Credits

Learn about credits, the virtual currency system used for running actions in Clay.

Overview

Clay credits are the "currency" used to run actions in Clay.

Depending on your Clay plan, you receive a set number of credits monthly or annually to enrich your workflows.

Each action's credit cost varies based on the provider and data type. While most actions are free or cost 1–2 credits, some data—like mobile phone numbers—are harder to obtain and require more credits.

You can view the credit cost for each action directly in the enrichment panel.

Credits for AI

Credit pricing varies for AI models in Use AI, with rates determined by which model you select.

  • Credit costs are based on prompt and token usage.
  • You can control spending by setting custom budgets for each run.

API keys

Many Clay integrations will have a provided key included. However, you can add your own API key to any integration for no additional charge.

View credit usage

To view your workspace’s credit usage, you can click your account name, go to Settings and then Credit usage in the sidebar. Learn more in this article.

Workbook credit limits

Admins can set credit spend limits for individual workbooks to control and monitor credit usage at the workbook level.

How to enable workbook credit limits:

  1. Open your workbook. In the settings panel, under Credit spend limit, click Manage.
  2. Toggle Enabled credit spend limit and add a number to Workbook limit.
  3. Click Save changes.

Once enabled, all actions run within that workbook will contribute to the workbook's credit spend. When the limit is reached, you'll see an error message preventing further actions from running.

Note: Only workspace admins can modify workbook credit limits. Editors and Viewers cannot manage credit limits, even if they have editing access to the workbook.

Add credits

If you are looking for additional one-time credits, you can purchase them:

  1. From the homepage, click Settings on the bottom left.
  2. Select Plans & billing and click Purchase credits.

Need additional credits every month? Upgrade your plan!

Credit rollover

If you are on a monthly plan, unused credits will roll over and accumulate in your account. The maximum accumulation is capped at 2x your plan’s monthly credit limit.

  • For example, if your plan includes 50,000 credits per month, your maximum balance would be 100,000.
  • If you cancel or downgrade, you can use any excess credits until your current billing cycle ends. After the billing cycle ends, your balance will be reduced to the credit rollover limit of your new plan

If you are on an annual plan, you are eligible for a 15% credit rollover of unused credits, provided you renew on the same or a higher-tier plan.

If you downgrade:

  • Your account remains active on a lower-tier or free plan.
  • All of your data—including tables, flows, and configurations—stays intact.
  • You’ll have limited access to features based on your new plan’s capabilities.
  • You can upgrade again at any time to restore full access.

If you cancel fully:

  • After a full cancellation, your workspace transitions to a free plan temporarily.
  • Your data remains stored, but long-term retention isn’t guaranteed after extended inactivity.
  • To ensure your data is preserved, we recommend downgrading instead of fully canceling.

FAQs

I have a trial, when do the credits expire?

Credits expire when your trial ends or when a free workspace refreshes at the end of the monthly cycle. Only 100 credits will be rolled over.

What happens to my credits if I get invalid data?

If a provider refunds us due to the inability to deliver valid data, we will refund those credits back to you.

How long does it take for credits to renew?

When your Clay plan renews, there may be a 1–2 hour delay before credits appear in your account due to transaction processing times.

This delay occurs because our card provider needs time to process transactions. For example, credits from a 12 PM renewal may appear around 1 PM. This 1–2 hour processing window applies to each renewal cycle based on your original billing time.

For any issues persisting beyond the standard processing window, please contact our support team.

Why are credits being deducted unexpectedly?

Credits may be deducted when actions are triggered automatically or stopped mid-process. Common causes include:

  1. Actions stopped midway: Requests already sent still consume credits, even if stopped early.
  2. Auto-Update enabled: Automatic data refreshes trigger enrichments that consume credits.
  3. AI columns: Every row processed incurs a cost, regardless of output quality.
  4. Duplicate enrichments: Re-running or re-enabling columns triggers new credit usage.

Tips to prevent unexpected credit usage:

  • Turn off Auto-Update when not needed.
  • Pause or delete AI columns that aren’t providing useful results.
  • Check your table settings before re-running enrichments.
  • Avoid deleting columns or tables while actions are still running.

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