Smartlead vs Instantly.ai
Smartlead and Instantly.ai side by side: what each one is, what it costs to start, and whether you can try it free. Everything below comes from the vendors' own sites and other public sources, not from hands-on testing.
At a glance
| Smartlead | Instantly.ai | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Sales & CRM | Sales & CRM |
| Starting price | $32.50/mo (checked October 2026) | $47/mo (checked October 2026) |
| Free tier | Not listed | Not listed |
| Profile | Read profile | Read profile |
Prices are in US dollars unless shown otherwise. Confirm the current price on the vendor's site before you buy.
Key differences
Neither lists a free tier, so expect to pay to use either one.
Smartlead has the lower starting price ($32.50/mo against $47/mo for Instantly.ai). The cheapest plan rarely has the same limits or features, so compare plans before choosing on price.
Both are in our Sales & CRM category.
About each tool
Smartlead
Cold email outreach platform with unlimited mailboxes, warmup and a unified inbox; Base is $32.50 a month billed annually ($39 monthly), with a 14-day trial.
Who it is for
Smartlead's pricing page positions Base for solo founders and first campaigns, and Pro, Unlimited Smart and Unlimited Prime for growing teams, agencies and multi-client agencies. Pricing is not per seat, and client workspaces for agencies are an add-on or a Prime inclusion.
Strengths
- Smartlead lists unlimited mailboxes on all plans at no extra cost, and says sending rotates across all connected mailboxes within a campaign.
- Smartlead says annual billing saves 17% on all plans, with monthly or annual billing, no long-term commitment and cancellation anytime.
- The 14-day free trial needs no credit card and includes all paid features except white labeling, with unlimited mailbox connections (Smartlead help center).
- Pro and above list CRM, API and webhooks; Unlimited Smart and Prime add access to customer success manager calls, and Prime lists a dedicated manager and a private Slack channel.
- Smartlead describes warmup as automated across email providers, with warmup pools by tier: Foundation on Base, Growth on Pro, Premium on Unlimited Smart and Prime.
- Smartlead's help center lists API documentation, webhooks, a Master Inbox, SmartDelivery, SmartAgents and an MCP server for connecting Smartlead to Claude.
Limitations
- Plans cap stored contacts and monthly sends: Base allows 2,000 contacts and 6,000 sends, Pro 30,000 contacts and 90,000 sends, Unlimited Smart 150,000 sends and Unlimited Prime 500,000 sends.
- Base lists no CRM, no API or webhooks, no client workspaces and no customer success manager calls; these start on Pro or higher.
- Verified prospect emails (SmartProspect) are a $59 a month add-on on Base and Pro; they are included on Unlimited Smart (50,000) and Unlimited Prime (170,000).
- Client workspaces cost $29 a month each on Pro and Unlimited Smart, and private servers (SmartServers) cost $39 a month each; add-ons such as SmartSenders, SmartDelivery, email verification and SmartDialer are billed separately.
- Refunds: new subscriptions have a 7-day refund guarantee and renewals 3 days; add-on products are non-refundable. Smartlead's own pages disagree on whether Prime includes 3 or '3+' workspaces, and the privacy policy shows three different dates and says Smartlead sells prospect data to clients through SmartProspect.
Instantly.ai
Cold email outreach platform with unlimited email accounts and warmup, plus separate credits plans for lead data and AI agents. Outreach starts at $47 a month, billed monthly.
Who it is for
Instantly's pricing and help pages describe sales and outbound teams that send email campaigns from many mailboxes. It also sells done-for-you domains and email accounts and a custom-priced VIP setup service for teams that want hands-on help.
Strengths
- Instantly lists unlimited email accounts, automated warmup, analytics, scheduling, bounce detection, and API access on all Outreach plans.
- Instantly lists the Automation Builder at no extra cost on all plans.
- Instantly says there are no overage fees: when a plan's volume is used up, you move to a higher tier.
- Instantly lists native webhooks and a Deliverability AI Agent from the Hypergrowth plan. Its blog describes native HubSpot and Pipedrive connections and Zapier and Make workflows, and says Salesforce works through a partner, OutboundSync.
- Instantly's help center says the CRM covers email, calls, SMS, tasks, and LinkedIn in one place, with a unified inbox and opportunity stages; it describes unlimited seats at a flat price.
- Instantly sells done-for-you sending infrastructure: domains at $15 a year, and email accounts at $4, $5, or $10 a month depending on type.
Limitations
- Under the Terms, you keep ownership of your data but grant Instantly a license to process it and to use de-identified or aggregated data to improve its service. AI inputs and outputs count as your data, and Instantly says it is not responsible for how third-party AI services handle them, including for model training.
