Lemlist vs Instantly vs Salesforge: Which One Is Best For Cold Outreach?

Choosing between Lemlist, Instantly, and Salesforge isn’t just about features—it’s about how you run your cold outreach.

Do you want volume? Deeper personalization? Or a tool that does most of the work for you?

Each of these platforms approaches cold email differently. Lemlist focuses on visuals and personalization.

Instantly is all about sending at scale. Salesforge leans into AI to write, send, and manage everything with minimal input.

In this breakdown, I’ll cover:

• What each platform is actually good at (not just what they claim)
  
  
• How they stack up in terms of deliverability, automation, and cost
  
  
• Which one makes the most sense depending on your sales setup—freelancer, small team, or agency
  
  

Let’s start with a side-by-side comparison.

Lemlist vs Instantly vs Salesforge: Quick Look

Key Factors to Consider Before Investing In Email Outreach Tools

 If you’re trying to get accurate results from cold outreach, here are a few things you should consider before investing in an email outreach tool.

• Deliverability: 
  
  • Nothing else matters if emails don’t land in the inbox. 
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  • Good tools help warm up your inbox, avoid spam triggers, and protect your sender reputation. 
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  • Some, like Salesforge, even use AI to flag risky content before you hit send.

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• Personalization: 
  
  • People can tell when your email is generic. 
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  • The more personal your message feels, the better your chances of getting a reply. 
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  • Even small touches like using their name, company, or LinkedIn profile image can make a big difference. 

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• Automation: 
  
  • Manual follow-ups are easy to forget and are time-consuming. 
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  • A solid tool should handle follow-ups automatically so you don’t have to remember who replied or when to nudge someone. 
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  • This keeps things running, even on busy days. 

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• Integrations: 
  
  • If your outreach tool doesn’t connect with your CRM or LinkedIn, you’re going to waste time copying data around. 
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  • You must look for a tool that works with the rest of your stack. 
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  • Lemlist and Salesforge both do a good job here.

Get these four things right—deliverability, personalization, automation, and integrations—and your outreach will start working.

Lemlist vs Instantly vs Salesforge – Feature-by-Feature Comparison

Once you know what to look for, the next step is figuring out which tool actually does it best.

Let’s see each of these tools and compare how Lemlist, Instantly, and Salesforge stack up in real-world use.

1. Automation & Ease of Use

Your outreach tool should save time, not add more work. The easier it is to create campaigns and follow-ups, the more consistent your outreach will be.

2. Email Deliverability

It doesn’t matter how good your message is—if it lands in spam, it's a lost opportunity. Here’s how each tool helps you land in the inbox:

3. Integrations & Scalability

If you plan to grow, your tool needs to connect with your CRM and scale alongside your team. Here's how they compare:

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Each of these tools is built with a different user in mind:

• Lemlist stands out if you care about creative personalization and simple CRM workflows.
  
  
• Instantly works if you want to send many emails quickly without much complexity.
  
  
• Salesforge is your go-to if you're scaling fast and want automation to handle the heavy lifting.
  
  

Next, let’s see how they compare pricing—because the best tool is only helpful if it fits your budget, too.

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Pricing of Lemlist, Instantly, and Salesforge

Below is the pricing breakdown for Lemlist, Instantly, and Salesforge, along with what you get in each plan.

I. Lemlist Pricing

• Email Starter Plan: $32/month for 1 sending email and unlimited campaigns.
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• Email Pro Plan: $55/month for 3 sending emails, CRM integrations, and warm-up features.
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• Multichannel Expert Plan: $79/month for 5 sending emails, LinkedIn actions, and call steps.
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• Outreach Scale Plan: $129/month for 15 sending emails, a dedicated account manager, and premium support.

Note: Lemlist offers a 14-day free trial for the Email Pro and Multichannel Expert plans. Additional sending emails can be added for $9/month per email.

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II. Instantly Pricing

• Growth Plan: $30/month for unlimited email accounts and warm-up with 5,000 emails/month.
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• Hypergrowth Plan: $77.6/month for 25,000 uploaded contacts and 100,000 emails/month.
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• Light Speed Plan: $286.3/month for 500,000 emails/month and dedicated support.

Note: Instantly offers a 14-day free trial for these plans. 

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III. Salesforge Pricing

• Pro Plan – $40/month for 5,000 emails/month, unlimited mailboxes, AI-generated copy, and inbox rotation.
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• Growth Plan – $80/month for 50,000 emails/month, Primebox™ warm-up, advanced AI automation, and priority support.
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• AI Agent Plan (Agent Frank) – $416/month for fully autonomous AI outreach, ideal for teams scaling without adding headcount.

Note: Salesforge offers a free trial for its plans. Annual billing options also provide cost savings (you only have to pay for 10 months, so you get two months for free).

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Quick Pricing Breakdown for All Plans (Updated 2025)

Pricing gives you a rough idea, but it doesn’t tell the whole story.

To really understand what it’s like to use these tools, you need to look at how real users feel about them—what’s working, what’s frustrating, and what’s worth the cost.

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Pros and Cons Comparison: Lemlist vs Instantly vs Salesforge

Let’s break down the pros and cons of Lemlist, Instantly, and Salesforge based on actual feedback from users(like me) who’ve run campaigns with them.

Lemlist vs Instantly vs Salesforge: Which Tool Is Best for You? 

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Not all cold outreach tools are built for the same kind of team. 

Whether you’re a startup with a small list, an agency handling multiple clients, or a large team scaling fast, you need the right fit.

Here’s a simple breakdown to help you decide based on your team size and goals.

1. For Startups & Small Businesses

If you're just getting started or running a lean operation, you likely care most about affordability, ease of use, and features that deliver without complexity.

If your goal is basic outreach with a touch of personalization, Lemlist or Instantly work well. 

If you want to automate intelligently from the start, consider Salesforge.

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2. For Marketing Agencies

Agencies handle many client campaigns at once. You need tools that help you scale, automate, and save time.

If you're running creative, multichannel campaigns—Lemlist fits. 

For volume-heavy clients, Instantly wins. 

Salesforge is best for agencies juggling many clients and needing automation.

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3. For Large Teams & Enterprises

Bigger teams don’t have time for manual work. You need full automation, CRM integration, and systems that scale with you.

If you need to scale intelligently and automate at every step, Salesforge leads. Lemlist is good for tailored outreach. Instantly works if all you need is volume.

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Final Verdict

All three tools—Lemlist, Instantly, and Salesforge—can help you with cold outreach. But the best choice depends on what your team really needs.

• If you just want to send a lot of emails without spending much, Instantly is a good option.
  
  
• If you want your emails to feel personal and include LinkedIn steps or images, Lemlist does that well.
  
  

But if your goal is to grow fast, save time, and let automation do the work, then Salesforge is the stronger choice. 

It’s built to handle more leads with less manual effort. You don’t need to write every follow-up or worry about deliverability—Salesforge’s AI takes care of it.

If you’re ready to scale your outreach without all the busy work, give Salesforge a try. It’s a smart tool that grows with you.

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Frequently Asked Questions

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1. Which tool is best for bulk cold emails?

Instantly is the best option if your main goal is to send large volumes of emails. It’s affordable, supports unlimited sending accounts, and includes warm-up features to help avoid spam folders.

2. Which tool should I choose as a beginner?

If you're starting out and need something simple and affordable, Instantly is easy to set up. But if you want better results with less effort, Salesforge is also beginner-friendly thanks to its AI-powered setup.

3. Is Salesforge worth the higher price?

Yes, if you're scaling and want to automate follow-ups, writing, and deliverability. Salesforge uses AI to handle tasks most teams do manually, saving time and helping you grow faster.

4. Can I use these tools with LinkedIn outreach too?
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Lemlist and Salesforge both support multichannel outreach including LinkedIn. Instantly is focused only on email, so you’d need separate tools for LinkedIn integration.

5. Which tool has better reporting and analytics?
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Salesforge provides behavior-based insights and AI-optimized campaign tracking. Lemlist offers visual campaign reports. Instantly gives basic metrics, but advanced reporting may require integrations.

6. Do I need a technical background to use these tools?
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Not really. Instantly is very beginner-friendly. Lemlist has a slight learning curve due to multichannel features. Salesforge automates the process, though new users may need a few days to get familiar.

7. What if I need leads too—not just email sending?
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Instantly comes with a built-in B2B lead database. Salesforge helps generate and enrich leads via AI prompts. Lemlist focuses more on personalization than sourcing leads.

8. Do any of these tools offer a done-for-you service?
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Salesforge offers Agent Frank—an AI assistant that runs the entire outreach cycle for you, including writing, sending, and follow-ups. Lemlist and Instantly require more hands-on work.