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, excluding any costs around new domains or mailboxes which you would purchase and configure yourself (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?
In the table above, we mention the purchase of additional mailboxes and domains being a potential additional cost that UserGems would not cover. While it is possible to use your main domain (ex. usergems.com) to send outbound emails, it is strongly recommended to spread sending across multiple mailboxes, and to limit how many mailboxes live on a single domain (Instantly recommends a max of 3–5 email accounts per domain here).
At UserGems, after 2 weeks of warmup, we plan for ~100 outbound emails per mailbox per day.
Estimate your daily send volume
Estimate how many total emails you want to send each day through Instantly.
Examples:
- 250 emails/day
- 1,000 emails/day
- 2,400 emails/day
Calculate required mailboxes
Every mailbox supports about 100 emails per day.
So:
- 1 mailbox ≈ 100 emails/day
- 2 mailboxes ≈ 200 emails/day
- 3 mailboxes ≈ 300 emails/day
- 10 mailboxes ≈ 1,000 emails/day
If you’re in between, always round up (if you need 2.5 mailboxes worth of capacity, you should get 3 mailboxes)
Calculate required domains
Instantly recommends using only 3–5 mailboxes per domain.
That means:
- If you want to be more conservative, use 3 mailboxes per domain
- If you want to be more cost-efficient, use 5 mailboxes per domain
Examples:
If you need 10 mailboxes:
- At 5 per domain → 2 domains
- At 3 per domain → 4 domains
If you need 24 mailboxes:
- At 5 per domain → 5 domains
- At 3 per domain → 8 domains
How much can I expect to spend?
Additional Domains
Most domains cost ~$12–$60 per domain per year (pricing varies by domain type and whether it’s considered “premium”)
Example: 5 domains ≈ $60–$300 per year
Additional Mailboxes
Mailboxes typically cost ~$6–$12 per mailbox per month using Google Workspace or Microsoft 365.
Example: 3 mailboxes ≈ $18–$36/month (≈ $216–$432/year)
Total Annual Cost
Use this formula:
Annual Cost = (Domains × Domain Price per Year) + (Total Mailboxes × Mailbox Price per Month × 12)
Example Scenario: If you buy 5 domains and create 3 mailboxes per rep for 3 reps:
- Domains: 5 × ($12–$60/year) = $60–$300/year
- Mailboxes: (3 reps × 3 mailboxes) = 9 total
- With our guideline of ~100 emails/mailbox/day, 9 mailboxes supports ~900 emails/day total
- 9 × ($6–$12/month) × 12 = $648–$1,296/year
Estimated Total Annual Cost: ~$708–$1,596/year
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.