8 Best Lemlist Alternatives for LinkedIn Prospecting (2026)

Last updated: October 2026

The short answer

The best lemlist alternative for LinkedIn prospecting is Makelead, for anyone whose prospects mostly answer on LinkedIn: no sending domain to buy and no inbox to warm up, sequences that branch and stop at the first reply, an AI setter, LinkedIn and X in one tool and posts in your voice, from €29.99 a month, where lemlist's Email plan costs about $69 a month and Multichannel about $109 per user. If cold email is truly your main channel, lemlist remains a strong tool, and Instantly is the alternative for higher email volume.

lemlist at a glance, and why people look elsewhere

lemlist is one of the reference tools for cold email: excellent assisted writing, deep personalisation, email and LinkedIn steps in the same sequence, and a French company behind it. Prices checked on 26 July 2026: Email plan around $69 a month (about $55 billed annually), Multichannel around $109 per user per month (about $87 annually), Enterprise on quote, with enrichment credits billed on top.

The friction comes before the first message: a separate sending domain, SPF, DKIM and DMARC records, several weeks of warm-up and ongoing reputation monitoring. Many teams discover that most of their replies come from LinkedIn anyway. For them, a LinkedIn-first tool removes the email infrastructure entirely; for teams that live on cold email, staying on lemlist is the right call.

Why Makelead ranks first

Makelead is our product; here is why it ranks first, point by point. Every claim below can be checked on our pricing page and in the product. The other tools are described with their real strengths, because a ranking that hides them is useless to you.

  • No email infrastructure: no sending domain, no DNS records, no warm-up; you connect your LinkedIn account and there is nothing else to set up before the first invitation.
  • Built for LinkedIn: invitation, message and follow-ups with branches on the prospect's profile (has an email, 1st-degree connection, liked your posts) and an automatic stop at the first reply.
  • Replies handled: on Growth and Business, the AI setter answers LinkedIn prospects, qualifies them and proposes your booking link.
  • More than LinkedIn: prospecting on X too, and LinkedIn and X posts written in your voice, so prospects have seen your work before your message.
  • Emails when you need them: the Business plan finds 500 professional emails a month.
  • A lower, predictable price: €29.99, €59.99 or €99.99 a month, 30% off annually.

How we evaluated

  • Setup before the first message

    Sending domains, DNS records and warm-up, or nothing but a LinkedIn account to connect.

  • Real channel

    Is LinkedIn the core of the product or a step added to an email sequence?

  • Total cost

    Subscription, enrichment credits and sending domains included, per user or per account.

  • Account safety

    Fixed or adjustable LinkedIn limits, ramp-up, stop at the first reply.

  • Content

    Does the tool also help you publish, so prospects know you before you write?

We built this ranking from each vendor's public pricing page and product documentation. The date of each price check is listed under every tool. We did not run controlled tests with live accounts on each tool, so the ranking reflects documented limits, features and prices, not measured acceptance or reply rates. Prices change often: check the vendor's page before you buy.

Comparison table

ToolBest forStarting priceChannelsAIAccount safety
1. MakeleadLeaving lemlist when your prospects mostly answer on LinkedInFrom €29.99/monthLinkedIn, XAI messages in your voice (Growth), AI setter (Growth), LinkedIn and X postsFixed cap: 200 invites a week, 40 a day, not adjustable; gradual ramp-up
2. La Growth MachineStaying multichannel (LinkedIn, email, phone) with a European vendor€60 per identity/monthLinkedIn, email, phone; X on UltimateMessage writing assistantCautious approach; volume set per identity by you
3. WaalaxyMoving to LinkedIn-only prospecting as simply and cheaply as possibleFree plan (80 invites/month), then €19/user/monthLinkedIn; email on BusinessMessage writing assistantVolume adjustable up to 800 invites a month, via a browser extension
4. HeyReachAgencies moving many client LinkedIn accounts off email-led tools$79 per LinkedIn account/monthLinkedIn; email through Smartlead or InstantlyThrough external AI agents (MCP); no built-in writingLimits set account by account by you
5. ExpandiShifting an email budget to high-volume cloud LinkedIn sequences$99 per account/monthLinkedIn, emailBasicCloud with a dedicated IP per account; limits are adjustable
6. ApolloKeeping a contact database and email sequences in the same toolFree plan, then about $49 to $119/seat/month (annual)Email, phone; LinkedIn through an extensionAI-assisted email writingLinkedIn is a secondary module, run through a Chrome extension
7. InstantlyStaying on cold email but at a much higher volumeFrom about $37/monthEmailAI writing assistantNot applicable to LinkedIn; email domain reputation to manage
8. DripifySimple visual LinkedIn sequences in the cloud$59/month ($39 on annual billing)LinkedInNoneCloud with a dedicated IP; the Pro plan advertises 75 connection requests a day

The 8 tools, one by one

#1Makelead

Best for: Leaving lemlist when your prospects mostly answer on LinkedIn

Makelead replaces the LinkedIn side of lemlist without any email infrastructure: no domain, no warm-up, no deliverability to monitor. It finds prospects, writes to them in your voice, follows up and stops at the first reply, answers with an AI setter and writes your LinkedIn and X posts.

Strengths

  • A hard cap of 200 invitations per rolling week and 40 per day that no setting can raise. A newly connected account starts at 10 a day and ramps up gradually.
  • Sequences with yes/no branches (the prospect has an email, is a 1st-degree connection, liked your posts) that stop automatically at the first reply.
  • An AI setter on Growth and Business that replies to prospects who answer, in their language, qualifies the need and proposes your booking link.
  • LinkedIn and X posts written in your own voice, so prospects have seen your work before your message arrives.
  • Prospecting on X (follows and direct messages) in the same tool as LinkedIn.
  • An MCP server to drive it from ChatGPT and Claude, a native HubSpot integration and signed webhooks for n8n, Zapier and Make. Data hosted in the EU.

Limitations

  • No bulk cold email: if email is your main channel, staying on lemlist (or Instantly for higher volume) makes more sense.
  • AI-written messages and the AI setter require Growth (€59.99 a month); the email finder (500 a month) requires Business.
  • Volume is capped by design at 200 LinkedIn invitations a week per account.

Price: Starter €29.99, Growth €59.99 and Business €99.99 per month, with 30% off on annual billing. AI-written messages and the AI setter start on Growth. The professional email finder (500 emails a month) is on Business.Checked on the vendor's public pricing page, October 2026.

#2La Growth Machine

Best for: Staying multichannel (LinkedIn, email, phone) with a European vendor

La Growth Machine is a French multichannel prospecting tool. One sequence chains LinkedIn, email and calls, and stops as soon as the person replies. It is well built and aimed at sales teams.

Strengths

  • Truly multichannel: LinkedIn, email, calls, and X on the top plan
  • Conditional sequences that stop at the first reply
  • Contact enrichment included in every plan
  • French company, euro billing, native CRM integrations on the top plan

Limitations

  • Billed per identity: three reps on Pro pay €360 a month, not €120
  • The €60 entry plan costs about twice the entry price of LinkedIn-only tools
  • Enrichment quotas are low for the price, 250 leads a month on Basic
  • No content generation for your own profile

Price: Basic €60 per identity per month (250 enriched leads, three identities at most). Pro €120 per identity (400 enriched leads, unlimited identities, calls included). Ultimate €120 per identity (1,000 enriched leads, unlimited campaigns, X channel). Two months free on annual plans.Checked on the vendor's public pricing page, September 2026.

#3Waalaxy

Best for: Moving to LinkedIn-only prospecting as simply and cheaply as possible

Waalaxy made LinkedIn prospecting accessible to people who are not specialists. The interface is clear, the entry plan is one of the cheapest on the market, and the French company behind it has a large user community.

Strengths

  • Very easy to start with, with a clear interface
  • An entry plan at €19 a month, among the lowest on the market
  • LinkedIn and email in the same campaign on the Business plan
  • A large community and plenty of tutorials

Limitations

  • Real multichannel requires the Business plan at €69 per user per month
  • Per-seat pricing adds up quickly for a team
  • Runs through a browser extension and volume can be raised high, so restraint is up to you
  • No content generation for your own posts
  • Support described as slow by part of its users

Price: Free plan with 80 invitations a month. Pro €19, Advanced €49 and Business €69 per user per month, with roughly 50% off on annual billing.Checked on the vendor's public pricing page, March 2026.

#4HeyReach

Best for: Agencies moving many client LinkedIn accounts off email-led tools

HeyReach is built for agencies. You pay per connected LinkedIn account, connect as many as you need, and handle every conversation from one unified inbox. For an agency managing ten client accounts, it is a very good product.

Strengths

  • Designed from day one to run many LinkedIn accounts from one login
  • A unified inbox across all accounts
  • Separate client workspaces, and white label on the Agency plan
  • Many integrations: Clay, Smartlead, Instantly, HubSpot, Zapier, Make, API and webhooks
  • Unlimited users: only connected LinkedIn accounts are billed

Limitations

  • For a solo user, you pay for an agency tool at the price of a seat
  • English interface and support, billed in dollars
  • No built-in message or post writing
  • Daily volume is set per account, so discipline depends on you
  • No prospecting on X

Price: Growth: $79 per LinkedIn account per month ($63 billed annually), with 100 enrichment credits per account. Agency: $999 a month for 25 accounts. Unlimited: $2,999 a month, capped at 300 accounts. 14-day trial with three accounts.Checked on the vendor's public pricing page, October 2026.

#5Expandi

Best for: Shifting an email budget to high-volume cloud LinkedIn sequences

Expandi is one of the most complete LinkedIn prospecting tools. It runs in the cloud with a dedicated IP per account, offers conditional sequences that branch on what the prospect does, and personalises images and GIFs inside messages.

Strengths

  • Conditional sequences that adapt to what the prospect does
  • Personalised images and GIFs in messages
  • Cloud with a dedicated IP per account, unlimited campaigns
  • LinkedIn and email, webhooks and an agency dashboard

Limitations

  • $99 a month per account, with no entry plan
  • English interface and support, billed in dollars
  • Limits are adjustable, so they are defaults rather than protections
  • No content generation

Price: Business $99 per account per month (shown at $79 on promotion), with two months free on annual billing. Agency on quote from 10 accounts. 7-day trial. Billed in dollars.Checked on the vendor's public pricing page, September 2026.

#6Apollo

Best for: Keeping a contact database and email sequences in the same tool

Apollo is the most widely used B2B contact database among English-speaking sales teams: hundreds of millions of profiles, verified emails and phone numbers, filters by technology and intent signals, and built-in email sequences.

Strengths

  • One of the largest B2B contact databases, with verified emails and phone numbers
  • Filters by technology used and by intent signals
  • Email sequences, calls and tasks in one place
  • A free plan to test the product

Limitations

  • LinkedIn automation is a secondary module that runs through an extension
  • Built for high-volume cold email, which requires deliverability work
  • The price multiplies with the number of seats
  • Coverage of small European companies is thinner than LinkedIn itself
  • No content generation

Price: Free plan with limited credits, then roughly $49 to $119 per seat per month on annual billing, in dollars.Checked on the vendor's public pricing page, September 2026.

#7Instantly

Best for: Staying on cold email but at a much higher volume

Instantly is built for people who send a lot of email: a high number of sending inboxes, warm-up shared between users, a unified inbox and domain reputation monitoring. The volume-to-price ratio is good.

Strengths

  • A very high number of sending inboxes
  • A shared warm-up network
  • A unified inbox
  • Domain reputation monitoring

Limitations

  • Email only: no LinkedIn or X outreach
  • Domains, warm-up and deliverability are yours to manage
  • A volume-first approach, the opposite of careful one-to-one outreach
  • No content generation

Price: From about $37 a month for the entry plan, billed in dollars.Checked on the vendor's public pricing page, August 2026.

#8Dripify

Best for: Simple visual LinkedIn sequences in the cloud

Dripify is a cloud LinkedIn prospecting tool that is quick to learn, with visual drag-and-drop sequences and a dedicated IP.

Strengths

  • Visual sequences that are quick to build
  • Cloud with a dedicated IP, and a dedicated inbox on Pro
  • CSV export, webhooks and HubSpot on Pro, A/B tests on Advanced
  • 7-day trial with Advanced features

Limitations

  • The Pro plan advertises 75 connection requests a day, a pace that uses up a 200-a-week budget in under three days
  • Basic at $59 unlocks only one campaign and reduced quotas
  • English interface and support, billed in dollars
  • No AI writing and no content generation; LinkedIn only

Price: Basic $59, Pro $79 and Advanced $99 per month; $39, $59 and $79 on annual billing. Enterprise on quote. Basic is limited to one campaign and reduced quotas. 7-day trial.Checked on the vendor's public pricing page, September 2026.

Which tool should you choose?

  • Your prospects answer on LinkedIn and you want to drop email infrastructureMakelead
  • You want to publish and prospect, so your messages are expectedMakelead
  • You want to stay multichannel with email and phone, with a European vendorLa Growth Machine
  • You want the cheapest, simplest LinkedIn-only switchWaalaxy
  • You are an agency with many LinkedIn accountsHeyReach
  • You want a contact database with email sequencesApollo
  • Cold email is your channel and you need more volumeInstantly

Frequently asked questions

What is the best lemlist alternative for LinkedIn prospecting?

Makelead, if your prospects mostly answer on LinkedIn: no sending domain or warm-up, sequences that branch and stop at the first reply, an AI setter, LinkedIn and X in one tool and posts in your voice, from €29.99 a month. La Growth Machine is the closest alternative if you want to keep email and phone in the sequence.

How much does lemlist cost in 2026?

Checked on 26 July 2026: about $69 a month for the Email plan (around $55 billed annually) and about $109 per user per month for Multichannel (around $87 annually), Enterprise on quote. Enrichment credits are billed on top.

Can I prospect without setting up a sending domain?

Yes, if you stay on LinkedIn and X. There is no domain, no SPF or DKIM record and no warm-up: you send an invitation from your own account and the person accepts or not. That removes several weeks of setup compared with cold email.

Is there a cheaper alternative to lemlist?

Waalaxy starts at €19 per user per month, Makelead at €29.99 a month, Dripify at $39 a month on annual billing. Compare the plan that has the features you need: on Makelead, AI messages and the AI setter start on Growth at €59.99.

What is the best French alternative to lemlist?

La Growth Machine if you want to stay multichannel with email, Waalaxy if you move to LinkedIn only at the lowest price, and Makelead if you want LinkedIn and X prospecting with posts in your voice and an AI setter. All three are French companies billing in euros.

Should I stay on lemlist?

Yes, if cold email is truly your main channel and you are ready to manage domains, warm-up and deliverability: lemlist is very good at that. If most of your replies come from LinkedIn, a LinkedIn-first tool such as Makelead does the job with less setup and a lower monthly cost.

Related pages

Prospect on LinkedIn and X without risking your account.

200 invitations a week at most, an AI setter that answers your prospects, posts in your voice. From €29.99 a month.

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