Cold emails are a classic in B2B sales. However, as soon as you decide to launch an email outreach, the question arises: how much does it actually cost?

It seems simple: you take an email, write a letter, and send it. It's free, right? Not quite.

Email outreach can cost anywhere from a few thousand to several hundred thousand rubles per month—depending on how you do it, with whom, and with what volumes. You can gather everything yourself and launch it, spending a couple of thousand rubles, or you can engage an agency or hire a freelancer and get leads—but at a significant expense.

In this article, we will cover:

• what makes up the cost of outreach,

• how much it costs to launch manually, through a freelancer, or an agency,

• how the price varies depending on the segment,

• and, most importantly—the real cost of one lead through outreach in B2B.

What is included in the cost of email outreach

Email outreach is not just about “writing a letter and hitting send.” It involves a whole series of preparatory steps that determine both the effectiveness and the final price.

An outreach campaign consists of:

Gathering a contact database

• Creating a profile of the ideal customer

• Manual search (websites, directories, LinkedIn)

• Using services to collect emails (Snov, Hunter, Apollo, etc.)

• Verifying relevance: name, position, company, website, email

• Entering data into a spreadsheet or CRM

A good database is already half the success. A poor one—money down the drain.

Validation of the database

• Checking if emails exist

• Removing invalid and “dangerous” addresses

• Reducing the risk of spam and blockages

If you don’t validate—you can get 20-30% undeliverable emails and damage your domain's reputation.

Writing emails and sequences

• Choosing a subject line (affects the open rate)

• Personalization (name, company, case)

• Text rotation (to make emails look different)

• Building a sequence: 3-5 touches

The higher the personalization, the more responses you get. But the labor costs are higher too.

Connecting and warming up email accounts

• Registering separate accounts

• Setting up DNS records (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)

• Sending emails to “warm up” (7-14 days)

• Monitoring spam risk factors

Without warming up, even a great email won’t be delivered.

Launching the campaign

• Setting up the sending schedule

• Limits on the number of emails per day (to avoid burning out)

• Tracking opens, replies, errors

• A/B testing subjects and offers

Working with responses

• Universal inbox or CRM

• Responses: segmentation, replies, passing leads to sales

• Highlighting leads vs. irrelevant or negative responses

Good outreach is not just about sending, but receiving and processing responses.

Analytics and optimization

• Open rate, reply rate, bounce rate

• Effectiveness of subjects and texts

• Adjusting strategy: who we write to, what we say, how often

• Integrating AI for rotation, subject generation, and responses (if available)

How much does email outreach cost in different formats

Conditionally, all formats can be divided into two options:

1. You do everything yourself

2. You hand it over to a freelancer or agency

Let’s break down each individually 👇

You do everything yourself

What is required:

• Time of the founder, marketer, or SDR

• Tools: validators, spreadsheets, email trackers

• Emails and domains for sending

• Basic understanding of copywriting and sales funnels

Costs:

In total: from 4,000 ₽ per month

Through an agency or freelancer

What is included:

• Full preparation: database, validation, texts, sequence

• Connecting email accounts and launching

• Working with responses and analytics

• Reporting, case studies, consultations

Market prices (per month):

• Freelancer: from 15,000–40,000 ₽

• Turnkey agency: from 50,000 ₽ to 200,000 ₽ and above
  (depending on volumes, promised leads, and segment)

Suitable if there's no time and you want to delegate everything, but it’s important to have a contractor with real experience.

Conclusion on formats:

Cost of email outreach: frequently asked questions

How much does email outreach cost per month?

It depends on the format.

• Independently: from 3,000 ₽ (expenses for domains, services, validation).

• Via freelancer: 15,000–40,000 ₽.

• Turnkey agency: from 80,000 ₽.

Is it possible to do outreach for free?

Yes, if you have time and knowledge. You can:

• register free emails,

• use Google Sheets,

• manually handle sends,

• and write emails yourself.

But this requires more time and experience.

How much does one lead cost through outreach?

On average: from 100 to 500 ₽ per lead. If the database is relevant, emails are personalized, and the sequence is well-structured—the cost per lead will be lower than in context or targeting.

⚠️ But in complex niches (enterprise, fintech), the price can be higher—1,000–1,500 ₽ and more.

Why is email outreach cheaper than other channels?

• No traffic costs

• No need for advertising budgets

• You can start with just 1 email

• Minimum design/production/layout

This makes outreach an ideal channel for testing, starting, and scaling.

And what if outreach doesn't work?

Then at least you will understand:

• who is definitely not your target audience,

• what a bad offer sounds like,

• and what subject lines are not opened.

This is also a result. And it costs less than pouring 50,000 ₽ into advertising without a response.

We will help you choose the email outreach format for you

Email outreach is one of the most accessible and fastest ways to test an offer, get feedback, and find your first customers.

At Coldy, we help:

• calculate the cost based on your volume and niche,

• select a format: on your own, with our support, or turnkey,

• launch the first sequence and see real numbers in the first week.

Register—and find out how much your first lead through outreach actually costs.