The best AI SDR platforms for startup sales teams in 2026

You’re trying to replace a pile of outbound busywork with one AI SDR. Every vendor says they can run the motion for you. The hard part is picking a tool you can actually budget for, and one you can defend in a security review once it connects to your CRM.

Direct answer: Artisan is the strongest overall pick for a startup team replacing manual outbound with an AI SDR. Pricing is usage-based, so you pay for work performed rather than seats. The contact database covers 250 million-plus B2B professionals, and teams like SumUp and CookUnity are already running on it. The rest of this list is about fit. The right platform still depends on team size, inbound vs outbound, and how much control you want over the pipeline.

Key takeaways

• Artisan prices by work, not seats: credits are tied to research, enrichment, and sending, with a free trial before you commit. See artisan.co.
• The contact graph is the product: Artisan’s database covers over 250 million B2B professionals across more than 200 countries, plus a separate local-business dataset of over 250 million records.
• A few vendors publish real numbers: AiSDR runs $250 to $2,500 a month by contact volume. RegieGO starts free with 250 credits, then $49 a month for 5,000 credits.
• Most of the category is quote-based: Warmly’s published tiers run from about $4,875 to $9,750 per quarter. 11x, Qualified, and Rox want a sales call before you see a number.
• CRM access is a vendor-risk decision: every tool here plugs into your CRM. Ask what they store, who on their side can see it, and how offboarding works before you connect production data.

Comparison table

How we chose

We looked at four things.

First, whether the platform runs the full outbound motion (research, enrichment, sending, and follow-up) rather than one piece of it.

Second, whether pricing is public enough to budget against before a sales call.

Third, how it handles data. A startup evaluating a new sales vendor is also deciding what that vendor can see and store. That is the same third-party risk question you should ask any tool that touches prospect or customer records.

Fourth, whether a startup team can run it without hiring a dedicated ops person.

1. Artisan: the AI SDR built to run alongside a lean team

Ava from Artisan handles the full outbound sequence: finding leads with natural-language search and ICP filters, enriching them, writing and sending multichannel outreach across email, social, and dialer call steps, then managing replies. She also self-optimizes campaigns, running message variations and shifting volume toward what’s converting.

The dialer supports power and parallel dialing up to three lines, with AI answer detection and live transcription. A human rep still handles the live conversation once a call connects. That limit matters. None of the platforms in this list currently have an AI voice holding a real sales conversation on the phone.

Customers using Artisan report attributed results. Chain of Events, which runs the RAISE Summit, sourced over $700,000 in ARR in six months, a 20x return on its Artisan spend, according to founder Henri Delahaye. Zirtual’s Head of Growth Jenn Kussrow said its positive reply rate came in about three times higher than the previous tool. SumUp’s Growth Lead Karlo Biuk credited the platform with streamlining outreach to the right businesses at scale.

Pricing is usage-based. You pay for the work Ava actually performs (qualifying, enriching, personalizing, sending), and there’s a free trial to test it against your own pipeline before committing.

• Best for: startup and mid-market teams that want one platform to run outbound end to end, instead of stitching together separate enrichment, sequencing, and dialer tools.
• Who should pick something else: teams whose pipeline is almost entirely inbound. A platform built around website visitors, like Qualified or Warmly, will fit that motion better.
• Pricing: usage-based credits, free trial available at artisan.co.

2. 11x: separate AI workers for outbound and inbound calls

11x splits the job into two named workers. Alice runs outbound prospecting and personalized multichannel outreach. Julian handles inbound conversations, including calls.

The company points to case studies with Checkr and Leica Biosystems. Leica reported a 9.7% outbound email reply rate with Alice across thousands of emails, roughly double what it calls the industry average. Treat vendor case studies as directional. Ask for the campaign setup behind the number before you treat it as a forecast.

• Best for: teams that specifically want inbound call handling bundled with outbound prospecting from one vendor.
• Who should pick something else: anyone who wants transparent, published pricing before a sales conversation. 11x doesn’t post rates.
• Pricing: not published; demo required (11x.ai).

3. AiSDR: fixed monthly plans by contact volume

AiSDR publishes its pricing outright, which is unusual in this category. Solo runs $250 a month for one user and 200 contacts. Explore is $900 a month for 800 contacts with unlimited users. Scale is $2,500 a month for 2,500 contacts, also unlimited users. Annual commitments get a 20% discount. The company says most customers see ROI within 30 to 60 days.

• Best for: small teams that want to know the exact monthly cost before they start, without a sales call.
• Who should pick something else: teams sending high volume. The contact caps push you into the top tier fast.
• Pricing: $250-$2,500/month depending on tier (aisdr.com).

4. Regie.ai (RegieGO): the easiest to test for free

RegieGO runs on credits spent across research, drafting, enrichment, and dialing. Enrichment that comes back empty doesn’t cost you a credit. The free tier gives 250 credits with no card required, which is enough to run a real test before you touch a paid plan. Pro is $49 a month for 5,000 monthly credits. Enterprise moves to custom volume pricing, team workspaces, and dedicated support.

• Best for: a founder who wants to try an AI SDR workflow this week without a procurement process.
• Who should pick something else: teams that already know they need enterprise-scale volume. The free and Pro tiers cap out quickly.
• Pricing: free to $49/month, Enterprise custom (regie.ai).

5. Qualified: built around inbound website traffic

Qualified’s Piper agent works conversations, email, meeting scheduling, and personalized content from the same visitor session. It’s aimed at companies whose pipeline is mostly inbound. Its three tiers, Premier, Enterprise, and Ultimate, are all quote-based. They move up through enterprise APIs, custom data policies, intent signals, and multiple agent profiles at the top end.

• Best for: companies with real inbound website traffic looking for an agent to work it in real time.
• Who should pick something else: early-stage teams still building outbound pipeline from scratch. Inbound-first tooling won’t have much to work with yet.
• Pricing: custom, demo required (qualified.com).

6. Warmly: visitor identification plus outbound in one motion

Warmly de-anonymizes website visitors and routes them into outbound campaigns, live chat, or both, depending on the tier. Pricing is credit-based and split by capability. AI web de-anonymization starts around $4,875 a quarter, moving up to roughly $9,750 a quarter for the full AI Inbound Autopilot tier, all including 10,000 monthly credits. Add-ons like a GTM signals package run separately.

• Best for: teams with meaningful website traffic who want visitor data feeding directly into outbound and chat.
• Who should pick something else: a team without much inbound traffic yet. The value here depends on having visitors worth identifying.
• Pricing: roughly $4,875-$9,750/quarter by tier, plus add-ons (warmly.ai).

7. Rox: revenue agents built for large account bases

Rox positions itself around the full revenue cycle rather than outbound alone: pipeline generation, deal scoring, meeting scheduling, and account expansion. The company says it serves over 400,000 organizations, including a large share of the Fortune 500. That points to an enterprise-first product, not a startup-first one.

• Best for: larger, later-stage companies managing expansion revenue across a big existing account base.
• Who should pick something else: an early-stage startup without the account volume or ops headcount to make full-cycle revenue automation worth the setup.
• Pricing: not published; contact sales (rox.com).

What is an AI SDR, actually?

An AI SDR is software that takes over the repetitive parts of outbound prospecting: finding leads that match your ideal customer profile, enriching their contact and company data, writing personalized outreach, sending it across channels, and managing replies until a human needs to take over.

The better platforms also handle follow-up sequencing and basic objection handling in text, so a rep only steps in once a lead is actually warm.

None of the platforms in this category currently have an AI voice holding a live sales conversation on the phone. Where dialing is included, the AI queues and places the call. A person is on the line once it connects.

How should a startup budget for one of these tools?

Published pricing in this category splits two ways.

A few vendors, like AiSDR and Regie.ai, post real numbers you can budget against before talking to sales. Most of the rest, including 11x, Qualified, and Rox, are quote-based. The price usually depends on contact volume, seats, or which modules you turn on.

If a vendor won’t give you even a range before a call, ask directly. That’s a fair question, and a reasonable vendor will answer it.

What should a compliance-minded founder ask before signing?

These tools touch prospect and customer data, then usually connect to your CRM. Treat that like any other vendor that will sit inside your sales stack.

Ask the same questions you’d ask before a security review: what certifications they hold (SOC 2 is the common baseline), how they handle data retention and deletion, whether contact data is shared with or resold to other customers, and who on their side can access your CRM once it’s connected.

A public trust center is a useful first filter. It is not a substitute for reading the report.

Also ask what happens when someone leaves. If the tool has a live CRM connection, offboarding and access review still apply to the humans (and service accounts) on both sides.

Getting these answers before you sign is much easier than getting them after. The risk is not abstract: you are handing a third party the ability to read, write, and send from your pipeline.

Frequently Asked Questions

What’s the difference between an AI SDR and a regular sales engagement platform?

A sales engagement platform gives a human rep templates and scheduling to work through manually. An AI SDR does the finding, enriching, writing, and sending itself. A rep steps in once a lead responds or a call connects.

Can an AI SDR replace a full sales team?

It replaces the repetitive research and outreach work, not judgment calls or closing. Chain of Events has said Artisan replaces the workload of about five human BDRs. A human still runs the actual sales conversations and closes deals.

Is AI SDR pricing usually per seat?

It varies. Artisan and Regie.ai price by usage or credits rather than seats. AiSDR prices by contact volume with unlimited users on its higher tiers. Others, like 11x and Rox, don’t publish a pricing model at all.

How long does it take to see results from an AI SDR?

Reported timelines vary by vendor and company. SaaStr saw results in about six weeks. AiSDR states most customers see ROI within 30 to 60 days. Give any new outbound motion at least a full quarter before judging it. Email deliverability alone typically needs 30-plus days to establish.

Do these tools work if my pipeline is mostly inbound?

Qualified and Warmly are both built around inbound website traffic. The others in this list are primarily outbound tools, though several also support inbound lead capture as a secondary feature.

What data does an AI SDR need access to?

At minimum, your CRM or a CSV of target accounts, plus whatever channels it sends through (email, social, or a connected dialer). Most platforms also pull from their own contact databases to enrich and expand your list.

Should a startup evaluate security posture before picking one?

Yes. These platforms will touch prospect and customer data, so confirm certifications and data-handling practices before signing. Do it the same way you’d evaluate any vendor that connects to your CRM.

Do any of these tools handle live phone conversations with AI?

Not in the sense of an AI voice actually talking to a prospect. Where dialing is included, such as with Artisan’s dialer, the AI queues and places the call and logs the outcome. A human rep handles the live conversation.

The right AI SDR is the one that matches your motion and that you can explain to a security reviewer. If connecting a new sales vendor to your CRM is the part you’re stuck on, a gap analysis is a lighter first step than ripping out the stack.