Sending cold emails can feel like shouting into a void. You send out dozens, maybe even hundreds, just to get a handful of replies.  A cold email software can make the process a whole lot easier. We put together this guide to the best cold email software. In this blog, we’ll help you find the perfect cold email software that streamlines outreach, boosts engagement, and maximizes cold email deliverability with minimal effort.

Inframail's Email Infrastructure is a valuable cold email solution to help you achieve your goals. It optimizes your email deliverability so you can reach more prospects and get better results from your outreach. 

Table of Contents

• What is Cold Email Software?

• 25 Best Cold Email Software for High-Converting Outreach

• How to Choose the Right Cold Email Tool?

• Start Buying Domains Now and Setup Your Email Infrastructure Today

What is Cold Email Software?

Cold email software is a powerful tool that empowers businesses to send bulk, personalized emails to potential customers or clients who have no prior relationship with the sender. These tools typically include features to streamline your outreach efforts, like: 

• Email tracking

• Automated follow-ups

• Customizable templates

By using cold email software, businesses can efficiently manage their: 

• Email campaigns

• Track performance metrics

• Improve their overall outreach strategy

How Cold Email Software Works

Cold email software allows users to send targeted messages to recipients who are not already in their contacts list. This process involves three steps: 

• Building a list of prospects

• Drafting an email or email sequence

• Sending the emails out

Businesses can import a list of contacts or use the software to find and build a list of prospects. Then, they can use the platform to create an email or sequence of personalized emails automatically sent to the defined prospect list. Once the emails are sent out, the software tracks performance metrics so users can analyze the results and improve future outreach campaigns.

The Benefits of Cold Email Software

Cold email software can revolutionize the way businesses connect with potential customers. These tools offer a range of features that streamline the outreach process and enhance the effectiveness of email campaigns.

To learn more about the benefits of cold email software, I contacted a few power users to get their take.

Kelly Pease, campaign marketing manager at Inktavo, a software company for branded merchandising companies, said the benefits of cold email software for outreach are many:

“The primary advantages I’ve gained from using cold email software for outreach include the ability to test different emails, access to a separate reporting dashboard for performance, and … the ability to use a separate domain for our outreach efforts, which helps maintain a healthy sending domain.”

Brenton Thomas, founder of Twibi Digital Marketing Agency, highlighted the benefits of cold email software in outreach efforts.

He emphasized that these tools enhance efficiency and personalization, improving response rates and engagement with potential clients. “Cold email software streamlines the outreach process, leading to more effective and personalized communication, ultimately driving better results and stronger client relationships.”

Increased Efficiency

According to HubSpot’s State of Sales report, 36% of sales professionals reach out to prospects using emails, making automation a crucial component for managing high volumes of outreach efficiently.

With cold email software, you can automate the tedious parts of email outreach, such as sending follow-up emails and tracking responses. These features allow you to focus on more strategic tasks, like crafting compelling messages and analyzing campaign performance.

Leveraging Cold Email for Effective Pre-Event Outreach

Marissa Wajda, demand generation marketing manager at Notable (an AI platform for healthcare operations), described how sales development representatives (SDRs) use cold email tools at Notable. SDRs use the tools to reach out to prospects before major tradeshows and conferences, offering gifts via: 

• Direct mail

• Scheduling meetings at their booth

• Offering follow-up gifts. 

“Rolling out this playbook without a cold outreach tool would be highly time-consuming,” Wajda added.

Personalization at Scale

HubSpot Blog Research says message personalization is one of the most effective strategies for email marketing campaigns. Personalization significantly increases response rates. About 75% of marketers believe a personalized experience increases sales and the likelihood of a contact becoming a repeat customer (HubSpot’s 2024 State of Marketing Report).

Cold outreach tools allow you to personalize each email making your outreach more engaging and effective with the following: 

• Recipient's name

• Company

• Other relevant details

“Manual emailing takes time, and it‘s also typical that you want to personalize each manual email, which may reduce the amount of emails you can get out to a contact list in a day. With outbound software, you can use personalization tokens to take the data of the contact and make it appear personalized. It’s a great way to send out more emails and test different audience segments, all in one (integrated) software,” said Pease.

Detailed Analytics

Cold email software provides detailed analytics on open, click-through, and response rates. This data helps you understand what’s working and what’s not, enabling you to optimize your campaigns for better results.

“We look at opens, clicks, replies, and meetings booked,” Pease said. “Other information we gather can include the type of person actually engaging with your emails… Understanding this can help us refine our Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) and make our future campaigns more effective.”

According to HubSpot Blog Research, marketers who track these metrics report average open rates of 46-50% and click-through rates of 2.6-3%.

Improved Deliverability

According to a Mailbutler survey, 46.8% of all emails worldwide were identified as spam in 2024, emphasizing the importance of deliverability features to avoid spam filters. Many cold email tools include features that help improve email deliverability, such as spam testing and domain reputation monitoring. These features ensure your emails reach the inbox instead of the spam folder.

Pease’s experience aligns with this. “In efforts to convert cold leads, we used cold email software as a first-touch, which helped contacts learn about who we were before we sent them promos to get them to convert to a deal. This effort led us to receive high engagement on our promotions, and the outbound sequences we set up served as an educational step so cold leads could become familiar with our brand.”

Scalability

Cold email software can scale with your needs, whether you’re a small startup or a large enterprise. It allows you to manage a high volume of outreach without compromising on quality.

“[Cold email software] has helped us improve our speed to acquiring new leads and allowed us to reach out to targeted audiences on a scale that we wouldn't have been able to if we were using manual emails,” Pease said.

Must-have features of great cold email software

• Cold email software helps you send personalized, targeted cold emails at scale. 

• Cold email tools aim to help sales, marketing, and recruitment teams run scalable cold email campaigns by automating the sending process and optimizing deliverability.

• Sending cold emails that get replies requires a human touch. 

• The best cold email tools automate everything else so you can focus your efforts on high-impact activities instead of redundant manual tasks.

Ease of Use

When choosing a cold email tool, it's essential to consider how easy it is to set up and use. A user-friendly interface can save you time and reduce the learning curve, allowing you to get your campaigns up and running fast.

Personalization Features

Personalizing your emails is crucial for effective outreach. Look for tools that offer advanced personalization options, such as dynamic fields and custom templates, to make your emails more relevant to each recipient.

Automated Follow-Ups

Automated follow-ups are a must-have feature. They ensure you stay on top of your prospects without manually sending each follow-up email. Look for tools to set up multiple follow-up sequences based on the recipient's actions.

Analytics and Reporting

Detailed analytics and reporting are essential for measuring the success of your email campaigns. Choose a tool that provides comprehensive metrics, such as open rates, click-through rates, and response rates so that you can make data-driven decisions.

In addition to ensuring you customize your reporting set up solid outbound sequences, Pease says, “It's crucial to establish goal benchmarks to track progress that work for your organization. Most importantly, A/B test to figure out what your audience segments respond to the best.”

Integrations

Your cold email software should integrate seamlessly with your existing tools and systems, such as your: 

• CRM (Sales Hub, anyone?)

• Marketing automation platform

• Email service provider

Even better if the tool has a native integration, which will make the connection process easier and save you possible extra costs. This ensures a smooth workflow and allows you to leverage your existing data.

“The ability to integrate is crucial to our business,” Pease noted. “If the software cannot sync with our CRM and we can‘t track that data for improvements to our outbound program, then it’s not effective for us.”

Deliverability Features

To ensure your emails reach the recipient's inbox, look for tools that offer deliverability features, such as: 

• Spam testing

• Domain reputation monitoring

• Email verification

AI-Enabled Features

Look for AI-enabled features that can help with recommendations, automation, and efficiency. AI can provide data-driven insights to optimize your campaigns, generate better email copy to improve engagement and automate repetitive tasks, enhancing overall productivity.

Reasonable Pricing Structure

Consider the cost of the software relative to your company and team size. Some cold email tools can start at a reasonable price but quickly escalate as you add more seats and features. Make sure to compare products to find the most cost-effective for your specific needs.

Related Reading

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• How to Generate B2B Leads
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• Best Time to Send Cold Emails
• How to Cold Email
• Best Cold Email Templates B2B
• Email Outreach Best Practices
• Email Outreach Strategy

25 Best Cold Email Software for High-Converting Outreach

Choosing the right cold email software can significantly impact outreach success. Below is a list of 25 cold email tools to help you find the best fit for your business. 

1. Inframail

At Inframail, we are revolutionizing cold email infrastructure with unlimited inboxes at a flat rate. 

We provide: 

• Microsoft-backed deliverability

• Dedicated IP addresses

• Automated technical setup

Main benefits of using our service: 

• Automated SPF, DKIM, and DMARC setup

• Dedicated email servers for each user

• 16-hour priority support daily

Unlike traditional providers that charge per inbox and leave you wrestling with technical configurations, Inframail streamlines the entire process. We handle the complex infrastructure setup while you focus on reaching more prospects. 

InfraMail provides the robust email infrastructure you need without the usual technical headaches and per-inbox costs, whether you're: 

• An agency looking to scale outreach

• A recruiter connecting with candidates

• An SDR driving sales

2. Hunter

Hunter is a versatile cold email tool designed to find professional email addresses and verify their accuracy. It also offers features to: 

• Manage outreach campaigns

• Making it a comprehensive email prospecting

• Outreach solution

Best for: 

Finding and verifying email addresses. 

Key features include: 

• Email Finder: Easily find email addresses associated with specific domains. 

• Email Verifier: Verify the accuracy of email addresses to ensure high deliverability. 

• Outreach Campaigns: Set up and manage personalized email campaigns with follow-up sequences. 

• Chrome Extension: Saves time with a single click and helps gather email structures directly from websites. 

Pros: 

• High accuracy

• A user-friendly interface

• Seamless integration with tools and CRMs like HubSpot and efficient campaign management. 

Cons: 

• Include pricing for high usage, as costs can escalate if you need more searches and verifications.

3. Woodpecker

Woodpecker is an automated cold email tool to streamline your email outreach efforts. It offers robust automation and detailed analytics to help you manage your campaigns effectively. 

Best for: 

Automating follow-up sequences. 

Key features include: 

• Automated Follow-ups. Automatically send follow-up emails based on the recipient's actions. 

• A/B Testing. Test different email variations to optimize performance. 

• Detailed Analytics. Track open, click-through, and response rates to measure campaign success. 

• AI-Powered Email Warm-Up. Use AI to gradually warm up your email accounts, improving deliverability and sender reputation before starting campaigns. 

Pros: 

• Include robust automation

• Actionable insights

• Personalization

• A user-friendly interface

• Native integrations 

Cons: 

Include limited customization and higher pricing tiers.

4. Mailshake

Mailshake is an intuitive cold email tool designed to help you easily create and manage email campaigns. It offers a range of features to enhance your email outreach efforts. 

Best for: 

Small- to medium-sized businesses wanting to streamline their cold email outreach and follow-ups with detailed tracking and analytics. 

Key features include: 

• Email Templates. Pre-built templates to streamline email creation. 

• Automated Follow-ups. Set up automatic follow-up emails to boost response rates. 

• Detailed Analytics. Analyze campaign performance with detailed metrics. 

• AI Email Writing (SHAKEspeare). Intelligent email writing assists in crafting compelling emails. 

• Extensive Integrations. Over 1,000 integrations are available through Zapier, making it adaptable to various workflows. 

Pros: 

• Include an intuitive interface

• Robust analytics

• Effective automation

• Cost-effectiveness

Cons: 

Include limited integrations and template customization.

5. Reply

Reply is a comprehensive cold email tool that offers multichannel outreach and AI-powered email suggestions to help you engage with prospects more effectively. 

Best for: 

Multichannel outreach. 

Key features include: 

• Multichannel Outreach. Contact prospects via email, phone, LinkedIn messages, SMS, and WhatsApp. 

• AI-Powered Email Suggestions. Use AI to craft compelling email messages tailored to each prospect automatically. 

• Detailed Analytics. Monitor campaign performance with in-depth analytics. 

• Role-Based Access and Permissions. Are essential for larger teams or agencies. They make it easier to manage different user roles and permissions within the platform. 

Pros: 

• Include AI features

• A dedicated customer success manager for higher plans

• A consolidated inbox

Cons: 

Include a steeper learning curve for beginners and high pricing.

6. Lemlist

Lemlist is an email outreach tool focused on personalization and engagement. It helps businesses create compelling campaigns with: 

• Personalized images

• Videos

• Custom landing pages to boost response rates

Best for: 

Adding a personal touch to your emails. 

Key features: 

• Include customizable personalization

• Automated follow-ups

• Email warm-up

Pros: 

Include a user-friendly interface and strong community support. 

Cons: 

Include setup challenges and a restrictive pricing structure.

7. SalesHandy

SalesHandy is an affordable cold email tool with robust email tracking and automated follow-ups. 

Best for: 

Tracking email opens and clicks. 

Key features: 

• Include sender rotation

• Unified inbox

• Sequence score

• A/Z testing 

Pros: 

• Include unlimited team members

• Cost-effectiveness

• Ease of use

Cons: 

Include limited customization and basic integration options

8. Apollo

Apollo.io is an all-in-one sales intelligence platform with tools to help you: 

• Prospect

• Engage

• Drive more revenue

The platform combines: 

• Lead generation

• Multichannel outreach

• Advanced analytics to help businesses streamline their sales processes and improve prospect engagement. 

Best for: 

Comprehensive lead generation and multichannel sales engagement. 

Key features: 

• Include lead generation

• Multichannel outreach

• Email sequences

• AI-powered insights

Pros: 

• Include comprehensive lead generation

• Data-driven decisions

• Streamlined workflow

• Integration

• Automation

Cons: 

• Include higher cost

• Complex setup

• Learning curve

9. Outreach

A self-proclaimed sales execution platform, Outreach is a premium cold email tool offering advanced features for multichannel sales engagement and AI-driven insights. 

Best for: 

Multichannel sales engagement and large enterprises. 

Key features: 

• Include multichannel sales engagement

• Smart email assist

• Smart sequence assist

• Task automation

Pros: 

• Include enhanced engagement

• Strategic optimization

• Thorough metrics

• Efficiency boost

Cons: 

• Include high cost

• Complex setup

• Learning curve

10. GMass

GMass is cold email software that works as a Chrome extension and your Gmail account. It helps you run sales and marketing email campaigns directly from your inbox. GMass is regarded as a simple tool with features that boost conversion rates. 

Strengths include advanced features in cold email software, including A/B testing and reporting. 

Weaknesses include a steep learning curve before using GMass and a confusing UI. 

Pricing: Generous free plan available – 50 daily emails, all features included except automated follow-ups. 

11. Klenty

Klenty is a sales engagement platform designed to automate outreach processes for sales and marketing teams. This tool allows you to send personalized emails with automated follow-up messages at scale. 

Klenty pros: IQ features streamline and automate workflows, and an AI assistant can generate email sequences. 

Klenty cons: Complicated user interface and fairly pricey. 

Pricing: 

• Startup $50 Per (Billed Annually)

• Growth $70 Per Month (Billed Annually)

• Enterprise $100 Per Month (Billed Annually)

• 14 days free trial available. 

12. Instantly

Instantly is one of the most recent tools we’ve included in our comparison. Raul Kaevand started Instantly in 2021 after noticing that most cold email tools were too expensive and not adapted to the needs of lead generation agencies. 

Strengths include: 

• A nice, modern UI

• Ease of use

• Advanced features

• Responsive support

Weaknesses include limiting pricing structure if you have a lot of active leads and no native integrations. 

Pricing: Instantly is available from $37/month and offers a free trial. 

13. Quickmail

Jérémy Chatelaine started Quickmail in 2014 to scratch his itch. Since then, the product has become a favorite among email outreach agencies, especially after they pioneered email account rotation. 

Strengths include advanced features like: 

• Email account rotation and detailed reporting

• Agency-specific features

• Native 2-way HubSpot and Pipedrive integrations

• A reputation for being easy to use

Weaknesses include a outdated UI and a warm-up feature that depends on a third-party partner. 

Pricing: Quickmail’s pricing starts at $49/month and includes a free trial. 

14. Smartlead.ai

Smartlead started only in 2022 but already has lots of raving fans. That's because the founder, Vaibhav Naibhuri, seems to be focused on serving the needs of a very specific audience: lead generation agencies. From my perspective, Smartlead is optimized for people who want to send as many emails as possible, so they constantly need to fight the deliverability limitations associated with bulk sending. 

Strengths include:

• Advanced deliverability optimizations features

• Aggressive pricing

• Responsive customer service

Weaknesses include being insufficient on its own and reports of bugs. 

Pricing: 

• From $39/month. 

• A free trial is available. 

15. Salesforge

Salesforge has unlimited email warm-up and an extensive AI toolset. 

16. Autoklose

Autoklose offers a built-in prospect database and sales tracking functionality. 

17. Snov.io

Snov.io benefits from strong multichannel outreach capabilities and a wide range of email campaign templates. 

18. MailRush.io

MailRush.io generates templates for a wide variety of email outreach campaigns. 

19. Overloop

Overloop can facilitate multichannel outreach with a slick user interface. 

20. SmartReach

SmartReach has an AI assistant that can generate subject lines and bodies and tweak existing copy. 

21. Yesware

Yesware has a simple and effective cold emailing tool for email tracking for prospecting teams. It is regarded as the ‘all-in-one toolkit’ for a salesperson. The tool is useful for automating email campaigns making your sales prospecting efficient. 

22. Sendinblue

Sendinblue is an effective cold email software generally used by SMBs (small and medium-sized businesses). This software is best suited for those that have a limited budget for their outreach campaigns. 

23. Streak

Streak is a customer relationship management (CRM) software that is designed entirely for Gmail users only. The main aim of Streak is to minimize the switching back and forth between your inbox and other tools. This CRM software works as a plug-in for Google Chrome that can be accessed through your Gmail account. 

24. Close

Close is a sales CRM tool with cold emailing features. The sales enablement tool has a calling integration that allows you to include cold calls as a part of your campaign. It is an effective tool for personalized cold emails and includes features that support all your sales efforts. 

25. Mixmax

Mixmax is a great tool if you are someone that is regularly booking meetings with prospects. Its built-in scheduling feature integrates your calendar into your email to enable the prospect to quickly book a meeting. Mixmax has all the standard features of cold emailing software.

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How to Choose the Right Cold Email Tool?

Choosing the right cold email tool means evaluating how it fits your sales stack and team. For instance, if you're just getting started and don't use a CRM, any cold email tool will work fine. But if you use HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, or any other CRM, I recommend you choose a tool that offers native integration with your system. This way, you save the trouble and additional costs of manually connecting the tool to your CRM via Zapier or the API.

I also recommend checking the type of integration: 

• One-way integrations (like SalesHandy offers) allow you to pull out contact lists into your cold email software to reach out to them automatically. 

• Two-way integrations go further and let you pull data from your CRM and synchronize your cold email activities back to your CRM. 

Don’t Overspend on Cold Email Software 

You found the perfect tool…but it ends up being too expensive. Sounds familiar? To avoid this problem, check the pricing of the tools you’re considering purchasing. 

• Not all the tools I included offer free trials or plans. Without a free plan, confirming if the tool works for you will be harder. Among the tools we reviewed, MailShake is the only tool that doesn’t offer a free trial or a free plan. Instead, they offer a money-back guarantee (but it will still force you to advance $696 to try their cheapest plan). 

• Secondly, look at the tool's pricing model. 

To put it simply, there are two pricing models: 

• Tools that charge you based on the number of users (or email) that you will connect. This is the case for Lemlist and Reply.io. This kind of pricing works great if you need to send below 50 cold emails a day. If you need to send more, you’ll likely need to connect more email accounts to protect your sender reputation. In that case, you’ll pay for the additional email accounts, which could cost more than expected. 

• Tools that charge you based on the number of emails you send and active leads. That’s the case for Instantly, Smartlead, or Saleshandy. This pricing model makes way more sense if you intend to send more than 50 cold emails a day because they don’t charge you more if you connect more email accounts. Hunter Campaigns and Quickmail have a pricing model that mixes both. 

  
  

  One tool in our comparison (MailShake) required yearly commitment. They might not be the safest option if you’re just starting with cold outreach. 

Multichannel Options Matter

For some teams, it’s essential to reach out to prospects on multiple channels and not only via email. If that’s your case, check for available options.

Some cold email tools let you automate LinkedIn connection requests or InMails. Others include the option to reach your prospects via WhatsApp or text message. 

Customer Support Counts 

Cold outreach can be difficult, especially if you’re just starting. That’s why picking a tool that provides professional assistance with any issues you may face is important.

To get an idea of the level of customer support you may expect from a given tool, check the verified reviews on websites like G2 or Trustpilot.

Related Reading

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• Maildoso Alternatives
• Sendgrid Alternatives
• Lemlist vs Instantly
• Smartlead vs Instantly
• Mailgun Alternatives
• Cold Email Services
• Mailreef

Start Buying Domains Now and Setup Your Email Infrastructure Today

Inframail is revolutionizing cold email infrastructure with unlimited inboxes at a single flat rate. We provide: 

• Microsoft-backed deliverability

• Dedicated IP addresses

• Automated technical setup 

It helps scale their outreach efforts efficiently: 

• Agencies

• Rrecruiters

• SDRs

With Inframail’s cold email infrastructure, you can boost your email deliverability, improve your outreach efficiency, and scale your cold email strategy. 

Unlock Unlimited Inboxes for Cold Emailing with Inframails Email Infrastructure

With Inframails cold email infrastructure, you can create as many email inboxes as you want to boost your email deliverability and outreach efficiency. More inboxes mean more IP addresses to distribute your cold email sending volume across. This reduces the chances of landing in the spam folder and helps you reach more of your prospects. 

Skip the Technical Setup with Inframails Cold Email Infrastructure

Setting up a cold email infrastructure can involve a lot of complex technical setup. 

At Inframail, we are revolutionizing cold email infrastructure with unlimited inboxes at a flat rate. We provide: 

• Microsoft-backed deliverability

• Dedicated IP addresses

• Automated technical setup 

 It helps: 

• Agencies

• Recruiters

• Sales development representatives 

Our service boasts automated: 

• SPF

• DKIM

• DMARC setup

Unlike traditional providers that charge per inbox and leave you wrestling with technical configurations, Inframail streamlines the entire process. We handle the complex infrastructure setup while you focus on reaching more prospects. 

InfraMail provides the robust email infrastructure you need without the usual technical headaches and per-inbox costs, whether you're an: 

• Agency looking to scale outreach

• A recruiter connecting with candidates

Start buying domains now and set up your email infrastructure today with our email infrastructure tool.