Is MarketingSoda Refine a direct Clay competitor?

Not exactly. Clay is primarily an enrichment and prospecting platform. MarketingSoda Refine is a data quality platform for keeping your existing CRM data clean and trustworthy. Many teams will benefit from using both.

Can I use both Clay and MarketingSoda Refine together?

Yes. Use Clay to enrich and build prospect lists. Then use MarketingSoda Refine to monitor the quality of that enriched data over time and automatically re-enrich records as they go stale.

How does Clay's pricing compare to MarketingSoda Refine?

Clay uses credit-based pricing starting at $149/month. MarketingSoda Refine uses predictable contact-based subscription pricing with BYOK support.

Does MarketingSoda Refine do data enrichment?

Yes, with a BYOK model. The key difference is that MarketingSoda Refine also scores, validates, and continuously monitors your enriched data.

Which tool is better for HubSpot?

If you need to find net-new contacts, Clay is excellent. If you need to maintain existing data quality in HubSpot, MarketingSoda Refine is purpose-built for that.

How long does it take to set up each tool?

Clay typically takes 4-6 weeks for teams to build effective workflows. MarketingSoda Refine delivers your first data quality report in minutes.

What happens to my data quality after Clay enrichment?

B2B data decays 30-70% per year. Without ongoing monitoring, your enrichment investment erodes. MarketingSoda Refine detects and fixes this decay.

Does Clay offer data quality scoring?

Clay does not include built-in data quality scoring. MarketingSoda Refine offers automated 7-dimension quality scoring with ongoing monitoring.

Clay vs MarketingSoda Refine

An honest comparison for HubSpot-focused teams

Clay excels at enrichment breadth with 150+ data providers. MarketingSoda Refine excels at ongoing data quality management. For many HubSpot teams, they're complementary.

Quick verdict

Choose Clay if you need...

Enrichment breadth across 150+ data providers

Building prospect lists from scratch with waterfall lookups

Outbound automation workflows with AI research agents

A flexible spreadsheet-like interface for GTM workflows

Choose MarketingSoda Refine if you need...

Ongoing data quality monitoring with automated scoring

A purpose-built, HubSpot-native integration

Predictable subscription pricing with BYOK support

Continuous data health monitoring and decay detection

Feature comparison

How Clay and MarketingSoda Refine compare across key dimensions

Dimension	Clay	MarketingSoda Refine
Data enrichment	150+ providers, waterfall enrichment, AI research agent (Claygent) Source: clay.com, accessed March 2026	Focused enrichment with BYOK model — bring your own API keys and pay provider rates directly
Data quality scoring	No built-in quality scoring — requires manual workflow setup to assess data quality Source: clay.com feature documentation, accessed March 2026	Automated 7-dimension scoring (completeness, accuracy, freshness, consistency, uniqueness, validity, enrichment coverage) with A-F grades
HubSpot integration	Bidirectional sync with CRM, push/pull data between Clay tables and HubSpot Source: clay.com/integrations, accessed March 2026	Purpose-built native integration with CRM sidebar card, custom workflow actions, and HubSpot Marketplace app
Pricing model	Credit-based: Starter $149/mo (2,400 credits), Explorer $349/mo (12,000 credits), Pro $800/mo (60,000 credits), Enterprise custom Source: clay.com/pricing, accessed March 2026. Verify current pricing at clay.com/pricing.	Predictable contact-based subscription with BYOK — no credit expiry, no per-seat pricing
Ongoing maintenance	Manual workflow triggers — you decide when to re-enrich and must set up monitoring yourself Source: clay.com feature documentation, accessed March 2026	Automated continuous monitoring with exponential decay modeling, proactive staleness alerts, and automatic re-enrichment triggers
Ease of use	Powerful spreadsheet-like interface with steep learning curve — teams typically need 4-6 weeks to build effective workflows Source: G2.com Clay reviews, 2024-2025	Connect HubSpot and get your first data quality report in minutes — purpose-built for HubSpot teams
AI capabilities	Claygent AI research agent that browses the web, reads pages, and fills in unstructured data points Source: clay.com/claygent, accessed March 2026	AI-powered quality workflows for automated remediation, data validation, and enrichment decisioning

Data enrichment

Clay

150+ providers, waterfall enrichment, AI research agent (Claygent)

MarketingSoda Refine

Focused enrichment with BYOK model — bring your own API keys and pay provider rates directly

Source: clay.com, accessed March 2026

Data quality scoring

Clay

No built-in quality scoring — requires manual workflow setup to assess data quality

MarketingSoda Refine

Automated 7-dimension scoring (completeness, accuracy, freshness, consistency, uniqueness, validity, enrichment coverage) with A-F grades

Source: clay.com feature documentation, accessed March 2026

HubSpot integration

Clay

Bidirectional sync with CRM, push/pull data between Clay tables and HubSpot

MarketingSoda Refine

Purpose-built native integration with CRM sidebar card, custom workflow actions, and HubSpot Marketplace app

Source: clay.com/integrations, accessed March 2026

Pricing model

Clay

Credit-based: Starter $149/mo (2,400 credits), Explorer $349/mo (12,000 credits), Pro $800/mo (60,000 credits), Enterprise custom

MarketingSoda Refine

Predictable contact-based subscription with BYOK — no credit expiry, no per-seat pricing

Source: clay.com/pricing, accessed March 2026. Verify current pricing at clay.com/pricing.

Ongoing maintenance

Clay

Manual workflow triggers — you decide when to re-enrich and must set up monitoring yourself

MarketingSoda Refine

Automated continuous monitoring with exponential decay modeling, proactive staleness alerts, and automatic re-enrichment triggers

Source: clay.com feature documentation, accessed March 2026

Ease of use

Clay

Powerful spreadsheet-like interface with steep learning curve — teams typically need 4-6 weeks to build effective workflows

MarketingSoda Refine

Connect HubSpot and get your first data quality report in minutes — purpose-built for HubSpot teams

Source: G2.com Clay reviews, 2024-2025

AI capabilities

Clay

Claygent AI research agent that browses the web, reads pages, and fills in unstructured data points

MarketingSoda Refine

AI-powered quality workflows for automated remediation, data validation, and enrichment decisioning

Source: clay.com/claygent, accessed March 2026

Pricing comparison

Realistic scenarios to help you estimate costs

Growing team — 2,000 contacts/month

Clay

At approximately 5-10 credits per contact enrichment, 2,000 contacts would use 10,000-20,000 credits/month. This requires the Explorer plan ($349/mo) or Pro plan ($800/mo) depending on enrichment depth.

$349-$800/mo

MarketingSoda Refine

Contact-based subscription covers enrichment, quality scoring, monitoring, and re-enrichment. BYOK means you pay data providers directly at their rates.

Predictable monthly subscription

Scaling team — 10,000 contacts/month

Clay

10,000 contacts at 5-10 credits each requires 50,000-100,000 credits/month. This exceeds the Pro plan (60,000 credits) and requires Enterprise pricing or credit top-ups.

$800+/mo (Enterprise)

MarketingSoda Refine

Same predictable pricing model that scales with your contact count, not credit consumption. No surprise overages.

Predictable monthly subscription

Clay pricing is credit-based and varies by enrichment depth and provider. Credit consumption per enrichment depends on the number of fields and providers used. Verify current pricing at clay.com/pricing.

Source: clay.com/pricing, accessed March 2026

How each tool works

Different approaches to CRM data management

Import or build a list

Start with a CSV upload, CRM sync, or build a list from Clay's database using filters.

Configure enrichment columns

Add columns for each data point you need. Set up waterfall providers in priority order.

Run enrichment

Execute the enrichment workflow. Credits are consumed per lookup across each provider.

Push to CRM

Export enriched data back to HubSpot or your CRM. Set up field mapping manually.

Repeat manually

Data decays over time. You decide when to re-enrich and manually trigger new runs.

Frequently asked questions

See your data quality score

Connect your HubSpot and get an A-F grade across seven dimensions in minutes. Free. No credit card.

Start your free data quality audit

Or try the Data Decay Calculator to estimate your data decay cost