Mailshake

Mailshake is the simple, reliable choice when you don't need fancy features. The UI is clean, the learning curve is gentle, and it does cold email well without overcomplicating things. Phone and social touches are basic but functional. Pricing starts around $44/user/month with unlimited emails. Compare against: Lemlist for more advanced personalisation, Reply.io for stronger LinkedIn integration, or Woodpecker for European preference. Choose Mailshake when you value simplicity and reliability over feature depth. The deliverability monitoring is genuinely useful most teams discover their domain health issues here first. Team collaboration features are solid for small teams but lack the sophistication of enterprise tools. Best for companies who want to "just send good cold email" without becoming outreach specialists.

I adopted Mailshake in 2016 and valued its uncluttered approach. Uploading a CSV, mapping fields and scheduling emails took minutes, not hours. Automated stop rules prevented those awkward follow-ups after a prospect replied, so early campaigns felt polished with little effort.

As my outreach matured, I wanted richer personal touches and extra channels. Mailshake then lacked personalised images and deeper LinkedIn automation, which led me to switch to Lemlist in 2017. Lemlist’s creative features delivered higher reply rates but came with greater complexity and cost, making me appreciate Mailshake’s clean workflow whenever I revisited it.

Today Mailshake still excels at the fundamentals: reliable sending, integrated warm-up and straightforward A / B testing. For lean teams focused on email first, it remains a dependable choice that keeps things simple while covering deliverability and CRM sync. If your strategy revolves around plain-text cold emails and you prefer a tool that just works, Mailshake earns its place; if you need multi-channel artistry, you may look elsewhere.

Onboarding and setup

Sign up and connect email

Create your account, link Gmail, Outlook or SMTP, then run the deliverability checklist. Verify SPF, DKIM and DMARC, and enable warm-up so your domain ramps safely.

Configure sending limits

Set daily and hourly caps, choose work-day windows and define the action that pauses follow-ups, such as a reply or meeting booked.

Campaign building process

Import prospects

Upload a CSV or pull leads from your CRM. Map columns to built-in and custom fields, then run Mailshake’s validation to remove risky emails before sending.

Design sequences

Use the visual builder to draft an initial cold email and timed follow-ups. Thread follow-ups in the same conversation, add conditions for opens or clicks and schedule in the prospect’s timezone.
On Sales Engagement, insert dialler calls or LinkedIn tasks between emails for a light multi-channel cadence.

Personalisation tools

Merge tags and conditional text

Insert placeholders for name, company and custom data. Add if / then logic to adjust lines for different roles or industries, ensuring each email feels hand-written.

Templates, snippets and AI

Start with library templates, adapt wording and save high-performing versions for the team. Use snippets for reusable blocks and SHAKEspeare to draft copy when time is tight.

Deliverability features

Automated warm-up

Enable warm-up to send low-volume, interaction-rich emails that build domain reputation over a fortnight, then scale live campaigns.

List cleaning and rotation

Validate contacts on import, drop bad addresses and rotate multiple inboxes to spread volume while keeping each account under safe limits.

CRM and integrations

Two-way sync

Connect HubSpot, Salesforce or Pipedrive so emails, opens and replies log automatically.
Use Calendly or meeting tool hooks to pause sequences once a call is booked, preventing duplicate outreach.

Zapier and API

For apps without native links, trigger zaps such as posting replies to Slack or adding new sheet rows to a campaign, keeping workflows cohesive.

Comparing Mailshake to advanced tools

Strength in simplicity

Mailshake offers solid email automation, deliverability and CRM sync at modest cost, suiting small-to-mid B2B teams that prioritise speed over bells and whistles.

Limitations to note

It lacks deep multi-channel cadence, visual personalisation and enterprise analytics found in platforms like Outreach or Lemlist. When your outreach demands those extras, be ready to graduate to a richer toolset.

Conclusion

Mailshake delivers a streamlined route from list to inbox. Follow the warm-up routine, use validation, craft concise personalised copy and integrate with your CRM. For teams that want dependable cold email outreach without unnecessary complexity, Mailshake remains a practical, budget-friendly choice that converts prospects into meetings.