BYO keys remove the Data Credit cost for that enrichment step; the Action is still consumed. The economics come down to comparing your existing provider contract's marginal cost against Clay's credit price for the same data.
BYO wins when:
- You already subscribe and the marginal cost of extra calls is near zero (subscription-shaped contracts).
- The attribute is high-volume in your workflows (email finding is the classic case).
- You need the provider's native data guarantees or compliance posture.
Marketplace credits win when:
- Usage is spiky or low-volume — a subscription would idle.
- The marketplace price for the attribute is genuinely cheaper (validated emails, for instance, can be free via select validators).
- You want Clay to manage provider relationship and fallbacks.
Operational notes
Keys live in Clay's integration settings, scoped per provider. BYO keys still fail — monitor their error rates like any provider. And remember Actions still bill: BYO saves credits, not platform usage.
Need help applying this?
Describe your project and the ClayForEnterprises team will review it — the resources stay free either way.