Instantly Alternative: Prospecting from the French Register
A fair Instantly alternative for teams whose customers are French businesses: the list comes from the public register and every email is approved by you.
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Overview
Instantly is a general B2B outreach platform with a lead database; people look for an alternative when their market is narrower than the tool's. If your customers are companies registered in France, the public register is a complete source, and Mailbase is built on it.
This is a fit guide, not a verdict. Instantly's strengths come first, then how Mailbase differs, then how to decide.
Quick verdict
Instantly and Mailbase both send cold email, but they start from different places. Instantly presents itself as a sales engagement and lead intelligence platform with a B2B lead database; Mailbase is a narrower agent that builds the list from the French company register and writes each email for you to approve.
Choose Instantly if you want a general B2B lead database and automation across markets, AI workflows that route and tag leads, or a CRM-style pipeline view. Choose Mailbase if your customers are French businesses and you want the list built from the public register, one verified email per company, with every message approved by you.
| Instantly | Mailbase | |
|---|---|---|
| Where the list starts | A B2B lead database and lead finder, per its homepage | The French company register (SIRENE): every active company, filterable by activity (NAF), place, headcount and age, deduplicated on its SIREN |
| Automation | AI workflows that route leads and trigger follow-ups, per its homepage | You approve every email until you switch to auto; a reply or a bounce stops the sequence for that company |
| Deliverability | Deliverability tools, per its homepage | Per domain: ten stages from 20 emails a day, gated by real bounce and complaint rates. No seed network |
| Sending | Check official docs/pricing page | Amazon SES (eu-west-1), from a Mailbase address or your own verified domain |
| Channels | Check official docs/pricing page | |
| Coverage | Check official docs/pricing page | Companies registered in France |
| Pricing | Check official pricing page; pricing changes often | Per verified prospect: 200 a month free, 1000 on Starter (€9/month billed yearly, €12 month to month) |
What Instantly does well
On its homepage, Instantly describes itself in these terms. The list is a paraphrase of its own homepage, not a review, and it can change: check the site for the current product.
- It describes itself as a sales engagement and lead intelligence platform.
- It advertises a B2B lead database and a lead finder.
- It describes automated outreach campaigns with AI assistance for personalization.
- It describes AI workflows that route leads, apply tags and trigger follow-up campaigns.
- It advertises email deliverability tools and an AI-powered CRM.
How Mailbase is different
Mailbase is narrower on purpose. It does one job: find the companies you sell to in the French register, work out who to write to, verify the address, write one email per person and send a few a day.
- Source: The French company register (SIRENE): every active company, filterable by activity (NAF), place, headcount and age, deduplicated on its SIREN.
- Email address: Read on the company's own site (the legal notice French law requires), then verified before anyone writes.
- Writing: one email per person, built on one true fact about that company, signed as you.
- Control: You approve every email until you switch to auto; a reply or a bounce stops the sequence for that company.
- Coverage: Companies registered in France. Discovery is built on the French register; if you sell elsewhere, it is not the tool.
Warm-up and deliverability
Cold email rarely fails on the words. It fails on a young domain that sends too much too early. Mailbase sets up SPF, DKIM, DMARC and the reply MX for a domain you buy in the app or connect, then warms each domain on its own: it moves up a stage only while the last seven days of real bounces and complaints stay clean, and it pauses before the provider does.
That warm-up is honest by design: no network of robot inboxes opening your mail. Every email is also read for scams before it leaves. You can check any domain for free with the domain check, and a first draft with the cold email checker, whichever tool you end up using.
How the pricing differs
Mailbase is priced by verified prospect, the unit the product sells: 200 a month free, 1000 on Starter (€9/month billed yearly, €12 month to month), 10,000 on Growth (€29/month billed yearly, €39 month to month) and 45,000 on Scale (€79/month billed yearly, €107 month to month). Finding and enriching companies is never metered; only the verified email counts. Sending, the reply inbox and the AI assistant are included. For Instantly's current plans and limits, read its own pricing page: they change often enough that a static comparison would be wrong within months.
Choose Instantly if / choose Mailbase if
- Choose Instantly if you want a general B2B lead database and automation across markets, AI workflows that route and tag leads, or a CRM-style pipeline view.
- Choose Mailbase if you sell to French businesses and want the prospect list to come from the register rather than a bought database.
- Choose Mailbase if you want to read and approve each email before it goes, and a sequence that stops itself on a reply or a bounce.
- Use both if you like: the register is a source of French companies, and Mailbase's inbox keeps the replies in one place.
Common mistakes
- Looking for one drop-in replacement when the job splits into data, sending and replies.
- Switching on price alone without checking data quality for your market or deliverability fit.
- Scaling volume before the sending domain has a track record.
- Forgetting you still need a place to manage replies and see what bounced.
Sources and further reading
Official docs for current setup details, pricing, and API behavior — verify specifics there, since they change.
Related guides
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