Email outreach tools compared: pricing, limits and strengths
lemlist, Instantly, Smartlead, La Growth Machine and SmartOutbound compared on what really matters: the real price for a team, the number of mailboxes, volumes, and what each tool does better than the others.
Updated on 11 November 2026
Choosing an email outreach tool often feels like comparing mobile phone plans: every vendor counts differently. Some charge per user, others by email volume, by number of contacts or by "identity". To compare them honestly, you have to put everyone on the same footing.
We recorded the public prices on 11 November 2026, from the official pricing pages. Prices for US tools are in dollars, excluding tax. They change regularly: check them before you decide.
The table
| Tool | Entry price per month | What is counted | Sending mailboxes | Emails per month at that price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SmartOutbound | €9.99 excl. VAT | connected mailboxes, in blocks of 10 | 10 | up to 15,000 |
| Smartlead (Base) | $39 | emails and active contacts | unlimited | 6,000 |
| Instantly (Growth) | $47 | emails and imported contacts | unlimited | 5,000 |
| La Growth Machine (Basic) | €60 excl. VAT per identity | identities (senders) | those of the identity | not specified |
| lemlist (Email) | $69 | users | unlimited | not specified |
The prices shown are for monthly billing. Every vendor offers a discount for annual billing (around 15 to 20%). SmartOutbound's volumes correspond to the cap of 50 emails per mailbox per day, which we recommend not exceeding, whatever the tool.
What the table shows
For a single person sending very little, the price differences are real but not decisive. The choice comes down more to features.
For a team, the way things are counted changes everything. A tool charged per user or per identity costs five times as much with five sales reps. A tool charged by email volume becomes expensive as soon as outreach scales up. SmartOutbound counts only mailboxes: five sales reps with two mailboxes each stay in the first tier, at €9.99 excl. VAT per month.
For an agency or a call centre managing several clients, you need to look at the number of mailboxes and how clients are kept separate. In SmartOutbound, each client can have their own workspace, with their own mailboxes, campaigns and statistics.
What the others do better
An honest comparison also has to say what is missing. Today, SmartOutbound does not do:
- LinkedIn: no LinkedIn sequences. La Growth Machine and lemlist (Multichannel plan) offer them.
- Built-in contact database: you import your own files. Instantly and lemlist sell access to a prospect database.
- Microsoft 365 and Outlook: the Microsoft connection is not available yet. Google Workspace, Gmail and all SMTP/IMAP providers (Hostinger, OVH, IONOS, Zoho, Infomaniak, Gandi...) work.
- Track record: SmartOutbound is a recent tool, with a smaller integration ecosystem than players that have been around for years.
If any of these points is essential to you, another tool will suit you better. If your outreach is mainly by email, from your own mailboxes, the price difference is hard to ignore.
The detailed comparisons
- SmartOutbound vs lemlist: price per user versus price per mailbox.
- SmartOutbound vs Instantly: email volumes and contact limits.
- SmartOutbound vs Smartlead: unlimited mailboxes and what they really cost.
- SmartOutbound vs La Growth Machine: email alone or email plus LinkedIn.
For the full detail of our plans: SmartOutbound pricing.
Frequently asked questions
+Which cold email tool is the cheapest?
At entry price, SmartOutbound is the cheapest in this comparison: €9.99 excl. VAT per month for 10 mailboxes and up to 15,000 emails per month, with no limit on users or contacts. The entry prices of the other tools range from $39 to $69 per month.
+Why does per-user pricing cost so much?
Because it goes up with every sales rep, even if each one only sends a few dozen emails a day. A team of five pays five subscriptions for a volume that a single mailbox tier would be enough to cover.
+Unlimited mailboxes: is it really unlimited?
The number of mailboxes is unlimited, but email volume and the number of contacts are capped depending on the plan. That cap is what determines the real price.
+When should you choose another tool?
If you also want to prospect on LinkedIn, buy contacts directly in the tool, or if your mailboxes are with Microsoft 365, another tool will currently suit you better.