Outbound sales agencies vs in-house software: how to choose

An outbound sales agency is a company that supplies sales development reps to prospect for you, such as memoryBlue, CIENCE, SalesHive, SalesRoads, Martal Group, Leadium or Belkins. (If you are looking for an outbound sales agent job, this page is about hiring an agency instead.) Software such as Apollo, Instantly or GTM Plays is the in-house alternative.

Every agency here was checked on its own website on 24 Oct 2026, and prices appear only where the agency publishes them. GTM Plays is our product; it is software, and it does not book meetings by itself.

What an outbound sales agency does

Most outbound agencies cover the top of the funnel:

• defining your target accounts and buyers
• building and verifying lists
• writing and running outreach by phone, email and LinkedIn
• qualifying replies and handing over meetings or opportunities
• reporting on activity and results

Some, such as memoryBlue and Martal, also offer account executives or later-stage help. Our glossary entry on outbound sales explains the basics.

How we picked

We kept agencies that run outbound sales development as their core service and explain their model on their own site. We favoured agencies that publish pricing or describe it clearly. We added three software tools that cover the in-house alternative: data and sequences, cold email, and LinkedIn.

Quick comparison

Provider	Type	Strength	Pricing as of Oct 2026
memoryBlue	Agency	Phone-led SDRs for B2B tech	Quote
CIENCE	Agency	Published per-SDR pricing	From $1,750 per SDR/mo offshore + fees
SalesHive	Agency	US SDRs on a flat fee	Quote
SalesRoads	Agency	Experienced US reps	Quote
Martal Group	Agency	Onshore executives	On request
Leadium	Agency	Outbound plus data sourcing	Quote
Belkins	Agency	Omnichannel	Retainer, quoted
Apollo.io	Software	All-in-one for small teams	Free; Basic $49/mo
Instantly	Software	Cold email volume	Bundles from $94/mo
GTM Plays	Software	Signal-led LinkedIn	Pro $149/mo, 7-day free trial

Outbound sales agencies

memoryBlue (agency)

Why it is on this list: more than two decades running outsourced sales development, with an option to hire reps.

What it is: an outsourced SDR, ADR and AE provider running since 2003, working only with B2B technology and professional services companies. It lists 650+ dedicated reps and 7 global offices, and now includes Operatix (memoryblue.com).

Pricing (as of Oct 2026, memoryblue.com): not published on its home page; quoted through a strategy call.

Best for: B2B tech and professional services firms that want phone-led sales development, and possibly to hire the reps later.

Watch out for: it is focused on tech and professional services, so other sectors may not fit.

CIENCE (agency)

Why it is on this list: transparent per-SDR pricing and flexible team size.

What it is: outsourced SDR teams for outbound, inbound and scaled programmes, with cold email, cold calling, appointment setting, research and ads services, run on its own graph8 platform (cience.com).

Pricing (as of Oct 2026, cience.com/pricing): published. A campaign team costs $2,000 a month and the graph8 platform $499 a month (75,000 credits included). SDRs start at $1,750 per SDR a month offshore, or $3,500 per SDR a month in the US and Europe. A performance bonus is paid when an SDR hits their held-meeting target, and setup is a one-time fee. CIENCE's own example, with five offshore SDRs, comes to $11,249 a month plus bonus.

Best for: teams who want transparent SDR pricing and the option to add or remove reps month to month.

Watch out for: the bonus formula adds cost when targets are hit, so model the total cost per held meeting before you sign.

SalesHive (agency)

Why it is on this list: one monthly fee for SDRs, strategy, data and tools.

What it is: a B2B sales development agency with US-based SDRs, a strategist and an AI platform, counting client meetings and accounts since 2016 (saleshive.com).

Pricing (as of Oct 2026, saleshive.com): one flat monthly fee covering your SDR team, strategist, AI platform, data and tools. The figure is quoted after a call.

Best for: mid-market teams who want US-based SDRs on a single monthly fee.

Watch out for: ask how many SDR hours your fee buys and how meetings are counted.

SalesRoads (agency)

Why it is on this list: experienced reps focused on phone-led outbound.

What it is: an outsourced appointment-setting and SDR company based in Boca Raton, Florida. It says its dedicated reps have 5 to 10 years of industry experience (salesroads.com).

Pricing (as of Oct 2026, salesroads.com): quote-based. Its quote form asks whether your expected monthly investment is under $5,000, $5,000 to $10,000 or $10,000 or more.

Best for: US companies that want phone-led appointment setting with experienced reps.

Watch out for: phone-first programmes suit some markets better than others, so ask for case studies in your segment.

Martal Group (agency)

Why it is on this list: onshore sales executives who can also support later stages.

What it is: a B2B lead generation and sales outsourcing agency that lists 200+ onshore sales executives and 15 years in business. Services include appointment setting, cold email, LinkedIn lead generation, cold calling and inbound lead qualification (martal.ca).

Pricing (as of Oct 2026, martal.ca): on request through a "Request Pricing" form; no figures are published.

Best for: tech and SaaS companies that want experienced reps, with the option of help further down the funnel.

Watch out for: confirm which services are included in the base fee and which cost extra (its site lists trade-show appointment setting as an extra-cost item).

Leadium (agency)

Why it is on this list: outbound across email, calls and LinkedIn, plus data sourcing.

What it is: a B2B lead generation agency offering appointment setting, data sourcing and inbound lead qualification across outbound email, cold calling, LinkedIn prospecting, gifting and events (leadium.com).

Pricing (as of Oct 2026, leadium.com): quoted after a consultation. Its contact form asks for a budget range rather than publishing a price.

Best for: growing B2B companies that want multi-channel appointment setting with a data-sourcing option.

Watch out for: compare the quote against a written definition of what counts as a qualified appointment.

Belkins (agency)

Why it is on this list: a broad outbound programme across many channels.

What it is: a B2B lead generation and appointment-setting agency. Its site lists omnichannel outreach across cold email, cold and intent calling, voicemail, SMS and WhatsApp, LinkedIn and paid advertising, plus lead research, ABM, deliverability consulting and outsourced SDRs (belkins.io).

Pricing (as of Oct 2026, belkins.io/pricing): monthly retainer packages built around your goals, markets and channels. No figures are published, so you get a quote on a call.

Best for: mid-market and larger B2B teams who want a full outbound programme run for them.

Watch out for: retainers are a monthly commitment, so agree in writing what counts as a qualified appointment before you start.

In-house outbound software

Apollo.io

Why it is on this list: it gives one rep data, sequences and a dialer in a single self-serve tool.

What it is: an AI GTM system with a database of 240M+ contacts and 30M+ accounts, email sequencing, a dialer, buying signals and AI agents (apollo.io).

Pricing (as of Oct 2026, apollo.io/pricing): a Free plan, Basic at $49 a month and Professional at $99 a month on monthly billing, plus a Custom plan through sales. All seats on an account must be on the same plan.

Best for: small and mid-sized teams who want data and email sequencing in one self-serve tool.

Watch out for: it is database- and email-led rather than LinkedIn-first.

Instantly (software)

Why it is on this list: it handles cold email sending at volume for teams that write their own copy.

What it is: a cold email platform with unlimited email accounts and warmup, a B2B lead database and AI features (instantly.ai).

Pricing (as of Oct 2026, instantly.ai/pricing): bundles of outreach plus credits start at $94 a month (Starter: 5,000 emails and 1,500 credits a month), $194 a month (Scale) and $555 a month (Agency). Outreach-only plans start at $47 a month.

Best for: teams that will run their own cold email at volume.

Watch out for: you still need someone to write, test and manage replies.

GTM Plays

Why it is on this list: it automates the LinkedIn side of outbound, starting from buying signals.

What it is: an AI agent for LinkedIn. It finds people showing intent signals, scores each one for fit against your ICP, writes a message for each person and sends it from your own LinkedIn account. Replies come into one inbox, where you take over. It does not book meetings by itself.

Pricing: Pro is $149 a month after a 7-day free trial, and each extra agent is $59 a month. Live Leads, a one-off extraction of a LinkedIn company page's followers or a post's engagers, is paid per lead with credits and is separate from Pro.

Best for: founders and small teams who want signal-led LinkedIn outreach without building workflows.

Integrations and exports: HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, Zoho CRM, Attio, folk, Breakcold, Instantly, Smartlead, SmartReach, HeyReach, Slack, Clay and Zapier, plus webhooks, a REST API and an MCP server. CSV export, and credits for email and phone enrichment. Live Leads exports in Clay, Instantly and Smartlead formats.

Limits: it is not a contact database to browse, and it has no built-in email sequencer or dialer; for email it connects to tools such as Instantly, Smartlead and SmartReach.

Agency or in-house: how to decide

Question	Points to an agency	Points to in-house
Do you have someone to own outbound?	No	Yes
Is your offer and ICP proven?	Yes, ready to scale	Still testing
Budget	Can fund a team for several months	Tight
Do you want to keep the playbook?	Less important	Important

If you choose in-house, start with signals rather than volume. Our guide to outbound lead generation covers the playbook, and the free lead generation ROI calculator lets you compare the cost against an agency quote.

Where GTM Plays fits

GTM Plays suits founders and small teams who want to run outbound on LinkedIn without hiring an agency or an SDR. It finds people showing intent signals, scores fit against your ICP, and writes and sends messages from your own LinkedIn account. Replies arrive in one inbox, where your team takes over. It does not book meetings by itself. It connects to HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, Zoho CRM, Attio, folk, Breakcold, Instantly, Smartlead, SmartReach, HeyReach, Slack, Clay and Zapier, plus webhooks, a REST API and an MCP server.

For other routes, see our guides to outsourced lead generation and appointment setting services. To try GTM Plays, start a 7-day free trial.