Best AI lead scoring tools
Lead scoring is one of the least price-transparent categories in sales software. Here's what's actually publishable, and what isn't.
6sense wins for a team specifically buying predictive intent-based scoring at scale, though expect a sales conversation rather than a self-serve checkout. Clay wins instead for a team that wants to build its own scoring logic on top of enriched data pulled from many providers, with published self-serve pricing.
The short answer
- 6sense's own pricing page names three tiers of service, from data-credit access up to full predictive AI scoring, but publishes no dollar figures and routes every visitor to book a demo, per 6sense.com/pricing.
- Apollo bundles lead scoring and enrichment into a broader contact database and outreach platform, with an official MCP server hosted directly by Apollo for AI-agent access, per Apollo's own GitHub documentation, though its own pricing page did not render specific dollar tiers at fetch time.
- Clay's Claygent research agent, included on paid tiers from $54/month (Launch, annual), can be configured to score and enrich leads using data pulled from more than 50 external providers, per clay.com/pricing.
Lead scoring options compared
| Tool | Pricing model | Scoring approach | Self-serve? | Best for | Not for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6sense | Not published; demo-gated | Predictive AI intent and fit scoring | No | A team buying dedicated intent-data scoring at scale | A team that wants to see a price before talking to sales |
| Apollo | Not confirmed from vendor's own pricing page | Scoring as part of a broader database and outreach tool | Free tier exists per Apollo's own site | A team that wants scoring bundled with contact data and outreach | A team that wants scoring as a dedicated, standalone product |
| Clay | $54/mo (Launch, annual) | Build your own scoring logic on enriched data | Yes, published pricing and a free tier | A team that wants to define its own scoring criteria on real data | A team that wants a scoring model already built and validated for them |
Figures checked on 6sense.com/pricing and clay.com/pricing, September 2026. Apollo.io's pricing page did not render specific dollar figures at fetch time and is described qualitatively rather than with an invented price. MadKudu's pricing page now redirects to hginsights.com and is omitted from this comparison as a result.
What each approach actually gives you
6sense
Structured around predictive AI models trained to prioritize accounts by intent, with data credits layered on for unlocking enriched contact records. Its own pricing page is entirely feature-tiered rather than dollar-tiered, which is consistent with how intent-data platforms in this space typically sell: sales-assisted, not self-serve. Not for: a team that wants to compare prices online before a sales call.
Apollo
Lead scoring lives inside a much broader product covering contact search, enrichment, sequencing and now an official MCP server hosted by Apollo itself, letting Claude, Cursor and similar tools reach Apollo's data directly. Its acceptable-use terms restrict the plans shown on its pricing page to internal business use, not reselling Apollo data. Not for: a team specifically shopping for a standalone scoring tool rather than a broader platform.
Clay
Doesn't sell a pre-built score; it sells the ability to build one, pulling data from more than 50 providers through its Claygent research agent and letting you define what 'high fit' or 'high intent' means for your own business. That flexibility means more setup work than a plug-in scoring product. Not for: a team that wants a validated, out-of-the-box score without configuring the logic themselves.
When none of these is the answer
A small team with a handful of leads a week doesn't need a dedicated scoring tool at all. A simple rule, company size above a threshold, a specific job title, a form field answer, covers that volume by hand faster than configuring a scoring platform.
Disclosure: SalesCrew is our product. It includes a lead score built from a rubric plus LLM reasoning, surfacing next actions on the highest-scoring records, but this is a rules-and-AI hybrid inside a CRM, not a dedicated predictive intent-data platform like 6sense. It is not included in the ranking above because it is not a standalone scoring product; scoring is one feature inside a broader pipeline tool.
Questions
- Why don't lead scoring tools publish their pricing?
- It's common in this category specifically. 6sense's pricing page describes three tiers of service by feature but names no dollar figures, directing every visitor to book a demo instead. That's a deliberate sales-led pricing model, not a page that failed to load.
- What happened to MadKudu?
- Its pricing page now redirects to hginsights.com, suggesting a change in ownership or product direction. Confirm MadKudu's current status and offering directly before including it in a buying decision; this comparison does not include pricing for it as a result.
- Is Apollo a lead scoring tool, or something broader?
- Broader. Apollo is primarily a contact database and outreach platform; lead scoring and enrichment are part of a wider toolset rather than the whole product, unlike 6sense or MadKudu, which are built around intent and fit scoring specifically.
- Can I build lead scoring myself instead of buying a tool?
- For a simple rules-based score, yes, using firmographic and behavioral data you already have. Purpose-built tools like 6sense add predictive models trained on much larger datasets, which is the tradeoff you're paying a sales-assisted price for.