Instantly vs Woodpecker: Best Cold Email Tools 2024

Instantly.ai provides a straightforward way to create email sequences for outreach campaigns. The sequences are designed to be simple and linear, without complex branching or conditional logic.

• Linear step-by-step sequences: Instantly.ai focuses on creating easy-to-follow sequences that progress in a linear fashion, making it ideal for simple outreach campaigns.
• No complex branching: Unlike some other tools, Instantly.ai does not offer conditional branching or forking within sequences, keeping the process streamlined.
• Customizable steps: Users can add and customize individual steps within the sequence, such as adding variants to emails or adjusting timing between steps.

While Instantly.ai may lack some of the advanced features found in other sales engagement platforms, its simplicity can be an advantage for users who prefer a more straightforward approach to email sequencing.

👍 "combine this with instantly.ai for our results" - r/sales

Woodpecker's Sequences feature enables users to create and manage automated email campaigns for cold outreach. The intuitive campaign creation process guides you through setting up targeted campaigns step-by-step.

Key aspects of Woodpecker's campaign creation:

• Email account integration: Easily connect your email account to send follow-ups directly from Woodpecker.
• Multi-step campaign flow: Define the path of your campaign, from initial outreach to prospect engagement and summary.
• LinkedIn task integration: Incorporate LinkedIn tasks within your email sequences for multichannel outreach.
• Scheduling and timezone options: Control the timing and frequency of your email sends based on prospects' timezones.

With these tools, Woodpecker simplifies the process of creating personalized, automated email sequences to engage prospects and drive conversions.

Instantly.ai offers a comprehensive email warming service to help improve deliverability and avoid spam filters. This feature is fully integrated into the platform, allowing users to manage their email accounts effectively for outbound campaigns.

• Unlimited email warming: Even the most basic package includes unlimited email warming, making it accessible to all users.
• Simulated engagement: The service simulates email opens and reads with your connected inboxes to establish a positive sending reputation.
• Custom tracking domain: Users can set up a custom tracking domain to further improve deliverability and branding consistency.
• Adjustable settings: The warmup settings can be adjusted based on the user's needs, including daily sending limits, reply rates, and more.

However, Reddit users report mixed experiences with Instantly.ai's Sequences Deliverability feature:

👎 "Been doing the warm up for almost 2 months now and still even basic messages going to spam" - r/Emailmarketing

👎 "email address as SPAM!!! their email warmup is just a claim" - r/Emailmarketing

While some users praise the platform's ability to manage multiple email accounts for scaling outreach, others have encountered issues with emails being labeled as spam despite using the warmup feature. This suggests that individual results may vary, and users should monitor their campaigns closely to ensure optimal deliverability.

Woodpecker prioritizes deliverability through a combination of features and best practices that aim to optimize email sending and avoid spam filters.

Key deliverability features:

• Built-in email warm-up: Gradually increases sending volume to establish sender reputation and improve inbox placement.
• Bounce Shield: Protects deliverability by monitoring and handling bounced emails.
• Inbox rotation: Supports sending from multiple mailboxes to distribute email volume and maintain sender reputation.
• Prospect reassignment: Ability to move prospects to different mailboxes if deliverability issues arise.

Reddit users express mixed opinions on Woodpecker's deliverability features, with some praising its effectiveness and others questioning its value at scale.

😐 "Woodpecker works out cheaper :)" - r/Emailmarketing

👍 "It has built-in email verification, so you are safe when it comes to deliverability and it makes sure your emails land in the main inbox and not in SPAM." - r/AutomateTheGrind

Instantly.ai provides a highly customizable email editor within its campaign feature, allowing users to personalize their outreach emails to each lead. The editor supports a range of personalization options to help create targeted and engaging emails.

• Customizable templates: Start with a pre-made template or create your own from scratch
• Personalization variables: Easily insert variables like {{accountSignature}} using placeholders
• Preview functionality: See how the email will look for each lead with the preview button
• Rich formatting: Add links, emoticons, and images to enhance the email content
• Email settings: Configure options such as email tracking and daily sending limits

Woodpecker provides robust personalization options within its email editor, allowing users to tailor their outreach to each individual prospect. By leveraging prospect data and custom fields, emails can be crafted to resonate with the unique characteristics and needs of the recipient.

Key personalization features:

• Prospect data fields: Easily insert data like first name, last name, company, and more into email templates
• Custom fields: Create custom fields to include specific details relevant to each prospect
• LinkedIn integration: Personalize outreach based on prospect's LinkedIn profile information
• Snippets: Save and reuse common personalized phrases to streamline email creation

Based on the provided information, Instantly.ai does not appear to offer any AI-powered features for creating or managing sales sequences. While the domain name may suggest otherwise, there is no evidence of AI capabilities within the Sequences feature.

Key observations:

• Lack of AI-generated content for sequences
• No mention of leveraging custom lead signals with AI
• Domain name does not reflect actual product features

Woodpecker integrates with OpenAI to leverage artificial intelligence for creating personalized emails tailored to each lead. This feature allows users to write entire sentences with AI assistance, making the email creation process more efficient and effective.

Key aspects of Woodpecker's AI-powered email personalization:

• OpenAI integration: Woodpecker connects with OpenAI to access advanced language models for generating personalized email content.
• Custom signals: The AI can utilize custom signals and data points specific to each lead to create highly relevant and targeted emails.
• Full sentence generation: Users can rely on the AI to write complete sentences, going beyond simple variable substitution for personalization.

Instantly's Lead Finder allows you to search for and enrich leads with key information to help you find the right prospects. While it does not offer a native enrichment database, you can upload a list of leads to enrich their details.

Key features of Lead Finder enrichment:

• Filters for targeted searches: Narrow down leads by job title, location, industry, company size, revenue, and more to find ideal prospects.
• Bulk enrichment: Upload a list of leads to enrich multiple records at once with additional data points.
• Key buyer signals: Enrich leads with information like job title, company, and email to better understand and engage prospects.

Woodpecker does not currently offer a native lead enrichment feature within its platform. This means that users are unable to automatically gather additional data points or buyer signals about their leads directly within the Woodpecker interface.

While lead enrichment can provide valuable context for sales outreach, its absence does not hinder the core functionality of the tool. Users can still import their lead data from external sources and leverage Woodpecker's capabilities for email automation and follow-up sequences.

To summarize:

• No native lead enrichment feature available
• Users must rely on external data sources for lead context
• Core email automation features remain unaffected

Instantly.ai does not appear to have native capabilities for automating social media outreach on platforms like LinkedIn. To fully leverage social selling, users may need to integrate with additional tools such as Dripify or Hey Alfred.

While Instantly.ai provides robust email automation features, the lack of built-in social automation may be a limitation for users looking to streamline their outreach efforts across multiple channels.

Woodpecker does not currently offer social automation features within their Sequences. Unlike some other sales engagement platforms, Woodpecker focuses primarily on email outreach and does not provide the ability to enrich leads from social media platforms or automate social messaging.

While this may be a limitation for some users who rely heavily on social media for their sales prospecting, Woodpecker's email-centric approach allows them to specialize in delivering a robust and user-friendly email automation solution.

Instantly provides straightforward pricing options designed to fit the needs and budgets of various businesses. The pricing model is based on the number of emails sent per month, with plans ranging from $30 to $286.30 per month, depending on the volume of emails required.

Key aspects of Instantly's pricing:

• Flexible plans: Three tiers (Growth, Hypergrowth, and Light Speed) to accommodate different business needs
• Monthly and yearly billing: Save 20% by opting for annual billing
• Unlimited email accounts: All plans include unlimited email accounts and warmup emails to prevent messages from being sent to spam
• Scalable email volume: Plans support anywhere from 5,000 to 500,000 emails per month
• 14-day free trial: Test the product without requiring a sales call

The pricing structure is designed to scale with a business's growth, making Instantly a suitable choice for startups and established companies alike. The 14-day free trial allows potential users to explore the platform's features without any upfront commitment or the need to engage with a sales representative.

Woodpecker offers a simple, straightforward pricing model that scales with your agency's needs. The pricing is based on the number of contacted prospects, starting at $56 per month for up to 500 prospects.

• Billing model: Monthly or annual subscription, with a slight discount for annual billing
• Free trial: 7 days or 50 contacted prospects, whichever limit is reached first
• Pricing tiers: Single package that scales based on the number of contacted prospects, stored prospects, and active clients
• Key features: All features are included in the package, such as email verification tool, inbox rotation, and AI assistance
• Sales contact: No need to contact sales, as pricing is transparent and self-service

Woodpecker's pricing model is designed to be simple and accessible for agencies of all sizes, with the ability to scale as your business grows. The inclusion of all features in a single package ensures that you have access to the tools you need without having to upgrade to higher tiers.