InsideSales: A Marketer’s Review and a List of Best Competitors

InsideSales: A Marketer's Review and a List of Best Competitors - cover photo

InsideSales might not be the software to skyrocket your sales numbers.

Email marketers need tools that offer reliable automation, seamless integrations, and clear insights to optimize their outreach. Does InsideSales offer it? The opinions are mixed.

Plenty of other tools could fit your needs if it does not meet your expectations. Ready to discover the top alternatives?

Let’s explore options that could give your outreach the boost you’re looking for!

InsideSales: Sales engagement platform for meaningful outreach

Inside sales homepage

InsideSales is an enterprise-level sales engagement platform built to streamline communication between sales reps and their prospects.

Designed for inside sales teams, it focuses on automating sales processes while providing outreach prioritization. Inside sales refers to the dominant sales model for remote and inbound sales professionals who rely on frequent client engagement.

Sales teams can enhance their individual and team performance using this platform, commonly adopted by sales professionals in remote sales environments.

Key features

  • Sales cadence creator: Sales reps can build consistent, personalized outreach sequences, which helps maintain engagement throughout the sales cycle.
  • Sales automation tools: These tools manage inside sales tasks, such as email follow-ups, freeing up time for inside sales reps to focus on high-value activities.
  • Outreach prioritization: Inside sales teams get real-time guidance on which leads to engaging, ensuring focus on the most promising prospects in the sales pipeline.
  • Detailed analytics and reporting: Sales teams receive insights into outreach performance, which enables adjustments to optimize remote sales efforts.
  • Lead scoring: Helps inside sales teams assess prospects’ potential value, allowing better resource allocation.
  • Team scorecards: Tracks individual and team performance, helping sales managers identify areas for improvement in inside sales.

Pricing

Pricing details for InsideSales are not publicly available. Businesses need to contact InsideSales directly to get a personalized quote.

What are users’ opinions?

Users report significant issues with the platform’s interface and functionality. Insidesales reps often struggle with its unintuitive layout, hidden features, and slow support. Frequent syncing problems with Salesforce, dropped calls, and unresolved customer service tickets have caused frustration.

After Aurea’s acquisition, users observed price increases and support deterioration, leading some sales teams to stop using the platform altogether.

InsideSales in a nutshell

InsideSales offers robust automation and lead-scoring tools to enhance sales pipeline management for inside sales teams. However, user feedback highlights usability and support challenges, affecting individual and team performance.

Despite its powerful features, some sales professionals face ongoing issues, particularly with the interface and customer service.

InsideSales alternatives to try out!

InsideSales not cutting in? Try out the alternatives.

Woodpecker: The best email outreach platform for cold email campaigns

Woodpecker - cold email marketing software

Woodpecker is a versatile platform that streamlines cold emailing for sales reps, inside sales teams, and marketing professionals.

It offers tools to automate email campaigns, monitor email deliverability, and adjust outreach based on recipient responses. With its focus on email-driven outreach, it’s ideal for sales professionals managing multiple client accounts, lead generation, and business growth.

Key features

  • Email inbox warming: Ensures cold emails reach inboxes by gradually increasing send volume, which helps sales reps avoid spam filters.
  • Real-time email analytics: Provides insights into what works in email campaigns, helping inside sales teams target their audience more effectively.
  • Automated follow-ups: Saves time by triggering personalized follow-up emails when recipients open emails, increasing productivity for the sales team.
  • Email deliverability monitoring: Helps sales professionals keep email campaigns on track by spotting potential deliverability issues early.
  • Custom email templates: Automates outreach for sales reps by offering easy-to-use templates, reducing manual effort in repetitive tasks.

Pricing

  • Cold Email Plan: $29 per month or $25 per month (annual billing)
    • 500 contacted prospects per month
    • Unlimited follow-up emails, 2,000 prospect storage, two free warm-up accounts
    • Unlimited email address verification
  • Agency Plan: $29 per month or $25 per month (annual billing)
    • Includes all Cold Email Plan features
    • Adds agency-specific management features and global blacklist
  • Custom Plan: Tailored based on business needs
    • Contact up to 10,000 prospects, store 40,000, 20 free warm-up accounts
    • Custom features available, like dedicated support and legal agreements

What are users’ opinions?

Users appreciate Woodpecker’s automated email features and analytics but note that the platform may lack advanced marketing and social selling tools for larger sales teams. They value its ability to streamline email outreach and client management for inside sales reps.

Woodpecker in a nutshell

Woodpecker is a robust email engagement platform that suits sales teams and agencies managing cold email campaigns.

It provides valuable automation tools, email deliverability support, and easy-to-use templates.

Reply.io: Multichannel sales engagement platform for managing outreach

Reply homepage

Reply.io is a sales engagement platform that helps sales teams manage inbound and outbound sales efforts through email, phone calls, and other channels.

Sales professionals use the platform to streamline lead follow-up and initiate meaningful conversations with potential customers. It’s ideal for inside sales teams seeking to engage prospects, maintain connections, and drive more revenue through multichannel outreach.

Key features

  • A/B testing: Helps optimize email campaign performance, ensuring sales professionals focus on what’s practical for engaging potential customers.
  • Built-in email validation: Improves email deliverability by validating addresses, which helps inside sales teams avoid bounced emails.
  • If-campaigns: Allows dynamic outreach sequences based on recipient actions, creating personalized follow-ups that feel natural and relevant.
  • Timezone detection: Ensures emails land at the right time for maximum engagement, which is useful for both inside sales teams and outside sales reps.
  • AI support: Enhances email targeting and campaign efficiency, providing sales teams with more innovative outreach strategies.
  • Follow-ups in one thread: Keeps conversations organized and contextual, helping sales professionals manage lead follow-up with clarity.

Pricing

  • Sales Engagement Bundle:
    • Email Volume Plan: Starts at $59/month for email automation and unlimited contact storage.
    • Multichannel Plan: $89/user per month for email, LinkedIn, and phone call sequences.
    • Agency Plan: $166/month for client outreach, including anti-spam and deliverability tools.
  • AI SDR Bundle: Starts at $259/month, and includes 1,000 active contacts per month.
  • AI Chat Bundle: Free plan or Pro plan at $50/month for AI-assisted chat with ten captured contacts per month.

What are users’ opinions?

Users appreciate the platform’s multichannel approach to outreach and the convenience of built-in email validation. They note limited customization options and too many tags and labels that make organizing emails difficult.

Users mention needing additional tools to ensure email deliverability; some complain about a cap on daily emails per address. The platform can feel overwhelming at first, especially for new users.

Read more about Reply.io reviews.

Reply.io in a nutshell

Reply.io provides comprehensive tools for multichannel sales outreach, helping sales teams and outside sales reps increase engagement with potential customers.

However, its limitations in customization and email organization present challenges for some users.

Mixmax: AI-powered sales engagement for streamlining processes

Mixmax homepage

Mixmax is a versatile sales engagement platform designed to optimize business sales communication and processes. By supporting email, SMS, phone, and social media channels, Mixmax allows salespeople to engage with customers across platforms, helping businesses generate more leads and close deals faster.

Key features

  • AI-powered sequence builder: Personalizes customer outreach, enabling businesses to effectively target leads and drive higher engagement.
  • Workflow automation: Streamlines the sales process by automating tasks with custom triggers, helping employees focus on strategic activities.
  • Detailed analytics: Tracks content performance across channels, giving companies insights into customer interactions and market behavior.
  • Built-in meeting scheduler: Simplifies appointment setting with integrated tools like ZoomInfo and Google Calendar, making it easier to connect with customers.
  • Seamless integrations: Mixmax works with key business tools such as Dialpad, Orum, and Salesforce, improving the overall process for sales teams.

Pricing

  • SMB Plan: $29/month, offering essential features for small businesses.
  • Growth Plan: $49/month per user, designed for scaling outreach and increasing productivity.
  • Growth+CRM Plan: $69/month per user, includes CRM capabilities.
  • Free Plan: Basic features for businesses just starting out.
  • Custom Enterprise Plan: Contact sales for a personalized quote tailored to large companies with high-volume needs.

What are users’ opinions?

Users highlight Mixmax’s AI-powered tools for increasing business productivity but mention challenges with the sequence creation interface, which can be less intuitive. Some customers note occasional issues with Salesforce integration and disconnect with Gmail.

Mixmax in a nutshell

Mixmax is a powerful sales engagement tool designed to help businesses improve processes and connect with leads. Its AI-driven personalization and automation boost productivity, but the interface and pricing may be an issue for some users.

Conclusion

Finding the right sales engagement tool can make all the difference in reaching your goals.

InsideSales might not check all the boxes, especially its usability and support challenges. Looking for a better way to boost your outreach?

Woodpecker is a top choice for cold email campaigns. Its powerful automation and deliverability tools help you stay ahead and connect with leads more effectively. Try out Woodpecker for free.