Cleverly Alternatives: 8 Agencies Compared (2026)

Quick answer: which Cleverly alternative fits

• If LinkedIn is still your channel and you want it done by hand from your own profile, SalesBread charges $3K a month, can be cancelled anytime, and advertises money back if it misses 20+ sales qualified leads a month.
• If you want LinkedIn for less and will handle replies yourself, OutreachBloom's LinkedIn service is $1,000 a month.
• If you're moving from LinkedIn to cold email, IntentSignal ($2,999 a month, for $10K+ contracts), Borks ($3,000 to $5,000) and OutreachBloom (from $2,400) all publish prices, and none of them ask for a 3-month prepay.
• If you'd rather run it yourself, Instantly's software starts at $47 a month. You do the list, copy and replies.
• If you want to pay per lead instead of a flat fee, Leadbird bills a monthly tech fee plus a charge per qualified lead.
• You have a rep with time each week and want the lowest cost: run it yourself on Instantly ($47 a month) or Smartlead ($39 a month) plus a data tool. See the section on running it yourself below.

Tell us what Cleverly delivered and what you need instead: book a campaign plan call. If LinkedIn-only is still right for you, we'll point you to a LinkedIn specialist.

IntentSignal is a cold email agency, so we're one of the options. We've tried to be fair, and every competitor fact links to its source. Cleverly no longer shows prices on its site, so its prices below come from third-party reports and are labeled that way.

What Cleverly sells and what it costs

Cleverly's flagship service is LinkedIn lead generation. It also sells cold email, cold calling, appointment setting and outsourced SDRs (Cleverly). Clutch lists it as founded in 2018 in Los Angeles with 10 to 49 staff, while Salesforge traces it back to about 2016 as Lead Generation, Inc. The homepage promises US-based dedicated account managers, weekly reporting and monthly strategy calls, and claims "100,000+ leads for 5,000+ clients."

The site has no pricing page now. These are the most recent figures reported by Salesforge, with our arithmetic on the minimum term:

Salesforge also reports that the 3-month minimum is disclosed only after signing, that there are no refunds, and that there is no formal lead guarantee. Ask for the term in writing before you pay.

What reviewers say

Cleverly's score depends on which site you read. Trustpilot shows 4.5 from 1,164 reviews, with 2% one-star. Clutch shows 4.3 from 85, and G2 shows 3.8 from 22. Praise covers responsive account managers, easy onboarding and low price. The complaints are specific: few or no qualified leads, poor or outdated lists, template-like automated outreach, refund and billing disputes over contract terms, and account manager turnover. Clutch reviewers and Salesforge also report that client LinkedIn credentials were stored insecurely.

Cleverly works from your LinkedIn account, so when template-like outreach goes wrong, it is your profile and your brand that take the hit.

First decide: LinkedIn, email or both

• Stay on LinkedIn if your buyers are active there, your offer suits a personal profile, and you can live with LinkedIn's connection limits. Pick a service that writes manually rather than one that runs templates.
• Move to cold email if you need to reach more accounts than one profile can, or want to test several angles a week. In our sending data, 82% of positive replies come from the first email of a sequence, so the first message matters most, and you know within days whether it works.
• Check your list's email provider. In our data, Google Workspace companies reply at 1.35% and Microsoft 365 companies at 0.29%. If your market runs mostly on Microsoft 365, LinkedIn or calling may need to carry more of the load.
• Use both if you sell to a small, high-value account list where every touch counts.

Full benchmarks are in our cold email statistics.

Cleverly alternatives compared

The 8 Cleverly alternatives

1. IntentSignal: cold email for $10K+ deals

IntentSignal is a B2B cold email agency for US companies with $10K+ contract values and a sales team to take meetings. Programs start at $2,999 a month, month to month, as a retainer with hybrid retainer-plus-performance options. We publish that price, which Cleverly no longer does.

Cleverly reviewers complain about templates. We build a custom AI agent for each client instead. It researches every account and writes around what's happening at that company, then books meetings onto your reps' calendars. We test new angles daily. Co-founders Andrew Elsakr and Kyle Rasmussen run every account, so account-manager turnover, another Cleverly complaint, doesn't come up. You own every sending domain and mailbox, in writing, after you leave too. We never need your LinkedIn password.

Proof: Gainsight got 90 sales-accepted leads in two months. Upside booked meetings with leaders at 6.5% of all US restaurant locations in one quarter. Our benchmark is about 1 booked meeting per 100 emails on strong account signals, 1 per 200 on generic targeting and about 1 per 500 in the worst case.

Watch-outs: we cost about three to eight times a Cleverly LinkedIn plan. If your contract value is under $10K, Cleverly or SalesBread is a better match for the budget. We have no review-site ratings yet. LinkedIn is a separate service for us, not the core one.

If you're moving from LinkedIn to email, book a campaign plan call and we'll show you the plan.

2. SalesBread: hand-written LinkedIn, money-back guarantee

SalesBread runs LinkedIn plus email outreach from your own LinkedIn account, with manual personalization (SalesBread). It charges "$3K per month, plus a one-time setup fee" and states "no locked-in contracts, and you can cancel at any time" (pricing statement). Its homepage guarantee is "20+ sales qualified leads per month ... or your money back," though the terms aren't published.

Manual writing answers the template complaint directly, but it costs about three to eight times Cleverly's LinkedIn price. You pay for Sales Navigator, there's a 3 to 5 week waitlist, and we found no review profiles. Case studies include Purple.AI (294 leads) and DigiPli (85 leads in 8 weeks).

3. OutreachBloom: low-cost email and LinkedIn

OutreachBloom does done-for-you cold email (fresh domains, authentication, warmup, list building, copy, A/B tests and reply handling) and LinkedIn outreach (pricing). Cold email starts at $2,400 a month for 10,000 to 100,000 contacts a month. LinkedIn is $1,000 a month: it sends from your profile, you handle the replies, and Sales Navigator Advanced is extra. It targets B2B SaaS and services firms with about 10 to 200 employees.

Watch-outs: Clutch lists 2 to 9 staff and only 2 reviews (both 5.0). Contract length isn't published. Rankings that place it first come from its sister company, EmailAnalytics, which discloses the link. It doesn't do calling.

4. Borks: flat-fee cold email with owned domains

Borks charges $3,000, $4,000 or $5,000 a month for 50,000, 100,000 or 150,000 sends, "all in," with no minimum term and no cancellation fee (Borks). Every domain, inbox, list and reply thread is yours and handed over on exit. Sending starts 7 to 10 days from kickoff. It requires a $5,000+ average contract value.

Watch-outs: Trustpilot 3.3 from 16 reviews, split between 5-star and 1-star. Its guarantee language differs between its site ("meetings booked, contractually guaranteed") and its Trustpilot replies (no guarantee of meeting numbers), so read the contract.

5. Growth Engine X: free test for large markets

Growth Engine X (coldoutbound.com) runs done-for-you cold email with Clay-built lists. Pricing isn't public, but qualifying buyers get a free test campaign, and all work (domains, inboxes, Clay tables, lists) is transferable to you. It's built for US B2B companies with $1M+ revenue and 100,000+ contacts in their market. It calls markets under 40,000 contacts a poor fit, which rules out many Cleverly clients.

6. Belkins: scale, if budget allows

Belkins' Small Business plan covers cold email and LinkedIn with a target of 30+ appointments a year. No dollar figures are published. Third parties report retainers from $5,000 to $14,800+ a month with 3 to 6 month minimums, so this is a big step up from Cleverly. For that you get a large team and a Clutch rating of 4.9 from 234 reviews. Compare more on our Belkins alternatives page.

7. Leadbird: pay per qualified lead

Leadbird runs email, calls and LinkedIn and bills "a monthly tech fee, in addition to a charge ... for all the leads generated during that month" (billing policy). It calls the terms month to month. Amounts aren't public. One BBB complaint cited $1,000 setup, $500 a month for the tech fee and $100 per lead. It supplies the domains and LinkedIn accounts, so you're not lending it your own profile. G2 4.6 from 27 reviews. See our Leadbird pricing breakdown before signing.

8. Instantly: VIP service, or do it yourself

Instantly sells a managed VIP Service (custom-priced through sales) on top of its cold email software. If Cleverly appealed because it was cheap, though, the cheapest route is running the software yourself. Instantly's Outreach plans are $47, $97 and $358 a month, with add-ons like domains at $15 a year and done-for-you Google accounts at $5 a month. You write the copy, build the list and handle replies. Note that Instantly says it keeps ownership and admin access of domains bought through its done-for-you setup, and transfers aren't supported (Trustpilot reply). Buy domains yourself if you want to keep them.

If you would rather run it yourself

Some teams searching for Cleverly alternatives are really deciding whether to pay an agency at all. The software to send cold email yourself is cheap. The work around it is where the cost sits.

• Instantly: the Growth plan is $47 a month for 5,000 emails, with unlimited sending accounts and warmup (monthly billing).
• Smartlead: the Base plan is $39 a month for 6,000 sends and 2,000 contacts. Pro is $94 a month for 90,000 sends.
• Apollo: a free Starter plan for contact data, with paid Basic and Professional tiers. Apollo's pricing page doesn't list the paid prices.

None of these tools buy and set up your sending domains, build and verify the list, write the copy, test new angles or answer replies. Someone on your team does that, or it doesn't happen. At our benchmark for generic targeting (about 1 meeting per 200 emails), 5,000 emails a month is around 25 meetings at best, and only when the inboxes, data and copy are right. If a rep has real hours each week for this, running it yourself is the cheapest option on this page. If nobody does, that time is what you'd be paying Cleverly or any agency for.

When to stay with Cleverly

• Your budget is under about $1,000 a month and you want to test whether LinkedIn outreach works for your offer at all.
• You've had good results so far. Trustpilot's 4.5 from 1,164 reviews shows many clients do.
• You're comfortable with Cleverly using your LinkedIn account and have asked how it stores your login.
• You've confirmed the minimum term and refund terms in writing before paying.

Questions to ask Cleverly or any alternative before signing

1. What is the minimum term, and is it in the contract I'm signing today? Cleverly's 3-month minimum reportedly comes up only after signing.
2. Do you need my LinkedIn password? If so, how is it stored, and who can access it?
3. Who writes each message, and how much of it is personal to the prospect?
4. Where does the list come from, and how recent is the data?
5. What counts as a lead or meeting in your reporting?
6. Who owns the domains, inboxes and lists when I leave, and can I have a refund if you don't deliver?

For a wider comparison of managed cold email providers, see our ranking of the best cold email agencies.

Where IntentSignal fits

Choose us over Cleverly if you sell $10K+ contracts to US B2B buyers, have reps to take meetings, and want outreach written around each account rather than a template. We publish our price ($2,999+ a month, month to month), you own the domains and mailboxes, and a co-founder runs your account. If LinkedIn is your only channel or your budget is under $1,000 a month, SalesBread, OutreachBloom or Cleverly itself is a better fit. Book a campaign plan call to see the plan for your market.

Frequently asked questions

How much does Cleverly cost?

Cleverly no longer publishes prices. Third-party reports list LinkedIn plans at $397, $697 and $997 a month plus Sales Navigator ($99+ a month), cold email at $1,995 a month and cold calling at $3,995 a month.

Does Cleverly have a minimum contract?

A 3-month minimum is reported, and reviewers say it was disclosed only after signing. Refunds are reportedly not offered. Confirm the term in writing before you pay.

Is Cleverly legit?

Yes, it's an established agency with 1,164 Trustpilot reviews averaging 4.5. Its Clutch (4.3) and G2 (3.8) reviews are weaker, with complaints about lead quality, templated outreach, billing disputes and how client LinkedIn credentials are stored.

What's a good Cleverly alternative for LinkedIn?

SalesBread for manual LinkedIn outreach from your own profile ($3K a month, cancel anytime, money-back lead guarantee). OutreachBloom for a cheaper LinkedIn service at $1,000 a month where you handle the replies.

What's a good Cleverly alternative for cold email?

IntentSignal (from $2,999 a month, month to month, for $10K+ contracts), Borks ($3,000 to $5,000 a month, no minimum) and OutreachBloom (from $2,400 a month). If you have time to run it yourself, Instantly's software starts at $47 a month.

Does Cleverly guarantee leads?

No formal lead guarantee is reported. SalesBread advertises money back if it delivers fewer than 20 sales qualified leads a month, though its terms aren't published.

Sources

• Cleverly homepage (retrieved October 2026)
• Salesforge, Cleverly review (reported prices and terms)
• Cleverly on Trustpilot
• Cleverly on Clutch
• SalesBread homepage
• SalesBread pricing statement
• OutreachBloom pricing
• OutreachBloom on Clutch
• EmailAnalytics, cold email agencies (sister company of OutreachBloom)
• Borks pricing and terms
• Borks on Trustpilot
• Growth Engine X (coldoutbound.com)
• Belkins pricing page
• Salesforge, Belkins review
• Leadbird billing policy
• Salesforge, Leadbird review
• Instantly pricing
• Instantly on Trustpilot
• Instantly pricing (October 2026)
• Smartlead pricing (October 2026)
• Apollo pricing