AI SDR alternatives for small teams: 7 tools, prices and approval controls

Each alternative in detail

1. 1.FoxKnock

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   Best for: Small teams and agencies that want researched, cited outreach they approve before it sends from their own mailboxes

   Pricing: As of Oct 2026: Free is $0 with 500 one-time credits. Starter is $49/mo (5,000 credits), Growth $149/mo (20,000) and Agency $399/mo (60,000). Enterprise is custom. 1 credit is $0.01 at list price, and credits are charged when a result is found or accepted. Month to month, no contract. Credit prices can change, so check the pricing page.

   Strengths

   • Four approval levels per sequence: draft only, review each (the default), batch approve and auto within limits. Auto is available only after 50 messages approved one by one, under 10% edited and under 5% rejected, and never runs on a timer.
   • Research you can click through: each fact shows its source, a quote and when it was read, and an AI claim check blocks drafts whose claims no fact supports. The check is AI-based and skips templates you write yourself.
   • Sends from your own mailboxes inside daily caps, with a send ramp and an automatic pause when bounce or complaint rates run high.
   • Free to start, one credit meter, failed lookups are free and hard-bounced emails it found are refunded.

   Trade-offs

   • New: launched October 2026, with no customer results yet.
   • No built-in contact database, and email is the only channel it sends. LinkedIn and call steps are tasks you do by hand.
   • Mailboxes connect with an app password over SMTP and IMAP, not Google or Microsoft sign-in. That suits Google Workspace and any SMTP and IMAP server. Microsoft 365 is limited: Microsoft no longer accepts passwords for IMAP in Exchange Online and is retiring them for SMTP AUTH, so a Microsoft 365 mailbox may not connect or may not sync replies.
   • Not yet SOC 2 or ISO 27001 certified, and no SSO.
   • Standard research makes each prospect cost more than the per-contact prices elsewhere on this list: about 276 credits ($2.76 at list price) at default credit prices, which may change.

2. 2.AiSDR

   Website

   Best for: Small teams that want to test an AI SDR across email and LinkedIn, paying per person prospected with no monthly fee

   Pricing: As of Oct 2026: pay as you go is $1.50 per person prospected, charged daily, with no monthly fee. Team plans, for 1,000+ people a month, are priced by sales and billed monthly on quarterly contracts. Add-ons include a $33 warmed-up mailbox and a managed service at $149 a campaign.

   Strengths

   • No contract on pay as you go: you can sign up without a card, build a campaign and pay when you launch it, and the page says you can pause outbound at any time.
   • Email and LinkedIn steps in one sequence, plus a native two-way HubSpot sync (Salesforce on team plans).
   • Its Ami agent proposes campaigns, and the help center says nothing goes out until you approve it.
   • Research, lists and writing cost nothing extra on pay as you go, per the page.

   Trade-offs

   • Cost rises with every person reached: 1,000 people a month is $1,500 at the listed rate (our arithmetic).
   • The page gives two minimum campaign prices, from $7.50 in one FAQ answer and from $3 in another. Team plan prices and rollover rules are not public.
   • Two help center articles read differently on reviewing AI replies. One, last updated about 8 months before we read it, says AI replies cannot be reviewed before they send. A newer one, updated about a month before, says co-pilot mode keeps you in the loop on replies. Ask which applies to your account.
   • Older reviews quote Solo, Explore and Scale plans at $250, $900 and $2,500 a month. UsagePricing, a third-party tracker, recorded AiSDR replacing them with the current model between Oct 5 and Oct 15, 2026.

3. 3.Instantly

   Website

   Best for: Teams that already run cold email and want AI agents added to a sending platform at a low entry price

   Pricing: As of Oct 2026: two subscriptions. Outreach Growth is $47/mo (5,000 emails, 1,000 uploaded contacts, unlimited email accounts and warmup) and Hypergrowth is $97/mo. Instantly Credits start at $9/mo (150), and $47/mo buys 1,500. The Starter bundle, with the AI Sales Agent, is $94/mo. The AI Sales Agent costs 5 credits per lead and the AI Reply Agent 5 credits per reply. A 14-day free trial is offered.

   Strengths

   • The AI Sales Agent requires manual approval by default: you approve or reject recommended leads and each email draft, singly or in bulk, and autopilot is a setting you turn on.
   • The Reply Agent has a human-in-the-loop mode in which you approve replies before they send.
   • Unlimited email accounts and warmup on its Outreach plans, so sending runs from accounts you connect, plus a lead database Instantly puts at 450M+ contacts (its figure).

   Trade-offs

   • Sending and AI credits are two subscriptions, and agents draw on credits: 5 per lead and 5 per reply, even if you edit the draft.
   • Reply Agent autopilot is only available on Hypergrowth or higher Outreach plans, so more autonomy means a higher tier.
   • Credits expire: two months after purchase on monthly plans and one year after purchase on annual plans, per its pricing page.

   Read the full comparison →

4. 4.Artisan (Ava)

   Website

   Best for: Founders and small teams that want an autonomous AI BDR with a free plan and credit-based self-serve tiers

   Pricing: As of Oct 2026, on Artisan's pricing page (Startups tab): Free is $0 with 300 credits a month and no campaigns. Intern is $250/mo billed annually or $280 billed monthly for 10,000 credits (about 500 leads contacted a month). Employee is $600/mo annual or $660 monthly for 25,000 credits (about 1,250 leads). Team, Scale and Enterprise are quoted by sales. Mailboxes and phone numbers are billed separately.

   Strengths

   • A free plan, a 30-day trial with 10,000 credits and no card, and published self-serve prices with a monthly billing option.
   • Artisan says you can approve before sending, lock tone and CTAs, set banned phrases and set escalation rules.
   • Artisan states it is SOC 2 Type II certified and lists SSO/SAML and audit logs on its Enterprise plan, plus a contact database of 250M+ (its figure).

   Trade-offs

   • Credits are used at about 20 per person contacted (Artisan's estimate), so Intern covers about 500 people a month.
   • Annual plans grant a year of credits up front and unused annual credits do not roll over. Monthly plans carry them to the end of the next billing period.
   • Artisan's FAQ calls Ava autonomous by default, with approval something you configure. We could not read the approval settings in detail on public pages, so ask for a demo of them.
   • Mailboxes and phone numbers cost extra, and the pricing page lists no prices for them.

5. 5.Reply.io (Jason AI SDR)

   Website

   Best for: Teams that want an AI SDR inside a multichannel engagement platform (email, LinkedIn, calls, SMS) with per-sequence approval

   Pricing: As of Oct 2026: Jason AI SDR Starter is $500/mo billed annually for 1,000 active contacts ($800 for 2,000, $1,000 for 3,000), or $800/mo billed monthly for 1,000. Growth starts at $1,500/mo billed annually (5,000 active contacts). Jason is booked through a sales call. The core platform is separate: from $49 per user a month billed annually (Multichannel from $89), with LinkedIn at $69 and calls and SMS at $29 per account a month. A 14-day free trial of the core platform is offered.

   Strengths

   • Per-sequence approval mode: every generated message waits in a Pending approvals queue that you edit, approve singly or in bulk, or delete. Or you switch that sequence to automatic.
   • Reply handlers set per question type to Auto, Draft or Stop and notify.
   • LinkedIn, calls and SMS are built-in channels on paid add-ons, not tasks you do by hand.

   Trade-offs

   • Jason is a separate plan from the core platform. The core platform is priced per user with paid channel add-ons, so the total depends on seats and channels.
   • Automatic mode sends without review, and we found no documented requirement that a sequence earn it first.

6. 6.Amplemarket (Duo)

   Website

   Best for: Sales teams that can commit to an annual term and want signal-led prospecting with a built-in contact database

   Pricing: As of Oct 2026: Startup is $600/mo on an annual term (2 users, 27,000 contacts, 13,500 email credits and 600 phone credits per user per year). Growth and Elite are custom. All plans include a free trial.

   Strengths

   • Contact data, email and phone credits, AI intent signals, multichannel sequences and Duo Copilot are all in the Startup plan.
   • Duo Copilot scans for buying signals and prepares multichannel sequences that reps review, edit, regenerate or send. Autopilot is optional and can be switched on for specific signals.
   • A free trial on every plan.

   Trade-offs

   • $600 a month on an annual term is about $7,200 a year at the entry tier.
   • Credit allowances are per user per year, and the pricing page does not say what happens to unused credits.
   • Autopilot schedules outreach without waiting for manual review, and we found no documented track-record requirement.

7. 7.11x (Alice)

   Website

   Best for: Teams with budget that want a managed AI SDR, with mailboxes and onboarding included, and will sign an annual contract

   Pricing: As of Oct 2026: Alice Growth is from $3,750/mo billed annually (up to 5 users, 2,000 new prospects a month, 11x-managed Gmail mailboxes, bi-directional CRM sync). Pro and Enterprise are custom. The pricing FAQ on the same page says $36,000 a year, which does not match 12 x $3,750 ($45,000), so confirm in writing. Billing is annual by default.

   Strengths

   • Priced per new prospect, not per send, so a longer sequence does not raise the bill (per 11x).
   • Domain setup, warmup, inbox rotation, onboarding and CRM sync are bundled.
   • Docs describe three approval modes, review every message, a named approver or autopilot, chosen per segment and motion.

   Trade-offs

   • The highest entry price here: $36,000 to $45,000 a year, depending on which of its two figures applies.
   • The page lists no month-to-month option, and its two yearly figures differ.
   • Docs advise validating output on a segment before autopilot, but we found no documented gate that the tool must earn it.