Instantly and lemlist both send cold email sequences from your own mailboxes. Instantly is built around sending a lot of email from many mailboxes. lemlist is built around reaching the same person on email, LinkedIn and the phone in one sequence.
The short answer
Pick Instantly if email is your only channel, you want to send from many mailboxes and you want a low entry price.
Pick lemlist if you want email and LinkedIn steps in the same sequence, you want calls in the same tool, or you want unlimited users on one email plan.
Prices and limits
All figures are as of October 2026, on monthly billing, from Instantly's pricing page and lemlist's pricing page. Both cost less on yearly billing.
Instantly outreach plans
- Growth: $47 a month. 5,000 emails a month, 1,000 uploaded contacts, unlimited email accounts and warm-up.
- Hypergrowth: $97 a month. 125,000 emails a month and 25,000 uploaded contacts.
- Light Speed: $358 a month. 500,000 emails a month and 100,000 uploaded contacts.
lemlist plans
- Email: $69 a month. 50,000 emails a month, unlimited users, unlimited email senders and unlimited contacts.
- Multichannel: $109 a month, and the price grows with the number of users. Unlimited emails and messages, five senders per user, LinkedIn and SMS automation, and a built-in call dialer. WhatsApp is an add-on.
- Enterprise: custom price.
Look at what each plan counts. Instantly limits emails and uploaded contacts. lemlist's Email plan limits emails, and lists contacts and users as unlimited.
Channels
This is the main difference.
Instantly is an email tool. Its outreach plans are priced on emails and contacts. It also sells lead data, a CRM and AI agents as separate products or bundles.
lemlist adds other channels on its Multichannel plan. Its help article on LinkedIn steps shows a sequence that can mix emails with LinkedIn steps, such as a profile visit and a connection request. For services sold person to person, that can feel more natural than four emails in a row.
If you would never use LinkedIn or the phone, you do not need to pay for them.
A note on LinkedIn: its user agreement says members must not use bots or other unauthorised automated methods to add contacts or send messages. Read it before you automate any steps there.
Lead data
Both companies sell contact data next to sending.
- Instantly has standalone credits plans, from $47 a month, and bundles that join data and sending.
- lemlist sells a lead data add-on at $20 a month on monthly billing, with 2,000 credits a month. Its pricing page says that is about 400 emails or 100 phone numbers. Unused credits roll over while you subscribe.
If you bring your own list, you can skip both.
Warm-up
Both include it. Instantly lists unlimited warm-up on its Growth and Hypergrowth plans. lemlist says its warm-up tool, lemwarm, is included in all plans. Warm-up is only one part of getting into the inbox. See cold email warm-up tools for the basics that matter more.
Trials
lemlist's FAQ describes a 14-day free trial with Multichannel features, apart from in-app calls, and 200 credits. Instantly's sign-up says no credit card is needed. Check each trial's current terms when you sign up.
How to decide
- List your channels. Email only, or email plus LinkedIn and calls?
- Count your team. lemlist's Email plan has no user limit. Its Multichannel price grows per user.
- Count your volume. First emails and follow-ups each month.
- Count your contacts. Instantly's lower plans cap uploaded contacts.
- Test with the same small list. Same words, same mailboxes, two weeks each.
The words still matter most
Both tools only send what you write. More channels give a generic message more places to be ignored. Keep each touch short and specific, as in how long a cold email should be, and give each follow-up a job of its own.
For other options, see lemlist alternatives and Instantly vs Smartlead.