Lemlist Credits vs Outly Pricing (2026)
TL;DR
Lemlist credits price individual data and communication actions. Outly prices access through subscription tiers and does not sell leads or bill per lead. Choose credits when you value granular usage accounting across different actions. Choose a subscription when your priority is a predictable platform bill and included prospecting capacity.
These models are not directly interchangeable. Lemlist's published credit values below come from its lead-cost guide dated July 15, 2026 and may change. Outly's current plans are Professional at $79.99 monthly or $800 yearly, Elite at $149.99 monthly or $1,500 yearly, and custom Enterprise pricing, with a 14-day trial. Check the canonical Outly pricing page before purchasing.
Lemlist credit costs as of July 15, 2026
According to Lemlist's guide, one credit costs $0.01. Different actions consume different amounts:
| Lemlist action | Credits | Credit value at $0.01 each |
|---|---|---|
| Verified email | 5 | $0.05 |
| Phone number | 20 | $0.20 |
| SMS | 6 | $0.06 |
| AI action | Variable, starting at 1 | Variable, starting at $0.01 |
| Calls | 4-32 per billed minute | $0.04-$0.32 per billed minute |
Lemlist also states that unsuccessful lookups generally do not consume credits and that purchased credits roll over. “Generally” is an important qualifier: teams should verify the rule for the exact lookup, plan, region, and transaction they intend to use.
This model makes marginal cost visible. If a workflow needs a verified email, a phone number, and AI processing, each component has its own usage. That can help teams attribute spend to actions, but forecasting requires estimates for both prospect volume and the mix of actions applied to each prospect.
Outly pricing in 2026
Outly uses subscription tiers rather than a marketplace price for each lead:
| Outly plan | Monthly billing | Annual billing | Prospecting allowance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Professional | $79.99/month | $800/year | 3,000 profile scans |
| Elite | $149.99/month | $1,500/year | Unlimited AI-researched prospects |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Defined with Outly |
Outly offers a 14-day trial. “Unlimited AI-researched prospects” describes the Elite plan's prospect research allowance; it should not be read as unlimited sending, unlimited third-party data, or a promise that every researched profile includes a usable email address.
Outly does not sell leads and does not charge per lead. It provides software for prospect research and outreach workflows. A profile scan may identify or analyze a profile, but that is not equivalent to buying a contact, receiving a verified email, getting a reply, or creating a qualified opportunity.
Why $0.0267 is not Outly's cost per lead
Dividing the Professional monthly price by its included profile scans gives:
$79.99 / 3,000 = $0.0267 per included profile scan, rounded to four decimal places.
That is a theoretical allocation of the subscription price, not cost per lead (CPL). The denominator is profile scans, not leads. It also assumes all 3,000 scans are used and assigns the entire subscription price to that one allowance, ignoring the rest of the platform.
Actual CPL requires an agreed definition of “lead” and observed funnel data. For example, a team might define a lead as a matching prospect, a verified contact, a respondent, or a booked meeting. Those are different stages with different denominators. Neither a credit purchase nor a profile scan guarantees any of them.
Predictable subscription vs granular usage
When granular credits fit
A credit system can fit a team that wants to buy distinct actions and inspect their marginal costs. It is especially legible when usage varies: one segment may need only verified emails, while another may require phones, SMS, AI actions, or calls.
The tradeoff is forecasting complexity. Total spend depends on action mix, lookup success, call duration, AI usage, and any base subscription or other charges shown in the vendor's current terms. Rollover reduces pressure to consume purchased credits immediately, but unused credits still represent committed cash.
When a subscription fits
A subscription can fit a team that wants a stable platform cost and expects to use its included capacity consistently. Outly Professional provides a fixed monthly or annual price with 3,000 profile scans; Elite changes the prospect-research allowance to unlimited AI-researched prospects.
The tradeoff is utilization risk. A team using only a small share of included capacity still pays the plan price. A team also needs to account separately for its people, mailboxes, domains, and other services it chooses to run alongside Outly. Subscription predictability does not mean the subscription is the entire outbound budget.
Apples-to-apples total cost questions
Before comparing quotes, answer these questions for both options:
- What is the billing unit? Separate credits, seats, profile scans, researched prospects, messages, and leads.
- What creates a charge? Check successful lookups, failed lookups, AI actions, SMS, calls, and any third-party services.
- What rolls over? Lemlist says purchased credits roll over as of July 15, 2026; confirm current conditions.
- What expires or resets? Review included allowances and billing-cycle rules in current terms.
- What does “unlimited” modify? For Outly Elite, it modifies AI-researched prospects, not every platform resource.
- What external costs remain? Include mailboxes, domains, data providers, telephony, staff time, and deliverability work where applicable.
- How much capacity will you actually use? Model low, expected, and high usage instead of dividing price by maximum allowance alone.
- What outcome matters? Compare cost per verified contact, positive reply, qualified opportunity, or meeting only when you have measured conversion data.
Teams building cross-channel workflows should also budget the process, not just records. The multichannel cold outreach guide explains why channel sequencing changes operational requirements. For programmatic campaign management, review the Outly MCP server and API guide. A structured sales prospecting plan helps define the audience and funnel denominator before anyone calculates CPL.
Simple evaluation checklist
- Estimate monthly prospects by segment.
- List actions required for each segment.
- Apply Lemlist's current credit rate to the expected action mix.
- Compare Outly's monthly and annual plan prices at realistic utilization.
- Keep profile scans separate from verified contacts and leads.
- Add external infrastructure and labor costs to both scenarios.
- Confirm rollover, renewal, allowance, and cancellation terms directly.
- Recalculate when pricing or workflow changes.
Limitations
This comparison uses Lemlist facts explicitly attributed to its July 15, 2026 article and Outly's current canonical plan facts. It is not a full plan-by-plan feature audit, tax calculation, currency conversion, or quote. It does not estimate outcomes because response rates, qualification rates, and sales results depend on audience, offer, copy, channel, infrastructure, and execution.
Prices and terms can change after publication. Regional taxes, enterprise terms, add-ons, and external provider costs may alter the amount paid. Verify both vendors' current checkout pages and contracts before making a purchasing decision.
Bottom line
Lemlist credits answer, “What did each metered action consume?” Outly subscriptions answer, “What platform tier and prospecting capacity do we want for a known recurring price?” Neither model is universally cheaper. Build a forecast from actual action mix and utilization, keep scans distinct from leads, and compare total operating cost against the outcome your team has clearly defined.