Comparison table
| Formula. | Clay | |
|---|---|---|
| Main function | AI agent that prospects for you, from identification to a meeting in your calendar | Data enrichment platform for RevOps teams |
| Initial setup | ✓ 2 minutes at the start, that is it. No configuration afterwards | ✗ Tables, workflows, APIs: weeks to master |
| Who writes the messages | ✓ The agent proposes them itself, with the persona and offer angle | ⚠ AI generation possible, but you build the prompts and the copy |
| Who runs the conversation | ✓ The agent replies, follows up, handles objections, all the way to a meeting in your calendar | ✗ You. Clay does not handle conversations |
| LinkedIn outreach | ✓ Max 28 contacts/day, business hours, human behavior | ✗ Clay does not send LinkedIn messages |
| Email follow-up | ✓ In parallel, on the same qualified prospects. No mass cold email | ⚠ Via integrations (Instantly, Smartlead, etc.) |
| Buying signal detection | ✓ In real time: likes, comments, profile visits | ⚠ Possible via integrations, requires setup |
| LinkedIn posts | ✓ One full month of posts generated at once. The agent writes, you validate | ✗ No |
| Strategic comments | ✓ Under the posts of the accounts that matter in your market | ✗ No |
| Competitor analysis | ✓ Continuous | ✗ No |
| Lead magnets via DM | ✓ The agent sends your resources to prospects at the right moment | ✗ No |
| Response speed / swipe | ✓ You validate with a swipe from your phone. Reply sent in under 5 minutes, 24/7 | ✗ Depends on you and your sending tool |
| A/B testing + learning | ✓ Automatic. The agent learns continuously from your feedback | ✗ Static workflows, you adjust manually |
| Data enrichment | ✓ Included in the prospecting | ✓ 100+ sources, the core of the tool |
| Data hosting | ✓ Paris - GDPR compliant | US-based infrastructure |
| Reply rate | ✓ 50 to 60% with a good offer | ⚠ 7 to 11% for classic sequences, depends on your copy |
| Pricing | ✓ Everything included from $107/month. Only credit volume differs between plans | Clay subscription + separate sending tool + your time |
What is the difference in practice?
Clay is a data enrichment powerhouse. It connects to over 100 data sources - LinkedIn, Apollo, Clearbit, Crunchbase, and more - and lets you build automated workflows to research and enrich prospect data at scale. In the right hands, with the right RevOps team, Clay is impressive.
But Clay remains a tool you operate. You build the tables, you plug in a sending tool, you write or validate the copy. And above all: you run the conversations. Clay stops where the real work begins.
Formula. does the work. 2 minutes of setup at the start: the agent proposes the messages, the persona, and the offer angle itself. Nothing to write, nothing to tune, no sequences to build. Then it prospects on LinkedIn (max 28 contacts per day, business hours, human behavior), follows up by email on the same qualified prospects, replies, follows up, handles objections. All the way to a meeting in your calendar.
The catch: Clay gives you data, and you still do everything else. Formula. runs the prospecting and the conversations end to end. You collect replies from qualified prospects and validate with a swipe.
The agent also runs your LinkedIn presence
Formula. generates one full month of LinkedIn posts at once: it writes, you validate. It comments strategically under the posts of the accounts that matter in your market, analyzes your competitors continuously, and sends your resources and lead magnets to prospects via DM. A prospect who sees your content before receiving a message converts far better.
The swipe: replies sent in under 5 minutes, 24/7
When a prospect answers, the conversation lands on your phone. You validate with a swipe, a few seconds, and the reply goes out in under 5 minutes, at any hour. That speed makes the difference. The agent also runs automatic A/B testing and learns from every piece of your feedback: with a good offer, 50 to 60% reply rate, versus 7 to 11% for classic market sequences.
Who is each tool built for?
Formula. is built for you if...
- You are a consultant, an agency, or a B2B SMB
- You already sell manually, with 3 to 6 months of regular sales and a validated persona
- You want qualified meetings in your calendar without carrying the prospecting
- You want zero configuration: 2 minutes at the start, that is it
- You want to reply with a swipe from your phone
Clay is built for you if...
- You have a dedicated RevOps or growth engineering team
- You need highly customized data enrichment workflows
- You already have a strong outreach stack and just need better data
- You have technical resources to build and maintain automations
- You are comfortable spending weeks on setup before seeing results
Worth knowing: Formula. is not built for starting from zero. You do not automate what you have not validated manually.
What about pricing?
With Formula., every feature is included in every plan, starting with Launch at $107/month. The only difference between plans is the monthly credit volume: more credits, more prospecting and content volume.
| Formula. | Clay | |
|---|---|---|
| What is included | ✓ Everything, from $107/month: LinkedIn + email prospecting, conversations, posts, comments, competitor analysis, lead magnets via DM | Data enrichment. The sending, the copy, and the conversations are still on you |
| Plans | Launch $107, Growth $247, Scale $447, Elite $697 per month. Only the credit volume changes | Clay subscription, depending on the plan you pick |
| Lifetime access | ✓ $997, 30 seats max, + $29.97/month for infrastructure (LinkedIn connection + AI credits) | ✗ Subscription only |
| What you add on top | ✓ Nothing | ✗ A separate sending tool for outreach, and your time: workflows, copy, follow-ups, conversations |
The key difference
Clay is a tool for people who know how to prospect and want better data to do it. It assumes you know what you are doing. It amplifies an existing process.
Formula. does the process for you. Nothing to write, nothing to tune, no sequences to build. The agent proposes the messages, runs the outreach and the conversations, and delivers meetings to your calendar. You validate with a swipe.
One line: Clay gives you data. You still do the work. Formula. does the work for you.
If you have a RevOps team and an existing outreach stack, Clay can make it sharper. If you are a consultant, an agency, or a B2B SMB that already sells and wants qualified meetings without the overhead, Formula. is built for you.
Frequently asked questions
What is the fundamental difference between Formula. and Clay?
Clay is a data enrichment platform for technical RevOps teams. You build workflows, pull data from 100+ sources, and assemble prospect lists. You still write the messages, send them, and run the conversations. Formula. is an AI agent that does the prospecting for you: LinkedIn outreach, parallel email follow-up on the same qualified prospects, and 100% of the conversations, all the way to a meeting delivered to your calendar. You validate with a swipe.
How long does it take to get started with Formula.?
2 minutes of setup at the start, and that is it. The agent proposes the messages, the persona, and the offer angle itself. Nothing to write, nothing to tune, no sequences to build. No configuration afterwards.
Who runs the conversations with prospects?
The agent, 100%. It replies, follows up, and handles objections, all the way to a meeting delivered to your calendar. You validate with a swipe from your phone: a few seconds, and the reply goes out in under 5 minutes, 24/7.
Can Clay send LinkedIn messages?
No. Clay enriches data and can feed other tools, but it does not send LinkedIn messages natively. You need to connect it to a separate outreach tool, then manage that separately. Formula. handles everything end to end.
Is Formula. right for me if I am starting from zero?
No. Formula. is built for consultants, agencies, and B2B SMBs that already sell manually: 3 to 6 months of regular sales and a validated persona. You do not automate what you have not validated manually.
What changes between Formula. plans?
Only the monthly credit volume. Every feature is included in every plan, starting with Launch at $107/month. More credits means more prospecting and content volume. There is also a lifetime access at $997 (30 seats maximum), plus $29.97/month for infrastructure.
Is Formula. safe for my LinkedIn account?
Yes. Formula. mimics natural human behavior on LinkedIn, operates strictly within the 28 contacts per day limit, and only during business hours. It never goes beyond LinkedIn's limits.
You want meetings in your calendar, not a tool to configure.
2 minutes of setup. The agent prospects, runs the conversations, and delivers meetings to your calendar. You validate with a swipe.
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