Are you struggling with low email deliverability? You’re not alone. Email spam filters are notorious for blocking outreach efforts, sending your carefully crafted messages straight to junk folders. That’s where email warm-up tools come in. These innovative solutions help you build a positive sender reputation and increase your chances of landing in the inbox, boosting your campaign success
Your cold email research likely introduced you to inbox warm-up, a growing trend that helps emails bypass spam filters. By gradually increasing sending volume and engagement, you build a positive sender reputation, ensuring your messages reach inboxes.
Spam filters are essential tools used by Email Service Providers (ESPs) to combat the overwhelming amount of spam – nearly 85% of all email traffic! These filters keep your inbox safe from unwanted and potentially harmful messages.
A spam filter is a mechanism to prevent unwanted, virus-infected, and unsolicited emails from reaching a recipient’s primary inbox. The mechanism automatically detects such emails through various elements, such as spam triggering verbiage, too many images, high volume of emails, sender reputation, etc.
Email Warm-up Tools – Table of Contents
- What is an email warm-up?
- Why is email warm-up important for your domain?
- 10 Best Email Warm-Up Tools
- Conclusion
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is an email warm-up?
Email warm-up is all about gradually building and establishing trust with Email Service Providers (ESPs). ESPs use sophisticated spam-detection mechanisms to ensure a high-quality user experience.
Often called ‘spam filters’, these mechanisms scan emails for unusual content, filtering out anything suspicious and labeling it as spam. If a new domain sends a high volume of emails immediately, these emails are likely to end up in the spam folder.
To avoid this, domains are ‘warmed up’ by sending system-generated (or manually sent) emails that receive replies (again through the system) to demonstrate engagement. This automated process makes emails appear legitimate, building trust with ESPs.
Modern email warm-up tools often use AI and machine learning, supported by large networks, to simulate business conversations and create the impression of legitimate email activity.
Effective email warm-up involves gradually increasing the volume of sent emails while maintaining high engagement rates, convincing ESPs that you are a legitimate and interesting sender deserving of a place in the recipient’s primary inbox.
Typically, the email warm-up process takes about 3 to 4 weeks. Sending mass emails right away is not advisable as it risks getting your account flagged or suspended.
Pro Tip: To maximize email deliverability, continue warming up your domain during email campaigns to positively impact your overall campaign performance.
Why is email warm-up important for your domain?
The primary goal of warming up your inbox is to optimize deliverability and maximize the effectiveness of your cold email campaigns. A properly warmed-up inbox leads to higher open, reply, and click rates.
Warming up your domain improves your sender reputation, making it more likely that your emails will land in the recipient’s main inbox instead of the spam folder.
- Inbox placement is largely based on engagement, and warming up your inbox highlights your engagement rates.
- By warming up your inbox, you can track your sender’s reputation and deliverability.
- Once you launch your campaign, you will automatically see higher open rates because your warmed-up domain will increase your visibility.
- As you undertake the process of email ramping up, your sender reputation increases as ESPs assess the credibility of your domain.
- A warmed-up domain entails the highest possible deliverability leading to decreased bounce rates. All your emails will reach your target audience in their main inbox.
- Email warm-ups are extremely effective because they use a smart algorithm, a network of high-reputation inboxes, and meaningful warm-up email exchanges.
- It helps you increase and maintain maximum deliverability even during email campaigns.
10 Best Email Warm-Up Tools
Manually warming up your email can be time-consuming and resource-intensive. Investing in an email warm-up tool automates the entire process, saving you from the technical complexities involved.
There are many email warm-up tools available today, but which one is right for your organization’s needs and budget?
To help you make an informed decision, our team of experts has compiled a list of the top 10 best email warm-up tools. These tools will help ensure your emails avoid the spam folder and reach your recipients’ main inboxes.
- MailOptimal
- Warmup Inbox
- Lemwarm by lemlist
- Auto Warmer by QuickMail
- Warmbox
- Warmy.io
- Folderly
- Mailwarm
- InboxWarm by OutreachBin
- Warm Up Your Email By Mailshake
1. MailOptimal
MailOptimal is the most affordable yet highly effective Email Warm-Up tool. It lets you warm up Unlimited email accounts for no additional costs. Unlike other Warm-up tools, MailOptimal doesn’t charge users for each email account and doesn’t restrict how many warm-up emails users can send in a day.
MailOptimal offers core deliverability features like Warmup Modes, Custom Warmup Templates, and AI-powered Email Warmups that help you improve your domain reputation quickly. It also offers advanced warmup reports so that you can monitor how your emails are performing.
Features:
- Connect Unlimited Email Accounts
- Multiple Warmup Mode as per your deliverability goals
- Custom Warmup Templates to warm up your email content
- Advance Warm-up reports
- AI-powered warmup system with auto-fix spam function.
- Advanced warmup features like multi-reply email threads and more
Pricing :
- Starter – $12 Per Month (Billed Annually)
- Growth – $29 Per Month (Billed Annually)
- Business – $89 Per Month (Billed Annually)
- Enterprise – $159 Per Month (Billed Annually)
You may learn more about its pricing on its pricing page.
2. Warmup Inbox
WarmUp Inbox is another standalone warm-up tool that floods your inbox with ‘good’ emails. This tool creates and sends smart dynamic content for every email. They use a network of over 15,000 inboxes talking to each other to provide users with the most authentic experience.
Features:
- Outlook, Gmail, and SMTP integration
- Domain age tracking
- Blacklist monitoring
- Full sending control
- Inbox health scores
Pricing Plans:
- Basic – $15 Per Month
- Pro – $49 Per Month
- Expert – $299 Per Month
3. Lemwarm by Lemlist
Lemwarm is a sub-product of lemlist that was solely created for inbox warming up. Lemwarm uses a ‘best in class’ algorithm that makes use of real people resulting in better domain reputation and open rates.
If you want to use Lemwarm only, it costs around $29 per month, which is a little pricey just to warm up your inbox and not be able to use its other features. The email warm-up is only available as a paid plan and is not included in the free trial version.
Features:
- Conversation threads
- Control daily sending limits
- Detailed reports
Pricing:
- Email Warm-Up – $29 Per Month
4. QuickMail Auto Warmer
QuickMail offers an email warm-up tool called ‘Auto Warmer’. This tool is integrated with their main cold email automation platform. After you link your email account with Auto Warmer, your domain will automatically start sending and receiving emails to and from other users using the Auto Warmer tool.
One of the reasons this tool stands out from the rest is because it is completely free to use. However, there are some limitations to the number of emails sent in a day and the number of inboxes you can connect.
Features:
- Connects to Gmail, Outlook, and other inboxes
- Specifically designed for cold emailers
- Deliverability reports
- Engagement with real people
Pricing:
- Auto Warmer – Free
- Starter – $59 Per Month
- Pro – $79 Per Month
5. Warmbox
Warmbox is an exclusive inbox warm-up tool that uses a smart AI algorithm to generate realistic responses through its network of 10,000 inboxes.
Warmbox charges $19 per month for 1 inbox warm-up and 50 emails per day; which is quite costly as compared to the other tools listed in this blog. They also do not offer any free trial.
Features:
- Compatible with most ESPs
- Detailed analytics
- AI-based platform
- Domain blacklist and DNS deliverability checker
Pricing:
- Solo – $19 Per Month
- Start-up – $79 Per Month
- Growth – $159 Per Month
- Team – Consultation required
6. Warmy.io
Warmy.io is an innovative email warm-up tool designed to enhance your email deliverability rates. Using a combination of AI-driven algorithms and human-like interactions, Warmy.io ensures that your emails come across as legitimate by various ESPs (Email Service Providers).
This tool offers seamless integration with popular email platforms such as Gmail, Outlook, and SMTP, allowing for a seamless setup.Warmy.io’s unique approach to warming up your inbox involves engaging with real users within its network, creating a more authentic experience.
Features:
- Realistic interactions with actual users
- Customizable warm-up schedules
- Detailed analytics and reporting
- Integration with popular ESPs
- Spam score monitoring and adjustments
- Easy-to-use dashboard for tracking progress
Pricing:
- Starter – $49 Per Month Per Mailbox
- Business – $129 Per Month Per Mailbox
- Premium – $189 Per Month Per Mailbox
- Expert – $279 Per Month Per Mailbox
- Enterprise – Custom pricing available upon consultation
Warmy.io’s pricing structure is designed to cater to various needs, from individual users to large-scale businesses. Warmy.io stands as a robust solution for anyone looking to improve their email deliverability and domain reputation.
7. Folderly
Folderly is an AI-based platform that increases your email deliverability. They offer an all-in-one email deliverability platform that allows you to maximize your email deliverability for any ESP. Their AI-powered machine learning mimics human-to-human conversations to successfully warm up your inbox or resolve any spam-related issues.
Folderly is another expensive tool on this list, their basic warm-up plan starts at $49 per month.
Features:
- Integrates with the most popular ESPs
- Deliverability tests
- Spam checker tool
- Email deliverability audit
Pricing:
- Basic warm-up – $49 Per Month
- Cold email outreach – $200 Per Month
- Email marketing – Consultation required
8. Mailwarm
Mailwarm is a marketing software that ensures your emails reach your recipients’ inboxes. This tool makes your domain active by gradually increasing its sending and response rates to build a positive sender reputation.
The Mailwarm team uses a network of 1000+ email accounts that interact with your domain per the schedule you set.
Out of all the inbox warm-up tools listed in this blog, this is by far the most expensive one; the starter pack is $69 (for one inbox only).
Features:
- Create your unique reply and send schedules
- Integrates with Gmail, Outlook, SMTP, and other popular ESPs
- Easy setup
- Daily insights
Pricing:
- Starter – $79 Per Month (1 Inbox)
- Growth – $189 Per Month (3 Inboxes)
- Scale – $549 Per Month (10 Inboxes)
9. InboxWarm by OutreachBin
InboxWarm is a byproduct of OutreachBin and exclusively functions as an email warm-up tool. Their algorithm operates on a peer-to-peer network, which means your domain exchanges warm-up emails with individuals (who are actual businesses) who are also warming up their inboxes. When you use this tool to warm up your inbox, you automatically become a part of this network.
Features:
- Interactions with real businesses
- Connects with Gmail, Outlook, SMTP, and other popular inboxes
- Auto-removal from spam
- Warm-up metrics
Pricing:
- $39.99 Per Month (Cold emailing services included)
- No free trial is available
10. Warm Up Your Email By Mailshake
Warm Up Your Email is a tool that was acquired by Mailshake in 2021. What sets this tool apart from the rest is the fact that they use their actual team members to generate engagement for your emails. They also provide a free tool to review your DMARC, SPF, and SMTP configuration.
Features:
- Real people reply, open, and read your emails
- Spam score and pattern monitoring
- Both human and computer warming are combined
- Connects with Gmail, Outlook, SMTP, and other popular inboxes
Pricing:
- Sole Sender – $29 Per Month
- Pro Sender – $49 Per Month
- Agency Sender – $99 Per Month
Conclusion
It is impossible to start sending emails from a new email account, adversely affecting your deliverability and sender reputation. It is, therefore, essential to warm up your Inbox. Above mentioned tools are the best solution if your company works at scale and values time.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. Can I warm up my email manually?
Yes, you can manually warm up your email, but it is a time-consuming and effort-intensive process. You’ll need to send emails daily and ensure high engagement rates, as a solid domain reputation hinges on a high response rate. Consistent effort over several months is required for Email Service Providers (ESPs) to recognize you as a trustworthy sender.
2. When should I warm up my email?
If you’re sending high volumes of emails from a new account, it’s crucial to warm up your inbox to avoid the spam folder. Continue the warm-up process even during your email campaign to achieve maximum deliverability.
3. How long does it take to warm up an inbox?
Properly warming up your inbox takes approximately 3 to 4 weeks. However, maintaining the warm-up process even after launching your campaign is essential to continually improve your sender reputation. Simply warming up before sending emails does not fully protect your domain from spam filters.
4. Can I start my email campaign without warming up my inbox?
While it is possible to start without warming up, it is not recommended. Doing so will likely result in your emails landing in the spam folder, damaging your sender’s reputation and potentially leading to your account being blacklisted.
5. Will I have better email deliverability if I warm up my inbox?
Absolutely! Warming up your inbox is crucial for achieving high email deliverability and avoiding spam filters. Following best practices for warming up will lead ESPs to recognize your email account as trustworthy due to high engagement rates. Continuous warming up is recommended to maintain this deliverability even while your campaigns are active.
