Salesforge vs Mailshake: Cold Outreach Tool Comparison

Salesforge vs Mailshake: LinkedIn & Cold Email Outreach Tool Overview

When you’re choosing a sales tool for cold email outreach and multi-channel outreach campaigns, the first question is whether you need a platform that prioritizes immediate ease-of-use or one that prioritizes deliverability and infrastructure control:

Mailshake markets itself squarely as an AI-powered sales engagement and B2B lead platform focused on getting messages into prospect inboxes fast while providing a user friendly interface, Data Finder, and features like LinkedIn automation and a phone dialer so sales reps can run automated email sequences and phone sequences from one place.

Salesforge is part of a larger Forge Stack dedicated to streamlining the entire outbound sales outreach process (Warmforge, Mailforge, Infraforge, Leadsforge, Primeforge and the Agent Frank AI SDR). One of Salesforge's highlights is the extensive control over deliverability and personalization it grants its users (plus unlimited LinkedIn senders, mailboxes and seats for teams that want to scale without any friction.)

Pricing & Free Plans

Salesforge provides 2 plans oriented around outreach scale, as well as a 14-day free trial.

The plans are as follows (with 2 free months granted when using annual billing):

• $48/mo for Pro plan (you get: 1000 active contacts in sequence, 5000 messages/mo, 100 email validation credits/mo, 100 personalization credits/mo, unlimited mailboxes, unlimited contact storage, free premium warm up via Warmforge, unlimited workspaces, connect unlimited mailboxes, a unified inbox (Primebox), mailbox rotation, dynamic IPs, live chat support and more)
• $96/mo for Growth plan (all the credits from the Pro plan are increased tenfold, and you also get: unlimited seats, A/B testing, personal onboarding, API access, 100 social action credits/month, multi-language sequences, Primebox AI reply crafting, ESP matching, access to a massive knowledge base and more)

Mailshake provides 3 plans oriented around outreach scale with discounts offered at annual billing, but no free trial available. The plans are:

• $29/mo for Starter plan (you get: 1 email address per account, 1,500 email sends/mo, unlimited uploaded contacts, 50 Data Finder credits, unlimited email warm up, unlimited campaigns, unlimited email verification, automated email sequences, A/B testing, AI email writing with SHAKEspeare).
• $49/mo for Email Outreach plan (you get: everything in Starter + email rotation, email personalization, advanced scheduling & throttling, unified inbox, Salesforce/Pipedrive/HubSpot integrations, 1,000+ Zapier integrations, prospects view, browser extension, and email template management,+1 email address per account, 50 Data Finder credits).
• $99/mo for Sales Engagement plan (you get: everything in Email Outreach + 10 email addresses per account, 2,500 free Data Finder credits, LinkedIn automation (messages/profile views/connection requests), 5 phone numbers, power phone dialer, unlimited free dialer minutes to North American numbers, unified inbox, phone scripts, lead temperature, account-level views & organization, custom tasks, and a 1-on-1 onboarding call).
• Agency Plan - All of Sales Engagement + Unlimited Email Addresses per account.
• Other paid add-ons include: Ready-to-Use Mailboxes for scaling sender infrastructure and a standalone Data Finder add-on.

Email Deliverability & Infrastructure

Deliverability is the backbone of any cold email campaign: if your messages sit in spam folders or never reach prospect inboxes, great subject lines and personalized outreach don’t matter.

Mailshake advertises several built-in deliverability features:

• An email domain setup assistant that helps new users configure DKIM/SPF/DMARC without heavy technical skills
• An in-app copy analyzer to avoid spammy language
• List cleaning
• Free email warm up

All aimed at helping new users avoid spam filters and optimize campaigns quickly.

Salesforge, on the other hand, doubles down on deliverability by offering:

• Free, unlimited Warmforge warm-up
• Dynamic IPs
• Mailbox rotation
• ESP matching
• Multi-domain sending with Infraforge, Mailforge and Primeforge as infrastructure layers
• Heat Score-style monitoring approach for mailbox health

If your priority is to avoid spam filters across dozens of domains and mailboxes, Salesforge's major emphasis on building and maintaining sender reputation can be a real advantage for established teams running cold email outreach campaigns.

Multi-Channel Outreach

Modern outreach rarely lives in email alone: effective sales outreach blends email outreach with LinkedIn messages.

• Mailshake emphasizes “Manage Email and LinkedIn Campaigns in One Place” and includes LinkedIn automation (messages, profile views, connection requests) + a dialer so sales reps can integrate phone calls into outreach campaigns.
• Salesforge offers conditional multi-channel sequences as well (though no dialer yet, phone outreach capabilities are coming soon). The main Salesforge advantage is unlimited LinkedIn senders and the Primebox - a unified inbox that consolidates replies across email and LinkedIn and helps teams manage replies without losing prospects.

The practical difference: Mailshake’s interface (and paid add-on Data Finder) are built to stitch channels together quickly for sales teams and new users, while Salesforge’s approach is focused on scaling those channels with robust mailbox and sender management - useful when you’re running multiple different tools or multi-domain campaigns at scale.

Mailbox Management & Domain Setup

If you plan to send at scale, you’ll constantly juggle email setup, DKIM/SPF/DMARC entries, mailbox creation, and domain monitoring.

• Mailshake’s advantage for small teams and new users is the email domain setup assistant and purchase/create mailboxes automation that reduces the technical friction of email setup. Mailshake’s docs and in-app guidance make email setup approachable for users without technical skills.

Salesforge, however, makes mailbox and domain setup a first-class part of the stack.

• Salesforge explicitly walks you through domain setup steps, helps teams create mailboxes, and monitors domain reputation across multiple domains. Salesforge’s stack is designed to help teams manage campaigns across many sending domains and mailboxes (and to scale mailbox count without seat-based cost penalties), which is a strategic win if your outreach approach requires multiple domains and careful email setup.

LinkedIn & Email Campaign Management

Both platforms excel at constructing automated email sequences and follow ups, but they take slightly different approaches.

• Mailshake shines at simplicity: standard templates, SHAKEspeare AI writer for quick copy generation, A/B testing, spintax, and a sending calendar that helps new users avoid over-sending and manage multiple campaigns.

Mailshake’s automated follow ups and mail merge capability are designed for sales reps who need to send personalized messages at scale without wrestling with complex setup.

• Salesforge also supports conditional multi-channel sequences and spintax, and its Primebox reply consolidation and API access mean sequences can be more tightly integrated into a company’s sales automation and CRM workflows when needed.

Where Salesforge pulls ahead is in campaign management for large outbound programs.

• Since Salesforge offers unlimited mailboxes and greater mailbox control, you can distribute sending load, run multiple campaigns from different domains, and use the Forge Stack to optimize campaign deliverability across an organization.

Prospecting & Data: Data Finder vs Leadsforge

Prospecting and data management are central to campaign ROI.

• Mailshake’s Data Finder is a core feature: it lets you find prospect emails, filter prospects by role, location, or company, and import lists directly into campaigns - a genuine productivity booster for teams that want to run targeted outreach without multiple different tools.
• Salesforge approaches prospecting as part of a broader ecosystem: Leadsforge (extremely user-friendly lead search engine) functions as a tool that seamlessly integrates with Salesforge and efficiently finds and enriches high quality contacts.

If you want to centralize lead generation inside the same vendor family and combine lists with high deliverability infrastructure, Salesforge’s integrated lead drivers dashboard and Leadsforge engine are an attractive combination.

For teams that prioritize standard internal lead generation, Mailshake’s Data Finder is valuable, but for teams that couple effortless prospecting with next level infrastructure and multi-channel dispatch, Salesforge + Leadsforge is the preferable option.

Analytics & Reporting

Understanding which subject lines and sequences convert is crucial to optimizing cold email campaigns.

• Mailshake highlights pipeline-focused analytics: Lead Catcher and a Lead Drivers dashboard showing opens, replies, clicks, and which outreach types are most effective. The sending calendar and per-rep analytics make it simple to coach sales representatives and optimize campaigns.
• Salesforge provides robust campaign-level analytics and includes features like inbox placement tests, an email deliverability test, and an overall sales forecast tool to predict outcomes. Salesforge’s Primebox also layers in AI analysis on replies to help teams respond faster and spot promising prospects - helpful when managing multiple campaigns and prospect inboxes across domains.

If your primary need is to surf quality leads quickly and coach reps, Mailshake’s dashboards are strong. For deeper deliverability-first analytics tied to domain health and inbox placement, Salesforge’s tools and free deliverability tests give a fuller picture.

User Friendliness

A big practical factor is how quickly new users can understand a tool and launch a campaign.

• Mailshake’s emphasis on templates, SHAKEspeare AI, a chrome extension, and straightforward campaign setup means new users and small teams can be sending personalized emails within a day, though the haste can result in subpar results. The email domain setup assistant reduces the need for technical skills, and Mailshake’s help materials, live training, and onboarding resources support new users getting started.
• Salesforge’s onboarding is strong - Salesforge promotes Salesforge Academy, video tutorials, and a help desk - but because Salesforge exposes more infrastructure control (domain setup, Heat Score type metrics, multi-domain management, etc.), there’s slightly more initial friction for teams that want to act fast without internal technical resources.

That said, for teams that want to learn deliverability best practices and optimize campaigns over time, Salesforge’s academy and superior customer support messaging can convert initial investment into long-term wins. If your main goal is immediate outbound volume with minimal technical skills and questionable results, Mailshake is friendlier.

Integrations

Both platforms understand that outreach doesn’t live in a vacuum: you’ll want to push engaged leads into CRM systems and integrate with other sales tools.

Mailshake explicitly lists integrations with various major CRMs and offers a documented API so you can automate record-keeping and pipeline updates. Mailshake’s Chrome Extension and Lead Catcher also reduce context switching by surfacing prospects and capturing engagement inside your workflow.

Salesforge takes integrations to the next level. Just to name a few:

• Major CRMs
• SMTP
• API
• Webhooks
• Slack
• Zapier
• Clay
• The Forge Stack

And many more. Salesforge is built to play cleanly with existing pipelines while keeping inbox and sender infrastructure consolidated.

Which Tool For Which Target Audience

If you’re a small team or a new sales rep who needs to run cold email campaigns fast and values easy templates, Mailshake’s simple interface and Data Finder make it a natural fit - fast time-to-first-send, a sending calendar to try avoiding spam folders, and dedicated onboarding help so new users become productive in a day (though be weary - quick deployment generally means low quality outcomes)

Whether you're a massive agency, a small team, or even an established team that runs multiple campaigns, needs multiple mailboxes, or must maintain strict deliverability and domain hygiene across clients, Salesforge’s Forge Stack and unlimited mailbox/sender/workspace/seat approach gives you the infrastructure, deliverability and scale advantages that sustain outreach over time. For teams with an appetite to optimize deliverability and avoid spam filters across domains, Salesforge is the stronger long-term bet.

Salesforge vs Mailshake: Final Verdict

If you need a crisp actionable recommendation:

• Choose Mailshake if your priority is speed and simplicity (so new users and sales reps can start sending personalized outreach emails as fast as possible).
• Choose Salesforge if your priority is a deliverability-first architecture, multi-channel sending, unlimited mailboxes/LinkedIn senders, and a proprietary suite (Warmforge, Mailforge, Infraforge, Leadsforge, Primeforge) that helps you manage campaigns across every outreach step.

If you’re budget-conscious about seat costs or you plan to run multiple different tools and mailboxes in parallel, Salesforge’s Growth plan and Primebox consolidation offer a lot of practical upside at just $96/mo.

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