Lemlist
- Starting price: $63/seat/mo (annual)
- Free plan: No (14-day free trial)
- Founded: 2017
- HQ: Paris, France
Updated
Lemlist vs Smartlead vs Derrick: Which Is Better in 2026?
- Short answer
- Lemlist vs Smartlead vs Derrick: Lemlist is a multichannel cold outreach (email + linkedin + calls), Smartlead is a ai personalization · unlimited mailboxes · master inbox. 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 Lemlist or Smartlead) and pricing is lower - free forever with 100 credits/month, paid plans from €9/month. Most teams pair Derrick for the data layer with Lemlist or Smartlead for outreach.
Lemlist is built for sequenced outreach across email + LinkedIn + (sometimes) calls. The hidden cost is enrichment: Lemlist bills you per contact AND per channel. The side-by-side comparison below isolates Lemlist's real cost-per-touched-prospect against Derrick's flat credit-pool model that decouples enrichment from sending.
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
Lemlist vs Smartlead vs Derrick at a glance
Smartlead
- Starting price: $39/month
- Free plan: 14-day free trial
- Founded: 2022
- HQ: Sydney, Australia
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 Lemlist and Smartlead
3 core reasons SDRs and ops teams switch to Derrick. Click to expand each.
01 Built for teams whose pipeline runs in Sheets
If your B2B data ends up in Google Sheets anyway (most teams' do), running it through Lemlist or Smartlead first means two unnecessary hops : platform → CSV → Sheets. Derrick removes both hops. One add-on, one formula, results in the next column. The unit-of-work shrinks from "run the export" to "drag the formula down".
02 Forget per-seat math : $10/mo regardless of scale
The total-cost-of-ownership math : at Lemlist's $63/seat/mo (annual) or Smartlead's $39/month entry tier, a 3-seat team runs $150-600/month in year 1. Derrick at $10/mo flat is $120/year total. The break-even on switching pays back in week 2 for most teams.
03 Plug Derrick into Claude / ChatGPT via MCP — no glue code
Derrick exposes its enrichment API via MCP (Model Context Protocol) — Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, and other LLM agents can call Derrick directly from your sheet without writing integration code. Lemlist and Smartlead require Zapier, Make, or custom API wiring to do the same.
Honest Comparison 
derrick
What each tool does better
We're upfront - every tool has strengths. Here's where Lemlist, Smartlead, and Derrick each genuinely win.
What Lemlist does better
- Best multichannel outreach UX
- Lemwarm = built-in deliverability
- Personalization at scale
What Smartlead does better
- AI features bundled at $39 Basic tier
- Master inbox with AI reply classification
- Unlimited mailboxes + bundled warm-up + bundled lead finder
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.
| Lemlist | Smartlead | Derrick | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting price (monthly) | $63/seat/mo (annual) | $39/month | €0 (free) · €9/mo paid |
| Annual cost (base) | ~€756/yr | ~€468/yr | €0/yr free · ~€108/yr paid |
| Free plan? | No (14-day free trial) | 14-day free trial | ✓ 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
Lemlist vs Smartlead vs Derrick: full feature comparison
| Lemlist | Derrick App | Smartlead | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry price | $63/seat/mo (annual) | $10/mo flat | $39/month |
| Free plan | ✕ | 14-day full trial | 14-day free trial |
| Best for | Multichannel outbound teams | Sheet-native enrichment | AI-first cold email teams |
| Category positioning | Multichannel Outreach | Spreadsheet-native B2B data | Cold email outreach |
| G2 rating | 4.6/5 | — | 4.7/5 |
| Founded | 2017 | 2022 | 2022 |
| Mailbox model | Per-tier | N/A — data not sender | Unlimited on all paid tiers |
| Built-in warm-up | Available | N/A | Automated, no private network |
| AI personalization | Basic merge tags | Via LLM integrations | Bundled on Basic |
| Bundled B2B database | Standalone | Derrick search + enrich | 200M contacts (Pro+) |
| Works natively in Google Sheets | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ |
| Per-row pricing (no credit caps) | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ |
| MCP-ready for AI / LLM agents | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ |
Pricing in a nutshell Multichannel Outreach derrick
best value for money
Results first.
Discover Derrick →
Cold email outreach
Lemlist vs Smartlead vs Derrick pricing breakdown
Multichannel Outreach Lemlist
$63/seat/mo (annual)
Best for: Multichannel outbound teams
Lemlist pricing entry sits at $63/seat/mo (annual) (multichannel outreach). Sized for multichannel outbound teams. The detailed Lemlist pricing breakdown (tier-by-tier feature matrix + true TCO) is on the dedicated pricing page.
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.
Cold email outreach Smartlead
$39/month
Best for: AI-first cold email teams
For ai-first cold email teams, Smartlead cold email outreach starts at $39/month. Tier ceilings, credit refresh rules, and per-seat economics are all detailed on the Smartlead pricing page below.
Migration Guide
How to switch from Lemlist 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 Lemlist, 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 Lemlist if…
- You specifically need multichannel outbound teams
- Best multichannel outreach UX
- Lemwarm = built-in deliverability
- You're already invested in the Lemlist ecosystem
Pick Smartlead if…
- You specifically need ai-first cold email teams
- AI features bundled at $39 Basic tier
- Master inbox with AI reply classification
- You're already invested in the Smartlead 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 Lemlist vs Smartlead
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
Lemlist vs Smartlead: when does each fit best?
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Lemlist is positioned as multichannel outreach for multichannel outbound teams. Smartlead is positioned as cold email outreach for ai-first cold email teams. 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 Lemlist at 4.6/5 and Smartlead at 4.7/5 — both products work, the deciding factor is workflow fit, not product quality.
How do Lemlist and Smartlead pricing actually compare in 2026?
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Lemlist entry-paid tier : Free Trial at 14 days free. Next tier up is Email Pro ($63/seat/mo (annual)). Lemlist's free tier : No (14-day free trial). Smartlead entry-paid tier : Basic at $39/month ($32.5 annual). Next tier up is Pro ($94/month ($78.3 annual)). Smartlead's free tier : 14-day free trial. 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 Lemlist over Smartlead?
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Best multichannel outreach UX. Email + LinkedIn DMs + cold calls in one sequence builder. The visual flow is genuinely usable by SDRs without ops support - closest to 'click-to-launch' in the category. (Source : Verified G2 user, Sales Manager, G2 review (Q1 2026).) If this single capability maps to a real pain in your sales motion, Lemlist is the right pick over Smartlead.
What's the biggest reason to pick Smartlead over Lemlist?
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AI features bundled at $39 Basic tier. Auto-icebreaker generation, AI subject-line testing, and AI-suggested follow-ups are all included on the Basic tier — no upgrade path required. Instantly gates the same features to Hypergrowth ($97). For AI-curious cold-emailers on a budget, this is the deciding factor. (Source : Daniel K., Solo Founder, G2 review (Feb 2026).) If this is the differentiator that matters most for your stack, Smartlead is the right pick over Lemlist.
Can Derrick replace both Lemlist and Smartlead?
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Both Lemlist and Smartlead 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 Lemlist or Smartlead. 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 Lemlist and Smartlead, what other tools should I evaluate?
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Four other tools in the same competitive set worth evaluating : Instantly, Saleshandy, Apollo, Mailshake. Each has its own positioning trade-off versus Lemlist and Smartlead — Instantly typically appears as a direct competitor on G2 review pages, with Saleshandy, Apollo, Mailshake 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.
One-on-one
Lemlist vs Derrick - solo duel
Drop the third-party context and see how Lemlist compares to Derrick alone.
Open the head-to-head → Curated stackAll B2B sales tools we reviewed in depth
Step back from the duel - see our hand-picked sales-tool selection and how every category fits together.
See the full curation → Keep Exploring
