Comparison
Smartlead vs. Furnace
About the same price. The difference is who runs the sending.
Buy from Smartlead what Furnace includes and you pay about $290 a month at 12,000 emails, plus an estimated $15–40 replacing mailboxes that burn out, and 4–8 hours a month of your time. Furnace is $297 with replacements and upkeep included.
Updated
Monthly cost at 12,000 emails
- $94 Pro plan
- $135 30 mailboxes
- $49 SmartDelivery tests
- $11 10 domains
- $15–40 replacing burned mailboxes (estimate)
Plus your time: about 4–8 hours a month (about $200–400 at $50 an hour), and 5–10 hours to set up.
Growth plan with 30 mailboxes, their domains, warmup, monitoring, and burned mailboxes replaced at no cost
Your time on the sending: none. We set it up and run it.
Buying from Smartlead what Furnace Growth includes: 30 SmartSenders mailboxes at $4.50 a month (20 sending, 10 backups), 10 domains at $13 a year, and the $49 SmartDelivery placement testing add-on. Burned mailboxes assume 2 to 5% of them burn each month (Furnace's estimate), each replaced with a pre-warmed mailbox ($9 a month) on a new $18 domain. Time is Furnace's estimate: 4–8 hours a month at $50 an hour, plus 5–10 hours to set up. From Smartlead's pricing page and help center, October 2026, on monthly billing.
Side by side
Who does the work?
| Job | Smartlead | Furnace |
|---|---|---|
| Domains and mailboxes | You buy 30, about $146 a month | Included: 20 sending, 10 backups |
| Time before you can send | Two weeks or more of warmup | Day one, on pre-warmed mailboxes |
| Deliverability checks | SmartDelivery tests, $49 a month | We catch domains going bad |
| Burned mailboxes | Pre-warmed replacements, about $15–40 a month | Replaced at no cost |
| Strategy calls | Only on the $174 plan and up | Unlimited, with both founders |
| Your time on the sending | About 4–8 hours a month, plus 5–10 hours to set up | None. We run it |
| Who to email, what to say | You | You, with our help |
To be fair
When is Smartlead the better pick?
When you'd rather run it yourself
If you already own warmed mailboxes, or you like running the sending yourself, you only pay for the plan: $94 a month at this volume.
When you want cold calling too
Smartlead has a built-in dialer, so you can call leads from the same tool you email them from. Furnace focuses on email, so calls would happen in another tool.
Real people
Two founders on your account.
When something needs a person, you get one of us.
Kyle Nelson
Cofounder
Watches your account and takes strategy calls as often as you want them.
Porter Gardiner
Cofounder
Built the platform and answers support directly, with no limit.
Switching
How do I switch from Smartlead?
- 1
Add your Smartlead API key in Furnace.
- 2
Furnace imports your campaigns, sequences, leads, reply history, and stats.
- 3
Start sending on pre-warmed mailboxes while your own warm up.
Questions
Do I need to buy my own mailboxes with Smartlead?
Yes. Smartlead plans include unlimited mailbox connections, not the mailboxes. Through SmartSenders a fresh mailbox is about $4.50 a month and a pre-warmed one $9, plus $13 to $19 a year per domain. Furnace includes sending domains, mailboxes, and backups in every plan.
How long until I can send?
Smartlead recommends at least two weeks of warmup for a new mailbox, and one to two months for a brand new domain, unless you buy pre-warmed mailboxes. On Furnace you start on pre-warmed mailboxes right away, while your own dedicated mailboxes warm up in the background.
What happens when a mailbox burns out?
Smartlead's Auto-Replace can spot a burning mailbox and order a replacement on a new domain at the same monthly rate, then warm it for about 14 days. You pay for the new mailbox: if 2 to 5% of 30 mailboxes burn each month, pre-warmed replacements on new domains run about $15–40 a month. On Furnace we catch domains going bad and replace their mailboxes at no extra cost.
Is Furnace more expensive than Smartlead?
Not once you count what's included. At 12,000 emails a month, Smartlead Pro at $94 plus 30 mailboxes, their domains, and SmartDelivery placement testing comes to about $290 a month, plus an estimated $15–40 replacing burned mailboxes, and 4–8 hours a month of your time (about $200–400 at $50 an hour). Furnace Growth is $297 with all of that included, and we do the setup, warmup, monitoring, and replacements. Smartlead is cheaper if you already have warmed mailboxes and skip placement testing.
Can I move from Smartlead to Furnace?
Yes, without rebuilding anything. Add your Smartlead API key in Furnace and it imports your campaigns, sequences, leads with where each one is in the sequence, reply history, and stats. There's nothing to move on the sending side: we set up the domains and mailboxes for you.
Ready to stop managing mailboxes?
Tell us who you want to reach. We'll set up the sending and show you around.
Book a callAlso see Instantly vs. Furnace · HubSpot Email vs. Furnace · How Furnace works · Pricing