How this page was made. Every figure was read from each vendor's own pages on 19 September 2026 and is linked at the bottom. emailcampaign.ai is the third column and the publisher of this page; where Instantly or Woodpecker is the better choice, the page says so. Prices change; check the linked pages before buying.
Instantly counts emails and contacts; Woodpecker counts contacted prospects, $7 per hundred from $35 a month for 500. Both give you unlimited email accounts under the plan. From there they diverge: Instantly bundles warm-up and sells pre-warmed Google accounts, while Woodpecker sells almost everything as an add-on, from warm-up beyond the free slots at $5 a mailbox to the API at $20 and white-label at $5 a client. Which is cheaper depends entirely on what you attach.
Side by side
| Instantly | Woodpecker | emailcampaign.ai | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $37.60 a month annual ($47 monthly) for 5,000 emails and 1,000 contacts | $35 a month for 500 contacted prospects; annual billing charges eight months for twelve | Free 14-day trial; Basic $39 a month; Pro $94 a month |
| Pricing model | Plan by emails and contacts; unlimited email accounts and warm-up; pre-warmed Google accounts $10 each a month in batches of five, domains $15 a year | Per contacted prospect ($7 per 100); unlimited team members and email accounts free; add-ons for warm-up beyond the free slots ($5 a mailbox), LinkedIn ($29), API and integrations ($20), agency panel ($27 a client) and white-label ($5 a client) | Plan by emails per month; unlimited mailboxes and warm-up on every plan; infrastructure at cost plus $5 setup per mailbox |
| Provisions mailboxes and domains | Yes, Google only: pre-warmed accounts with DNS pre-configured; Instantly retains domain ownership and administrator access | Yes: Google or Microsoft addresses $6 a month each, Maildoso, Mailforge, Infraforge or Azure $4; new domains about $1 a month billed annually; an Infraforge dedicated server $59 a month | Yes: domains (about $12 a year), Google Workspace seats ($8.40 a month), Microsoft 365 seats at Microsoft's rate, or self-hosted servers from $39 a month; you own the domains and accounts |
| DNS | Pre-configured on provisioned accounts | SPF and DKIM set up on bought addresses; DMARC not stated; bought domains usable only inside Woodpecker | SPF, DKIM (selectors read from the provider), DMARC and postmaster records written through the registrar and shown before they go live |
| Warm-up | Included, unlimited | Free slots per plan, then $5 a mailbox a month; wait three to five days before starting warm-up on new addresses | Included, unlimited, with a maintenance level after the ramp; never reaches your inbox |
| Placement test | Yes, a separate Inbox Placement product with 25 free credits | None found; domain audit and deliverability monitoring | Yes, per mailbox at Gmail and Outlook |
| White-label | Hypergrowth ($77.60) and Light Speed plans: custom domain and logo for a client portal; clients with campaign access see every campaign in the workspace | Client reporting app on your domain, $5 a month per active client, plus the $27 agency panel | Yes: a complete webmail and admin console on the client's own domain, plus dashboard branding |
| Reviews | G2 4.8 from 4,134; Trustpilot score withheld, 1,165 reviews with 25 percent one-star | G2 4.5 from 104; Capterra 4.5 from 33; Trustpilot 2.5 from 34 with 62 percent one-star | New listing; reviews being gathered |
| Best for | Teams that already own their mailboxes and want the largest community and template library | Teams that think in contacted prospects rather than emails, and agencies wanting cheap client reporting | Teams that want the mailboxes, domains, DNS and warm-up done for them behind one approval, and agencies that need a client-branded door |
| Watch out for | Provisioned domains stay owned by Instantly; reviews report features behind paywalls that only appear after purchase and pre-warmed domains arriving with poor reputation | Reviews report charges after cancellation and multi-day support; the API is a paid add-on; bought domains cannot leave | The recommended 8 to 10 sends a day per mailbox means volume comes from fleet size; if you want 100 a day from one mailbox, nothing here will let you |
Where Instantly is stronger
Included rather than added. Unlimited warm-up is in the plan; Woodpecker gives free slots per plan, charges $5 a mailbox beyond them, and asks you to wait three to five days before warming a new address. The API is included; Woodpecker's is a $20 add-on.
Volume per dollar. $37.60 a month buys 5,000 emails and 1,000 contacts; Woodpecker's $35 buys 500 contacted prospects, and annual billing charges eight months for twelve.
Ecosystem. 4,134 G2 reviews at 4.8, a placement-test product and a community; Woodpecker has 104 G2 reviews and no placement test.
Where Woodpecker is stronger
Provider choice on provisioning. Google or Microsoft addresses at $6 a month, Maildoso, Mailforge, Infraforge or Azure at $4, domains at about $1 a month billed annually, and an Infraforge dedicated server at $59. Instantly's add-on is Google only.
Cheap client reporting. A white-label reporting app on your domain at $5 a month per active client plus the $27 agency panel, against Instantly's portal from the $77.60 plan.
A listed company. Woodpecker is a public company in Poland, which some buyers value for continuity and disclosure.
Where emailcampaign.ai fits
emailcampaign.ai answers the ownership question that both leave open: Instantly retains domain ownership and administrator access on provisioned accounts, and Woodpecker's bought domains can be used only inside Woodpecker. emailcampaign.ai registers domains and creates Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 mailboxes in your name, with DNS written and confirmed before use, warm-up included with no per-mailbox fee, and a full client-branded webmail for agencies. It caps each mailbox at 8 to 10 cold emails a day and is new to the review sites.
Decide by the question you are asking
- “We think in prospects, not emails.” Woodpecker.
- “We want warm-up and the API without add-on fees.” Instantly or emailcampaign.ai.
- “We need Microsoft mailboxes provisioned.” Woodpecker or emailcampaign.ai.
- “We want to keep the domains if we leave.” emailcampaign.ai.
- “Cheapest white-label for a small agency.” Woodpecker at $5 a client plus $27; emailcampaign.ai includes a full client door in the plan.
Sources: Instantly: Pricing · Instantly: Pre-warmed accounts · Instantly: White-label · Woodpecker: Pricing · Woodpecker: Buying domains and addresses · Woodpecker: Trustpilot · emailcampaign.ai: Pricing · emailcampaign.ai: Infrastructure ·
Questions, answered straight
- Which is cheaper?
- For a team sending 5,000 emails a month to 1,000 contacts from ten mailboxes with warm-up on all of them: Instantly, at $37.60. At Woodpecker, $35 covers 500 contacted prospects, so 1,000 prospects is $70, plus warm-up on any mailbox beyond the free slots at $5 each. For a team contacting 300 prospects with deep sequences, Woodpecker's $35 can be the cheaper line.
- Do both provision mailboxes?
- Yes. Instantly: pre-warmed Google accounts at $10 each in batches of five, DNS pre-configured, Instantly keeps the domain. Woodpecker: Google or Microsoft at $6, other providers at $4, SPF and DKIM set, DMARC not stated, domains usable only inside Woodpecker.
- What do reviewers complain about?
- Instantly: features behind paywalls that appear after purchase, charges after cancellation, AI-only support; Trustpilot withholds its score. Woodpecker: charges after cancellation and multi-day support; Trustpilot 2.5 from 34 reviews with 62 percent one-star. Read both before entering a card.
Published 19 September 2026. Updated 19 September 2026. Written by the team that runs the infrastructure; numbers come from the platform's own provisioning and sending, and from the providers' published documentation at the time of writing.