How Much Does Cold Email Cost? Line Items and Examples

At 1,000 cold emails a day (22,000 a month), the sending infrastructure costs about $109 to $246 a month at list prices: domains, mailboxes, warm-up and a sending tool. Lead data and email verification add roughly $165 a month at that volume, so a complete setup lands between about $274 and $411 a month. That is $4.94 to $11.17 per 1,000 emails for the infrastructure alone, and the per-email price falls as volume grows.

We make Outreach2day, cold email infrastructure with warm-up and a sending engine included in $2.50 per mailbox a month. The other prices below come from each vendor's own pages, checked September 2026.

The Line Items

A cold email setup has the same parts whoever you buy it from. Some vendors bundle several of them; the table lists what each line costs on its own.

Three rules drive the mailbox and domain count in every example below: up to 25 cold emails per mailbox per day, up to 5 mailboxes per domain, and 22 working days a month.

Worked Examples at 1,000, 5,000 and 20,000 Emails a Day

Each example compares three ways to buy the same capacity:

• Outreach2day, all in: $2.50 per mailbox with warm-up and sending included.

• Google Workspace reseller + sequencer: Premium Inboxes Google or Microsoft inboxes ($3.50 each from 1 to 249, $3.00 from 250 to 1,249) plus the cheapest Instantly plan that covers the volume.

• SMTP mailboxes + sequencer: Mailforge mailbox slots on monthly billing, priced by the calculator on its pricing page ($3 each for the first 10 slots and the next 100, then $0.10 less per extra 100 slots), plus the cheapest Instantly plan.

Instantly's plan includes warm-up, so both mixed stacks are complete. These are the same list prices our provider comparison uses. Domains are priced at $13 a year per .com for every stack so the lines stay comparable; at Mailforge ($14) or Instantly ($15) the domain line is slightly higher.

We make Outreach2day, so it is listed first; the other stacks use each vendor's own public pages.

1,000 cold emails a day

• Mailboxes: 1,000 / 25 = 40

• Domains: 40 / 5 = 8, so 8 × $13 = $104 a year, or $8.67 a month

• Emails a month: 1,000 × 22 = 22,000, which needs Instantly Hypergrowth ($97, 125,000 emails); Growth stops at 5,000

5,000 cold emails a day

• Mailboxes: 5,000 / 25 = 200

• Domains: 200 / 5 = 40, so 40 × $13 = $520 a year, or $43.33 a month

• Emails a month: 5,000 × 22 = 110,000, still within Hypergrowth ($97)

20,000 cold emails a day

• Mailboxes: 20,000 / 25 = 800

• Domains: 800 / 5 = 160, so 160 × $13 = $2,080 a year, or $173.33 a month

• Emails a month: 20,000 × 22 = 440,000, which needs Instantly Light Speed ($358, 500,000 emails)

Per email, Outreach2day at list price is $108.67 / 22,000 = $0.0049, the same at every volume because the price is flat per mailbox. The mixed stacks get cheaper per email as volume grows because the sequencer fee is spread over more sends, from $10.26–11.17 per 1,000 at 1,000 a day to $5.41–6.66 at 20,000 a day. $2.50 is our list price, and volume discounts exist for large orders (pricing).

To run your own numbers, enter a daily volume in the cold email capacity calculator.

Lead Data and Verification

Every stack needs the same leads, so this part does not change the comparison, but it can be the largest line.

How many new prospects a month you need depends on the sequence. With a first email and four follow-ups (gaps of 2, 3, 5 and 5 days), each prospect receives up to 5 emails, so 22,000 emails a month reach at least 22,000 / 5 = 4,400 new prospects. Replies and bounces end some sequences early, so the real number is somewhat higher.

Apollo's Basic plan is $65 per seat a month on monthly billing with 2,500 credits per seat a month, and an email address costs 1 credit. On annual billing it is $49 per seat a month with 30,000 credits per seat a year. Apollo also sells extra credits inside the app, so seats are not the only way to get more credits. Verification rates are Bouncer's pay-as-you-go tiers: $35 for 5,000, $60 for 10,000 ($0.006 a credit up to 49,999), $400 for 100,000. ZeroBounce starts at $39 for 2,000 on pay as you go, or $99 a month for 10,000 credits on its subscription.

Outreach2day does not sell lead lists or write copy. Verify every list before it goes into a sequence: a high bounce rate costs more than the verification.

Hidden Costs

• Warm-up time. A new mailbox warms up for at least 14 days before any cold email and reaches full volume around day 21 (how long to warm up). You pay the full first month while the mailboxes send no cold email for two weeks and low volume for the third: at 40 mailboxes that is $100 at Outreach2day, or $237 for inboxes plus sequencer at the reseller stack.

• Burned domains. A domain that lands in spam gets replaced. At Outreach2day you pay for mailbox slots, so the replacement costs only the new domain ($13 for a .com), but the new mailboxes need the full warm-up again. Plan spare domains three weeks ahead.

• Renewals. Domains are a yearly cost that is easy to forget. Outreach2day domains do not renew automatically; when a domain expires, its mailboxes stop working. Smartlead's SmartSenders domains run on a fixed 12-month term with no renewal. Instantly's pre-warmed accounts renew monthly on the 15th.

• Minimums. Outreach2day starts at 12 mailboxes ($30 a month), Mailforge at 10 slots ($30), Smartlead's Mailreef SMTP at 75 mailboxes. Instantly's pre-warmed accounts come in batches of 5.

• Plan steps. Sequencer plans are priced in steps. At 5,001 emails a month you move from Instantly Growth ($47) to Hypergrowth ($97), and above Hypergrowth's 125,000 you buy an Outreach add-on or move to Light Speed ($358).

How to Keep the Cost Down

1. Size mailboxes from the daily volume, not from a round number: volume / 25, then mailboxes / 5 for domains.

2. Pay for the sequencer once. If you already have an Instantly or Smartlead plan, compare mailbox prices only: $2.50 at Outreach2day against $4.50 to $5 for Google accounts bought inside Instantly or Smartlead.

3. Buy .info domains where your copy allows it ($5 instead of $13 a year), and give them a couple of extra weeks of warm-up.

4. Skip pre-warmed mailboxes unless you must send this week; they cost roughly twice a fresh mailbox every month.

5. Verify lists before sending, and stop sequences on reply.

For each vendor's full price list, read Instantly pricing, Smartlead pricing, Maildoso pricing, Zapmail pricing and Outreach2day pricing.

FAQ

How much does cold email cost per month for a small team?

At the Outreach2day minimum of 12 mailboxes, $30 a month plus about $39 a year for 3 domains covers 300 cold emails a day. Add lead data and verification: at that volume one Apollo Basic seat ($65 a month, 2,500 credits) usually covers the leads.

What is the cheapest cold email infrastructure?

At list prices in our examples, mailboxes with warm-up and sending included in one price cost less than mailboxes plus a separate sequencer, because the sequencer fee disappears. The cheapest option for you depends on whether you already pay for a sequencer; if you do, compare the per-mailbox price alone.

How much does one cold email cost?

For the infrastructure, $0.0049 per email at Outreach2day list price with domains, and $0.0054 to $0.0112 per email for the mixed stacks in the examples above. Lead data and verification add another $0.006 to $0.0075 per email in the same examples.

Is Google Workspace more expensive than SMTP mailboxes for cold email?

In our examples, reseller Google or Microsoft inboxes cost $2.80 to $3.50 each against $2.50 for SMTP mailboxes, before any sequencer. The difference is the mailbox type: Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 against standard SMTP/IMAP.

Do I need to pay for warm-up separately?

Not at Outreach2day, Instantly or Smartlead, where it is included. Some mailbox vendors sell it as an add-on, such as InboxKit at $3 per mailbox a month.

Sources

Checked September 2026:

• Instantly pricing: Growth $47 (5,000 emails), Hypergrowth $97 (125,000), Light Speed $358 (500,000) on monthly billing.

• Instantly plans overview: $5 done-for-you Google account, $10 pre-warmed account, $15 per domain a year, placement tests from $47 a month.

• Instantly pre-warmed accounts: batches of 5, renewals on the 15th of each month.

• Smartlead pricing: plans from $39 to $379 a month; SmartDelivery from $49 a month.

• SmartSenders pricing: $4.50 Google or Outlook mailbox, Mailreef 75-mailbox minimum.

• SmartSenders FAQ: fixed 12-month domain term, no renewal.

• Premium Inboxes: $3.50 (1–249), $3.00 (250–1,249), $2.80 (1,250+) per inbox.

• Mailforge pricing: $3 per slot a month on monthly billing ($75 for 25), lower per-slot prices above 110 slots in the calculator, 10-slot minimum, $14 a year per .com.

• InboxKit pricing: warm-up add-on at $3 per mailbox a month.

• Apollo pricing: Basic $65 per seat a month on monthly billing with 2,500 credits a month, $49 on annual billing with 30,000 credits a year; 1 credit per email.

• Bouncer pricing: $8 for 1,000, $35 for 5,000, $60 for 10,000, $400 for 100,000, $2,000 for 1,000,000 credits.

• ZeroBounce pricing: pay as you go from $39 for 2,000; subscription from $99 a month for 10,000 credits.

The numbers above are list prices on monthly billing, before taxes.

Create an account→