Understanding Clay's Waterfall Enrichment Credits Usage

Hassan M. · 2025-11-19T13:09:47.513Z

I have setup a waterfall enrichment in clay. I have API for hunter > prospeo > snov and only these three providers were selected to find the emails but still clay has utilized the credits. Why?

Understanding Clay's Waterfall Enrichment Credits Usage | Clay

Clay Support
APP
·
·
Credits are consumed during waterfall enrichment for several reasons:
Email validation charges credits - Even when emails are found, validation through providers like ZeroBounce consumes additional credits, regardless of whether the email passes or fails validation.
Each provider attempt costs credits - Hunter, Prospeo, and Snov each charge 2 credits per enrichment attempt when using our managed accounts. Credits are charged for each attempt regardless of whether an email is found, though they're refunded if no email is discovered.
Waterfall process stops after success - If Hunter finds a valid email, the process stops and you're only charged for Hunter + validation. If Hunter fails but Prospeo succeeds, you're charged for both Hunter and Prospeo attempts plus validation.
This is normal waterfall behavior - you pay for each provider that attempts to find data, plus validation costs.
Clay Support
APP
·
·
Is that what you were looking for?
Hassan M.
·
·
I don't want to use the validation feature or anything that utilizes clay credits for now. I only want to rely on the three providers I have integrated.
Clay Support
APP
·
·
To use only your integrated API keys without consuming Clay credits, connect your own API keys for Hunter, Prospeo, and Snov through Settings > Connections. When you use your own API keys, 0 Clay credits are consumed - credits are only charged when using Clay's managed accounts.
For email validation, you can disable it in the waterfall configuration by selecting a different validation provider or adjusting validation settings to avoid automatic validation charges.
Clay Support
APP
·
·
Did that answer your question?
Clay Support
APP
·
·
If you need any more help with setting up your API keys or adjusting the validation settings, I’m here to assist. Would you like to provide more details about what you’re trying to achieve so we can continue?
Hassan M.
·
·
I have already setup the API keys... and even I see that validation is not enabled in the settings but still it validates the email and utilized the credits
Clay Support
APP
·
·
Sorry for the trouble you're experiencing. I'll connect you to a human agent who can help resolve this issue.
Clay Support
APP
·
·
Our support team has got your message and we'll get back to you soon! We're currently outside of our standard office hours (9 AM to 9 PM EST, Monday through Friday), so it may take a little longer for us to respond.
If you’re dealing with a specific table, drop the URL below so we can help you quicker. Otherwise, someone from our team will be in touch soon!
image.png(93 kB)
Hassan M.
·
·
Sure, thank you!
Daniela D.
·
·
Hey Hassan! Thanks for reaching out. Happy to help. Could you share your table url? Happy to take a look✨.
Hassan M.
·
·
Hey
Hassan M.
·
·
https://app.clay.com/workspaces/813047/workbooks/wb_0t5ikinsiSE6VKVrFS9/tables/t_0t5vq1qoixJp2tpBdKh/views/gv_0t5vq1qQjDHjns2ENAf
Hassan M.
·
·
Are you looking into it?
Daniela D.
·
·
Hey Hassan! Looking into this and will follow up with an update.

31 comments