11x vs Artisan AI: Which AI SDR Is Superior?

If you're weighing 11x vs Artisan for an AI SDR, start with the cost per lead. I checked every plan price in this post against each vendor's live pricing page on October 7, 2026. Reaching about 2,000 new leads a month costs $3,750/mo with 11x, $1,000/mo with Artisan, and $499/mo with Agent Frank, all billed annually.

11x.ai sells two "digital workers": Alice for outbound and Julian for inbound calls and chat. Artisan AI sells Ava, an AI BDR that works mainly by email, on credit-based plans. Agent Frank is the AI SDR built on Salesforge's Forge Stack.

I also read the recent 1- and 2-star Trustpilot reviews of 11x and Artisan. So this post covers what buyers report after signing, not just what the sales pages promise.

AI SDR Comparison at a Glance: 11x.ai vs Artisan AI

11x.ai Overview: Alice, Julian, Pricing, and Limits

11x.ai is a San Francisco and London company that sells AI "digital workers" to revenue teams. Alice is its outbound AI SDR, and Julian qualifies inbound leads across voice, chat, SMS, and WhatsApp. The homepage says 11x has raised $70M+ from a16z and Benchmark.

Core features

• Deep research: Alice researches each prospect and writes a custom message instead of a template.
• Signal-based triggers: Alice can act on website visits, job changes, and buyers searching for tools like yours.
• Multi-channel sequences: 11x says Alice covers email and social, while Julian adds phone, SMS, WhatsApp, and chat.
• Bundled deliverability: every plan includes 11x-managed Gmail mailboxes, domain setup, warm-up, inbox rotation, and bounce suppression.
• CRM sync and scheduling: two-way CRM sync and meeting scheduling come on every plan.
• Languages: outreach in 105+ languages, listed on the Pro and Enterprise plans only.

11x pricing

11x now publishes one price. 11x's Growth plan starts at $3,750/mo, billed annually, for up to 5 users and 2,000 new prospects a month. Pro (5,000 prospects, 10 users) and Enterprise (10,000+ prospects, unlimited users) are custom quotes.

One detail stood out: the pricing card says $3,750/mo, which is $45,000 a year. Yet 11x's own FAQ says Growth "starts at $36,000 per year." Get the exact figure in writing before you sign.

11x charges per lead, not per send. API and webhook access start at Pro, SSO starts at Enterprise, and both of those tiers can run on two- or three-year terms. Julian costs extra: voice starts at $5,333/mo and chat at $2,417/mo, both billed annually.

Who 11x is best for

11x fits mid-market and enterprise revenue teams that want a vendor-run AI SDR program. Mailboxes, onboarding, and a CSM come bundled into one annual contract. It also suits teams that want inbound phone and chat agents from the same vendor.

What reviewers say about 11x

This reviewer says talks went through legal review on a pilot basis, then shifted late to a full annual commitment before any results could be checked. In a 2-star review from March 2026, another buyer says their company spent $9,000 on Alice plus about $3,000 in staff time. They report 9,000 messages sent and zero meeting requests.

The company history is worth knowing too. In March 2025, TechCrunch reported that 11x showed logos of companies that were not active customers. Founder Hasan Sukkar stepped down as CEO in May 2025, and CTO Prabhav Jain took over.

The full 11x review and the 11x vs Agent Frank page cover the product in more depth.

Limitations to know

• There is no self-serve trial or signup. Every route starts with a demo.
• The cheapest published plan is a $45,000-a-year commitment at the listed $3,750/mo rate.
• API and webhooks are not on Growth, and 105+ language outreach starts at Pro.
• Every plan card lists 11x-managed Gmail mailboxes as the sending setup.

Artisan AI Overview: Ava, Credits, and Limits

Artisan AI sells Ava, an AI BDR that finds leads, enriches them, writes personalized emails, and books meetings for your reps. Ava sends in your reps' names from your own sending domains. The homepage shows SOC 2 Type II and GDPR badges.

Core features

• Lead data: 250M+ verified B2B contacts, plus "agent swarm" research.
• Autonomous campaigns: AI-written messages, A/B tests, lead prioritization, replies, and meeting scheduling.
• Campaign types: cold outbound, intent signals, website visitor identification, warm outbound, and cross-sell from the Employee plan up.
• Guardrails: approve messages before sending, lock tone and CTAs, and ban phrases.
• Dialer: a human power dialer for reps at $67/seat/mo, with an AI dialing copilot.
• Integrations: HubSpot from Intern, webhooks from Employee, and Salesforce sync on the sales-led plans.

Artisan pricing

Artisan's pricing page opens on a Businesses & Enterprises tab with three quoted plans: Team (about 2,500 leads a month), Scale (about 6,000), and Enterprise. Prices only appear on the Startups tab, where each plan scales with credits.

Intern runs from $280/mo ($250/mo billed annually) for 10K credits and about 500 leads, up to 16K credits. Employee runs from $660/mo ($600/mo billed annually) for 25K credits and about 1,250 leads, up to $1,110/mo ($1,000/mo billed annually) for 42K credits and about 2,100 leads.

A full campaign uses about 20 credits per person contacted, and mailboxes and phone numbers are billed separately. Pricing trackers say Artisan has hidden its prices twice since 2024, so check the Startups tab before you budget.

Who Artisan is best for

Artisan fits founders and small teams that want to test an AI BDR on email without a sales call. Its 30-day trial (10K credits, no card) and $250/mo starting price (billed annually) make it the easiest of the three to try alone.

The LinkedIn question

LinkedIn banned Artisan in late December 2025 and reinstated it about two weeks later. Artisan's CEO told TechCrunch that LinkedIn objected to Artisan using its name and to its alleged use of data brokers that scraped LinkedIn. Artisan removed LinkedIn mentions from its site, and its pricing pages list no LinkedIn channel today.

What reviewers say about Artisan

This reviewer says the leads and outreach looked fine, but only about 0.07% of prospects responded positively. A 2-star review from September 2026 targets the credit model instead. That buyer says 40,000 credits reached about 1,200 new prospects, not the roughly 2,000 they were told to expect, on a plan costing over £1,000 a month.

A June 2026 reviewer says Ava no longer runs LinkedIn automation. The Artisan AI review and the Artisan vs Agent Frank page go deeper.

Limitations to know

• Credits go fast at about 20 per prospect, and one reviewer's numbers suggest real use ran higher.
• Sending mailboxes and phone numbers cost extra, on top of the plan.
• Self-serve plans stop at 42K credits, about 2,100 leads a month. Anything bigger needs a sales quote.

Agent Frank Overview: The Forge Stack AI SDR

Agent Frank is Salesforge's autonomous AI SDR, launched in October 2024. He finds prospects, writes outreach for email and LinkedIn, handles replies, and books meetings. He runs inside a complimentary Salesforge workspace, backed by a human Account Manager.

Core features

• Continuous prospecting: he pulls new leads from the Leadsforge database of 500M+ contacts straight into his sequences, with no CSV export.
• Enrichment first: he enriches contact and company data before any message goes out.
• Personal messages: he writes email and LinkedIn copy from your Knowledge Base and each prospect's website and posts, in 9 tonalities.
• AI personalization across 21+ languages for localized campaigns.
• Multichannel sequences: email and LinkedIn steps run in one flow, and he handles the follow-ups.
• Replies in Primebox™: every answer lands in one inbox, tagged positive, neutral, or negative.
• Meeting booking: he books meetings straight onto the rep's calendar.
• 24/7 operation: he prospects around the clock and sends within the hours you set per time zone.
• Auto-Pilot or Co-Pilot: let him send on his own, or approve each draft first.

How setup works

You start with a demo. Your Account Manager then helps you set up your Salesforge workspace, Knowledge Base, and infrastructure. Every mailbox warms up for 2 weeks in Warmforge before Frank sends, at no extra cost.

For infrastructure, you can bring your own mailboxes, use Infraforge (from $33/mo billed annually for 10 mailboxes), or pick Megaforge. Megaforge was built for Agent Frank: 20 mailboxes split across Gmail, Outlook, Mailforge, and Infraforge, each sending about 15 emails a day, from $69/mo.

Here is the full setup walkthrough:

Agent Frank pricing

Agent Frank costs $599/mo billed quarterly, or $499/mo billed annually (2 months free). That covers 1,000 Active Contacts, which Salesforge says works out to about 2,000-2,500 new leads and 6,000-7,500 personalized emails a month. At 2,000+ contacts a month, his pricing card puts it at $0.25 per contact.

Agent Frank is a separate subscription from Salesforge itself. If your human team also runs outreach, Salesforge Pro costs $48/mo monthly ($40/mo annual) and Salesforge Growth costs $96/mo monthly ($80/mo annual), with a 14-day free trial. Email infrastructure is billed on its own for both.

The Forge Stack behind him

The Forge Stack puts five layers under one roof: infrastructure (Mailforge, Infraforge, Primeforge), deliverability (Warmforge), a lead finder (Leadsforge), multichannel outreach (Salesforge), and Agent Frank on top. Each layer is its own product under one login, so you can switch infrastructure without switching AI SDRs.

Every Forge product also has an MCP server for Claude, Cursor, or your own agents. The same stack runs three ways: your own team, Agent Frank, or a vetted Forge Expert agency, and this AI SDR vs agency guide compares the last two.

Who Agent Frank is best for

Salesforge says its stack fits B2B companies with ACVs of $5K-$100K that sell to startups, SMBs, or mid-market buyers and target 3,000+ businesses. It also says plainly who it is not for: teams that mainly target Fortune 500 companies, run long RFP cycles, or close six- and seven-figure deals.

Proof and honest limits

In the VAI Consulting case study, Agent Frank booked 3 calls within the first week after the team narrowed its ICP. Salesforge, the platform he runs inside, also earns 5-star reviews like this one.

• There is no free trial. A demo comes first, then 2 weeks of warm-up before he sends anything.
• Email infrastructure is not included in his price.
• He works in 21+ languages, fewer than the 105+ that 11x lists on Pro.

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Head-to-Head Feature Comparison: 11x.ai vs Artisan AI

Here is how the three AI SDRs compare on the seven things that decide whether outbound books meetings.

Multichannel outreach: email, LinkedIn, and phone

Agent Frank: runs email and LinkedIn in one sequence. The Salesforge workspace he runs in supports six native LinkedIn actions: connection requests, messages, InMails, post likes, follows, and withdraw requests. Salesforge sequences also branch on behavior, so an accepted connection request can trigger a LinkedIn message while a silent prospect falls back to email.

11x.ai: says Alice covers email and social, without naming LinkedIn on its channel or pricing pages. Phone, SMS, and WhatsApp come through Julian Voice, a separate product from $5,333/mo billed annually.

Artisan AI: lists email campaigns plus a human power dialer at $67/seat/mo, and no LinkedIn channel.

One concession: if you need an AI agent to answer inbound calls and chats, 11x's Julian does that today. Agent Frank does not, since Salesforge's phone channel is still on its roadmap.

Email deliverability and sending infrastructure

Agent Frank: every mailbox warms up free in Warmforge's premium pool of aged IMAP/SMTP, Google Workspace, and Microsoft 365 mailboxes, with a Heat Score™ for each one. Warmforge also runs inbox placement tests and checks DNS, MX, and blacklist health. Megaforge spreads sending across four providers and falls back automatically if one burns.

11x.ai: bundles managed Gmail mailboxes, warm-up, rotation, bounce suppression, and domain health monitoring into every plan. That is convenient, since there is no separate infrastructure bill. 11x Growth onboarding takes a standard 2 weeks.

Artisan AI: sells domains and mailboxes inside the platform and monitors deliverability, but bills mailboxes separately.

My view: sending every AI SDR email through one provider is a single point of failure. Megaforge's four-way split is built to reduce that risk.

AI research, personalization, and control

Agent Frank: writes from your Knowledge Base plus each prospect's website, blog posts, and LinkedIn posts, in 9 tonalities and 21+ languages. He works toward a goal you pick: drive a click, send a meeting link, or receive one. Co-Pilot mode lets a human approve every draft.

11x.ai: pairs deep research with signal-based triggers, plus custom model fine-tuning on Enterprise. Alice also scores leads so the highest-intent prospects come first. On language count alone, 11x is ahead, with 105+ languages on Pro and Enterprise.

Artisan AI: uses "agent swarm" research and lets you approve messages, lock tone, and ban phrases. You can also coach Ava's writing. For a wider look at the category, see this test of AI sales agents.

Reply handling and meeting booking

Agent Frank: email and LinkedIn replies land in Primebox™, tagged by sentiment. He answers on Auto-Pilot or drafts for approval on Co-Pilot, then books the meeting on the rep's calendar. Primebox™ also catches replies sent from a different address than the one you emailed.

11x.ai: lists smart replies as a platform feature, and meeting scheduling on every plan. Leads who call or chat in can go to Julian, which costs extra.

Artisan AI: handles replies and objections and books meetings, at 2 credits per autonomous reply. Replies go out under your reps' names, and you set escalation rules for when a human steps in.

Lead data and prospecting

Agent Frank: prospects from Leadsforge's 500M+ contacts, with waterfall enrichment across 10+ data providers and real-time email validation. Leadsforge also finds company lookalikes and people who follow your competitors' company pages.

11x.ai: uses its own real-time company and lead database, plus website visitor tracking and buying signals. 11x Growth includes 2,000 new prospects a month, and 11x Pro raises that to 5,000.

Artisan AI: searches 250M+ verified B2B contacts, with intent signals and website visitor identification at 4 credits per visitor. Email enrichment costs 2 credits per contact, and phone enrichment costs 10.

Integrations, API, and compliance

Agent Frank: works inside a Salesforge workspace. Salesforge offers native integrations with HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, and Attio, with the full library on the Salesforge Growth plan. It is SOC2 compliant and has an MCP server and CLI.

11x.ai: includes two-way CRM sync and SOC 2 Type II on every plan. API and webhooks start at Pro, and SSO at Enterprise. 11x also lists Slack and G2 integrations.

Artisan AI: syncs HubSpot from Intern, adds webhooks from Employee, and includes Salesforce sync on its sales-led plans. It is SOC 2 Type II certified, with SSO on Enterprise.

Pricing model and scalability

Agent Frank: charges per Active Contact, from 1,000 up to 50,000 on the pricing slider, billed quarterly or annually. At 2,000+ contacts a month, the rate is $0.25 per contact. Quarterly billing keeps your first commitment to $1,797.

11x.ai: charges per lead on annual terms, and quotes Pro and Enterprise privately. Its FAQ says renewal increases are capped and multi-year deals lock the rate.

Artisan AI: sells credits, so cost rises with every enrichment, message, and reply. Self-serve plans stop at 42K credits, about 2,100 leads a month, and bigger Team and Scale plans are quoted on a call.

AI SDR Pricing Comparison: What 2,000 Leads a Month Costs

Every plan price below comes from each vendor's live pricing page on October 7, 2026.

How costs scale

At about 2,000 leads a month on annual billing, 11x's listed Growth price is about 7.5x Agent Frank's rate, and Artisan's 42K-credit tier is about 2x. 11x does include managed mailboxes, so add infrastructure to Agent Frank's side before you compare. Even then, 11x costs about $37,000-$38,000 more a year.

Artisan is cheapest at low volume, but its price climbs with credits, and mailboxes cost extra. Its self-serve plans stop at 42K credits, about 2,100 leads a month, and bigger plans are quoted on a call.

Scenario: 2,000 new leads a month for a year

• Agent Frank: $7,188 billed quarterly or $5,988 billed annually. Add Megaforge from $69/mo ($828 a year), and year one lands around $6,800-$8,000.
• 11x.ai: $45,000 on 11x Growth at the listed $3,750/mo, with mailboxes included.
• Artisan AI: the 42K-credit Employee tier covers about 2,100 leads for $12,000 billed annually, or $13,320 billed monthly, plus mailboxes.

For context, 11x's own FAQ puts a fully loaded human SDR at $8,000-$12,000 a month. The AI SDR vs SDR breakdown covers that math, and Salesforge's free outreach tools include an AI agent ROI calculator.

Who Should Use Agent Frank, 11x.ai, or Artisan AI

You might consider 11x.ai if:

• You run a mid-market or enterprise team with $45,000+ a year for an AI SDR, and you want mailboxes and onboarding in one contract.
• You also need inbound coverage. Julian answers calls, chat, SMS, and WhatsApp, which Agent Frank does not do.
• You sell in more than 21 languages. 11x lists 105+ on Pro and Enterprise.

You might consider Artisan AI if:

• You're a founder testing AI email outbound at about 500 leads a month. For that narrow case, Artisan's Intern plan is the cheaper start at $250/mo billed annually, with a 30-day trial and no card.
• Your outbound is email only, and you want a power dialer for your reps in the same tool.

Choose Agent Frank if:

• You sell B2B at $5K-$100K ACV to SMB or mid-market buyers and target 3,000+ businesses.
• You want email and LinkedIn in one sequence, with every reply in one Primebox™ inbox.
• You want about 2,000-2,500 new leads a month for $499/mo, not $1,000/mo or $3,750/mo, all billed annually.
• You want free warm-up plus a choice of infrastructure: your own mailboxes, Megaforge, Infraforge, or Mailforge.
• You want human backup: a dedicated Account Manager, a shared Slack channel, and Co-Pilot approvals when you need them.

Still mapping the market? This list of AI outreach tools and the full comparison library cover the other options.

Final Verdict: The Best AI SDR for SMB and Mid-Market Teams

11x.ai is a premium, sales-led AI SDR with a $45,000-a-year entry point and a mixed review record. Artisan AI is a cheap way to test AI email outbound, but its price climbs with credits, and it no longer lists LinkedIn. At about 2,000 leads a month on annual billing, they cost 2x to 7.5x Agent Frank's $499/mo.

For SMB and mid-market B2B outbound, Agent Frank is the stronger AI SDR. He covers email and LinkedIn and reaches about 2,000-2,500 new leads a month for $499/mo billed annually, or $599/mo billed quarterly. His stack comes with free Warmforge warm-up and Primebox™ built in.

Here is a claim you can hold me to: at 2,000 new leads a month, neither 11x nor Artisan publishes a price below $1,000/mo. For proof that he books real meetings, see VAI Consulting: 3 calls booked within the first week after it narrowed its ICP.

Frequently Asked Questions About Agent Frank, 11x, and Artisan

Is Agent Frank better than 11x.ai and Artisan AI?

For SMB and mid-market B2B teams, yes: Agent Frank runs email and LinkedIn from $499/mo billed annually, covering about 2,000-2,500 new leads a month. At that volume, 11x's Growth plan costs $3,750/mo and Artisan's largest self-serve tier costs $1,000/mo, also billed annually, and neither lists a LinkedIn channel. 11x is the better fit if you need inbound phone and chat agents or outreach in more than 21 languages.

What's the main difference between 11x.ai and Artisan AI?

11x.ai sells a sales-led AI SDR on annual contracts: Alice starts at $3,750/mo billed annually, with managed Gmail mailboxes included and Julian available for inbound calls and chat. Artisan AI sells Ava on credits, with self-serve plans from $280/mo ($250/mo billed annually), a 30-day trial, and mailboxes billed separately. In short, 11x is built for mid-market and enterprise budgets, while Artisan's self-serve plans suit startups.

Which is cheaper: Agent Frank, 11x.ai, or Artisan AI?

It depends on volume: at about 500 leads a month, Artisan's Intern plan is cheapest at $250/mo billed annually. At 2,000 new leads a month, Agent Frank is cheapest at $499/mo billed annually or $599/mo billed quarterly, plus infrastructure such as Megaforge from $69/mo. The same volume costs $1,000/mo on Artisan's 42K-credit tier and $3,750/mo on 11x Growth, both billed annually.

Do 11x.ai and Artisan AI support LinkedIn outreach?

Neither names LinkedIn on its live pricing page, and 11x only says Alice covers email and social channels. Artisan was banned from LinkedIn in late December 2025 over data-scraping concerns, was reinstated about two weeks later, and removed LinkedIn mentions from its site. Agent Frank runs LinkedIn and email in one sequence, and Salesforge supports six native LinkedIn actions, including InMails.

Can I switch from 11x or Artisan to Agent Frank?

Yes, but check your contract first, since 11x defaults to annual terms and Artisan's annual plans bill credits upfront, so you may owe the rest of the term. Agent Frank onboarding starts with a demo, then your Account Manager helps you set up the workspace, Knowledge Base, and infrastructure. Plan for 2 weeks of Warmforge warm-up before he sends his first email.

Which AI SDR has better email deliverability?

Agent Frank has the deepest deliverability setup of the three: every mailbox warms up free in Warmforge's premium pool, and Heat Score™ tracks mailbox health. Megaforge also spreads his sending across Gmail, Outlook, Mailforge, and Infraforge, with automatic fallback if one provider burns. 11x bundles managed Gmail mailboxes with warm-up and rotation, while Artisan monitors deliverability but bills mailboxes separately.

Does Agent Frank offer a free trial?

No, Agent Frank has no free trial, and a demo with the Salesforge team comes first. After that, a dedicated Account Manager helps set up your workspace, and mailboxes warm up for 2 weeks at no extra cost. Salesforge itself, the platform for human-led outreach, has a 14-day free trial with no credit card, and its plans start at $48/mo monthly ($40/mo annual).

Who are 11x.ai and Artisan AI best for?

11x.ai fits mid-market and enterprise teams with $45,000+ a year for an AI SDR, especially if they want inbound coverage from Julian too. Artisan AI fits founders and small teams who want to test AI email outbound without a sales call, from $250/mo billed annually. Teams that want email and LinkedIn at 2,000+ leads a month should look at Agent Frank.