Best tools
Ken is our productBest Sales Engagement Platforms in 2026
Ken, our product, is listed first for email and LinkedIn teams with unlimited seats. Otherwise our top pick is Apollo.io, best for data, sequences and a dialer in one seat, then Reply.io, best for email, LinkedIn, calls and SMS in one sequence.
Ken is our product. We list it first, and every fact about other tools comes from their public pages on the date shown.
Our Picks at a Glance
In short Ken is first because it is ours. The other 7 follow in order of how well they meet our criteria.
| Rank | Tool | Best for | Starting price (date) | Free plan |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1(ours) | Ken | email and LinkedIn teams with unlimited seats | Platform: $200 a month (Oct 17, 2026) | Yes - 1,000 credits once, no card |
| 2 | Apollo.io | data, sequences and a dialer in one seat | $65 per seat a month (Oct 17, 2026) | Yes - 75 credits per seat a month |
| 3 | Reply.io | email, LinkedIn, calls and SMS in one sequence | $59 per seat a month (Oct 17, 2026) | No - 14-day free trial |
| 4 | HubSpot Sales Hub | teams already on the HubSpot CRM | $20 per seat a month (Oct 17, 2026) | Yes - free for up to 2 users |
| 5 | lemlist | multichannel sequences for smaller teams | $69 a month (Oct 17, 2026) | No - 14-day trial with 200 free credits |
| 6 | Outreach | large Salesforce or Dynamics teams | Custom quote (Oct 17, 2026) | No - demo only, no free plan or trial listed |
| 7 | Salesloft | cadences and forecasting bought through sales | Custom quote (Oct 17, 2026) | No - no free plan or trial listed, book a demo |
| 8 | Mixmax | sequences and scheduling inside Gmail | $34 per seat a month (Oct 17, 2026) | Yes - 50 recipients a month, limited features |
Ken is first because it is our product. The rest are ordered by how well each meets our ranking criteria. Starting price is the lowest entry price on the vendor's pricing page on the date shown: monthly billing where offered, otherwise annual or one-time.
How We Ranked These Tools
In short We judged each tool on 5 criteria, using only facts from its own public pages.
- Seat price: Price per seat at your team size, and whether it is published.
- Channels: Email, LinkedIn and phone steps in one sequence.
- CRM sync: Which CRMs sync natively and in which direction.
- Built-in tools: Contact data, a dialer, a meeting scheduler, call notes and a deal pipeline in the same tool.
- Contract terms: Monthly or annual billing, minimum seats and onboarding fees.
Ken is first because it is our product. The rest are ordered by how well each meets our ranking criteria. We do not use ratings from review sites, and we have not tested these tools hands-on.
1. Ken
In short Best for email and LinkedIn teams with unlimited seats.
Ken is first for teams that sell over email and LinkedIn and want one published price with unlimited seats. Platform ($200 a month, or $160 billed annually) covers every seat and workspace, one campaign mixes email and LinkedIn steps, and leads come from 250M people and 24M companies. Ken has no dialer, and meetings, call notes and the pipeline come with Ken Scheduler (Coming), Ken Notetaker (Coming) and Ken CRM (Coming), so teams that call should start with Apollo.io or Reply.io.
Price: the Free plan starts with 1,000 credits once and no card. Platform is $200 a month, or $160 a month billed annually. Campaigns: Included on every plan; about 1.45 credits ($0.03) per finished lead.
Strengths
One campaign can mix email and LinkedIn steps. AI qualification costs 50 credits ($1) per 1,000 rows. AI personalization costs 300 credits ($6) per 1,000 rows. Platform includes 200,000 sends a month. Every email gets a spam and quality check before it sends.
Limits
On Free, every send costs credits: 25 credits per 1,000. LinkedIn steps need a connected LinkedIn account at 1,500 credits ($30) a month. Built-in phone dialer: no. Built-in meeting scheduler: Ken Scheduler (Coming). Meeting recording and AI notes: Ken Notetaker (Coming). Deal pipeline and opportunity tracking: Ken CRM (Coming).
2. Apollo.io
In short Best for data, sequences and a dialer in one seat.
Apollo.io puts a contact database, sequences, a US dialer, meeting scheduling, call recording and deal management in one seat, with a free plan and published prices. Unlimited sending starts on Professional, and phone numbers use more credits than emails.
Starting price: $65 per seat a month, checked Oct 17, 2026. Free plan with 75 credits per seat a month, 2 sequences and 250 emails a day.
Strengths
Says it has 240M+ contacts and 30M+ accounts. Sequences, a US dialer, a meeting scheduler, call recording and deal management come in the same seat as the data. Charges email credits only for addresses it can verify, and never more than 1 credit per contact for an email. Free plan with 75 credits per seat a month, 2 sequences and API access, plus a 14-day trial of Basic and Professional. Salesforce and HubSpot push and pull and Bombora intent topics are included on every plan, Free too.
Limits
Priced per seat: $49 to $119 per seat a month on annual billing, and Organization needs 3 seats on an annual contract. A phone number costs 8 credits from the same pool as emails. Free and Basic cap sending at 250 emails a day and 1 mailbox per user; unlimited sends start on Professional. Credits, including bought add-ons, expire at the end of each billing cycle.
3. Reply.io
In short Best for email, LinkedIn, calls and SMS in one sequence.
Reply.io's Multichannel plan runs email, LinkedIn, calls and SMS in one sequence, with a scheduler and native sync for Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive, Copper and Close. It has no deal pipeline and syncs activity to your CRM instead.
Starting price: $59 per seat a month, checked Oct 17, 2026. 14-day free trial.
Strengths
Multichannel puts email, LinkedIn, calls, SMS and semi-automated WhatsApp steps in one sequence for $99 per user a month ($89 on annual billing). Email Volume allows unlimited mailboxes, with warmup on each, and unlimited emails to active contacts. From 10,000 active contacts a month, Email Volume covers unlimited users at one price, $179 a month ($159 on annual billing). Native CRM sync with Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive, Copper and Close covers contacts, accounts, calls, tasks and activities. Jason AI SDR finds prospects, writes messages and handles replies, from $500 a month on annual billing.
Limits
Below 10,000 active contacts a month, Email Volume is priced per user, from $59 a user a month. On Email Volume, LinkedIn costs $69 a month per account and calls and SMS cost $29 a month per user. Multichannel includes 5 mailboxes on monthly billing (10 on annual), and each extra mailbox is $29 a month. Live data is metered: plans include 50 credits a month, and more starts at $39 a month for 200 credits.
4. HubSpot Sales Hub
In short Best for teams already on the HubSpot CRM.
HubSpot Sales Hub keeps sequences, calling, meeting links, call notes and pipelines on the same CRM record, with every plan priced on its site. Sequences start on Professional, which adds a required one-time onboarding fee, and LinkedIn steps are tasks.
Starting price: $20 per seat a month, checked Oct 17, 2026. Free plan for up to 2 users, no card.
Strengths
Free plan for up to 2 users, no credit card, with deal tracking and a meetings link. All four plans have a published seat price, from $20 on Starter to $150 on Enterprise. Sequences hold up to 5,000 per account, with 500 email sends per user a day on Professional and 1,000 on Enterprise. Calling, meeting links and HubSpot Notetaker sit on the same CRM record as deals. Pipelines scale from 15 on Starter to 350 on Enterprise.
Limits
Sequences start on Professional, which has a required $1,500 one-time onboarding fee on top of the seat price. Enterprise adds a required $3,500 one-time onboarding fee. Priced per seat. Extra Core Seats cost $50 a month on Professional and $75 on Enterprise. LinkedIn steps are tasks that need a LinkedIn Sales Navigator subscription, and each sequence holds up to 10 email templates.
5. lemlist
In short Best for multichannel sequences for smaller teams.
lemlist's Multichannel plan adds automated LinkedIn steps, SMS and a built-in dialer to email campaigns, with a lead database and 2-way HubSpot and Salesforce sync. It is priced per user, and the pricing page lists no included credits.
Starting price: $69 a month, checked Oct 17, 2026. 14-day free trial of Multichannel features, 200 free credits.
Strengths
The Email plan has unlimited users, email senders and contacts for one volume-based price, starting at $69 a month. A lead database, an email and phone finder, warmup and a Deliverability Hub are listed on every plan. The Multichannel plan adds LinkedIn automation, SMS steps and a built-in call dialer to the same campaigns. HubSpot and Salesforce are listed as 2-way syncs, with Pipedrive, Attio and Close also on the integrations page.
Limits
LinkedIn steps, SMS and the unified inbox are on the Multichannel plan only, at $109 a user a month on monthly billing, and each SMS also costs 6 credits plus a $15-a-month phone number. The pricing page lists no included credits on Email or Multichannel. The lead data add-on is $20 a month for 2,000 credits. The Email plan caps sending at 50,000 emails a month at the entry tier. 1,000,000 emails a month is $659. Multichannel allows 5 senders per user, so inbox count grows with seats.
6. Outreach
In short Best for large Salesforce or Dynamics teams.
Outreach covers sequences, the Outreach Voice dialer, meeting scheduling, call transcription and forecasting in one platform. No plan has a published price, LinkedIn steps are manual tasks, and HubSpot runs through HubSpot's own data sync.
Starting price: Custom quote, checked Oct 17, 2026. No free plan or trial listed.
Strengths
Four packaged plans, Amplify Essentials to Pro, with 10,000 to 100,000 AI credits. Outreach Voice dialer and meeting scheduling are listed on every plan. Real-time call transcription, action item detection and AI summaries for meetings and deals. Amplify Pro adds forecast rollups, a scenario planner and territory management. Syncs with Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales, and with HubSpot through HubSpot's data sync.
Limits
No price is published for any plan. Cost is per user plus AI credits, by quote. LinkedIn steps are tasks: the rep opens a compose window and sends the connection request by hand. The native CRM list is Salesforce and Dynamics 365 Sales. HubSpot goes through HubSpot's data sync, and email sync runs from Outreach to HubSpot only. No free plan or free trial is listed. The page offers a demo request.
7. Salesloft
In short Best for cadences and forecasting bought through sales.
Salesloft combines cadences, a dialer, Salesloft Meetings, conversation intelligence and Deals with Clari forecasting, and syncs both ways with Salesforce. Prices are by quote only, and LinkedIn steps come through Sales Navigator.
Starting price: Custom quote, checked Oct 17, 2026. No free plan or trial listed.
Strengths
Cadence runs email and call steps, plus LinkedIn Sales Navigator steps for research, InMail and connection requests. Built-in dialer that lets reps call or text buyers, or connect a third-party dialer. Salesloft Meetings lets buyers book time straight from an email. Conversation Intelligence records, transcribes and analyzes calls, with AI call summaries and action items. The same platform adds Deals, Rhythm, Clari Forecast and Inspect for pipeline and forecast reviews.
Limits
No plan or price is published. The pricing page sends you to a sales call. LinkedIn steps come through the LinkedIn Sales Navigator integration, not a native LinkedIn account. No built-in B2B contact database is listed on its platform pages. Implementation and onboarding are consulting services sold by quote.
8. Mixmax
In short Best for sequences and scheduling inside Gmail.
Mixmax adds sequences, tracking, scheduling and AI meeting notes to Gmail, with every core feature on every paid tier. It sells no contact data, the dialer is an add-on and recipients cannot be pooled across the team.
Starting price: $34 per seat a month, checked Oct 17, 2026. Free plan, 50 recipients a month with limited features; 14-day trial of all features, no card.
Strengths
Every paid plan includes every core feature, from email tracking to scheduling; only the recipient count changes the price. Entry paid tier is $29 a user a month billed yearly for 100 recipients a month. Scheduling and AI meeting notes are included in the plan price, with no extra add-on. Works inside Gmail, with tracking, templates, snippets and a Sidechat for teammates. Syncs with Salesforce and HubSpot, and lists Pipedrive and Copper integrations.
Limits
Priced per user, and recipients are bought per user, so they cannot be pooled across a team. Sells no contact data: you add people by hand, CSV or from Salesforce or HubSpot. Dialer is a $9 per member a month add-on plus per-minute calling rates. Custom branding and domains is a $9 per member a month add-on billed yearly.
How Do You Choose the Right Tool?
In short Ask each vendor on your shortlist these questions before you buy.
- What does each seat cost at your team size, and is the price published?
- Can one sequence mix email, LinkedIn and phone steps?
- Which CRMs sync natively, and in which direction?
- Which of contact data, a dialer, a scheduler and call notes come built in, and which cost extra?
- Is billing monthly or annual only, and are there seat minimums or onboarding fees?
FAQ
In short 5 questions buyers ask about sales engagement platforms, answered from each vendor's public pages.
What is the difference between sales engagement and cold email software?
Cold email tools focus on sending at volume from many inboxes. Sales engagement platforms run multichannel sequences for a sales team, usually with a dialer, meeting scheduling and CRM sync, and are often priced per seat.
Which sales engagement platforms publish prices?
Apollo.io, Reply.io, HubSpot Sales Hub, lemlist and Mixmax publish prices on their sites. Outreach and Salesloft sell by quote only.
Which ones include a phone dialer?
Outreach, Salesloft and HubSpot Sales Hub include calling, Apollo.io has a US dialer, and Reply.io and lemlist include calls on their Multichannel plans. Mixmax sells its dialer as an add-on.
Which sales engagement platforms have a free plan?
Ken, Apollo.io, HubSpot Sales Hub and Mixmax have a free plan or free credits. The rest offer a trial or no free option. The table shows the limits of each one.
How did you rank these tools?
We judged each tool on the 5 criteria under How We Ranked These Tools, using only facts from its public pages on the date shown. Ken is first because it is our product. The rest are ordered by how well each meets our ranking criteria.
The new Ken opens to the waiting list in batches.
Related
Sources
Changelog
- Page published.