Instantly is an email outreach and sales engagement platform used to send cold emails at scale. It can can be used:
- to add additional outbound email capacity alongside an existing SEP (this is how we use it at UserGems) or
- in circumstances where a customer wants to use UserGems to send outbound emails but doesn’t have an SEP
If you fall into the second bucket (you want to use UserGems but don't currently have an outbound email tool or SEP), we'll cover the monthly or annual cost of your Instantly account based on your UserGems plan:
- Core customers receive the Hypergrowth plan
- Advanced and Elite customers receive the Hypergrowth or the Light Speed plan
Costs for new domains or mailboxes are not included; those will be purchased and configured by you (details below).
Your UserGems Customer Success Engineer will guide you through the process, but at a high level, setup typically requires around ~5 activities from your team (details on those below) and a person who is new to domains and email setup could expect to spend ~1 business day on the steps labeled "Customer". Depending on how quickly in onboarding you get mailboxes configured, there might be an extra two weeks required to warm mailboxes.
UserGems + Instantly Setup Overview
How many Domains + Mailboxes do I need — and what will it cost?
While it is possible to send outbound email from your main domain (e.g. usergems.com), we strongly recommend spreading sends across dedicated domains and mailboxes. Instantly recommends a max of 3–5 mailboxes per domain, and at UserGems we plan for ~100 emails per mailbox per day after warmup.
Use the table below to estimate what you'll need based on your daily send goal:
Costs assume $6–$12/mailbox/month (Google Workspace or Microsoft 365) + $12–$60/domain/year. The range reflects variation in domain type and mailbox pricing.
How the math works: Divide your daily send goal by 100 to get the number of mailboxes you need. Then divide that number by 3 (conservative) or 5 (cost-efficient) to get the number of domains. When in doubt, round up.
FAQ
Q: We already use Instantly or Smartlead. Does this information apply to us?
A: For customers who come to UserGems already using Instantly or Smartlead, you can pick up at the step labeled "Create Instantly Campaign & Sequence" in the table above. Both Smartlead and Instantly work with UserGems via Webhook and can be used alongside UserGems to send outbound emails.
Q: Can Instantly campaigns include phone call, LinkedIn, or other non-email steps?
A: No. Instantly is purely for sending outbound emails. If you need an SEP that includes more than just email steps, check out other SEPs UserGems integrates with here.
Q: Does Instantly integrate with UserGems, or with my CRM?
A: UserGems and Instantly don't directly integrate, so information (like prospect names, company names, emails, and email content) is pushed from UserGems to Instantly via Webhook. Instantly does integrate with some CRMs and other platforms - learn more here. Note: At UserGems, we do not have Instantly and Salesforce integrated but do have email activities log from Instantly to Salesforce via the final step in the UserGems workflow configuration, described in Step 6 here.