Belkins is the name that comes up first in every "best cold email agency" list, and it earns that spot. This page is not a takedown. It is for the company that looked at Belkins, liked what it saw, and found that the budget, the contract, or the pricing model didn't fit. Below is what changes when you move down the budget range, and how three alternatives, including ours, differ on the things that actually matter.
Written by Jeremy Norris, founder of ForceFlow. Published 2026-09-05. Competitor facts are taken from each company's public pricing page and from third-party roundups as of this date; where a figure comes from a third party rather than the company, it says so.
If your company is past product-market fit, has a sales team ready to take 10 to 20 meetings a month, and can fund a retainer that third-party guides place at roughly $5,000 to $15,000 per month, there is no reason to look further on our account.
| Belkins | OutreachBloom | SalesHive | ForceFlow | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Monthly retainer, packaged as appointments per year | Monthly retainer | Flat monthly retainer, month-to-month or annual | Flat infrastructure fee, plus a fee per qualified call that shows |
| Published price | Not published; third-party guides cite ~$5,000–$15,000/month | Cold email from $2,400/month (company's pricing page) | Not published; custom quote after a strategy call | Not published; both figures quoted on a strategy call |
| Channels | Email, LinkedIn, calling | Email; LinkedIn as a separate $1,000/month add-on | Email and phone, US-based SDRs (offshore option) | |
| Setup fee | Not stated publicly | Not stated publicly | None ("no setup fees, ever") | None |
| Contract | Packages sold on an annual appointment basis | Not stated publicly | Month-to-month available; cancel with written notice | None. 60-day pilot, cancel anytime |
| Volume included | Appointment count (30+, 100+, 200+ per year by tier) | 10,000–100,000 contacts emailed per month | Set by quote | Sized to your volume; raised after the first campaigns prove the list and copy |
| Reply management and booking | Included, with no-show recovery | Included | Included (SDR team) | Included; you rate each call afterward |
| Who defines "qualified" | Agreed in the package | Not stated publicly | Agreed with the strategist | You, in writing, at onboarding; non-fit calls cancelled free |
| Whose domain sends | Agency-managed infrastructure | Agency builds and manages your infrastructure | Not stated publicly | Separate branded domains; your primary domain is never used |
| Who owns the assets if you leave | Not stated publicly | Not stated publicly | Not stated publicly | You: domains, inboxes, lists, copy |
| Who carries a slow month | You | You | You | Shared: you cover infrastructure, we earn only on shows |
| Best for | Mid-market buying capacity across channels | Published-price email retainer at lower budgets | Phone-required buyers, US-based reps, no long contract | Proving the channel; fees tied to calls that show |
"Not stated publicly" means the company's pricing page did not address it when checked; it does not mean the answer is unfavourable. Ask each agency directly.
Ask three questions in this order. Does my buyer need a phone call? If yes, Belkins or SalesHive; an email-only agency will underperform no matter how it's priced. Have I already proven outbound works for us? If yes, a retainer is cheaper per meeting than any performance model, and the choice is between Belkins' packaged volume and OutreachBloom's published price. If not, how much fixed cost am I willing to carry to find out? A retainer is a three-month bet at the retainer's price. A hybrid model is a 60-day bet at the infrastructure fee, with the rest of the cost arriving only as qualified calls show up. The pricing models comparison works through that math, and the 2026 pricing guide has the market ranges.
If you need calling, we don't do it. If you need 200 appointments a year from day one, a larger team will get there faster. If your average deal is under a few thousand dollars, no per-call model pencils out. And if you want the agency to own the qualification decision, our model asks you to write the standard and hold us to it, which is more involvement than some teams want. We say this on the first call when it applies.
A flat monthly infrastructure fee covers branded sending domains, dedicated inboxes and warm-up, list building and verification, copy, sending, and reply management. Beyond that, we only make money when a qualified prospect shows up to a booked call, from a lead list and copy you approved before anything sent. You write the qualification standard at onboarding; calls that don't match are cancelled free. No setup fee, no ongoing monthly minimum, no long-term contract; a 60-day pilot to start, and everything built during it is yours. Details on pricing and how it works.
By the public record, yes. It is the most-reviewed B2B appointment-setting agency on Clutch, has run since 2017, and sells packaged retainers with 100 or more appointments per year. It is a safe choice for mid-market companies with the budget for a multi-channel retainer.
Usually budget or pricing model. Belkins sells annual appointment packages on a retainer that third-party guides place at roughly $5,000 to $15,000 per month. Companies that want to prove the channel first, or want fees tied to meetings rather than months, look at pay-per-meeting and hybrid agencies.
OutreachBloom for a published-price email retainer from $2,400 per month, SalesHive for a month-to-month retainer with US-based SDRs and phone, and ForceFlow for a hybrid model with a flat infrastructure fee plus a fee per qualified call that shows.
Belkins is a larger, multi-channel retainer agency with a long review history. ForceFlow is a smaller, email-only agency priced on outcomes. Belkins fits companies buying capacity; ForceFlow fits companies proving the channel.
Ask them; their public pricing is packaged by annual appointment count, and their small-business tier is delivered through partner agencies. ForceFlow starts every engagement with a 60-day pilot.
Book a free 30-minute strategy session. We'll tell you honestly whether an email-first, pay-per-show model suits your buyer, and quote both figures if it does.
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