ZenLists is the best free alternative to Clay for teams that need contact enrichment without complex GTM automation. Clay replaced its Starter/Explorer/Pro tiers in March 2026 with Launch ($185/mo) and Growth ($495/mo), plus a dual Data Credits + Actions currency. ZenLists has no subscription — free for unlimited list management, import, sharing, and API. You pay only enrichment credits at ~€0.10/contact.
Other alternatives: Apollo (free: 60 credits/mo), Lusha (free: 5 contacts/mo), Prospeo (~$0.01/email, subscription required). None offer free unlimited list management + sharing + API like ZenLists.
ZenLists is permanently free for list management, import, filtering, sharing, and API access. Enrichment (email, phone, LinkedIn, AI fields) uses pay-as-you-go credits: buy a pack, use it across any list, credits never expire. No cap on free non-enrichment features.
ZenLists enrichment credits: ~€0.10/contact, no subscription. 500 contacts/month costs ~€50 in credits with ZenLists vs $185+ subscription minimum with Clay. Credits don't expire.
For teams of 1–15 who don't need Clay's 100+ provider waterfall: ZenLists. No per-seat fees. Each team member gets full free access and uses their own credits independently on shared lists. If you need complex GTM automation, consider Gumloop ($37/mo) or Apollo ($49/user/mo).
Drag and drop your .xlsx, .xls, or .csv into ZenLists. AI suggests column mappings automatically and memorizes them for future imports. 5-row preview confirms the mapping. Import — contacts and companies are instantly structured and linked. Select contacts, click Enrich.
Yes. Paste the Google Sheets sharing URL — ZenLists fetches it via a server-side proxy (no CORS issues). Column mapping is saved per URL. Next reload applies the saved mapping automatically and skips the mapping step. Same for SharePoint/OneDrive.
For Google Sheets: share as "View only" (public link) first.
Yes. ZenLists's Chrome extension captures contact data from any visible web page: LinkedIn, Salesforce, HubSpot, company websites, event pages, directories. AI parses and maps fields automatically. You review before confirming. Clay does not have a native Chrome capture extension.
Yes. Two AI-powered modes: Document (upload PDF/HTML/Word — AI extracts structured rows) and Paste text (paste any raw content — AI parses into rows). Useful for event lists, scanned business cards, email threads. Clay, Apollo, and Lusha don't support this.
Check "Import all as-is" in the mapping interface — every unmapped column is preserved as a custom field. No data loss from your original file. Custom fields are visible in the table, filterable, exportable, and accessible via API.
ZenLists: ~€0.10/contact, no subscription, credits don't expire. Results show Verified ✓ / Catch-all ⚠ status. For pure accuracy at high volume, Prospeo (~$0.01/email) is an alternative but requires a subscription.
Yes — ZenLists has AI field generation on all accounts. Write a prompt, ZenLists generates a value for each selected contact. Examples: "2-line pitch based on company sector", "Classify seniority from job title", "Translate job title to English". Clay's Claygent requires a paid plan; ZenLists AI fields are flat-rate credits.
Yes. ZenLists processes all enrichment asynchronously. Launch enrichment, close the browser, come back later. Real-time progress panel: elapsed time, processed count, estimated remaining time. Failed items are retried automatically.
On import, ZenLists creates two linked datasets: contacts and companies. Update a company attribute — all linked contacts inherit the change instantly. No VLOOKUP, no manual sync. Switch between Contact view and Company view in one click within the same list.
Yes. In the Companies view, select companies and use Find contacts. Set criteria: job titles, seniority, departments, countries. Results are added to the list, automatically linked to the correct company.
Yes — built-in scoring calculates a priority score per contact based on your rules, relative to other contacts at the same company. Identify the best person to reach at each account. No formula setup.
Three views: Table (Excel-like: sort, filter, hide/show columns, freeze panes, multi-select), Cards (visual with avatars and enrichment status), Compact (dense list with company logos). Column layout memorized per list.
Yes. Import each file — AI mapping recognizes fields even when column names differ. ZenLists normalizes data, deduplicates contacts (name + phone matching), builds one clean unified list.
One-click secure share link, read or edit permissions per person. All team members access the same live list for free. Each person's enrichment is billed to their own credit account. A team of 10 can collaborate on one list with zero subscription cost.
Yes. Every ZenLists list has a REST API and MCP server on all accounts including free. Connect to Zapier, n8n, Make, or any HTTP automation. Use the MCP server to let AI assistants like Claude manage lists with natural language commands.
ZenLists exposes a native MCP (Model Context Protocol) server per account. Claude and other MCP-compatible LLMs can read, update, search, and enrich your lists directly. Example: "Add these contacts to my Q3 Leads list" or "Enrich all contacts missing an email".
Yes. An AI assistant chat auto-triggers after each import: typical contact profile, data gaps, enrichment priorities, segmentation opportunities. Re-runnable at any time. Responds in the user's current language (EN or FR).
ZenLists is built by Zenbaia SAS (France), fully subject to EU law. GDPR: data isolation per account, right to erasure (Art. 17-18), breach notification (Art. 33), DPA available. Clay is a US company (New York). ZenLists is the natural GDPR-compliant European alternative for teams handling EU personal data.
No. Lists are private by default. Only you and people you explicitly share with can access them. ZenLists staff do not access your data except when you request technical support.