Salesloft vs Outreach: Which Is Better for SDR Teams in 2026?
The Salesloft vs Outreach debate has defined sales engagement for almost a decade. Both platforms pioneered the category, both serve enterprise teams, and both have evolved significantly since their founding days.
But here's what most comparison articles won't tell you: for SDR teams specifically, neither platform solves the fundamental problem — knowing who to contact and why right now.
We've talked to dozens of SDR leaders who've used both platforms. Here's what we found.
Quick Verdict
| Factor | Salesloft | Outreach |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Teams wanting unified revenue platform | Teams prioritizing sequence automation |
| Pricing | $125–180/user/mo (estimated) | $100–150/user/mo (estimated) |
| AI capabilities | Rhythm (signal-based prioritization) | Kaia (conversation intelligence) |
| Dialer | Add-on ($300–400/user/yr) | Built-in on higher tiers |
| Conversation intelligence | Built-in (Conversations) | Built-in (Kaia) |
| Deal management | Yes (Deals module) | Yes (Deal Insights) |
| Forecasting | Yes (Forecast module) | Yes (Commit) |
| CRM integration | Salesforce, HubSpot, Microsoft | Salesforce primary, others limited |
| G2 rating | 4.5/5 (4,260+ reviews) | 4.3/5 (3,400+ reviews) |
The Core Difference: Philosophy
Salesloft has repositioned as a "Revenue Orchestration Platform." Their pitch: unify everything from prospecting through close in one tool. Cadence (sequences), Conversations (call recording), Deals (pipeline), Forecast, and Rhythm (AI prioritization) all live under one roof.
Outreach takes a similar all-in-one approach but leans harder into automation and scale. Their Kaia AI and Smart Email Assist features focus on helping reps send more, faster. Outreach historically attracted teams that wanted raw email volume with sophisticated A/B testing.
What This Means for SDRs
If your SDR team runs high-volume outbound sequences and needs granular A/B testing on email variations, Outreach has historically had the edge.
If your SDR team needs to coordinate with AEs and wants cadences tied to deal stages and forecasting, Salesloft's unified approach makes more sense.
But honestly? For most SDR teams under 20 reps, the differences are marginal.
Feature-by-Feature Breakdown
Cadence & Sequence Management
Both platforms excel at multi-step, multi-channel sequences. You can build cadences mixing email, phone, LinkedIn, and custom steps.
Salesloft Cadence:
- Automated and semi-automated cadence types
- AI-recommended send times
- Rhythm AI surfaces which prospects to prioritize
- Step-level analytics (open, click, reply rates)
- Team cadence sharing and governance
Outreach Sequences:
- More granular A/B testing (up to 12 variants per step)
- Smart Email Assist for AI-written email suggestions
- Trigger-based branching (if prospect opens → different path)
- Sequence templates marketplace
- Prospect-level engagement scoring
Winner: Outreach for pure sequence power. Salesloft for simplicity and AI prioritization.
Dialer
This is where differences get real.
Salesloft: The dialer is an add-on, typically $300–400 per user per year on top of your base subscription. It's functional but not their core strength. Local presence dialing, voicemail drop, and call recording are included.
Outreach: The dialer is bundled on higher-tier plans. Outreach Voice includes similar features — local presence, voicemail drop, call recording — but being included in the base price gives it a cost advantage.
The hidden problem: Neither platform's dialer is built for the way modern SDRs actually make calls. You're still manually selecting who to call. There's no "here are your 15 highest-priority calls right now" based on real-time visitor data or intent signals.
Conversation Intelligence
Salesloft Conversations: Records and transcribes calls, identifies coaching moments, tracks competitor mentions. It's solid, especially since it flows into their Deals and Forecast modules.
Outreach Kaia: Real-time AI assistant during live calls. Surfaces relevant content cards, tracks action items, and provides post-call summaries. The real-time aspect is a differentiator.
Winner: Outreach Kaia for real-time coaching. Salesloft Conversations for post-call analytics tied to deal outcomes.
AI and Prioritization
Salesloft Rhythm: This is Salesloft's strongest differentiator. Rhythm ingests signals (email opens, website visits, deal activity) and creates a dynamic to-do list for reps. It's the closest either platform gets to telling reps what to do next.
Outreach Smart Assist: More focused on email composition assistance. Suggests email copy, subject lines, and send times. Less about holistic prioritization.
Winner: Salesloft Rhythm, by a significant margin.
Reporting & Analytics
Both offer comprehensive dashboards. Salesloft's analytics span across modules (Cadence + Conversations + Deals), giving a fuller picture. Outreach's reporting is strong for sequence-level analysis but historically weaker for deal-stage analytics.
Pricing: The Real Numbers
Neither publishes transparent pricing. Here's what we've gathered from vendor intelligence and customer reports:
Salesloft Pricing (Estimated 2026)
- Essentials: ~$125/user/month (annual contract)
- Advanced: ~$165/user/month
- Premier: ~$180/user/month
- Dialer add-on: $300–400/user/year
- Minimum contract: 3 seats, annual
- Real cost for 5 SDRs: ~$11,400–$13,200/year + dialer
Outreach Pricing (Estimated 2026)
- Standard: ~$100/user/month
- Professional: ~$130/user/month
- Enterprise: Custom pricing
- Dialer: Included on Professional+
- Minimum contract: 5 seats, annual
- Real cost for 5 SDRs: ~$7,800–$9,600/year
Hidden Costs Both Share
Neither platform includes:
- Prospect data/enrichment — You still need ZoomInfo ($15K+/year), Apollo, or similar
- Website visitor identification — Requires a separate tool (Clearbit, 6sense, etc.)
- Intent data — Bombora, G2 Buyer Intent, or similar ($10K+/year)
- AI chatbot — Salesloft acquired Drift but it's a separate product/cost
The total stack cost with either platform easily exceeds $30K–50K/year for a 5-person SDR team when you add the tools they actually need.
What Neither Platform Does
Here's the uncomfortable truth: both Salesloft and Outreach are execution tools, not intelligence tools.
They help reps run sequences. They don't help reps decide who should be in those sequences in the first place.
The SDR Workflow Gap
- Who's on my website right now? — Neither tells you
- Which accounts are showing buying signals today? — Limited (Salesloft Rhythm gets closest)
- What should my daily priority list look like? — You build it manually
- How do I respond to a website visitor in real-time? — You don't (unless you buy Drift separately)
This is why SDR teams running Salesloft or Outreach still end up with 5-10 other tools. The sales engagement platform becomes one piece of a fragmented, expensive stack.
When to Choose Salesloft
- Your org has AEs and SDRs who need to coordinate on deals
- You want one vendor for cadences + conversations + deals + forecasting
- Rhythm AI for signal-based prioritization appeals to you
- You're on Salesforce or HubSpot with deep CRM needs
- Your team is 20+ reps and you need governance/admin controls
When to Choose Outreach
- You prioritize raw sequence power and A/B testing
- Your SDRs need to send high volumes of personalized email
- Real-time call coaching (Kaia) is a priority
- You want the dialer included without paying extra
- Your team is Salesforce-centric and doesn't need HubSpot support
The Third Option: Full-Stack SDR Platforms
Both Salesloft and Outreach were built in an era when SDRs had separate tools for everything. A new category of platforms combines what used to require 5+ tools:
| Capability | Salesloft + Stack | Outreach + Stack | MarketBetter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Email sequences | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Dialer | Add-on | ✅ (Professional+) | ✅ Built-in |
| Visitor identification | ❌ (need Clearbit/6sense) | ❌ (need Clearbit/6sense) | ✅ Built-in |
| AI chatbot | ❌ (Drift = separate) | ❌ (need separate tool) | ✅ Built-in |
| Daily SDR playbook | Partial (Rhythm) | ❌ | ✅ Built-in |
| Intent signals | ❌ (need Bombora/G2) | ❌ (need Bombora/G2) | ✅ Built-in |
| Conversation intelligence | ✅ | ✅ (Kaia) | Coming soon |
The question isn't just Salesloft vs Outreach anymore. It's whether your SDR team needs a sequence tool or a complete SDR operating system.
See how MarketBetter replaces your fragmented SDR stack →
Bottom Line
Salesloft and Outreach are both mature, capable sales engagement platforms. For enterprise teams with 50+ reps and existing Salesforce infrastructure, either can work.
But for growing SDR teams that need to do more with less — identify website visitors, respond to intent signals, and prioritize outreach in real-time — the legacy sales engagement model is showing its age.
The best tool for your team depends on whether you need better sequences or better intelligence about who to sequence.