Instantly API · on the $47 plan, webhooks on $97

The short answer

Use Instantly's API on the $47 Growth plan if you only push leads in and read stats out. Buy the $97 Hypergrowth plan if anything should happen when someone replies. If you want the API and plan to keep more than 25,000 people, look at Smartlead Pro at $94.

An API is the way your own code or a tool like n8n talks to Instantly. A webhook is an automatic message Instantly sends to your other tools when something happens, like a reply.

Which Instantly plan has the API

Every Instantly plan includes API access. Webhooks start on Hypergrowth, per Instantly's pricing.

Growth is $47 a month. Hypergrowth is $97 a month and adds native webhooks.

So "API on every plan" is true. The part most flows need, reacting to a reply, sits on the $97 plan.

Why polling the API is a weak fix

Without a webhook, your flow has to ask Instantly again and again if anything changed. That is called polling.

Polling every few minutes works on Growth. It uses up your rate limit, which is the number of API calls Instantly lets you make in a set time.

It also does nothing about the contact limit on Growth.

The API still counts toward your contact limit

An uploaded contact is one person you have added to a campaign. Growth holds up to 1,000. Hypergrowth holds up to 25,000, per Instantly's pricing.

People you push in through the API count the same as people you upload by hand.

What a builder pays for two common flows

Take a builder who wires Instantly to n8n. Prices are from October 13, 2026.

Flow A pushes 800 new leads into campaigns and pulls stats once a week. Growth at $47 can hold them, since it takes up to 1,000 uploaded contacts. Past 1,000, you need Hypergrowth at $97.

Flow B posts to Slack and updates the CRM when someone replies. That needs a webhook, so it needs Hypergrowth at $97 from day 1.

The math: ($97 − $47) × 12 = $600 a year more for Flow B than the Growth price.

Try the free Automation Builder first

Instantly's Automation Builder lets you set up "when this happens, do that" steps without code. It is included on all Email Outreach plans at no extra cost, per Instantly's pricing.

A simple n8n flow may not be needed at all. Build it in Instantly first, and write code only for the steps it can't do.

AI actions use a second bill

Instantly also sells credits. A credit is the unit Instantly charges for extra jobs like AI replies and finding leads.

An AI reply costs 5 credits. On a monthly plan, unused credits expire 2 months after you buy them, per Instantly's pricing.

If your flow triggers AI replies, budget credits on top of the plan.

When Smartlead Pro is the better buy

Smartlead is another sequencer, the tool that sends your email steps over several days. Base has no API. Pro at $94 is the first plan with the API and webhooks, per Smartlead's pricing.

The math: $97 − $94 = $3 a month between Instantly Hypergrowth and Smartlead Pro.

So the choice comes down to storage. Smartlead Pro holds 30,000 contacts, per Smartlead's pricing. Instantly Hypergrowth holds up to 25,000 uploaded contacts.

What to do this week

List the events your flow reacts to. If any one of them is a reply, buy Hypergrowth.

• If you only push leads and read stats, and stay under 1,000 people, use Instantly Growth at $47.
• If your flow reacts to replies, use Instantly Hypergrowth at $97.
• If you want the API and will keep more than 25,000 people, use Smartlead Pro at $94.

The trial has no API, so start on Growth at $47, the cheapest paid plan, to test it.

Try Instantly · Try Smartlead

Next · Instantly pricing explains the contact limit in detail · Smartlead vs Instantly helps you pick a sender.