The days of relying solely on cold emails are long gone. In 2025, winning at outbound sales means meeting prospects where they are - across email, LinkedIn, phone, and even SMS. That’s where multi-channel outreach tools come into play.

Whether you’re an SDR, sales leader, or running a lead gen agency, having the right multichannel sales platform can make or break your outreach success. In this in-depth multichannel outreach software comparison, we’ll explore the top outreach tools of 2025, their features, workflows, and how they stack up for B2B multichannel outreach.

Let’s break down the tools built for modern, omnichannel prospecting - and help you choose the one that actually fits your team and sales motion.

Why Multichannel Sales Engagement Matters More Than Ever

Buyers are overwhelmed with messages. A single cold email or LinkedIn connection request no longer cuts through. Modern outbound requires multi-touch, multichannel sequences—email, LinkedIn, calls, SMS, even video—to build familiarity and trust.

That’s why sales tools with multichannel workflows have become the go-to for top-performing teams. The best platforms allow you to orchestrate these touchpoints in one place, instead of juggling a mix of disconnected tools. This isn’t just convenient—it directly improves response rates and sales velocity.

1. Instantly: Fast, Scalable Cold Email, Limited Multichannel Options

Instantly is a top-tier player for cold email at scale. It’s ideal for teams looking to launch campaigns fast, manage unlimited sending accounts, and optimize with native AI-powered personalization tools. But when it comes to multichannel sales engagement, Instantly is limited.

• ✅ Strengths: Cold email deliverability, email warming, inbox rotation

• ❌ Weaknesses: No LinkedIn, calling, or SMS support

• 💡 Best For: High-volume cold email campaigns and A/B testing
  
  

If you only need cold email automation, Instantly is perfect. But if your team is growing into a multichannel model, it’s not enough on its own.

2. Lemlist: Multichannel Workflows with a Creative Twist

Lemlist blends cold email and LinkedIn automation into one workflow, and adds some creative flair with custom image personalization and video. It also supports cold calling tasks (though not direct dialer integration), making it a solid choice for teams who want more than email.

• ✅ Strengths: Multichannel sequences (email + LinkedIn), image personalization

• ✅ Includes: Task reminders for calls, social touches, video steps

• ❌ Weaknesses: No native SMS or direct call integration

• 💡 Best For: Small to mid-size SDR teams who want personal outreach at scale
  
  

Lemlist excels as a LinkedIn plus email outreach platform, especially for teams that value personalization and creative outreach.

3. Smartlead: AI-First Outreach Automation with Multiple Channels

Smartlead is a newer player that’s quickly rising in the best sales engagement tools category. It’s a highly scalable platform with built-in support for email, LinkedIn, and webhook-based multichannel actions. It shines in automation and API flexibility.

• ✅ Strengths: AI-powered workflows, deep integrations, webhook support

• ✅ Includes: LinkedIn steps, email rotation, API flexibility for voice/SMS

• ❌ Weaknesses: No built-in dialer or native SMS (requires third-party tools)

• 💡 Best For: Tech-savvy sales teams or agencies with dev support
  
  

Smartlead is ideal for those who want to build custom multichannel logic using automation platforms for outreach like Zapier or Make.

4. Outreach.io: Enterprise-Ready Multichannel Sales Engagement

Outreach.io is a heavyweight for enterprise sales teams. It combines email, LinkedIn, voice calling, and task management into one streamlined platform. It also integrates tightly with CRMs, making it a go-to for large organizations.

• ✅ Strengths: True multichannel (email, voice, LinkedIn), analytics, coaching tools

• ✅ Includes: Built-in dialer, call recording, advanced reporting

• ❌ Weaknesses: Expensive for startups or lean teams

• 💡 Best For: Large outbound sales teams in mid-market or enterprise space
  
  

If you're looking for outreach tools with calling features and detailed insights into rep performance, Outreach.io leads the way.

5. Apollo.io: Built-In Data + Multichannel Outreach in One Platform

Apollo.io blends a massive contact database with email and LinkedIn outreach automation, as well as dialer functionality. It’s one of the few tools that combines lead discovery, outreach, and CRM capabilities.

• ✅ Strengths: Prospecting + multichannel sequences in one tool

• ✅ Includes: Email, LinkedIn tasks, built-in dialer, CRM sync

• ❌ Weaknesses: Sequence editor UX can feel limited compared to Outreach

• 💡 Best For: Agencies and SMBs who want everything under one roof

Apollo.io stands out in the multichannel tools for agencies category by helping streamline lead generation, personalized outreach, and CRM activity tracking in one place.

6. Reply.io: Email, LinkedIn, Calls, SMS—All in One

Reply.io is one of the most complete cross-channel outreach software solutions available for mid-sized teams. It includes email automation, LinkedIn steps, call capabilities, and even SMS outreach—all with native support.

• ✅ Strengths: Full multichannel stack, call dialer, SMS, LinkedIn

• ✅ Includes: Multichannel sequence builder, Chrome extension, analytics

• ❌ Weaknesses: Slight learning curve for sequence logic

• 💡 Best For: Mid-size B2B sales teams or growing startups wanting serious automation
  
  

For teams who need email, voice, SMS, and LinkedIn in one place, Reply.io delivers.

7. Salesloft: Multichannel CRM-Driven Sales Engagement

Salesloft is a direct competitor to Outreach.io and appeals to companies that need tight CRM integration (especially Salesforce) with strong multichannel engagement. It supports email, voice, LinkedIn tasks, and SMS via integrations.

• ✅ Strengths: CRM-first workflows, AI-driven analytics, multichannel steps

• ✅ Includes: Dialer, LinkedIn tasking, cadence insights, forecasting tools

• ❌ Weaknesses: Pricing, complexity for small teams

• 💡 Best For: Revenue teams and sales ops leaders building pipeline predictability
  
  

Salesloft is a power tool for sales automation with LinkedIn and email, plus real-time coaching and analytics.

Choosing the Right Multichannel Outreach Tool for Your Team

With so many options, how do you choose the right platform?

• If you’re focused purely on email, Instantly or Smartlead will give you speed and scale.

• For email + LinkedIn, go with Lemlist, Apollo.io, or Reply.io.

• If you want voice, SMS, and CRM integration, Salesloft and Outreach.io are the strongest.

• Running an agency? Apollo.io and Smartlead are great multichannel tools for agencies.

• Need AI-powered multichannel tools? Smartlead, Salesloft, and Outreach all offer smart sequencing and automation.
  
  

Your decision should come down to use case, budget, team size, and how deeply integrated you want outreach to be with the rest of your sales stack.

Final Thoughts

The future of outbound is multichannel, personalized, and AI-assisted. Whether you're building a lean SDR team or running enterprise sales, investing in the right multichannel CRM tools and outreach software is critical to scaling with precision.

Every tool listed above has its strengths. The best approach? Start with a free trial or request a demo. Test for workflow fit, data sync reliability, and user experience.