a sender, so the same personas and messaging reach Clay, your sequencer and Claude through MCP, where a tool like Valley keeps its context inside its own app. Its Intelligence Engine reads calls, emails and deal outcomes and suggests updates to that context, which most AI writing tools do not attempt.

Watch out: No prices are published, so you have to talk to sales to learn what the platform fee is. The Base tier caps you at 100 credits a month and a single active offering, which is tight for an agency selling several services.

Not the right fit for

  • Solo recruiters who just need a better first line
  • Buyers who want a published monthly price
  • Teams without a CRM or call recorder to learn from

Pros and cons

Clay

  • Free plan, then Launch from $185/mo
  • 14-day trial documented
  • Waterfall plus Claygent in one table
  • Does not send mail; you still need a sequencer
  • CRM sync needs Growth, from $495/mo
  • Credit burn is easy to underestimate

Octave

  • Own MCP server, API and CLI
  • No per-seat pricing
  • Learns from calls, emails and deal outcomes
  • No published prices
  • Base tier limited to 100 credits a month
  • More setup than a simple AI writer

What each one costs

Clay

$185/mo

Free plan with 100 Data Credits and 500 Actions a month. Launch starts at $185 a month (2,500 Data Credits, 15,000 Actions, job change and signal tracking). Growth starts at $495 a month (6,000 Data Credits, 40,000 Actions) and adds CRM sync, HTTP API and webhooks. Enterprise is custom with an annual commitment. Confirm current terms on the vendor site.

Checked 4 Nov 2026

Octave

Quote

Octave charges a flat annual platform subscription plus metered usage credits, and does not charge per seat. The pricing page does not publish dollar amounts. The Base tier includes 100 generation credits a month, 2 active workspaces, 1 active offering and 2 active playbooks, with community support, and is not time limited. The middle tier includes 10,000 credits a month, more active offerings, elements and playbooks, and email and chat support. Octave Ultra has custom credits and adds unlimited users and managed agents, SSO, SCIM and RBAC, and a dedicated CSM with a private Slack channel. The site offers a free trial, and Octave says that within 2 weeks of onboarding you can walk away with no questions asked. Confirm current terms on the vendor site.

Checked 4 Nov 2026

Common questions

Can you try Clay or Octave for free?
Clay carries a free tier on our listing. Clay offers a 14 day free trial. Octave offers a free trial.
Does Clay or Octave have an MCP server?
Clay and Octave ship a first party MCP server, so an AI assistant can work the product directly.

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Editorial listings, never paid rankings. Prices checked 4 Nov 2026. Confirm current terms on the vendor site. Spot an error?