How much does outbound lead generation cost per month in 2026?
Outbound lead generation costs anywhere from free to many thousands of dollars a month, depending on whether you run it yourself or pay someone to run it. Our own prices are public. The gtm showrunner software costs 140 USD a month for Solo, 370 USD for Growth and 970 USD for Team, all month to month, and there's a free start. If you want the whole thing done for you, our team at GTM Ventures runs it in three-month packages.
We put plain prices on the pricing page because founders kept asking what this costs before they'd book a call. Fair question. Here's what you're buying at each level, what done for you looks like, and the costs that don't show up on anyone's pricing page until you're already running.
What you're buying
Strip away the tools and you're buying one thing: booked conversations with the people you want to sell to or raise from. Everything else, the lists, the mailboxes, the copy, the scheduling, is a means to that.
In our case, the conversations come through a show. We invite your ideal buyers onto your show instead of pitching them, draft every reply, book them, prep you, and help turn the yes into a deal. That replaces a lead tool, a sending tool, a scheduler, a studio and a booking agency. When you compare prices, compare against that whole stack, not one tool.
Self-serve plans and what each covers
Free. Connect Gmail and get about 10 invites a day, written for you and saved as Gmail drafts you send yourself, plus your show starter. Nothing is sent without you. This is the right place to start if you want to see whether the invite works for your audience before paying anything.
Solo, 140 USD a month. One founder, one show. About 1,000 checked prospects a month, every reply drafted for you, booking, prep docs and your studio. It sends from your own accounts, so you bring the mailboxes.
Growth, 370 USD a month. Everything in Solo, about 3,000 checked prospects a month, and our warmed mailboxes included, plus priority support. Most founders pick this one, because it runs every week without you buying domains or waiting two weeks for warmup.
Team, 970 USD a month. Everything in Growth, about 10,000 checked prospects a month, three seats, more domains and volume, CRM sync and an onboarding call. It's for a team selling to more than one kind of buyer.
All plans are billed monthly and you can cancel anytime. And you keep every episode, list and relationship even if you leave.
Done for you: three-month packages
If you'd rather not run it at all, our team at GTM Ventures runs the whole engine: the domains and warmed mailboxes, the list, the copy, the sequences, and a weekly sync where we read the replies with you.
These are three-month packages. The entry package is 15,000 USD, and that number is the total for the three months, paid once, not a monthly fee. It covers one ideal customer profile. You approve the messaging, and every relationship and conversation stays yours.
On the done-for-you packages, our pricing page carries this line, word for word: "At least 12 booked meetings with your ideal guests in 90 days, or we keep running the engine free until you get there. We extend, we don't refund." The condition is on the same page: it only counts if you approve copy fast and show up to the weekly sync.
The costs people forget
This is where outbound budgets get surprised. On our October 9 done-for-you webinar we were specific: on top of the engagement, expect about 200 to 300 USD a month in software. That covers the sending and sequencing tool, the email delivery service, the domains (a one-time purchase from a registrar) and the recording studio. The client owns all of those accounts, so if you leave after three months you take the whole system with you.
If you build it yourself, here are the lines to budget for:
- Domains. You need several alternate domains. Never send cold email from your main one.
- Mailboxes. The setup we teach uses about 100 mailboxes across five or six domains, so each one sends at a modest, human pace.
- Warmup time. About two weeks before a new mailbox sends real volume. That's a cost in time, not dollars, but it delays your first leads.
- List and verification. A lead source, plus a verification service to clean the list. Bounces hurt new mailboxes fast.
- Your time. Reading replies, booking calls, running the conversations. This is the biggest cost and it never shows up on an invoice.
On the gtm showrunner plans, extra prospects and usage beyond your plan are billed at what they cost us plus a small margin. Or you can bring your own keys and pay a small platform fee. You see every line.
Why volume drives the price
There's a quote from our Escape Velocity sessions that sits on our pricing page: "Volume is the answer." It's why the plans scale by checked prospects. A show-led pipeline works because you're reaching enough of the right people for the math to work. Our ROI calculator assumes about 1 booked conversation for every 100 prospects, below what our own campaigns see, on purpose. At 1,000 prospects a month, that's about 10 conversations. At 3,000, about 30.
That's also how to choose a plan. Don't start with the price. Start with how many conversations you need a month to hit your goal, and work backward.
Software or done for you?
The honest answer depends on your time and your appetite for operations. If you enjoy tuning lists and copy, or you have someone on the team who does, the software plans give you the whole engine for the cost of a few hours of a consultant. If you'd rather spend your time only on the conversations, done for you means our team runs the domains, list, copy and sequences, and you show up to the weekly sync and the calls.
Many founders start with the free plan or Solo to see whether their audience says yes to the invite, then decide. That's a reasonable path. The worst option is the one in between: buying tools, half-running them, and concluding outbound doesn't work.
What a cheap quote usually leaves out
When you compare quotes, ask four questions. Who owns the domains and mailboxes? Who owns the list? What happens to the conversations if you leave? And what's the term? A low monthly price with a long lock-in, or with the vendor keeping your sending accounts, can cost more than it looks. We'd rather you keep everything and stay because it's working.
How to work out payback for your numbers
Price only matters next to what a customer is worth to you. If your deal is worth a few hundred dollars, outbound of any kind is hard to make pay. If it's worth several thousand or more, a handful of closed deals covers months of cost.
The cleanest way to decide is to run your numbers: your deal size, your close rate, your plan. Our ROI calculator shows your payback month, the return per dollar and your cost per client won, with a cautious funnel and a slow first month already built in.
If you want to compare plans side by side, everything above is on the pricing page.
Frequently asked questions
What does a cold email agency cost?
It varies widely. Our done-for-you entry package through GTM Ventures is 15,000 USD for three months, paid once, plus about 200 to 300 USD a month in software that you own. Self-serve gtm showrunner plans are 140, 370 or 970 USD a month.
Do I own the domains and lists?
Yes. On done for you, the client owns every software account. On gtm showrunner you keep every episode, list and relationship even if you leave.
Is there a free way to start?
Yes. Connect Gmail and get about 10 invites a day written for you and saved as Gmail drafts you send yourself, plus your show starter.
What happens if I go over my plan?
Extra prospects and usage are billed at what they cost us plus a small margin, or you can bring your own keys and pay a small platform fee. You see every line.