Outbound cost calculator

Compare the monthly cost and cost per meeting of a DIY stack, an in-house SDR, an agency and Ken.

Updates as you typeRuns in your browser, nothing is sent anywhere

Ken is cheapest per meeting at $103.

DIY (Instantly) $837, In-house SDR $749, Outbound agency $7,500. Same 10,000 leads a month for every option, except in-house, where meetings follow SDR capacity.

DIY (Instantly)

$837a month

Meetings a month1

Per meeting$837

In-house SDR

$8,983a month

Meetings a month12

Per meeting$749

Outbound agency

$7,500a month

Meetings a month1

Per meeting$7,500

KenCheapest per meeting

$720a month

Meetings a month7

Per meeting$103

Cost per meeting

Lower is better

DIY (Instantly)

$837

In-house SDR

$749

Outbound agency

$7,500

Ken

$103

Meetings come from Ken's published numbers for Ken (7 per 10,000 contacts) and the industry norm for DIY and agency. They are what is possible, not a promise. Your own list and offer move them.

What is in each number

Prices from Ken's pricing page and the /compare models

DIY stack (Instantly)

$837

Ken publishedThe industry norm published on /why-ken.Pricing verified 2026-10-12.Your own time to build and run it is not priced.

In-house SDR

$8,983

AssumptionPlanning default of 12 meetings per ramped SDR a month. Capacity, not a function of your lead count.A ramped SDR on the US salary preset (a planning default, not sourced). Ramp months and turnover add to the real cost: see the SDR cost calculator.

Outbound agency

$7,500

Ken publishedThe industry norm published on /why-ken.Agency retainers typically run $5,000 to $10,000 a month. Lead and inbox costs usually sit on top.

Ken

$720

Ken publishedKen's published 7 meetings per 10,000 contacts. What is possible, not a promise.

SDR cost calculator

Then

Outbound ROI calculator

Email me this report

The four-way cost table and what is inside each price, with a saved link that stays live for 90 days.

Cost by optionWhat is in each priceLink re-opens the report

Put Ken on the rest of your outbound

Inboxes, warmup, leads and copy in one place. Ken runs these checks on every inbox it manages.

Start free - 1,000 credits, no card

What the outbound cost calculator does

It prices the same outbound month four ways and compares them on cost per meeting. Enter leads a month and channels and you get:

A DIY stack: a sending tool, inboxes, domains and lead data, priced from the same competitor models as the compare pages, each with the date its price was last verified.
An in-house SDR: salary, taxes, tools and management, ramped.
An agency: a monthly retainer you can change.
Ken: the Platform plan plus credits from the rate card.

How to read the result

Each card shows the monthly cost, the meetings it books and the cost per meeting. The cheapest option per meeting is marked.

The DIY and agency columns book meetings at the industry norm, the in-house column at an SDR's capacity, and the last column at its published rate. Your own time to run a DIY stack is not priced, so add it if it matters to you.

How to use it

Set the lead volume you plan to contact, not the size of your total market. Replace the agency retainer with the quote you have, and pick the DIY tool closest to the one you would use. Then compare cost per meeting rather than monthly cost, because the cheapest bill can still be the most expensive way to get a meeting.

Why it matters for outbound

The monthly bill hides most of what outbound costs. A DIY stack needs someone to run it, an SDR needs months of ramp before booking at full speed, and agency retainers often leave data and inboxes on top. Comparing on cost per meeting puts the four options on one scale.

Questions

How much does outbound sales cost per month?

It depends on volume and on who runs it. Tool costs scale with the leads you contact, while a salary or a retainer is fixed whether you contact 1,000 people or 20,000. Enter your volume and the calculator prices all four options for it.

What goes into a DIY cold email stack?

A sending tool, inboxes on separate sending domains, the domains themselves, lead data, email verification and warmup. Then the hours to write copy, manage replies and keep deliverability healthy, which is the cost most people leave out.

How much do outbound agencies charge?

Most work on a monthly retainer, and some charge per meeting instead. The calculator defaults to the middle of a $5,000 to $10,000 monthly range. Put in the quote you have, and check whether lead data and inboxes are included or billed on top.

Why compare on cost per meeting?

Because a meeting is what you are buying. A cheaper option that books fewer meetings can cost more per meeting than a pricier one, and cost per meeting is the number you can hold against your deal size.

How current are the competitor prices?

They come from the same price models as the compare pages, and each one shows the date it was last checked against the vendor's pricing page.