Outbound outreach tools have become essential for sales teams, agencies, and growth marketers but not all email tools are created equal. In 2025, two platforms continue to dominate conversations among professionals: Mailshake and Lemlist. Both promise smarter outreach, automated follow-ups, and better engagement, but they serve slightly different needs.
After testing both platforms across real sales scenarios, here’s an expert comparison to help you choose the right one for your business.
Overview: What Are These Tools?
Mailshake is a seasoned outreach platform that focuses on simplicity, deliverability, and workflow automation. It’s designed for teams that want reliable campaigns without spending hours managing sequences.
Lemlist started with a strong emphasis on personalization especially visual personalization and has since expanded into a full outreach platform with multi-channel capabilities.
Both have evolved, and by 2025 they focus on automation, AI assistance, and integration with CRMs but their strengths still differ.
Interface & Ease of Use – First Impressions Matter
When it comes to the user experience:
- Mailshake is straightforward and highly intuitive. Its dashboard feels familiar to anyone who’s used an email marketing tool before. Campaign setup is fast, and sequences are easy to manage.
- Lemlist takes a bit longer to master because it offers deeper customization, especially around personalization. You can do more here, but the learning curve is slightly steeper.
Expert takeaway: If ease of use and rapid deployment matter most, Mailshake wins. If you want flexibility and granular personalization, Lemlist rewards users willing to invest in setup time.
Campaign Personalization – Who Does It Better?
Personalization is where these tools truly separate themselves:
- Mailshake supports dynamic fields and basic personalization variables (e.g., first name, company), and integrates well with data pulled from CRMs or lead sources.
- Lemlist is the standout here. It not only allows dynamic text personalization but also supports image personalization, enabling you to send images with a prospect’s name, logo, or custom visuals embedded directly in the email.
In practical terms, this can lead to higher engagement because emails feel genuinely crafted for the recipient not templated.
If your outreach strategy relies heavily on personalization that stands out in a crowded inbox, Lemlist has the edge.
Deliverability – Where It Counts Most
Sending outreach emails is one thing getting them into the inbox is another.
- Mailshake has built a strong reputation for high deliverability. Their platform guides users on best practices, warm-up tools help establish sender reputation, and the system automatically throttles sends to protect performance.
- Lemlist also offers deliverability tools and warm-up features, but in head-to-head tests, mail from Lemlist occasionally showed higher spam folder rates when personalization flags triggered filters.
Expert insight: Deliverability often comes down to how well you warm up and segment your list but out of the box, Mailshake tends to perform more consistently for larger, high-volume lists.
Automation & Sequences – Depth and Power
Both platforms offer multi-step sequences, including follow-ups based on opens, clicks, and replies. However:
- Mailshake excels in creating clean, scalable sequences with straightforward logic and conditions. The follow-up rules are easy to set, and the automation feels reliable.
- Lemlist provides similar functionality but adds more behavior-based triggers, especially when combining channels (e.g., email + LinkedIn). You can build complex sequences that adapt to how prospects interact with your messages.
If you want simple, reliable automation – Mailshake. If you want nuanced, behavior-triggered flows – Lemlist.
Analytics & Reporting – Actionable Metrics
For outreach tools, reporting should answer two questions:
- Are my campaigns performing?
- What should I change next?
Mailshake:
- Clear dashboards with opens, replies, click-through rates, and engagement trends.
- Useful for teams tracking performance across large lists.
- Integrates smoothly with Google Analytics and CRMs like HubSpot, Salesforce, and Pipedrive.
Lemlist:
- Offers similarly robust metrics but adds visual funnel views and deeper segmentation of behavior.
- For agencies or SDR teams, this can help pinpoint where leads tend to drop off.
Expert view: Mailshake is excellent for clean, executive-ready reporting. Lemlist provides slightly more depth for optimization.
Integrations – How Well Do They Connect?
Both tools integrate with the essentials:
- CRMs (HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive)
- Lead sources (Apollo, ZoomInfo, Google Sheets)
- Zapier & API access
Mailshake has historically offered broader native integrations tailored to enterprise teams, while Lemlist emphasizes multi-tool compatibility but often relies on Zapier for advanced workflows.
If your tech stack is complex – Mailshake’s native integration ecosystem will feel more plug-and-play.
Pricing – Value for Money
Cost matters, especially for small teams and agencies:
- Mailshake usually comes in at a slightly higher price point, justified by stronger deliverability, direct integrations, and simpler onboarding.
- Lemlist tends to be more affordable overall, especially if you’re a smaller team focused on personalization over volume.
If pricing is a primary concern and you’re experimenting with outreach, Lemlist gives good value. If ROI from reliable inbox delivery and integrations is your priority, Mailshake justifies the cost.
Who Should Choose What in 2025?
Choose Mailshake if you want:
- High deliverability
- Large-scale outreach with consistent results
- Straightforward automation and reporting
- Strong CRM integrations
- Clean, predictable campaign performance
Mailshake is ideal for scaling teams and agencies that need reliable performance without constant tinkering.
Choose Lemlist if you want:
- Deep personalization (including images)
- More adaptive, behavior-driven sequences
- Visual engagement tools
- Lower entry cost
- A creative edge in crowded inboxes
Lemlist is ideal for SMBs, startups, and creative teams where catching attention with personalized content outweighs pure volume.
Final Verdict – Balanced, Realistic, Practical
In 2025, the choice between Mailshake and Lemlist comes down to your priorities:
- Predictability + deliverability + integrations → Mailshake
- Personalization + nuanced automation + creative messaging → Lemlist
Both tools are powerful in their own right. Neither is objectively “better” in every scenario the best choice depends on how you plan to use it.