lemlist vs SmartWriter (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, we pick lemlist: it is first in our ranking of cold outreach tools, and it grades higher too, 2.8 against 1.8.
Checked Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
lemlist grades higher on value for money, features and platforms. They get the same grade on the free plan and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
lemlist
Cold email and LinkedIn sequences with a built-in lead database
SmartWriter
AI that writes personalized cold email openers and pitches
Which one is for you
Pick lemlist if
- Fits if your team mixes cold email with LinkedIn and calls in one sequence
- Works for an email-only team that can share the Email plan at $55 a month billed yearly
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you want LinkedIn for five people, at $87 a user a month billed yearly or $109 monthly
- Not for you if you want a free plan, as Freemium can't launch campaigns and the trial leaves out lemwarm and calling
- Tight if you need lead data, which starts at $16 a month billed yearly for 2,000 credits
- Watch out: on Multichannel, WhatsApp is $20 a user, extra senders $9 each, and SMS a $15 number plus 6 credits a text
- Watch out: SSO, custom roles and lemlist inside your CRM are Enterprise only, at a price set by sales
Pick SmartWriter if
- Fits if you already send cold email from another tool and want the opening lines written for you
- Works for link-building outreach where each pitch needs a personal first line
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want one tool that finds leads, writes and sends, since it only writes
- Tight if your list is long: plans are 400, 1,200 or 3,500 lead credits a month
- Watch out: the pricing page doesn't say whether $49 assumes monthly or yearly billing, and it offers 20% off for yearly
- Watch out: each plan shows a higher crossed-out price beside the one charged, so the page needs reading twice
How we grade them
| 2.8GPAlemlistGood | 1.8GPASmartWriterWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AFive people share the Email plan, which has unlimited users: $55 a month billed yearly for 50,000 emails, $11 a head, a third of the cheaper quarter. LinkedIn, calls and SMS are another story: Multichannel is $87 per user billed yearly, in this category's dearest tenth. | C$49 a month for 400 leads sits just under the dearer quarter of cold outreach tools, which start at $50, and the middle is $39. The page doesn't say whether the shown price assumes yearly billing. |
| Free plan and trial | CNo free plan you can send from, since Freemium can't launch campaigns. The 14-day Multichannel trial needs no card and gives 200 credits and 50 emails a day, but leaves out lemwarm and calling. | CA 7-day free trial with no card needed, and no free plan after it. Long enough to try a few hundred leads, then it is paid. |
| Features | BThe whole job: emails, LinkedIn invites, messages and voice notes, calls, SMS and WhatsApp in one sequence, with conditions and an automatic stop on a reply. Warm-up, a 650M-lead database and one inbox for every channel sit alongside. | DIt writes first lines, company-based pitches, LinkedIn messages and backlink outreach, and the listing says sending and sequencing happen elsewhere. It needs another product to be useful. |
| Ease of use | CNo App Store rating on record. There's a fair bit to set up, from senders and warm-up to conditional steps and personalized images, so give it a few days before a sequence feels right. | CNo store rating on record. It is a web app with a Chrome extension, and you feed it lead lists and connect it to wherever you send from. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, plus a Chrome extension that runs lemlist from Gmail and LinkedIn on Multichannel. HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, Zapier, Make, n8n, Clay and Aircall connect, and there's a public API. No phone or desktop app. | CWeb plus a Chrome extension, and the listing names no integrations. One kind of device and no list of connections. |
| Best for | email and LinkedIn in one sequence | drafting personalised first lines for cold emails |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: lemlist and SmartWriter. How we grade
Price against what you get
lemlist starts at $55 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. SmartWriter starts at $49 a month and scores 1.7.
lemlist scores higher, and starts $6 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other cold outreach tools on the chart, 1 scores higher than lemlist for less, and 27 score higher than SmartWriter for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- lemlist also covers templates and AI agents.
- SmartWriter also covers link outreach.
At a glance
| lemlist | SmartWriter | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $55 per month for 50,000 emails, billed yearly ($69 monthly) | $49 per month for 400 leads (credits); the page does not state the billing basis |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial of Multichannel, no card required, with 200 credits and 50 emails a day | 7-day free trial, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | lempire | 521 Products Pty Ltd |
| Price read from | lemlist.com | smartwriter.ai |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
lemlist
- No free plan for sending: after the trial, accounts drop to Freemium, which cannot launch campaigns. The trial itself leaves out lemwarm and calling.
- Lead data costs extra: the enrichment add-on is $16 a month billed yearly ($20 monthly) for 2,000 credits, and buying signals $21 ($29) for 100.
- On Multichannel, WhatsApp is $20 per user a month, extra email senders $9 each a month, and SMS needs a $15 a month number plus 6 credits a text.
- LinkedIn, SMS and calling need the per-user Multichannel plan; SSO, custom roles and CRM-embedded use are Enterprise only.
SmartWriter
- Plans are metered in leads (credits): 400, 1,200 or 3,500 a month, with larger plans up to 25,000 credits. Unused credits roll over.
- The pricing page does not say whether the shown monthly price assumes monthly or yearly billing; it offers 20% off for yearly billing.
- Each plan shows a higher crossed-out price beside the charged one; the charged price is recorded here.
- It writes the messages; sending and sequencing happen in an outreach tool or email account.
Key features
lemlist
- Multichannel sequences
- Campaigns mix emails with LinkedIn visits, invites, messages and voice notes, calls, SMS and WhatsApp, with conditional next steps and an automatic stop.
- lemwarm and deliverability tools
- Warm-up, inbox rotation, rotating IPs, custom tracking domains, sending limits and a deliverability hub with alerts are included on every plan.
- Lead database and finders
- Search more than 650 million leads and find emails and phone numbers through 25+ data providers, paid for with credits: $1 covers 20 emails or 5 phone numbers.
- Personalization
- Liquid syntax for conditional content, custom variables, personalized images and AI-written lines tailored to each lead.
- lemAgent and AI agents
- lemAgent plus signal, enrichment and messaging agents research leads and write outreach. AI also flags reply intent and out-of-office replies and drafts answers.
- Unified inbox and extension
- Replies from every channel land in one inbox, and on Multichannel a Chrome extension runs lemlist from Gmail and LinkedIn.
SmartWriter
- Personalized first lines
- Writes an opening line from a prospect's job bio, posts, recommendations or achievements, with a link to the source it used.
- Company-based personalization
- Draws on what a company does, recent news mentions, case studies and blog posts to write a pitch for that prospect.
- LinkedIn outreach
- LinkedIn personalization is included on every plan, alongside Instagram comments and Google review replies.
- Backlink outreach
- Writes personalized pitches for link-building outreach, including link replacement and contextual link insertion.
- Chrome extension
- Extension access is included on every plan.
Plans
lemlist
Email$55
per month for 50,000 emails, billed yearly ($69 monthly)
Unlimited users and email senders, lemwarm, the lead database and AI agents. Price rises with volume: $71 a month at 100,000 emails, billed yearly.
Multichannel$87
per user / month, billed yearly ($109 monthly)
Unlimited emails and messages, 5 email senders per user, LinkedIn and SMS steps, a call dialer, and lemlist inside Gmail and LinkedIn.
EnterpriseCustom
Multichannel plus lemlist inside your CRM, custom roles, SSO and SAML, custom terms and a dedicated account manager.
SmartWriter
Basic$49
per month for 400 leads (credits), billing basis not stated
Shown as $59 crossed out and $49 charged. Up to 15 personalized lines per lead, all AI tools, unlimited projects and Chrome extension access. Shown under a Monthly Plan heading.
Popular$79
per month for 1,200 leads (credits), billing basis not stated
Shown as $149 crossed out and $79 charged. Same tools as Basic with 1,200 leads.
Pro$129
per month for 3,500 leads (credits), billing basis not stated
Shown as $359 crossed out and $129 charged, and aimed at agencies and larger marketing teams. Same tools as Basic with 3,500 leads.
Ways to pay less
lemlist
- Annual discount
Save 20% with yearly billing
lemlist lists a 20% saving for yearly billing and 10% for quarterly: Email at 50,000 emails is $55 a month yearly, $62 quarterly and $69 monthly.
SmartWriter
- Annual discount
20% off yearly billing
The pricing page labels its yearly option as 20% off.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, lemlist or SmartWriter?
As of Nov 12, 2026, SmartWriter is cheaper to start with: $49 a month, against $55 a month for lemlist. lemlist starts at $55 per month for 50,000 emails, billed yearly ($69 monthly), and SmartWriter starts at $49 per month for 400 leads (credits); the page does not state the billing basis.
Which has a free plan, lemlist or SmartWriter?
As of Nov 12, 2026, neither lemlist nor SmartWriter has a free plan. Both have a free trial.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.