Choosing the right LinkedIn automation tool can help your sales team save time, boost productivity, and close more deals. This article compares three top tools – Closely, Expandi, and Waalaxy – based on features, pricing, and user experience to help you decide.
Key Takeaways:
- Closely: Best for multichannel campaigns, offering LinkedIn and email automation with advanced AI personalization. Pricing starts at $49/month.
- Expandi: Focuses on LinkedIn automation with smart sequences and safety features. Flat rate of $99/user/month.
- Waalaxy: Beginner-friendly with a freemium plan and email finder features. Paid plans start at €56/user/month.
Quick Comparison
| Feature | Closely | Expandi | Waalaxy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Automation | LinkedIn + Email | LinkedIn only | LinkedIn + Email |
| AI Personalization | Advanced lead research & messages | Dynamic variables | AI-crafted messages |
| Pricing | $49–$350/month | $99/user/month | €0–€245/user/month |
| Free Option | Free trial + free plan | Free trial only | Freemium plan available |
| Integrations | CRM + Webhooks | Webhooks | Zapier, Airtable, Google Sheets |
Closely offers versatile multichannel outreach, Expandi excels at LinkedIn safety and automation, and Waalaxy is ideal for smaller teams or those just starting. Your choice depends on your team’s size, budget, and outreach goals.
Best Lifetime Linkedin Automation Ai Tools in 2024 (Lifetime)
Closely: Features and Pricing
Closely presents itself as an AI-powered platform designed to streamline LinkedIn and email outreach. By automating repetitive tasks while maintaining a personal touch, it offers a well-rounded solution for sales prospecting. Combining LinkedIn automation with multichannel campaign management, Closely simplifies outreach efforts for sales teams.
Main Features
LinkedIn Automation and Safety is at the heart of Closely’s functionality. It automates essential LinkedIn tasks, such as profile visits, connection requests, follow-ups, and post interactions. To ensure user safety, the platform employs dedicated proxies, operates in the cloud, applies smart activity limits, and gradually warms up accounts.
AI-Powered Sales Agents take automation to the next level. These agents research leads and craft personalized messages at scale, helping users achieve 35% higher response rates compared to generic outreach[1].
"Closely is a powerful tool for anyone looking to enhance their sales engagement. The platform is user-friendly and easy to navigate, making it accessible even for those who are not tech-savvy." – Antonio D., Digital Strategist & Coach [1][2]
Multichannel Campaign Management enables users to automate outreach across both LinkedIn and email, ensuring a cohesive approach.
Data Enrichment and Lead Finding tools help sales teams locate prospects based on specific criteria like industry, location, and job title. The platform provides verified contact information, such as emails and phone numbers, allowing users to build precise prospect lists efficiently.
CRM Integrations and Team Management make Closely a seamless addition to existing workflows. It supports popular CRM systems, custom webhooks, and team collaboration through features like a unified inbox and detailed analytics, making it easy to track and improve campaign performance.
The platform delivers measurable benefits for U.S.-based teams, including 3x more connections with qualified decision-makers, 52% higher engagement on LinkedIn, and the ability to save up to 15 hours weekly by automating manual outreach tasks[2].
Pricing Plans
Closely’s pricing is based on the number of LinkedIn accounts and includes bonus credits for emails, phone lookups, and AI personalization. All plans offer unlimited email accounts and white-label options, catering to both individual users and teams.
| Plan | Monthly Price | Annual Price | LinkedIn Accounts | Credits/Month | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $49 | $29 ($348/year) | 1 | 1,000 | Solo sales professionals |
| Growth | $127 | $87 ($1,044/year) | 3 | 3,000 | Small sales teams |
| Essential | $205 | $145 ($1,740/year) | 5 | 5,000 | Growing sales departments |
| Custom | $350 | $206 ($2,472/year) | 10 | Customizable | Large sales organizations |
With a 40% discount on annual plans, Closely offers a cost-effective option for businesses looking to build long-term outreach strategies. Credits can be used flexibly for emails, phone lookups, or AI personalization. For growing teams, the Growth plan at $87/month (billed annually) provides a solid balance of features, including three LinkedIn accounts and ample credits for outreach.
User Experience and Support
Closely focuses on simplicity, making it accessible even for sales professionals who aren’t tech-savvy. Its intuitive interface allows users to set up campaigns and track performance through clear, easy-to-navigate dashboards.
Support is a priority, with a 24-hour live chat ensuring quick assistance. Additionally, a dedicated customer success manager helps with onboarding and ongoing optimization, ensuring teams maximize their results.
The platform also offers custom branding options, helping sales teams maintain a consistent brand image across their outreach efforts. This feature is especially useful for U.S. companies aiming to stand out in competitive markets.
Next, this review will explore how Expandi’s features and pricing compare.
Expandi: Features and Pricing
Expandi sets itself apart as a cloud-based LinkedIn automation platform tailored for sales professionals, agencies, and small teams aiming to streamline lead generation. While it shares some similarities with Closely, Expandi brings its own unique functionality to the table.
Main Features
LinkedIn Outreach Automation is at the heart of Expandi. The platform automates key LinkedIn activities like profile visits, content engagement (such as likes), and other interactions to help warm up prospects before initiating direct outreach.
Multichannel Campaign Management provides a centralized dashboard where users can monitor interactions across LinkedIn and email. This feature simplifies tracking engagement across platforms, offering a clear overview of campaign performance.
AI-Powered Personalization allows for tailored messaging at scale. The system uses dynamic variables to insert details like a prospect’s company name, job title, or industry into messages, making outreach feel more personal and relevant.
Smart Sequences adapt campaign workflows based on a prospect’s behavior. For example, if a lead accepts a connection request, responds to a message, or remains inactive, the system automatically adjusts the next steps in the sequence.
The platform’s cloud-based nature ensures campaigns run independently, no matter where users are. As one customer shared:
"I love that I can rest easy and know Expandi is working on my behalf." – Verified G2 Review [3]
For U.S.-based teams, this means outreach can continue uninterrupted, without being tied to a specific device or location.
Pricing Plans
Expandi offers a straightforward pricing model with a single tier. Users can choose between monthly or annual billing, with discounts available for managing multiple LinkedIn accounts. Additionally, there’s a 7-day free trial for new users to test the platform. Agencies or larger teams managing multiple client accounts can opt for custom plans, which include advanced features like campaign triggers and dedicated IPs.
User Experience and Support
Expandi scores an average user rating of 4.4/5 on some review platforms, but feedback on support and billing is mixed. Many users appreciate its intuitive interface, which makes automating LinkedIn outreach accessible without requiring deep technical expertise. The cloud-based design is particularly appealing to those who prefer a "set it and forget it" approach.
However, customer support experiences vary widely. While some users praise the responsiveness of the support team, others cite delays in getting issues resolved. Billing has also been a pain point for some, which is something U.S. sales teams may want to consider during evaluation.
There are also safety concerns to be aware of. For instance, in April 2025, a user reported being permanently banned from LinkedIn after two months of using Expandi, despite staying within the platform’s recommended usage limits [3]. Additionally, users have requested more integrations – especially with tools like HubSpot – improved onboarding, and fewer manual processes. Expandi is best suited for teams comfortable with minor technical setups and occasional support hurdles in exchange for comprehensive automation capabilities.
Next, we’ll see how Waalaxy stacks up in terms of features and user experience.
Waalaxy: Features and Pricing
Waalaxy is a LinkedIn automation tool that over 100,000 users trust to streamline their prospecting efforts. With more than 12 million responses generated [4], the platform stands out for its ease of use while still offering robust functionality. Designed to cater to teams of all skill levels, Waalaxy simplifies LinkedIn outreach without compromising on results.
Main Features
Waalaxy packs a range of tools that make LinkedIn prospecting efficient and effective:
- Multi-Channel Campaign Management: Combine LinkedIn and email outreach in a single workflow, ensuring a seamless communication strategy that keeps prospects engaged across both platforms [6].
- AI-Powered Tools: The platform includes a smart prospect finder that uses behavioral analysis to identify the right leads. Its AI Message Redactor (Waami) crafts tailored messages based on each prospect’s profile, saving time while keeping outreach personal [4].
- Email Finder: Automatically locate professional email addresses for LinkedIn prospects and integrate them into your campaigns with ease [4].
- Automated Follow-Ups: Keep leads engaged with automated follow-up actions that detect and respond to prospect activity [4].
- Team Features: Perfect for larger teams, these tools centralize lead management with shared prospect lists, customizable templates, and performance tracking [4].
Additional highlights include LinkedIn Sales Navigator integration for precise lead targeting [5] and AI List Cleaning to remove unqualified leads before campaigns begin [5].
Pricing Plans
Waalaxy’s pricing is listed in Euros, so U.S. teams should account for exchange rates when budgeting. Here’s how the plans break down:
- Freemium: €0/month – Includes 80 LinkedIn invitations.
- Advanced: €56/user/month – Offers 800 LinkedIn invitations and 25 email finder credits.
- Business: €80/user/month – Includes 800 LinkedIn invitations, 500 email finder credits, and full email automation.
- Elite: €245/user/month – Provides 10,000 email finder credits, LinkedIn Sales Navigator integration, and dedicated onboarding.
Optional add-ons include LinkedIn Inbox management for €20/month and additional email finder credits at €0.01 each.
User Experience and Support
Waalaxy isn’t just about features – it’s also highly rated by users, boasting an overall score of 4.6+/5 across major review platforms [4]. Its intuitive design makes it accessible, even for beginners.
For example, Alexandre shared:
"Great prospecting tool, really easy for me as someone who had never done it before." [4]
Nicole, a digital agency owner, echoed this sentiment:
"I’m using it to generate leads for my digital agency. I love the user interface and how smoothly it works once set up. Prompt customer service as well." [4]
While some users have noted occasional integration hiccups during peak times, these issues are relatively rare. With a value-for-money rating of 4.1/5 [7], Waalaxy strikes a balance between simplicity and functionality, making it an appealing choice for sales teams looking to launch campaigns with minimal hassle.
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Side-by-Side Feature Comparison
Comparison Categories
When evaluating these three LinkedIn automation tools, several key categories stand out to help you decide which one aligns best with your needs. Each platform brings something different to the table, depending on your team’s goals and technical requirements.
| Feature Category | Closely | Expandi | Waalaxy |
|---|---|---|---|
| LinkedIn Automation | Profile visits, connection requests, follow-ups, messaging | Advanced automation with safety features | LinkedIn invitations, messaging, and follow-ups |
| Email Integration | Multichannel campaigns with unlimited email accounts | Cold emailing capabilities | Email finder |
| AI Personalization | AI-driven lead research and message personalization | Dynamic personalization features | Personalized messaging |
| Data Enrichment | Verified email and phone finder with credits system | Limited data enrichment | Basic email enrichment |
| CRM Integrations | Native integrations and webhooks | HubSpot, Pipedrive, Salesforce via webhooks | HubSpot, Salesforce, Zoho via Zapier; direct Airtable and Google Sheets |
| Pricing (USD equivalent) | $49–$350/month | $99/user/month | Varies (freemium option available) |
| Free Option | Free trial and free version available | Free trial only | Freemium plan with 80 LinkedIn invitations |
Key Differences
The table provides a snapshot of features, but let’s dive into some of the standout differences between these platforms. Pricing, email capabilities, integrations, and user experience are all factors that can shape your choice depending on your day-to-day operations and budget.
- Pricing: Closely offers flexible pricing starting at $49/month and includes white-label options, which can be particularly appealing for agencies looking to brand their solutions. Expandi’s flat rate of $99 per user per month makes costs predictable but could add up as your team grows. Waalaxy’s pricing structure differs and is Euro-based, so U.S. teams may need to account for currency conversion when budgeting.
- Email Capabilities: Closely stands out with unlimited email accounts across all plans, making it a strong choice for email-heavy campaigns. Expandi focuses more on LinkedIn automation, while Waalaxy includes an email finder to support outreach efforts.
- Integration Options: All three platforms support third-party integrations, but the details vary. Waalaxy offers direct connections with Airtable and Google Sheets, which can be a big plus for U.S. teams managing leads. Expandi’s webhook system provides flexibility for connecting with CRMs like HubSpot, Pipedrive, and Salesforce, while Closely also supports native integrations and webhooks.
- User Experience: Closely scores well for ease of use, earning a 4.5/5 rating on Capterra. Waalaxy, meanwhile, is praised for its customer support (also 4.5/5) [9]. Expandi performs consistently across the board but doesn’t lead in any specific category.
If you’re looking for unlimited email capabilities, Closely is a strong contender. Expandi shines with its advanced LinkedIn automation and safety features, while Waalaxy’s beginner-friendly multichannel approach and freemium option make it accessible for smaller teams or those just starting out. Closely’s straightforward pricing in USD can simplify planning for U.S.-based teams, while Waalaxy’s freemium model provides an easy entry point. Your choice will ultimately depend on your team size, budget, and campaign priorities.
How to Choose the Right Tool for Your Sales Team
Matching Tools to Your Needs
When selecting a LinkedIn automation tool, consider your team’s size, budget, and outreach objectives. The right platform can significantly impact your campaign’s success and overall return on investment.
For small teams and startups, staying within budget while maintaining an authentic outreach approach is often a priority. Tools like Waalaxy offer a free plan, making it an accessible option for teams looking to explore automation without upfront costs. This allows smaller teams to test the waters before committing to a paid plan.
Mid-sized sales teams typically need scalable solutions that balance cost and functionality. Closely’s Growth plan, priced at $127 per user per month, supports up to three LinkedIn accounts and includes unlimited email capabilities. Its AI-driven personalization features help maintain genuine connections, even as outreach efforts expand.
For enterprise-level sales organizations, advanced features and seamless integrations are key. Expandi, at $99 per seat per month with flexible pay-as-you-go options, caters to larger teams with its robust safety features and smart sequence optimization. These tools can handle more sophisticated campaigns while ensuring compliance and efficiency.
Your specific outreach goals also play a role. If your team focuses heavily on LinkedIn prospecting, Expandi’s specialized automation may be enough. However, for multichannel campaigns that combine LinkedIn and email outreach, Closely offers greater versatility.
Industry-specific needs can further refine your choice. For instance, B2B software companies often require advanced personalization. Closely’s AI-powered lead research and messaging tools claim to increase response rates by 35% while saving team members up to 10 hours per week on manual tasks [1]. On the other hand, recruitment agencies may prioritize tools with cost-effective pricing structures to handle high outreach volumes efficiently.
Finally, don’t overlook integration and compliance requirements. These factors, along with your team’s operational goals, will help identify the most suitable solution for your needs.
U.S. Team Considerations
For U.S.-based sales teams, additional regulatory and operational factors come into play. Compliance with privacy laws like the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) is crucial. The CCPA applies to businesses with annual revenues exceeding $25 million or those processing data for over 100,000 consumers or households [11]. Unlike GDPR’s opt-in model, the CCPA uses an opt-out approach, but businesses must still maintain detailed records of their data practices.
Pricing transparency is another critical factor. Tools like Closely, which offer clear, USD-based pricing, help U.S. teams avoid unexpected costs caused by exchange rate fluctuations. This predictability is especially helpful for finance teams managing quarterly or annual budgets.
Customer support availability is also essential. U.S. teams often operate during specific business hours and need quick assistance when issues arise. Closely addresses this need with 24-hour support chat and dedicated customer success managers for higher-tier plans, ensuring timely help regardless of time zones.
Integration capabilities are vital for efficient lead management. Closely and Expandi both support webhook-based integrations, while Waalaxy connects directly with tools like Google Sheets and Airtable, which many U.S. teams rely on.
For teams incorporating phone outreach, Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) compliance is a must. The TCPA restricts telemarketing calls to between 8:00 AM and 9:00 PM in the recipient’s local time zone [12]. Automation tools with local time detection and call-blocking features can help ensure compliance.
Account safety is a top concern, as LinkedIn actively monitors for automation misuse. Violations can lead to account restrictions or bans, so it’s important to choose tools with strong safety records and compliance features to protect your LinkedIn accounts.
Lastly, predictable pricing structures simplify budget planning for U.S. teams. Expandi’s flat $99 per user monthly fee provides consistency, while Closely’s tiered options allow for gradual scaling as needs grow. Keeping these considerations in mind helps U.S. sales leaders choose tools that enhance efficiency and support their lead generation efforts.
Conclusion
Choosing the best tool comes down to your specific goals, budget, and team requirements.
Closely stands out for its AI-powered personalization and multichannel outreach capabilities. With a solid 4.6/5 rating on G2 and a 9.2 ease-of-use score [13], its Growth plan, priced at $127/month, offers excellent value for mid-sized teams juggling multiple LinkedIn accounts.
Expandi, on the other hand, caters to larger organizations that need a cloud-based solution with team collaboration features. While it has a respectable 4.2/5 G2 rating and an 8.1 ease-of-use score [10], its interface may require a bit more training to master, making it better suited for teams with resources to invest in onboarding.
Waalaxy is a great choice for small teams and startups. With an impressive 4.8/5 user rating [8] and a free version available, it’s an easy way to dip your toes into automation. Its ability to send up to 200 invitations per week [8] makes it especially effective for smaller-scale outreach.
Each tool clearly serves a different audience. Data suggests Closely is particularly effective for small businesses, a trend that aligns with Waalaxy’s popularity among startups.
To summarize, Closely excels in personalized multichannel campaigns, Expandi offers robust cloud-based collaboration, and Waalaxy provides an accessible starting point for outreach automation.
Start by addressing your biggest challenges. If increasing lead generation is your main focus, Waalaxy’s straightforward interface and free version are perfect for testing the waters. For those needing advanced personalization and multichannel features, Closely could be the better fit. Meanwhile, organizations prioritizing teamwork and cloud-based solutions might find Expandi’s approach more suitable.
For U.S. sales teams, tools with transparent USD pricing and strong safeguards against LinkedIn restrictions can provide peace of mind and help avoid unexpected costs. These features are worth considering as you make your decision.
FAQs
How does Closely use AI to enhance LinkedIn and email outreach for sales teams?
Closely uses AI-powered automation to simplify LinkedIn and email outreach, making it a time-saver for sales teams while enhancing engagement. It handles repetitive tasks like sending connection requests, visiting profiles, following up, and interacting with posts, allowing you to build stronger connections with less effort.
Thanks to AI-driven personalized messaging, Closely customizes outreach for each prospect, boosting response rates by up to 35%. It also combines LinkedIn and email campaigns into a smooth multichannel approach, helping you manage and scale your outreach efforts with ease.
What should U.S. sales teams look for in a LinkedIn automation tool?
When picking a LinkedIn automation tool, U.S. sales teams should focus on a few key factors. First, make sure the tool aligns with LinkedIn’s policies to avoid any account issues. It should also integrate smoothly with your existing CRM and sales platforms, making it easier to manage workflows. A user-friendly interface is another must-have, as it ensures the team can adopt the tool quickly without a steep learning curve.
Other important considerations include the tool’s pricing, its automation features, and how well it supports multichannel outreach. On top of that, prioritize tools with strong data security measures and built-in safeguards to reduce the risk of LinkedIn restrictions. Opting for a solution that fits your team’s specific outreach goals can significantly boost productivity and lead generation efforts.
How does Closely protect users while staying compliant with LinkedIn’s automation guidelines?
LinkedIn automation tools place a strong emphasis on user safety and adhere strictly to LinkedIn’s guidelines. To achieve this, they implement several protective features: dedicated proxies to maintain secure and private connections, smart safety limits that control activity levels, and a warm-up mode designed to slowly increase usage, imitating natural behavior. On top of that, account rotation minimizes detection risks, keeping your outreach both effective and secure.