15 Best Cold Email Tools With Pros, Cons, and Pricing

Are you searching for the best cold email tools or cold email marketing tools to improve your sales outreach? 

You have landed on the right page.

Choosing the right cold email tool is extremely essential to achieve better email deliverability, more responses and ROI from email outbound efforts.

While strategies like paid ads and social media are effective and costly, cold email marketing tools offer a more affordable, scalable and personal way to engage with prospects.

One important feature to look for in a cold email tool is inbox rotation, which helps ensure your emails reach the inbox and not the spam folder. 

For instance, SmartReach.io provides an inbox rotation feature that allows you to add multiple sending email addresses within a single campaign.

In this article, I’ll review some of the best cold email tools to help you choose the right one for sales outreach.

14 Must-have features in your cold email tool 

If you’re cold-emailing, your goal is likely to book more meetings and generate qualified leads. 

This requires higher email delivery, better open rates, more replies, and an efficient way to manage those replies. 

You need software that manages these tasks without overburdening your team. 

Here are the features you need to look for ⤵️

#1 Email sequences  

AI-generated & automated personalized email sequences to engage leads effectively.  

#2 Email reply management  

Detect replies and auto-pause campaigns to avoid duplicate messaging.  

#3 Inbox rotation

Use multiple email domains in one campaign to improve deliverability and scale outreach.  

#4 Email scheduling  

Schedule emails by time, day, timezone, etc., to maximize open rates and engagement.  

#5 AI email content generation  

Save time with AI-generated content tailored to your audience, helping refine subject lines and email tone.  

#6 Email deliverability  

Ensure emails land in the primary inbox with built-in features like email validation, spam testing, and warm-ups.  

#7 Shared team Inbox

Collaborate with your team by managing replies from multiple email accounts in one shared inbox.  

#8 Email tracking

Track open rates, clicks, and responses to measure and improve campaign performance.  

#9 Email templates management  

Create, save, and share reusable templates for consistent and professional communication.  

#10 A/B testing  

Optimize email campaigns with tests for subject lines, content, and calls to action.  

#11 Reporting and analytics 

Access insights like reply sentiments, hot prospects, and team performance to drive results.  

#12 Prospect sourcing 

Find and verify emails, gather LinkedIn profiles, and enrich prospect data for personalization.  

#13 Prospect management 

Use CRM-like tools to manage prospect data and streamline outreach.  

#14 Agency specific features  

For agencies, easily switch between client campaigns, personalize outreach, and manage data with built-in CRM tools.  

Choose cold email tools like SmartReach.io, which provides all these features and more, starting at just $29/month. (Plus, there’s a 14-day credit card FREE trial available)

Top 14 Cold Email Marketing Software for sales outreach

Here are the best cold email tools for sales and marketing use-cases – 

• SmartReach.io
• Lemlist
• MailShake
• Woodpecker.co
• Klenty
• Reply.io
• GMass
• SalesHandy
• Outreach.io
• YesWare
• Snov.io
• Overloop
• Smartlead
• Instantly
• Quickmail
• Folderly

Now let’s discuss them in detail.

Cold email tool #1

SmartReach.io

• G2 Rating → 4.6/5

If you are looking for the best cold email tool with strong deliverability features, you need to try SmartReach.io.

One of the reasons why SmartReach.io tops the table is its high email deliverability and inbox rate. 

Users enjoy better email deliverability with features like inbox rotation, email validation and more.  

You can add unlimited sending email accounts and run multichannel campaigns such as LinkedIn, WhatsApp, Calling, Text messages and Gmail.

Onboarding is quick and easy. You can create a 5-step campaign sequence and start a campaign within 10 minutes.

Pros of SmartReach.io 👍🏼

1. Email automation

• Create natural email sending patterns that mimics human behaviour to avoid spam filters.
• Automate email campaigns to save time and scale outreach effortlessly
• Boost email deliverability with inbox rotation and AI email warm-up.
• Target multiple stakeholders within an organization for effective account-based selling.
• Use SmartReach AI to craft personalized email sequences faster and more effectively.  
• Deliver emails at the optimal time zones for each prospect, maximizing engagement.

2. Email deliverability

• Soft start feature to gradually increase email volume for a smooth transition.
• Boost in inbox placement using the automated ESP matching mechanism.
• Unlimited real-time email validation to reduce bounces and protect your sender reputation.
• Monitor global blacklists and auto-pause campaigns if your domain is flagged.
• Free Email authentication checks to ensure emails land in the inbox, not the spam folder.
• Create unique email variations using Spintax to enhance personalization and improve deliverability

3. Multi-channel Outreach

• Manage outreach across email, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, calls, and SMS from one platform
• Automate follow-ups across multiple channels to engage prospects effectively
• Personalize interactions on every channel to create engagement.
• Sync activities and data with your CRM for better tracking and management
• Track performance metrics across all channels to optimize outreach strategies

4. Prospect management 

• Handle millions of prospects with advanced filters for easy organization and management.
• Track real-time prospect activity to monitor engagement with your email campaigns.
• Update prospect details instantly to ensure accurate and up-to-date information.
• Add unlimited custom data fields to store specific details about your prospects.
• Organize prospects with custom categories tailored to your outreach strategy.
• Decide whether to import duplicates or update existing data during prospect uploads.
• Use custom tags to group prospects for better segmentation and personalized outreach.

5. Prospect sourcing

• Find verified business emails from LinkedIn using ProspectDaddy
• Discover verified B2B lead contact information inside SmartReach using the B2B lead finder tool
• Enrich the prospect contact information with Clay, Lusha natively.

6. CRM Integrations

• Enable 2 way CRM sync with popular CRMs like HubSpot, Zoho CRM, Pipedrive, Salesforce & more.
• Use custom APIs to manage leads and campaigns
• Set-up unlimited workflows

7. Team Collaboration

• Centralize replies with a shared team inbox for seamless collaboration
• Assign specific roles and permissions to control data access securely
• Share prospect lists and templates easily for faster teamwork
• Manage team accounts effectively with admin-level control and oversight

8. Analytics and Reporting

• Track email opens, clicks, and responses to measure campaign performance.  
• Monitor bounce and unsubscribe rates to improve email list quality.
• Find the best send times to send emails for the best engagement. 
• Track team performance with leaderboards and progress reports. 

Cons of SmartReach.io 👎🏼

• The initial learning curve may seem steep.

• SmartReach.io doesn’t support automatic LinkedIn messaging yet. It’s there to safeguard user’s LinkedIn account from shadow bans.

SmartReach.io Pricing

SmartReach.io offers a 14-Day FREE trial credit card free trial with almost all features unlocked.

The platform offers pay as you go pricing plans with a bunch of different add-ons.

The different plans and pricing looks like this ⤵️

Plans	Basic	Plus	Pro	Scale
Email Outreach	$29/month	$89/month	$199/month	$499/month
Sales engagement	$39/month	$99/month	$249/month	$599/month

It also has a customizable agency pricing plan that starts at $199/month. 

For a better plan and pricing breakdown, check out the SmartReach pricing page.

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Cold email tool #2

Lemlist

• G2 Rating → 4.5/5

Lemlist is one of the best cold email marketing tools for B2B sales outreach.

It allows you to automate your cold email marketing campaigns. 

You can easily personalize cold emails, automate follow-ups, and engage with leads across all channels. 

Pros of Lemlist 👍🏼

• Multi-channel outreach using email, LinkedIn, and calls.
• Analytics and performance metrics for tracking campaign performance.
• Integrates with popular CRMs to streamline prospect management.
• Offers a rich library of customizable email templates

Cons of Lemlist 👎🏼

• Hard challenging to set up a drip campaign.
• No spam test reports are available
• Lemlist doesn’t have an inbuilt free email validation service
• Limited support on basic plans, making it harder to get quick help
• Pricing may be a concern for smaller teams or businesses on tight budgets
• Users report unprecedented email deliverability issues

Lemlist pricing

Lemlist’s current pricing for cold emailing starts at $39/month. 

For Sales engagement users have to pay $99/month which is way more than what other tools like SmartReach.io offers.

For a detailed breakdown of pricing an features check out SmartReach v/s Lemlist

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Cold email tool #3

MailShake

• G2 Rating → 4.7/5

MailShake is another popular cold email marketing software. 

It connects with almost every ESPs(email service providers) like Gmail, Outlook, Zoho etc.

Apart from that MailShake also provides LinkedIn automation for sales outreach.

Pros of Lemlist 👍🏼

• Editable email campaigns that have already begun
• Mailshake offers native integration with popular CRM softwares
• Email personalization with follow-ups available
• Drip campaigns for cold email is available

Cons of Lemlist 👎🏼

• It doesn’t provide an email finder tool 
• Multichannel outreach is limited to email and LinkedIn only
• Essential features for cold emailing are locked behind premium plans
• Users report frequent technical glitches that disrupt ongoing campaigns

Mailshake pricing

Their basic plan for cold emailing starts at $49/month which is more than the likes of SmartReach.io and Lemlist.

The sales engagement plan for multichannel outreach starts at $99/month making it expensive for small teams.

Read more → Mailshake alternative

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Cold email tool #4

Woodpecker.co 

• G2 Rating → 4.3/5

Woodpecker.co is also a good cold email tool for basic email automation and follow-ups. 

It provides built-in tools for A/B testing, deliverability tracking, and integration with popular CRMs. 

The platform’s user-friendly interface makes it easy for teams to launch campaigns, monitor performance, and manage lead interactions. 

Pros of Woodpecker 👍🏼

• Auto-detection for duplicate contact in your email list.
• Integrates with CRMs like Salesforce and HubSpot for streamlined workflows.
• Allows team collaboration by sharing campaign data and performance insights.

Cons of Woodpecker 👎🏼

• Limited campaign reporting featurs compared to competitors.
• Doesn’t offer an email finder tool for collecting prospect contact information
• Limited 7-Day free trial with basic features
• Lacks native integration with popular CRM softwares, such as Salesforce, ZOHO, etc.
• No option to run multichannel campaigns other than email campaigns.

Woodpecker pricing

Pricing plans start at $29/month per user.

However, the pricing increases to $84/month per user if you want to contact 3000 prospects which is pretty expensive compared to other tools in the category.

The cost per prospect contacted increases as you go higher in the pricing

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Cold email tool #5

Klenty 

• G2 Rating → 4.6/5

Klenty is a sales engagement platform that provides cold email marketing features. 

Its intuitive interface and seamless CRM integrations simplify workflows for sales teams, making it easier to manage leads and track performance

Pros of Klenty 👍🏼

• User-friendly interface and straightforward campaign setup.
• Automates follow-ups and personalizes emails to improve engagement rates.
• Native integration with CRMs like Salesforce and HubSpot for smooth workflows.

Cons of Klenty 👎🏼

• No spam test report for safe guarding email domains
• Steep learning curve to use the platform
• Lacks native LinkedIn automation, limiting multi-channel outreach capabilities
• There is no monthly pricing plan available for trying out the tool

Klenty pricing

Klenty has only quarterly and annual pricing plans.

The pricing plans start at $50/month per user if billed annually.

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Cold email tool #6

Reply.io

• G2 Rating → 4.6

Reply.io is a cold email platform that helps you automate & scale your email outreach. 

It is designed to help you generate more leads, acquire new customers, and grow revenue faster. 

It’s primarily used for for email automation and engagement.

Pros of Reply.io 👍🏼

• AI-driven personalization features for cold email messages
• Provides detailed analytics and A/B testing for campaign optimization
• Provides email, call, and social media outreach 
• Real-time prospect data search is available 

Cons of Reply.io 👎🏼

• Pricing plans of reply.io are on the higher side compared to industry standards.
• No spam test reports available
• No dedicated features for big teams and agencies like once click report or Single SignOn 
• Lacks built-in email warmup, requiring third-party tools for this feature
• LinkedIn integration occasionally faces bugs and issues

Reply.io pricing

Their basic email plan starts at $53/month allowing upto 1000 prospects to contact per month.

The multichannel plan starts at $90/month and the agency plan starts at $210/month.

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Cold email tool #7

GMass

• G2 Rating → 4.8/5

GMass offers you a basic cold email tool that can be used from your Gmail account. 

It has powerful mail merge capabilities and other important features have made it a popular cold email outreach tool. 

GMass is a perfect tool for single users, startups and sales reps, anyone who wants to use Gmail for lowkey cold outreach.

Pros of Gmass 👍🏼

• Simple setup process with Gmail
• Provides email basic analytics such as opens and clicks etc
• Supports mail merge with Google Sheets for personalized mass emails

Cons of Gmass 👎🏼

• The tool works only with Gmail and chrome browser
• Doesn’t offer native integrations with CRM software
• Slow and unresponsive customer support
• Users face deliverability issues due to Gmail’s sending limits
• Not suitable for large scale cold email outreach for sales 

Gmass pricing

Standard Individual Plan Starts with $25/month per user with basic features

Premium plan with advanced features costs $35/month per user

Pro plan with all features starts with $55/month for a team of five

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Cold email tool #8

Saleshandy

• G2 Rating → 4.6/5

Saleshandy is one of the most popular cold email tools that helps you send personalized cold email campaigns with automated follow-ups. 

SalesHandy offers a set of tools for small individual marketers to big enterprises.

Pros of Saleshandy 👍🏼

• Automates email sequences, follow-ups etc.
• Provides AI based email writing assistants 
• Detailed analytics for tracking email campaign performance
• Provides native integration with major email services and CRM systems

Cons of Saleshandy 👎🏼

• Email setup can be challenging for users without technical expertise
• Doesn’t offer multichannel outreach capabilities
• You have to pay separately for verifying email lists
• No spam test reports 
• Limited native CRM integrations

Saleshandy pricing 👍🏼

The basic sales plans starts from $36/month

Read more → Top 10 Saleshandy Alternatives for Cold Email Outreach

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Cold email tool #9

Outreach.io

• G2 Rating → 4.3/5

Outreach is a popular sales engagement platform with cold email automation capabilities.

It is one of the most useful software for sales teams since it allows them to not only send cold emails but also make calls to other regions and countries. 

Outreach also offers an SMS integration feature that lets you reach your potential customers via phone.

Outreach is currently one of the most expensive platforms in this list and are not recommended for start-ups or small teams.

Pros of Outreach.io 👍🏼

• Multichannel outreach is available via email, calls and text messages
• Automates email sending and follow-ups
• Uses AI to analyze data and provide actionable insights for improving outreach strategies
• Integrates with various CRMs, marketing automation tools, and other business applications

Cons of Outreach.io 👎🏼

• The initial learning curve is super steep even for someone experienced in cold emailing
• Not a budget-friendly option for small teams or start-ups
• No free trial available 

Outreach.io pricing

They do not mention their costs but you can request pricing plans by contacting them via the website (usually offer only annual plans and with minimum order size)

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Cold email tool #10

YesWare

• G2 Rating → 4.4/5

Yesware is one of the simplest and effective cold email marketing tools built for sales reps and email marketers. 

In YesWare you can create personalized cold email marketing campaigns. 

YesWare works with email service providers such as Gmail and Outlook.

Pros of Yesware 👍🏼

• Easily integrates with two majors email services – Gmail & Outlook.
• Offers customizable email templates for efficient communication
• Provides built-in meeting scheduling features for appointment setting
• Provides detailed analytics and reporting tools 

Cons of Yesware 👎🏼

• Some users report occasional inaccuracies in email tracking
• The spam detection feature doesn’t always work
• Doesn’t provide a B2B lead database for prospect contact information

Yesware pricing

Pricing plans start at $19/month per user with email tracking for small teams. 

However, the Premium and Enterprise plans cost you $45 and $85/ month per user respectively.

Overall, it’s an expensive tool with seat based pricing.

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Cold email tool #11

Snov.io

• G2 Rating → 4.6/5

Snov.io is another popular software designed for cold emailing that has an easy-to-use interface.  Snov.io  is a cold email software that helps you automate your cold outreach and save time.

You can also their chrome extension which allows you to find prospect email addresses from LinkedIn.

Pros of Snov.io 👍🏼

• Snov offers email finder and email verification tools for list building
• Support multichannel drip campaigns
• Provides AI-powered email assistant for email copywriting
• Integrates with CRMs and other sales tools

Cons of Snov.io 👎🏼

• Limited native CRM integrations
•  Basic plan doesn’t include A/B testing
• Slow email enrichment process
• Limited campaign reporting and visibility features

Snov.io pricing

They offer a free plan. Their paid plans start at $39/month.

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Cold email tool #12

Overloop

• G2 Rating → 4.4/5

Overloop AI is a sales engagement tool that helps sales teams generate leads via cold email marketing. 

It offers a super quick and easy solution for prospecting and lead management. 

It is very popular for its prospect sourcing capabilities.

Pros of Overloop 👍🏼

• Integrates with Gmail and Outlook
• It offers integrations with Salesforce and HubSpot CRM.
• Offers multichannel outbound campaigns on email and LinkedIn
• Provides a chrome extension for email address lookup from LinkedIn
• Automates prospect sourcing with B2B contact database

Cons of Overloop 👎🏼

• Limited customization options for its AI-generated email copies
• Lacks detailed reporting and analytics features
• Doesn’t provide a good email deliverability as compared to its pricing
• The verified email addresses it provides are not 100% accurate and bounce

Overoop pricing

The provide a quota based pricing starting with 1000 credits/seat.

Users need to ask for the pricing quotation as per their prospect list.

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Cold email tool #13

Smartlead

• G2 Rating → 4.6/5

Smartlead is a robust cold email platform designed for high-volume outreach.Its AI-driven tools optimize email personalization and sequencing to boost response rates.

The platform supports unlimited sender accounts and advanced automation, enabling users to scale campaigns effectively while maintaining authenticity. With powerful integrations and real-time analytics, Smartlead simplifies and enhances every aspect of cold email outreach.

Pros of Smartlead 👍🏼

• Offers AI-powered email personalization at scale
• Includes real-time analytics to track open rates, clicks, and campaign performance.
• Ensures compliance with GDPR and other regulations for safe outreach practices
• Provides automation for email scheduling and follow-ups

Cons of Smartlead 👎🏼

• Pricing is higher compared to SmartReach, Lemlist and others limiting accessibility for small businesses.
• Occasional delays in accessing in-depth analytics for large campaigns
• Doesn’t provide multichannel outreach options
• No spam test reports available
• Doesn’t provide B2B lead database for prospect sourcing
• No multichannel outreach option available

Smartlead pricing

They offer a 14-Day free plan. Their pricing plan starts at $39/month.

Read more → Smartlead.ai Review | Features,Pricing & Alternative

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Cold email tool #14

Instantly.ai

• G2 Rating → 4.8/5

Instantly.ai is a popular cold email marketing tool designed to automate cold email outreach and improve deliverability. 

Its AI-driven features assist in crafting personalized emails and provide analytics to optimize performance. 

With a user-friendly interface, Instantly.ai aims to streamline the process of scaling email outreach for businesses of all sizes.

Pros of Instantly.ai 👍🏼

• Allows connection of unlimited email accounts for email campaigns.
• Provides automated email warm-up features
• Simple UI, easy to set-up campaigns
• Provides AI-driven analytics provide for campaign optimization

Cons of Instantly.ai 👎🏼

• No multichannel outreach capabilities.
• Minimal API integrations limit 
• No email validation mechanism inside the platform

Instantly.ai pricing

Their basic plan starts at $37/month for 5000 monthly emails.

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Cold email tool #15

Quickmail

• G2 Rating → 4.7/5

QuickMail is a versatile cold email automation tool designed to streamline and scale outreach campaigns. 

It supports advanced scheduling, follow-ups, and team collaboration features for sales team productivity.

The platform is ideal for teams and individuals looking to personalize and automate email campaigns without sacrificing authenticity.

Pros of QuickMail 👍🏼

• Provides automated email warm-ups
•  Provides detailed analytics to track open rates, clicks, and campaign success.  
• Offers seamless integration with popular CRMs and third-party tools 
• Allows team collaboration with shared templates and campaigns for consistent messaging.  
• No limits on the number of emails you can send, supporting scalability for large campaigns.  

Cons of QuickMail 👎🏼

• Pricing may be higher compared to some alternatives, especially for small businesses.  
• Limited multichannel outreach options restrict campaigns to email only.  .  
• Some users report occasional bugs or glitches affecting campaign execution. 
• No spam test report or email validation mechanism is present

Quickmail pricing

They offer a 14-Day free trial.

Their basic paid plans starts at $49/month for 30,000 monthly emails.

Sum Up: choosing the best cold email tool

Cold email marketing is one of the best ways to generate leads for your business. 

Coupled with the best cold email software that suits your requirements of email automation tools you will achieve success in your campaigns. 

The list of the software mentioned in this blog allows you to make your work easier, faster, and more accurate. 

You can evaluate your needs and resources to choose the best tool for your business.

For growing teams, SmartReach.io would be the best option that diversifies cold email deliverability with multichannel capabilities.

Try SmartReach.io for FREE for 14-Days.

Cold Email Tools: FAQs

Q. Is cold emailing illegal?

Cold emailing is not illegal if it complies with laws like the CAN-SPAM Act in the U.S. It must include clear sender information, a way to opt out, and avoid deceptive practices.

Q. Does cold emailing work anymore?

Yes. Cold emailing still works when personalized, targeted, and compliant with laws. Success depends on crafting engaging subject lines, providing value, and following up strategically. Effective cold emails focus on the recipient’s needs and demonstrate clear relevance.

Q. What is the best platform to send cold emails from?

The best platform to send cold emails for sales is SmartReach.io. It provides a complete email outreach solution for sales teams to automate their sales email outreach.

Q. What is cold email outreach?

Cold email outreach is sending unsolicited emails to potential clients or contacts to promote a product, service, or opportunity. It aims to initiate conversations, build relationships, and generate leads by delivering personalized, value-driven messages.

Q. What are the benefits of cold emailing?

Benefits of cold emailing include –

• Generates leads by targeting potential clients directly.
• Expands professional networks and opens new opportunities.
• Cost-effective compared to traditional marketing methods.
• Allows scalable outreach with personalized messaging.
• Builds relationships by addressing recipient needs.

Q. Can I cold email from Gmail?

Yes, but it’s not recommended. Gmail discourages bulk emailing and might flag your account for spam. This can lead to sending limits or account suspension. It’s safer and more efficient to use a platform designed for cold outreach.