Free Cold Email Software: What's Actually Free (And What's Not)

Let's be honest: truly free cold email software that lets you run real campaigns barely exists. Most tools slap "free" on their landing page, then hit you with a trial that expires in 14 days or a freemium plan that doesn't let you actually send emails.

I've tested the major players to find out which ones offer genuine free functionality and which are just bait-and-switch marketing. Here's what you need to know before you commit time to any platform.

The Reality of "Free" Cold Email Tools

Cold email software isn't cheap to run. These platforms need to maintain email infrastructure, warm-up systems, deliverability tools, and lead databases. That costs real money. So when you see "free," expect one of these catches:

With that context, let's look at what's genuinely available without paying.

Hunter Sequences – The Best Truly Free Option

Hunter.io's Sequences tool is genuinely free to use for cold email outreach. It's not a trial – it's an actual free tier that lets you send campaigns.

What you get for free:

The limitations:

Hunter defaults to 15 emails per day to protect your deliverability – which is actually smart. Advanced users can push up to 400 emails daily on Gmail accounts. The free plan gives you limited credits for their email finder and verifier tools, so you'll need your own lead list or pay for credits to find new contacts.

Best for: Small-scale outreach, testing cold email before investing in paid tools, freelancers running occasional campaigns.

Apollo.io – Generous Free Plan With Real Features

Apollo offers a forever-free plan that's surprisingly robust. You get 10,000 email credits per month, plus access to their B2B contact database.

Free plan includes:

The catch:

You're limited to one inbox on the free plan. That's a problem for serious cold emailers who need sender rotation across multiple accounts to maintain deliverability. The interface can feel overwhelming if you're new to sales engagement platforms.

Best for: People who need both lead data AND sending capability in one tool. If you're scrappy and want to test outbound without paying anything, Apollo's free tier is hard to beat.

Lemlist – Freemium That Can't Actually Send

Lemlist has a "free" plan, but here's the dirty secret: freemium users cannot launch email campaigns. The free tier only lets you use their Chrome extension to export up to 100 emails or 25 phone numbers per month.

If you want to actually send cold emails through Lemlist, paid plans start at $69/month for Email Pro. That gets you unlimited campaigns, email warm-up via Lemwarm, and access to their 450M+ lead database.

They do offer a 14-day free trial on paid plans where you can send up to 50 emails per day and test all features. But once it expires, you're either paying or stuck on the useless freemium tier.

Best for: Teams ready to invest in a serious multichannel outreach tool. Not for bootstrappers looking for free solutions.

If you do end up trying Lemlist, you can start a free trial here.

Instantly – 14-Day Trial, No Free Plan

Instantly is a popular choice for high-volume cold email, but they don't offer a permanent free tier. You get a 14-day free trial with full feature access, then you're locked out until you subscribe.

During the trial, you can connect unlimited email accounts, use their warm-up tools, and send campaigns. They recommend keeping sends under 30 emails per inbox per day during warm-up.

Paid plans start at $37/month for the Growth tier, which includes unlimited email accounts, unlimited warmup, and 1,000 uploaded contacts.

The appeal: Instantly's one subscription covers unlimited email accounts, which is huge for agencies or teams scaling sender volume. Most competitors charge per seat or per account.

Best for: People who know cold email works for them and want to scale with multiple sending accounts.

Ready to try it? Start your Instantly free trial here.

Smartlead – Another 14-Day Trial Play

Smartlead offers a 14-day free trial with no credit card required. Their Basic plan starts at $39/month (or $32.50 billed annually) and includes 2,000 active leads, 6,000 emails per month, and unlimited email warm-up.

What makes Smartlead different:

The downsides:

No permanent free tier. The basic plan lacks integrations and API access – you need the Pro plan at $94/month for those. Adding clients for agency use costs $29/month per client. Some users report the UI feels dated compared to competitors.

Best for: Agencies and teams who need serious deliverability infrastructure and don't mind paying for it.

Try Smartlead's 14-day free trial to see if it fits your workflow.

GMass – Gmail Power Users

GMass is a Chrome extension that turns your Gmail into a cold email platform. During their free trial, you can send up to 50 emails per day.

Paid plans start at $25/month for unlimited sending (subject to Gmail's own limits). The Professional plan at $55/month adds more advanced features.

Why GMass works: It's dead simple if you already live in Gmail. No new interface to learn. The plain-text focus actually helps deliverability for cold outreach – fancy HTML templates often trigger spam filters.

Limitations: Gmail-only. No lead database. No multichannel features. If you need LinkedIn outreach or phone integration, look elsewhere.

Woodpecker – Free Verification, Paid Sending

Woodpecker's cold email plans start at $29/month, which includes free email verification through their built-in Bouncer integration. That's a nice perk since email verification usually costs extra.

They offer A/B testing for up to 5 email variations per step, inbox rotation, and integration with CRMs like HubSpot and Pipedrive. LinkedIn steps are available but run through a third-party tool called Dux-Soup.

No free tier for sending – you'll need to pay to run campaigns. But the built-in verification saves you from buying a separate tool.

My Recommendation: Start With Apollo or Hunter

If you want genuinely free cold email capability:

  1. Apollo.io is the best all-in-one free option. You get lead data AND sending in one tool. The 10,000 email credits per month is enough to test whether cold email works for your business.
  2. Hunter Sequences is legitimately free for sending if you already have a lead list. No time limit, no credit card required.

If you're ready to invest but want to test first:

  1. Instantly – Best for scaling with multiple inboxes. 14-day trial here.
  2. Smartlead – Strong deliverability features for agencies. 14-day trial here.
  3. Lemlist – Best for multichannel (email + LinkedIn + calls). 14-day trial here.

What About Reply.io?

Reply.io is another solid option in the cold email space. They offer multichannel sequences, AI-powered features, and CRM integrations. Worth checking out if you're comparing multiple platforms.

See Reply.io's pricing and features.

Don't Forget: Tools Are Just Part of the Equation

The best cold email software in the world won't help if your targeting is off or your copy sucks. Before you obsess over which tool to use, make sure you have:

If you're also evaluating your CRM setup for handling replies, check out our guide to CRM software for small businesses.

Bottom Line

"Free" cold email software mostly means "free to look at, not free to use." Apollo and Hunter are the exceptions with legitimate free tiers that let you send actual campaigns. Everything else is a trial or a feature-limited freemium that exists to convert you to paid.

That said, cold email tools generally pay for themselves fast. If you're booking even one meeting per month from cold outreach, the $30-100/month most tools cost is trivial compared to the pipeline you're generating. Don't let the free vs. paid question paralyze you – pick a tool, test it for two weeks, and either commit or move on.