Budget Email Outreach Tool: What to Buy for a 300-Contact Test

Size the test before you size the plan

A 300-contact test is small. At one message per contact, that is 300 sends. Starter at $18/month allows 2,000 emails, so a single month covers the test six times over. The plan is not the constraint at this size. Your list quality and your follow-up schedule are.

Work the arithmetic before you buy anything. One initial email to 300 contacts is 300 sends. Two follow-ups bring the total to 900. That still sits inside Starter at $18/month. If you plan four touches across 300 contacts, the count reaches 1,200 and Starter still holds. Only when you push past 2,000 sends in a month does Growth at $38/month become the cheaper route than stacking Starter months.

• Count every touch, not just the first email.
• Keep the first test to 300 contacts so replies are readable.
• Write the sequence before you pay for any plan.
• Check that your domain and one SMTP slot are ready.

If the plan math is unclear, the guide tocheap cold email softwarebreaks down what each tier actually covers.

What to buy first and what to defer

Buy the sending plan and nothing else. Starter at $18/month gives you 2,000 emails, one SMTP slot and AI assistance for drafting. That is enough to run a 300-contact test end to end. Add-ons that promise reply routing or campaign dashboards do not improve a first test, because you have no replies yet to route.

Defer Growth at $38/month until replies exist. Its reply inbox and API keys matter once you are answering people, not while you are waiting for the first one. Defer Scale at $78/month and Business at $198/month for the same reason. Each step adds volume and tooling you cannot use at 300 contacts. Spending on them early reduces the number of tests you can afford to run.

• Buy Starter at $18/month for the first 300 contacts.
• Hold Growth at $38/month until you have replies to manage.
• Skip bulk campaign tools until one sequence has been tested.
• Keep the saved budget for a second test list.

Before you commit to a tier, read how tobuy cold email softwarewithout overbuying on the first purchase.

The signal that tells you to upgrade

The upgrade signal is simple: you run out of sends before you run out of contacts. If a month ends and you have used the 2,000 emails in Starter at $18/month with a list still waiting, Growth at $38/month is the next step. It raises the ceiling to 10,000 emails and adds a reply inbox for the conversations the first test produced.

A second signal is operational. If you need a second SMTP slot to separate two sending domains, Starter cannot give it to you. Business at $198/month carries two slots, but that price only makes sense once volume justifies it. For most first tests, the volume signal arrives long before the slot signal. Watch the send count, not the feature list.

• Track sends used against sends remaining each month.
• Upgrade when the send ceiling is reached with contacts left.
• Do not upgrade on a single good reply.
• Recheck the published terms before each plan change.

If a second sending identity is the real blocker, comparecold email software with SMTPbefore moving up a tier.

A worked example at 300 contacts

Take one list of 300 contacts and three touches: initial, follow-up one, follow-up two. That is 900 sends in a month. Starter at $18/month covers it with 1,100 sends to spare. You could run a second 300-contact list in the same month and still stay inside the plan, reaching 1,800 sends in total.

Now suppose the test works and you want ten lists of 300 contacts with three touches each. That is 9,000 sends, which exceeds Starter and fits Growth at $38/month with 1,000 sends to spare. The price difference between the two plans is small; the decision rests on whether the first test earned a second one. Run the arithmetic on your own touch count before you decide.

• 300 contacts times three touches equals 900 sends.
• Two lists at that depth equal 1,800 sends, inside Starter.
• Ten lists at that depth equal 9,000 sends, which fits Growth.
• Recalculate when you change the number of touches.

Keep the test cheap by controlling scope

The cheapest way to test is to limit the sequence, not the plan. Three touches on 300 contacts costs the same as one touch on 900 contacts in send terms, but the first gives you a readable reply pattern per person. Keep the list at 300 and vary the message, not the volume. That keeps you on Starter at $18/month while you learn.

Set a review date before you start. If the month ends with sends remaining, the budget is already doing its job. If it ends with contacts left unsent, that is the moment to look at Growth at $38/month. Do not move to Scale at $78/month or Agency at $498/month until a tested sequence has produced a reason to send at that volume.

• Fix the list at 300 contacts for the first month.
• Change the message between tests, not the plan.
• Set a review date at the end of the billing month.
• Keep plan changes tied to send counts, not to feature lists.

Monthly plans that can carry a 300-contact test and the next step up

Every figure is the published monthly price; the lifetime deals sold elsewhere are separate, and code SALE20 takes 15% off those lifetime deals.

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