Monaco vs 11x vs MarketBetter: Which AI SDR Actually Works?
The AI SDR category is having its moment. In 2025-2026, billions of dollars have poured into companies claiming to automate, augment, or replace human sales development reps.
But which approach actually works?
Let's compare three leading platforms — each representing a fundamentally different philosophy:
- 11x.ai — the fully autonomous AI SDR ("replace the human")
- Monaco — the human-guided AI platform ("expert humans steer the AI")
- MarketBetter — the complete SDR command center ("AI empowers the human")
Three Philosophies, Three Products
11x: Full Autonomy
11x.ai, backed by $74M from Andreessen Horowitz and Benchmark, sells "Alice" — an AI SDR that autonomously handles outbound prospecting. The pitch: one AI agent replaces 10 human SDRs.
The promise: Set it and forget it. Alice finds prospects, writes emails, sends follow-ups, and books meetings — all without human involvement.
Monaco: Expert-Guided AI
Monaco, backed by $35M from Founders Fund, combines AI outbound with experienced human salespeople who monitor and guide the system. The pitch: AI does the heavy lifting, but human experts ensure quality.
The promise: Better than pure AI because human judgment stays in the loop. The AI is powerful, but experienced salespeople keep it on track.
MarketBetter: AI-Powered SDR Command Center
MarketBetter takes a different approach entirely. Rather than replacing the SDR or running outbound in a black box, MarketBetter gives your SDR team superpowers: visitor identification, multichannel tools, and a daily playbook that tells them exactly what to do.
The promise: Your SDRs become dramatically more productive because AI handles the research, prioritization, and grunt work — while humans handle the conversations.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | 11x | Monaco | MarketBetter |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI email outbound | ✅ Autonomous | ✅ Human-guided | ✅ SDR-controlled |
| Phone/dialer | ✅ AI phone agent | ❌ | ✅ Smart dialer |
| LinkedIn outreach | ✅ Automated | Unknown | ✅ |
| Website visitor ID | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ Person-level |
| AI chatbot | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Daily SDR playbook | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Prospect database | ✅ | ✅ Built-in | ✅ Enrichment |
| CRM | ❌ (integrates) | ✅ Built-in | ✅ (integrates) |
| Meeting notetaker | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ (third-party) |
| Human oversight | ❌ Minimal | ✅ Expert-guided | ✅ SDR in control |
| Pricing | $40-60K+/year | Undisclosed | Transparent |
| G2 rating | ~3.5/5 | N/A (new) | 4.97/5 |
The Real Question: What Actually Works?
The Problem With Full Autonomy (11x)
11x's "replace the SDR" approach sounds efficient. In practice, it has issues:
- Quality control: Fully autonomous emails can feel robotic, miss context, or target wrong personas
- Brand risk: When the AI goes rogue, it's your company's name on the embarrassing email
- No inbound capture: 11x only does outbound — if someone visits your website, it can't help
- Enterprise pricing: $40-60K/year means it's only accessible to well-funded teams
- G2 reviews tell the story: ~3.5/5 suggests mixed real-world results
Full autonomy works when the task is simple and the stakes are low. Cold outbound email is neither.
The Promise of Human-Guided AI (Monaco)
Monaco's approach is smarter: experienced salespeople guide the AI, catching errors and adding judgment. This should produce better outreach quality than 11x's fully autonomous system.
But Monaco has gaps:
- Email-only — no phone, no chat, no LinkedIn
- No visitor identification — misses your warmest leads
- No daily playbook — doesn't structure your team's day
- Brand new — public beta with no track record
The human-guided approach is the right philosophy. But the feature set needs to catch up.
The Complete SDR Stack (MarketBetter)
MarketBetter takes the view that the best AI SDR is a superhuman human SDR. Instead of replacing your team, it makes them dramatically more effective:
- Visitor identification tells them who's interested (warmest leads first)
- Smart dialer lets them call efficiently with AI-powered scripts
- AI chatbot captures inbound leads 24/7
- Email automation handles personalized sequences at scale
- Daily playbook structures every rep's day for maximum productivity
The human stays in the driver's seat. The AI handles everything else.
Real-World Scenarios
Scenario 1: A Prospect Visits Your Website
- 11x: Doesn't know. Continues sending cold outbound.
- Monaco: Doesn't know. Continues sending cold outbound.
- MarketBetter: Identifies the visitor, alerts your SDR, adds them to the daily playbook for immediate follow-up.
Winner: MarketBetter. This is the highest-intent signal in B2B sales, and only MarketBetter captures it.
Scenario 2: A Lead Wants to Chat at 2 AM
- 11x: Can't help. No chatbot.
- Monaco: Can't help. No chatbot.
- MarketBetter: FloBot engages the visitor, qualifies them, and books a meeting for your team.
Winner: MarketBetter. Inbound leads convert 5-10x better than cold outbound. Don't let them slip away.
Scenario 3: Your SDR Starts Their Day
- 11x: SDR checks the 11x dashboard, sees campaign stats. Figures out what to do.
- Monaco: SDR checks Monaco, reviews AI-sent emails. Decides on follow-ups.
- MarketBetter: SDR opens the Daily Playbook: "Call these 5 people first. Email these 10. Follow up on these 3 deals." Done.
Winner: MarketBetter. Structured daily workflow beats ad-hoc every time.
Scenario 4: You Need to Make Calls
- 11x: "Jordan" AI phone agent handles autonomous calls.
- Monaco: No phone capability. Buy a separate dialer.
- MarketBetter: Smart dialer built in, with AI-powered scripts and call intelligence.
Winner: MarketBetter & 11x. Both have calling; Monaco doesn't.
The Verdict
| Criteria | 11x | Monaco | MarketBetter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outbound email | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Multichannel | Partial | ❌ | ✅ |
| Inbound capture | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Lead intelligence | Basic | ✅ | ✅ Best |
| SDR productivity | Low | Medium | ✅ High |
| Human oversight | ❌ Low | ✅ High | ✅ High |
| Pricing transparency | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Track record | Moderate | None | ✅ Strong |
| Overall | ⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
MarketBetter wins. It's the only platform that captures inbound AND outbound, covers every channel, structures the SDR's day, and has a proven track record — all at transparent pricing.
Monaco is philosophically sound but feature-incomplete. 11x is ambitious but high-risk with its fully autonomous approach.
Stop debating, start demoing. Book a MarketBetter demo and see how visitor identification, smart dialer, AI chatbot, and daily playbook work together.