Your first sales tool stack for under $100/month
Prices checked between Nov 7, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 on each vendor's pricing page.
Short answer: Apollo.io (free plan), Clearout ($19.50/mo), SmartReach.io ($29/mo), Pipedrive ($14/mo), Quo ($19/mo), Calendly ($10/mo). That is one tool for each step of a basic outbound process, for $91.50/mo at published prices. Every step also has a free alternative, so you can start at $0 and upgrade one tool at a time.
This guide is for founders and small teams of 1–5 people who sell to other businesses and want a simple setup that works. You don't need an enterprise platform to start. You need a list of people to contact, a way to reach them and follow up, and a place to track the conversations that turn into deals.
Affiliate disclosure: some links below are affiliate links (marked “Affiliate link” and coded rel="sponsored nofollow noopener"). If you buy through them, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. That never changes which tools we pick or the prices we show. Full details: disclosure.
The stack at a glance
| Step | Our pick | Plan and price | Free alternative |
|---|---|---|---|
| Find leads | Apollo.io Small team friendly | Free plan: $0 900 credits per seat per year | Lusha Free plan: $0 40 credits/mo |
| Verify emails | Clearout Small team friendly | Starter: $19.50/mo 3,000 credits, billed monthly ($16/mo billed annually) | Reoon Email Verifier Free tier: $0 20 verifications/day |
| Send outreach and follow-ups | SmartReach.io Small team friendly | Email Outreach Basic: $29/mo no per-seat pricing; yearly billing saves up to 11% | Mailmeteor Free plan: $0 500 emails/mo |
| Track deals in a CRM | Pipedrive Small team friendly | Lite: $14/mo per seat, billed annually; 14-day free trial | HubSpot Sales Hub Free CRM: $0 up to 2 users |
| Make calls | Quo (formerly OpenPhone) Small team friendly | Starter: $19/mo per user, billed monthly ($15/mo billed annually); one number per user; 7-day free trial | Google Voice Basic: $0 US only, needs an existing mobile number |
| Book meetings | Calendly Small team friendly | Standard: $10/mo per seat, as displayed (yearly billing saves up to 20%) | Cal.com Free for individuals: $0 no usage limits for individuals |
| Total per month | $91.50/mo | $0/mo | |
Totals use each vendor's lowest published starting price for one user. Pipedrive's price is for annual billing; Clearout and Quo are shown at monthly prices (both are cheaper billed annually). Not included: a sending domain and mailboxes for cold email, call minutes or usage fees, and taxes.
1. Find leads: Apollo.io
You need a list of the right people and a way to reach them. Start with a database that has a free plan so you can test your targeting before you pay for credits.
Pick: Apollo.io Free plan, $0 · 900 credits per seat per year. Build and save your first lists on the free plan. Basic is $49/seat/mo billed annually if you run out of credits. Visit Apollo.io ↗ Affiliate link
Free alternative: Lusha Free plan, $0 · 40 credits/mo. A permanent free plan for looking up a few contacts a month. Visit Lusha ↗ Affiliate link
2. Verify emails: Clearout
Sending to bad addresses causes bounces, and bounces hurt the reputation of the domain you send from. Check every new list before it goes into a sequence.
Pick: Clearout Starter, $19.50/mo · 3,000 credits, billed monthly ($16/mo billed annually). Run every new list through it before it goes into a sequence. Unused credits carry over to the next month. Visit Clearout ↗
Free alternative: Reoon Email Verifier Free tier, $0 · 20 verifications/day. Enough to spot-check small lists. One-time credit packs never expire if you need more. Visit Reoon Email Verifier ↗
3. Send outreach and follow-ups: SmartReach.io
A sequencing tool sends your first email and the follow-ups on a schedule and stops when someone replies, so nobody falls through the cracks.
Pick: SmartReach.io Email Outreach Basic, $29/mo · no per-seat pricing; yearly billing saves up to 11%. Covers email sequences with inbox rotation. Calling seats and LinkedIn automation are separate add-ons if you need them later. Visit SmartReach.io ↗ Affiliate link
Free alternative: Mailmeteor Free plan, $0 · 500 emails/mo. Mail merge from Gmail and Google Sheets. A simple way to send your first campaigns. Visit Mailmeteor ↗
Also worth a look: Saleshandy, Starter $34/mo billed annually ($41 monthly), 7-day free trial. Visit ↗ Affiliate link
Tool prices change every week. Get verified pricing changes and new tools in one free weekly email.
4. Track deals in a CRM: Pipedrive
Once you have a few conversations going, a spreadsheet stops working. A CRM shows every deal, its stage and your next step.
Pick: Pipedrive Lite, $14/mo · per seat, billed annually; 14-day free trial. A pipeline-focused CRM built for small and mid-sized teams. Growth is $39/seat/mo billed annually when you need more. Visit Pipedrive ↗ Affiliate link
Free alternative: HubSpot Sales Hub Free CRM, $0 · up to 2 users. A solid free CRM if you are not ready to pay yet. Visit HubSpot Sales Hub ↗
Also worth a look: Close, Solo $9/mo billed annually ($19 monthly) for 1 user; a CRM with built-in calling and email. Visit ↗ Affiliate link
5. Make calls: Quo (formerly OpenPhone)
A business number keeps sales calls and texts off your personal line and keeps a record of every conversation.
Pick: Quo (formerly OpenPhone) Starter, $19/mo · per user, billed monthly ($15/mo billed annually); one number per user; 7-day free trial. Calling and texting with shared numbers, AI call summaries and HubSpot and Salesforce integrations. Visit Quo (formerly OpenPhone) ↗
Free alternative: Google Voice Basic, $0 · US only, needs an existing mobile number. A free second number for calls and texts. Visit Google Voice ↗
Also worth a look: CallHippo, Starter $19/user/mo billed yearly ($25 monthly), 10-day free trial; a phone system with power and parallel dialers (check which plan includes the dialer you want). Visit ↗ Affiliate link
6. Book meetings: Calendly
A booking link ends the back-and-forth over email. Put it in your signature and your follow-up emails.
Pick: Calendly Standard, $10/mo · per seat, as displayed (yearly billing saves up to 20%). Start on Calendly's free plan and upgrade to Standard when you need more. Visit Calendly ↗
Free alternative: Cal.com Free for individuals, $0 · no usage limits for individuals. Open-source scheduling with booking pages. The free plan covers one person. Visit Cal.com ↗ Affiliate link
How we picked
For each step we looked for a tool with a published price, a free plan or free trial, and self-serve signup, so you can start today without a sales call. Where two tools were close, we chose the lower entry price. Every price on this page comes from the vendor's own pricing page and links to our listing, which shows the source and the date we checked it. How we verify prices.
What to add at 1, 5 and 20 reps
Your stack should grow with the team, not ahead of it. Here is what usually becomes worth paying for at each stage.
At 1 rep (you, the founder)
Use the stack above. Keep paid plans on monthly billing until you know which tools you actually use every week, and add a second paid tool only when the free plan is clearly holding you back.
- A separate domain and mailboxes for cold email, so outreach can't hurt your main domain. Cold email infrastructure providers compared
- Meeting notes, so you can focus on the conversation. Fathom (free plan with unlimited recordings). Free AI notetakers
At 5 reps
Now the job is keeping everyone working the same way: one pipeline, shared numbers, team scheduling and healthy sending domains.
- A CRM plan with automations and reporting. Pipedrive (Growth $39/seat/mo billed annually) or Close (Essentials $35/user/mo billed annually ($49 monthly)). Sales CRM pricing
- A shared business phone system. Quo (formerly OpenPhone) (Business $33/user/mo monthly ($23 annually)) or Aircall (Essentials $30/license/mo). Business phone system pricing
- Team scheduling with round-robin. Calendly (Teams $16/seat/mo) or Cal.com (Teams $12/user/mo billed yearly). Scheduling tool pricing
- Inbox warmup and deliverability monitoring. TrulyInbox (free for 1 account; paid from $22/mo billed annually) or Warmy (from $49/mo). Email warmup pricing
- Team meeting notes. Fathom (Team $15/user/mo billed annually (2-user minimum)). AI notetaker pricing
- More prospect data. Apollo.io (Basic $49/seat/mo billed annually). Email finder pricing
At 20 reps
At this size you are managing a sales team, not just a pipeline. The tools shift toward coaching, routing and volume, and someone should own the tool stack and the data in it.
- A sales engagement platform or CRM with a built-in dialer. Close (Scale $139/user/mo billed annually, with predictive dialer and live call coaching) or Apollo.io (Professional $79/seat/mo billed annually). Sales engagement pricing · Sales dialer pricing
- Call recording and coaching. Avoma (Organization $29 per recorder seat/mo billed annually (viewers free)) or Gong (no list prices shown; quote from sales). Conversation intelligence tools
- Inbound lead routing so demo requests reach the right rep fast. RevenueHero (from $25/user/mo plus a $79/mo platform fee billed yearly) or Chili Piper (Routing & Scheduling from $1,250/mo (up to 15 seats)). Chili Piper alternatives
- Cold email infrastructure at volume. Mailforge ($3 per mailbox slot/mo billed yearly (minimum 10 slots)). Cold email infrastructure providers
Prices in this section are the plans we'd look at for that team size, taken from each tool's listing. Open the tool page for every plan and the date we checked it.
Browse more: all small team friendly sales tools · how to choose your first CRM · how to set up cold email on a budget · phone systems for small business · AI notetakers for small teams · email marketing for small business · cheapest sales CRMs · cheapest cold email tools
FAQ
What sales tools does a startup need first?
Six jobs cover most early outbound: finding leads, verifying emails, sending outreach with follow-ups, tracking deals in a CRM, calling, and booking meetings. You can start all six on free plans and pay only where a free plan holds you back.
How much does a starter sales stack cost?
The paid picks on this page add up to $91.50/mo at each vendor's lowest published price (some of those prices need annual billing). The free alternatives add up to $0/mo. Domains, mailboxes and call minutes are extra.
Should I pay annually or monthly?
Annual billing is usually cheaper, but early on you are still finding out which tools you will keep. A sensible approach is to stay on monthly billing for the first few months, then switch the tools you use every day to annual.
Are these affiliate links?
Some are. Links marked as affiliate use rel="sponsored nofollow noopener", and we may earn a commission if you buy, at no extra cost to you. Affiliate status never changes which tools we pick or the prices we show. See our disclosure page.
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