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Best ActiveCampaign Alternatives

Written by Paddy Stobbs

Co-Founder & CEO

Edited by Steph Leung

Product & Operations Lead

Updated onMar 14, 2025

ActiveCampaign has established itself as a versatile marketing automation and email platform, but many sales teams find themselves searching for alternatives that better address specific operational needs. While ActiveCampaign offers a solid foundation for basic sales and marketing automation, specialized alternatives excel in key areas where ActiveCampaign falls short. From enterprise-grade analytics to fast performance, built-in prospecting capabilities to advanced multichannel outreach tools, the market offers several compelling alternatives tailored to specific sales requirements. In 2025, sales teams face increasing pressure to maximize efficiency and conversion rates, making the choice between ActiveCampaign and its specialized competitors more consequential than ever. This comparison explores four powerful ActiveCampaign alternatives that outperform the platform in critical areas, helping sales teams identify the solution that best aligns with their unique operational demands.

Best alternatives to ActiveCampaign

For enterprise sales operations requiring advanced analytics:

Outreach

Stackfix Rating:

5.9 / 10

Outreach stands out as a strong choice for enterprise sales operations requiring advanced analytics, surpassing ActiveCampaign with its sophisticated data capabilities and AI-powered insights. While ActiveCampaign offers basic email tracking and pipeline metrics, Outreach delivers comprehensive sales intelligence through features like AI conversation analysis, advanced lead prioritization, and detailed sales forecasting. The platform’s analytics suite provides powerful capabilities, compared to ActiveCampaign’s more limited customization options for reports and dashboards. For enterprise teams focused on data-driven decision making, Outreach’s ability to provide granular performance metrics, sales agent coaching insights, and sophisticated pipeline tracking makes it a leader in advanced sales analytics.

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For enterprise sales operations requiring advanced analytics:

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Outreach

Stackfix Rating:

5.9 / 10

For teams requiring fast platform performance:

Instantly

Stackfix Rating:

5.9 / 10

Teams requiring fast platform performance will find Instantly’s lightning-quick interface a compelling upgrade from ActiveCampaign’s sluggish load times. While ActiveCampaign takes over 4 seconds to load key pages, Instantly delivers sub-1 second response times across its modern, streamlined interface. This dramatic speed difference enables sales teams to work more efficiently, particularly when managing high-volume email campaigns that demand rapid navigation between sequences and analytics.

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For teams requiring fast platform performance:

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Instantly

Stackfix Rating:

5.9 / 10

For sales teams that need a built-in prospecting database:

Apollo

Stackfix Rating:

6.5 / 10

Sales teams seeking a built-in prospecting database will find Apollo’s native contact database superior to ActiveCampaign’s lack of an offering. ActiveCampaign lacks native prospecting capabilities, while Apollo provides a comprehensive database that seamlessly integrates with its engagement features. Apollo’s database stands out for its data richness and robust prospecting functionality, eliminating the need for costly third-party prospecting tools that ActiveCampaign users must purchase separately.

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For sales teams that need a built-in prospecting database:

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Apollo

Stackfix Rating:

6.5 / 10

For multichannel outbound sales requiring phone and LinkedIn capabilities:

Stackfix Rating:

6.9 / 10

Close’s powerful native phone dialer and advanced call analytics make it a preferred choice for sales teams focused on phone-based outreach. While both platforms lack native LinkedIn integration, Close’s robust phone capabilities—including AI call transcript analysis and whisper coaching for sales agents—provide essential functionality that ActiveCampaign does not offer. Additionally, Close’s analytics suite delivers more comprehensive call tracking metrics like connect rates, which ActiveCampaign cannot match.

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For multichannel outbound sales requiring phone and LinkedIn capabilities:

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Stackfix Rating:

6.9 / 10

Meet your expert: Paddy Stobbs

Stackfix Co-Founder & CEO

I've spent over a decade deep in the world of business software - personally managing more than $2M in purchases across companies I've built and led. From intimate 10-person teams to organizations of 150+, I've developed a particular obsession with Sales and HR tools – testing, implementing, and scaling them at every stage of growth. My journey started at Cambridge University, led me through Google, and most recently culminated in selling my previous venture to TikTok. Now, I'm channeling all of that hands-on experience into helping others navigate the complex landscape of business software.

Stackfix Comparison

	ActiveCampaign	Outreach	Instantly	Apollo	Close

Our rating
Functionality	6 Functionality 6/10 <p>ActiveCampaign is a fairly basic email outbound tool that also packages a decently strong native CRM. As such if these are the areas you're focused on, then the tool covers the basics well. However, it lacks any kind of native prospecting database and offers no support for core channels such as phone outbound - so if you need these, you're better off looking elsewhere.</p>	7 Functionality 7/10 <p>In terms of outbound channels, you'll find the core ones covered (email, LinkedIn & phone). However, there are some major feature omissions such as the lack of any kind of prospecting database (something you'll find in many simpler, all-in-one products). That being said, it compensates with strong analytics, coaching and forecasting features.</p>	3 Functionality 3/10 <p>As a sales engagement tool, Instantly is extremely lightweight. The only channel you can configure in outbound sequences is email (however, you can configure calls and texts from their CRM manually). Therefore if multi-channel outreach is important to you you're better off looking elsewhere. That being said, we were pleased to find a native contact database and lightweight CRM provided.</p>	7 Functionality 7/10 <p>Despite Apollo primarily being a prospecting database, we were pleasantly surprised by the quality of its sales engagement feature set. On the email front, we were pleased to find a range of rich functionality including A/B testing, email warmup and support for inbox rotation. On the phone front, the native dialer and AI conversation analysis functionalities were stand out. If we were to call out an area which was lacking it would be on the richness of the sequences builder (complex branching logic is not possible) and also any kind of sales forecasting functionality it limited.</p>	7 Functionality 7/10 <p>Close is primarily a CRM. That being said it does offer fairly strong multi-channel (email, phone, SMS) outbound capabilities. It's native dialer and adjacent functionalities are particularly strong. Additionally, given its focus as a CRM, it excels in areas such as pipeline tracking and deal management.</p>
Ease of Use	7 Ease of Use 7/10 <p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">It would take an average small business employee less than an hour to properly figure out the functionalities of this software - a great learning curve if you ask us. The layout is also extremely intuitive, making this a beginner-friendly piece of software.</span></p>	5 Ease of Use 5/10 <p>Outreach's core interfaces are familiar and relatively straight forward to use. However, given the sheer breadth of functionality some screens (especially those related to the newer AI features) can feel a little confusing on first look. It would take the average SMB employee a few hours to master its use.</p>	7 Ease of Use 7/10 <p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Instantly's web app is intuitive and easy to navigate. Additionally, its onboarding was simple and not overwhelming. It's core sequence building and analytics pages are intuitive and easy to get acquainted with. It would take an average SMB employee less than 30 minutes to master its use.</span></p>	6 Ease of Use 6/10 <p>Apollo's web app is relatively simple and easy to navigate. Additionally, when tested, we find it's search pages were generally fast to load.</p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Apollo's web app is generally intuitive and easy to navigate. Additionally, its onboarding was simple and not overwhelming. Our only complaint is that some of its sequence builder interfaces were slightly non-standard and therefore take a bit more time to get used to. On average, it would take an SMB employee less than 45 minutes to master its use.</span></p>	7 Ease of Use 7/10 <p>Though Close is focused on power users, we were pleased by how intuitive the platform is to use. It's core sequencing interface is very well presented and familiar. Additionally, even more advanced features such as call transcript analysis are very well presented and not overwhelming. It would take an average SMB employee around 30 minutes to master its use.</p>
Look and feel	4 Look and feel 4/10 <p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">We found ActiveCampaign's interface to generally be intuitive, especially with regards to sequencing and email drafting. However, the frustratingly slow loading times (more than 4 seconds in many cases) can be a real deal-breaker.</span></p>	7 Look and feel 7/10 <p>Outreach's interfaces are well designed and modern. It's pages were also relatively snappy and quick to load. Overall, the product experience is smooth.</p>	8 Look and feel 8/10 <p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Instantly's design aesthetic is modern and clean. Unlike many competitors, we found most pages to be well laid out and not overflowing with information. When tested, we find its page load times to be fast (often <1s) and core interfaces such as the sequence builder to be slick and intuitive.</span></p>	6 Look and feel 6/10 <p>Apollo's web app is relatively simple and easy to navigate. Additionally, when tested, we find it's search pages were generally fast to load.</p><p>However, some of its engagement centred interfaces were a bit clunky and overwhelming. For example, its sequence builder was unintuitive to use on initial glance.</p>	8 Look and feel 8/10 <p>When compared with most tools in the sales engagement space, Close presents itself as one of the best designed and easiest to use tools on the market. Though lacking in colour, we appreciated its modern aesthetic and fast page load times.</p>
Customisability	5 Customisability 5/10 <p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">ActiveCampaign offers the usual channels around customization including things like setting up custom workflows, using their AI to draft sequences etc. However, we would like to see more granularity when it comes to making custom reports and dashboards from an analytics perspective.</span></p>	7 Customisability 7/10 <p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Outreach offers a fairly standard set of customization routes. For example, you can provide their AI with context about your business and targets which will then be used across a range of AI features in the product. Outreach's analytics dashboards are also very customizable.</span></p>	6 Customisability 6/10 <p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Instantly offers a number of channels for customisation, including basic ways such as creating custom searches in the prospecting database or adding custom fields to individual leads. There are also some deeper levels which you can customise your experience such as by connecting to OpenAI via API and creating custom prompts to do small tasks such as cleaning company names or guessing company pain points. </span></p>	7 Customisability 7/10 <p><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">From an engagement perspective, there are a number of customization options Apollo offers. For example, you can provide their AI with context about your business and targets which will then be used when drafting AI email sequences. Apollo's analytics dashboards are also extremely customizable and among some of the most granular we've tested.</span></p>	8 Customisability 8/10 <p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Close offers significant customization for fields, workflows, and pipeline stages. You can create custom data objects to track items beyond people and companies, such as partnerships. It also supports extremely granular custom filters to target contacts and leads when setting up sequences.</span></p>
Ease of Setup	6 Ease of Setup 6/10 <p>ActiveCampaign offers a self-serve trial – it takes around 10-20 minutes to finish basic setup, and fully customising workflows takes 1-2 days at most. We especially appreciated how easy it was to use AI to draft sequences and emails despite the lack of proper templates.</p>	3 Ease of Setup 3/10 <p>Outreach does not offer a self-serve product or a free trial. This means you'll have to jump through a number of sales hoops before you're able to get started and use the product. Once you do have access, there's also a fair amount of groundwork that needs to be configured such as setting up sequences, customizing dashboards etc.</p>	7 Ease of Setup 7/10 <p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Instantly offers a simple, self-serve free trial for their platform. When tested, we found the initial setup to be simple (taking <10 mins). Additionally, connecting email addresses to their outbound platform was relatively trivial too - with a one click connect feature for popular providers like Google and Outlook. However, when choosing a paid plan, their pricing model is very complex with varied plans depending on if you need standalone lead generation or need some outbound sequencing functionality too.</span></p>	6 Ease of Setup 6/10 <p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Unlike many of similar products of this scale, Apollo offers a simple, self-serve free trial for their platform. When tested, we found the initial setup to be simple (taking <10 mins), especially if you're using google workspace to power your emails. However, given then feature breadth that Apollo offers, it can take a lot of time to fully customize the experience. For example - most customers will still need to connect CRMs and customize Apollo's AI 'power-ups' to suit their needs.</span></p>	6 Ease of Setup 6/10 <p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Close offers a free trial without need to speak to sales. Completing basic setup is simple, taking around 10 minutes to import contacts and set up pipelines. However, fully setting up the platform and upskilling your reps can take up to a week, given Close's powerful and rich outbound functionality.</span></p>
Customer Support	8 Customer Support 8/10 <p>The primary channel for support is live chat. When tested, we found response times to be swift (when in working hours which are <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">3am-11pm CT) and helpful. Additionally, ActiveCampaign also provide a decent support centre too.</span></p>	6 Customer Support 6/10 <p>Outreach primarily offers support through live chat (although they do also allow you to create traditional support tickets). They also offer a help centre, however, we found this to be slightly overwhelming and poorly laid out.</p>	5 Customer Support 5/10 <p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">You can contact Instantly's support agents via a live chat widget within their web app. When tested, we find it relatively easy to contact a real agent (<30 minutes). However, we find agents to be relatively unhelpful at times, often referring to unhelpful help centre documents instead of answering questions directly. Additionally, though Instantly does provide a help centre, its articles are often light on detail.</span></p>	8 Customer Support 8/10 <p>Apollo offers support via a live chat widget within its web app. When tested, we find agents to be helpful and about to troubleshoot technical questions often in the first response.</p><p>Additionally, Apollo provides a detailed help centre which was able to answer almost all basic question we had in testing.</p>	7 Customer Support 7/10 <p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">You can only contact Close's support team via email, however the team is often helpful and replies within 15 minutes. Close also offers a lot of helpful onboarding guidance and high quality self-help resources.</span></p>
Integratability	7 Integratability 7/10 <p>ActiveCampaign offers a fairly large array of integrations which covers most of the tooling you'd expect (HubSpot is notably absent). That being said, we would like to have seen native integrations with more prospecting databases such as Apollo (though this can be configured through an automation platform like Zapier).</p>	8 Integratability 8/10 <p>Outreach is one of the best integrated tools in the market. It offers integrations with the core CRM players, meeting scheduling apps, automation apps, email providers and more.</p>	4 Integratability 4/10 <p>Though instantly does provide integrations with core CRMs (HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive), automation platforms (Zapier) and email providers (Gmail, Outlook) - we would like to have seen native integrations with more established lead sources such as Apollo.</p>	7 Integratability 7/10 <p>Though Apollo offers a very large integrations marketplace, its clear that most integrations are geared not towards using Apollo as a sales engagement tool, but rather as a prospecting database. As such, some integrations such as document signing platforms were missing. That being said, all the core integrations including CRMs (Salesforce, HubSpot) and automation platforms (Zapier) were present.</p>	4 Integratability 4/10 <p>Close lacks native integrations with a lot of tools we'd like to have seen such as Apollo or other prospecting databases. That being said, we did appreciate the integration with Zapier through which you are able to connect to a much broader array of tooling.</p>
Ease of Migration	6 Ease of Migration 6/10 <p>ActiveCampaign offers self serve export functionality directly within its web app. Additionally, it offers an API through which you can interact with data on the platform programatically too.</p>	6 Ease of Migration 6/10 <p>Outreach offers self serve export functionality for contacts and analytics via its web app. It also offers an API through which you can interact with data in the platform programatically.</p>	6 Ease of Migration 6/10 <p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Instantly offers self-serve export functionality via their web app. Additionally, Instantly offers an API through which businesses are able to interact with their database directly - however, documentation for this remains relatively light.</span></p>	6 Ease of Migration 6/10 <p>Apollo offers self-serve export functionality for contacts directly within their web app. High export limits are also available for larger enterprises depending on what plan you are on.</p><p>Additionally, Apollo offers a well-documented API through which businesses are able to interact with their database directly.</p>	7 Ease of Migration 7/10 <p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Close allows users to export key data via self-serve. Export of most other data is also available via API or on request.</span></p>

Outreach: ActiveCampaign alternative for enterprise sales operations requiring advanced analytics

Outreach

Stackfix Rating:

5.9 / 10

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Updated onMar 14, 2025

Outreach sequence builder with email and LinkedIn steps

Want to know more? See a detailed comparison of ActiveCampaign vs. Outreach.

Pros

Comprehensive Analytics Suite

Strong Integration Ecosystem

Strong sales forecasting functionality

Cons

Lack of Native Contact Database

Extremely Poor Setup Experience

Mediocre User Experience

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Instantly: ActiveCampaign alternative for teams requiring fast platform performance

Instantly

Stackfix Rating:

5.9 / 10

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Starting at

$37

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Updated onMar 14, 2025

Instantly sequences builder with email steps

Instantly activity dashboard showing email analytics

Instantly contact database with a search applied

Instantly sequences builder with email steps

Want to know more? See a detailed comparison of ActiveCampaign vs. Instantly.

Pros

Modern and intuitive interface design

Powerful contact database with AI search

Cons

Subpar Customer Support

No Template Sequences

Poor Integration Capabilities

Severely Limited Functionality

Limited Analytics Capabilities

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Apollo: ActiveCampaign alternative for sales teams that need a built-in prospecting database

Apollo

Stackfix Rating:

6.5 / 10

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Updated onMar 14, 2025

Apollo - Contact Database

Want to know more? See a detailed comparison of ActiveCampaign vs. Apollo.

Pros

Best-in-class contact database

Excellent customer support

Strong email engagement features

Cons

Clunky User Interface

Limited Channel Integration

Limited Sequence Functionality

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Close: ActiveCampaign alternative for multichannel outbound sales requiring phone and LinkedIn capabilities

Stackfix Rating:

6.9 / 10

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Starting at

$29

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Updated onMar 14, 2025

Close activity dashboard showing overview metrics

Close conversation analysis showing AI summaries of call transcripts

Close pipeline management showing example deals

Close sequence builder showing email step and manual task

Close activity dashboard showing overview metrics

Want to know more? See a detailed comparison of ActiveCampaign vs. Close.

Pros

Highly customizable platform

Comprehensive analytics capabilities

Modern, intuitive interface

Cons

Poor Integration Capabilities

No Native Contact Database

Limited Social Selling Capabilities

Missing Advanced Sequence Features

Limited Email Optimization Tools

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How we test products

With countless Sales Engagement platforms on the market, we focus on identifying the best options for small and midsize businesses. Our evaluation process reflects real-world usage, prioritizing functionality, ease of use, and overall value. Here’s how we do it:

Functionality

We start by mapping out the key use cases for sales teams—from outreach and automation to engagement tracking and pipeline management. We then assess how well each product supports these needs by running real-world workflows. Platforms that provide essential features without unnecessary complexity score highest.

User Experience & Onboarding

A powerful tool is useless if it’s frustrating to use. We test each platform’s interface by navigating core features without prior training. We also track onboarding time—from account setup to launching a first campaign. Products that require extensive customization or technical knowledge to function properly lose points.

Automation & AI Capabilities

Sales teams rely on automation to streamline outreach and improve efficiency. We evaluate the quality of automation features, from email sequencing and call tracking to AI-driven insights. We prioritize tools that enhance productivity without adding unnecessary complexity.

Integrations & Compatibility

Sales Engagement platforms need to work seamlessly with CRMs, email providers, and other sales tools. We test how well each product integrates with key business systems and assess whether native integrations or third-party connectors are required.

Pricing & Value

We compare pricing across competitors, analyzing what each plan includes and whether critical features are locked behind paywalls. Hidden costs—such as per-user fees, premium automation features, or required onboarding services—are factored into our assessment. Products that offer strong core functionality at a fair price score highest.

Stackfix’s Fit Score

All of these factors contribute to Stackfix’s Fit Score, a proprietary ranking system that measures how well each tool aligns with a buyer’s needs. It combines two key elements:

Requirements Met – How many buyer requirements the Sales Engagement platform fulfills
Stackfix Rating – Our expert assessment of the software’s overall quality, usability, and value

The result? A clear, data-driven recommendation that helps businesses choose the right Sales Engagement software—without hours of trial and error.

FAQs

What is a Sales Engagement Platform?

A sales engagement platform is a tool that helps sales teams automate, track, and optimize their outreach efforts across multiple channels. It provides email sequencing, LinkedIn automation, and phone dialing tools to streamline engagement—ensuring reps can connect with prospects more efficiently and close deals faster. The key features of a sales engagement platform usually include:

Multichannel Outreach: Supporting email, phone, SMS, and LinkedIn automation, allowing reps to reach prospects on their preferred channels.
Automation & Personalization: Enabling teams to create automated outreach sequences with AI-driven personalization, ensuring messages feel tailored while scaling outreach efforts.
Engagement Tracking & Analytics: Providing insights into email open rates, reply rates, call activity, and meeting conversions to help teams optimize their sales playbooks.

What should I consider when buying Sales Engagement software?

Choosing the right Sales Engagement platform can make or break your outreach and conversion efforts—so it’s essential to find one that fits your sales process, integrates with your tech stack, and aligns with your budget. Here are the key factors to consider before making your decision.

Your outreach strategy. Are you primarily email-first, or do you need a true multichannel approach that includes phone and LinkedIn automation? Make sure the platform supports your preferred outreach methods.
Ease of use. A sales engagement platform should help your team move faster, not slow them down. Look for an intuitive interface that makes sequence building, automation, and performance tracking seamless. That’s why Stackfix rates every platform on Ease of Use—click into each product above to see the details.
Integration with your tech stack. Does the platform connect with your CRM (Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive etc) and prospecting tools (Apollo, Cognism, ZoomInfo)? Native integrations are crucial for a smooth sales workflow.
Deliverability & Compliance. Email deliverability tools (like warm-up services and inbox rotation) help prevent outreach from landing in spam. If you’re targeting regulated industries, check for GDPR and TCPA compliance features to avoid legal risks.
Pricing & scalability. Some platforms charge per seat, while others have limits on contacts, sequences, or automation steps. Factor in hidden costs like API access, premium integrations, or additional outreach channels as your team scales.
Customer support & training. Outreach is time-sensitive—if something breaks, will you get fast support? Check for 24/7 support, live chat response times, and onboarding resources before committing.

What are the common mistakes to avoid when buying Sales Engagement software?

Avoiding common pitfalls when choosing Sales Engagement software can save you time, money, and missed opportunities. Here are some of the biggest mistakes startups make—and how to avoid them.

Ignoring multichannel needs. Email is great, but adding phone, SMS, and LinkedIn steps dramatically improves engagement. Ensure the platform supports all the channels your team needs.
Overlooking email deliverability features. A sales engagement tool is useless if emails land in spam. Look for email warm-up, domain authentication, and AI-powered sending optimization.
Not testing CRM integrations. Just because a platform claims to work with your CRM doesn’t mean it syncs everything correctly. Test contact syncing, activity logging, and automation triggers before committing.
Choosing based on features instead of efficiency. A feature-packed tool isn’t helpful if it’s slow, clunky, or hard to navigate. Prioritize platforms that help your team engage prospects faster rather than those with unnecessary complexity.
Not considering scalability. Will the platform grow with your team? Ensure it can handle increased outreach volume, additional users, and new automation needs without major pricing jumps.

How much does X Software typically cost?

Most sales engagement solutions range from $15-200 per user monthly, with entry-level options starting around $29-49 and premium solutions exceeding $200 monthly. Most vendors structure pricing in tiers based on features and outreach volume, so be sure to enter your requirements as accurately as possible in our pricing calculator.

A few providers like Apollo and Yesware offer free plans with basic functionality, though these typically restrict sequence steps and automation capabilities.

For enterprise plans (like Salesloft and Outreach) and above, you can expect to speak to sales for a bespoke price. These custom quotes typically factor in team size, integration needs, and advanced analytics requirements. To skip the demo calls, be sure to check out our pricing calculator.

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