What is an AI SDR? How AI SDR agents work, what they cost and how to choose one

An AI SDR is software that does parts of a sales development rep's prospecting job on its own: it finds and researches leads, writes outreach, sends it, follows up and tries to book meetings. This guide explains what these tools actually do, where they fall short, and what they cost, using prices taken from each vendor's own pricing page. Prices last checked Nov 2, 2026; each row links to its source.

We don't publish reply rates, meeting rates or ROI figures, because we can't verify them. Some links on this site are affiliate links; that never changes prices, order or comparisons. Disclosure · How we verify prices

What an AI SDR actually does

Vendors package this differently, but most AI SDR products cover some or all of these steps:

1. Targeting and list building: finding companies and contacts that match your ideal customer profile, often from a built-in database or a connected data provider.
2. Research: pulling context about each account or person (company news, job changes, website visits, tech stack) to personalize outreach.
3. Writing: drafting first-touch emails, LinkedIn messages and follow-ups, usually from your instructions, examples and product information.
4. Sending: running sequences from your mailboxes and, for some tools, LinkedIn accounts or a dialer.
5. Handling replies: sorting responses, answering simple questions, and handing interested prospects to a person or a booking link.
6. Logging: writing activity back to your CRM.

Some tools focus on outbound (contacting people who haven't heard of you). Others are inbound AI SDRs that respond to website visitors, form fills or chat in real time. See inbound AI SDR tools and the best inbound AI SDR and lead conversion tools for that side.

AI SDR vs. human SDR vs. sequencing tool

The line between the last two columns is blurry. Several sequencing platforms now sell an AI SDR mode on top of their usual plans, for example Reply.io (Jason AI SDR), Emailchaser and Salesforge (Agent Frank). If you mainly need to send your own sequences, a cold email tool may be enough.

How AI SDRs are priced (with dated vendor prices)

Of the 27 AI SDR tools in our directory, 18 publish a starting price and 6 quote only through sales (11x, Alta, Artisan, Conversica, Jazon (Lyzr), Topo). Published entry prices range from Unify at $20/mo to B2B Rocket at $799/mo, but those figures use different billing bases and aren't directly comparable. The main pricing models are:

Per seat or flat monthly plans

A monthly fee per user or per account, usually with limits on contacts, senders or credits. This is the most familiar model and the easiest to budget.

• Unify: Free; Base $20/seat/mo; Pro $60/seat/mo (monthly); Business custom (annual); 14-day free trial, no card (checked 2026-10-28)
• Salesforge: Pro $40/mo billed annually ($48 billed monthly), unlimited email senders and 1 LinkedIn sender; Growth $80/mo billed annually ($96 monthly) with unlimited email and LinkedIn senders; 14-day free trial (checked 2026-10-28)
• Regie.ai: Free 250 one-time credits; Pro $41/mo annual ($49 monthly); Team $125/seat/mo annual ($150 monthly) (checked 2026-10-31)
• Buzz.ai: Core $79/seat/mo billed monthly (500 credits/mo per seat; LinkedIn and email outreach, phone calling, voicemail drops, CRM integrations; 'Start for free' sign-up); AI Employee (hands-off AI SDR) custom pricing via sales, 5,000 credits/mo per seat, 2-seat minimum; Enterprise custom with 5 seats and 25,000 credits/mo included, $2,500 setup fee (checked 2026-10-28)
• BOSRAI: Free $0 forever (review mode, 1 seat); Agent $99/mo; Growth $199/mo (email, LinkedIn and WhatsApp); Scale $499/mo (full autopilot); Pro $999/mo (triple Scale's volume); billed monthly, cancel anytime; yearly billing −20% (checked 2026-10-30)
• Valley: Starter (LinkedIn only) $199/seat/mo monthly or $149/seat/mo billed quarterly; Plus $299/seat/mo and Growth $499/seat/mo add email; done-for-you service $1,499/mo; 7-day trial (checked 2026-11-01)
• Amplemarket: Startup plan $600/mo on an annual term, 2 users included; all plans include a free trial (checked 2026-10-30)

Credits, actions or usage

You buy a pool of credits or agent actions and the agent spends them as it researches, enriches and sends. Cost scales with how much work the agent does, so ask what one meeting-ready contact typically consumes.

• Origami: Starter $99/mo (7,500 credits, 5 email + 3 LinkedIn senders); Pro $199/mo (15,000 credits); Max $399/mo (30,000 credits); unlimited team members; free to start, no card (checked 2026-10-31)
• Swan AI: Credit-based: Solo $100/mo monthly ($80 annual, 625 credits); Starter $200/mo ($160); Growth $419/mo ($335) incl. platform fee; credits $0.16 each, unused credits roll over; free trial (checked 2026-11-01)
• Rox: Individual $100/mo (10,000 agent actions); Teams $255/mo (15,000 actions, unlimited seats); Enterprise contact sales; start free (checked 2026-10-31)
• Monaco: Usage-based: one upfront commit of $10,000 paid at signature (1,000,000 credits at one cent each), then monthly usage; no seat or platform fees and no commitment beyond the initial $10,000; the vendor says the commit covers roughly the first three months for most customers (checked 2026-10-31)
• Salesforce Agentforce: Free to start (Salesforce Foundations); Flex Credits $500 per 100k credits; per-conversation pricing; Sales/Service add-ons $125/user/mo (checked 2026-10-28)

Per prospect or contact volume

Priced by how many people the agent contacts each month. This is easy to compare against your list size, but check what counts as a contact.

• AiSDR: Self-serve pay as you go: $1.50 per person prospected, charged daily, no monthly fee; team plans for 1,000+ contacts/mo priced by volume (up to 40% lower per contact, billed monthly on quarterly contracts); warmed-up mailbox add-on $33; managed campaign service $149/campaign; fully managed service $2,500/mo (checked 2026-11-02)
• Floworks: Ultra $498/mo (1,000 contacts/mo across email and LinkedIn); pay-per-meeting managed plan and Enterprise via sales; CRM integration on annual plans (checked 2026-10-28)
• B2B Rocket: Self-serve plans billed quarterly: Basic $799/mo (2,000 contacts/mo), Scale $1,299/mo (10,000 contacts, HubSpot and Zoho integrations), Unlimited $1,799/mo (25,000 contacts); add-ons such as extra team members $100/user/mo; VIP tier via demo (checked 2026-10-28)

AI SDR features inside a sales engagement or cold email platform

Sequencing tools that add an AI SDR mode on top of their regular plans.

• Reply.io: Email Volume from $49/user/mo billed annually ($59 monthly); Multichannel from $89/user/mo annual ($99 monthly); Jason AI SDR from $500/mo (checked 2026-10-28)
• Emailchaser: Starter $47/mo (5,000 emails, 1,500 lead credits), Pro $97/mo, Max $358/mo, Enterprise $897/mo; a year costs 10 months ($470/yr Starter); AI SDR (Autopilot) and unlimited mailboxes with warmup included on every plan; credit top-ups $33 per 1,000; done-for-you setup $497/mo; 7-day free trial (checked 2026-10-30)

Quote only

11x, Alta, Artisan, Conversica, Jazon (Lyzr), Topo don't list prices on their sites, so you'll need a sales call to get a number. Ask for the contract length, minimums and what's included before the demo ends.

For every number in one table, see the AI SDR pricing guide. For what changed recently, see the AI SDR price-change log.

AI SDR tools compared

Sorted by lowest listed entry price; usage-priced tools next, then quote-only tools. Entry prices are from each vendor's pricing page on the date shown. Billing terms differ, so open the tool page for full plan details.

Who an AI SDR fits, and who it doesn't

Often a reasonable fit if:

• You already know your ideal customer profile and have messaging that has worked when sent by people.
• Your market is large enough that volume matters, and individual accounts aren't worth hours of manual research.
• Someone on the team can own the tool: set rules, review output and pick up interested replies quickly.
• You have, or are willing to set up, separate sending domains and mailboxes.

Probably not a fit (yet) if:

• You're still figuring out who buys and why. An AI SDR scales whatever you give it, including the wrong targeting.
• You sell to a small list of high-value accounts where every message needs real insight and a mistake is costly.
• Nobody has time to review messages or respond to leads. Unanswered positive replies waste the pipeline you paid for.
• Your industry or region has strict rules on unsolicited outreach that you haven't reviewed.

Limitations and risks

• Deliverability: sending more email from new mailboxes can land you in spam, and complaints can hurt your main domain. Use separate domains, warm up mailboxes, keep volumes per mailbox modest and verify addresses. See cold email infrastructure providers and email deliverability and warmup tools.
• Brand risk: AI-written outreach can get facts wrong, misread someone's role or company, or sound generic. Every message goes out under your company's name, so read samples before you turn on autopilot.
• Oversight: look for an approval or review mode, clear logs of what was sent and why, and an easy way to pause. Start with review on and loosen it only after you trust the output.
• Data quality: the agent is only as good as its contact data. Bounces and wrong-person emails hurt deliverability and reputation.
• Compliance: rules such as CAN-SPAM in the US and GDPR in the EU apply to automated outreach, as do LinkedIn's terms for automation. Check what applies to you; the tool doesn't take that responsibility from you.
• Contracts and commitments: some plans run on annual or quarterly terms or need an upfront commitment (the pricing notes above show where vendors say so). Ask about pilot options and cancellation before you sign.

How to evaluate an AI SDR

1. Define one narrow test: a single segment, a single offer and a clear success measure (for example, qualified meetings your team accepts) over a set period.
2. Check the data source: where contacts come from, how emails are verified, and whether you can bring your own list.
3. Read real output: ask for 20 to 30 sample messages for your actual prospects, not a polished demo. Check facts and tone.
4. Test the controls: review and approval modes, guardrails on what it can say, exclusion lists (customers, competitors, open deals) and how replies are routed.
5. Look at sending setup: whose mailboxes and domains it uses, daily limits, warmup, and what happens when a mailbox's reputation drops.
6. Check integrations: CRM sync, duplicate handling, and whether activity is logged where your team works.
7. Price the whole thing: plan fee plus data, mailboxes, extra senders or credits, onboarding and the contract term. Compare that against what the test actually produced.
8. Ask for references from customers similar to you, and treat results claims you can't check with caution.

Compare and shortlist

• Best AI SDR tools in 2026 · AI SDR tools with public pricing · Best AI SDR tools for startups
• 11x alternatives · Artisan alternatives · AiSDR alternatives
• All AI SDR agents · Inbound AI SDR tools

Head-to-head comparisons

• 11x vs Artisan
• AiSDR vs 11x
• Regie.ai vs Salesforge
• Instantly vs Reply.io
• Artisan vs AiSDR
• 11x vs Regie.ai
• Artisan vs Regie.ai
• Artisan vs Salesforge
• 11x vs Salesforge
• AiSDR vs Salesforge
• AiSDR vs Regie.ai
• Amplemarket vs 11x
• Unify vs Amplemarket
• Reply.io vs Salesforge

FAQ

What is an AI SDR?

An AI SDR (AI sales development representative) is software that does parts of an SDR's prospecting job on its own: finding and researching leads, writing personalized outreach, sending sequences by email and sometimes LinkedIn or phone, handling replies and booking meetings. In practice you still need a person to set targeting, approve messaging and take over once a prospect is interested.

How much does an AI SDR cost?

Of the 27 AI SDR tools in our directory, 18 publish a starting price and 6 quote only through sales. Published entry prices run from $20/mo (Unify) to $799/mo (B2B Rocket), but billing bases differ (per seat, per account, credits or contacts), so compare what each plan includes. AiSDR prices per person prospected rather than per month. All prices come from vendor pricing pages on the dates shown in the table above.

Can an AI SDR replace my SDR team?

For some work, partly. AI SDRs can take over repetitive research, first drafts and high-volume follow-up. They're weaker at judgment calls, live conversations, complex accounts and building relationships, and you'll usually want a person reviewing output and handling interested replies. A practical way to start is to use an AI SDR to extend a small team rather than replace it. We don't publish claims about results, because we can't verify them; ask vendors for references from companies like yours.

What's the difference between an AI SDR and a cold email tool?

A cold email or sequencing tool sends the messages you write to the list you provide, on a schedule. An AI SDR also decides who to contact, researches them, writes the messages and often responds to replies. The line is blurry: several sequencing platforms now sell an AI SDR mode on top of their regular plans.

Is there a free AI SDR?

Free plans in our AI SDR data: Unify, Regie.ai, Persana AI, BOSRAI, Salesforce Agentforce. Tools that list a free trial: Unify, Salesforge, Emailchaser, Reply.io, SmartWriter, Buzz.ai, Origami, Rox, Swan AI, Valley, Amplemarket, B2B Rocket, AiSDR. Free tiers are limited, so check usage caps.

AI SDR pricing guide → · Price changes → · Report an outdated price