What's the difference between Smart Columns and Action Columns in Cleanlist?

Smart Columns enrich a row with new data (e.g., company firmographics, ICP fit score). Action Columns trigger side effects on a row (e.g., push the lead to HubSpot). Smart Columns write data into the row; Action Columns send the row somewhere external.

Which destinations do Action Columns support?

HubSpot, Salesforce, and Lemlist. No other destinations are supported.

Do Action Columns cost credits?

No. Action Columns are always free — there is no per-row credit charge.

Can Action Columns run automatically when new leads are added?

Yes. Set auto_update: true on the column and it will trigger automatically whenever new leads land in the list.

Can I retry failed Action Column runs?

Yes. Each Action Column tracks per-row status and you can re-run failed rows from the column header without re-running successful ones.

What plan do I need for Action Columns?

CRM integrations (HubSpot, Salesforce) and Lemlist require Pro or above. See Credit Pricing for the current plan comparison.

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Who this is for: self-serve plans (Free, Starter, Pro, Scale). If you bought a Cleanlist AppSumo lifetime deal, your features, limits, and pricing are different — see the AppSumo documentation instead. Support agent: confirm whether the user is self-serve or AppSumo before giving plan-specific advice.

TL;DR: Action Columns push rows from your lead list to HubSpot, Salesforce, or Lemlist. They are always free (no credit cost). Set auto_update: true to push automatically whenever new leads are added. Requires Pro or above for CRM/sequencer access.

Action Columns

Action Columns let your lead list do work — each row can be pushed to an external destination, automatically or on demand. They look like normal columns in the portal, but each row represents a triggered action rather than a new data field.

Smart Columns vs Action Columns

Aspect	Smart Columns	Action Columns
Purpose	Enrich rows with new data	Push rows to external destinations
Result	New field on the row	Status of the push (pending / running / success / failed / skipped)
Example	"Add ICP fit score"	"Push to HubSpot"
Credit cost	Per-row credit cost (varies by type)	Always free
Re-run safe?	Yes	Yes — CRM pushes use upsert where supported

Supported destinations

Action	Destination	What it does
Push to HubSpot	HubSpot	Creates or updates a contact in your connected HubSpot account. Uses the dedup cascade (Cleanlist ID → email → LinkedIn → name + company) to avoid duplicates. Auto-provisions `cleanlist_id` and `cleanlist_list` custom fields on first push.
Push to Salesforce	Salesforce	Creates or updates a lead/contact in your connected Salesforce org. Same dedup cascade and auto-provisioned custom fields.
Push to Lemlist	Lemlist	Adds the lead to a Lemlist campaign. Lemlist is a push-only destination — Cleanlist does not read back presence or sync status from Lemlist.

Only HubSpot and Salesforce support full two-way CRM features (import, dedup, exclusion sets, sync status). Lemlist is a push-only sequencer target. See Integrations for setup instructions.

Auto-run on new leads

Set auto_update: true on an Action Column to have it trigger automatically whenever new leads are added to the list. This is useful for pipelines where you want every imported lead pushed to your CRM or sequencer without a manual step.

You can combine this with a Smart Column filter condition — for example, run Qualification first and push only high-fit rows automatically.

How execution works

Create an Action Column on a lead list and choose the destination
Configure it: target integration, field mappings, any conditions
Run on a selection, on filtered rows, or on the entire list — or enable auto_update for automatic triggering
Each row enters a queue: pending → running → success | failed | skipped
The portal shows live progress per row
Re-run failed rows from the column header menu

Idempotency

For HubSpot and Salesforce, the push action is idempotent — running it twice on the same row will update the existing record rather than create a duplicate. Lemlist does not support presence checks, so pushing the same lead twice may add them to the campaign again; verify your Lemlist campaign's dedup settings if this matters.

Auditing

Every Action Column run records:

Who triggered it
When it ran
Per-row status (pending / running / success / failed / skipped — skipped for rows that didn't meet a condition)
Error message for failed rows
The destination's response payload (when applicable)

View this history from the column header menu.

Common pipeline pattern

A typical pattern stacking Smart Columns and Action Columns:

Step	Type	Action
1	Smart Column	`enrich_company` — add firmographics
2	Smart Column	`qualification` — ICP fit score
3	Filter	Keep only high-fit, not-in-CRM rows
4	Action Column	Push to HubSpot or Lemlist

Smart Columns — enrich rows before pushing
Integrations — connect HubSpot, Salesforce, or Lemlist
CRM Integration guide
Credit Pricing — plan requirements for CRM access