lemlist vs Instantly (2026): Pricing, Sending Limits and Which to Pick
lemlist vs Instantly, in short: lemlist's Email plan costs $69 a month for 50,000 emails with unlimited users and senders, and its Multichannel plan adds LinkedIn, SMS and calling for $109 per user. Instantly's Outreach plans cost $47 for 5,000 emails and 1,000 contacts, or $97 for 125,000 emails, with lead data sold as separate credits. lemlist suits multichannel teams; Instantly suits email-volume senders.
More on this topic: Cold email and deliverability, every guide in one place.
Both are cold outreach platforms with built-in warm-up, inbox rotation and a unified inbox, and both sell lead data. They differ in what they charge for. lemlist charges by channel and, on Multichannel, by person. Instantly charges by emails sent and contacts uploaded, then separately for credits. Which is cheaper depends almost entirely on your team's shape.
Key takeaways
- lemlist (monthly): Email $69 for the workspace at 50,000 emails; Multichannel $109 per user; $55 and $87 billed yearly.
- Instantly (monthly): Outreach Growth $47 (5,000 emails, 1,000 contacts), Hypergrowth $97 (125,000, 25,000), Light Speed $358 (500,000, 100,000).
- Lead data: lemlist from $20 for 2,000 credits; Instantly Credits from $9 for 150.
- Channels: lemlist Multichannel adds LinkedIn, SMS and calling steps; Instantly is built around email.
- Small email team (3 people, about 4,000 emails a month): $47 on Instantly Growth against $69 on lemlist Email.
- Both include warm-up and unlimited sending mailboxes you connect yourself.
If your outreach is email only and the list is small, Instantly Growth is the cheapest start. If you send to more than 1,000 new contacts a month by email, lemlist's Email plan gives more volume per dollar and room for the whole team. If sequences need LinkedIn, SMS or call steps, lemlist Multichannel is the one built for it.
Is lemlist or Instantly cheaper?
Instantly is cheaper at the smallest size; lemlist's Email plan is cheaper per email above it. lemlist offers yearly billing at 20% off; Instantly's page lists monthly prices.
| lemlist plan | Price |
|---|---|
| $69/mo monthly, $55/mo yearly — whole workspace, unlimited users and senders, 50,000 emails a month at this price | |
| Multichannel | $109/user/mo monthly, $87 yearly — 5 senders per user, LinkedIn, SMS and calling steps |
| Enterprise | Custom — SSO, custom roles, account manager |
| Data add-ons | Enrichment $20/mo for 2,000 credits; intent signals $29/mo for 100 |
| Instantly plan | Price |
|---|---|
| Outreach Growth | $47/mo — 5,000 emails, 1,000 uploaded contacts |
| Outreach Hypergrowth | $97/mo — 125,000 emails, 25,000 contacts |
| Outreach Light Speed | $358/mo — 500,000 emails, 100,000 contacts |
| Credits | From $9/mo for 150 credits; Growth $47–$77 for 1,500–2,000 |
For three people sending about 4,000 emails a month to under 1,000 new contacts, Instantly Growth is $47 a month and lemlist Email $69 (or $55 billed yearly). Add 1,000 email look-ups a month and the picture flips: about 1,500 Instantly credits ($47 Credits Growth) against about 5,000 lemlist credits. Full breakdowns are in lemlist pricing explained and Instantly pricing explained.
Pricing for both products was checked against the public Scalry and lemlist and Instantly pricing pages in October 2026. SaaS pricing changes often — confirm the current numbers with each vendor before you commit to a plan.
lemlist vs Instantly: how do the features compare?
lemlist is a multichannel outreach tool with a shared email plan; Instantly is an email-sending platform priced by volume, with lead data and AI agents on credits.
| Capability | lemlist | Instantly |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Email per workspace; Multichannel per user | By emails and contacts, plus credits |
| Entry price (monthly) | $69 (Email plan) | $47 (Outreach Growth) |
| Emails at entry price | 50,000 a month | 5,000 a month |
| Contacts at entry price | No contact cap on the plan card | 1,000 uploaded |
| Sending mailboxes | Unlimited senders on Email; 5 per user on Multichannel | Unlimited |
| Warm-up | lemwarm, included | Included |
| LinkedIn, SMS, calling steps | Multichannel plan | Not its focus |
| Lead database | 650M+ leads; credits for contact data | SuperSearch; credits |
| AI | lemAgent and AI agents | AI Sales Agent, AI Reply Agent (credits) |
| Yearly billing | 20% off; quarterly 10% off | Not listed on the page |
| Trial | 14 days, 200 credits | 14 days, 250 contacts and 1,000 emails |
The costs that don't appear on either pricing page
- Mailboxes and domains: both sell them; a careful sender needs several mailboxes either way.
- lemlist's per-user jump: one LinkedIn step moves each user from the $69 shared plan to $109 each.
- Instantly's contact cap: Growth's 1,000 uploaded contacts is usually hit before its 5,000 emails.
- Credits on both: lead data is extra on both platforms, priced differently per look-up.
- CRM: neither is a full sales CRM; deals usually live in another tool.
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Where lemlist wins
Multichannel sequences
lemlist's Multichannel plan puts email, LinkedIn, SMS and calls in one sequence with a built-in dialer. Instantly is an email platform first.
Shared email plan for a team
The Email plan covers unlimited users and senders for one price, so a five-person email team still pays $69 a month.
Volume at the entry price
50,000 emails at $69, with no contact cap on the plan card, is far more room than Instantly Growth's 5,000 emails and 1,000 contacts at $47.
Where Instantly wins
Cheapest small start
$47 a month covers a small email campaign, and the 14-day trial lets you send 1,000 emails before paying.
Built for sending at scale
Hypergrowth's 125,000 emails for $97 suits agencies and volume senders who rotate many mailboxes.
Cheaper per email look-up
Work email enrichment is about 1.5 Instantly credits per row, against about 5 lemlist credits per email found.
lemlist vs Instantly: which should you choose?
Choose Instantly for a cheap email-only start or very high volume; choose lemlist for a shared team email plan or multichannel sequences.
| If this is you | Pick |
|---|---|
| Email only, under 1,000 new contacts a month | Instantly Growth |
| Email only, a team of several people | lemlist Email |
| Sequences with LinkedIn, SMS or call steps | lemlist Multichannel |
| Very high email volume across many mailboxes | Instantly |
| You buy a lot of contact data | Instantly credits |
| You want yearly billing | lemlist |
Count channels before you count prices. If everything is email, compare Instantly Growth with lemlist Email at your real monthly contacts and steps. If any step is LinkedIn or a call, the question is whether lemlist Multichannel's per-user price is worth it.
How to test lemlist and Instantly without wasting a fortnight
Feature matrices settle less than two days of real use. Both products will demo well; what you want to know is which one is annoying on a Tuesday.
- Rebuild one real campaign in each, end to end — the page, the form, the follow-up, the handoff. Not a test campaign; the one that matters.
- Import a real segment, not ten sample contacts. Field mapping problems only appear with real data.
- Time the boring tasks. Logging an activity, editing a sequence, finding last month's numbers. You will do these hundreds of times.
- Give it to the person who will actually use it, not the person evaluating it. Adoption is decided by them.
- Price both at next year's size before deciding — lemlist and Instantly scale on different axes, so today's comparison will not hold.
- Test the export. Confirm you can get your data out on day one, not on the day you want to leave.
Questions to ask before you commit
Whichever way you are leaning, these are the questions that change the answer. Work through them against your own numbers rather than anyone's feature matrix — including this one.
- Which channels does your sequence use? That picks the lemlist plan.
- How many new contacts a month? Instantly Growth stops at 1,000.
- Contacts times steps? That is your monthly email count.
- How many look-ups a month? Price credits on both.
- Where will deals be tracked? Budget for the CRM.
If you cannot answer the first three, you are not ready to choose between Scalry and lemlist or Instantly yet — you are still deciding what you need, which is a cheaper problem to solve first.
A third option, briefly
If the reason you are comparing outreach tools is that replies and deals end up in yet another system, a CRM with sequences built in avoids the sync. Scalry runs cold email sequences inside its CRM on flat $29 to $199 workspace plans, with your own mailboxes and per-mailbox caps. It does not automate LinkedIn, so it is no substitute for lemlist Multichannel.
That is the whole pitch, and it is last for a reason — if one of the two tools above fits, use it. Our pricing study compares thirteen platforms including both, and the cost calculator prices them against your own team size.
Frequently asked questions
Is lemlist or Instantly cheaper?
For a small email-only campaign, Instantly: Growth is $47 a month against lemlist Email at $69. For a team sending more, lemlist's Email plan includes 50,000 emails and unlimited users for $69, or $55 billed yearly.
Does Instantly do LinkedIn outreach?
Instantly is built around email. lemlist's Multichannel plan, at $109 per user a month, adds LinkedIn, SMS and calling steps.
Is lemlist priced per user?
Only Multichannel. The Email plan is priced per workspace with unlimited users and senders.
Which has the better lead database?
Both sell lead data through credits. lemlist advertises 650M+ leads; Instantly's SuperSearch charges about 1.5 credits per work email. Test both with your own ideal customer profile.
Do lemlist and Instantly include warm-up?
Yes. lemlist includes lemwarm on every plan, and Instantly includes warm-up with unlimited email accounts.
Can I switch from Instantly to lemlist?
Yes. Export contacts and sequence copy, reconnect your mailboxes, and keep the same daily sending limits per mailbox so the change does not hurt deliverability.
Count channels and contacts first — that answers lemlist vs Instantly faster than any feature list. You can rebuild one real campaign inside Scalry before moving anything else.
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