Top 12 Smartlead Alternatives for Businesses

Vlad Oleksiienko 28 Sep 2024

Matter-of-factly, outreach software has become absolutely vital. In contrast, manual outreach simply won’t cut it any longer when executing large-scale sales and marketing campaigns.

Besides simply automating your outreach, these tools often come packed with advanced features like AI-driven personalization, email warm-up, built-in lead databases, and so much more.

Although there are numerous outreach platforms on the market, only a select few offer the reliability and sheer power required to manage one of the most critical aspects of your business—communicating with potential customers.

One such tool is Smartlead, a reputable sales automation tool entirely focused on email outreach and email deliverability. While a great option for email campaigns, businesses looking to take their sales efforts to the next level may want to consider some of the other more advanced alternatives on the market.

No matter if you’re looking to equip your business with an effective outreach tool or perhaps make a switch from Smartlead, take a look at these 12 alternatives which might turn out to be a better fit instead.

How to choose the best Smartlead alternative

At its core, Smartlead is a lightweight outreach tool that automates cold email outreach and emphasizes email deliverability. However, due to the lack of multiple communication channels and any strong AI features, it makes other software options more favorable for quota-driven sales teams.

For those interested, we’ve actually just recently written a detailed review of Smartlead, taking a closer look at its features, user reviews, pricing plans, and more.

The market is filled with outreach automation tools, each with its own set of advantages and drawbacks. Finding the right one depends on your business’s unique needs and pain points, but some key features should always be on your radar:

AI capabilities → Many outreach tools increasingly offer the power of AI to personalize emails at scale for better response rates, as well as handle responses, generate inbound leads, provide sales intelligence, and more. AI takes business outreach to the next level by generating effective, humanized emails and messages at scale, allowing sales teams to focus on what they do best—closing deals.
Multichannel outreach → While emails are the number one business communication channel, B2B sales teams perform much better using software that offers additional channels such as calls, LinkedIn, and WhatsApp to engage and nurture relationships.
Deliverability features → High email deliverability is crucial, and has become all the more important in the context of sending bulk emails. Consider going for a platform that offers native features like inbox rotation, warm-ups, and spam monitoring that ensure your messages always land in your recipients’ inboxes.
Feature consolidation → We recommend opting for an outreach platform that offers more than simply outreach. Sounds counterintuitive, but if you think about all the processes that sales teams face daily, software that also offers native lead databases, inbound lead generation, CRM integrations, etc., will not only drive efficiency and ensure seamless data flow but also save you money in the long run.

The 12 Best Smartlead Alternatives for Your Business in 2024

Without further ado, here are our top 12 picks to help you find the best Smartlead alternative for your business and elevate your sales workflow with powerful automation:

Reply.io

G2: 4.6/5 ⭐️ (1.3k) | Capterra: 4.6/5 ⭐ (96)

Reply.io is an all-in-one, AI-powered sales automation suite that offers a built-in 100M+ lead database, multichannel outreach, AI SDR agents that personalize entire campaigns AND handle responses, an AI Chatbot to generate inbound leads, and premium email deliverability features—everything sales teams need to find, nurture, and close targeted prospects.

Considering how many sales processes you’ll cover with one tool, businesses will definitely get more bang for their buck with Reply.io compared to Smartlead, without needing to also purchase a lead database, cloud calling software, inbound lead capture software, and more.

On top of that, we have dedicated plans for sales and lead generation agencies with everything needed to manage multiple clients.

Features:

B2B contact database with numerous search filters for building targeted prospect lists
Multichannel, conditional outreach campaigns (emails, calls, LinkedIn, and WhatsApp)
AI-powered personalization with prospect and company data
AI SDRs to handle responses and book meetings on your behalf
AI Chatbot with real-life avatars to capture, qualify, and nurture inbound leads
Easy email deliverability setup and spam monitoring with Google Postmaster integration
Powerful analytics on campaign and sales team performance

Pros:

Consolidated sales suite with automated features covering the entire sales process
Powerful AI features including intelligent response handling
Seamless data flow among the lead database, inbound chat, and outreach campaigns
Neat and user-friendly UI and UX, along with step-by-step onboarding
Email deliverability team at your assistance at all times

Cons:

Slight learning curve to effectively set up all AI features
Besides numerous native integrations, some tools may require additional setup

Pricing: Free plan and free 14-day trial available; paid plans start at $49/user/month.

Best for: SMBs, startups, sales teams, business development teams, PR & partnership teams, and sales and lead generation agencies.

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Saleshandy

Saleshandy as a Smartlead alternative

G2: 4.6/5 ⭐️ (615) | Capterra: 4.5/5 ⭐ (125)

Just like Smartlead, Saleshandy is another lightweight and affordable outreach tool that focuses entirely on email communication, offering a number of useful features such as email tracking, campaign scheduling, and A/B testing.

However, it misses multichannel outreach sequences, advanced AI personalization, inbound lead generation, or any other additional features that are often crucial for modern sales teams.

Features:

Automated email sequences with follow-ups
Email tracking (opens, reply, click-through rates)
Email templates and A/B testing for content optimization
Email deliverability: authentication setup and monitoring

Pros:

Powerful email tracking and analytics
Cheaper compared to other competitors
Straightforward interface for managing outreach campaigns

Cons:

Very limited to multi-channel outreach (no LinkedIn, SMS, or calls)
Deliverability problems when sending large-volume campaigns
Lack of advanced AI features for personalization or response handling

Pricing: Free trial available; paid plans start at $25/month.

Best for: Solopreneurs and small teams looking for a basic, affordable, and easy-to-use cold email tool without any additional features.

GMass

Gmass as a Smartlead alternative

G2: 4.8/5 ⭐️ (1k) | Capterra: 4.8/5 ⭐ (1.2k)

GMass is a well-known cold email outreach tool traditionally built as a simple Gmail extension. It’s a lightweight yet powerful software that empowers users to automate complex email campaigns, track campaign performance (open and reply rates), and personalize messages using data stored in Google Sheets.

GMass’s simplicity and focus on emails make it ideal for small teams or solopreneurs using Gmail, though, it’s probably not nearly enough for modern B2B teams to effectively engage with thousands of potential buyers.

Features:

Gmail integration for seamless email campaigns within your existing inbox
Automated, engagement-driven follow-ups
Personalization via data stored in Google Sheets
Robust email tracking for open, click-through, and reply rates
Basic email deliverability tools like domain warm-up

Pros:

Seamlessly integrates with Google products for simplified campaign management
Affordable pricing, especially for smaller teams
Very simple UI with basic yet effective automation

Cons:

No multichannel outreach (no LinkedIn, SMS, or calls)
Limited reporting and analytics compared to more comprehensive platforms
Limited to Gmail users
No native CRM integration besides Google Sheets

Pricing: No free plan or trial available; paid plans start at $18/month per user.

Best for: Freelancers, solopreneurs, and small businesses that rely solely on Gmail for email outreach, without needing multichannel capabilities.

Instantly

Instantly as a Smartlead alternative

G2: 4.9/5 ⭐️ (3k) | Capterra: N/A

Instantly.ai is a fast-growing email outreach tool built for high-volume cold emailing. It is designed upon a very simple and agile approach to mass emails, requiring minimal setup. Instantly is user-friendly, has a native lead database, and does a solid job of automating email communication while focusing on deliverability.

Without any outreach channels besides emails or advanced analytics, this tool may not be enough for sales teams to effectively scale their outreach campaigns. On the other hand, compared to Smartlead, Instantly.ai does offer many more features, with new ones about to be rolled out relatively soon (though, for an extra, premium price).

Features:

High-volume email sending automation
Native lead database with numerous search filters
Email warm-up and inbox rotation for improved email deliverability
Simple dashboard for easy campaign management and analytics

Pros:

Simple, fast setup—ideal for users new to email automation
Effective email warm-up and deliverability features
Affordable pricing for teams focused solely on email outreach
Clean, easy-to-navigate interface

Cons:

Lacks multichannel outreach capabilities (no LinkedIn, SMS, or calls)
Lead database and advanced features sold separately
No advanced AI features
Limited integration options with other sales tools or CRMs

Pricing: No free plan available; paid plans start at $30/month for basic features.

Best for: Small teams or solopreneurs focused on cold email campaigns who don’t require multichannel outreach or advanced AI features.

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WoodPecker

Woodpecker as a Smartlead alternative

G2: 4.2/5 ⭐️ (60) | Capterra: 4.7/5 ⭐ (35)

Woodpecker is a simple yet powerful email automation tool that focuses on personalization and deliverability. Businesses can set up complex email campaigns in seconds, without worrying about their deliverability or missing a follow-up, so if emails are the only communication channel your sales team uses—Woodpecker is a great choice.

While a great tool for marketing, its lack of multichannel outreach capabilities may be a drawback for sales teams looking to ensure their engagement and nurturing efforts yield the most results.

Features:

Simple email sequences with several personalization features
Powerful email tracking, analytics, and reporting
Automated email validation, ensuring low bounce rates
Premium deliverability tools and automated warm-up

Pros:

Strong email deliverability with crucial features like spam monitoring and inbox rotation
Very easy to set up and monitor email campaigns
Relatively affordable option, especially when both sales and marketing teams use it

Cons:

Only email outreach, no LinkedIn or cloud calls available for sales teams
No lead generation or inbound features to keep multiple sales processes under one roof
Analytics and reporting features are very basic

Pricing: No free plan; paid plans start at $29/month

Best for: B2B SMBs/startups looking for a simple email outreach platform, without any advanced features.

Mailshake

mailshake as a Smartlead alternative

G2: 4.7/5 ⭐ (266) | Capterra: 4.6/5 ⭐ (114)

Mailshake is a popular engagement platform primarily designed to simplify and improve email outreach and follow-ups, with a strong emphasis on deliverability. It’s an all-rounded tool that, through its email, phone, LinkedIn outreach, and AI writing features, would be quite suitable for sales teams in search of multichannel communication.

However, the more advanced automation features are only available on higher pricing tiers of the platform, and don’t expect any detailed campaign analytics that some of its more sales-focused competitors offer.

Features:

Multichannel outreach (email, calls, and LinkedIn)
AI-powered email writer to craft personalized messages
Built-in email deliverability and warm-up tools
Automated follow-ups and drip campaigns

Pros:

Great for beginners with a user-friendly interface
AI-driven tools help create personalized messages at scale
Multichannel capabilities to expand beyond email outreach

Cons:

Advanced features that make this product stand out are available only on higher plans
Some users report the analytics are too basic for larger teams
Not as customizable as some higher-end tools

Pricing: Free trial available; paid plans start at $25/user/month for limited email-only campaigns, and $85/user/month for multichannel outreach.

Best for: Sales teams looking for a straightforward, multichannel outreach tool that’s easy to set up, without needing any advanced sales features like analytics, AI response handling, and a native lead database.

lemlist

lemlist as a Smartlead alternative

G2: 4.5/5 ⭐️ (250) | Capterra: 4.6/5 ⭐ (380)

lemlist is a versatile multichannel outreach platform, best known for its ability to supercharge email personalization. Using custom text variables, dynamic images, and personalized landing pages, Lemlist helps increase engagement with prospects.

It’s a strong fit for sales and marketing teams looking to automate their cold outreach and follow-ups, primarily through email and LinkedIn.

That said, while its personalization options are impressive, the platform’s interface can feel a bit clunky, and its more advanced AI features are only accessible through the premium plans.

Features:

Multichannel prospecting, including LinkedIn
AI-driven personalization tools
Lemwarm—integrated email warm-up feature
Outreach sequences with advanced settings

Pros:

Effective, easy-to-use personalization capabilities
AI-powered sequence configuration

Cons:

Key features are locked behind premium plans
Steep learning curve for setting up workflows
Users frequently mention slow and unresponsive customer support
UI is often considered clunky and difficult to navigate

Pricing: Free plan available, paid plans start at $32/user/month.

Best for: Sales teams needing personalized, multi-channel outreach automation, without requiring any advanced AI features like response handling and inbound lead generation.

QuickMail

quickmail as a Smartlead alternative

G2: 4.7/5 ⭐️ (98) | Capterra: 4.7/5 ⭐ (26)

QuickMail is a lightweight tool that focuses exclusively on email outreach. It allows users to handle complex, high-volume email sequences and track their performance.

However, much like Smartlead and some of the other options in this list, QuickMail lacks multichannel capabilities and some of the AI-powered features that have become increasingly popular among modern sales teams.

Still, it’s a great, budget-friendly option for smaller teams that need a reliable email-only solution.

Features:

Automated email sequences with easy A/B testing
AI features for email deliverability + Inbox rotation
Special product with dedicated features for lead generation agencies

Pros:

Strong emphasis on email deliverability
Easy to manage email campaigns and multi-step sequences
Affordable for small teams

Cons:

Lacks multichannel outreach features (no LinkedIn, calls, or SMS)
No AI-driven personalization to humanize emails at scale
Very limited analytics and reporting for sales teams to refine outreach strategies
UI feels quite outdated to some users

Pricing: No free plan; paid plans start at $49/month

Best for: Small businesses or teams looking for a simple and affordable cold email automation tool.

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Mailchimp

mailchimp as a Smartlead alternative

G2: 4.3/5 ⭐️ (12.5k) | Capterra: 4.5/5 ⭐ (17k)

Mailchimp probably needs no introduction—it’s one of the most popular email automation platforms on the market, just take a look at the number of reviews. While it’s primarily an email marketing tool at heart, there are numerous businesses using this tool for both their sales and marketing outreach.

If emails are the only communication channel your sales team uses, this is a great tool to save a buck or two since both teams can use it. However, don’t expect any sales-focused features like multichannel outreach, contact data, AI response handling, lead generation, and so on.

Features:

Email personalization at scale with dynamic content
Generative AI writer, along with native templates
Social media marketing tools
A/B testing and email campaign analytics

Pros:

Powerful automation capabilities for email campaigns
Dynamic content and content optimizer for generating effective emails
Seamless integrations with other tool stacks
Segmentation and behavioral targeting

Cons:

All additional features are marketing-related and not beneficial for sales teams
Exclusively email outreach, no additional channels for sales teams
Steep learning curve for utilizing all their features
Quite expensive for larger teams (or both sales & marketing)

Pricing: Free 1-month trial available; paid plans start at $20/month.

Best for: Marketing teams or small businesses/startups that only work with email outreach and wish to use one tool for both sales and marketing teams.

Snov.io

snov.io as a Smartlead alternative

G2: 4.6/5 ⭐️ (423) | Capterra: 4.5/5 ⭐ (211)

Snov.io is another sales automation tool designed to help businesses automate engagement with prospects and close deals. Besides simple outreach capabilities, Snov.io also offers useful prospecting features like email scraping and verification, but having no native contact database means that sales teams will need to look elsewhere to build detailed prospect lists.

Snov.io does offer multichannel outreach and solid email deliverability, though some users might find the learning curve a bit steep when first getting started.

Features:

Email scraping Chrome extension
Automated multichannel campaigns
Simple drip campaign builder
Sufficient email deliverability features

Pros:

Robust email finding and verification features
Simple yet efficient campaign automation capabilities
Several native sales CRM features

Cons:

Limited email customization features compared to competitors
UI is quite clunky and outdated
Email deliverability concerns among users

Pricing: Free trial available, paid plans start at $30/month, or $75/month for those wishing to leverage all features like unlimited email warmup and dynamic content personalization.

Best for: SMBs looking for affordable and integrated email outreach and CRM solutions.

Klenty

klenty as a Smartlead alternative

G2: 4.6/5 ⭐ (376) | Capterra: 4.6/5 ⭐ (44)

Klenty is an up-and-coming sales engagement platform that offers decent email automation features, along with LinkedIn touches, and cloud calls. It has built a reputation for its ease of use and seamless integrations with CRMs. While it is a very simple platform, it does lack the AI-driven abilities that some of its competitors boast, and is better positioned for teams who want straightforward automation with little complications.

Features:

Multichannel outreach (email, LinkedIn touches, and cloud calls)
Personalization at scale with automated follow-ups
Basic built-in email deliverability tools
Advanced reporting and performance tracking
Integration with leading CRMs like Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive

Pros:

Seamless integration with popular CRM platforms
User-friendly interface, making it easy for teams to get started
Comprehensive multichannel outreach management
Great for teams looking for a cost-effective sales automation tool

Cons:

Lacks advanced AI features for personalization or lead generation
The reporting capabilities, though adequate, aren’t as advanced as higher-end platforms
Call dialer, lead data, and conversational intelligence sold as separate packages
Some users report occasional issues with email deliverability

Pricing: Free 2-week trial available; paid plans start at $50/month.

Best for: SMBs and mid-sized sales teams looking for a simple, effective tool for multichannel outreach and CRM integration, without needing advanced AI or analytics.

GetProspect

getprospect as a Smartlead alternative

G2: 4.0/5 ⭐️ (38) | Capterra: 4.4/5 ⭐ (93)

GetProspect is primarily a lead generation tool that helps users find and verify email addresses, though, due to its email automation capabilities, numerous businesses use it for their cold outreach. While it performs well at building and enriching prospect lists thanks to its built-in contact database and email finder, it’s not as robust when it comes to outreach automation or campaign management as some of the other, outreach-centered tools on the market.

Features:

Effective email finder and verifier
Native contact database with 230 million emails
Simple email campaign automation
Browser extension for LinkedIn email scraping

Pros:

Extensive contact database for finding targeted leads
User-friendly, clutter-free interface

Cons:

No multichannel outreach options and email outreach is quite limited
Limited integrations with existing sales tool stacks
No AI features to personalize emails at scale or capture inbound leads

Pricing: Free plan available; paid plans start at $29/month

Best for: Sales teams focused on LinkedIn-based lead generation and prospecting who need a simple tool for building lead lists, and an even simpler tool for outreach.

Is Smartlead the right tool for your business?

Look, in all fairness, if all you’re looking for is a reliable tool to automate your email outreach and ensure deliverability compliance with email providers’ increasingly strict policies, Smartlead may be a solid option for your business.

However, sales teams trying to thrive in today’s cut-throat B2B market will undoubtedly go further with multichannel outreach, AI personalization at scale, lead databases for data-driven engagement, and other automation that some other, more advanced solutions offer.

Ultimately, your sales team will spend most of their time working with the outreach platform you choose, so make sure the software equips them with everything they need, meets all your business objectives, and last but not least—just feels ‘right’ for day-to-day use.

If you’re ready to take your outreach to the next level, we invite you to try Reply.io for free and see how it can streamline and enhance your sales efforts. Who knows, maybe we’re a perfect fit!