Best AI sales tools in 2026: prospecting, outreach and CRM AI

SaaSIshaan VardhanOct 8, 202610 min read

The best AI sales stack for a startup in 2026 is usually three tools, not ten: a prospecting database (Apollo.io or Clay), an outreach tool if your CRM can’t send sequences (lemlist or Instantly), and an AI notetaker for calls (Fathom or Avoma), all syncing into a CRM with its own AI features, such as HubSpot or Attio. Gong, Outreach, Mindtickle and Salesforce Agentforce are better suited to larger, enterprise-style teams. Below we compare each one’s job, AI features and entry price, using vendor pricing pages as of 4 October 2026.

Key takeaways

• Several strong tools have free tiers: Apollo.io, Clay, Fathom, Attio and HubSpot all list a free plan.
• Enterprise sales platforms such as Gong and Outreach don’t publish prices; Outreach mixes seats with AI-credit consumption.
• AI is now built into the CRM itself. HubSpot lists a Prospecting Agent, and Salesforce bundles Agentforce in its top Sales Cloud tier.
• AI makes it easy to send a lot more email. Cold outreach laws in the US, UK, EU and India still apply, and breaking them costs more than the software.
• This article contains no affiliate links.

How we chose these tools

We grouped tools by the four jobs a startup sales team does: finding prospects, contacting them, running and learning from calls, and keeping the pipeline in a CRM. Within each group we preferred tools that publish prices, offer a free or low-cost entry plan, have AI features you can use today rather than ones on a roadmap, integrate with common CRMs, and sell globally. We included a few enterprise tools without public prices because buyers will meet them in any evaluation, and we say plainly when a price is “on request”.

All prices come from vendor pages read on 4 October 2026, in US dollars unless stated. They may differ by region, currency, tax and billing period, and many tools also charge usage credits on top. 100Xfounder has no affiliate or paid relationship with any vendor here.

AI sales tools compared

Scroll the table sideways →

Prospecting and data enrichment

Apollo.io

Apollo combines a contact database, email sequencing and a light CRM, which is why many seed-stage teams use it as their first sales tool. Its pricing page lists a free plan with 900 credits per seat per year, then Basic at $49, Professional at $79 and Organization at $119 per seat per month (minimum three seats), all billed annually. Credits are pooled across the team. Check the data quality for your own target market before you commit: contact coverage varies a lot by country and industry.

Clay

Clay is a spreadsheet-like tool that pulls data from many providers in turn and uses AI to research accounts. Its AI agent, Claygent, browses the web to find custom data points, such as whether a company is hiring for a role or uses a particular tool. The free plan includes 100 data credits and 500 actions a month with unlimited seats. Paid tiers (Launch, Growth and Enterprise) are priced by the volume of credits and actions, so use Clay’s calculator to estimate your cost. Clay rewards teams with someone technical enough to design workflows; it is not a plug-and-play contact list.

LinkedIn Sales Navigator

For B2B founders who sell through LinkedIn, Sales Navigator is the usual choice. LinkedIn lists Core at US$119.99 a month, or US$1,079.88 a year, and Advanced at US$159.99 a month. Its AI features include Account IQ and Lead IQ, which summarise accounts and leads, and Message Assist, which drafts personalised messages.

Outreach and sequencing

lemlist

lemlist suits small teams that want email plus LinkedIn and other touchpoints in one sequence. Its Email plan costs $55 a month billed yearly ($69 monthly) and its Multichannel plan $87 billed yearly ($109 monthly). The page lists a long set of AI features on all plans, including AI agents for signals, enrichment and messaging, reply-intent detection and AI-generated replies.

Instantly

Instantly focuses on cold email volume, with unlimited sending accounts and inbox warm-up. Its Growth outreach plan is listed at $47 a month, and higher tiers raise the number of contacts and emails. AI agents, a web researcher, an email writer and its lead database sit on separate credit plans, so budget for both if you need data as well as sending.

Outreach

Outreach is an enterprise sales engagement platform and doesn’t publish prices. Its pricing page describes a hybrid model: seats for platform access plus AI credits for each AI action, sold in packages from Amplify Essentials to Amplify Pro. It is worth evaluating once you have a sales team of dozens, not three people.

Call recording, coaching and conversation intelligence

Fathom

Fathom is the easiest place to start. Its free plan includes unlimited recordings and transcriptions. Paid plans add AI summaries built on sales frameworks such as BANT, CRM sync and, on Business, a deal view that pulls together every call on an opportunity. The Team plan is listed at $19 per user per month with a two-user minimum.

Avoma

Avoma pairs an AI notetaker with deeper conversation intelligence. Its Startup plan costs $19 per recorder seat per month on annual billing, and people who only view recordings are free. The Conversation Intelligence add-on, which adds AI coaching suggestions, automatic call scoring and custom scorecards, costs $29 per seat per month on annual billing.

Gong and Mindtickle

Gong is one of the best-known revenue intelligence platforms. It records and analyses calls and emails, forecasts deals, and now offers AI agents. According to its pricing page, licences are priced per user plus a platform fee, and you need a quote. Mindtickle focuses on enablement: AI role-play for practising pitches, conversation intelligence and coaching. It also asks prospects to request a demo for pricing. You can see its current openings on our Mindtickle jobs page.

CRM with built-in AI

HubSpot Sales Hub

HubSpot is the default CRM for many startups because the free tier covers two users and the AI features grow with you. Starter costs $7 per seat per month on an annual commitment ($20 monthly). Professional costs $90 ($100 monthly) plus a one-time $1,500 onboarding fee. AI features run on HubSpot Credits: 500 a month on Starter and 3,000 on Professional. The pricing page lists a Prospecting Agent that researches leads and drafts outreach, and a Data Agent that keeps records up to date.

Attio

Attio is a newer CRM built around flexible data models and AI. It lists a free plan, Plus at $35 per user per month on annual billing ($44 monthly) and Pro at $79 ($99 monthly). All plans include Ask Attio, its AI assistant, and AI agents, with monthly AI credits per seat and per workspace.

Salesforce Sales Cloud with Agentforce

Salesforce runs from a free suite and a $25 Starter Suite up to $550 per user per month for its top tier, which is the only one that includes Agentforce as standard; other tiers list it as available to buy. It suits startups selling to enterprises whose buyers expect Salesforce-grade reporting, or companies with a Salesforce admin already on the team.

Stay legal: cold outreach rules still apply

AI lets a three-person team send as much email as a 30-person team, so compliance matters more, not less. In the US, the Federal Trade Commission says CAN-SPAM makes no exception for business-to-business email. Every message needs a valid postal address and a working opt-out that you honour within 10 business days, and each violation can cost up to $53,088. In the UK, the Information Commissioner’s Office says PECR allows marketing emails to corporate subscribers without prior consent, but sole traders and some partnerships get the same protection as individuals. In India, the Digital Personal Data Protection Rules were notified on 14 November 2025 with an 18-month phased rollout, according to the Press Information Bureau, and they put consent at the centre of processing personal data. GDPR applies to people in the EU. Rules differ by country and change over time, so confirm your outreach programme with a qualified privacy lawyer.

Bottom line: what to buy at each stage

Founder-led sales (pre-seed to seed): HubSpot’s free CRM or Attio, Apollo’s free or Basic plan for contacts and sequences, and Fathom’s free notetaker. That costs little or nothing until you hire. First sales hires (seed to Series A): add Clay if someone can own the workflows, a dedicated outreach tool such as lemlist if you run multichannel campaigns, and Avoma or a paid Fathom plan for call reviews and coaching. Scaling team (Series B and later): evaluate Gong, Outreach and Mindtickle, and decide whether HubSpot Professional or Salesforce is your long-term CRM.

AI won’t fix a weak ideal-customer profile or a muddled pitch. It mostly makes your existing process faster, whether that process is good or bad. Test any tool on a few hundred real prospects, measure reply and meeting rates against your current baseline, and cancel what doesn’t move the numbers. If you’re building a sales team, our jobs board lists roles from official company careers pages.

FAQ

What is the best free AI sales tool?

Several tools offer useful free plans as of October 2026: Apollo.io (900 credits per seat per year), HubSpot’s free CRM for up to two users, Fathom’s free notetaker with unlimited recordings, and the free tiers of Clay and Attio. Which is “best” depends on whether your bottleneck is finding leads, contacting them or following up after calls.

How much does Gong cost?

Gong doesn’t publish prices. Its pricing page says licences are priced per user, plus a platform fee based on the number of users, and you need to ask for a quote.

Is Apollo or Clay better for startups?

Apollo is an all-in-one database and sequencer that a non-technical founder can use on day one. Clay is a more flexible enrichment and research tool that pays off when someone can build and maintain workflows. Many teams use both.

Is cold emailing legal?

Often yes, under conditions that vary by country. The US requires opt-outs and a postal address under CAN-SPAM, the UK treats corporate and individual recipients differently under PECR, and India’s DPDP rules centre on consent. Take advice from a qualified professional.

Do I need a separate AI tool if my CRM has AI?

Not always. HubSpot and Salesforce now include AI agents for prospecting and data upkeep, so check what your CRM plan already covers before you add another subscription.

Sources

1. Apollo.io, “Pricing“, accessed 4 October 2026
2. Clay, “Pricing“, accessed 4 October 2026
3. LinkedIn, “Compare Sales Navigator plans“, accessed 4 October 2026
4. Instantly, “Pricing“, accessed 4 October 2026
5. lemlist, “Pricing“, accessed 4 October 2026
6. Outreach, “Pricing“, accessed 4 October 2026
7. Gong, “Pricing“, accessed 4 October 2026
8. Avoma, “Pricing“, accessed 4 October 2026
9. Fathom, “Pricing“, accessed 4 October 2026
10. Mindtickle, “Revenue enablement platform“, accessed 4 October 2026
11. HubSpot, “Sales Hub pricing“, accessed 4 October 2026
12. Salesforce, “Sales Cloud pricing“, accessed 4 October 2026
13. Attio, “Pricing“, accessed 4 October 2026
14. US Federal Trade Commission, “CAN-SPAM Act: A Compliance Guide for Business“, accessed 4 October 2026
15. UK Information Commissioner’s Office, “Electronic mail marketing“, accessed 4 October 2026
16. Press Information Bureau, Government of India, “DPDP Rules, 2025 Notified“, 17 November 2025

Featured image: AI sales tools speed up research and follow-up, but deals still close between people. · Photo: rawpixel.com / Wikimedia Commons, CC0

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Sources

1. Apollo.io 4 Oct 2026Free plan with 900 credits per seat per year; Basic $49, Professional $79, Organization $119 (min 3 seats) per seat/month billed annually
2. Clay 4 Oct 2026Free plan with 100 data credits and 500 actions a month; Launch, Growth and Enterprise tiers; Claygent AI web research agent on all plans; data credits from $0.05
3. LinkedIn 4 Oct 2026Core US$119.99/month or US$1,079.88/year; Advanced US$159.99/month; Advanced Plus custom; Account IQ, Lead IQ and Message Assist AI features
4. Instantly 4 Oct 2026Growth outreach plan $47/month; Hypergrowth and higher tiers; credit plans for AI agents and lead database
5. lemlist 4 Oct 2026Email plan $55/month billed yearly ($69 monthly); Multichannel $87 yearly ($109 monthly); AI agents and AI features included
6. Outreach 4 Oct 2026No public prices; seat plus consumption (AI credits) model; Amplify Essentials/Core/Plus/Pro packages; Research, Deal and other agents
7. Gong 4 Oct 2026No public prices; licences priced per user plus a platform fee
8. Avoma 4 Oct 2026Startup $19, Organization $24, Enterprise $39 per recorder seat/month billed annually; Conversation Intelligence add-on $29 annual / $35 monthly; 14-day trial
9. Fathom 4 Oct 2026Free plan with unlimited recordings; Premium $20 monthly/$16 annual; Team $19 per user (2-user minimum); Business tier with CRM field sync and deal view
10. Mindtickle 4 Oct 2026AI role-play, conversation intelligence, copilot; no public pricing
11. HubSpot 4 Oct 2026Free up to 2 users; Starter $7 annual/$20 monthly per seat; Professional $90/$100 plus $1,500 onboarding; Enterprise from $150 plus $3,500; HubSpot Credits; Prospecting Agent and Data Agent
12. Salesforce 4 Oct 2026Free Suite $0, Starter $25, Pro $100, Core $195, Advanced $395, Max $550 per user/month; Agentforce included in Max, available for purchase on others
13. Attio 4 Oct 2026Free; Plus $35 annual/$44 monthly; Pro $79/$99 per user; Ask Attio and AI agents on all plans; credits
14. US Federal Trade Commission 4 Oct 2026No exception for B2B email; opt-out honoured within 10 business days; postal address; penalties up to $53,088 per email
15. UK Information Commissioner's Office 4 Oct 2026PECR lets you email corporate subscribers without consent; sole traders and some partnerships treated as individuals
16. Press Information Bureau, Government of India 17 Nov 2025DPDP Rules notified 14 November 2025 with an 18-month phased compliance period; consent must be clear and can be withdrawn