7 Best Smartlead Alternatives for 2024

Smartlead burst onto the cold email marketing scene in May 2022 and has quickly become one of the most popular outreach solutions, with 31,000+ businesses using the platform — including big names like Paramount Pictures and Yotpo.

But no outreach tool is perfect for every customer (well, maybe QuickMail…). And you must agree  since you’re shopping around for Smartlead alternatives.

Well, you’re in the right place because we’ve rounded up the seven best Smartlead alternatives to compare their features and pricing.

Let’s get into it…

Why Consider Smartlead Alternatives?

Credit where it’s due: Smartlead has come a long way in its short lifetime towards becoming a high-quality outreach solution.

But there are lots of reasons why you should consider a different option.

For starters, Smartlead’s integrated account auto-warmer is a high-risk solution because it doesn’t use the Gmail API, potentially reducing deliverability to Gmail inboxes. 

Not only that, but the reporting and analytics functionality is limited (and a little buggy)...

Image source

…plus the UI for adding inboxes and LinkedIn accounts can be tricky, and there are some annoying feature limitations:

• You can’t add a prospect individually

• Reply detection only works for direct replies

• It doesn’t have built-in email verification

• There are no bulk actions for campaigns or prospects

Source: Unaffiliated agency founder group

As one of the newest outreach platforms, it also lacks many of the key integrations that cold email professionals rely on.

QuickMail: The #1 Smartlead Alternative

Sure, we’re biased, but in our view, QuickMail is unquestionably the best Smartlead alternative. Here’s why:

Smartlead vs QuickMail: At-a-Glance Comparison Table

+No bulk actions for prospects, campaigns, or replies

What Makes QuickMail the Best Smartlead Alternative?

Let’s deep-dive into the key areas in which QuickMail stands out over Smartlead:

1. Inbox Warmup

All QuickMail users can leverage our native integration with MailFlow, one of the best auto-warmer tools on the market (plus it does a bunch of other stuff, like domain monitoring and deliverability scoring). 

As soon as you connect an inbox, MailFlow will use it to send (and reply to) addresses in your network, making it look like the account belongs to a real human. And if any of your automated warmup emails get marked as spam, MailFlow un-marks them, then replies.

Smartlead, on the other hand, still relies on an integrated auto-warmer — which is out of compliance with Google. That’s a major risk factor for your email deliverability.

2. Prospect Management

Think of QuickMail as a “light” CRM that tracks every prospect’s engagement. You can upload prospects via CSV, auto-import them from Google Drive, and easily create individual prospects manually or create them from inbound emails. Plus you can segment prospects to build follow-up lists, then add those lists to new campaigns. 

Meanwhile, Smartlead doesn’t let you create prospects manually — they can only be uploaded by CSV. Not only that, but you can’t verify prospects within the platform, bulk-add them to new campaigns, or view all prospects for a client in a single place.

3. Integrations

QuickMail offers native, two-way integrations with essential outreach tools like:

• HubSpot

• Pipedrive

• Twilio

• Google Drive

• Multiple email verification providers

And we also include a Zapier integration with all QuickMail plans.

As a newer platform, Smartlead doesn’t have any native integrations at all — only a Zapier integration, and this can be expensive and fault-prone when used at scale.

4. Reply Handling

Even if your prospect messages you in a totally different email thread, QuickMail pulls their reply into the Opportunities folder so you never miss a hot lead. All replies to campaign emails are automatically assigned to the inbox owner — but you can re-assign, triage, or preview them as required (without removing the “needs attention” indicator). And we even  let you know how long a prospect has been waiting for a response.

This is where Smartlead falls short. For starters, it only identifies replies from campaign threads. What’s more, all sent emails show up in the Master Inbox, which gets way too busy if you’re running campaigns at scale or managing multiple client accounts.

5. Reporting and Analytics

The QuickMail reporting dashboard gives you an at-a-glance view of all the most important outreach metrics, including:

• Opens

• Clicks

• Replies

• Bookings

• Unsubscribes

You can also view data on everything from task completion to emails sent to first opens, break down all your stats into tables by campaign, and report everything to CSV.

Smartlead’s reporting tools are a little buggy. For instance, when tested, we found discrepancies between the Master Inbox and Campaign/Global views. And because all reports are aggregated together, you’re forced to search by campaign or client to find what you’re searching for.

Smartlead vs QuickMail: Price Comparison

At first glance, Smartlead and QuickMail both offer competitive price plans. But if you dig just a little deeper, you’ll soon find Smartlead’s features don’t really stack up:

1. Entry Level

2. Mid-Tier

3. Premium

Smartlead says it allows you to send from “unlimited accounts” but it’s a gimmick. By forcing way lower send limits on each plan, they stunt your outreach before it starts.

Learn more: Smartlead vs QuickMail: Features, Pricing, and Performance

6 Other Top Smartlead Alternatives

We’ve shown you our #1 pick when it comes to Smartlead alternatives. But there are other options as well. If Smartlead or QuickMail aren’t quite right for you, consider one of the following platforms:

1. GMass

What Is It?

GMass is an email tool that works with Gmail, making it a popular choice for Gmail users who want to send mass emails without leaving their main inbox.

Key Features

• Exceed Gmail’s sending limits: Gmail limits daily email sends to 500 – 2,000 per day, depending on your account type. But GMass lets you circumvent those activity caps so you can send thousands of emails every day.

• Integrate with Google Sheets: With GMass, you can connect a Google Sheet full of prospects directly to Gmail and perform sophisticated mail merges.

• Build automated follow-up sequences: GMass makes it easy to create up to eight stages of follow-up emails, improving your chances of getting replies to your cold emails.

Pricing

GMass offers two types of plans: Individual and Team.

If you’re a one-person operation, the Individual plans range in price from $25 – $55 per month (you’ll need to upgrade to a higher tier to access key features like A/B testing, triggered emails, and inbox rotation). 

Meanwhile, the Team plan starts at $145 per month — but you only get up to five users. If you have a 25-person team, you’ll be shelling out $600 per month, which is extremely steep.

2. Yesware

What Is It?

Yesware is a sales engagement platform that lives inside your Gmail or Outlook inbox — so it’s kind of like GMass but with some neat extra functionality.

Key Features

• Create multi-channel campaigns: Yesware lets you target prospects via multiple channels in the same campaign, including emails, phone call reminders, and LinkedIn InMails.

• Track prospect activity: Get notified when a recipient reads your email, clicks a link, or views an attachment.

• Find your ideal prospects: Yesware has a database of 100+ million business profiles, allowing you to source verified email addresses, phone numbers, and social profiles.

Pricing

Yesware offers a free-for-life plan that allows you to send campaigns to 10 recipients per month. 

If you need a more reasonable sending limit, you’ll need to upgrade to at least the Premium plan, which costs $35 per seat per month and includes unlimited teams and campaigns.

Or if your team uses the Salesforce CRM, you can pay $65 per seat per month to access a bunch of handy Salesforce-related features, such as bi-directional activity synchronization.

Prospector credits also carry an additional cost, starting at $37.50 per month for 600 annual credits.

3. OutreachBin

What Is It?

OutreachBin is an email warmup and outreach platform designed to help you keep away from the spam and promotions folders. It works with all the major email providers.

Key Features

• Warm up your inboxes: OutreachBin warms up your accounts by automatically moving spam emails to the main inbox and replying to your messages, increasing your sender reputation.

• Build automated follow-up sequences: Set time-based delays between emails and add multiple steps to your follow-up campaigns.

• Control your sending schedule: Choose how many total emails you send per day for each follow-up step, plus set your desired time zone and start/finish times.

Pricing

OutreachBin offers a single package that increases in price depending on the number of email accounts you want to add. It starts at $39.99 per month for a single inbox with a three-month contract commitment (or you can get the same plan for less if you sign up for longer).

4. MailFlow

What Is It?

MailFlow is one of the top Smartlead alternatives when it comes to improving your email deliverability and landing in your prospects’ main inbox. It works with Gmail, Outlook, and any other email provider.

Key Features

• Verify your SPF & DKIM setup: MailFlow checks you’ve configured SPF and DKIM correctly, helping you send cold emails safely and with confidence.

• React to email blacklists: MailFlow monitors almost 100 blacklists, so you’ll know if one of your accounts gets flagged — allowing you to fix any issues promptly.

• Monitor your sender reputation: Access daily reputation reports so you can decide whether to continue, scale up, or slow down your cold email activity.

Pricing

MailFlow offers a free-for-life account for sending up to five warmup emails per day. Upgrade to a paid plan, starting at $49 per month, to access a higher sending limit and a bunch of additional functionality.

Learn more: MailFlow has a powerful native integration with QuickMail. Find out how to use it to boost your email deliverability in our guide: How to Warm Up Your Cold Email Inbox.

5. InTouch Tool

What Is It?

InTouch Tool is a Smartlead alternative with a difference: rather than focusing on cold email, it’s about automating connections and messages on LinkedIn, the world’s biggest professional social network.

Key Features

• Automate LinkedIn connection requests: InTouch Tool lets you automatically send connection requests to second- and third-degree LinkedIn connections.

• Build LinkedIn drip campaigns: You can create automated drip campaigns to target your first-degree connections.

• Avoid activity spikes: LinkedIn doesn’t like big spikes in activity, so InTouch Tool tells you when it's safe to boost your sending limits (and by how much).

Pricing

InTouch Tool has a forever free plan that lets you send 25 connections and 15 follow-ups a week. Its paid plans start at $15 per user per month when billed annually. But you’ll need to upgrade to pay $24+ per user per month for CRM integration — and even then, it’s only available through Zapier.

6. Folderly

What Is It?

Folderly isn’t a straight swap for Smartlead, but it’s an excellent fit for anyone who needs to improve their inbox placement — a crucial element to maximizing your open and reply rates.

Key Features

• Access daily deliverability reports: Folderly gives you day-to-day insights into where your emails land and whether you’ve triggered any spam filters.

• Get actionable insights: Folderly doesn’t just tell you when you land in spam — it also tells you why, allowing you to take immediate action.

• Review your emails before hitting “send”: Increase the effectiveness of your outreach campaigns by analyzing your content and removing spam-triggering words.

Pricing

Folderly pricing starts at $96 per mailbox per month for up to nine email inboxes, with discounted rates available for higher mailbox numbers. All plans include the same features.

Switch To the Best Smartlead Alternative Today

There’s no shortage of Smartlead alternatives.

But QuickMail is the smart choice if you’re looking for a tool that does the same stuff as Smartlead, plus a ton of valuable extra features like:

• Direct integration with tools like HubSpot, Pipedrive, and Twilio

• Ability to identify replies from prospects, even if they respond in a different email thread

• Dashboard views of all your most essential outreach metrics

Of course, we don’t expect you to just take our word for it.

Find out exactly why QuickMail is the #1 Smartlead alternative by starting your free trial today!