What is an email sequence, and which kind of tool sends it?
An email sequence is a set of emails that go out on a schedule, one step after another, and stop when the person replies, books or opts out. Which tool you need depends on who receives it, because the software and the rules differ for people who asked to hear from you and people who didn't.
| Who gets the sequence | Tool type | Examples checked 4 Nov 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Cold prospects who never signed up | Mail-merge add-on for your inbox, or a cold email platform | Mailmeteor, Instantly |
| Leads and deals your team is already working | CRM or sales platform with sequences | HubSpot Sales Hub, Apollo |
| Signups and subscribers who opted in | Email marketing platform | Kit, Mailchimp |
Keep cold prospects out of marketing platforms. Mailchimp's Acceptable Use Policy (updated 26 September 2025) says you must be able to point to an opt-in form or other evidence of consent for any commercial or marketing email, and bans campaigns to purchased, rented, third-party or publicly available data lists. It adds: "Spam can be in the form of bulk emails or one to one commercial emails." Read your own provider's policy before you import a list.
Which email sequence tool fits a small B2B team?
Six options, by the plan where sequences or follow-ups start, from each vendor's own pages on 4 November 2026, in US dollars. Prices change, so check before you buy.
| Tool | Type | Sequences start on | Price shown | Limits the page states |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mailmeteor | Gmail and Outlook add-on | Premium (follow-ups are listed as a Premium addition) | $17.99 per user a month, or $161.99 a user a year | 30,000 emails a month, 1,000 a day; the plan grid lists 5 email follow-ups (10 on Professional) |
| Instantly | Cold email platform | Growth, the entry Outreach plan | $47 a month, or $37.60 a month billed yearly | 5,000 emails monthly, 1,000 uploaded contacts, unlimited email accounts and warmup |
| Apollo | Contact data plus sequencing | Free (2 sequences per team); Basic and up list unlimited sequences | Basic $65 a seat a month, or $49 a seat a month billed annually | 250 email sends a day on Free and Basic; free plans can connect Gmail accounts only |
| HubSpot Sales Hub | CRM | Professional and Enterprise, per HubSpot's help article | Professional starts at $90 a seat a month, with $100 struck through, plus a required one-time $1,500 onboarding fee | 5,000 sequences per account; up to 500 or 1,000 email sends per user a day, by plan |
| Kit | Email marketing for subscribers | Creator (Kit's help says email sequences need a paid plan) | From $39 a month for up to 1,000 subscribers; annual billing gives 2 months free ($39 × 10 = $390 a year) | Free plan up to 10,000 subscribers |
| Siela AI | CRM with email sequences, plus an AI SDR | Every account | No plans or seats: $10 of credit once, then top-ups of $50 to $2,000 | Lead Finder emails up to 100 per Gmail mailbox a day |
Sources: Mailmeteor pricing, Instantly pricing, Apollo pricing, HubSpot Sales Hub pricing, HubSpot's sequences help article (updated 30 October 2026) and Kit's help pages on Creator vs Pro and the Free plan (both updated 23 September 2026). HubSpot's Professional card gives two billing choices, Pay Monthly (commit annually) and Pay Annually, so either one commits you for a year, and the help article says a Sales or Service seat is needed to use sequences. Kit's two free months come to $78 a year (2 × $39). Instantly sells lead data separately: Growth Credits are $47 a month for 1,500 to 2,000 credits. Our Apollo pricing breakdown covers its credits and seat minimums.
Siela's credit doesn't expire and there is no fixed price per lead, so it isn't in the cost table below. Its built-in CRM with email sequences also runs bulk campaigns with open and click tracking, and HubSpot or Salesforce can be connected.
Whatever the tool, the mailbox has its own ceiling. Google's Gmail sending limits for Google Workspace list 2,000 messages a day per user (1,500 for mail merge, 500 for trial accounts) and 3,000 external recipients a day, counted over a rolling 24 hours. For Smartlead and lemlist next to Instantly, see our entry-plan comparison of Instantly, Smartlead and lemlist.
What does a year of email sequence software cost?
At founder volume, a mail-merge add-on or a cold email platform works out at 3 to 5 cents an email in the example below, and CRM sequences at about 34 to 36 cents. The example uses a sample company:
Northwind Ltd has two founders, each with a Google Workspace mailbox. They start 300 new prospects a month on a three-email sequence: 900 emails a month (300 × 3), 10,800 a year, or about 41 a working day (900 ÷ 22). That is under every sending limit in the table above and far below Google's 2,000 a day.
| Option for Northwind | Cost for a year | Per email (÷ 10,800) |
|---|---|---|
| Mailmeteor Premium, 2 users, yearly | 2 × $161.99 = $323.98 | $0.030 |
| Mailmeteor Premium, 2 users, monthly | 2 × $17.99 × 12 = $431.76 | $0.040 |
| Instantly Growth, billed yearly | 12 × $37.60 = $451.20 | $0.042 |
| Instantly Growth, monthly | 12 × $47 = $564 | $0.052 |
| HubSpot Sales Hub Professional, 2 seats at $90 | 2 × $90 × 12 + $1,500 = $3,660 | $0.339 |
| HubSpot Sales Hub Professional, 2 seats at the struck-through $100 | 2 × $100 × 12 + $1,500 = $3,900 | $0.361 |
What the table leaves out:
- The contact limit. Instantly Growth lists 1,000 uploaded contacts. Northwind adds 300 people a month, so it passes 1,000 in month four (300 × 4 = 1,200). Ask Instantly how the limit is counted before you choose it.
- Lead data. None of the add-on or platform prices include finding addresses. Instantly's Growth Credits would add 12 × $47 = $564 a year.
- What else you get. HubSpot's pricing page says its Smart CRM comes with any paid HubSpot subscription; if you would buy Sales Hub Professional anyway, the sequences cost nothing extra. If you only need the emails, the first four rows do the same job for 6.5 to 11 times less per email ($0.339 ÷ $0.052 and $0.339 ÷ $0.030).
Email sequence examples you can copy
Three sequences cover most of what a small B2B team sends. The cold one is already written up in our guide to cold email sequences that get replies, so copy the other two from here. Acme, Priya and [product] are sample names; fill in the brackets.
| Sequence | Who gets it | Steps | Stops when | Tool type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cold outreach | Good-fit people who haven't heard from you | Day 1, 4 and 8, then an optional close-out | Reply, bounce or opt-out | Add-on or cold email platform |
| New signup | People who created an account | Day 0, 2, 5 and 9 | They finish setup or book a call | Email marketing platform or your CRM |
| Demo no-show | People who booked a demo and didn't join | Same day, day 2 and day 6 | They rebook | CRM sequence |
Each email has one job and one question, and the last one says it's the last. For follow-ups to people who stay quiet, and answers to out-of-office, referral and not-now replies, see our cold email follow-up templates.
What must every email in a sequence include?
A way to opt out, your postal address and an honest subject, in every step, not just the first. The FTC's CAN-SPAM compliance guide says: "The law makes no exception for business-to-business email."
- Every step counts. The guide says each separate email in violation is subject to penalties of up to $53,088, and that the message must include your valid physical postal address.
- Opt-outs. You must honour an opt-out request within 10 business days, so remove the person from every sequence, not only the one they replied to.
- Stop rules. HubSpot's help article says contacts who reply to a sequence email or schedule a meeting are automatically unenrolled. Mailmeteor describes its follow-ups as going to recipients who haven't responded, opened or clicked. Test yours: enrol your own address, reply, and check that step 2 never arrives.
- Don't branch on opens. Privacy features and security scanners make opens unreliable, as our guide to whether open tracking hurts deliverability explains. Branch on replies and clicks instead.
This is a summary of US rules, not legal advice. Rules for recipients in the UK and EU differ.
Set up your first sequence this week
Decide who the sequence is for
Opted-in signups go to a marketing platform or your CRM. Cold prospects go to a tool that sends from your own mailbox.
Check the plan, not the product
Find the row for sequences or follow-ups on the vendor's pricing page. On three of the six tools above, the cheapest plan doesn't include them.
Write every step before step 1 goes out
One job per email, the stop rule written down, and the opt-out line and address in the footer.
Send to 50 people and count by step
Note which step each reply came from. Instantly's 2025 benchmark data put 58% of replies on step one, so if yours come late, rewrite email 1 first.
Frequently asked questions
What is it called when you have a series of emails?
Usually an email sequence. Marketers also say drip campaign, autoresponder series or nurture sequence, and sales tools often say cadence. HubSpot and Kit both call the feature sequences, and Mailmeteor describes sequences across several days, such as drip campaigns or onboarding sequences. The name matters less than the parts: the steps, the gap between them and the rule that stops it.
Is there a free email sequence tool?
Yes, with limits, among the tools we checked on 4 November 2026. Apollo's Free plan includes 2 sequences per team and can connect Gmail accounts only. Mailmeteor's free plan sends 500 emails a month, but its follow-ups start on Premium. Kit's help says email sequences need a paid plan. For more than a couple of live sequences, expect to pay.
Can you use Mailchimp for cold email sequences?
No. Mailchimp's Acceptable Use Policy requires evidence of consent, such as an opt-in form, for any commercial or marketing email, and bans sending to purchased, rented, third-party or publicly available data lists. Use Mailchimp for signups and subscribers, and a tool that sends from your own mailbox for prospects, following CAN-SPAM in every step.
Does an email sequence stop when someone replies?
It depends on the tool and its settings. HubSpot says contacts are automatically unenrolled when they reply to a sequence email or book a meeting. Mailmeteor sends follow-ups to people who haven't responded, opened or clicked. Before you launch, enrol your own address, reply to step one and confirm that nothing else arrives.
How many emails should an email sequence have?
Instantly's 2026 benchmark report, built on its users' 2025 sending, found 58% of replies came from the first email and 42% from follow-ups, and it suggests four to seven touchpoints. That is one vendor's data. A signup or no-show sequence usually needs fewer: three or four steps, each with one job.
Sources
- Mailchimp: Acceptable Use Policy (updated 26 Sep 2025, checked 4 Nov 2026)
- Mailmeteor: Pricing (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- Instantly: Pricing (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- Apollo: Pricing (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- HubSpot: Sales Hub pricing (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- HubSpot Knowledge Base: Create and edit sequences (updated 30 Oct 2026, checked 4 Nov 2026)
- Google Workspace Admin Help: Gmail sending limits in Google Workspace (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- FTC: CAN-SPAM Act, A Compliance Guide for Business (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- Instantly: Cold Email Benchmark Report 2026 (updated 12 Jan 2026, checked 4 Nov 2026)
- Kit Help Center: Creator vs Pro, choose the right plan (updated 23 Sep 2026, checked 4 Nov 2026)
- Kit Help Center: The Kit Free plan (updated 23 Sep 2026, checked 4 Nov 2026)