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The more emails you send, the more difficult it becomes to send (personalized) follow-ups for each recipient.
And since you are here, then you have realized that manually taking follow-ups is just a waste of time.
As of now, the market is overflowing with software that can take follow-ups for you automatically.
But if you don’t want to end up with the wrong tool, then this blog is for you.
I have invested quite a lot of time in checking out these email follow-up software, how they work, and whether they are even helpful.
So……feel free to leverage my research!!
AI Lead Gen Tools – TOC
TL;DR – Best Email Follow-Up Software out There
| Klenty Alternative | Best for | User Ratings (G2) | Entry Pricing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saleshandy | Startups, Agencies, SMBs, Solopreneurs, and Outreach Professionals. | 4.6⭐/5 | $25/mo |
| Snov.io | Solopreneurs, Freelancers, Recruitment Agency, and SMBs. | 4.6⭐/5 | $55 per month |
| Smartlead | Medium to Large-Sized Businesses, Sales Teams, and Funded Startups. | 4.6⭐/5 | Custom pricing |
Detailed Review of 7 Best Email Follow-Up Software
Before creating a list of these tools, I made sure these tools have the following features,
- Allow you to create fully automated follow-up sequences (non-negotiable)
- It can allow you to set conditional follow-ups
- Have a great customer support
Based on the above criteria, here’s the sequence of my most recommended email follow-up software:
1. Saleshandy
Best for:
Startups, Agencies, SMBs, Solopreneurs, and Outreach Professionals.
User Rating
G2: 4.6/5 ⭐ (665+ reviews)
Capterra: 4.5/5 ⭐ (125+ reviews)
How Saleshandy Help With Automated Email Follow-Ups?
If you want to set up a completely automated email follow-up system, then Saleshandy is the best pick for you.
Usually, it gets difficult to add a touch of personalization in your follow-up emails, but in Saleshandy, you can create hyper-personalized follow-up emails.
The best part – you can even create multiple variants of your follow-up email with AI in just one click!!
Pretty amazing, right?
But there’s more.
Many times, you get out-of-office responses, and it is difficult to track the availability of each prospect.
But Saleshandy has an AI feature that analyzes those out-of-office replies and schedules your next follow-up email one day after the person has returned.
Recently, Saleshandy has also launched its mobile app. Hence, you can directly send an urgent reply or take a quick follow-up anytime.
FYI – Saleshandy allows you to A/Z test your emails. Hence, You can create up to 26 follow-up variants and see what works best for you.
Here’s an honest Saleshandy review if you want a detailed look!
Pros
- Hyper-personalization with AI-generated email variants.
- Out-of-office AI detection for timely follow-ups without manual tracking.
- Take follow-ups on-the-go with Saleshandy Mobile app.
- A/Z testing (up to 26 variants) optimizes campaign performance.
- Graphical performance reports and analytics.
- GDPR & SOC 2 Type II compliant.
Cons
- Only a 7-day free trial is available.
Pricing
- Outreach Starter – $25/month
- 10K emails/month + 100 Lead Finder Credits
- Outreach PRO – $74/month
- 125K emails/month + 500 Lead Finder Credits
- Outreach Scale – $149/month
- 250K emails/month
- Outreach Scale Plus – $219/month
- 350K emails/month
2. Snov.io
Best for:
Solopreneurs, Freelancers, Recruitment Agency, and SMBs.
User Rating
G2: 4.6/5 ⭐ (445+ reviews)
Capterra: 4.5/5 ⭐ (210+ reviews)
How Snov.io Help With Email Follow-Ups?
Snov.io is one of the best sales automation platforms that will surely satisfy your need to set up logical email follow-ups.
Why is it logical?
Because Snov allows you to set up triggers based on the recipient’s interactions with your email.
This helps you send very relevant follow-ups without your intervention.
The best part is that it’s very easy to create these follow-up email sequences in Snov. It took me around 5 minutes to figure out and set up the conditions. (Check the screenshot below)
Snov.io’s follow-up features are not just limited to emails, it goes to LinkedIn also.
This helps a lot when your email outreach is not working, and the prospect is a high ticket. In such cases, you can try your luck by reaching out via LinkedIn.
Pros
- Easy-to-use interface.
- Multi-channel follow-ups (email + LinkedIn).
- Better for lead generation with built-in email finder tools.
Cons
- Pricing jumps significantly from Trial ($0) to Starter ($30) to Pro ($75), which may deter budget-conscious users.
- A little slow customer support.
Pricing
- Trial: Free
- Starter: $30 per month
- Pro: Starting from $75 per month
3. Smartlead
Best for:
Medium to Large-Sized Businesses, Sales Teams, and Funded Startups.
User Rating
G2: 4.6/5 ⭐ (220+ reviews)
Capterra: 4.3/5 ⭐ (5+ reviews)
How Smartlead Help With Email Follow-Ups?
The approach for taking follow-up emails is a little different in Smartlead.
Why? Because you have to create subsequences to cater to different use cases and conditions.
For example, if you want to send automated replies or follow-ups based on specific phrases or intents (like in the screenshot below), then you can create specific subsequences.
These subsequences will automatically move the prospects into the sending list if their messages where the prospects would be moved if they match the conditions.
Just make sure that you avoid overpaying Smartlead because it has a very tricky pricing structure. Many users have complained about it on forums like Reddit.
For more details, check out Smartlead review.
Pros
- You can create intent-based follow-ups with the help of subsequences.
- Works well for larger teams with unlimited email warmups.
- Strong deliverability suite.
Cons
- Pricing can be confusing and is little expensive for smaller teams.
- Poor user experience (outdated UI).
Pricing
- Basic Plan: $39/month
- Pro Plan: $94/month
- Custom Plan: $174/month onwards
4. Woodpecker
Best for:
Freelancers, Solopreneurs, Startups, and Sales Teams.
User Rating
G2: 4.4/5 ⭐ (85+ reviews)
Capterra: 4.5/5 ⭐ (30+ reviews)
How Woodpecker Help With Email Follow-Ups?
Woodpecker is an email outreach tool with all the necessary email follow-up features that can save you time.
You can personalize your emails with merge tags so they don’t look like automated emails.
Also, Woodpecker allows you to A/B test your follow-up emails (which helps in improving your conversions).
Coming to the interesting part, Woodpecker allows you to apply conditions on your follow-up emails.
When I tried using Woodpecker, I went ahead to check whether the email sequence is easy to create or not.
And you will be surprised: Woodpecker has one of the most intuitive interfaces.
If you take a look at the following screenshot, you can easily understand the logic behind it. In fact, you can even predict when the follow–up condition will get triggered.
Pros
- Intuitive interface makes sequence creation a breeze.
- Advanced triggers to set follow-ups.
- Merge tags and A/B testing enhance personalization and performance.
- High deliverability with built-in email verification.
Cons
- Limited email warmup compared to tools like Smartlead.
- No mobile app for on-the-go management.
- Extra charges for small addons like integrations, warm-ups, and whitelabeling.
Pricing
- Starter: $20/month
- Growth: $126/month
- Scale: $903/month
If you feel that Woodpecker’s pricing is an issue, then check out these Woodpecker alternatives for better options.
5. Instantly
Best for:
Marketers, Agencies, Medium-Sized Businesses, and Startups.
User Rating
G2: 4.8/5 ⭐ (3610+ reviews)
Trustpilot: 4.1/5 ⭐ (360+ reviews)
How Instantly Help With Email Follow-Ups?
I would like to warn you a bit ahead. If you have budget issues, skip Instantly.
Because it’s a bit costly and does not provide many basic email follow-up features in the basic plan. Especially the subsequences feature.
If you look at the brighter side, Instantly has all the features that you would need to set up conditional follow-up sequences.
For example, if you are getting a reply that you have contacted the wrong person, you can automate a reply to such intent by creating a subsequence in Instantly. I’ve shown how in the following screenshot.
Also, when it comes to interface and user experience, Instantly falls behind other tools in this list. Its UI/UX is pretty old and many users have shown contempt towards it.
Pros
- Robust subsequence feature for conditional follow-ups.
- Add and warm-up unlimited email accounts.
- Advanced deliverability features.
- Built-in CRM.
- AI features for personalization.
Cons
- Agencies have to pay $76/month for adding each client.
- Outdated UI/UX frustrates some users.
- High-tier plans (e.g., $286.3/mo) are overkill for small teams.
Pricing
- Growth: $30/mo
- Hypergrowth: $77.6/mo
- Light Speed: $286.3/mo
Note: You will get complete follow-up features (including subsequences in Hyper-Growth and Light Speed plan)
You can check out Instantly alternatives if you’re not happy with Instantly’s pricing and features.
6. Reply.io
Best for:
Small to Medium-Sized Businesses, Lead Generation Agencies, and Startups.
User Rating
G2: 4.6/5 ⭐ (1390+ reviews)
Capterra: 4.5/5 ⭐ (95+ reviews)
How Reply.io Help With Email Follow-Ups?
As the name suggests, Reply.io is built for creating personalized replies and follow-ups for your cold emails.
There’s one thing about Reply.io – You will love using it. Its UI is nice and is a feast for your eyes.
Why am I so moved? Because I tried creating a conditional follow-up sequence in Reply.io. (And I liked it a lot)
Coming to the follow-up part. You can create follow-ups in a flow-chart type interface, which makes it easier for you to understand how the email’s flow is going around.
The best part – It has an AI sequence builder and reply handling feature.
All you need to do is tell the AI about your needs, and it will create a cold outreach sequence that is customized as per your ICP.
And all this comes with the basic plan itself. So you don’t have to pay extra for any basic email outreach-related feature.
Check out Reply.io alternatives if you are not convinced with the features.
Pros
- Stunning flowchart-type UI for email sequence creation.
- AI sequence builder.
- Multichannel options (email, LinkedIn, etc.) enhance reach.
Cons
- Higher entry price ($49/mo) compared to competitors like Saleshandy.
- Learning curve for beginners due to feature depth.
Pricing
- Email Volume Plan: Starting at $49/month
- Multichannel Plan: $89/user/month
- Agency Plan: $166/user/month
- AI SDR Plan: Starting at $300 per month
7. Followup.cc
Best for:
Sales Reps, Startups, and Individuals.
User Rating
G2: 4.8/5 ⭐ (2 reviews)
Capterra: No reviews
How Followup.cc Help With Email Follow-Ups?
If you don’t want to get into the complicacy of using tools, then Followup.cc is the best option for you.
It’s a lightweight Chrome extension that helps you schedule your follow-up emails from Gmail.
Followup.cc allows you to add notes/tags in conversations. This helps you avoid missing out on any important details.
It’s all good; it works well, but you have to schedule every follow-up email manually.
This is one of the reasons why I have kept this software last on this list.
Also, it works with only Gmail. So, if you’re using Outlook, Yahoo, or any other ESP, then you can only set reminders.
The best part – Its dashboard has a live activity feed, which helps you check the performance of your emails in real time.
Their UI is a bit vintage, but its features are top-notch. You can rely on FollowUp.cc for efficient email management and consistent follow-ups.
Pros
- Simple Chrome extension to send follow-ups from Gmail.
- Its live activity feed provides real-time performance insights.
Cons
- Manual scheduling lacks full automation, unlike other tools.
- Majorly limited to Gmail only.
- Its UI is very old.
Pricing
- Starter: $18 per month
- Professional: $29 per month
- Salesforce Edition: $40 per month
Follow-Ups Should Be Easy!!!
If you are still reading this, then you are likely confused (unless you are just here to scout this blog).
In any case, if you like the concept of automated follow-ups, then Saleshandy is your home.
All you need to do is invest 10 minutes in creating your email sequence.
Then you can simply add prospects and give a prompt reply to their responses.
FAQs
How to automate follow-up emails?
Well, the easiest way to automate the process of writing and scheduling follow-up emails is by using an outreach tool like Saleshandy. These tools have advanced features that help you add follow-up emails based on sending settings like conditions & triggers.
Apart from automating this, they also have various features like personalization, testing & reporting that help you improve your overall cold email outreach success.
Should I send follow-ups even if I don’t get any response from the first mail?
Yes, you should send 3-4 follow-ups before giving up on a prospect. If you take follow-up at the right time with a personalized approach, then you are likely to increase the response rate by 28%.
How to write Follow-up Emails that generate responses?
It’s a very delicate task to write follow-up emails that bring you positive responses and high engagement. But to answer this, personalization is the key to get the best out of your follow-ups.
If you want to know more, check out our blog on writing a follow-up email with examples.
How do I send follow-up emails automatically?
You can automate follow-up emails using cold email automation software like Saleshandy. It allows you to pre-schedule emails that will automatically be sent based on system-set triggers, such as if someone has not replied for 2-3 days.
What are a few common benefits of using email follow-up software?
Besides saving tons of time and effort, email follow-up automation software has several other benefits, including:
- Automate repetitive tasks
- Increased response rates because of consistent follow-ups
- Enhanced email personalization
- Better prospect relationships
- Higher engagement
