Choosing an outbound model
Comparisons usually stop at three choices. There is a fourth: run an AI SDR from your own inbox while the seat is open, then hand the running campaigns to the SDR you hire. The right one depends on whether you have a list, which channels you need, whether you are hiring, and where you want the replies to live.
The short answer
Want outbound in-house for the long run? Hire an SDR. No list, and you need phone and LinkedIn too? An agency can do all of it for you. Want high volume from new domains with nobody in-house? An AI SDR platform fits. Hiring anyway, with a list in hand? Run an AI SDR from your own inbox now, and give your new SDR the running campaigns on day one.
Each path is right for someone. Find the card that sounds most like you.
Prices change often. These are the differences that come from how each model works, and they decide what you are left with when it ends.
| Question | Hire an SDR | Use an SDR agency | Use an AI SDR platform | AI first, then hire |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who sends | Hire an SDRYour SDR, once they are hired and trained. | Use an SDR agencyThe agency's SDRs, writing as your company. | Use an AI SDR platformThe platform's software, from a persona you set up. | AI first, then hireAn AI SDR at first. Then your new SDR, on the same campaigns. |
| Which domain it sends from | Hire an SDRYour own domain. | Use an SDR agencyOften new domains the agency sets up, to keep risk off yours. | Use an AI SDR platformOften new domains the platform buys and warms for you. | AI first, then hireYour own mailbox, if the AI SDR sends from it. Pick one that does. |
| Who keeps the threads and replies afterward | Hire an SDRYou. They are in your SDR's inbox. | Use an SDR agencyOften the agency, in mailboxes it controls. Ask before you sign. | Use an AI SDR platformThey sit in mailboxes the platform set up. Ask what you keep if you cancel. | AI first, then hireYou. Every reply is already in your inbox. |
| What you commit to | Hire an SDRA salary, recruiting time, and a manager's time to coach. | Use an SDR agencyA monthly retainer, often with a minimum term. | Use an AI SDR platformOften a quarter or a year, paid up front. | AI first, then hireThe tool, then the hire. Pick a tool billed monthly, so you decide later whether to keep it. |
| Time to start | Hire an SDRThe search, any notice period, then the ramp. Median time to fill a nonexecutive role: 39 days (SHRM, 2026). Average SDR ramp: 3.0 months (The Bridge Group, 2025). | Use an SDR agencyAfter onboarding, and after any new domains are ready to send. | Use an AI SDR platformAfter setup, and after any new domains are ready to send. | AI first, then hireOnce your mailbox is connected, your list is in, and you approve the first emails. The search runs alongside. |
| What your new SDR inherits | Hire an SDRWhatever someone kept running. Often a blank list. | Use an SDR agencyUsually a report. The live threads often stay behind. | Use an AI SDR platformThe campaigns, if you keep paying for the platform. The replies sit in its mailboxes. | AI first, then hireRunning campaigns and every reply so far, in the inbox they will work from. |
| Channels | Hire an SDREmail, phone and LinkedIn: whatever you train them on. | Use an SDR agencyOften email, phone and LinkedIn. | Use an AI SDR platformMostly email. Some add other channels. | AI first, then hireEmail while the AI runs it. Your SDR adds phone and LinkedIn when they start. |
AI SDR platform terms checked September 19, 2026 on the pricing pages of the five that publish them. Agency terms vary from one agency to the next, so this table says what to ask about, not what any one charges. Sources: SHRM, 2026 Recruiting Benchmarking (median time to fill, nonexecutive roles: 39 calendar days); The Bridge Group, Sales Development Models, Metrics & Compensation: 2025 Research Report (average SDR ramp: 3.0 months).
AI first, then hire is not for everyone. Here is when one of the other three wins.
If your buyers answer the phone or live on LinkedIn, an email-only tool covers a small part of the job. If you can also cover the gap while you search, by doing it yourself or with a contractor, go straight to the hire.
If you have no list, start with an agency that builds one, or with a data tool. An AI SDR that works from your list cannot start without one. An agency also fits when nobody on your team can read drafts for the first few weeks, because its people do that reading for you.
If you need more volume than your own mailboxes should send, a platform that sets up new domains is built for that. Sending from mailboxes you already own keeps the daily numbers small on purpose.
Answer these in order.
Do you have a list of the people you want to reach?
If not, that comes first. An agency can build one, or you can buy one from a data tool. Every AI SDR that works from your own list has to wait for it.
Do you need phone or LinkedIn in the next few months?
If yes, hire, or use an agency. An email-only tool does part of the job, and the hire does the rest when they start.
Are you hiring an SDR?
If yes, run AI first, then hire. Outbound keeps going through the search and the ramp, and your SDR starts with live threads. If you are not hiring, compare an agency and an AI SDR platform on who keeps the threads.
Who will read the first emails?
If nobody can, an agency's people do it for you. If you or a sales leader can read them for a few weeks, an AI SDR that waits for your approval works.
Where should the replies live a year from now?
If they belong in your inbox, under your own domain, hire, or run AI first and then hire. If that does not matter to you, all four paths are open.
There are no salary or agency figures on this page. They change by city, by seniority and by agency, and the number that matters is the one in your budget. The open SDR seat cost calculator works out what an empty seat costs in meetings and pipeline, using your own numbers.
Already decided to hire? See how to cover an open SDR seat while you hire, which compares five ways to keep outbound running during the search.
Monty is an AI SDR for the fourth path. You connect your Gmail or Outlook mailbox and upload your list. Monty writes each email for the person getting it, sends the follow-ups and drafts answers to the replies that need one, all from your inbox. Nothing goes out until you approve it, unless you choose to let it send on its own. When your SDR starts, they take over the campaigns that are already running.
It is email only, you bring the list, and one person signs in. Plan on someone reading the first drafts until they trust them. If you need phone or LinkedIn outreach, several people in one account, or someone to find your leads, it is not the right fit. It is billed monthly with no contract.
Start with your listIf you need phone and LinkedIn, or want outbound owned in-house for years, hire. An AI SDR covers email, and it can start before your hire does. You may not have to pick: run an AI SDR from your own inbox while you hire, then hand the running campaigns to the SDR.
An agency is quicker to start if you have no list and need several channels at once. Hiring takes longer, but the threads, the replies and what you learn about your buyers stay inside your company. If you use an agency while you hire, ask before you sign who keeps the mailboxes and the threads when the contract ends.
No. An AI SDR can write and send cold email, follow up, and answer replies. It does not make calls, work LinkedIn, or build the relationships a person builds over months. That is why the fourth path ends with a hire.
You start an AI SDR from your own mailbox now, while you search for an SDR. When the SDR starts, they take over the campaigns that are already running, with every reply in the inbox they will work from, instead of starting from a blank list.
SHRM's 2026 benchmark puts the median time to fill a nonexecutive role at 39 calendar days. The Bridge Group's 2025 report puts the average SDR ramp at 3.0 months. Add any notice period your hire has to work.
Compare them with your own numbers. Salaries, agency retainers and tool prices all vary, and the three do different amounts of the job. The open SDR seat cost calculator shows what the gap costs in meetings and pipeline while the seat is empty.
Before you book
The price
$1,399 a month. No setup fee.
Prices shown in USD. Billed in the same currency at checkout.
If it does not work
Cancel inside 30 days and your payment comes back in full. No usage deduction, no form to fill in.
How you leave
Monthly, and you cancel from inside the product. No contract, no notice period, no minimum term — the tools this replaces mostly ask for a quarter or a year up front.