Clinton won, but without delivering a knockout blow.
Trump didn't lose, and so lives to fight another day.
Neither candidate sunk their campaigns or elevated themselves beyond reach.
But Monday night's debate clash was 90 minutes of undeniably extraordinary political theatre punctuated by some genuinely revealing moments.
:: Trump and Clinton clash in first presidential debate
The headlines will declare that Clinton managed to get under Trump's skin by labelling the billionaire racist, sexist and unprepared.
It is certainly true that as she appeared commanding and even-tempered, Trump often interrupted and raised his voice, at times clearly irritated.
But the debate also threw into sharp relief the failure of Clinton to find truly effective ways of combating canny Trump.
She eviscerated him for not revealing his taxes, suggesting he was hiding links to foreign countries or debt.
He shot back that he would release his taxes if she released her deleted emails.
Trump appeared to admit to paying no federal tax. "Because I'm smart", he said. Clinton missed the moment to pounce.
"That's business" he shrugged, when Clinton talked about the financial crisis.
The remark was an absolute gift to Clinton and she let it pass by.
:: As it happened: White House rivals go head-to-head
There were other moments that might have turned into serious problems were Trump a conventional candidate in a conventional election.
Take the untruths.
He claimed Clinton had been "fighting ISIS her entire adult life" and yet had failed to beat them.
He denied he had called climate change a hoax.
He insisted he has always opposed the Iraq war.
All of these things are false.
:: Swing States: Will Trump attract blue collar workers in Pennsylvania?
He also garbled things, using the word 'bigly' and the mangled phrase that one public official was a "very against police judge".
But none of these traits are new, and despite them, the race remains tight.
Hillary Clinton is engaged in asymmetric political warfare with a unique candidate and she must be wondering how it has come to be that she, with all of her years in public life, is struggling to fight off a man with no governing experience at all.
She will be hoping that her debate performance did something to change that, particularly with the ever shrinking pool of undecided voters.
These debates are about reaching and influencing them.
Polls in the coming days will reveal who did it most successfully.
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