Lead Generation

EmailOctopus Review: Is it the Right tool for your Cold Outreach?

Considering using EmailOctopus for email marketing or cold email outreach, but not sure if it’s the best? Find out all the pros, cons and features in this EmailOctopus review and make the right decision.

Saurav Gupta
Founder & CEO
February 27, 2025
Table of contents

This blog is for you…

If you're looking for the perfect tool for your cold outreach.

If yes, then EmailOctopus could be an option you should look into.

And this blog is your ultimate guide to understanding all aspects of the tool.. .

In this EmailOctopus review, I'll be delving into the ins and outs of EmailOctopus:

Should you use this tool for email marketing? OR Should you use this for cold emails?

Well, time to find out.

Sit back and prepare to make an informed decision about the right choice for your cold outreach endeavors.

Let's dive in together and pave the way for outreach success!

Animated turquoise swimming pool scene with lounge chair in the background.

What is EmailOctopus?

EmailOctopus is a software platform for email marketing. It is designed to help businesses and individuals send professional email campaigns to their subscribers.

What is EmailOctopus?
  • You can import existing subscribers and grow your audience,
  • You can design emails,
  • You can automate welcome series to engage new subscribers,
  • You can segments subscribers and deliver targeted emails,
  • You can analyze campaign results,

Next in this review, let’s learn how to set EmailOctopus up.

How to set up EmailOctopus?

Setting up EmailOctopus is super simple! Here's a 7 step process to get you started:

  1. Sign up: Visit the EmailOctopus website and sign up for an account. You have the option of selecting a free or premium plan based on your needs.
  2. Import subscribers: If you have an existing subscriber list, you can easily import them into EmailOctopus.
  3. Create emails: Begin composing emails using the EmailOctopus-provided pre-designed templates. You can customize them to match your brand or build your designs from scratch.
  4. Set up campaigns: To gradually engage subscribers, you can use one-time emails or automatic drip campaigns.
  5. Segment and personalize: Your subscribers can be divided into target audiences by using the segmentation feature. Segmentation can be based on their interests or demographics.
  6. Monitor and analyze: Keep track of your email campaign performance.
  7. Connect to other apps: EmailOctopus has connections for Squarespace, Gravity Forms, and Shopify.
        
EmailOctopus review stating "A tool made by team of unsympathetic and unprofessional people".
Source: G2

Some users of EmailOctopus have some pretty bad experiences with the team, calling them unprofessional, rude and lacking etiquette.

Well, but what about the actual tool itself?

What is EmailOctopus actually used for?

EmailOctopus offers essential email marketing features and automation tools. They help businesses grow their brand and increase customer retention.

Here are some simple use cases for EmailOctopus:

  • EmailOctopus is a helpful tool for people who wish to communicate with their audience and deliver informative content.
  • Nonprofit organizations can use it to raise awareness, promote their cause, and engage with their supporters.
  • Marketing agencies and freelancers can use it to manage email marketing campaigns for their clients.
  • Event organizers can communicate with attendees, promote upcoming events, and send event-related information.
  • Professionals like coaches and service providers use EmailOctopus to connect, share insights, and promote their services.

Now, let's discover the features that users like about the tool in the next section of this EmailOctopus review.

User favorite features of EmailOctopus

The following are the pros of EmailOctopus:

  • Email Campaign Tracking: You can easily track campaign metrics for each one you run.
Email campaign tracking feature
  • Template Creation Options: You can create templates for future email marketing campaigns. There is no need to waste time on building design from scratch.
Email templates feature
  • Segmentation and Targeted Emails: You can segment your followers on different criteria and send them more targeted emails.
Email list segementation feature
  • Make campaigns automatic: You can create automation within the tool. Once the trigger is hit, the automation will run.
Email automation setup feature

That’s not it; EmailOctopus also has a couple more cards up its sleeve.

What are the other features offered by EmailOctopus?

You can grow your audience and control your email marketing campaigns  with EmailOctopus. Here's an overview of some key features:

  • Grow Your Audience: You can utilize the forms on your website to add new subscribers and grow your audience. You may also create engaging design landing pages to increase subscribers.
  • Customize Your Messages: You can use data and insights to divide your subscriber base into relevant target demographics. You can tag contacts to keep information organized.
Personalized email feature
  • Connect to other apps: Shopify, Gravity Forms, and Squarespace connectors are available from EmailOctopus. The integrations through Zapier also lets you directly import new subscribers, streamlining your workflow.
EmailOctopus Integration Review
  • GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) Compliance: EmailOctopus ensures compliance with the GDPR, giving you peace of mind when handling subscriber data.

Everything comes with a price, but they have something free for you as well, but is it worth it? The following section of the review will look into EmailOctopus' price.

EmailOctopus Pricing

Let's dive into the EmailOctopus pricing. And find out why it might not work out for your outreach efforts:

1. Starter Plan - Free:

  • You won't pay a dime for it, but be prepared for what it offers:
  • 10,000 emails per month and up to 2,500 subscribers.
    It's like inviting a small group to your party but missing out on the real action.
  • Branding from EmailOctopus on your emails.
    Your outreach efforts might end up looking like a walking billboard for them. Not exactly the impression you want to make.
  • The report's shelf life is only 30 days though.
  • Access for only one user.

2. Pro Plan starts at $9/month:

  • Paying for an upgrade? Let's see if it's worth the investment:
  • Up to a customizable number of subscribers. Well, at least it's a step up from the Starter Plan, but still not enough to conquer the outreach world.
  • Finally, bid farewell to the tool's branding on your emails.
  • Here, the reports are always accessible. Analyze and optimize, Have access to landing pages and forms indefinitely.
  • Add any number of people/users.

You can cancel anytime if you feel like it isn't vibing with your outreach goals.

EmailOctopus pricing

From these, there’s a couple reasons why EmailOctopus might not be your ideal outreach companion:

👎You get a limited subscriber count.

👎Pricing can add up quickly.

👎Lack of advanced features.

But as with every tool, EmailOctopus has more faults than we know; let's review them.

{{mobile-cta}}

Top 5 things users hate about EmailOctopus

EmailOctopus users have complained about:

1. Limited Email Design Editor:

        
  • You need External tools like Bee Free to import templates, adding complexity.
  • It has design and customization limitations.
  • You also can’t use the email editor freely as there are limited advanced features.
Email octopus review on g2
Source: G2

2. Occasional Lag:

        
  • Lag impacts productivity and efficiency in email marketing activities.
  • Delays can disrupt workflows and create frustration for users.
EmailOctopus user complaining about its buggy UI
Source:TrustRadius

3. Incomplete Statistics:

        
  • Lack of insights on email open rates and audience engagement.
  • Hinders the ability to optimize campaigns and make data-driven decisions.
EmailOctopus customer complaining about its poor customer service
Source: Capterra

{{mobile-cta}}

4. Poor Pricing:

        

You’ll have to shed more and more money over time.

And to be honest, the features just don’t make up for it.

5. Limited Integrations:

  • Difficulty connecting EmailOctopus with other software tools.
  • Inability to streamline workflows and leverage the benefits of integrated solutions.
EmailOctopus Pros and Cons

When deciding whether the platform will meet your email marketing needs, take into account these shortcomings.

Let’s quickly recap what we have covered so far with this table of the pros and cons of the tool.

EmailOctopus Pros and Cons

EmailOctopus Pros and Cons

Is EmailOctopus the Right Choice for Cold Outreach?

In the end it’s ultimately up to you and your business, but you should definitely be aware of the main limitations like,

  • Deliverability Concerns: EmailOctopus might not have all the specialized features. So, there's a chance your emails might get lost in the vast spam universe.
  • Lack of Personalization:  EmailOctopus falls short when it comes to advanced personalization. So, you might struggle to tailor your cold outreach emails to make them feel personal and engaging.
  • Compliance Challenges: With EmailOctopus, you might need to put in some extra effort to ensure compliance.
  • Limited Automation Features: Let's face it, we all love automation. But with EmailOctopus, setting up those fancy workflows and drip campaigns for your cold outreach might be tricky.
  • Integration Constraints: We all have our favorite tools and platforms. EmailOctopus might not play too well with all of them. It has limited native integrations and custom APIs. So you might face hurdles when connecting it with your other go-to tools.
  • Reporting and Analytics: How do you know if your cold outreach is hitting the mark? Unfortunately, EmailOctopus offers only basic campaign reporting and analytics. So, tracking metrics, A/B tests, and getting detailed insights on your recipients might be challenging.

With all these issues, you might want to try a different tool.

You want a tool that helps you stand out and make meaningful connections.

Up next, we have for you what we promised earlier. No review ends without an alternative. This EmailOctopus review is no exception.

SalesRobot, the #1 user-friendly, cloud-based alternative to EmailOctopus that helps you do Email + LinkedIn outreach.

SalesRobot is a tool that is designed to automate sales outreach.

It can completely automate email and LinkedIn messages, sequences, follow-ups and even regular LinkedIn actions for effective prospecting and campaigning.

The platform offers a ton of features directly in the basic plan, namely

✅AI-powered Lookalike search to find clones of your ideal customer, making it much easier to land a sale.

✅Data Enrichment to fill in all the missing information from your lists like work emails and phone numbers

✅Smart Analytics to effectively plan and evaluate your outreach strategy, covering all important metrics.

✅Multichannel Outreach on Email and LinkedIn to diversify your outbound strategy, why stick to just one?

✅Personalized Outreach to really stand out from the crowd and grab your prospect’s attention, and trust me, it works.

✅Automated reminders, and

✅Integration with CRM to streamline the sales process for sales teams.

What are the features offered by SalesRobot that make it a worthy outreach tool?

SalesRobot is simple and offers features such as:

  • SalesRobot offers advanced customization, sequential and editorial features to make your messages super relevant to your target audience.
Email sequence steps with delays between emails
  • With a clean user interface, it is smooth to get started and use the tool.
SalesRobot review on G2
Source: 2
  • SalesRobot not only improves your sales process but also offers valuable analytics. With insights and data-driven metrics, you can refine your approach to drive better results.
Smart Analytics Dashboard Salesrobot
  • With SalesRobot, you don’t have to manually manage lists unlike EmailOctopus. It's easy to access prospects' contact information to import them.

SalesRobot streamlines the process, allowing you to focus on building meaningful connections. Automation is vital to successful outreach, and SalesRobot excels in this aspect.

  • SalesRobot integrates with Zapier, ensuring a smooth and streamlined prospecting process. SalesRobot understands the importance of a cohesive sales stack. So, it provides the flexibility to connect with your favorite tools.
G2 review of SalesRobot
Source: G2
  • SalesRobot empowers you to leverage the power of LinkedIn for prospecting.

It uses LinkedIn as a sales tool with LinkedIn Polls, Groups, private messages, and InMails.

You can tap into the vast network of LinkedIn to connect with and engage potential clients directly.

Creating campaign with Salesrobot

It is essential in today's environment, where cold emailing is becoming less effective, and emails often end up in spam folders.

  • SalesRobot's hyper-personalization features allow you to really stand out in the crowd and boost your chances.
LinkedIn messages with personalized images
  • SalesRobot has a database of 700 million users, which allows them to find and enrich personal emails of your prospects.
SalesRobot configure settings enrich email option
  • SalesRobot is a cloud based tool that keeps your account safe and prevents it from getting banned.

You can control the frequency of all automation and even turn on a dedicated Safe mode to be extra secure.

Smart Configuration - Salesrobot
  • With the smart inbox function, you can keep track of all your outreach messages in a single location. No more searching through scattered emails or platforms - everything is organized and accessible.
  • With robust team management tools, SalesRobot eliminates the headache of management while saving time and effort. It is a handy organizer for your sales flow and lets you track your team's performance.

{{mobile-cta}}

SalesRobot Pricing

SalesRobot offers 3 pricing plans:

SalesRobot pricing

1. Starter - Do it yourself Plan

This power-packed plan has everything you can request to supercharge your sales efforts. Here's what you get:

  • Access to prospects' contact information makes reaching out to them more accessible.
  • Import prospects effortlessly.
  • Enjoy the convenience of a Smart Inbox and automated follow-ups, keeping your sales process streamlined.
  • Integrate with all your favorite tools and platforms for enhanced productivity.
  • The dashboard will give insights into your prospects' actions.
  • Engage with groups and message attendees of events. And expand your reach and networking capabilities.
  • Invite unlimited team members, customize access controls, and collaborate.
  • Delete pending invites to help your team.
  • Receive automated reports sent to any number of email addresses, keeping everyone in the loop.
  • Use a single Sales Nav account across many LinkedIn accounts, optimizing your usage.
  • Surprise your connections by automatically wishing them a happy birthday and building rapport.

All this can be yours for just $99 per month per account when paid monthly (20% annual payment discount available).

And the best part?

There is no need for a credit card to begin the 14 days free trial. And enjoy 14 days of unrestricted access to experience the power of SalesRobot first hand.

2. Pro - We do it for you plan

• Expert Support: Our social selling experts help you build targeted lists and craft high-converting email message sequences.

• LinkedIn Optimization: Enjoy a free session to optimize your LinkedIn profile for maximum impact.

• Enhanced Outreach: Includes 1 LinkedIn account and access to 10 inboxes for streamlined outreach.

3. Pro + = We do it all & more plan

Everything in the Pro Plan, plus:

Automated Engagement: We handle up to 50 LinkedIn comments/day and create 4 high-quality LinkedIn posts per month to grow your personal brand.

Now, it's time to compare SalesRobot and EmailOctopus and review what works best for cold outreach.

SalesRobot vs. EmailOctopus

SalesRobot vs EmailOctopus comparison

{{mobile-cta}}

EmailOctopus Review: Conclusion

Now that we’re wrapping up this in-depth EmailOctopus review, it is obvious that while it is pretty good at email marketing, it is not suitable for cold outreach.

Cold outreach requires a different set of tools and strategies.

There are benefits to using EmailOctopus for email marketing.

But, in cold outreach, where spam filters and low response rates plague traditional email campaigns, it's time to embrace a new approach.

That's where SalesRobot steps up to revolutionize your prospecting game.

Either step up or step out gif

With SalesRobot, you can harness LinkedIn's power to the fullest without even being at your computer.

LinkedIn is a platform currently dominating the prospecting landscape with over 1 billion members.

By connecting directly with potential clients on LinkedIn, you can bypass the pitfalls of cold emailing. And engage using messages tailored to each individual profile with hyper-personalization.

SalesRobot provides you with valuable contact information and imports prospects from Groups, Events, Sales Nav searches, CSVs, LinkedIn Searches and more.

It leverages automation for follow-ups and engaging with LinkedIn groups and event attendees.

SalesRobot streamlines your prospecting process and makes it easy-peasy for you to focus on other things.

Furthermore, SalesRobot integrates with other essential tools maximizing productivity like Hubspot, Salesforce, Zapier, Zoho and more.

It's all about working smarter, not harder, and SalesRobot empowers you to do just that.

So, when it comes to your cold outreach endeavors, it's time to leave behind the limitations of EmailOctopus. And embrace the power of SalesRobot.

Experience the difference firsthand by starting your 14-day free trial today. (We don’t ask for credit card or phone numbers)

Disclaimer: The content of this blog post reflects our own opinions and judgements based on our research and experience as of published date. Comparisons made to other software or tools are for informational purposes only and are based on publicly available information and our own analysis. We do not claim absolute accuracy and encourage readers to conduct their own research to form their own opinions. While we may discuss competitor offerings, our primary focus is to showcase the features and benefits of SalesRobot. SalesRobot is not affiliated with any other software or tool mentioned in this blog post.

Message 100s of people on LinkedIn and cold email.

Every Week. Automatically.

Trusted by 3.2k users in 45 countries

More in 
Lead Generation

Get free leads for 14 days

Stop relying on personal connections to get more customers and start generating high-quality leads in next 60 mins like our 3200+ users do.