Quick answer
Pick Instantly if you want the most email for the money and the easiest start: Hypergrowth is $97 a month for 125,000 emails. Pick Smartlead if you run an agency: branded client workspaces cost $29 a month each, and the Unlimited plans include verified prospect emails. Pick Salesforge if you want email and LinkedIn in one sequence: Growth is $96 a month with unlimited mailboxes, LinkedIn senders and users. All three include unlimited mailboxes and warmup. Prices are for monthly billing, checked on each vendor's pricing page on 14 October 2026.
What all three do the same
Strip the marketing and the core is the same. All three let you connect unlimited mailboxes, warm them up at no extra cost, rotate sending across them and read replies in one inbox. None of them charges per mailbox.
So the question isn't "can it send cold email". All three can. The choice comes down to four things:
- How much email you get per dollar.
- Whether LinkedIn runs in the same sequence as email.
- How it handles many clients, if you're an agency.
- What's bundled: lead data, AI and sending infrastructure.
A word on who's writing: I run cold email and LinkedIn outbound for B2B companies, with 2000+ meetings booked for clients so far.
My bias, up front. Salesforge, with Mailforge, Infraforge and Warmforge around it, is what I run for clients, and I've written guest articles for Salesforge's blog. None of the three pays me, and there are no affiliate links here. That's a preference from daily use, not a verdict. Below I say plainly where Smartlead or Instantly is the better buy, because for plenty of teams one of them is.
Prices on 14 October 2026
All three sell plans by email volume and contacts, not by seat or mailbox. This is what each pricing page showed when I checked:
| Plan | Monthly billing | Billed annually, per month | Emails a month | Contacts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salesforge Pro | $48 | $40 | 5,000 | 1,000 active |
| Salesforge Growth | $96 | $80 | 50,000 | 10,000 active |
| Smartlead Base | $39 | $32 | 6,000 | 2,000 |
| Smartlead Pro | $94 | $78 | 90,000 | 30,000 |
| Smartlead Unlimited Smart | $174 | $144 | 150,000 | Unlimited |
| Smartlead Unlimited Prime | $379 | $315 | 500,000 | Unlimited |
| Instantly Growth | $47 | $37.60 | 5,000 | 1,000 uploaded |
| Instantly Hypergrowth | $97 | $77.60 | 125,000 | 25,000 uploaded |
| Instantly Light Speed | $358 | $286.30 | 500,000 | 100,000 uploaded |
Read the contacts column carefully, because the three count differently. Salesforge counts active contacts, the people moving through a sequence right now, and lets you store as many as you like on top. Instantly counts uploaded contacts. Smartlead counts contacts stored in the account, with no cap on Smart and Prime.
At about $95 a month, Instantly gives you 125,000 emails, Smartlead 90,000 and Salesforge 50,000. If email volume is all you need, that's a real gap. What Salesforge adds for the money is unlimited LinkedIn senders plus 1,000 AI personalization credits and 1,000 email validation credits a month. Worth paying for only if you'll use them.
Annual billing is cheaper on all three: Salesforge gives two months free, Smartlead takes 17% off and Instantly 20% off its outreach plans. Sources: Salesforge pricing, Smartlead pricing, Instantly pricing.
LinkedIn: the biggest real difference
This is where the three split.
- Salesforge runs LinkedIn natively. One sequence can mix emails with connection requests, messages, InMails, follows and profile views, with branches on conditions you set. Replies from both channels land in one inbox, Primebox. Growth includes unlimited LinkedIn senders, Pro includes one. Details on its multichannel page.
- Smartlead markets itself as email, LinkedIn and calls in one platform. The LinkedIn setup its help center documents runs through HeyReach or Aimfox, which are separate tools you connect with an API key. Calls come from SmartDialer, an add-on with credit plans from $9 a month.
- Instantly has no LinkedIn step. Its automations hand leads to Aimfox, HeyReach, La Growth Machine, Valley or Expandi. Calling and SMS sit in Instantly's CRM.
One catch on Salesforge: LinkedIn actions use social action credits. Growth includes 1,000 a month. Salesforge's own estimate is 400 to 500 per profile at full capacity. So the plan covers about two fully active profiles. Past that, you buy more credits in the app.
If your team already runs LinkedIn in HeyReach and is happy with it, this difference shrinks. Smartlead or Instantly next to HeyReach is a perfectly good setup. If you want one sequence and one inbox for both channels, Salesforge is the only one of the three that does it natively. I go deeper on this pair in Salesforge vs Smartlead.
For agencies: client workspaces and white-label
Agencies have a problem other teams don't: keeping clients apart, sometimes with a branded login for each one.
- Smartlead sells white-label as an add-on: $29 a month per client workspace, from the Pro plan. Unlimited Prime includes three client workspaces. The cost per client is clear before you sign.
- Instantly includes an agency white-label portal on Hypergrowth and Light Speed. Its help article lists the limits: one portal per workspace, clients see every campaign in that workspace and each separate workspace needs its own subscription.
- Salesforge includes unlimited workspaces on both plans. Branded access runs through a reseller program with a 20% revenue share, set up on a call.
For an agency with many clients who each want their own branded login, Smartlead's pricing is the easiest to plan around.
What's bundled: data, AI and infrastructure
| Salesforge | Smartlead | Instantly | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mailboxes and warmup | Unlimited, included | Unlimited, included | Unlimited, included |
| LinkedIn in the same sequence | Yes, native | Through HeyReach or Aimfox | Through Aimfox, HeyReach and others |
| Calls | Not on its site | SmartDialer add-on, from $9 a month | In Instantly's CRM |
| Lead data | Leadsforge, a separate product | Verified prospect emails: $59 add-on on Base and Pro, included on Unlimited plans | 450M+ database on a separate Credits plan |
| AI | Personalization credits included, Agent Frank sold separately | SmartAssistant on all plans | AI agents paid in credits |
| Deliverability extras | 1 free placement test per mailbox a month, ESP matching on Growth | SmartDelivery placement tests from $49 a month, SmartServers at $39 each | Deliverability AI Agent from Hypergrowth, SISR on Light Speed |
Lead data. Smartlead sells verified prospect emails through SmartProspect as a $59 a month add-on on Base (2,000 a month) and Pro (30,000), and includes them on Unlimited Smart and Unlimited Prime. Instantly's 450M+ contact database runs on a separate Credits subscription. Salesforge keeps data in Leadsforge. The sample stack on its pricing page lists the Leadsforge Essential plan at $49 a month.
AI. Smartlead includes SmartAssistant, an in-app assistant that builds campaigns and sorts replies, on all plans. Instantly's AI Sales Agent and AI Reply Agent use 5 credits per lead or reply. Salesforge includes personalization credits for AI-written emails unique to each lead. Its AI SDR, Agent Frank, is sold separately: $599 a month billed quarterly or $499 a month billed annually, after a demo.
Infrastructure. Each one sells mailboxes on the side. Smartlead's SmartSenders start at $4.50 per Google or Outlook mailbox a month, and dedicated SmartServers cost $39 per server a month. Instantly sells done-for-you Google accounts from $5 a month, and Light Speed adds SISR, its dedicated server and IP rotation. Salesforge's Mailforge, Infraforge and Primeforge are separate subscriptions.
Deliverability: the tool is the smaller part
All three include unlimited warmup. All three can land in the inbox. Frankly speaking, the platform matters less than the setup around it. Separate sending domains, SPF, DKIM and DMARC, a few weeks of warmup, low daily volume per mailbox and a verified list decide where your email lands. A badly set up domain goes to spam from any of these three.
Great copy means nothing if it lands in spam, so sort the setup before you argue about tools. My cold email deliverability guide walks through it step by step.
Before you commit. Run the free trial with your own domains and list. Instantly's trial covers 1,000 emails and 250 contacts. Salesforge's covers 100 emails and 50 contacts, enough to test placement and the LinkedIn steps but not a real campaign. Smartlead offers a free trial with no card, and its help center puts it at 14 days. Send to test inboxes on Gmail and Outlook and check where you land before you move a live campaign.
Which one to pick
Pick Instantly if
- You want the most email per dollar: 125,000 a month for $97.
- You're new to cold email and want the simplest start.
- LinkedIn already runs in another tool, or not at all.
Pick Smartlead if
- You run an agency and want a branded workspace per client at a known $29 a month.
- You want verified prospect emails in the same platform, included on the Unlimited plans or as a $59 add-on below them.
- You want a dialer inside the same platform.
Pick Salesforge if
- You want email and LinkedIn in one sequence and one inbox.
- Several people and LinkedIn profiles send, and you don't want per-seat fees.
- You want AI-written emails and email validation included in the plan.
Where I wouldn't pick Salesforge: pure email at high volume on a small budget. Instantly and Smartlead send more for the same money. For the full head-to-head on that, see Salesforge vs Instantly. And if lemlist is on your shortlist too, start with Instantly vs lemlist.
Key takeaways
- All three include unlimited mailboxes and warmup. You pay for email volume and contacts, not seats or inboxes.
- At about $95 a month, Instantly sends 125,000 emails, Smartlead 90,000 and Salesforge 50,000.
- Salesforge is the only one of the three with native LinkedIn steps in the same sequence. Smartlead and Instantly connect to LinkedIn tools like HeyReach.
- For agencies, Smartlead's $29 per client workspace is the clearest white-label pricing.
- Deliverability depends more on domains, warmup and list quality than on which of these you pick.
FAQ
Is Salesforge better than Instantly?
For email only, Instantly gives more volume per dollar: 125,000 emails a month for $97, against 50,000 for $96 on Salesforge Growth. Salesforge is the better fit when you want LinkedIn steps in the same sequence and AI-written emails included in the plan.
Is Smartlead or Instantly cheaper?
The entry plan is cheaper on Smartlead: Base is $39 a month against $47 for Instantly Growth. At about $95, Instantly Hypergrowth sends 125,000 emails and Smartlead Pro 90,000. For lead data, Smartlead charges a $59 add-on on Base and Pro (included on its Unlimited plans), while Instantly's lead database needs a separate Credits plan.
Do Smartlead and Instantly support LinkedIn outreach?
Not as a native sequence step. Smartlead's help center documents LinkedIn through HeyReach and Aimfox, and Instantly's automations send leads to Aimfox, HeyReach, La Growth Machine, Valley or Expandi. Salesforge runs LinkedIn steps natively.
Do Smartlead, Instantly and Salesforge charge per mailbox?
No. All three include unlimited mailboxes and unlimited warmup on every plan. Pricing is based on emails sent per month and contacts.
Which cold email tool is best for an agency?
Smartlead has the clearest agency pricing: $29 a month per white-label client workspace, from the Pro plan. Instantly includes a white-label portal on Hypergrowth and up, but each separate workspace needs its own subscription. Salesforge includes unlimited workspaces and offers white-label through a reseller program.