traxy vs Valley (2026): where the leads come from, how each lead is researched and who approves the send

TL;DR: traxy and Valley both find people showing interest on LinkedIn, check them against your ideal customer, research them and run LinkedIn and email outreach from your own accounts. The difference is where the leads come from and how the send is approved. traxy starts from LinkedIn social intent: tracked people, single posts and company pages with no tracking limits, plus a plain-English search over 71M+ scanned LinkedIn likes, posts and comments, and it keeps only people with a 50%+ ICP match, with the post or comment behind each lead. Valley starts from a library of plays, including company events such as hiring and funding, and drafts in your own writing style. In traxy you test a campaign on sample leads with nothing sent, approve the launch, then approve every message or let the approved campaign send on its own.

traxy runs your entire LinkedIn GTM end to end, from finding high intent leads from social intent to enriching and researching each one, to running relevant, personalized LinkedIn and email outreach to them on autopilot. Autopilot here always starts with your approval: you approve the campaign once and it runs, or you approve every message. traxy is the vendor writing this page. Every Valley fact below comes from Valley's own site, joinvalley.co, linked where it is used and checked November 2026. Prices are left out on purpose; see traxy pricing and Valley's own pricing page. If you want more than two tools side by side, read Valley alternatives.

traxy vs Valley: how do they compare for signal-based LinkedIn outbound?

Pick traxy if your best signal is what people post, comment on and like on LinkedIn and you want every lead tied to that activity, a 50%+ ICP match and research you define per campaign. Pick Valley if you want a large library of ready-made plays, including hiring, funding and new executive plays, and messages drafted in your own phrasing.

Both tools cover the same two halves: finding people worth contacting, then the outreach to them. Both research each person before the first message and both send from accounts you connect. The table shows where they differ.

How traxy runs it, step by step

1. Set up from your website. Enter your company website and traxy drafts your lead criteria (ICP) and signals, then shows a lead preview. Fix anything that is off before you approve it.

2. Pick your social intent sources. Track the people, posts and company pages whose audience matches your buyers, turn on profile views, or describe who you want and search the social intent database in plain English.

3. Let traxy qualify. Each person is scored against your ICP. Only a 50%+ match becomes a lead, and every lead shows the activity behind it.

4. Enrich. Auto-Enrich looks up contact data for newly qualified leads, and you can run email or phone lookups on any lead.

5. Build a campaign. Give it an audience (a saved shared lead view), your offer and the research you need. traxy researches each lead, filters out who does not fit and groups the rest by signal, with a personalized message variant per group.

6. Test and launch. Run the plan on sample leads, read the research and drafts with nothing sent, then check the launch review: who joins, who is skipped, the sender, the steps and the delivery mode.

7. Outreach runs. Approve every message in the review queue, or let the approved campaign send on its own from your connected LinkedIn and email accounts. Replies, unsubscribes and hard bounces stop the sequence, and every conversation lands in one inbox.

You can run many campaigns at once on different signals. For the full outreach setup, read LinkedIn outbound with traxy; for the signal side, signal-based outbound.

Disclosure: traxy is the vendor writing this; the criteria

traxy makes one of the two tools on this page, so read it as a vendor's comparison. To keep it fair, Valley is described only from its own pages, quoted where the wording matters, and we name the jobs where Valley fits better. Valley publishes its own comparison pages too, and it is worth reading them the same way.

We compared the two on six criteria, in the order a buyer meets them:

1. Where the leads come from: which signals each tool watches, and how many sources you can follow.

2. How each lead is qualified: what has to be true before a person counts as a lead.

3. What evidence you see: whether you can check the exact activity or research behind a lead before you mention it.

4. How research works: who decides what gets researched, and what happens when a fact is missing.

5. Who approves the send: per message, per sequence or per campaign, and what runs without you.

6. Channels and control: LinkedIn and email, the inbox, and whether you can run it from an AI chat.

We left out price, meeting counts and reply-rate claims. They change often and depend on your market, so test both tools on the same buyer description instead.

Where do the leads come from?

traxy finds leads from LinkedIn social intent: what people post, comment on and like, who views the profiles of the sender accounts you connect, and who engages with the people, posts and company pages you track. Valley finds leads from plays you pick, which mix LinkedIn activity with company events and your own lists.

In traxy

• Post engagement. People who like, comment on or write posts about the problem you solve, based on the Signal Brief you set in Targeting > Signals.

• Tracking. Follow LinkedIn profiles with a relationship tag (competitor, teammate, influencer, investor or custom), single posts by URL and company pages by domain. traxy qualifies whoever engages. There are no tracking limits on profiles, posts or company pages.

• Your own posts and profile views. Track your own profile to turn engagement on your posts into leads. The Profile views switch in Targeting > Signals turns people who view the profiles of the sender accounts you connect into leads, and Leads > Filters lets you narrow to viewers from the last 7, 30 or 90 days.

• Social Intent Search. Type who you want and the need, for example "find me founders looking for AEO help," and search 71M+ scanned LinkedIn likes, posts and comments. Each person comes with the post or comment behind them (Social Intent Search).

• Signals outside LinkedIn. Hiring, funding, job changes or a custom signal you describe come from research on each lead in a campaign, not from a separate live event feed.

For the competitor side of this, see how to track the people who engage with competitors' posts.

In Valley

Valley's homepage says you "choose from the playbook library: people engaging with your content, companies hiring, a competitor's audience, or your own list" (homepage). Its playbooks page lists 58 plays, among them qualified profile viewers, your post engagers, competitors' engagers, any post's engagers, company page followers, companies hiring for roles that signal your problem, companies that recently raised or were acquired, new executives in your buying seat, companies running paid ads, competitor churn, Sales Navigator searches and uploaded lists (playbooks). For competitor and influencer audiences, Valley watches "up to five competitor or influencer profiles at a time, and you can swap them whenever the market changes" (competitor post engagers).

What this means for you: if you want to follow many competitors, creators and company pages at once, or search for people by what they said, traxy's sources are wider on LinkedIn. If you want company events such as funding or a new executive as the starting signal of a play, Valley lists those as plays of their own.

How is each lead qualified and researched?

In traxy, a person becomes a lead only with a 50%+ ICP match, and research happens inside the campaign for the facts you choose. Valley checks each person against your ideal customer, explains the match and researches each person from many sources.

Qualification

traxy scores every person against your lead criteria: roles, departments, seniority and locations for people; size, industry, revenue, funding and keywords for companies. Qualification uses your required criteria and an ICP match of at least 50%, and filtering for a higher score narrows what you see without changing that threshold (qualification). Each lead is labeled Warm, Related, Activity or ICP match by how strong the evidence is, and the lead's Signals tab shows the post, comment, like or repost that put them on your list, with source and date (signals). A fit score is not a probability of purchase, so check both the fit and the evidence before you contact someone.

Valley's product page says "Valley checks each person against your ideal customer and explains the match. Correct a decision, refine the criteria, and re-check who belongs in your campaign" (product). Its competitor engagers page adds that "each person is scored against your ICP before anything is written, so students, job seekers, and other vendors drop out" (competitor post engagers).

Research on each lead

In traxy, a campaign researches each lead for the facts you ask for before any message is prepared. You might ask whether the company is hiring sales reps, what tool they use today or what the person posted about last. When a required fact isn't found, the lead stays in traxy, and in the campaign you can choose to skip it. A research-only campaign records the findings without sending anything, which is useful for account planning.

Valley's product page says it pulls "useful context from posts, interviews and company news" and lets you "see the sources behind the findings," with sources such as news, podcasts, LinkedIn, X, YouTube and newsletters (product).

What this means for you: traxy puts the LinkedIn activity front and center and lets you define the research per campaign. Valley puts weight on wide research about the person, including interviews and podcasts.

How are messages prepared, and who approves the send?

traxy prepares a personalized message variant for each signal group, and you decide per campaign whether you approve every message or let the approved campaign send. Valley drafts messages in your voice, and you approve every message or let vetted sequences run on autopilot.

In traxy

1. Grouping. Leads are grouped by signal, and each group gets its own message variant, personalized with the evidence on each lead.

2. Test. The campaign test runs the plan on sample leads so you can check research and drafts. Nothing is sent.

3. Launch review. Before launch you see who joins, who is skipped (held by another campaign or contacted before), the sender, the steps and the delivery mode. Confirming Launch is the campaign launch approval.

4. Delivery mode. In approval mode, every message waits in the review queue. You can edit it, choose Save, then Approve or Approve all. In automatic mode, the approved campaign sends on its own.

So traxy's outreach on autopilot means you approved the campaign first: it sends on its own after you test and approve the launch, or you approve each message. Changing the delivery mode to automatic does not release messages already waiting for approval (review and launch). For how to write the first line from the signal, see from a LinkedIn signal to a message.

In Valley

Valley's product page says it "combines what it learns about each prospect with your phrasing, punctuation and style," and you get "a relevant first draft that sounds like you, ready to review, edit and make your own" (product). Its explainer says "You approve every message, or let vetted sequences run on autopilot," and calls manual approval "the mode most founders start in" (what is Valley). Its post engagers page answers "Do I approve messages before they send?" with "Yes. Every message can be reviewed and edited before it goes out" (LinkedIn post engagers). Valley's product page also says it learns from what earns positive replies to improve the next campaign (product).

What this means for you: both let a person sign off before messages go out, and both can run without per-message review once you trust a campaign. traxy adds a test on sample leads with nothing sent and a launch review that lists who is skipped. Valley leans on drafting in your own voice and learning from replies.

Channels: LinkedIn and email, inbox and replies

Both run LinkedIn and email in one sequence from your own accounts and bring replies into one inbox.

In traxy, you connect LinkedIn accounts and mailboxes as sender accounts, with limits, active hours, ramp-up and email signatures. Sending needs those connected sender accounts. Sequences mix LinkedIn and email steps, and waits can depend on events such as a connection being accepted. Replies, unsubscribes and hard bounces stop the sequence (sequences). The inbox keeps one conversation per lead across LinkedIn and email, and you can pause a lead's sequence to take over. Do not contact lists stop outreach to specific emails or LinkedIn profiles, and campaigns run in priority order so one lead never gets two campaigns at once. You can also send a single LinkedIn message, connection request or email to one lead.

Valley's product page says to "connect your own accounts and put both channels in one sequence," and "when someone replies, the sequence stops so you can pick up the conversation" (product). Its explainer describes a sequence of "Connection request → LinkedIn follow-up → InMail if unconnected → email," with email sent from your own Google or Microsoft inbox, "capped around 30 emails/day per seat" (what is Valley). The homepage says "One seat connects one LinkedIn account" and lists email sending as an optional add-on on the Starter plan (homepage).

What this means for you: if InMail is part of how you reach people who are not connected, Valley lists it as a sequence step. If you plan to send from several LinkedIn accounts and mailboxes, check how each tool counts senders against your plan.

Can you run it from your AI chat?

Yes, both have an MCP server. With the traxy MCP, every customer can run campaigns from Claude, ChatGPT, Codex, Cursor or Grok, and the AI asks for your yes before anything sends or launches.

From your AI chat, traxy lets you search social intent, list and research your leads, start a discovery run, qualify a post's audience, update your ICP and tracked profiles, and send leads to a webhook. You can also draft a campaign, test it on sample leads, launch it, manage sequences and senders, send one-off messages and reply in the inbox. Setup is a one-time sign-in with no API key (connect your AI client). Read the LinkedIn GTM MCP for what it covers and find LinkedIn leads in Claude with the traxy MCP for a walkthrough. The REST API reads leads, signals and engagements from your own code.

Valley's MCP page says it works in "Claude, ChatGPT, and Cursor," lists "28 campaign and analytics tools, 25 for the inbox, dozens more across prospecting," and says there are "approval gates on everything that touches a prospect" (Valley MCP). Its homepage adds: "You choose which actions connected tools can take" (homepage).

Where Valley fits better

Valley is the better pick for some teams. Based on its own pages, choose Valley if:

• Company events are your main signal. Valley offers hiring, funding, new executive, paid ads, competitor churn and lookalike plays as ready-made plays (playbooks). In traxy, signals outside LinkedIn come from research on each lead in a campaign, not from a live event feed.

• You want drafts in your own phrasing. Valley says it combines prospect context "with your phrasing, punctuation and style" and learns from what earns positive replies (product).

• You want research from interviews and podcasts. Valley lists news, podcasts, YouTube and newsletters among its research sources and shows the sources behind each finding (product).

• InMail is part of your sequence. Valley's explainer lists InMail for people you are not connected to (what is Valley).

• You want a ready-made play for every starting point. A library of 58 plays is a quick way to start if you do not want to design the signal yourself (playbooks).

Where traxy fits better: your buyers show interest on LinkedIn; you want to follow many competitors, creators, posts and company pages with no tracking limits; you want to search what people said in plain English; you want the post or comment behind every lead and a 50%+ ICP match before a person counts; and you want a test on sample leads and a launch review before anything sends.

How to decide

Start from your best signal, then check how you want to approve. Three quick questions settle most cases:

1. Where does interest show up first? If it is in LinkedIn posts, comments and likes, around your competitors or the creators your buyers follow, start with traxy. If it is in company events such as a round or a new hire, look at Valley.

2. How many sources do you need to follow? Count the competitors, creators and company pages you would track. If it is more than five profiles, note that Valley watches up to five competitor or influencer profiles at a time, while traxy has no tracking limits.

3. How do you want to approve? If you want to see research and drafts on sample leads before launch, then approve each message or let the approved campaign run, traxy does that. If you want drafts in your voice that you approve, then move vetted sequences to autopilot, Valley describes that.

Run a fair side-by-side test

1. Write one buyer description: role, company type, the problem and the words they use about it.

2. Give both tools the same competitors or creators to follow and the same date range.

3. Take the first 20 leads from each and mark who you would message, and why.

4. Open the evidence behind each lead. Can you see the exact post, comment or research finding, and is it recent?

5. Read the drafts before anything sends. In traxy, run the campaign test on sample leads.

6. Check the approval setting and the sender accounts before you launch.

For a wider list of tools that start from signals, see the best signal-based outbound tools.

FAQ

Is traxy a Valley alternative?

Yes. Both find people showing interest on LinkedIn, check fit, research them and run LinkedIn and email outreach from your own accounts. traxy starts from LinkedIn social intent with no tracking limits and a 50%+ ICP match on every lead; Valley starts from a library of plays. More options are in Valley alternatives.

Does traxy send messages on autopilot?

It can, after you approve. You test the campaign on sample leads with nothing sent and approve the launch, then the campaign sends on its own. Or you choose approval mode and approve every message in the review queue. Replies, unsubscribes and hard bounces stop the sequence.

Does Valley let me approve messages before they send?

Yes. Valley's post engagers page says "Every message can be reviewed and edited before it goes out" (LinkedIn post engagers), and its explainer says you can also let vetted sequences run on autopilot (what is Valley).

How many competitor profiles can each tool track?

Valley watches "up to five competitor or influencer profiles at a time," and you can swap them (competitor post engagers). traxy has no tracking limits on profiles, posts or company pages.

Do both tools send LinkedIn and email?

Yes. traxy runs LinkedIn and email sequences from your connected sender accounts. Valley runs both in one sequence from your own accounts, and its homepage lists email sending as an optional add-on on its Starter plan (homepage).

Can I run traxy or Valley from Claude or ChatGPT?

Yes, both have an MCP. The traxy MCP works in Claude, ChatGPT, Codex, Cursor and Grok and can run campaigns, with a yes in chat before anything sends (LinkedIn MCP). Valley's MCP page names Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor (Valley MCP).

Does traxy track hiring and funding signals?

Through research on each lead. A campaign can research each lead for hiring, funding, job changes or a custom fact you describe, and group leads by what it finds. It is not a separate live event feed.

Can an agency run traxy for clients?

Yes. An agency can resell traxy or run it as a managed service for its clients.

Related reading

• Valley alternatives (2026): traxy, Gojiberry, Saava, La Growth Machine, Expandi and Embers compared

• The best signal-based outbound tools

• How to track the people who engage with competitors' posts

• From a LinkedIn signal to a message

• Find LinkedIn leads in Claude with the traxy MCP

• LinkedIn outbound with traxy, signal-based outbound and Social Intent Search

Sources for Valley, checked November 12, 2026: homepage, product, what is Valley, playbooks, competitor post engagers, LinkedIn post engagers and Valley MCP. Product details change; check each page before you decide.