The AI Sales Agents: What They Do and How to Choose One
An AI sales agent is software that does sales tasks on its own or beside a rep: researching prospects, writing outreach, following up on leads and booking meetings. In our directory, 11x, Artisan and Qualified are built to work autonomously, while Apollo.io and Close assist your team.
Last checked: . Not affiliated with the companies listed. Based on public information — not tested by us. How we check.
Autonomous or assistive?
Autonomous agents are sold as a digital team member that runs prospecting or inbound follow-up for you. Assistive tools sit inside a CRM or data platform and help your own reps. Separately, some tools are for inbound leads (someone already asked) and some for outbound (you reach out first).
Autonomous AI sales agents
| Tool | Best for | Free plan | Easy-Start | Pricing summary (vendor) | Our label |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11x | B2B sales teams that want to automate prospecting and inbound lead response. | No | 2/10 | Pricing not published; book a demo | Based on public information — not tested |
| Artisan | B2B sales teams that want to automate outbound prospecting and meeting booking. | No | 2/10 | Pricing not published; Team, Scale and Enterprise plans 'scoped on your plan' via Talk to sales | Based on public information — not tested |
| Qualified | B2B companies on Salesforce that want an AI agent to qualify inbound web traffic and book meetings. | No | 2/10 | Contact sales (Premier, Enterprise and Ultimate plans; no prices published) | Based on public information — not tested |
11x: Pricing not published; requires a sales demo to get a quote. Artisan: No published prices, free plan or trial; requires a sales call. Qualified: No free plan and pricing not published; built around Salesforce.
AI inside your CRM or data platform
| Tool | Best for | Free plan | Easy-Start | Pricing summary (vendor) | Our label |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apollo.io | Sales teams and founders doing outbound prospecting who want data and outreach in one tool. | Yes | 8/10 | Free plan; Basic and Professional paid plans (per user; annual billing costs less than monthly) — prices not shown on the vendor's pricing page as checked 2026-11-01, see vendor site; Custom via sales | Based on public information — not tested |
| Regie.ai | B2B sales reps and SDR teams running outbound prospecting. | Yes | 10/10 | Free plan (250 one-time credits, no credit card); Pro $41/mo billed annually ($49 monthly); Team $125/seat/mo billed annually ($150 monthly), 2-seat minimum; Enterprise custom | Based on public information — not tested |
| Close | Small sales teams that live on the phone and want an AI agent to work new inbound leads, follow up and book meetings inside the same CRM. | No | 8/10 | Solo $19/user/mo ($9 billed annually); Essentials $49/user/mo ($35 annually); Growth $109/user/mo ($99 annually); Scale $149/user/mo ($139 annually). Chloe included on all plans, paid through AI credits and calling usage. 14-day free trial, no credit card. | Based on public information — not tested |
| Zoho CRM | Small and growing businesses that want a low-cost CRM and can grow into AI agents and automation as the team grows. | Yes | 10/10 | Free for up to 3 users. Standard $20/user/mo monthly or $14/user/mo billed annually; Professional (AI agents) $35/user/mo or $23 annually; Enterprise $50/user/mo or $40 annually; Ultimate $65/user/mo or $52 annually. 15-day free trial. | Based on public information — not tested |
Trade-offs: Apollo.io: Prices are not shown on the main pricing page (taken from Apollo's own plan-details article); free plans can only connect Gmail for email campaigns. Close: Chloe works in English only, must disclose she is an AI and does not cold call. Chloe's work uses AI credits plus per-minute calling (about $0.02/min) on top of the plan. Using Chloe inside Workflows needs Growth or Scale. Call Assistant recording is a $50/mo + $0.02/min add-on. Zoho CRM: AI agents are not on the Free or Standard plans; you need Professional or higher. Prices shown exclude local taxes. Setup has several admin steps (roles, profiles, pipeline) that take longer than lighter CRMs.
Cold email platforms with AI
| Tool | Best for | Free plan | Easy-Start | Pricing summary (vendor) | Our label |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Instantly | Agencies and sales teams running cold email at volume. | No | 8/10 | Outreach plans: Growth $47/mo, Hypergrowth $97/mo, Light Speed $358/mo (monthly; about 20% less billed yearly, e.g. Growth $37.6/mo); bundles from $94/mo monthly or $85/mo yearly; Enterprise custom; 14-day free trial, no card | Based on public information — not tested |
| Smartlead | Agencies and sales teams running cold email campaigns at volume. | No | 8/10 | Base $39/mo, Pro $94/mo, Unlimited Smart $174/mo, Unlimited Prime $379/mo billed monthly (yearly: $32, $78, $144, $315/mo); 14-day free trial, no credit card required | Based on public information — not tested |
Prices change. Confirm on each vendor's own pricing page.
Be careful with cold outreach
Cold email, texts and calls are regulated, and rules differ by country and by whether you contact businesses or consumers. This is not legal advice: read the rules that apply to you, include a real unsubscribe option, and ask each vendor how it handles consent, AI disclosure and sending limits.
What to check before you choose
- Inbound, outbound, or both?
- Does it work alone, or does a rep review what it sends?
- Is the price published, and what usage (credits, minutes, seats) costs extra?
- Which CRM does it write to?
- Does it tell contacts it is an AI?
- Is there a free plan or trial before a sales call?
Frequently asked questions
How much does an AI sales agent cost?
It varies widely. Apollo.io lists a free plan and paid plans from $49 per user a month, and Regie.ai lists Pro at $41 a month billed annually. 11x, Artisan and Qualified do not publish prices; you book a demo or talk to sales. Confirm on each vendor's page.
Can AI agents do sales?
They can do parts of it. Vendors in this guide describe researching prospects, writing outreach, following up and booking meetings. Close states its AI teammate must disclose it is an AI and does not cold call. None of these vendors' pages is a guarantee of results, and we have not tested them.
Who has the best AI sales agent?
There is no single best. It depends on whether you sell to businesses or consumers, how many leads you handle, and your budget. We do not rank one as best and have not tested these tools. Match the tool to your job using the groups below.
Can I get an AI sales agent for free?
Some tools here list a free plan: Apollo.io, Regie.ai, Zoho CRM. Free plans are limited by seats, credits or features, and some credits are one-time. Check each vendor's free-plan terms before you build a process on it.
Keep exploring
Browse all Sales and Outreach tools, read how AI scheduling assistants book the meetings, or get the weekly newsletter for new tools.
