Best AI SDR Tools in 2026: An Honest Assessment

Every week someone sends me a pitch deck for a new AI SDR tool. The promise is always the same: plug in your ICP, flip a switch, watch meetings appear on your calendar. The category has raised hundreds of millions in venture capital over the past 18 months. 11x alone pulled in over $50M from a16z and Benchmark. Artisan came through Y Combinator. The investor thesis is straightforward: outbound is expensive, SDRs churn at 35%+ annually, and AI can do the repetitive parts cheaper.

That thesis isn't wrong. But the products haven't caught up to the pitch yet.

I've spent the past several months tracking four major AI SDR platforms: 11x, Artisan, AiSDR, and Regie.ai. I've talked to revenue leaders who deployed them, read G2 reviews, dug through published reporting, and cross-referenced against the hiring data from our own job posting analysis. Here's what the landscape actually looks like if you're a VP Sales or CRO trying to make a buying decision with real money.

Context on the broader market: across 1,298 executive sales job postings tracked by The CRO Report, 411 now mention AI or ML as a requirement or preferred skill. That's 31.7% of all postings. GenAI specifically appears in just 21. Companies are signaling that they want leaders who understand AI-assisted selling. What they actually want those leaders to do with AI is much less clear. The gap between "we should be using AI" and "here's specifically how we're deploying AI to generate pipeline" is where most organizations are sitting right now.

The Honest State of AI SDRs in 2026

Before getting into individual tools, here's what the category can and can't do right now. Understanding these constraints will save you from evaluating products against capabilities that don't exist yet.

The CRO Report evaluated 15+ AI SDR tools in 2026. Pricing ranges from $900/month (AiSDR) to $5,000+/month (11x), with most tools best suited as augmentation rather than replacement for human SDRs.

What Actually Works

• Volume. AI SDRs can send thousands of personalized-enough emails per day. If your TAM is massive and your product has a straightforward value prop, the sheer coverage generates activity. You'll book meetings through volume that a 5-person SDR team couldn't match, even if conversion rates per email are lower.
• Speed on initial outreach. First-touch emails are where these tools perform best. They pull firmographic data, write a passable cold email, and get it out fast. For inbound response specifically, sub-10-minute reply times genuinely beat most human teams, which take hours or days to follow up on form fills and demo requests.
• Cost per touch. On a unit-economics basis, the cost per email sent is dramatically lower than a human SDR. A junior SDR at $65K-$85K fully loaded, sending 80-100 personalized emails per day, costs roughly $3-$4 per touch. AI SDR tools operate at $0.50-$1.50 per touch depending on volume. The per-touch math is unambiguous.
• Consistency. AI SDRs don't have bad days. They don't skip follow-ups because they got pulled into a team meeting. They execute sequences as configured, every time. For teams that struggle with SDR discipline and process adherence, that reliability has value even if the quality ceiling is lower.

What Doesn't Work

• Reply handling. This is the single biggest gap in the category. Every AI SDR tool can send a decent first email. Almost none handle the reply thread competently. Prospects ask clarifying questions, raise objections, or respond with nuance that requires reading between the lines. The AI either gives a generic answer, says something off-topic, or loops back to the original pitch. Human SDRs catch tone, hesitation, and context. AI doesn't.
• Complex selling motions. If your product requires explanation, your buyer committee has multiple stakeholders, or the sale involves any consultative element, AI SDRs struggle. They're optimized for high-volume, low-complexity prospecting. Enterprise sales cycles with 6-month timelines and 5-person buying committees are beyond current capability.
• Brand risk at target accounts. An AI SDR that sends a tone-deaf message to your top target account doesn't just lose one opportunity. It damages your brand with that entire organization. A bad email to a VP at a named account can burn it for your entire sales team. The downside risk is asymmetric and routinely underappreciated.
• Meeting quality. Revenue leaders consistently report that AI-booked meetings convert to qualified pipeline at lower rates than human-booked meetings. One VP Sales described a 40% lower conversion rate from AI-booked meetings to qualified pipeline. The top-of-funnel numbers look good until you follow the data through the full cycle.

With those constraints in mind, let's look at the four tools worth evaluating if you're serious about testing AI SDR software.

Quick Comparison: All Four AI SDR Tools

Here's every major variable in one table. Detailed reviews follow.

Tool	Pricing	Contract	Best For	Biggest Risk
11x	~$5,000/mo	Annual	Enterprise with massive TAM	$60K+ commitment; 75% reported 3-month churn
Artisan	$1,500-$2,000/mo	Annual	Teams wanting consolidation	Annual lock-in with inconsistent results
AiSDR	$900/mo	Quarterly	Testing AI SDR without commitment	HubSpot only; $0.75/message adds up
Regie.ai	From $35,000/yr + $150/rep/mo	Annual	Enterprise wanting AI + human hybrid	$35K minimum; no pricing transparency

The price spread matters. You can test AI SDR for $2,700 per quarter with AiSDR, or commit $60,000+ annually with 11x. The outputs aren't proportional to the price difference, which is why contract flexibility should be weighted heavily in your evaluation.

11x: High Volume, High Cost, High Risk

11x sells an AI SDR agent named "Alice" that handles outbound prospecting end to end. Prospecting, personalization, sequencing, sending. The company has raised significant venture capital from a16z and Benchmark and markets aggressively across LinkedIn and sales media.

Pricing and Contract

Approximately $5,000 per month on an annual contract. That's $60,000+ per year before any add-ons. For reference, a junior SDR costs $65K-$85K fully loaded (base + variable + benefits + tools). 11x isn't meaningfully cheaper than a human unless you're replacing multiple headcount with one license, and the output has to be comparable for that math to hold.

What Works

• High-volume automation. 11x can run outreach at a scale that would require 5-10 human SDRs. For companies selling a horizontal product to a massive addressable market, the coverage alone generates meaningful activity at the top of the funnel.
• Done-for-you model. 11x handles setup and ongoing management. You're buying a managed workflow, not configuring a DIY tool. For teams with limited RevOps support, the managed approach reduces internal lift substantially.
• Enrichment built in. The platform pulls intent signals and firmographic data to target outreach. You're not bringing your own list, though you can layer in first-party data.

Red Flags

• Can't handle replies. Users consistently report that once a prospect responds, 11x struggles to maintain a coherent conversation. The first email lands fine. The follow-up thread falls apart. For a tool that costs $60K/year, that gap in the core workflow is significant.
• TechCrunch exposed fake customer claims. In a widely reported investigation, TechCrunch documented that 11x had listed companies as customers who denied using the product. That's a credibility issue that goes beyond product quality. If you're evaluating 11x, verify case studies independently. Ask for references you can call yourself.
• 75% reported 3-month churn. Former employees cited in reporting described three-quarters of customers leaving within the first three months. That churn rate, combined with an annual contract structure, means most customers are paying for 9+ months of a tool they've stopped using.

Artisan: The All-in-One Bet

Artisan sells "Ava," an AI assistant that consolidates outbound prospecting, contact enrichment, and email sequencing into one platform. Y Combinator-backed and positioned as the tool that replaces your entire outbound stack rather than adding to it.

Pricing and Contract

$1,500 to $2,000 per month on an annual contract. That's $18K-$24K annually. Cheaper than 11x by a wide margin, but still a 12-month commitment with no short-term exit option. The pricing positions Artisan in the mid-range of the AI SDR category.

What Works

• All-in-one platform. Artisan bundles prospecting, enrichment, and outreach into a single tool. If you're currently paying for separate data (ZoomInfo, Apollo), sequencing (Outreach, Salesloft), and enrichment, the consolidation play saves real money. One login, one vendor, one invoice.
• 300M+ contacts. That's competitive with dedicated data providers. Having contact data native to the platform eliminates the export/import friction that slows down outbound workflows and introduces data hygiene issues.
• Active development. YC-backed, feature velocity is high. The product is improving quarter over quarter, which matters if you're evaluating trajectory alongside current capability.

Red Flags

• Inconsistent results. User reviews cluster at two extremes: teams seeing decent output and teams seeing almost nothing. That variance suggests Artisan works well for specific use cases and ICPs but doesn't generalize reliably. If your motion doesn't match their sweet spot, you'll spend months trying to make it work while locked into an annual deal.
• UI issues. Multiple G2 reviews flag interface friction, slow load times, and workflows that feel unfinished. For a daily-use tool, UX quality directly affects adoption. A platform your reps find annoying to use will get abandoned regardless of what the AI can do.
• Annual lock-in with inconsistent performance. Same structural problem as 11x at a lower price point. Committing 12 months before validating that the tool works for your specific ICP and messaging is a risk that the contract terms force you to take.

AiSDR: The Low-Risk Entry Point

AiSDR positions itself as the accessible option in a category dominated by expensive annual contracts. At $900/month with quarterly billing, it's the only major AI SDR tool that lets you test the concept without a five-figure annual commitment. The trade-offs are real, but so is the flexibility.

Pricing and Contract

$900 per month, billed quarterly. That's $2,700 per quarter or $10,800 annually if you stay for a full year. Individual messages cost $0.75 each on top of the base subscription. At moderate volume (2,000 messages per month), that adds $1,500/month, putting actual cost closer to $2,400/month. At 5,000 messages/month, per-message fees hit $3,750, for a total of $4,650/month. At 10,000 messages/month, you're at $8,400/month, which exceeds 11x pricing. Model your expected volume before committing. Unused messages roll over.

What Works

• Quarterly contracts. In a category where everyone else demands 12-month commitments, quarterly billing is a genuine differentiator. Run a real 90-day test with meaningful volume and walk away if results don't materialize. You'll have spent $2,700 instead of $18K-$60K. That's how software in an immature category should be sold.
• Transparent pricing. The $900/month base and $0.75/message structure is published on their website. No "contact sales for pricing," no opaque enterprise tiers. You can model total cost before talking to a rep.
• Replies under 10 minutes. AiSDR responds to prospect replies quickly. For inbound leads, that speed-to-lead advantage is one of the few areas where AI genuinely and consistently outperforms human SDR teams.
• 700M+ contacts. Larger database than Artisan's 300M+ claim. More coverage means better odds of finding accurate contact data for niche ICPs.
• Rollover messages. Unused messages carry forward. You're not penalized for ramping slowly or having a lighter month.

Red Flags

• HubSpot only. AiSDR integrates with HubSpot and doesn't currently support Salesforce, Pipedrive, or other CRMs. Across the 1,298 executive sales postings we track, Salesforce appears in 180, vs. HubSpot at 48. The majority of mid-market and enterprise sales teams run on Salesforce. Until AiSDR ships that integration, it's disqualified for a large segment of potential buyers.
• $0.75/message adds up. The per-message fee sounds small until you're sending at scale. At high volume, per-message costs become the dominant expense and can push total monthly cost above tools with flat-rate pricing. Run the numbers at your expected volume, not just the base price.

Regie.ai: The Enterprise Hybrid

Regie.ai takes a fundamentally different approach from the other three tools. Instead of selling a fully autonomous AI SDR, Regie builds AI into the workflow alongside human reps. Their platform includes content generation, sequencing, and a parallel dialer, with AI handling research and prioritization while humans handle actual conversations. It's the least "AI SDR" of the AI SDR tools, which may be exactly what enterprise teams need given current AI limitations.

Pricing and Contract

Starting at $35,000 per year, plus $150 per rep per month for the parallel dialer add-on. Annual contract. For a 10-rep team using the dialer, that's $35,000 + ($150 x 10 x 12) = $53,000 per year. No pricing is published on their website. You have to talk to sales, which slows down evaluation and typically means smaller customers pay proportionally more.

What Works

• AI + human hybrid model. Regie uses AI for the repetitive work (research, first drafts, send timing, account prioritization) and keeps humans in the loop for replies, calls, and nuanced outreach. This approach acknowledges what AI does well and what it doesn't, rather than pretending the limitations don't exist. For teams disappointed by reply quality from fully automated tools, the hybrid model produces consistently better outcomes.
• Built-in parallel dialer. Most AI SDR tools are email-only. Regie's native dialer lets you layer phone outreach on top of email sequences with AI-prioritized call lists. Multi-channel outbound consistently outperforms email-only motions, and the built-in dialer eliminates the need for a separate tool like Orum or Nooks.
• Enrichment included. Contact and account enrichment is built into the platform. One less vendor to manage and pay for separately, which reduces total stack cost even though the base price is high.

Red Flags

• $35K minimum commitment. The floor prices out smaller teams and companies testing AI-assisted outbound for the first time. $35K annually is a significant commitment before you've seen a single result, and it's annual with no quarterly alternative.
• No pricing transparency. You can't find pricing on their website. This is a deliberate choice that benefits the vendor. It slows evaluation, makes comparison harder, and usually means deal terms vary based on negotiation leverage rather than published standards.
• AI copy sounds robotic. User reviews consistently flag that Regie's AI-generated email drafts require heavy editing. The AI provides a starting point, but reps need to rewrite before sending. That saves time on research and account mapping but doesn't fully eliminate the copywriting burden.

When AI SDRs Make Sense (and When They Don't)

After evaluating these platforms and talking to revenue leaders who've deployed them, here's a practical framework for deciding whether AI SDR software belongs in your stack right now.

AI SDRs Likely Make Sense If:

• Your TAM is massive and your product is straightforward. Selling a horizontal tool to tens of thousands of potential accounts with a clear two-sentence value prop? AI SDRs can cover more ground than your human team. Volume matters more than deep personalization at the top of an enormous funnel.
• You have an inbound speed problem. AI that responds to inbound leads in under 10 minutes consistently outperforms human response times. If you're losing leads because your team takes hours to follow up on form fills and demo requests, AI solves the speed-to-lead gap immediately.
• Your outbound playbook is already proven with humans. AI works best when it replicates a motion that humans have validated. If you know your ICP, your messaging converts, and your sequences are producing meetings, an AI SDR can scale that at lower cost per touch. The foundation has to be solid first.
• You can treat the output as incremental. The best deployments treat AI SDR output as additive pipeline, not foundational. If hitting your number depends on the AI tool working, you're in a fragile position with a young technology.

AI SDRs Probably Don't Make Sense If:

• Your ACV is above $100K. Enterprise deals require nuance, multi-threading, and relationship building that AI SDRs can't deliver. The risk of a bad AI interaction at a named account outweighs the efficiency gain. One off-tone email to a VP at a target account can burn it for your whole team.
• You sell to technical buyers. Engineers, CTOs, and security leaders are the most AI-literate buyers in the market. They spot template-based outreach immediately and many are actively hostile toward it. AI-generated prospecting to these personas can damage credibility faster than it generates pipeline.
• Your team is under 5 people. At small scale, $10K-$60K/year could fund a meaningful portion of an actual SDR hire who brings judgment, adaptability, and the ability to learn from every conversation. The math favors humans when volume requirements are modest.
• Your outbound motion isn't proven. If human SDRs can't book meetings with your current messaging, AI won't fix that. It'll just send emails that don't convert at higher volume.

The Testing Framework

If I were advising a VP Sales or CRO evaluating these tools, here's the sequence:

1. Confirm outbound works with humans first. Validate the messaging, ICP, and sequence structure manually before automating anything.
2. Start with the shortest possible commitment. AiSDR's quarterly billing makes it the default first test for HubSpot shops. For Salesforce orgs, negotiate a quarterly pilot with whichever vendor will offer one. If nobody will, that's data about how confident vendors are in their own retention.
3. Set success metrics before signing. Not emails sent. Not vanity "meetings booked." Pipeline generated and conversion rate to qualified opportunity. Those are the numbers that matter downstream.
4. Run the test for a full quarter with honest volume. Three months of real outbound gives you statistically meaningful data. Two weeks doesn't.
5. Compare AI-booked vs. human-booked meetings on conversion. If AI meetings convert at half the rate of human meetings, you need 2x the volume just to break even, before factoring in brand risk from lower-quality outreach.