Best Cold Email Software: 6 Tools That Actually Work

Cold email is still one of the most effective ways to generate B2B leads-if you have the right tools. The problem? There are dozens of options, and they all claim to be the best. Some are overpriced. Some have terrible deliverability. Some lock essential features behind expensive tiers.

I've tested the major players in this space. Here's my breakdown of the best cold email software based on actual usage, not marketing fluff.

Quick Comparison: Best Cold Email Tools

ToolStarting PriceBest ForKey Strength
Instantly$37/monthHigh-volume sendersUnlimited email accounts
Smartlead$39/monthAgenciesWhite-label + client management
Lemlist$69/monthMultichannel outreachLinkedIn + email sequences
Reply.io$49/monthSales teamsAI SDR features
ApolloFree/$49/monthAll-in-one prospectingBuilt-in lead database
Saleshandy$25/monthCost-conscious teamsAI sequence generation
GMass$29.95/monthGmail usersNative Gmail integration

1. Instantly - Best for Scaling Cold Email Volume

Instantly has become the go-to choice for cold emailers who need to send at scale. The main selling point? Unlimited email accounts on all plans.

Pricing

Instantly also offers separate Lead and CRM plans. The Leads plans start at $47/month for 1,000 credits (Growth Leads), with higher tiers offering 5,000 credits ($97/month) and 10,000 credits ($197/month). The CRM plans range from $47/month (Growth CRM) to $97/month (Hyper CRM) with advanced features like call/SMS integration.

What's Good

What's Not

Best Use Cases

Instantly works best for businesses and agencies that need to send high volumes of cold emails across multiple domains. If you're sending 10,000+ emails per month and need reliable deliverability, Instantly's infrastructure handles it well. The unlimited warmup feature is particularly valuable for teams that need to onboard new sending domains quickly.

Bottom Line: Instantly is excellent for email-focused outreach when you need to scale across multiple sending accounts. Just know that advanced features require upgrading, and the full platform can get pricey when you add leads and CRM functionality.

Try Instantly Free →

2. Smartlead - Best for Agencies

Smartlead is built specifically for lead generation agencies and teams running campaigns for multiple clients. The white-label features and sub-account management make it stand out.

Pricing

However, the base pricing doesn't tell the whole story. Smartlead charges extra for several add-ons: client management ($29/client/month), email verification, secondary domains, and dedicated servers. These add-ons can significantly increase your actual costs.

What's Good

What's Not

Real-World Costs

A practical example: To send 30,000 emails/month, you'd need the Pro Plan ($939.60/year), plus email verification for 1,000 addresses, 7 secondary domains with 3 emails each, and potentially a dedicated server. Your actual annual cost could reach $2,600-$2,800-nearly 3x the advertised price.

Bottom Line: If you're an agency managing cold email for multiple clients, Smartlead's white-label features and pricing structure make sense. Solo users might find better value elsewhere. The platform excels at high-volume sending with strong deliverability, but budget carefully for add-ons.

Try Smartlead →

3. Saleshandy - Best for AI-Assisted Sequences

Saleshandy has emerged as a strong contender in the cold email space, offering AI-powered features at competitive prices. It's particularly appealing for teams that want advanced automation without breaking the bank.

Pricing

What's Good

What's Not

Standout Features

The AI Sequence CoPilot is genuinely helpful. Give it your website URL, upload a prospect list, and it automatically pulls your value proposition and builds personalized sequences with custom icebreakers for each prospect. It's a massive time-saver for teams launching multiple campaigns.

The deliverability stack is also comprehensive: sequence scoring, ESP matching, sender rotation, and bounce detection work together to keep your emails out of spam folders.

Bottom Line: Saleshandy offers an impressive feature set at a lower price than competitors. If you're focused purely on email outreach and want AI assistance without paying premium prices, it's worth testing. The unlimited email accounts and strong deliverability make it scalable.

4. GMass - Best Gmail Integration

GMass takes a different approach than standalone platforms-it works entirely within Gmail as a Chrome extension. For teams already living in Gmail, this native integration is incredibly convenient.

Pricing

Note: New pricing went into effect January 1, 2026, with modest increases across all plans.

What's Good

What's Not

Unique Capabilities

GMass monitors Google Sheets for new entries and automatically sends emails to new rows-perfect for ongoing lead generation. The "triggered emails" feature sends messages when prospects are active in their inbox, improving open rates.

The platform also offers distributed scheduling across multiple SMTP services, letting you exceed Gmail's native 500/2,000 email daily limits.

Bottom Line: If you're a Gmail power user who wants to add bulk sending and automation without leaving your inbox, GMass delivers excellent value. It's not built for complex agency workflows, but for individual users and small teams, the Gmail integration is seamless.

5. Lemlist - Best for Multichannel Sequences

Lemlist isn't just cold email-it's a full multichannel outreach platform that combines email, LinkedIn, calls, and even WhatsApp automation.

Pricing

Quarterly billing gets you 10% off, annual billing 20% off.

What's Good

What's Not

Multichannel Workflows

Lemlist's strength is connecting channels. You can create sequences that start with an email, follow up on LinkedIn, make a call, and send another email-all automated based on prospect behavior. The visitor identification feature lets you see which companies visit your website and immediately add them to outreach sequences.

Bottom Line: Lemlist is the strongest option if you want LinkedIn + email outreach combined. The per-user pricing hurts for larger teams, but for smaller sales teams doing multichannel prospecting, it delivers. Budget carefully for credits and extra sending addresses.

Try Lemlist →

6. Reply.io - Best AI-Powered Sales Engagement

Reply.io positions itself as an AI-first sales engagement platform with their "Jason AI" SDR agent that can handle outreach from prospecting to booking meetings.

Pricing

What's Good

What's Not

Bottom Line: Reply.io is powerful but complex. Best for experienced sales teams who want AI automation across multiple channels. Not ideal for beginners or tight budgets.

Try Reply.io →

7. Apollo - Best All-in-One Prospecting Platform

Apollo combines a massive B2B contact database with email sequencing, making it a solid choice if you want lead finding and outreach in one tool.

Pricing

What's Good

What's Not

Bottom Line: Apollo is the strongest choice if you need prospecting data AND email outreach in one platform. The free plan is genuinely useful for small teams. Just watch your credit usage carefully as enrichment and phone number lookups consume credits quickly.

8. Close CRM - Best for Small Sales Teams

If you're looking for something simpler that combines CRM functionality with cold email and calling, Close is worth considering.

Close isn't a dedicated cold email tool-it's a sales CRM with built-in email sequences, calling, and SMS. For small teams who don't want to manage multiple tools, it streamlines the entire sales process.

Check out our detailed Close CRM review and Close CRM pricing breakdown for more details.

Try Close CRM →

How to Choose the Right Cold Email Tool

Pick Instantly If:

Pick Smartlead If:

Pick Saleshandy If:

Pick GMass If:

Pick Lemlist If:

Pick Reply.io If:

Pick Apollo If:

Deliverability: The Hidden Factor

Your cold email software doesn't matter if emails land in spam. Here's what to look for:

Email Warmup

All major tools include automated warmup, but implementation varies. Instantly, Smartlead, and Saleshandy offer unlimited warmup from their base plans. GMass includes it in higher tiers. Apollo notably doesn't offer warmup-you'll need a third-party service.

Warmup works by gradually increasing sending volume while simulating positive engagement signals. Quality platforms use networks of real mailboxes (not fake accounts) to exchange emails, building sender reputation.

Inbox Rotation

Spreading sends across multiple accounts protects your domain reputation. If one account encounters issues, others continue delivering. Instantly and Smartlead excel here with unlimited account connections.

Advanced features like ESP matching (routing emails through accounts that match the recipient's provider) and dynamic IP rotation further improve placement rates.

Send Limits and Pacing

Keep to 30-50 emails per inbox per day, even if tools allow more. Platforms that enforce or recommend conservative pacing protect you from yourself. GMass and Saleshandy both include built-in safeguards.

Ramp gradually. New domains shouldn't immediately send 50 emails daily. Start at 5-10 and increase weekly over 4-6 weeks.

Dedicated IPs

Higher-tier plans from Instantly (Light Speed) and Smartlead offer dedicated IP pools. For ultra-high volume senders (100,000+ emails/month), this isolation from other users' behavior is valuable.

Technical Setup

Proper DNS configuration matters more than any software feature:

Tools with built-in SPF checkers (GMass, Saleshandy) help identify configuration issues before they hurt deliverability.

Content Matters

No tool can fix bad email copy. Avoid:

Saleshandy's spam word detector flags problematic language before sending. GMass's Spam Solver analyzes multiple factors affecting deliverability.

Common Cold Email Mistakes (And How Software Helps)

Mistake 1: Not Verifying Email Lists

Sending to invalid addresses kills sender reputation. High bounce rates signal to providers that you're a spammer.

Solution: Use built-in verification (GMass includes unlimited verification, Saleshandy offers it as an add-on) or integrate third-party services like NeverBounce or ZeroBounce. Apollo refunds credits for bounced emails.

Mistake 2: Blast Sending

Sending the same email to everyone at once looks like spam to mailbox providers.

Solution: Platforms with smart scheduling (Instantly, Smartlead) distribute sends throughout the day with randomized timing. GMass's distributed scheduling spreads campaigns across hours or days.

Mistake 3: No Follow-Up Sequences

80% of sales require 5+ touchpoints, but most cold emailers give up after one attempt.

Solution: Every platform above supports automated follow-ups. Saleshandy allows up to 26 steps. GMass and Lemlist enable behavior-based triggers (follow up only if they opened but didn't reply).

Mistake 4: Poor Personalization

"Hi [First Name]" isn't personalization-it's mail merge.

Solution: Use conditional logic and multiple data points. Saleshandy's AI CoPilot generates custom icebreakers. Lemlist creates personalized images. Clay integration (supported by most platforms) enables advanced data enrichment.

Mistake 5: Ignoring Analytics

Running campaigns without tracking performance is flying blind.

Solution: Monitor open rates (20-40% is healthy), reply rates (1-5% is typical), and bounce rates (stay under 2%). All platforms provide analytics, but depth varies. GMass includes sentiment analysis. Apollo tracks engagement over time.

Advanced Features Worth Paying For

A/B Testing

Testing subject lines, email copy, and sending times can double response rates. Instantly, GMass (Premium+), Smartlead, and Apollo include split testing.

Test one variable at a time: subject lines first (biggest impact), then opening lines, then calls-to-action. Saleshandy offers A/Z testing (multiple variants simultaneously).

API and Webhooks

For teams with technical resources, API access enables powerful automation. Trigger sequences from CRM events, sync data bi-directionally, or build custom reporting dashboards.

Instantly (Hypergrowth+), Reply.io, and Apollo offer robust API access. GMass provides API on Premium+ plans.

Team Collaboration

Shared inboxes, unified reply management, and role-based permissions matter for teams. Instantly's Unibox and Smartlead's Master Inbox centralize responses across dozens or hundreds of sending accounts.

Saleshandy includes AI-powered filtering to categorize leads as interested, not interested, or needing follow-up.

CRM Integration

Native integrations with Salesforce, HubSpot, and Pipedrive eliminate double data entry. Apollo, Lemlist, and Reply.io offer the most extensive CRM connections.

For tools without native integrations, Zapier, Make, or webhooks provide workarounds (though less elegant).

AI Features

AI is overhyped in cold email, but specific applications help:

AI works best as an assistant, not a replacement for strategic thinking about messaging and targeting.

Budget Breakdown: What You'll Actually Spend

Scenario 1: Solo Founder (10,000 emails/month)

Best option: Saleshandy Outreach Starter ($25/month) or GMass Standard ($29.95/month)

Include: Email verification ($10-20/month via NeverBounce), 2-3 domains ($30-50/year total)

Total: ~$40-50/month

Scenario 2: Small Team (50,000 emails/month)

Best option: Instantly Hypergrowth ($97/month) or Saleshandy Outreach Pro ($56/month)

Include: Lead database access ($50-100/month), 5-7 domains and email accounts ($100-200/year), verification credits

Total: ~$150-200/month

Scenario 3: Agency (Multiple Clients, 200,000+ emails/month)

Best option: Smartlead Pro ($94/month base) or Instantly Light Speed ($358/month)

Include: Client management fees, dedicated servers, additional domains (10-20), verification at scale

Total: $300-500/month (varies significantly based on clients)

Hidden Costs to Budget For

Cold Email Software FAQ

What's the difference between cold email software and email marketing platforms?

Cold email software (Instantly, Smartlead, etc.) is designed for 1:1 outreach to prospects who haven't opted in. It focuses on deliverability, personalization, and sales workflows.

Email marketing platforms (Mailchimp, ConvertKit) are for bulk promotional campaigns to subscribers who opted in. They prioritize design, segmentation, and broadcast capabilities.

The technical distinction matters: cold email must navigate stricter spam filters since recipients didn't request contact.

Is cold email legal?

In the US: Yes, under CAN-SPAM rules. You must include your business address, an unsubscribe link, and honor opt-out requests within 10 days.

In Europe: More complex under GDPR. B2B outreach to business email addresses for legitimate interest is generally acceptable, but you need clear opt-out mechanisms.

In Canada: CASL requires consent for most commercial messages, though exceptions exist for existing business relationships.

Best practice: Always include unsubscribe options, even when not legally required. Target well, personalize deeply, and provide real value.

How many emails should I send per day?

New accounts: Start at 5-10 per day, increase by 5-10 every 3-5 days until reaching 30-50 per account.

Warmed accounts: 30-50 per day per account is the safe maximum. Higher volumes risk spam filtering.

To send more: Connect multiple accounts and use inbox rotation. Instantly and Smartlead make this seamless with unlimited account connections.

What's a good response rate?

1-5% is typical for cold email. Factors affecting response:

If you're below 1%, fix targeting or messaging before blaming the software. Above 5% means you've found strong product-market fit.

Should I use a separate domain for cold email?

Yes, absolutely. If your primary domain (yourbusiness.com) gets flagged, all emails-including transactional and internal-could be affected.

Use secondary domains (yourbusinessmail.com, yourcompanyoutreach.com) for cold outreach. Tools like Smartlead and Instantly support unlimited domain connections.

How important is email warmup?

Critical for new domains and accounts. Without warmup, cold emails from a fresh domain go straight to spam.

Warmup gradually builds sending reputation by exchanging emails with trusted accounts, simulating positive engagement signals.

Duration: 2-4 weeks minimum before full-volume sending. Platforms with automated warmup (Instantly, Smartlead, Saleshandy) handle this automatically.

Final Verdict

For most users getting started with cold email, Instantly offers the best balance of features, ease of use, and price. The unlimited email accounts and solid deliverability make scaling straightforward.

If budget is tight, Saleshandy provides impressive features at $25/month with AI-assisted sequence generation and a huge lead database.

Agencies should look at Smartlead for client management and white-label features, though budget carefully for add-ons.

Teams wanting LinkedIn automation should consider Lemlist for true multichannel sequences.

Gmail power users get the most value from GMass, which offers professional features at affordable prices with zero learning curve.

And if you need prospecting data built-in, Apollo's free tier is hard to beat for testing and small-scale campaigns.

Whatever you choose, remember that software is just one piece. Your results come from good targeting, compelling copy, and consistent follow-up. The best cold email tool is the one you'll actually use consistently-with proper warmup, thoughtful personalization, and respect for your prospects' time.

Start with a free trial (most platforms offer 7-14 days), test with a small list, and measure deliverability before committing to annual plans. Cold email success takes experimentation, iteration, and patience-but with the right tool, it remains one of the highest-ROI channels for B2B lead generation.