lemlist runs email, LinkedIn, calls, SMS and WhatsApp in one sequence, includes the API on every plan from $55 a month billed yearly, and bundles a 650M+ lead database with credits. Smartlead is a cold email sender priced by sends and stored contacts, with API and webhooks from Pro at $94 a month and per-client API keys for agencies. Both have an official MCP server.
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Smartlead
Sending
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Smartlead
14 points side by side. Open a value for the full detail.
| What | lemlist | Smartlead |
|---|---|---|
| Multichannel outreach platformA multichannel outreach platform: email, LinkedIn, calls, SMS and WhatsApp, with a lead database, credit-based waterfall enrichment, intent signal agents, a REST API, an MCP server and a CLI. | Cold email sender priced on volumeA cold email sender priced on send volume and stored contacts, not seats, with unlimited mailboxes, warmup, a master inbox, white-label client workspaces and a REST API. | |
| Email plan, $69/mo monthly, $55 yearlyEmail plan, $69 a month billed monthly or $55 billed yearly, at 50,000 emails a month. CRM integrations and the API are listed on this plan. Verified 2026-10-25. | Pro, $94/mo monthlyPro, $94 a month billed monthly. The $39 Base plan has no API and no webhooks. Verified 2026-10-25. | |
| Email plan by volume; Multichannel $109/user/moEmail plan: unlimited users and email senders, priced by monthly email volume (50,000 to 1M tiers). Multichannel: $109 per user a month billed monthly or $87 billed yearly, 5 senders per user. Quarterly billing saves 10%, yearly 20%. | By send volume and stored contactsPlans by send volume and stored contacts, not seats: Base 6,000 sends, Pro 90,000, Smart 150,000, Prime 500,000 a month. Annual billing saves 17% in the app. | |
| 14 days, 200 free credits14 days of Multichannel features (no in-app calls) with 200 free credits. API keys worked on the trial on 25 Oct 2026. | 14 days, no card, 2,500 sends/mo14 days, no card. In the app on 25 Oct 2026: 2,500 sends a month and 1,250 contacts. A Default admin API key is created for you and v1 calls worked. | |
| HTTP Basic, key as passwordHTTP Basic with an empty username and the key as password; a Bearer header does not work. One key per account, so agencies hold one key per client account. | API key in the query stringKey in the query string (?api_key=), so it is part of every request URL. Up to 25 admin keys sharing one rate-limit pool, plus separate client keys. | |
| 20 requests per 2 seconds per key20 requests per 2 seconds on all routes, per API key. The reset header is a date string, not a timestamp. | 60 or 120/min tiersDocumented tiers: 60 a minute (1,000 an hour) on Standard and 120 a minute (3,000 an hour) on Pro; the docs do not say which plans map to these tiers. Three heavy analytics endpoints allow 10 per 60 seconds. | |
| 79 event types, up to 200 webhooksCreated through the API's Add Webhook endpoint. 79 event types across email, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, SMS, calls, enrichment and signals. Up to 200 webhooks per workspace, disabled ones included; webhooks auto-disable on 404, 410 or DNS failure. | Pro and up, 11 event typesPro ($94 a month) and up, the same plan as the API. 11 event types, set per user, client or campaign, plus mailbox and LinkedIn disconnect events through a separate per-user setting. The docs give two different retry policies. | |
YesOfficial, at https://app.lemlist.com/mcp, with OAuth (PKCE) or an X-API-Key header. A ?bucket= parameter limits the tool set. Listed on the Email plan as lemlist MCP and CLI. | YesOfficial, SSE at mcp.smartlead.ai with the key in the URL. 168 tools on 25 Oct 2026. Python's default User-Agent got HTTP 403; a curl or browser User-Agent worked. | |
| Bulk enrichment 500 per call, asyncBulk enrichment takes up to 500 records per call, and all enrichment is asynchronous (poll, or use the enrichmentDone webhook). Lead create never updates an existing lead in a campaign. | Up to 400 leads per requestLead import of up to 400 leads per request, plus CSV export endpoints for campaign data. | |
| Email, LinkedIn, SMS, dialer, WhatsApp add-onEmail on every plan. Multichannel adds LinkedIn automation (visits, invites, messages, voice notes, InMail), SMS with a $15 a month number, and a dialer with 400 free calling minutes a month. WhatsApp is a $20 per user add-on. | Cold emailCold email. Its pricing page lists email sends and stored contacts per plan. | |
| 650M+ leads; $1 buys about 20 emails650M+ leads per the pricing page (the MCP setup page says 450M+). Email and phone finding uses credits: $1 buys about 20 emails or 5 phones, charged only on success. A 2,000-credit add-on costs $20 a month ($16 yearly). | SmartProspect 270M+; emails $59/mo add-onSmartProspect: 270M+ profiles. Verified prospect emails cost a flat $59 a month on top of Base (2,000 a month) or Pro (30,000 a month); Smart and Prime include them. | |
| Zapier, Make, n8n, Clay, HubSpot, SalesforceZapier, Make, n8n, Clay, HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, Aircall and Ringover in its pricing comparison table. | 5 native tiles plus SmartAgent connections5 native tiles (HubSpot in beta, Clay, Listkit, LeadMagic, OutboundSync), plus 33 AI connection tiles inside SmartAgent, 11 of them marked Coming soon. | |
| One key per account; CLI profilesOne API key per account; the CLI keeps named profiles per client team. Enterprise adds custom roles, SSO/SAML and a dedicated account manager. | Client workspaces $29/mo eachView-only client dashboards, white-label logo and colour, and client API keys. Client workspaces cost $29 a month each on Pro and Smart; Prime includes 3 or more. | |
| No GDPR, SOC 2 or CCPA statementNo GDPR, SOC 2 or CCPA statement on its pricing page or developer docs. | No GDPR, SOC 2 or CCPA statementNo GDPR, SOC 2 or CCPA statement on its pricing page or llms.txt; a GDPR checklist help article for cold email exists. |
No row matches in this view.
US dollars as each vendor's page showed them on 25 Oct 2026. One panel per tool; switch each between monthly and annual billing (an annual price is the monthly rate when you pay for the year up front).
$69/mo
billed monthly
$55/mo
billed annually
Entry tier 50,000 emails a month, unlimited users and email senders, 650M+ lead database, email and phone finder on credits, lemlist MCP and CLI, CRM integrations and API.
Quarterly $62 a month. Higher volume tiers: 100k $89 monthly / $71 yearly, 200k $159 / $127, 500k $359 / $287, 1M $659 / $527.
$109/mo
billed monthly
$87/mo
billed annually
Per user. Quarterly $99. 5 senders per user, unlimited emails and messages, LinkedIn automation, SMS (number $15 a month, 6 credits per SMS), dialer with 400 free calling minutes a month. Extra email sender $9 a month; WhatsApp add-on $20 per user a month.
Custom quote
Custom. 5 or more senders per user, custom roles and permissions, SSO/SAML, dedicated account manager, 800 free calling minutes a month.
$20/mo
billed monthly
$16/mo
billed annually
2,000 credits a month, about 400 emails or 100 phones.
Credits are charged only on success.
$29/mo
billed monthly
$21/mo
billed annually
100 signals a month.
$39/mo
billed monthly
$32/mo
billed annually
6,000 sends a month, 2,000 stored contacts, Foundation warmup pool.
No API, no webhooks. Billed monthly or annually.
$94/mo
billed monthly
$78/mo
billed annually
90,000 sends a month, 30,000 stored contacts, API and webhooks, CRM, Growth warmup pool.
Client workspaces $29/mo each. Billed monthly or annually.
$174/mo
billed monthly
$144/mo
billed annually
150,000+ sends a month, unlimited contacts, 50,000 verified prospect emails, CSM call access, Premium warmup pool.
Billed monthly or annually.
$379/mo
billed monthly
$315/mo
billed annually
500,000+ sends a month, unlimited contacts, 170,000 verified prospect emails, 3 SmartServers, 3+ client workspaces, a dedicated manager.
Billed monthly or annually.
$59/mo
billed monthly
$59/mo
monthly billing only
A flat $59/mo fee on top of the sending plan.
It unlocks 2,000 verified prospect emails a month on Base and 30,000 on Pro; Smart and Prime include them with no fee. On our trial the SmartProspect tab showed 1,000 leads a month at $0.0472 a lead. Billed monthly.
If neither fits: If LinkedIn is your main channel and email is secondary, a LinkedIn tool such as HeyReach may fit better. Whichever sender you pick, clean the list before upload.
How to verify email addresses before you sendChoosing between lemlist and Smartlead, or moving from one to the other? Tell us your setup. We will show you how we would run it, and what we would check first.
Neither has a free plan. lemlist offers a 14-day trial of its Multichannel features with 200 free credits. Smartlead offers a 14-day trial with no card; in the app on 25 Oct 2026 it allowed 2,500 sends and 1,250 contacts. Paid plans start at $55 a month billed yearly (lemlist Email) and $39 a month (Smartlead Base, no API).
lemlist's Multichannel plan ($87 per user a month billed yearly) includes LinkedIn automation: profile visits, invites, messages, voice notes and InMail. Smartlead's pricing lists email sends and stored contacts per plan.
lemlist lists CRM integrations and the API on its Email plan, from $69 a month or $55 billed yearly, and webhooks are created through that API. Smartlead's API and webhooks start on Pro at $94 a month; Base at $39 has neither. Verified 2026-10-25.
lemlist uses HTTP Basic with an empty username and the API key as the password; a Bearer header does not work. Smartlead takes the key as an api_key query parameter, so keep request URLs out of logs.
Read from lemlist.com/pricing, smartlead.ai/pricing and each tool's API docs. Verified 25 Oct 2026.
