Mailshake alternatives: Yet Another Mail Merge, Mixmax, Apollo.io, lemlist and 2 more. Prices and licenses checked October 25, 2026.
•3 min read•Sales Prospecting & Outreach
Verdict:Mailshake lists Starter at $25 a month billed yearly ($29 monthly), Email Outreach at $45, and Sales Engagement at $85, with no free plan and no trial, since payment is collected up front. That last point is the strongest reason to look elsewhere: you cannot test it first. Of the alternatives, only a few are actually free. YAMM runs mail merge in Gmail with 20 recipients a day, which is enough to test a short list. Mixmax allows 50 recipients per month in sequences on its free plan, enough to judge whether sequences suit you. Apollo gives free contact data with Gmail-only sending, which pairs well with either. If you have outgrown that and want paid cold email, Lemlist, Instantly and Saleshandy all start higher than Mailshake Starter, so do not expect savings. They differ on emphasis: Lemlist on personalization, Instantly on multiple mailboxes, Saleshandy on a mid-price plan. The trade-off is simple. Free tools cap daily or monthly volume, so they work for a small test. Anything above that costs about what Mailshake does. Run a 50-person list on a free tool first, then decide whether you need to pay.
| Tool | Price | Platforms | Best for | Tested |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yet Another Mail Merge | Free (20 recipients per day) | Gmail | Light mail merge from Gmail | Docs only |
| Mixmax | Free (50 recipients per month in sequences, limited features); paid from $29 per user/month, billed yearly (lowest paid plan) | Web browser | Trying sequences before paying | Docs only |
| Apollo.io | Free (Free plan for light use; Gmail accounts only for sending) | Web browser | Prospect data plus basic outreach | Docs only |
| lemlist | Paid from $55 per month, billed yearly (Email plan; $69 billed monthly) | Web browser | Personalized cold email | Docs only |
| Instantly | Paid from $37.6 per month, billed annually (Growth Outreach plan; $47 billed monthly) | Web browser | Sending from many mailboxes | Docs only |
| Saleshandy | Paid from $34 per month, billed annually (Starter, 1 seat; $41 monthly) | Web browser | Mid-price sequences for small teams | Docs only |
| Yesware | Free (Free plan: basic email open tracking, 10 campaign recipients a month; link tracking not listed for Free); paid from $15 per seat per month, Pro billed annually ($19 billed monthly) | Gmail, Outlook | Email tracking | Docs only |
| Smartlead | Paid from $32 per month, Base billed annually ($39 monthly): 2,000 contacts, 6,000 email sends; Pro $78 annual ($94 monthly) | Web browser | Sales Prospecting & Outreach | Docs only |
Independent comparison. Paid placements are labelled separately; editorial links earn no affiliate commissions. Learn more.
Mailshake today: Paid from $25 per month, billed yearly (Starter; $29 billed monthly) (Mailshake pricing, checked 2026-10-23).
Mailshake has no free plan or trial, and payment is collected up front. Starter is $25 a month billed yearly ($29 monthly) and allows one email address and 1,500 sends a month. Unlimited sends start at Email Outreach, $45 yearly ($49 monthly) for two addresses, and the power dialer comes with Sales Engagement at $85 yearly ($99 monthly). Billing is per user, each connecting one mail account, and Data Finder is a separate $19-a-month add-on.
Compared with Mailshake: Free tier of 20 recipients a day for mail merge inside Gmail. It lacks Mailshake's sequences and phone dialer, but costs nothing for small outreach lists.
Price: Free (20 recipients per day) (Yet Another Mail Merge pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Gmail. Proprietary SaaS.
Best for: Light mail merge from Gmail.
Worth knowing: Prices vary by billing country and none were shown as numbers.
Compared with Mailshake: Free plan allows 50 recipients per month in sequences, with paid from $29 a user monthly billed yearly. Less volume than Mailshake's Starter at $25 yearly, but you can try sequences first.
Price: Free (50 recipients per month in sequences, limited features); paid from $29 per user/month, billed yearly (lowest paid plan) (Mixmax pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web browser. Proprietary SaaS.
Best for: Trying sequences before paying.
Compared with Mailshake: Free plan with contact data and Gmail-only sending, whereas Mailshake sells data as a $19 add-on. Weaker sending controls, but data and outreach share one account.
Price: Free (Free plan for light use; Gmail accounts only for sending) (Apollo.io pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web browser. Proprietary SaaS.
Best for: Prospect data plus basic outreach.
Compared with Mailshake: No free plan, with the Email plan at $55 a month billed yearly. Costs more than Mailshake Starter but adds personalized images and a stronger warm-up focus.
Price: Paid from $55 per month, billed yearly (Email plan; $69 billed monthly) (lemlist pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web browser. Proprietary SaaS.
Best for: Personalized cold email.
Compared with Mailshake: No free plan; Growth Outreach is $37.60 a month billed annually. Sits above Mailshake Starter in price but is built for many sending mailboxes.
Price: Paid from $37.6 per month, billed annually (Growth Outreach plan; $47 billed monthly) (Instantly pricing, checked 2026-10-23).
Platforms and license: Web browser. Proprietary SaaS.
Best for: Sending from many mailboxes.
Compared with Mailshake: Starter is $34 a month billed annually with no free plan. Close to Mailshake's Email Outreach price and aimed at sequence-based outreach with mailbox tracking.
Price: Paid from $34 per month, billed annually (Starter, 1 seat; $41 monthly) (Saleshandy pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web browser. Proprietary SaaS.
Best for: Mid-price sequences for small teams.
Worth knowing: 7-day trial; Starter includes 6,000 emails per month and unlimited email accounts.
Compared with Mailshake: Free plan covers basic open tracking for 10 campaign recipients a month, and Pro is $15 per seat monthly billed annually ($19 monthly), below Mailshake Starter at $25 on annual billing.
Price: Free (Free plan: basic email open tracking, 10 campaign recipients a month; link tracking not listed for Free); paid from $15 per seat per month, Pro billed annually ($19 billed monthly) (Yesware pricing, checked 2026-10-24).
Compared with Mailshake: Base is $32 a month on annual billing ($39 monthly) for 2,000 contacts and 6,000 email sends, with unlimited mailboxes on every plan. Mailshake Starter is $25 yearly, but Smartlead offers a free trial on all plans.
Price: Paid from $32 per month, Base billed annually ($39 monthly): 2,000 contacts, 6,000 email sends; Pro $78 annual ($94 monthly) (Smartlead pricing, checked 2026-10-25).
Docs-only for Yet Another Mail Merge, Mixmax, Apollo.io, lemlist, Instantly, Saleshandy: we did not install or run them, so feature claims come from vendor pages and we did not test import from Mailshake. Vendor prices and free limits change; confirm on the linked pricing page before you buy or migrate.
Kevin Fan is a SaaS founder. He runs Free Instead Of, which tracks free and open-source alternatives to paid software and checks each price and free-plan limit against the vendor's own pages.
Based on official pricing and product pages checked between 2026-10-22 and 2026-10-25: Mailshake, Yet Another Mail Merge, Mixmax, Apollo.io, lemlist, Instantly, Saleshandy, Yesware, Smartlead. Prices, free limits and licenses are the figures shown on those pages on those dates. No tool on this page was installed or run. No accounts were created.