Instantly alternative: Re:Shark vs Instantly
Instantly is a sending engine built for volume; the list, the research and the words are still yours, and mailboxes and domains are extra. Re:Shark decides who is worth mailing and what to say, and sends it from EU servers with domains and mailboxes in the plan.
Why teams choose Re:Shark
Re:Shark does the part that decides whether a cold mail gets answered: Kai finds the Dutch companies that fit your offer, researches each one and writes the personalised parts. It then sends from our own EU mail servers, with domains, mailboxes, warm-up and data credits all in the plan price.
When Instantly is enough
If you already have your lists and your copy and mainly need to send large volumes from many accounts.
Instantly alternative: Re:Shark vs Instantly
| Compared on | Re:Shark | Instantly |
|---|---|---|
| Who finds your leads | Kai searches Reef for companies that fit your offer and finds the right contact person. | You search a database of 450M+ B2B contacts with filters. Lookups use Instantly Credits, a separate subscription from $9 a month. |
| Who writes the personalisation | Kai researches each company and writes the personalised parts. You choose per campaign how much he does. | You set up the campaign and its copy. AI agents and a Copilot can help, paid from the separate credits plan. |
| Dutch company data | Reef is built around Dutch companies: what a company does, where it operates, how its team is structured, with the source shown for each answer. | A global contact database with waterfall work email enrichment. |
| Domains and mailboxes | Included in every plan. DNS, DMARC, DKIM, SPF, warm-up and rotation run automatically. | Connect unlimited accounts. Domains ($15 a year) and Google accounts ($5 to $10 a month each) are bought separately. |
| What's in the price | Kai, data credits, domains, mailboxes and the sending infrastructure. | The Outreach plan covers sending, warm-up and Unibox. Data and AI credits, domains and accounts are extra. |
| Pricing (as of September 2026) | Plug & Play €395, Growth €695, Enterprise €995 a month excl. VAT; €345, €645, €945 billed quarterly or €295, €595, €895 annually. 1, 3 or 5+ users and 2,000, 7,500 or 30,000 credits included. | Outreach $47, $97 or $358 a month, Enterprise on request. Credits from $9 a month. Domains and accounts on top. |
| Company and data location | Dutch company (The Ocean B.V.). Data stored and processed in the EU; mail sent from our own EU servers. | US company (Foo Monk, LLC). Data generally stored in the US; Google accounts bought through Instantly use US IPs. |
| Sending volume | Sized for targeted campaigns: up to 10 mailboxes on Plug & Play, up to 20 per domain on Growth and Enterprise. | 5,000 to 500,000 emails a month depending on the plan. |
We read Instantly’s own website for these facts on 30 September 2026. Prices and features change; their site is leading.
Why teams look for an Instantly alternative
Instantly is built to send. Every plan lets you connect and warm up unlimited email accounts, and the plans are sized by volume: 5,000 emails a month on Growth, 125,000 on Hypergrowth and 500,000 on Light Speed. As an engine for volume, it does what it says.
What it leaves to you is everything before the send. You decide which companies to mail, you look up the contacts, you work out what each company does and why your offer fits, and you write the mail. Instantly’s lead database and AI agents help, but they run on Instantly Credits, a second subscription next to the Outreach plan. The AI Reply Agent, for example, uses 5 credits per reply.
The infrastructure is also a separate purchase. Domains cost $15 a year each through Instantly, done-for-you Google accounts $5 a month each and pre-warmed ones $10 a month. So a working setup is three or four line items, and the part that decides whether anyone replies is still your job.
What Re:Shark does differently
Re:Shark starts with the question a sending tool can’t answer: who is worth mailing, and what should you say to them?
You describe your offer and your ideal customer. Kai, our AI colleague, searches Reef for Dutch companies that fit, finds the right contact person and verifies the address. He reads up on each company and writes the personalised parts of the sequence. Then Re:Shark sends it from our own EU mail servers, and Kai reads the replies and drafts your response.
Say you sell HR software to logistics firms with 50 to 200 staff in the south of the Netherlands. Kai builds that list from Reef, notes that one company just opened a second warehouse, and opens the mail with that. You review it, approve the launch and the campaign runs.
You choose per campaign how much Kai does. In Manual you build every step. In Copilot Kai prepares the next step and you decide. In Autopilot he works within your rules. In Manual and Copilot nothing is sent without your approval, and Kai only sends replies himself if you authorise him.
Deciding who and what, not only how many
Volume is Instantly’s axis. Re:Shark’s is fit. A shorter list of companies that really match your offer, each with a mail that shows you looked, is easier on your domain’s reputation than sending more. It also gives the reader a reason to answer.
That work needs good company data. Reef is built around Dutch companies: what a company does, where it operates and how its team is structured. Enrichment fills gaps from multiple sources and shows the source of each answer, so you can check why Kai picked a company.
Sending is handled for you too. Every plan includes domains and mailboxes, and DNS, DMARC, DKIM, SPF, warm-up and rotation run automatically. Allow 2 to 3 weeks of warm-up for a new domain. More on how outreach works.
What you actually pay
Take a small setup on Instantly: one domain and ten mailboxes. At its published prices that is $47 a month for Outreach Growth, from $9 a month for a credits plan, and $50 a month for ten done-for-you Google accounts. That comes to from $106 a month, plus $15 a year for the domain. For that you have a sending engine. Finding the right companies, researching them and writing the mails is still work you do or buy elsewhere.
Re:Shark puts it all in one plan price, not a line item per piece. Plug & Play is €395 a month excl. VAT (€345 billed quarterly, €295 annually) with 1 user, 2,000 credits and 1 domain with up to 10 mailboxes. Growth is €695 (€645, €595) with 3 users, 7,500 credits and 2 domains, and Enterprise €995 (€945, €895) with 5+ users, 30,000 credits and 4 domains; on those two plans each domain has up to 20 mailboxes. About 13 credits cover one prospect: finding and verifying the address, checking fit and writing a personalised sequence. That is indicative, and a search that finds no address is refunded. So Plug & Play’s 2,000 credits cover roughly 150 fully prepared prospects. Top-up packs are available.
Built for the Dutch market
Re:Shark is a Dutch company, The Ocean B.V. Data is stored and processed in the EU under the AVG, and mail goes out from our own EU servers. Instantly is a US company; its privacy policy says it generally stores information in the United States, and its email accounts page says the Google accounts it sells use US IPs. Read our article on GDPR and B2B data (in Dutch).
Switching from Instantly
Try Re:Shark for 7 days, no card needed: one user and 750 credits, without a sending domain yet. On a paid plan, your domains and mailboxes are set up inside Re:Shark, and you can also connect a Gmail or Outlook mailbox (up to ten prospect emails per user per day). If you’d rather not run the campaigns yourself, our team can run them for you at €70 an hour excl. VAT. Re:Shark also has an MCP server for Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor.
Compare the plans or book a demo. Also comparing sending tools? See Re:Shark vs Smartlead.
Frequently asked questions
Is Re:Shark a good alternative to Instantly?
Yes, if you want more than a sending tool. Re:Shark finds the companies that fit your offer, researches them, writes the personalised parts with Kai and sends from EU servers with domains and mailboxes included. You keep the final say: in Manual and Copilot nothing is sent without your approval.
What does Instantly really cost compared with Re:Shark?
To send from one domain with ten mailboxes, Instantly's published prices add up to $47 for Outreach Growth, from $9 for a credits plan and $50 for ten done-for-you Google accounts: from $106 a month, plus $15 a year for the domain. That buys the sending; the list, the research and the copy are still your work. Re:Shark Plug & Play is €395 a month excl. VAT (€345 billed quarterly, €295 annually) with Kai, 1 user, 2,000 credits, 1 domain and up to 10 mailboxes included.
Can I switch from Instantly?
Yes. Try Re:Shark for 7 days without a card: one user and 750 credits, without a sending domain yet. On a paid plan, domains and mailboxes are set up inside Re:Shark, and you can also connect a Gmail or Outlook mailbox (up to ten prospect emails per user per day). Would you rather not run it yourself? Our team can run your campaigns at €70 an hour excl. VAT.
Can I connect unlimited mailboxes in Re:Shark, like in Instantly?
No. Each plan includes a set number of domains and mailboxes: Plug & Play 1 domain with up to 10 mailboxes, Growth 2 and Enterprise 4 domains with up to 20 mailboxes each. Re:Shark focuses on doing email outreach completely: the research, the writing and the sending.