The Problem
Cold email tools like Instantly, Lemlist, and Apollo charge $97-497/month. They bundle everything together: sending, warm-up, sequences, analytics. Sounds convenient.
But here's what nobody tells you:
- Most of these features are trivial to build yourself
- Higher tiers often have send limits (Instantly caps at 5k/month on some plans)
- You're paying $400+/month for features you could replicate in a weekend
Except for one thing: warm-up.
"Sending cold emails is easy. A/B testing is easy. Sequences are easy. But warming up accounts? That requires a network of real inboxes exchanging emails, opening them, marking them as not-spam. Building that yourself is a nightmare."
That's the insight that shaped our entire approach.
The Secret
We use Instantly—but only their cheapest tier at $37/month. And we use it for exactly one thing: indefinite account warm-up.
Warm-up is the hardest thing to automate properly. You need a network of real accounts interacting with your emails, marking them as important, replying to them. Instantly has built that network. We're happy to pay $37/month for it.
Everything else? We built it ourselves.
- A/B testing? A few lines of Python.
- Multi-account rotation? A config file and a loop.
- Reply detection? IMAP polling.
- Sequences? A cron job.
Why pay $497/month for features any developer can build in a day?
The Approach: Our 5-Step Pipeline
Here's exactly what we built:
Lead Scraping with Apify
We use Apify to scrape leads from LinkedIn, directories, job boards, and other sources. Custom actors for each source type, outputting clean JSON.
Email Validation
Before any email touches our sending accounts, we validate it. Catches invalid addresses, spam traps, and catch-alls. Protects domain reputation.
AI-Driven Enrichment
Agent-driven scrapers enrich each lead with company data, tech stack, recent news, and generate personalization angles. The AI finds the hook that makes each email relevant.
Custom Sending Platform
Our own cold email tool handles everything: A/B testing, multi-account rotation, reply detection via IMAP, and automated sequences. SQLite for state. No external dependencies.
Warm-up via Instantly
Instantly's $37/month tier keeps our accounts warm indefinitely. We don't use it for sending—just warm-up. That's the only thing worth paying for.
The Stack
What We Don't Use
- Instantly for sending ($97-497/mo)
- Apollo for leads ($99-499/mo)
- ZoomInfo for enrichment ($$$)
- Lemlist for sequences ($99/mo)
- 5k/month send limits
What We Built
- Apify for scraping (pay-per-use)
- Custom validation pipeline
- AI enrichment agents
- Self-hosted sending platform
- Instantly only for warm-up ($37/mo)
Email Infrastructure
The secret to high-volume sending without breaking the bank:
- Zoho Mail: $1/month per account = 250-300 emails/day each
- 6 email accounts across 2 domains
- Total capacity: 450-500 emails/day
- No arbitrary limits like Instantly's 5k/month cap
Our Sending Features
A/B Testing
Test subject lines, opening lines, CTAs. Track which variants convert.
Multi-Account Rotation
6 accounts across 2 domains. Automatic load balancing.
Reply Detection
IMAP monitoring catches responses. Auto-pauses sequences on reply.
Sequence Automation
Multi-step follow-up sequences with configurable delays.
Open/Click Tracking
Know which emails get engagement. Pixel and link tracking.
No Send Limits
Scale beyond 5k/month. Limited only by your email accounts.
The Result
Same features as tools charging $500/month. No arbitrary send limits. Full control over our data. And we can scale by just adding more $1/month Zoho accounts.
Why This Works
The cold email SaaS market bundles everything together because most users want convenience. But bundling means you're paying for:
- Features you could build in a weekend
- Margins on infrastructure that costs them pennies
- Artificial limits designed to push you to higher tiers
The only genuinely hard problem is warm-up. So we pay for that—and only that.
Everything else is just Python scripts, a database, and some email accounts.
The takeaway: Instantly is great for warm-up. But you don't need to pay $97-497/mo for sending when you can build that yourself.
Separate the concerns. Pay only for what's actually hard.
Want This Pipeline for Your Business?
We can build and customize this entire stack for your specific ICP and outreach workflow.
Book a Call