Mailshake vs Reply.io: Trial, Seats and the AI SDR

The short answer: choose Mailshake if you want a small email tool with a flat price per user, optional calling to North American numbers, and you are happy to buy without a trial. Choose Reply.io if you want LinkedIn, calls, SMS and WhatsApp in one conditional sequence, a 14-day trial first, or an AI SDR, and you accept pricing that rises with the number of new contacts you reach.

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Both are sales engagement tools rather than pure senders, and both bill per user at the bottom of their ranges. The resemblance stops at the meter. Mailshake charges per user for a plan. Reply.io charges per user for a number of new contacts a month, and above 10,000 of them stops counting users at all, per its pricing page.

What each documents

How they differ where it counts

The meter

Reply.io's Email Volume plan moves in contact tiers: on monthly billing, $59 per user for 1,000 active contacts, $69 for 2,000, $79 for 3,000 and $99 for 5,000, then $179 a month for 10,000 with no user limit, per its pricing page. An active contact is a person who receives a first-step email that month; follow-ups to them are unlimited. Mailshake does not meter contacts: every plan allows unlimited uploaded contacts, and only Starter caps sends, at 1,500 a month, per its pricing page. A small team writing to a few hundred new people a month pays less on Mailshake. A larger team reaching 10,000 people a month may pay less on Reply.io, because the seats stop costing extra.

The channels

Mailshake's pricing page adds one channel to email, the phone, and only on its $99 Sales Engagement plan, which includes unlimited free dialer minutes to North American numbers. Reply.io's Multichannel plan, from $99 per user a month, covers email, LinkedIn, calls, SMS and semi-automated WhatsApp, and can trigger any other tool through a Zapier step, according to its pricing page. Its sequence guide adds conditions, actions that move contacts between sequences, and merges between branches.

Trying it, and the AI

Reply.io gives 14 days on the Email Volume feature set and lets you buy add-ons such as LinkedIn during the trial, charged only for the days left, per its trial article. Mailshake has no trial and does not refund a cancelled period, according to its billing article. On AI, Mailshake offers SHAKEspeare for drafting copy. Reply.io sells a separate AI SDR, Jason, from $500 a month, that finds prospects, writes messages and handles replies.

Monthly and yearly prices

Prices in USD, checked on 23 October 2026 on the Mailshake pricing page and the Reply.io pricing page. Reply.io's annual billing saves up to 17%; Mailshake's yearly toggle lowers each plan as shown.

For example, three users on Reply.io's 1,000-contact Email Volume tier cost 3 x $59 = $177 a month, and three on Mailshake's Email Outreach cost 3 x $49 = $147, if Mailshake's price is per user as its FAQ on billing suggests, using the Reply.io and Mailshake pricing pages.

The law does not come with either plan

Both tools add opt-out links, and Reply.io can file a reply to its opt-out text under Do Not Contact and stop emailing that person, per its opt-out article. Neither decides whether a first email is allowed. In the UK, the ICO's guidance on electronic mail marketing separates corporate bodies, which may be emailed, from sole traders, who count as individuals, and it applies the same rules to direct messages on social networks, which covers LinkedIn steps. EU member states and the United States draw these lines differently, so confirm the rules where your prospects are.

Choose Mailshake if

• You want email plus, optionally, a dialer, and nothing more.
• Your team is small and its monthly reach is modest.
• You call North American prospects and value free dialer minutes.

Choose Reply.io if

• LinkedIn, SMS or WhatsApp need to sit in the same sequence as email.
• You want a trial before committing, or your team is large enough to use the tier with unlimited users.
• You want to try an AI SDR alongside human sellers.

The fuller entries are Mailshake and Reply.io.

FAQ

What is an active contact in Reply.io?

A unique person you send a first-step email to in a month. Follow-ups to that person are unlimited, according to the pricing FAQ. Stored contacts are separate, with a default limit of 100,000 that support can raise.

Does either tool automate LinkedIn?

Reply.io does, as a $69 monthly add-on per LinkedIn account on Email Volume or inside the Multichannel plan, per its pricing page. Mailshake's pricing page lists no LinkedIn automation; its homepage mentions social automation, so ask for a demonstration before relying on it.

Can I try both before buying?

Only Reply.io. Its trial article describes 14 days with no payment commitment and one trial per account. Mailshake collects payment upfront and offers onboarding help instead.