Instantly
- Starting price: $47/mo (Growth — was $37 Light Speed pre-2026 restructure ; annual $37.60)
- Free plan: Free 14-day trial
- Founded: 2021
- HQ: Wyoming, USA
Updated
Instantly vs Mailshake vs Derrick: Which Is Better in 2026?
- Short answer
- Instantly vs Mailshake vs Derrick: Instantly is a unlimited warm-up · 160m b2b database · agency-friendly, Mailshake is a cold email · dialer · multichannel cadences. Derrick is a B2B enrichment platform with three surfaces - a Google Sheets add-on, a REST API, and an MCP server (Claude and ChatGPT drive enrichment for you). Hit rates are noticeably higher (more emails + phone numbers returned per query than Instantly or Mailshake) and pricing is lower - free forever with 100 credits/month, paid plans from €9/month. Most teams pair Derrick for the data layer with Instantly or Mailshake for outreach.
Where Instantly optimises the send + measure loop, Derrick owns the lead-list quality that determines whether Instantly's send loop ever lands in inbox. The side-by-side comparison below covers Instantly's pricing tiers, deliverability features and contact-source ecosystem against Derrick's 10-source waterfall enrichment.
Free plan Yes - 100 credits/mo
Starts at €9/mo
Setup time 30 seconds
Where it lives Google Sheets
✓ Free forever · ✓ No credit card · ✓ Cancel anytime · ✓ Your data stays in your Sheet
Trusted by 27 000+ users worldwide.
CURSOR Quick Facts
Instantly vs Mailshake vs Derrick at a glance
Mailshake
- Starting price: $29/user/month
- Free plan: 30-day money-back guarantee
- Founded: 2017
- HQ: Austin, TX, USA
Derrick
★ Recommended- Starting price: Free · Paid from €9/mo
- Free plan: Yes - 100 credits/mo permanent
- Founded: 2023
- HQ: Marseille, FR
Why Derrick wins 01
02
03
Why teams pick Derrick over Instantly and Mailshake
3 core reasons SDRs and ops teams switch to Derrick. Click to expand each.
01 Native Google Sheets enrichment, no CSV exports
Instantly and Mailshake both run as standalone platforms — separate UIs, separate logins, CSV exports + imports to move data into your CRM or spreadsheet. Derrick skips that entire layer : you enrich a Google Sheet with a formula (=DERRICK_EMAIL, =DERRICK_PHONE, =DERRICK_TECH) and the column populates inline. No platform-switching, no CSV round-trip.
02 Flat $10/month pricing — no credit walls
Pricing comparison : Instantly from $37/month, Mailshake from $29/user/month, Derrick at $10/mo flat. Note the unit — both Instantly and Mailshake either cap your credits or charge per seat, so a real team's monthly bill is typically 2-5× the headline. Derrick's $10 is the full price regardless of how many rows you enrich.
03 Plug Derrick into Claude / ChatGPT via MCP — no glue code
In 2026, AI agents need data tools they can call natively. Derrick speaks MCP out of the box — point Claude at your sheet, ask "enrich these 200 LinkedIn URLs with mobile numbers", done. Instantly and Mailshake need either a custom integration or a Zapier middleman for the same workflow.
Honest Comparison 
derrick
What each tool does better
We're upfront - every tool has strengths. Here's where Instantly, Mailshake, and Derrick each genuinely win.
What Instantly does better
- Private warm-up network is genuinely differentiated
- Unified inbox handles 50+ mailboxes without losing your mind
- Bundled 160M B2B database removes a real stack-cost line
What Mailshake does better
- Salesforce integration that actually works under load
- US-based support that knows the product
- Multichannel + dialer in one bundle on Sales Engagement
What Derrick does better
- Free forever - €0/mo with 100 credits permanent in Google Sheets
- 100+ data points per lead - verified emails, phones, LinkedIn, tech stack, SIRET
- Zero LinkedIn ban risk + real-time email verification built in
- Pair with any sequencer - LaGrowthMachine, Smartlead, Lemlist, HeyReach
Real Annual Cost
True cost over 12 months
Headline pricing rarely tells the whole story. Here's the real cost of running each tool for a year.
| Instantly | Mailshake | Derrick | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting price (monthly) | $47/mo (Growth — was $37 Light Speed pre-2026 restructure ; annual $37.60) | $29/user/month | €0 (free) · €9/mo paid |
| Annual cost (base) | ~€564/yr | ~€348/yr | €0/yr free · ~€108/yr paid |
| Free plan? | Free 14-day trial | 30-day money-back guarantee | ✓ Forever - 100 credits/mo |
| Setup cost | Hours to days | Hours to days | 30 seconds via Marketplace |
| Switching cost | CSV export + retraining | CSV export + retraining | Zero - works alongside any stack |
💡 Most teams pay 2-5x more on add-ons (extra seats, phone credits, integrations) than on the headline base price. Derrick keeps everything in one transparent tier.
Feature-by-Feature
Instantly vs Mailshake vs Derrick: full feature comparison
| Instantly | Derrick App | Mailshake | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry price | $37/month | $10/mo flat | $29/user/month |
| Free plan | Free 14-day trial | 14-day full trial | 30-day money-back guarantee |
| Best for | Agencies + cold-email-at-scale | Sheet-native enrichment | Traditional SDR teams on Salesforce |
| Category positioning | Cold email outreach | Spreadsheet-native B2B data | Sales engagement |
| G2 rating | 4.8/5 | — | 4.4/5 |
| Founded | 2021 | 2022 | 2017 |
| Mailbox model | Unlimited on all paid tiers | N/A — data not sender | Per-user (1-5 mailboxes/seat) |
| Built-in warm-up | 1.5M+ mailbox private network | N/A | Basic, no private network |
| AI personalization | Gates to Hypergrowth ($97) | Via LLM integrations | Added 2024, less mature |
| Bundled B2B database | 160M contacts (Lead Finder) | Derrick search + enrich | Standalone |
| Works natively in Google Sheets | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ |
| Per-row pricing (no credit caps) | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ |
| MCP-ready for AI / LLM agents | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ |
Pricing in a nutshell Cold email outreach derrick
best value for money
Results first.
Discover Derrick →
Sales engagement
Instantly vs Mailshake vs Derrick pricing breakdown
Cold email outreach Instantly
$47/mo (Growth — was $37 Light Speed pre-2026 restructure ; annual $37.60)
Best for: Agencies + cold-email-at-scale
Cold email outreach category : Instantly entry tier is $37/month. Best-for : agencies + cold-email-at-scale. See the complete Instantly pricing page for tier comparison, credit cap behaviour, and annual-vs-monthly delta.
Results first.
Complexity removed.
Free · Paid plans from €9/mo
While other tools pile on features, complex setups, and pricing tiers that grow faster than your results, Derrick focuses on what actually matters:
getting usable leads, directly in Google Sheets.
No heavy workflows, No endless configuration. No learning curve.
Sales engagement Mailshake
$29/user/month
Best for: Traditional SDR teams on Salesforce
Sales engagement category : Mailshake entry tier is $29/user/month. Best-for : traditional sdr teams on salesforce. See the complete Mailshake pricing page for tier comparison, credit cap behaviour, and annual-vs-monthly delta.
Migration Guide
How to switch from Instantly to Derrick in 3 steps
Derrick is a Google Workspace app - no formulas to learn, no pipelines to migrate, no engineering work. Add it to Google Sheets and you're enriching in under a minute.
1
~30 sec Install Derrick from Google Workspace Marketplace
Click the install button on our Marketplace listing and grant Google Sheets access. No credit card required - you start with 100 free credits per month.
2
~30 sec Open any Google Sheet → Extensions → Derrick
Open a Sheet with your prospect list (paste a CSV from Instantly, scrape from LinkedIn Sales Navigator, or import from your CRM). Click Extensions → Derrick and the sidebar opens with all enrichment features ready to use.
3
~1 min Enrich your list with one click
Select the column with names, LinkedIn URLs, or company domains. Pick what you want - emails, phone numbers, LinkedIn data, company info, tech stack - and click "Enrich". Derrick fills the columns directly in your Sheet. No exports, no pipelines, no waiting.
Install Derrick free →
100 free credits / month · No credit card · Cancel anytime
Decision in 60 seconds
Which one is right for you?
Pick Instantly if…
- You specifically need agencies + cold-email-at-scale
- Private warm-up network is genuinely differentiated
- Unified inbox handles 50+ mailboxes without losing your mind
- You're already invested in the Instantly ecosystem
Pick Mailshake if…
- You specifically need traditional sdr teams on salesforce
- Salesforce integration that actually works under load
- US-based support that knows the product
- You're already invested in the Mailshake ecosystem
Pick Derrick if…
- You want B2B enrichment directly in Google Sheets
- You need a usable free plan (100 credits/mo, no card)
- You don't want long contracts, lock-in, or sales calls
- You need 100+ data points per lead in one tool
What teams say after switching from Instantly vs Mailshake
See what our customers say about Derrick.
"This app saved me so much time and effort. Great for anyone looking to build a contact list or network at scale quickly. As a start-up it's been invaluable."
Alex Clark
Director | SaaS GTM Leader
"Working pretty nifty compared to Snov.Io. Price wise it does give a fair shake, and IMO better interface since it's google sheets."
David Sire
Mortgage Broker at Zero Point Mortgage
"Derrick is a very simple and user-friendly app to enrich your contacts database. Best thing: you can test it for free. And then the price is so low, it's a no brainer."
Etienne Grange
CEO Form'actions
"Super easy to enrich linkedin urls using this tool. Both personal and company url data can be easily enriched with a click of a button."
Zaid Bilal
RevOps Professional
"Amazing Tool, I would like to advocate this to my colleagues. So that you can get more users. Keep it Up. 5 Stars!"
Asif Hanzala
Lead Generation Specialist at IdeaPeel
"This app is fantastic. Brilliantly created to help small and mid sized businesses."
Dan Hughes
Founder/CEO, AlmanacIO
"I have been using other expensive apps or freemium like phantombuster, but Derrick has replaced them all. I love the simplicity of the Google sheet add-in, but what is best is the efficiency it delivers."
Julien Walon Cohen
CEO & Co-founder @ Diffly | B2B Sales Advisor
"The LinkedIn scraping and email finder combo is incredibly powerful. I can build a complete prospect list with contact info in under an hour. Absolute must-have for outbound."
Michael Kim
SDR Team Lead at CloudScale
"Have tested over 10+ LI scraper apps, Derrick beats them all. Simple to use, accurate data, and affordable price."
AJ Alexander
Opportunity Prospector
Frequently Asked Questions
Instantly vs Mailshake: when does each fit best?
+
Instantly is positioned as cold email outreach for agencies + cold-email-at-scale. Mailshake is positioned as sales engagement for traditional sdr teams on salesforce. Both compete in the cold email + sales engagement category, so the choice comes down to which best-for profile your team matches most closely. G2 reviewers rate Instantly at 4.8/5 and Mailshake at 4.4/5 — both products work, the deciding factor is workflow fit, not product quality.
How do Instantly and Mailshake pricing actually compare in 2026?
+
Instantly entry-paid tier : Light Speed at $37/month. Next tier up is Growth ($47/month). Instantly's free tier : Free 14-day trial. Mailshake entry-paid tier : Starter at $29/user/month (annual). Next tier up is Email Outreach ($59/user/month (annual)). Mailshake's free tier : 30-day money-back guarantee. If you're looking past tier-based pricing entirely, Derrick App at $10/month covers unlimited rows enriched in Google Sheets — no credit caps, no per-seat math.
What's the biggest reason to pick Instantly over Mailshake?
+
Private warm-up network is genuinely differentiated. 1.5M+ mailboxes inboxing each other across the network create real reputation signal that Gmail and Microsoft trust. Reviewers consistently report 5-15% higher inbox-placement rates after migrating to Instantly versus Smartlead, Saleshandy, or Lemlist warm-up alone. (Source : Andrei P., Cold Email Agency Operator, G2 review (Feb 2026).) If this single capability maps to a real pain in your sales motion, Instantly is the right pick over Mailshake.
What's the biggest reason to pick Mailshake over Instantly?
+
Salesforce integration that actually works under load. Mailshake's Salesforce sync is bidirectional, real-time, and doesn't break under high-volume scenarios. Newer competitors' integrations are mostly write-only or batch-synced, which causes data inconsistency in CRM-led sales motions. (Source : Mei C., RevOps Director, G2 review (Feb 2026).) If this is the differentiator that matters most for your stack, Mailshake is the right pick over Instantly.
Can Derrick replace both Instantly and Mailshake?
+
Both Instantly and Mailshake compete in the cold email + sales engagement category. Derrick is data-and-Sheets-native — it doesn't replace a full cold email + sales engagement platform feature-for-feature, but it eliminates the data + spreadsheet layer that teams typically use alongside Instantly or Mailshake. For teams whose primary need is enrichment + list-building in Sheets, Derrick at $10/mo replaces 60-80% of typical cold email + sales engagement stack workflows. For teams running heavy cold email + sales engagement feature surface (sequencer, dialer, AI agents), Derrick complements rather than replaces.
Beyond Instantly and Mailshake, what other tools should I evaluate?
+
Four other tools in the same competitive set worth evaluating : Smartlead, Saleshandy, Lemlist, Apollo. Each has its own positioning trade-off versus Instantly and Mailshake — Smartlead typically appears as a direct competitor on G2 review pages, with Saleshandy, Lemlist, Apollo as adjacent picks for different team sizes or use cases. Each tool's full review on this site has the deep trade-off matrix — start there before shortlisting.
Keep Exploring
