Smartlead vs Waalaxy 2024: Top Cold Outreach Tools

Last Updated on
June 7, 2024
by
Jason Gong

This article explores the cold outreach capabilities of Smartlead and Waalaxy, aiming to help you choose the best tool by providing a detailed comparison. While both tools offer more features, we focus solely on their performance as cold outreach tools. Our motivation for this comparison stems from our desire at Bardeen to help you save time on repetitive tasks. Using the right tools is crucial, and Bardeen can further assist by automating tasks right from your browser, enhancing productivity with no code required.

SmartleadWaalaxy
Campaign CreationEasy email sequence setup, lacks advanced features.Pre-built LinkedIn and email templates.
DeliverabilityEmail warmup, multiple inboxes, auto-adjust ratios.Credits manage quotas, multiple inboxes.
PersonalizationUnlimited custom fields, CSV mapping.Insert custom variables, intuitive interface.
AINo AI sentence generation, uses custom values.AI lead generation, optimized messaging.
Native EnrichmentIntegrates with Clay for lead enrichment.Direct LinkedIn data integration, buyer signals.
Social AutomationSMS, Twitter, WhatsApp; no LinkedIn.LinkedIn automation, CRM sync.
Pricing14-day trial, $39-$94/month, unlimited warm-up.Free plan, €0-€160/month, pay extra for features.

Campaign Creation - Scaling Email and LinkedIn Outreach

Smartlead provides a straightforward campaign creation tool for email sequences, but it lacks advanced features like branching or conditional paths. Its main strength is supporting unlimited auto-rotating email accounts, which can be crucial for large-scale campaigns.

Overview of Smartlead's campaign creation interface

On the other hand, Waalaxy emphasizes versatility in multi-channel prospecting, especially via LinkedIn, along with a variety of sequence templates. This approach caters particularly well to users focusing on LinkedIn integration and automated outreach across multiple platforms.

Waalaxy's multi-channel campaign options

For users needing robust LinkedIn functionality and diverse outreach methods, Waalaxy is the superior choice. However, for those prioritizing email campaigns with high volume and variability in sender accounts, Smartlead offers significant benefits. Both platforms could further boost their efficiency by integrating with Bardeen's automation tools to streamline lead management and enhance personalization.

Smartlead

Simple, linear email sequence creation with personalization in Smartlead.

Smartlead offers a straightforward approach to creating email sequences for sales engagement. While it may lack some of the more advanced features like conditional branching, it focuses on providing a user-friendly experience for setting up linear email campaigns.

Key features of Smartlead's sequence creation:

  • Linear sequence builder: Create simple, step-by-step email sequences
  • Personalization variables: Easily add personalization to your emails using variables like {{first_name}}
  • Automatic email follow-ups: Set delays between each email step for automated follow-ups
  • Unlimited auto-rotating email accounts: Use multiple email accounts for your campaigns to improve deliverability
👍 "So i prefer Smartlead.ai to instantly. It's better for warmup, everything else in between in my opinion." - r/Emailmarketing

Waalaxy

Waalaxy offers a variety of pre-built sequence templates for LinkedIn and email outreach.

Waalaxy's Sequences feature streamlines multi-channel prospecting by combining LinkedIn and email outreach into a single automated workflow. With a focus on LinkedIn engagement, Waalaxy provides an array of pre-built sequence templates designed for various use cases, such as networking, job applications, and sales.

Key features of Waalaxy Sequences:

  • LinkedIn-centric templates: Waalaxy offers a wide selection of LinkedIn sequence templates, including invitations, messages, and profile visits.
  • Multi-channel sequences: Users can create sequences that combine LinkedIn actions with email outreach for a comprehensive approach.
  • Personalization options: Sequences can be personalized with custom variables and data imported from LinkedIn searches.
  • Automated execution: Once set up, sequences run automatically, saving time and effort in lead generation and outreach.
🟰 "Guide on starting and managing Waalaxy campaigns." - r/Waalaxy
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Deliverability - Avoiding Spam and Reaching the Inbox

When comparing Smartlead and Waalaxy in terms of deliverability features, Smartlead takes a slight edge due to its unlimited mailbox warmups and auto-rotating email accounts.

Smartlead's deliverability dashboard

While Waalaxy also supports multiple inboxes and utilizes email warming, its lack of features like auto-adjusted sending ratios and unlimited warmups might not cater as effectively to users with high-volume email needs.

For those who need to ensure their emails consistently reach their destination without being flagged as spam, using Bardeen to manage email sorting and spam identification can be extremely beneficial.

Ultimately, businesses requiring rigorous email deliverability solutions will likely find Smartlead's advanced features more aligned with their needs.

Smartlead

Smartlead's email warmup settings for improving deliverability and avoiding spam.

Smartlead offers several features to enhance email deliverability and avoid spam issues when running outreach campaigns:

  • Email Warmup: Smartlead provides daily email warmup to gradually build sender reputation and improve deliverability over time.
  • Multiple Inboxes: The platform supports using multiple inboxes, allowing users to rotate between email accounts to maintain healthy sending rates.
  • Auto-adjust Warmup/Sending Ratio: Smartlead automatically adjusts the ratio of warmup emails to outreach emails sent, optimizing for maximum deliverability.
  • Randomize Warmup Emails: Warmup emails are randomized to appear more natural to email providers, further improving deliverability.

While Smartlead lacks built-in email accuracy checking, its focus on email warmup and multi-inbox support helps users maintain high deliverability and avoid landing in spam folders.

👍 "So i prefer Smartlead.ai to instantly. It's better for warmup, everything else in between in my opinion." - r/Emailmarketing

Waalaxy

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Waalaxy uses credits to manage daily quotas and ensure deliverability.

Waalaxy implements several measures to maintain high deliverability rates and avoid spam issues when sending campaigns through their platform:

  • Credits system: Credits are used to manage daily sending quotas across various channels like LinkedIn, email, and profile visits. This helps prevent accounts from being flagged as spam by limiting the volume of outreach.
  • Multiple inboxes: Waalaxy supports connecting multiple LinkedIn and email accounts, allowing users to distribute their outreach across different inboxes. This reduces the risk of any single account being penalized for high volume sending.
  • Daily quotas: In addition to the credits system, Waalaxy enforces daily quotas on actions like invitations, messages, and profile visits. These limits align with the acceptable use policies of platforms like LinkedIn to maintain a positive sending reputation.

By utilizing techniques like daily sending limits, multiple inbox support, and a credits-based system, Waalaxy helps users maintain high deliverability and minimize the risk of their outreach being marked as spam. This allows for more effective and sustainable sales engagement campaigns over time.

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Personalization - Crafting Highly Targeted Emails

Smartlead edges out Waalaxy in email personalization due to its support for unlimited custom fields for each lead, expanding the personalization capabilities beyond basic variables.

Smartlead's extensive custom field mapping for personalized campaigns

While Waalaxy also facilitates personalization with custom variables, its feature set appears more constrained, limited to commonly used identifiers such as name and company.

For businesses seeking to craft highly targeted and personalized email sequences that directly address unique aspects of each lead, Smartlead provides a more robust platform. Enhancing this capability, integrating automation tools like Bardeen can further elevate your email personalization and efficiency.

Smartlead

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Mapping fields for personalization in Smartlead sequences.

Smartlead offers robust personalization options within its Sequences feature, allowing users to tailor each email to the recipient for more effective outreach.

  • Unlimited custom fields: Add any number of custom fields to store lead-specific information for personalization.
  • CSV column mapping: Map CSV columns containing lead data directly to the variables used in email campaigns.
  • Pre-built fields: Leverage default fields like Name, Job Description, Company, and more for quick personalization setup.
  • Social profile integration: Incorporate data from social profiles like LinkedIn to further customize messaging.

Waalaxy

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Personalizing emails with custom variables in Waalaxy.

Waalaxy offers a simple yet effective way to personalize emails within sequences using custom variables. This feature allows you to create more targeted and engaging messages for your leads, increasing the chances of a positive response.

Key features of email personalization in Waalaxy:

  • Custom variables: Easily insert variables such as first name, last name, and company to dynamically populate email content.
  • Intuitive interface: The user-friendly editor makes it simple to add and manage variables within your email templates.
  • Preview functionality: See how your personalized emails will appear before sending them out to ensure they look professional and error-free.
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AI - Automating and Optimizing Lead Outreach

Smartlead

Smartlead's Sequences feature allows users to create personalized email campaigns, but it does not have the capability to write entire sentences using AI. Instead, it leverages custom column values from your lead data to insert personalized information into your email templates.

Key aspects of Smartlead's Sequences personalization:

  • Custom column values: Utilize data from custom columns in your lead lists to personalize emails
  • Limited AI capabilities: Cannot generate complete sentences or paragraphs using AI
  • Personalization tags: Insert personalization tags into email templates that pull from lead data

Waalaxy

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AI Prospect Finder in Waalaxy for automated lead generation

Waalaxy integrates AI capabilities to streamline and optimize prospect discovery and campaign management. The AI Prospect Finder feature automates the process of finding relevant leads based on user-defined criteria, saving time and effort in building targeted prospect lists.

Key AI features in Waalaxy:

  • Automated lead generation: AI algorithms identify potential prospects that match your ideal customer profile, expanding your reach and saving manual research time.
  • Optimized messaging: AI assists in crafting personalized and engaging messages for your campaigns, increasing the likelihood of positive responses from prospects.
  • Custom signals: Leverage AI to analyze and utilize custom signals for each lead, enabling more targeted and effective outreach strategies.
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Native Enrichment - Better Lead Data for Targeted Outreach

Waalaxy presents a stronger position in native enrichment capabilities by directly integrating buyer signals and data from LinkedIn, offering real-time lead information updates.

Waalaxy's AI Prospect Finder feature visualizing enriched LinkedIn data

In contrast, Smartlead relies on third-party integrations like Clay for lead enrichment, which may not be as seamless or dynamic as Waalaxy’s built-in functionality. This approach requires additional steps and potentially increases the complexity of the workflow.

For those who prioritize streamlined operations and real-time data integration directly within their lead management platform, Waalaxy’s solution is advantageous. It eliminates the need for multiple tools and simplifies the user experience.

Enhance your workflow further with Bardeen, which can automate information gathering from diverse sources, complementing Waalaxy's native capabilities.

Smartlead

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Smartlead integrates with Clay to enrich leads with personalized data.

While Smartlead does not have a built-in native lead enrichment feature, it offers seamless integration with Clay, a powerful tool for scaling personalized outbound campaigns. This integration allows users to access valuable data points about their leads directly within the Smartlead platform.

  • Clay integration: Smartlead's integration with Clay enables users to enrich their lead data without leaving the platform, streamlining the process of creating targeted, personalized campaigns.
  • Personalized outbound campaigns: By leveraging the data provided by Clay, users can craft highly personalized outbound campaigns that resonate with their target audience, increasing the likelihood of engagement and conversion.
  • Efficient lead management: The integration with Clay allows users to manage their enriched lead data efficiently within Smartlead, ensuring that all relevant information is readily available when creating and executing campaigns.

Waalaxy

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Waalaxy's native enrichment provides buyer signals and LinkedIn data for leads.

Waalaxy offers native enrichment capabilities that integrate buyer signals and data from LinkedIn to provide a more comprehensive view of your leads. This dynamic enrichment helps sales teams make more informed decisions and personalize their outreach.

Key features of Waalaxy's native enrichment:

  • LinkedIn data integration: Automatically pulls in relevant information from prospects' LinkedIn profiles
  • Buyer signals: Provides insights into a lead's potential interest and fit based on their activity and engagement
  • Dynamic updates: Enrichment data is continuously updated to ensure the most current and accurate information
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Social Automation - Diversify Outreach Across Multiple Platforms

Waalaxy has a clear edge in social automation for users focusing on LinkedIn outreach, offering direct integration with this platform.

Waalaxy's CRM sync feature directly integrates with LinkedIn for seamless contact management.

In contrast, Smartlead does not support LinkedIn but allows messaging via SMS, Twitter, and WhatsApp, which could be beneficial for broader multi-channel strategies not focused solely on LinkedIn.

For organizations prioritizing LinkedIn for lead generation and engagement, Waalaxy's specialized functionality offers significant advantages. However, for a more diversified social media approach, Smartlead's support for multiple platforms might be preferable. Consider leveraging Bardeen to automate your LinkedIn tasks and increase efficiency across your social media channels.

Smartlead

Smartlead's multi-channel outreach includes SMS, Twitter, and WhatsApp.

Smartlead offers social automation as part of its sequences feature, allowing users to engage with leads across multiple channels beyond just email. While LinkedIn outreach is not currently supported, the platform enables sending messages via SMS, Twitter, and WhatsApp.

  • Multi-channel engagement: Reach out to prospects using their preferred communication channels, increasing the chances of a response.
  • Personalized messaging: Tailor your messages for each social platform to ensure they resonate with your target audience.
  • Automated follow-ups: Set up timed follow-up messages on each channel to nurture leads and keep your brand top-of-mind.
  • Consolidated reporting: Track the performance of your social outreach alongside email campaigns for a comprehensive view of your sales engagement efforts.

Waalaxy

Waalaxy integrates with CRMs like Hubspot to sync prospect data.

Waalaxy offers social automation features that allow you to utilize LinkedIn to find and engage with prospects. By connecting your Waalaxy account to your CRM, such as Hubspot, you can sync prospect data between the two platforms, streamlining your sales engagement process.

  • LinkedIn lead generation: Waalaxy enables you to find and connect with potential leads on LinkedIn, expanding your prospect pool.
  • CRM integration: Sync prospect data between Waalaxy and your CRM to ensure all information is up-to-date and accessible across both platforms.
  • Automated engagement: Set up automated sequences to engage with prospects on LinkedIn, nurturing relationships and moving them through your sales funnel.

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Pricing Plans - Balancing Cost and Functionality

Smartlead provides a more straightforward and flexible pricing structure with three clearly defined tiers ranging from $39 to $94 per month, accommodating different levels of marketing needs. Each plan offers a free 14-day trial and includes unlimited email warm-up, which is beneficial for businesses focusing on email marketing strategies.

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Smartlead pricing tiers showcase flexibility and inclusivity for various business sizes

Waalaxy, on the other hand, offers its pricing in Euros and includes a free plan, which might attract startups or individuals with minimal requirements. However, key features like email finder credits and advanced LinkedIn capabilities are reserved for higher-paid tiers, potentially increasing the total cost for full functionality.

For businesses seeking an all-inclusive package with predictable costs, Smartlead's model is preferable. However, those starting out or needing minimal services may find Waalaxy's free plan and add-on features more appealing.

Moreover, integrating Smartlead with utilities like CRM tools can enhance your lead management, similar to Waalaxy's CRM synchronization but with the added benefit of unlimited email capabilities.

Smartlead

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Smartlead offers three pricing tiers with a 14-day free trial.

Smartlead offers a straightforward pricing model with three tiers to fit the needs of different businesses. All plans come with a 14-day free trial, allowing users to test the platform before committing to a paid subscription.

  • Basic Plan: Starting at $39/month, this plan is designed for marketers and small businesses. It includes 2000 active leads, 6000 emails per month, and essential features like unlimited email warm-up and accounts.
  • Popular Plan: At $79/month, this plan is also geared towards marketers and growing businesses. It offers 10,000 active leads, 40,000 emails per month, and additional features such as dynamic IP addresses and sequences.
  • Pro Plan: The most comprehensive plan, priced at $94/month, is ideal for marketers and businesses looking to scale up. It provides 30,000 active leads, 150,000 emails per month, and advanced features like custom CRM and email guide assistance.

The pricing is based on a monthly subscription model, with the cost per email sent being approximately $0.0065 in the Basic plan. Users can purchase any of the plans directly online without the need to contact sales, except for enterprise-level solutions which require a sales call.

Waalaxy

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Waalaxy offers 3 pricing tiers with different features.

Waalaxy provides a flexible pricing model to suit different user needs and budgets. The tool offers a free plan and two paid plans, with prices shown in Euros. Users can choose to pay monthly or annually, with discounts available for annual subscriptions.

  • Free Plan: The free plan costs €0/month and includes basic LinkedIn features, 80 invitations per month, and pre-filled message templates.
  • Advanced Plan: Priced at €112/month, the Advanced plan includes all features of the free plan, plus 800 invitations per month, CRM synchronization, auto-imports of prospects, 25 email finder credits, and live chat support.
  • Business Plan: The Business plan, at €160/month, offers all Advanced plan features and increases the number of invitations to 800 per month, email finder credits to 500, and adds cold emailing automations.

Additional features, such as Waalaxy's own Inbox and extra email finder credits, can be purchased separately. Users can start with a free trial and upgrade as needed, without having to contact a sales representative.

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Smartlead

Waalaxy

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Smartlead

Waalaxy

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Smartlead

Waalaxy

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The Verdict: Which is Best for Scaling Outreach?

Smartlead and Waalaxy offer distinct advantages for different outreach strategies. Smartlead excels in email campaign management with features like unlimited auto-rotating email accounts and straightforward sequence creation. This makes it ideal for businesses that prioritize email outreach and require high deliverability with varied sender accounts.

Waalaxy, however, is the superior choice for those focusing on LinkedIn and multi-channel outreach. Its strength lies in LinkedIn integration and a variety of pre-built sequence templates, which streamline the prospecting process across platforms.

If your outreach strategy relies heavily on email, Smartlead is the recommended tool. For a LinkedIn-centered approach or broader multi-channel campaigns, Waalaxy provides the necessary tools and features to effectively manage and execute your strategy.

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