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Cold email

“Send cold emails to find customers”
1 of 2

Cold email software does two jobs: finding the right addresses and getting your messages into the main inbox. Apollo and Hunter start with the data, and a founder can build a first list on either without paying. Instantly and Smartlead are built for volume, sending from many warmed-up inboxes at once, which suits agencies. lemlist sits between the two with personalised sequences across email, LinkedIn and calls.

Instantly: Cold email sent from many inboxes at once.
Instantly

Cold email sent from many inboxes at once.

Pricing on requestTry
Hunter: Finds and verifies work email addresses.
Hunter

Best for finding emails

Pricing on requestTry
Clay: Lead enrichment and research in a spreadsheet.
Clay

Best for very targeted lists

Pricing on requestTry

Side by side

Price, free plan, ease of use and the team size each one suits.
ApolloFree plan50% off for a year for startupsSolo, Small team, Growing team
HubSpotFree plan90% off year one for startupsSmall team, Growing team, Large team
InstantlyPricing on requestSolo, Small team, Growing team
SmartleadFrom $39/mo50% off your first monthSolo, Small team, Growing team
lemlist14-day free trialSolo, Small team, Growing team
HunterPricing on requestSolo, Small team, Growing team

Why these picks

Independent reviews, facts checked at the source, and our own use.
  • Ranked from independent reviews

    We score how often and how high each tool appears in independent best-of reviews.

    Zapier logoEmailToolTester logoZapier and EmailToolTester
    Reviews read 2 Oct 2026
  • Facts checked at the source

    Prices, free plans and offers come from each provider's own website, checked every week by our software and reviewed by us.

    Prices last checked 6 Oct 2026
  • Nobody pays for a place

    The order comes from the reviews and the facts. Offers are only the providers' own.

     

Head to head

Pairs people weigh up that include one of these picks.
ApollovsClayApollovsHunterHubSpotvsSalesforceHuntervsDropcontactlemlistvsInstantlyPipedrivevsHubSpot

Connect them to AI

MCP setups that use these tools, step by step.
Connect AI to HubSpot

Questions

What people ask about cold email.

Should I start with a lead database or a sending tool?

Start with the list if you have no prospects yet. Apollo gives you a large B2B contact database with sequences on top, and Hunter finds and verifies work addresses from a company domain. Once you send to more than a handful of people a day, a dedicated sender like Instantly or Smartlead protects your deliverability with warm-up and inbox rotation. Many small teams pair one data tool with one sender.

Can I do cold outreach without paying anything?

You can get going for free. Apollo has a generous free plan with contact data and email sequences, and Hunter gives you monthly credits for finding and verifying addresses. The sending tools cost money: Smartlead starts at $39 a month, and Instantly and lemlist have no free plan. Free credits run out fast, so treat them as a test of your offer before you commit.

I already use HubSpot. Do I need a separate cold email tool?

HubSpot's free CRM keeps contacts, deals and emails on one customer record, and its paid sales hub adds sequences. It is built for managing relationships across teams more than for sending at volume from several inboxes. If outbound is a big channel for you, a sender like Smartlead or Instantly handles the warm-up and rotation. Apollo connects natively to HubSpot, so your prospects can land there once they reply.

How do I keep cold emails out of spam?

Send from a separate domain or a few extra inboxes, warm them up before a campaign and keep daily volume per inbox low. Instantly and Smartlead warm up each inbox automatically and spread sends across all of them. Verify addresses before you send, because bounces hurt your sender reputation, and Hunter checks that each address delivers. Short, plain messages with one clear ask also land better than heavy HTML.

Is cold emailing businesses legal in the EU?

B2B cold email without prior consent is allowed in some EU countries, such as France, but national rules differ: Germany, Spain and Italy generally require consent for promotional email, even to businesses. You need a clear reason to contact each person, an easy opt-out in every message and a record of where you got the data. Write to work addresses about something relevant to their role. Before a large campaign in one country, check its rules with a local adviser.