vs
The open-source
Clay alternative.
Clay and Meerko both find leads, send sequences and handle replies, and both work with your coding agent. Meerko is open source: self-host it for free and keep every lead in your own Postgres, or use Meerko Cloud from $49/mo.
| Feature | Meerko |  Clay |
|---|---|---|
| Paid plans from | $49/mo (Cloud Pro) | $167/mo (Launch)[1] |
| Free plan | 1,000 credits on Cloud | 500 actions/mo[1] |
| Data providers | Icypeas, or your own key | 150+ providers[1] |
| Email sequences | From your own Gmail | Native sequencer[1] |
| Reply inbox | Built in, with agent-drafted replies | Global Inbox[2] |
| Coding agents | MCP server (31 tools) and CLI | Clay MCP, CLI and API[1] |
Clay facts from Clay's own pages, checked 6 Oct 2026. Prices are billed monthly.
Where Clay is stronger
Only with Meerko
- Open source (AGPL-3.0). Read, fork and audit every line.
- Self-host for $0. Run it on your own infra with your own provider keys.
- Your Postgres. Self-hosted, every lead, email and reply stays in your database.
How much does Clay cost?[1]
Free
$0
500 actions and 100 data credits a month, up to 200 rows per table.
Launch
$167/mo
Starts at 15,000 actions a month; the price depends on the actions and data credits you pick.
Growth
$446/mo
Starts at 40,000 actions a month.
Enterprise
Custom
Priced by Clay's sales team.
Monthly billing as listed on Clay's pricing page; annual billing is cheaper. Data credits start at $0.05 each.
Switch in an afternoon
Bring your Clay tables with you.
- 1Export your Clay table as CSV.
- 2Import it: unknown columns become Meerko columns.
- 3Ask your agent to enrich, write a sequence and start it.
$ meerko tables create "Fintech CTOs"Created table "Fintech CTOs" (8f2c…)$ meerko tables import 8f2c… clay-export.csvImported 1240 rows. New columns: linkedin, title, funding› enrich them and draft a 3-step sequence
Questions
Is there an open-source alternative to Clay?
Yes. Meerko is open source under AGPL-3.0: you can self-host it for free with your own provider keys, or use Meerko Cloud, which starts free with 1,000 credits.
How much does Clay cost?
Clay's pricing page lists a Free plan, Launch at $167/mo and Growth at $446/mo on monthly billing, plus custom Enterprise pricing. Annual billing is cheaper.
Can Clay send emails?
Yes. Clay's pricing page lists a native email sequencer, and Clay University documents a Global Inbox for replies. Meerko also sends sequences, from your own Gmail.
