lemlist vs Mailshake: LinkedIn Steps or a Phone Dialer

The short answer: choose lemlist if LinkedIn belongs in your sequences, if you want to trial before paying, or if a whole team needs to send email at volume on one flat plan. Choose Mailshake if you want a plain email tool at a low entry price, or calling to North American numbers with free dialer minutes on its top plan, and you are comfortable paying upfront without a trial.

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The two sit at different points on the same road. Mailshake keeps the product small: sequences, a reply queue called Lead Catcher, free warm-up and, on the top plan, a dialer. lemlist spreads across channels and data, and prices its multichannel plan per user. Both are sound choices; they are sound for different teams.

Compared on documented attributes

The differences that decide it

The second channel

Both tools can add calls. Only one adds LinkedIn. lemlist's Multichannel plan puts LinkedIn steps, calling and SMS into the same sequence for $109 per user a month on monthly billing, per its pricing page. Mailshake's top plan, Sales Engagement at $99, adds a power dialer, five phone numbers and unlimited free dialer minutes to North American numbers, per its pricing page. Its homepage mentions social automation, but no plan on the pricing page lists LinkedIn steps, so ask for a demo of that before relying on it.

How you get to try it

lemlist offers 14 days of its Multichannel features, without in-app calls, and 200 data credits, per its pricing FAQ. Mailshake's pricing FAQ answers the trial question with a plain no: payment is taken upfront, with concierge onboarding and deliverability training offered instead. Its billing article adds that cancelling stops renewal but does not refund the period already paid, and that campaign data is deleted 30 days after the subscription ends. lemlist, by contrast, keeps a cancelled account's campaigns and leads until you ask for deletion, per its cancellation article. For a cautious buyer, that asymmetry matters more than a few dollars a month.

Volume and seats on email alone

For email-only teams, lemlist's Email plan is the stronger deal at volume: 50,000 emails and unlimited users and senders for $69 a month. Mailshake's Starter caps sends at 1,500 a month and one sending address per account; Email Outreach lifts sends to unlimited with two addresses for $49. Mailshake's FAQ says billing is based on how many users you buy, and each paid user adds a mail account. For example, if four people each need to send on Email Outreach, and the $49 is the price of one user as that FAQ implies, the bill is 4 x $49 = $196 a month, against $69 for lemlist's Email plan, using the Mailshake and lemlist pricing pages. Confirm per-user pricing with Mailshake before you rely on that sum.

Prices next to each other

Checked on 23 October 2026 on the lemlist pricing page and the Mailshake pricing page, in USD.

Mailshake also sells ready-to-use mailboxes at $12 a month and the Data Finder add-on at $19; lemlist's WhatsApp steps add $20 per user a month. Both sets of add-ons are on the same two pricing pages.

Rules that travel with every send

Neither tool makes an email lawful. If you write to people in the United States, the FTC's CAN-SPAM guide asks each commercial message to carry a valid physical postal address and an opt-out that keeps working for at least 30 days after sending. In the EU, the ePrivacy Directive's Article 13 makes prior consent the default for individuals and leaves company recipients to each member state. Country rules differ, so check before you import a list.

Choose lemlist if

• LinkedIn, calls and SMS should run in one sequence.
• You want to test for two weeks before you pay.
• A team needs to send email at volume without buying seats.

Choose Mailshake if

• You want a small, email-first tool with a low entry price.
• You call North American prospects and want free dialer minutes in the plan.
• You prefer onboarding help to a free trial.

Each tool has a longer entry: lemlist and Mailshake.

FAQ

Does Mailshake offer a free trial?

No. Its pricing FAQ says payment is collected upfront and points to concierge onboarding, deliverability training and support resources instead. You can cancel before the renewal date to avoid the next charge.

How many sending addresses does each allow?

lemlist's Email plan allows unlimited senders and Multichannel five per user, per its pricing page. Mailshake lists one address per account on Starter, two on Email Outreach and ten on Sales Engagement, and its rotation article allows up to 50 addresses in one campaign.

Which is quicker to start sending from?

Neither, with a new mailbox. Mailshake's cadence article ramps a new address over five weeks, and lemlist's lemwarm guide keeps one in warm-up and stabilisation for close to two months. With a mailbox that is already warm, both are quick to set up: lemlist's campaign guide puts campaign creation at 5 to 10 minutes, and Mailshake's getting-started guide runs in five short stages.