How 99dots compares
99dots is an AI outbound sales tool that replaces the usual stack (a lead database, an email verifier, a sequencer, and an inbox plugin) with one motion: describe your buyer, review, send, close. Here is where that differs from the two tool classes it replaces.
99dots vs cold email tools and AI SDRs, by dimension
Getting leads
Classic cold email tools start empty: you buy a list, export from a database product, or upload a CSV before anything happens.
99dots starts from one plain-English sentence about who you sell to and builds the audience itself, in about a minute.
Email quality
Most tools accept whatever addresses you upload; bounces show up after you send and burn your sender reputation.
Every address is verified for deliverability before you can send to it, so bounces stay rare by construction.
Writing
Template-with-merge-fields is the norm: one body, a {{firstName}}, and volume that sounds like volume.
Each lead arrives with a draft written for that person and company, grounded in your ICP and value prop, with subject lines that A/B test themselves.
Replies
Replies land in your inbox unsorted; follow-ups are your problem, and most AI SDRs stop at the send.
Replies come back classified with a suggested response drafted and follow-ups scheduled; you approve, edit, or close.
Timing
Static lists go stale the day you buy them.
Buying signals (funding rounds, hiring, site visits) keep heating leads up, and triggers can run a playbook the moment one fires.
Where your data goes
Lock-in is common: exports are gated or lossy.
Your leads export to CSV any time, and push to HubSpot or Salesforce in one click, before or after you cancel.
What it costs
Plans start at $99 per month for 300 verified leads, the Expert/Agency plan works out to about $0.10 per verified lead, and your first 3 leads are free with no credit card. Compare that to buying a list, a verifier, and a sequencer separately. Full details on the pricing page, including the Base, Pro, Expert/Agency plans.