Instantly vs lemlist: which cold email tool should you choose in 2026?

Instantly is a cold email platform priced per workspace; lemlist adds LinkedIn, SMS and calls to email. Pricing, mailboxes, warm-up and data compared.

Published 20 October 2026. Prices and features from each vendor's own pages.

The short answer

InstantlyPaid from $76.50/workspace

Choose it if you want one workspace price with unlimited email accounts rather than a per-user fee.

lemlistPaid from $55/seat

Choose it if you want LinkedIn, SMS or calls in the same sequence as your email.

PromptLabIn the CRM from $11.99/seat

Choose it if you email accounts you already know, and replies should land on the deal.

Instantly and lemlist both send cold email at scale, but they are sold differently. Instantly charges per workspace by send volume and puts unlimited email accounts on every plan. lemlist starts with an email plan and adds LinkedIn, SMS and calling on a dearer multichannel plan.

Below, the two are compared on price, mailboxes and warm-up, LinkedIn and other channels, lead data, and testing and CRM links. Every figure comes from the vendors' own pricing and product pages; prices are a month, billed annually, unless we say otherwise. Instantly prices per workspace; lemlist prices its Email plan by volume and its Multichannel plan per user.

Instantly vs lemlist at a glance

With PromptLab in the third column: the same job done inside a CRM.

Instantly vs lemlist, with PromptLab: prices and features
Checked on 20 October 2026	Instantly	lemlist	PromptLab
Pricing
Free plan
Paid plans, a month	$76.50 – $695per workspace	$55 – $87per seat	$11.99per seat on Basic
Free trial	14 days	14 days
Billing	Billed annually	Billed annually	Billed monthly
Cold email
Multi-step sequences
Sending mailboxes	Unlimited	Unlimited	Up to 20 per campaign
Email warm-up			Volume ramp-up
LinkedIn steps		From$87/month
Built-in lead database
A/B testing	From$238/month
CRM integrations	From$238/month	HubSpot, Salesforce	Built in

Pricing: $76.50 to $695 against $55 to $87

Instantly is priced per workspace, not per user. Starter is $76.50 a month, Scale is $238 and Agency is $695, with Enterprise on a custom quote. Starter allows 5,000 sends a month, Scale 125,000 and Agency 500,000. The page also shows some visitors a different price list: Growth at $47, Hypergrowth at $97 and Light Speed at $358 a month. Neither pricing page lists a free plan, but all three published Instantly plans start with a 14-day free trial.

lemlist's Email plan is $55 a month with unlimited users and unlimited senders, sized by email volume (50,000 emails a month shown). The Multichannel plan is $87 and is priced by number of users. lemlist also offers a 14-day free trial, which covers Multichannel features except in-app calls.

Mailboxes and warm-up

Both let you connect as many sending accounts as you need. Instantly includes unlimited email accounts on every plan, with warm-up from Starter and advanced warm-up from Scale. lemlist's Email plan includes unlimited email senders, and lemwarm and deliverability protections are in all plans.

On lemlist's Multichannel plan the limit changes to 5 senders per user. If you plan to run many mailboxes with a small team, that matters when you choose a plan.

LinkedIn and other channels

This is where lemlist is stronger. Its Multichannel plan, from $87, adds LinkedIn automation, SMS automation, a WhatsApp add-on and a built-in call dialer. The Email plan is email only.

Instantly's pricing page lists no LinkedIn steps inside a sequence. It is built for cold email, so a team that wants LinkedIn in the same sequence will find lemlist closer to what it needs.

Lead data

Both include a lead database. Instantly's Starter plan has a database of 450M+ B2B leads and waterfall email enrichment, drawn from 1,500 Instantly credits a month. A pack of 50,000 extra credits costs $425 a month on Scale and Agency.

lemlist's Email plan includes a 650M+ lead database and an email and phone finder. Lead data is paid for in credits, and the enrichment add-on is $16 a month for 2,000 credits (400 emails or 100 phones).

Testing and CRM links

Instantly keeps A/Z testing, integrations, the API and webhooks for Scale, which is $238 a workspace a month. Its marketplace lists a HubSpot integration.

lemlist lists CRM integrations with HubSpot, Salesforce and Pipedrive, and says you can A/B test full sequences with different channel mixes. Its Email plan includes CRM integrations and the API.

We make PromptLab, so here is where it fits.

Or send sequences from inside your CRM

PromptLab's campaigns send multi-step sequences from your own mailboxes, rotating up to 20 per campaign. A sequence stops when the contact replies or the email bounces, and you can test subject and body variants.

New mailboxes ramp up their daily volume over the first three weeks, and each campaign spaces its emails out within the hours you choose. There's no lead database or warm-up network, so you bring your own list.

Sales automation in PromptLab

Try PromptLab freeIncluded in PromptLab Basic, from $11.99 a user a month, with a 14-day free trial.

Which should you choose?

Choose Instantly if…

You want one workspace price with unlimited email accounts rather than a per-user fee.
Your outreach is email only and you want a lead database from the first plan.
You send high volumes and want clear monthly limits, up to 500,000 sends on Agency.

Choose lemlist if…

You want LinkedIn, SMS or calls in the same sequence as your email.
Your team is large and you want unlimited users on the Email plan.
You want A/B testing of whole sequences and links to HubSpot, Salesforce or Pipedrive.

Choose PromptLab if…

You email accounts you already know, and replies should land on the deal.
You want sequences to stop on a reply without syncing two tools.
You'd rather not pay for a CRM and an outreach tool separately.

Frequently asked questions

Is Instantly better than lemlist?

It depends on the channels you use. Instantly suits email-only outreach priced per workspace, from $76.50 a month. lemlist suits teams that also want LinkedIn, SMS and calls, from $87 a user on its Multichannel plan.

Does Instantly have a free plan?

Its pricing page lists none; its paid plans start with a 14-day free trial. lemlist's pricing page lists no free plan either, and it offers a 14-day trial.

Which is cheaper, Instantly or lemlist?

lemlist's Email plan is $55 a month against $76.50 for Instantly Starter. The two price differently: lemlist's Email plan covers unlimited users and is sized by email volume, while Instantly is a flat workspace price with send limits of 5,000 a month on Starter.

Does lemlist have a lead database like Instantly?

Yes. lemlist's Email plan includes a 650M+ lead database. Instantly's Starter plan includes a database of 450M+ B2B leads. Both use credits for enrichment.

Do Instantly and lemlist include email warm-up?

Yes. Instantly includes warm-up with unlimited email accounts from Starter. lemlist includes lemwarm in all plans.

Is there a CRM with email sequences built in?

Yes. PromptLab's campaigns send multi-step sequences from up to 20 of your own mailboxes, stop on replies and bounces and test A/B variants, on every plan from $11.99 a user a month with a 14-day free trial.