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AI SDR software · 11 alternatives

Instantly alternatives: 11 compared

Sebastiaan Smits Editor Sebastiaan Smits · Published October 22, 2026 · Updated October 22, 2026

Teams look past Instantly when they want a refund or a month-to-month exit, when its three pricing tabs make a quote slow to compare, or when they want an agent to run the campaign rather than a sender to feed. Cold-email buyers mostly go to Smartlead or Lemlist, data-led teams to Clay or Apollo, and teams that want an agent to own outreach to AiSDR or Artisan.

Short answer: The closest replacements for Instantly in our AI SDR software ranking are Smartlead, Lemlist and Clay. Choose Smartlead if you want plans sized by monthly sends and a managed-service option from the same vendor. All 11 alternatives below are ranked products from Best AI SDR Software in 2026, and each says where it differs from Instantly and when Instantly is still the better choice.

Visibility in our rankings can be paid for. Payment moves a vendor's position within the shortlist; it never adds a vendor, and it never changes a word of the review or of this page. The first three alternatives go to challengers, vendors outside the best-known brands in a category, wherever the category has them; the established names follow in their ranked order. How it works: placement disclosure · editorial process.

Instantly at a glance

  • Headquarters: United States
  • Pricing model: Per plan / month (volume tiers)
  • Pricing: Outreach Growth plan $47 per month (unlimited email accounts and warmup, 5,000 emails a month, 1,000 uploaded contacts); lead credits start at $47 per month; bundles start at $94 per month and the Agency bundle is $555.
  • Free option: None
  • Built for: Agencies and founders sending volume
  • Wrong for: A sales leader who wants an agent to own prospecting and meeting booking without supervision, or a team that wants a CRM-centred workflow. Artisan or AiSDR are closer to that brief.
  • Place in our ranking: #2 of 12
  • Website: instantly.ai

Facts from our AI SDR software ranking, last checked October 22, 2026.

Why buyers look past Instantly

  1. Fees are non-refundable and renewals reprice

    Instantly's terms say all fees are non-refundable and non-cancellable, including unused time and credits. Paid plans renew automatically on the same monthly or yearly basis at the then-current price. A team that scales down mid-term pays out the period it already bought.

  2. The pricing page runs on three tabs

    The page splits into Bundles, Outreach and Instantly Credits. Growth is a $47 plan in the outreach tab and a $47 plan in the credits tab, and each tab sells different things under similar names. Buyers comparing a total monthly bill often need a worked example.

  3. Sending is the core, agents sit on top

    The Starter bundle ($94) lists an AI Sales Agent, and the AI Reply Agent is listed from the Scale bundle ($194). Lists, enrichment and sending are metered separately. Under the terms the subscriber is solely responsible for the legality of lead lists, including those from third parties.

11 alternatives at a glance

Closest replacement first. The last column is our place in the full 12-product ranking.

#AlternativeHeadquartersPricingKey differenceSwitch ifOur rank
1SmartleadAustraliaPer plan / month (send volume); free trialCold email infrastructure with agents and master inboxyou want plans sized by monthly sends and a managed-service option from the same vendor#8
2LemlistFranceFlat or per user / month; free trialMultichannel outreach with a lead database and AI agentsyou want LinkedIn, SMS and calls in the same sequence as email#7
3ClayUnited StatesUsage-based (actions and credits); free planSpreadsheet-style data enrichment and AI research workflowsyou want enrichment and research logic to decide who gets a message#3
4UnifyUnited StatesPer seat / month plus credits; free planChat-driven outbound with signals, data and sequencingyour reps run outbound themselves and you want per-seat prices with a free tier#1
5Apollo.ioUnited StatesFree + paid tiers (credits); free planContact database with sequencing, dialer and AI assistantyou want one tool for contact data, sequencing and a free starting plan#4
6AiSDRUnited StatesPer contact prospected; noneAI outbound agent priced per person prospectedyou want to pay per contact reached and hand campaign setup to an agent#5
7AmplemarketUnited StatesPer plan / month (annual term); free trialAI sales platform with signals, dialer and Duo copilotyou will commit to an annual term for data, signals and multichannel in one platform#6
8ArtisanUnited StatesQuote only; noneAva, an AI BDR for end-to-end outboundyou want a managed agent and onboarding more than control of mailboxes#10
911xUnited StatesQuote only; noneDigital worker agents for outbound, inbound and expansionyou want agents across several channels and will buy through a demo call#12
10WarmlyUnited StatesAnnual or quarterly subscription; noneWebsite visitor identification with AI chat and outreachyour best leads already visit your site and you want to act on them#9
11QualifiedUnited StatesQuote only (sessions and contacts); nonePiper, an AI SDR agent for inbound pipelineyour pipeline is inbound and you want an agent to qualify visitors on your site#11

What each alternative does differently

1. Smartlead

Cold email infrastructure with agents and master inbox · Australia

Another volume sender, priced by monthly sends: Base $39 for 6,000, Pro $94 for 90,000, Unlimited Smart $174 for 150,000. Verified prospect emails are an add-on from $59. SmartServices sells the whole outbound motion as a managed service at 50,000 or 100,000 emails a month.

Switch from Instantly if you want plans sized by monthly sends and a managed-service option from the same vendor.

Pricing: Base $39, Pro $94, Unlimited Smart $174 and Unlimited Prime $379 per month, sized by monthly sends (6,000 to 500,000); annual billing saves 17%; a free trial needs no card. Managed SmartServices plans are quoted. (free trial)

Full review: #8 of 12 in our ranking · Visit Smartlead →

2. Lemlist

Multichannel outreach with a lead database and AI agents · France

The Email plan has unlimited users and senders for 50,000 emails a month at $55 billed yearly. The Multichannel plan adds LinkedIn, SMS and a call dialer at $87 per user, channels Instantly's pricing page does not list. The site cites a database of 650M+ leads.

Switch from Instantly if you want LinkedIn, SMS and calls in the same sequence as email.

Pricing: Email plan $55 per month billed annually ($69 monthly) with unlimited users and 50,000 emails; Multichannel $87 per user per month annually ($109 monthly); Enterprise is custom. Data add-on from $16 and signals from $21 per month. (free trial)

Full review: #7 of 12 in our ranking · Visit Lemlist →

3. Clay

Spreadsheet-style data enrichment and AI research workflows · United States

A data and workflow layer more than a sender. Waterfall enrichment, Claygent web research and signals feed tables, and a native sequencer arrives on Launch. The free plan gives 500 actions and 100 data credits a month. Cost follows actions and credits, not emails sent.

Switch from Instantly if you want enrichment and research logic to decide who gets a message.

Pricing: Free plan with 500 actions and 100 data credits a month; Launch is listed from $167 per month and Growth from $446 per month, both metered in actions and data credits; Enterprise is custom. (free plan)

Full review: #3 of 12 in our ranking · Visit Clay →

4. Unify

Chat-driven outbound with signals, data and sequencing · United States

Priced per rep: free for up to three seats, Base $20 and Pro $60 per seat per month, with 800 or 2,400 credits each. Includes a click-to-call dialer and a 1.1B+ people dataset. Seats get one mailbox each; managed mailboxes arrive on the custom Business plan.

Switch from Instantly if your reps run outbound themselves and you want per-seat prices with a free tier.

Pricing: Free plan with limited credits and up to 3 seats; Base is $20 per seat per month with 800 credits; Pro is $60 per seat per month with 2,400 credits; Business is custom and billed annually. (free plan)

Full review: #1 of 12 in our ranking · Visit Unify →

5. Apollo.io

Contact database with sequencing, dialer and AI assistant · United States

Starts from the contact database (240M contacts and 30M companies on its site) with sequencing included on every account, free ones too. Credits pool across the team and expire each cycle. All seats share one plan level, and free accounts connect Gmail only.

Switch from Instantly if you want one tool for contact data, sequencing and a free starting plan.

Pricing: Four plans: Free, Basic, Professional and Custom. Credits are pooled across the team and reset each billing cycle without rollover; every seat on an account shares one plan level. Paid prices were not shown in the page text we fetched. (free plan)

Full review: #4 of 12 in our ranking · Visit Apollo.io →

6. AiSDR

AI outbound agent priced per person prospected · United States

Charges $1.50 per person prospected, billed daily and stoppable at any time, rather than a flat tier. The agent, Ami, builds and runs campaigns across email and LinkedIn from 2B+ profiles. Team plans for 1,000-plus contacts a month run on quarterly contracts.

Switch from Instantly if you want to pay per contact reached and hand campaign setup to an agent.

Pricing: Pay as you go at $1.50 per person prospected, charged daily with no contract; team plans for 1,000-plus contacts a month are quoted and priced up to 40% lower per contact; a warmed-up mailbox costs $33. (none)

Full review: #5 of 12 in our ranking · Visit AiSDR →

7. Amplemarket

AI sales platform with signals, dialer and Duo copilot · United States

A platform sold on an annual term: Startup is $600 a month with 27,000 contacts, and Growth and Elite are custom. Multichannel sequences and AI intent signals are in every tier, voice from Growth. The page shows no monthly option, and every plan includes a free trial.

Switch from Instantly if you will commit to an annual term for data, signals and multichannel in one platform.

Pricing: Startup is $600 per month on an annual term with 2 users and 27,000 contacts; Growth (4 users, 140,000 contacts) and Elite (10 users, 400,000 contacts) are custom quotes. Every plan includes a free trial. (free trial)

Full review: #6 of 12 in our ranking · Visit Amplemarket →

8. Artisan

Ava, an AI BDR for end-to-end outbound · United States

Replaces campaign tooling with Ava, an AI BDR that books meetings. Plans are scoped per buyer around leads contacted: about 2,500 a month on Team, 6,000 on Scale. Includes 250M+ contacts, CRM sync and CSM onboarding, with an AI dialer sold per seat. No self-serve price.

Switch from Instantly if you want a managed agent and onboarding more than control of mailboxes.

Pricing: Quote only. Team (about 2,500 leads contacted a month), Scale (about 6,000) and Enterprise are scoped to each buyer; all plans include the full platform and CSM onboarding, with an AI dialer sold per seat. (none)

Full review: #10 of 12 in our ranking · Visit Artisan →

9. 11x

Digital worker agents for outbound, inbound and expansion · United States

Sells revenue agents across voice, chat, email, SMS and WhatsApp, plus a human dialer. The site offers a demo and shows no plan or price. It targets teams swapping SDR work for agents, so a founder who wants to tune sending volume will find less to adjust.

Switch from Instantly if you want agents across several channels and will buy through a demo call.

Pricing: Not published; the site offers a demo and a Try Voice AI button, and a pricing page we tried returned not found. Terms refer to signed order forms. (none)

Full review: #12 of 12 in our ranking · Visit 11x →

10. Warmly

Website visitor identification with AI chat and outreach · United States

Starts from the website visitor, not the cold list. AI Web-Deanonymization is $10,000 a year, Inbound Chat $20,000 and Inbound Autopilot $30,000, each from 10,000 credits a month, with quarterly billing offered. It retargets by email, LinkedIn and ads. A different job from volume sending.

Switch from Instantly if your best leads already visit your site and you want to act on them.

Pricing: AI Web-Deanonymization from $10,000 a year, Inbound Chat from $20,000 and AI Inbound Autopilot from $30,000, each from 10,000 credits a month; quarterly billing is $4,875, $6,500 and $9,750; add-ons are $10,000 a year each. (none)

Full review: #9 of 12 in our ranking · Visit Warmly →

11. Qualified

Piper, an AI SDR agent for inbound pipeline · United States

An inbound product: an SDR agent that talks to site visitors and email contacts, priced by quote around monthly web sessions and active email contacts. Premier covers 250K sessions. The page describes conversations, not cold sequences or mailbox rotation, so it complements a sender.

Switch from Instantly if your pipeline is inbound and you want an agent to qualify visitors on your site.

Pricing: Quote only. Premier covers 250,000 monthly web sessions and 2,500 monthly active email contacts, Enterprise 2 million and 10,000, and Ultimate 5 million and 24,000 with a dedicated IP. (none)

Full review: #11 of 12 in our ranking · Visit Qualified →

When Instantly is still the right choice

Instantly is the right choice when the job is cold email at volume. The outreach Growth plan lists unlimited email accounts and warmup for $47 a month, and prices do not rise with the number of seats or mailboxes. Its API v2 has an SDK, a CLI and an MCP server, which agencies use to run client campaigns at scale. If you accept the non-refundable terms, little here is cheaper to start.

What to expect when you switch from Instantly

  1. Export through API v2 before you cancel

    The developer docs list endpoints to list leads (a POST call), manage lead lists and labels, and export a campaign to JSON, plus webhooks for activity. We did not verify an in-app CSV path, so test a full pull of leads and replies on a spare campaign first.

  2. Access ends with the paid period, data may go

    A paid plan can be terminated any time and runs to the end of the paid period, with no refund. After termination Instantly may delete subscriber data and has no duty to retain or return it. You also cannot re-subscribe to the same monthly plan within 21 days.

  3. Read the AI Sales Agent terms separately

    Instantly publishes separate terms for the AI Sales Agent, linked from the footer. If you use the agent or VIP services, check their cancellation rules too. The VIP terms ask for 14 days' notice before the end of the billing period, and their fees are non-refundable.

Questions and answers

Can I export my leads and campaigns from Instantly?

Yes, through API v2, which has endpoints to list leads, manage lead lists and export a campaign to JSON. We did not confirm an in-app CSV export from the vendor pages. Test a full export on a spare campaign before you cancel.

Does Instantly refund unused time?

No. The terms say all fees are non-refundable and non-cancellable, with no partial or prorated refunds, including for credits and VIP services. A paid plan keeps running until the end of the period you paid for.

How does Instantly renew my plan?

Paid plans renew automatically on the same monthly or yearly basis, at Instantly's then-current price. Cancel before the renewal date, because the terms say unused fees for a started month or year are not refunded.

What happens to my data after I cancel?

Access ends on termination and Instantly may delete subscriber data under its retention policy, with no obligation to keep or return it. It may offer a download window, at its discretion. Export while the account is active.

Which law applies if I have a dispute?

Wyoming law governs, with courts in Sheridan County for matters outside arbitration. Section 12 requires binding arbitration with a class action waiver. You may opt out in writing within 30 days of agreeing, by post to the Sheridan address.

Is there a free alternative to Instantly?

Yes, with different scope. Apollo's free Starter plan has no time limit, Clay's free plan gives 500 actions a month, and Unify's free plan covers up to three seats. None of them matches unlimited mailboxes with warmup.

Sources

Prices, plan limits and product facts about Instantly on this page were checked against the vendors' own pages on October 22, 2026. Vendors change both without notice, so treat the figures as of that date.

Who wrote this

Sebastiaan Smits Sebastiaan Smits, Founder, wrote, edited and fact-checked this page. Founder of The Interregnum and of 2 Steps Ahead, an AI search visibility agency. Editorially responsible for every page here; research and drafting are AI-assisted. Last reviewed October 22, 2026. How we review.