The cheapest cold email software, by volume
What each tool costs a month at eight sending volumes, from each vendor’s own pricing page (read November 8, 2026). The cheapest tool changes with volume, so we show every row and every assumption.
Cheapest option at each volume
5,000 emails a month
Inboxed
$5 a month
10,000 emails a month
Inboxed
$10 a month
25,000 emails a month
Inboxed
$25 a month
50,000 emails a month
Inboxed
$50 a month
100,000 emails a month
Lemlist
$89 a month (Email 100k)
250,000 emails a month
Instantly
$194 a month (Hypergrowth + 1 Outreach add-on)
500,000 emails a month
QuickMail
$299 a month (Agency)
1,000,000 emails a month
Lemlist
$659 a month (Email 1M)
Leaves out per-user plans with no send cap (Mailshake), because their cost at volume depends on how many users you’d need. See the methodology below.
The full price table
Cheapest published plan that covers each volume, billed monthly, in US dollars before tax. Scroll sideways on a phone.
| Tool | 5k | 10k | 25k | 50k | 100k | 250k | 500k | 1M |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inboxed | $5 | $10 | $25 | $50 | $100 | $250 | $500 | $1,000 |
| Instantly | $47 (Growth) | $107 (Hypergrowth) | $107 (Hypergrowth) | $107 (Hypergrowth) | $107 (Hypergrowth) | $194 (Hypergrowth + 1 Outreach add-on) * | $358 (Light Speed) | Not published |
| Smartlead | $39 (Base) | $94 (Pro) | $94 (Pro) | $94 (Pro) | $174 (Unlimited Smart) | $379 (Unlimited Prime) | $379 (Unlimited Prime) | Not published |
| Lemlist | $69 (Email 50k) | $69 (Email 50k) | $69 (Email 50k) | $69 (Email 50k) | $89 (Email 100k) | $359 (Email 500k) | $359 (Email 500k) | $659 (Email 1M) |
| Reply.io | $69 (Email Volume 2k) * | $79 (Email Volume 3k) * | $179 (Email Volume 10k) * | $299 (Email Volume 25k) * | $299 (Email Volume 25k) * | $999 (Email Volume 100k) * | Not published | Not published |
| Woodpecker | $39 (Email, 5,000 emails) | Not published | Not published | Not published | Not published | Not published | Not published | Not published |
| Saleshandy | $41 (Starter) | $99 (Pro) | $99 (Pro) | $99 (Pro) | $99 (Pro) | Not published | Not published | Not published |
| Mailshake1 user | $49 (Email Outreach, 1 user) | $49 (Email Outreach, 1 user) | $49 (Email Outreach, 1 user) | $49 (Email Outreach, 1 user) | $49 (Email Outreach, 1 user) | $49 (Email Outreach, 1 user) | $49 (Email Outreach, 1 user) | $49 (Email Outreach, 1 user) |
| Snov.io | $39 (Starter) * | $39 (Starter) * | $99 (Pro S) * | $99 (Pro S) * | $99 (Pro S) * | $369 (Pro L) * | $738 (Ultra) * | Not published |
| QuickMail | $49 (Starter) | $99 (Growth) | $99 (Growth) | $99 (Growth) | $99 (Growth) | $299 (Agency) | $299 (Agency) | Not published |
- * Uses Instantly’s $87 Outreach add-on (+125,000 emails) on Hypergrowth, which we assume can be bought more than once. Above 500,000 emails Instantly quotes Enterprise pricing. We use the monthly add-on price for annual billing too.
- * Instantly doesn’t publish a price at this volume.
- * Smartlead doesn’t publish a price at this volume.
- * Priced by active contacts: 1,250 contacts at 4 emails each.
- * Priced by active contacts: 2,500 contacts at 4 emails each.
- * Priced by active contacts: 6,250 contacts at 4 emails each.
- * Priced by active contacts: 12,500 contacts at 4 emails each.
- * Priced by active contacts: 25,000 contacts at 4 emails each.
- * Priced by active contacts: 62,500 contacts at 4 emails each.
- * Priced by active contacts: 125,000 contacts at 4 emails each. Above 100,000 contacts Reply.io quotes on request.
- * Priced by active contacts: 250,000 contacts at 4 emails each. Above 100,000 contacts Reply.io quotes on request.
- * Woodpecker lists Email plan tiers up to 1,000,000 emails a month, but the prices above the 5,000-email tier didn’t display when we read its pricing page, so we leave them out.
- * Above 200,000 emails a month Saleshandy quotes Enterprise pricing.
- * Priced by recipients: 1,250 recipients at 4 emails each.
- * Priced by recipients: 2,500 recipients at 4 emails each.
- * Priced by recipients: 6,250 recipients at 4 emails each.
- * Priced by recipients: 12,500 recipients at 4 emails each.
- * Priced by recipients: 25,000 recipients at 4 emails each.
- * Priced by recipients: 62,500 recipients at 4 emails each.
- * Priced by recipients: 125,000 recipients at 4 emails each.
- * Priced by recipients: 250,000 recipients at 4 emails each. Above 200,000 recipients a month Snov.io sells Custom Ultra on request.
- * QuickMail publishes no plan above 500,000 emails a month.
Assumptions
- Mailboxes and domains: left out for every tool, Inboxed included. They’re billed by your email provider or bought as an add-on.
- Seats: one user. Most email-volume plans here include unlimited or several users; Mailshake is priced per user, and Reply.io’s smaller tiers are per user.
- Leads: Reply.io (active contacts) and Snov.io (recipients) don’t price by email, so we assume 4 emails per lead: a first email and three follow-ups.
- Contact caps: Instantly, Smartlead, Saleshandy and QuickMail also cap contacts or prospects per plan. We compare on email volume only, so a list larger than the cap can push you onto a bigger plan.
- Billing: monthly list prices. Most vendors are cheaper billed yearly; first-month promotions are left out.
- Inboxed: $1 per 1,000 emails that send, from a prepaid wallet. Top-ups start at $5 and aren’t refundable. Warmup and verification of campaign leads are free.
Methodology
We read each vendor’s own pricing page on November 8, 2026, never a review site. For every volume we take the cheapest published plan that covers it. Where a plan can be topped up with a published add-on (Instantly’s Outreach add-on), we add as many as needed and mark the result as an estimate.
If a vendor publishes no plan at a volume, the cell says “Not published”. Woodpecker’s pricing page didn’t show prices above its 5,000-email tier when we read it, so only that tier appears.
These tools aren’t in the table because they don’t publish a price by email volume:
- Apollo: Apollo publishes no sending limit per seat, so we can’t say what this volume costs there. Mailboxes and warmup use credits on top.
- Hunter: Hunter prices by credits and limits recipients per sequence (2,500 on Starter, 5,000 on Growth, 15,000 on Scale), not emails a month, so there’s no monthly volume to compare.
- La Growth Machine: La Growth Machine prices per identity in euros, not by email volume, so we don’t convert it to a monthly email cost.
- Outreach: Outreach publishes no prices: every package says “Request pricing”. It describes per-user pricing plus AI credits.
- Salesloft: Salesloft’s pricing page shows no prices or plan names; the only route it offers is booking a call.
Sources: Instantly, Smartlead, Lemlist, Reply.io, Woodpecker, Saleshandy, Mailshake, Snov.io, QuickMail.
Questions
What is the cheapest cold email software?
It depends on how much you send. In our table, Inboxed is cheapest up to 50,000 emails a month, and from 100,000 a flat plan (Lemlist Email 100k) costs less. Prices are monthly list prices read November 8, 2026.
Are mailboxes and domains included in these prices?
No. Every tool in the table sends through mailboxes you provide or buy (for example Google Workspace or Microsoft 365), so we leave mailbox and domain costs out of every row. Several vendors also sell done-for-you mailboxes as an add-on.
Why aren’t Apollo, Hunter, Outreach or Salesloft in the table?
They don’t publish a price we can map to a monthly email volume: Apollo prices per seat with no published sending limit, Hunter by credits with a limit per sequence, La Growth Machine per identity in euros, and Outreach and Salesloft only quote on request.
Is a free plan cheaper than all of these?
For very small volumes, yes. Apollo, Hunter and Snov.io have free plans with tight limits (for example, Hunter’s free plan allows 500 recipients per sequence and one email account). Inboxed has no free sending allowance, but 1,000 emails cost $1.
Instantly, Smartlead, Lemlist, Reply.io, Woodpecker, Saleshandy, Mailshake, Snov.io and QuickMail are trademarks of their owners, named only to compare products. Inboxed isn’t affiliated with them.
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