Aleksi
September 29, 2023
Are you looking to attract new leads and drive revenue growth? Cold email outreach can be one of the best ways to do it. However, for your outreach to be successful, you need to use email software designed specifically for cold emailing. With countless platforms available, choosing the right one for your goals can feel overwhelming.
That’s why we’ve handpicked the best cold email software platforms, each with distinct features and purposes. Join us as we explore these solutions and help you find the perfect fit.
What is Cold Email Software?
Cold email software automates the manual and repetitive tasks involved in sales outreach via email. So, you can connect with more prospects more quickly at lower costs, ultimately leading to better business results.
The goal of cold email software is to make sure your emails land in inboxes instead of the spam folder. Additionally, it increases efficiency and drives engagement through features like campaign scheduling, automated follow-ups, message personalization, list management, and analytics.
Cold email software vendors have started integrating AI into their products to further increase efficiency. For example, you can leverage AI to quickly generate more engaging and personalized email content and subject lines.
What’s the Best Cold Email Software?
Our top picks for the cold email software in 2023 are Mailshake and HubSpot Sales Hub for small to medium sales teams and GMass for solopreneurs. These platforms provide robust deliverability and come with all the features you need to reach prospects and move them down the pipeline.
Mailshake
Best for startups and small sales teams
Our rating: 5
G2 rating: 4.7
Mailshake stands out as the most comprehensive cold email software in the market. Its multi-channel platform supports cold email, cold calling (VOIP), and cold outreach on LinkedIn. The platform’s dashboard pulls data from all touchpoints to help you monitor leads as they progress through the pipeline.
Mailshake’s key features include email sequences with conditional branches, automated scheduling and follow-ups, personalized messages, email templates, and A/B testing.
If you’re new to cold email outreach, your first experience with Mailshake may not go as smoothly as you’d expect. But, judging by their customer reviews, you can expect the company’s customer support to quickly help.
Mailshake also compiles a database of professionals known as Data Finder. It lets you identify and target potential customers in various industries and filter data by location, company, and job title.
Pros
User-friendly design.
AI email writer.
Large library of educational materials.
Plenty of integration options, including Salesforce, HubSpot, and Pipedrive CRM.
Cons
Data Finder requires a separate subscription.
Data Finder doesn’t always include the most up-to-date information.
Pricing
Email outreach: $59/month (billed annually)
Sales engagement: $83/month (billed annually). Includes multi-channel features and higher campaign limits.
Data Finder starts at $49/month (billed annually) and goes up to $249/month (billed annually). The Free plan lets you run 50 queries.
HubSpot Sales Hub
Best for companies with dedicated sales and marketing teams
Our rating: 4.9
G2 rating: 4.4
If you’re looking for a sales tool that does more than just cold email outreach, HubSpot’s Sales Hub is your best bet. It helps with every aspect of your sales pipeline, from email campaigns to tracking deals and sending quotes.
You can organize all your leads in one workspace, regardless of the outreach channel. You also get email templates, personalization options, automated follow-ups, and email tracking. And HubSpot AI helps you write engaging emails faster.
But what sets Sales Hub apart from other sales software is its ability to integrate with a host of applications in HubSpot’s ecosystem. You can pull data from your CRM, email marketing, CMS, and project management platforms to create a seamless experience for everyone at your company.
Pros
Highly customizable.
Integrates with other HubSpot products and 1500+ third-party apps.
Extensive educational resources and sales playbooks to help close more deals.
Payments gateway.
Meeting scheduler.
Cons
Tends to have a learning curve.
Pricing
Free: $0/month, limited features.
Starter: $45/month.
Professional: $450/month.
Enterprise: $1200/month.
Annual subscriptions get 10 percent off.
GMass
Best for solopreneurs and non-technical individuals
Our rating: 4.7
G2 rating: 4.7
GMass lets you run cold email campaigns directly from Gmail. So, it’s ideal for non-technical users who prefer a familiar interface. To use GMass, you need to install its Chrome extension, which conveniently adds an extra button to your Gmail Compose window.
The extension manages the number of outgoing emails from your account to prevent hitting Gmail’s daily send limits.
You can schedule campaigns and automate follow-ups to increase your outreach efficiency. Follow-up emails appear as replies to your previous messages, enhancing engagement and continuity in your communication.
While the tool offers deliverability reports and analytics, the reports tend to be on the basic side. You can track campaign performance and delivery rates, but you can’t rely on GMass for in-depth insights.
Pros
Import contacts from Google Sheets for bulk personalized emails.
Verify email addresses before launching a campaign
Automatically manage unsubscribes.
Embed one-question polls in your emails.
Circumvent Gmail’s daily send limits.
Cons
Exclusively works on Google Chrome.
Analytics dashboard is barebones.
Limited team collaboration features.
Limited integration with third-party applications.
Pricing
Free: Send 50 emails per day
Standard: $19.95/month
Premium: $29.95/month
Enterprise: $49.95/month
Annual subscriptions get two months free.
Woodpecker
Best for small sales teams
Our rating: 4.6
G2 rating: 4.3
Woodpecker stands out for its focus on deliverability and sender reputation. Its deliverability monitor lets you quickly find out if your emails aren’t reaching recipients’ inboxes, and the Bounce Shield feature stops sending emails when you’re close to hitting your email’s provider sending limits.
Woodpecker offers the standard features you expect from any cold email software, such as automated follow-ups, personalization, templates, and A/B testing. You can create campaigns with up to 12 steps and send unlimited follow-ups.
For users handling a portion of their sales pipeline outside of Woodpecker, the option to add manual tasks to record results and maintain workflow continuity is a practical option.
Pros
Extensive knowledge base and guides.
Integrates with multiple CRMs.
Domain warm-up and recovery prices are included in the subscription.
Cons
Confusing pricing structure.
Expensive for large sales teams.
Pricing
Free: 7 days or 50 emails.
Cold email: $54-$64/month/email address, depending on the number of contacts.
Sales assistant: $64-$74/month/email address, depending on the number of contacts.
Agency: $59-$79/month/email address, depending on the number of contacts.
Annual subscriptions get two months free.
Instantly
Best for agencies
Our rating: 4.6
G2 rating: 4.9
Instantly is an outreach platform designed specifically for cold email. The founders, who are cold email professionals, created this platform because they needed a solution that stayed cost-effective as they grew.
Instantly is easy to use and gives you control over all your deliverability settings. You can use their domain tester to check your domain’s health status for sending cold emails. The platform has the features you can expect from a cold email solution: automated campaigns, scheduling, A/B testing, analytics, and integrations. Plus, it lets you manage all your inboxes in one place.
The company also maintains a database of verified B2B leads and lets you filter them based on location, company size, industry, and more. However, you have to pay for another subscription to access the database.
Pros
Unlimited accounts for each subscription.
Helpful customer support.
CRM integration.
AI prompts.
Cons
The leads database is relatively expensive.
Basic AI features.
Pricing
Free: 14-day trial + 25 leads
Growth plan for email: $37/month.
Hypergrowth plan for email: $97/month.
Growth leads: $47/month.
Hyperleads: $197/month.
Annual subscriptions get 20 percent off.
Klenty
Our rating: 4.6
G2 rating: 4.6
Klenty is a comprehensive sales engagement platform that streamlines outreach efforts across five channels: email, voice calls, LinkedIn, SMS, and WhatsApp. Klenty helps you convert eager-to-buy leads and nurture those who need a bit more time, unlike many platforms that only prioritize closing deals.
Klenty automates your cold emails and follow-ups with personalized messages. You get unlimited steps, granular scheduling, and customizable templates.
Klenty uses AI to craft email texts, call scripts, and LinkedIn messages by taking into account your previous communications with each lead. Plus, you have access to AI-generated scores and recommendations to improve your outreach performance.
Pros
Supports SMS and WhatsApp.
Integrates with popular CRMs.
User-friendly operation and simple onboarding.
Database of ready-to-contact prospects (requires a separate subscription).
Cons
Expensive for growing teams.
Relatively difficult to send one-off emails.
Pricing
Free: 14-day trial with unlimited users.
Startup: $50/user/month, billed annually.
Growth: $70/user/month, billed annually.
Pro: $100/user/month, billed annually.
Saleshandy
Our rating: 4.5
G2 rating: 4.6
Saleshandy is another top cold email platform with a user-friendly interface and no learning curve.
You can send emails from multiple accounts, but keep in mind that there are limits on the number of prospects and monthly email sends. The Basic plan starts with 2000 prospects and 6000 monthly emails. If you need more room to grow, consider upgrading to the Pro plan. Note that there are also daily limits for the number of emails you can send.
If you work as a team, you don’t have to worry about growing costs because SalesHandy doesn’t charge you per user. An unlimited number of users can use the same account.
SalesHandy is big on optimization. You can experiment with up to 26 email content variations at each sequence step. Moreover, detailed analytics on open rates, reply rates, link clicks, and bounce rates let you fine-tune your sequences for increased conversion rates.
Pros
Advanced A/B testing capabilities.
Free LinkedIn email finder.
Supports unlimited email accounts.
Price doesn’t increase with the number of users.
Cons
No pipeline management features.
Limited team collaboration features.
Customer support isn’t as strong as other competitors, according to reviews.
Pricing
Free: 7-day trial
Outreach Basic: $36/month
Outreach Pro: $99/month
Outreach Scale: $199/month
Annual subscriptions get 25 to 30 percent off, depending on the plan.
Lemlist
Our rating: 4.4
G2 rating: 4.2
Lemlist is an all-in-one multi-channel outreach platform with all the robust features you can expect. What sets them apart is the advanced personalization and AI capabilities.
Lemlist’s personalization allows users to go beyond custom fields by incorporating personalized intro lines, images, and videos into their emails. You even have the option to create landing pages with tailored content and CTAs for individual leads.
Lemlist’s AI reduces the amount of manual work for creating campaigns. Once you input your company’s value proposition, campaign objectives, and recipient data, it automatically generates an email sequence with the right number of steps and corresponding content for each step.
However, all the bells and whistles can get in the way if you’re new to cold outreach. That’s because images and videos can increase the chances of landing your first emails in the spam folder. So, it’s best to use them for leads further into the pipeline.
Pros
Plenty of integration options.
Deliverability monitor and advanced warm-up.
Responsive and diligent customer support team.
Free courses and access to a community of founders and marketers.
Cons
Too many features for beginners.
Expensive for large teams and agencies.
Pricing
Free: 14-day trial with 100 credits.
Email outreach: $59/month/user.
Sales engagement: $99/month/user.
Annual subscriptions get two months free.
Outreach
Our rating: 4.3
G2 rating: 4.3
Outreach is more than a cold email solution. It’s a sales engagement platform designed to streamline all outreach activities and boost productivity across the entire sales cycle.
The cold email system comes with automated messaging, engagement tracking, workflow construction, template libraries, A/B testing, and personalization tools.
The platform consolidates all communications from various cold outreach channels into one centralized database. Then, it uses machine learning to assess lead potential by analyzing engagement behavior and communication language so that sales reps can prioritize leads with a higher chance of conversion.
Pros
Accurate sales forecasting based on lead interactions.
Integrates with numerous CRM, email, marketing, and chat platforms.
Advanced data security and compliance systems with multi-level permissions.
Cons
Too complex for small teams and individuals.
Users must have some technical knowledge.
Configuration and troubleshooting can be time-consuming.
Pricing
Outreach offers Standard, Professional, and Enterprise plans with a per-user pricing scheme. To get an exact quote, you need to fill out a form.
Hunter
Our rating: 4.4
G2 rating: 4.4
Hunter is a solution for finding and verifying professional email addresses based on company name or domain. You also get access to an easy-to-use email outreach platform that lets you personalize, automate, and track cold emails.
Hunter has an intuitive pricing scheme. Instead of paying for email accounts or user seats, you buy credits to search for and verify a prospect’s contact information.
The company offers a browser extension that lets you find email addresses associated with the websites you browse. And there’s a Google Sheets add-on to verify email addresses without switching to another app.
Pros
All outreach functions available with a free plan
Straightforward pricing.
Browser extensions and Google Sheets add-on.
Has a powerful email-finding tool
Cons
Only works with Gmail/Google Workspace and Microsoft 365/Outlook accounts.
Not designed for sales purposes specifically.
No A/B testing capabilities
Pricing
Free: Limited functionality with 25 monthly searches.
Starter: $34/month.
Growth: $104/month.
Business: $349/month.
Why Should You Invest in Cold Email Software?
At its core, cold email software offers two fundamental benefits: streamlined outreach processes and enhanced deliverability rates.
Streamlined Outreach
Cold email software saves time and ensures consistency in your communication by automating repetitive tasks, such as sending initial emails and follow-ups.
What’s more, many cold email software solutions offer real-time tracking and analytics on open rates, click-through rates, and response rates. This data helps sales teams refine their strategies and improve results.
Enhanced Deliverability
Deliverability is crucial because it directly affects whether your emails are seen or buried in spam folders. Most cold email software achieves higher deliverability through these mechanisms:
Spam Detection: Spam detection tools identify common spam triggers in your emails. For example, if you overuse capital letters or exclamation marks, your message will be more likely to be marked as spam.
Email Verification: Many solutions verify email addresses before launching a campaign to avoid sending emails to non-existent addresses.
IP Warming: To build a sender reputation and avoid being flagged as spam, the software gradually increases the volume of emails sent from your IP address.
Features To Look For In Cold Email Software
When considering cold email software, pinpointing the features that align with your goals and strategies is key to running successful campaigns. Here’s a list of features your software must have:
Robust Deliverability: Use algorithms and mechanisms to make sure your messages don’t end up in the spam folder.
Personalization: Craft tailored messages by inserting recipient-specific details for a more engaging outreach.
Tracking and Analytics: Track each email to know when it gets opened and gain insights into campaign performance.
Follow-up Automation and Scheduling: Schedule follow-up emails strategically to maximize response rates.
Integration with CRMs: Connect to your CRM to streamline lead management and data synchronization.
Multi-channel Outreach: Engage leads through email, voice calls, SMS, and social media from a single platform.
A/B Testing: Optimize your messaging by experimenting with different email variations to determine what resonates with your audience.
Built-in Conversation Management: Have all your messages with each prospect in one place and have follow-up messages appear as replies.
Tips for Running Successful Cold Email Outreach
Mastering cold email outreach requires more than just the right tool. To maximize your chances of success, consider these best practices for running a successful cold email campaign.
Stay Compliant
Staying compliant keeps you within the bounds of the law while also building trust with your audience.
If you operate in the US, you need to learn about the CAN-SPAM Act before sending out your first campaign. According to this law, your emails must include a valid physical address and provide a clear way for recipients to opt out of your emails.
When contacting prospects in the EU, make sure your emails clearly state the reason for contacting each prospect. You should also explain how you obtained each prospect’s email address and provide a clear way for them to opt out of receiving your emails. Otherwise, you risk violating the GDPR.
Segment Your Mailing List
Segmenting involves categorizing your subscribers into distinct groups based on various criteria, such as industry, location, or job role. It lets you send highly targeted messages to each group to increase the chances of engagement.
You can also divide recipients into active, semi-active, and inactive categories based on past engagement behavior. This way, you can prioritize follow-ups and tailor your messaging more effectively.
Use Catchy Subject Lines
The subject line is your chance to persuade recipients to open your email, so it should be attention-grabbing. Aim for lines that spark interest or pose compelling questions. Personalization, such as including the recipient’s name or mentioning their company, is also an effective technique.
Keep it Short
Keep your emails concise and to the point, focusing on delivering the most essential information. Long, overly detailed emails can overwhelm recipients and lead to disengagement.
Break up your message into short paragraphs and use bullet points to increase scannability. This formatting makes it easier to quickly grasp the key points of your email and increases the chances of engagement.
Optimize for a Personal Touch
Generic, one-size-fits-all messages are unlikely to resonate with recipients. Instead, take the time to reference specific details about the recipient or their company in your emails. Your cold email software lets you implement this tailored approach at scale.
Use Clear CTAs
A successful cold email CTA should guide prospects to the next step in the sales funnel. It must be clear and compelling without appearing too obvious or featuring direct links or button-like elements.
Use text-based CTAs that blend seamlessly with the email’s content. Encourage the prospect to reply, schedule a call, or express interest without triggering spam filters.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Cold Emailing Illegal?
Cold emailing isn’t illegal, but your activities must comply with the CAN-SPAM Act in the United States and the GDPR in Europe. Cold emails must include a valid physical address, provide a clear and straightforward way for recipients to opt-out or unsubscribe, and avoid deceptive or misleading subject lines and content.
Can I Use Gmail for Cold Emailing?
You can use Gmail for cold emailing, but the platform has daily sending limits to prevent abuse. Regular Gmail users have a daily limit of 500 messages, while Gmail Workspace subscribers can send 2000 emails per day. Some tools schedule outgoing emails to use the maximum capacity. And if you still need more, you can connect your Gmail account to an external SMTP server.
Final Thoughts
Cold email outreach is a powerful way to engage with potential clients and drive business growth.
When choosing cold email software, consider your team size, specific requirements, and budget constraints. While each solution on our list offers unique features and benefits, we recommend Mailshake, Sales Hub, and GMass as the top choices.
