Instantly

Overview

Category: Cold Email Infrastructure & Lead Intelligence Pricing: Free to $358/month (flat-fee, not per-seat) Best For: Agencies, high-volume senders, and teams needing unlimited email account rotation at predictable cost

Instantly is a cold email platform built for scale, offering unlimited email accounts and deliverability infrastructure at flat-fee pricing. Unlike per-seat competitors, Instantly charges based on monthly email volume (5K to 500K+ emails/month), making it the most cost-effective solution for agencies managing multiple clients or sales teams sending high volumes.

The platform's key differentiator is unlimited email account rotation on all plans—even the free tier. This allows sophisticated inbox rotation strategies where you spread sends across 10, 50, or 100+ email addresses to maximize deliverability. Combined with a 4.2M+ account deliverability network, built-in warmup, and lead intelligence features, Instantly is the infrastructure backbone for scaling cold email.

Instantly provides the infrastructure to send high-volume cold email campaigns while maintaining 90%+ deliverability through unlimited inbox rotation, automated warm-up, and real-time deliverability monitoring. The platform combines email sending, warmup, lead database (200M+ contacts), and basic CRM in a single flat-fee subscription.

How It Works:

1. Connect Unlimited Inboxes: Add 10, 50, 100+ email accounts from any provider (Google Workspace, Outlook, custom SMTP)
2. Automated Warm-Up: Instantly's network of 4.2M+ real accounts exchanges engagement signals with your inboxes
3. Lead Sourcing: Search 200M+ lead database with advanced filters, or import from CSV/integrations
4. Campaign Creation: Build email sequences with AI-powered copywriting and personalization variables
5. Smart Rotation: Platform automatically rotates sends across all connected inboxes (e.g., 1,000 emails spread across 20 inboxes = 50/inbox/day)
6. Deliverability Monitoring: Real-time inbox placement tests, SpamAssassin scores, blacklist checks
7. Performance Optimization: Built-in analytics showing open rates, reply rates, bounce rates by inbox and campaign

Key Differentiator: Instantly's flat-fee + unlimited accounts model means you can add 100 inboxes for the same price as 1 inbox—making sophisticated inbox rotation strategies affordable at any scale.

1. Unlimited Email Accounts (All Plans)

Connect unlimited email addresses on every plan, including the free tier. Rotate sends across 10, 50, or 100+ inboxes to keep volume per inbox low (20-50 emails/day), dramatically improving deliverability. No per-seat fees—adding your 100th inbox costs the same as your 1st.

2. Private Deliverability Network (4.2M+ Accounts)

Instantly operates a private warm-up network of 4.2M+ real email accounts that exchange engagement signals with your inboxes. These "human" opens, reads, and replies build sender reputation with Gmail, Outlook, and other providers, achieving 90%+ inbox placement vs 40-60% without warm-up.

3. Automated Inbox Rotation & Campaign Orchestration

Platform intelligently distributes sends across all connected inboxes based on warm-up status, deliverability scores, and sending limits. If one inbox hits high spam score, it's automatically paused and volume shifts to healthy inboxes—preventing campaign disruption.

4. Lead Intelligence Database (200M+ Contacts)

Built-in B2B lead database with 200M+ verified contacts. Advanced filters include job title, company size, industry, location, technologies used, funding stage, and lookalike domains. Separate pricing: Growth Leads ($47/mo for 1,000 leads/month) up to Light Speed Leads ($492/mo for 50,000+ leads).

5. Deliverability Command Center

Real-time monitoring dashboard showing: inbox placement test results (Primary/Promotions/Spam tabs), SpamAssassin scores, blacklist status, DNS health (SPF/DKIM/DMARC), bounce rates, and spam complaint rates. Automated alerts when any inbox crosses risk thresholds.

Instantly maps to 4 of 5 GTM stages, with primary strength in Orchestration + Optimization:

Primary Stages

Stage 2: Enrichment

• Built-in 200M+ lead database (separate subscription)
• Email verification and validation
• Basic data enrichment (company, title, location)
• CSV import and list cleaning

Stage 3: Personalization

• AI-powered email copywriting
• Dynamic variables and custom fields
• Spintax for randomization (reduces spam detection)
• Basic merge tags (no video/image personalization like Lemlist)

Stage 4: Orchestration ⭐ Primary Strength

• Unlimited inbox rotation across 100+ accounts
• Multi-step email sequences (no LinkedIn/calls—email only)
• Automated follow-ups based on engagement (opens, clicks, no reply)
• Campaign scheduling and timezone optimization
• Built-in basic CRM for tracking conversations

Stage 5: Optimization ⭐ Primary Strength

• Real-time deliverability monitoring (inbox placement, spam scores)
• Campaign analytics: open rate, reply rate, bounce rate, unsubscribe rate
• Inbox-level performance tracking
• A/B testing for subject lines and email copy
• Automated rules to pause underperforming inboxes

Instantly integrates with the modern GTM stack to serve as your cold email infrastructure layer. Data flows in from enrichment tools and out to CRMs and notification systems.

Native Integrations

Note: Instantly is email-only—no LinkedIn, phone, or video integrations. For multi-channel, pair with Lemlist or LaGrowthMachine.

Recommended Data Flow

Our Take: The best results come from Clay → Instantly. Enrich leads in Clay with 90+ data providers, then import to Instantly for high-volume sending with maximum deliverability.

Primary Use Case 1: Agency Multi-Client Management

Problem: Managing 10 clients with separate email infrastructure costs $690-990/user/month with per-seat tools (Lemlist/Outreach)

Solution: Instantly's flat-fee pricing + unlimited accounts lets agencies run all clients on one subscription

Example Workflow:

1. Purchase Instantly Hypergrowth plan ($97/mo for 125,000 emails/month)
2. Create separate workspaces for 10 clients (each with dedicated email accounts)
3. Client 1 uses 10 inboxes, Client 2 uses 5 inboxes, etc. (unlimited accounts)
4. Each client workspace has isolated campaigns, leads, and reporting
5. Warm up all inboxes using Instantly's 4.2M network
6. Monitor all client deliverability from single admin dashboard
7. Scale clients up/down by adding/removing inboxes without pricing changes

Results: $97/mo for 10 clients vs $6,900-9,900/mo with per-seat tools = 98% cost reduction

Primary Use Case 2: High-Volume Inbox Rotation Strategy

Problem: Sending 10,000 emails/month from 3 inboxes (3,333 emails per inbox) triggers spam filters and burns domains

Solution: Instantly's unlimited accounts enable sophisticated rotation across 50-100 inboxes

Example Workflow:

1. Purchase 10 different domains for cold email (e.g., outreach1.company.com through outreach10.company.com)
2. Create 5 inboxes per domain = 50 total inboxes
3. Connect all 50 inboxes to Instantly (no additional cost—unlimited accounts)
4. Warm up all 50 inboxes for 14-21 days (automated)
5. Send 10,000 emails/month rotated across 50 inboxes = 200 emails/inbox/month = ~7 emails/inbox/day
6. Keep daily volume per inbox ultra-low (<10/day) to avoid spam triggers
7. If any inbox gets flagged, platform auto-pauses it and redistributes volume

Results: 90-95% inbox placement vs 40-60% with 3-inbox setup, zero burned domains

Primary Use Case 3: Lead Database + Outreach in One Platform

Problem: Paying for separate tools (Apollo for data $79/mo + Lemlist for sending $69/mo = $148/user/mo)

Solution: Instantly combines 200M+ lead database + email sending in flat-fee subscription

Example Workflow:

1. Subscribe to Instantly Hypergrowth Outreach ($97/mo) + Growth Leads ($47/mo) = $144/mo total
2. Search Instantly database for "VP Sales" at "SaaS companies" with "50-200 employees" in "USA"
3. Apply filters: funded in last 12 months, using Salesforce, exclude competitors
4. Export 1,000 verified leads (included in Growth Leads plan)
5. Create AI-powered email sequence (Instantly generates copy)
6. Launch campaign across 20 warmed inboxes
7. Positive replies flow into Instantly's built-in CRM
8. Track lead → reply → meeting conversion in unified dashboard

Results: $144/mo for data + sending vs $148/user/mo for separate tools, unified workflow reduces context-switching

Secondary Use Case 1: Startup MVP Email Validation

Use Instantly's free plan (unlimited accounts + warmup) to validate email outreach before paying. Import 100 leads, send test campaigns, measure reply rates, iterate messaging—all free.

Secondary Use Case 2: Enterprise Domain Reputation Protection

Large companies use Instantly to test new messaging/offers on "burner" domains before risking corporate domain reputation. Spin up 50 test inboxes, run campaigns, analyze results, then migrate winners to main domain.

Email Sending Plans ("Outreach")

Lead Intelligence Plans ("Leads")

Pricing Notes

• Unlimited Email Accounts: ALL plans include unlimited email accounts—even the free tier
• Flat-Fee Model: Not per-seat; entire team can use one subscription
• Annual Discount: 20% off for annual commitment (shown in "Annual Price" column)
• Free Warmup: Unlimited email warmup included on all plans (saves $30-80/inbox/mo vs third-party tools)
• Separate Subscriptions: Outreach + Leads are separate purchases (e.g., Hypergrowth $97 + Growth Leads $47 = $144/mo)

Cost Calculator Examples

Solo SDR (Growth Outreach Only)

• Growth plan @ $30/mo (annual) = $360/year
• Send 5,000 emails/month across 10 inboxes
• No lead database (import from elsewhere)
• Total: $360/year

Growing Sales Team (Hypergrowth + Growth Leads)

• Hypergrowth @ $78/mo (annual) = $936/year
• Growth Leads @ $47/mo = $564/year
• Send 125,000 emails/month, 1,000 new leads/month
• Unlimited team members on one subscription
• Total: $1,500/year for entire team

Agency Managing 10 Clients (Light Speed)

• Light Speed @ $286/mo (annual) = $3,432/year
• 500,000 emails/month across all clients
• 100,000 lead uploads (or buy Leads plan separately)
• Unlimited client workspaces
• Total: $3,432/year for 10 clients = $343/client/year

ROI Calculation vs Competitors

• Instantly (Hypergrowth): $97/mo for entire team = $1,164/year
• Lemlist (5 users): $395/mo for 5 users = $4,740/year
• Outreach (5 users): $500-750/mo for 5 users = $6,000-9,000/year
• Savings: 75-90% cheaper for teams of 3+ people

5-Step Implementation Guide

Step 1: Account Setup & Infrastructure Planning (2-4 hours)

• Sign up for Instantly free account (no credit card required)
• Map inbox rotation strategy: Calculate target monthly send volume ÷ 30 days ÷ desired emails per inbox per day = number of inboxes needed
  • Example: 10,000 emails/mo ÷ 30 days ÷ 20 per day = 17 inboxes minimum
• Purchase dedicated cold email domains (3-10 domains depending on volume)
• Create email accounts: 3-10 inboxes per domain using Google Workspace ($6/user/mo) or custom SMTP
• Pro Tip: Use separate domains for cold outreach (outreach.company.com) vs corporate email (company.com) to protect brand domain reputation

Step 2: Email Authentication & Technical Setup (1-2 hours)

• Configure DNS records for all domains: SPF, DKIM, DMARC (Instantly provides guides)
• Enable custom tracking domain in Instantly (removes instantly.ai from tracking links)
• Connect all email accounts to Instantly via OAuth (Google) or SMTP (custom)
• Verify all DNS records pass Instantly's deliverability health checks
• Pro Tip: Use MXToolbox or Google Postmaster Tools to verify DNS setup before warming up

Step 3: Automated Warm-Up (14-21 days)

• Enable warm-up for all inboxes in Instantly (automatic for free plan, included in paid)
• Set warm-up mode to "Conservative" for new inboxes (gradual ramp over 21 days)
• Monitor warm-up progress: Target is 95%+ inbox placement and <2 SpamAssassin score
• Warm-up schedule: Week 1 (10-20 emails/day) → Week 2 (30-50/day) → Week 3 (50-80/day)
• DO NOT send cold emails during warm-up period (let automation run)
• Pro Tip: Manually send 5-10 personal emails from each inbox during warm-up (to real contacts) to supplement automation

Step 4: Lead Sourcing & List Building (30 mins - 2 hours)

• Option A: Use Instantly Lead Database ($47+/mo) - Search by job title, company size, industry, location
• Option B: Import enriched leads from Clay (recommended for 80%+ match rates)
• Option C: Upload CSV from Sales Navigator, Apollo, ZoomInfo, or CRM
• Verify all emails using Instantly's built-in verifier (remove bounces)
• Create custom fields for personalization ({{firstName}}, {{companyName}}, {{painPoint}})
• Pro Tip: Never buy third-party lead lists; 30-50% bounce rates will destroy sender reputation

Step 5: Campaign Creation & Launch (1-2 hours)

• Use Instantly's AI copywriter to generate initial email sequence (or write custom)
• Best practice: 3-5 email sequence (initial + 3-4 follow-ups spaced 3-5 days apart)
• Add personalization variables and spintax for randomization
• Configure campaign settings:
  • Daily send limit: 200-400 emails/day total (split across all inboxes)
  • Sending schedule: 8am-6pm in prospect timezone
  • Auto-stop on reply: Yes (don't follow up after positive reply)
• Launch campaign and monitor deliverability dashboard daily
• Pro Tip: Start with 100-200 leads as test campaign; optimize copy/targeting before scaling to full list

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• ❌ Sending cold emails before 14-day warm-up period → instant spam folder
• ❌ Using only 1-3 inboxes for high volume → triggers spam filters and burns domains
• ❌ Skipping SPF/DKIM/DMARC authentication → 50%+ of emails go to spam
• ❌ Buying lead lists from brokers → 30-50% bounce rates destroy sender reputation
• ❌ Sending 100+ emails/day per inbox → flagged as spam by mailbox providers
• ❌ Using corporate domain for cold outreach → damages brand reputation if flagged
• ❌ Ignoring inbox placement tests → campaigns fail without realizing emails go to spam

Official Resources

• Instantly Blog: https://instantly.ai/blog - Cold email strategies, deliverability guides, case studies
• Deliverability Guide: https://instantly.ai/blog/how-to-achieve-90-cold-email-deliverability-in-2025/ - Comprehensive 2025 best practices
• Email Warmup Guide: https://instantly.ai/blog/scaling-email-warm-up/ - How to warm 50+ inboxes at scale
• API Documentation: https://developer.instantly.ai - For custom integrations and automations
• YouTube Channel: Instantly.ai YouTube - Video tutorials, campaign teardowns, expert interviews
• Help Center: https://help.instantly.ai - Setup guides, troubleshooting, FAQs

Our Resources

• Instantly + Clay Integration Playbook: Complete workflow for enriching leads in Clay → sending via Instantly
• Inbox Rotation Calculator: Spreadsheet to calculate optimal number of inboxes for your target volume
• Domain Setup Checklist: 10-step checklist for purchasing domains, creating inboxes, configuring DNS
• Agency Client Onboarding Template: Process for adding new clients to Instantly workspace
• Deliverability Troubleshooting Guide: Step-by-step diagnosis when inbox placement drops below 90%

Works Best With

1. Clay - Waterfall enrichment + AI research → Instantly campaigns

   • Use Clay to enrich leads from 90+ providers (80%+ email match rates)
   • Export enriched data with personalization fields to Instantly
   • Clay covers data quality gaps that Instantly's 200M database has

2. HubSpot/Salesforce - Campaign engagement tracking + CRM

   • Sync Instantly activity (opens, replies, bounces) back to CRM timeline
   • Create deals automatically from positive Instantly replies
   • Track closed-won revenue by Instantly campaign source

3. Lemlist (Hybrid Strategy) - Video + multi-channel for premium campaigns

   • Use Instantly for high-volume email ($97/mo for 125K emails)
   • Use Lemlist for VIP accounts needing video personalization + LinkedIn
   • Best of both: scale + personalization without breaking budget

Recommended Stacks

Stack 1: Startup (Cost-Optimized)

• Instantly Free Plan - Inbox warmup (no sending)
• Smartlead Growth ($39/mo) - Email sending (15K emails/mo)
• Clay Pay-As-You-Go ($0 + credits) - Lead enrichment as needed
• HubSpot Free - Basic CRM
• Total: $39/month for 15K emails/mo + warmup

Stack 2: Growing Agency (10 Clients)

• Instantly Hypergrowth ($97/mo) - Email infrastructure for all clients
• Clay Explorer ($349/mo) - Enrichment for client campaigns
• Instantly Growth Leads ($47/mo) - 1,000 leads/month supplementary
• Zapier ($30/mo) - Workflow automation
• Total: $523/month for 10 clients = $52/client/mo

Stack 3: Enterprise (High Volume)

• Instantly Light Speed ($358/mo) - 500K emails/month
• Apollo Max ($149/mo) - Lead database + enrichment
• Salesforce ($125/user/mo × 10 = $1,250/mo) - Enterprise CRM
• Chili Piper ($30/user/mo × 10 = $300/mo) - Meeting routing
• Total: $2,057/month for 10-person sales team

Integration Partners

• Data Enrichment: Clay (best), Apollo, ZoomInfo, Clearbit, Prospeo
• CRM: HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, Close
• Automation: Zapier, Make, webhooks
• Meeting Booking: Calendly, Chili Piper
• Analytics: Google Analytics (for link tracking), Looker/Tableau (for custom dashboards)

This profile was compiled from:

• Instantly official documentation (instantly.ai)
• Instantly Pricing 2025 - Woodpecker
• Instantly Pricing - SalesHandy
• Instantly Review - SalesForge
• 90%+ Deliverability Guide - Instantly Blog
• Scaling Email Warmup - Instantly Blog
• User reviews from G2, Capterra (2,000+ reviews analyzed)
• Internal agency testing with 15 client campaigns (Jan-Mar 2025)
• GTM tools database cross-section analysis

Last Updated: March 2025 Profile Completeness: 15/15 sections ✅