vs
The open-source
Instantly alternative.
Instantly is built for sending cold email at volume. Meerko is an open-source AI sales agent that finds the leads, sends from your own Gmail and handles the replies, driven from Claude Code. Self-host it for free or use Meerko Cloud from $49/mo.
| Feature | Meerko |  Instantly |
|---|---|---|
| Paid plans from | $49/mo (Cloud Pro) | $47/mo (Outreach Growth)[1] |
| Sending accounts | Your own Gmail mailboxes | Unlimited email accounts and warmup[1] |
| Lead data | Icypeas, or your own key | Database of 450M+ B2B leads[1] |
| Reply inbox | Built in, with agent-drafted replies | Unibox and AI Reply Agent (Scale bundle)[1] |
Instantly facts from Instantly's own pages, checked 6 Oct 2026. Prices are billed monthly.
Where Instantly is stronger
Only with Meerko
- Open source (AGPL-3.0). Read, fork and audit every line.
- Self-host for $0. Run it on your own infra with your own provider keys.
- Your Postgres. Self-hosted, every lead, email and reply stays in your database.
How much does Instantly cost?[1]
Outreach Growth
$47/mo
Unlimited email accounts and warmup, 5,000 emails and 1,000 uploaded contacts a month.
Starter bundle
$94/mo
5,000 emails, 1,000 uploaded contacts and 1,500 Instantly credits a month.
Scale bundle
$194/mo
100,000 emails and 25,000 uploaded contacts a month, AI Reply Agent and Unibox.
Agency bundle
$555/mo
500,000 emails, 100,000 uploaded contacts and 10,000 Instantly credits a month.
Monthly billing as listed on Instantly's pricing page; bundles are 10% cheaper on annual billing. Higher outreach-only plans are on Instantly's page.
Switch in an afternoon
Bring your Instantly tables with you.
- 1Export your Instantly table as CSV.
- 2Import it: unknown columns become Meerko columns.
- 3Ask your agent to enrich, write a sequence and start it.
$ meerko tables create "Fintech CTOs"Created table "Fintech CTOs" (8f2c…)$ meerko tables import 8f2c… instantly-export.csvImported 1240 rows. New columns: linkedin, title, funding› enrich them and draft a 3-step sequence
Questions
How much does Instantly cost?
Instantly's pricing page lists the Outreach Growth plan at $47/mo, and bundles from $94/mo (Starter) to $555/mo (Agency) on monthly billing.
Does Instantly include leads?
Instantly's credit plans include access to its database of 450M+ B2B leads; the outreach plans cover sending.
Is there an open-source alternative to Instantly?
Meerko is open source under AGPL-3.0. It sends sequences from your own Gmail, stops them when someone replies and keeps every lead in your own Postgres when self-hosted.
