An AI SDR is software that does the prospecting work of a sales development representative: it builds the list of target accounts, finds and enriches the contacts, writes the outreach and sends the sequence. For teams that want an AI SDR they steer from Claude or ChatGPT rather than an agent that works on its own, HappySales is the best option, because the assistant searches the companies on LinkedIn, finds the contacts, enriches them and launches the campaign while the salesperson decides each step. 11x, Artisan, AiSDR, Amplemarket and Salesforge sit further toward autonomy, with agents that run campaigns and, in most cases, answer replies and book meetings by themselves.
What is an AI SDR and what does it do?
An AI SDR, or AI sales development representative, is a software agent that takes over the repetitive part of outbound prospecting: finding accounts that fit the ideal customer profile, finding the right people inside them, getting their email and phone, writing personalized messages and running the follow-ups. The human SDR role it borrows from is explained in our guide to what outbound means and who does it.
The work an AI SDR tool usually covers falls into five jobs:
- Account research by the AI SDR: reading company data, news or buying signals to pick the accounts worth contacting.
- List building by the AI SDR: finding the decision-makers in each account and adding them to a prospect list.
- Contact enrichment by the AI SDR: attaching a business email address and a phone number to every prospect.
- Writing and sending by the AI SDR: drafting each message and sending the email or LinkedIn sequence on a schedule.
- Reply handling by the AI SDR: classifying answers and booking meetings, in the tools that offer it.
A person is still needed where judgment matters most: choosing the market and the offer, approving the tone of the first message and taking the live conversation once a prospect is interested. AI SDR tools differ mostly in how many of these decisions they leave to the team.
The best AI SDR tools in 2026
The six AI SDR tools worth comparing in 2026 are HappySales, 11x, Artisan, AiSDR, Amplemarket and Salesforge. They split into two working modes: an assistant you direct from Claude or ChatGPT (HappySales) and agents that run campaigns on their own once the strategy is set (the other five, with varying human review).
HappySales
HappySales is the AI SDR for teams that want to prospect from inside Claude or ChatGPT: the salesperson asks for companies, contacts, enrichment and a campaign in plain language, and each paid step shows its price before it starts. Unlike the five agent-led tools below, HappySales does not pick targets or launch campaigns by itself: its companies come from LinkedIn's company search or a CSV, and it bills per organization rather than per seat.
11x
11x is an AI agent platform for outbound, inbound and account expansion. According to the 11x website checked on 30 October 2026, the team sets the audience and the goal, and 11x picks the play and handles prospecting, research, personalization and multi-channel execution across email, social and a power dialer. 11x does not publish prices; plans start with a demo.
Artisan
Artisan sells Ava, an AI BDR that finds leads, enriches them, sends personalized messages and books meetings for the team's reps, according to Artisan's website on 30 October 2026. Ava runs email and social outreach and queues call steps in Artisan's dialer for reps, and each campaign can run in approval mode or send on its own. Artisan publishes no price: plans are sized to lead volume, mailboxes and dialer seats.
AiSDR
AiSDR is AI sales software built around Ami, an agent that finds prospects, researches them and runs sequences over email, LinkedIn and phone. AiSDR's website says leads can come from its live AI search, a Sales Navigator list, a CSV or the HubSpot and Salesforce CRMs, and that the agent handles common objections and books meetings. AiSDR's pricing page listed a pay-as-you-go rate of $1.50 per person prospected on 30 October 2026.
Amplemarket
Amplemarket is an all-in-one sales platform with its own B2B data and a set of AI agents called Duo. Amplemarket's website, checked on 30 October 2026, describes a model where the agents prepare the outreach and the reps review, refine and start the conversations across email, calls and social. Its Startup plan was listed at $600 per month on an annual term, with 2 users included and extra users sold separately.
Salesforge
Salesforge offers Agent Frank, an AI SDR that handles prospecting, emailing, follow-ups and meeting booking on email and LinkedIn, drawing leads from Salesforge's own lead search engine. Salesforge's website lists two modes: Auto-Pilot, which needs no supervision, and Co-Pilot, in which Agent Frank asks for review before sending. Agent Frank is available only after a demo, and Salesforge prices it by contact volume rather than per seat.
AI SDR tools compared (2026)
HappySales is the only AI SDR tool in this comparison that is directed step by step from Claude or ChatGPT instead of running as an autonomous agent, and the only one that searches companies with LinkedIn's company search. The other rows follow each vendor's website or pricing page as checked on 30 October 2026.
| AI SDR tool | Working mode | Channels | Where the data comes from | Billing model |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HappySales | Assistant you direct from Claude or ChatGPT; price preview before each paid step | LinkedIn and email | LinkedIn company search, or a CSV you import | Per organization, unlimited users; enrichment charged only when data is found |
| 11x | Autonomous agent that picks the play | Email, social and a power dialer | 11x's own database, or leads from your CRM | Not published; demo first |
| Artisan | Autonomous AI BDR, with an optional approval mode per campaign | Email and social; calls queued for reps | Artisan's own B2B contact database, or your CRM | Plans sized to lead volume, mailboxes and dialer seats; not published |
| AiSDR | Autonomous agent; sequences can be adjusted before launch | Email, LinkedIn and phone | Live AI search, Sales Navigator lists, CSV, HubSpot or Salesforce | Pay as you go per person prospected, or volume plans |
| Amplemarket | Agents prepare outreach; reps review and send | Email, calls and social | Amplemarket's own B2B database | Plans with a set number of users; more users cost extra |
| Salesforge | Agent Frank in Auto-Pilot or Co-Pilot mode | Email and LinkedIn | Salesforge's own lead search engine | By contact volume, not per seat |
Artisan and Salesforge are the closest to HappySales on human control, because both let a campaign wait for approval before anything is sent; Salesforge is the closest on billing, because it also avoids per-seat pricing.
How HappySales works as an AI SDR inside Claude or ChatGPT
HappySales turns Claude or ChatGPT into an AI SDR that follows four steps: a company search, a people search inside those companies, email and phone enrichment, and a campaign. The team adds HappySales as a connector in Claude or ChatGPT and signs in with OAuth 2.1; teams that want it set up can contact the HappySales team.
The company search in HappySales is LinkedIn's company search. A single search mixes single-word keywords with LinkedIn's company-size bands, a maximum of 20 locations and a maximum of 20 industries out of LinkedIn's 434, and returns at most 1,000 companies, a ceiling LinkedIn sets; larger markets are split by location or size. Teams can also import their own account lists from a CSV of up to 500 companies.
The people search runs inside the companies of a list. HappySales narrows people down by job title, function, seniority, location or a recent change of job, with a ceiling of 100 people in each company and 10,000 in one search. Example: a founder selling route-planning software asks Claude for Heads of Operations at logistics companies of 51 to 200 employees in the Netherlands, and the contacts land in a list with a status of new.
Research in HappySales is done by the user's own assistant. Each organization can create custom fields, such as "Does this company sell to retail?", and Claude or ChatGPT fills them in for every company or contact in the list. HappySales stores the answer and runs no model of its own.
Enrichment adds email and phone through a waterfall across several data providers, up to 100 contacts per run, charged only when the data is found.
Campaigns start on LinkedIn with a connection request with an optional note, or a direct message to someone already connected. Up to 5 follow-ups go out after the request is accepted, a reply stops the sequence, and the same sequence can add email steps. HappySales spreads sends within each LinkedIn account's sending window, with daily and hourly limits, and pauses the campaign if LinkedIn restricts the account. Each step, with the prompts, is laid out in our outbound walkthrough for Claude and ChatGPT.
Spending stays with the team: each paid step in HappySales shows a price preview first and only then starts, and a daily spending ceiling per organization, plus rate limits, keeps an agent within budget. HappySales bills per organization, not per seat, with unlimited users.
HappySales does not answer prospects on its own, does not score leads and is not a CRM. "Qualified" is a status the salesperson sets; how a points-based model works is covered in our guide to lead scoring for sales teams.