Compared
Four ways to get outbound running, side by side.
Work with Ripe Leads, hire an SDR, sign with another agency, or do it yourself. Same eight questions for each: how fast, what it costs, who does the work, and what you are left with.
Ripe Leads figures are our published terms. Figures for the other three columns are typical market ranges, and they move by provider and country.
| Ripe Leads | Hire an SDR | Another agency | Do it yourself | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First replies | Campaigns live within 14 days of kickoff. First interested replies in weeks 3 to 4. | Recruiting first, then about 3 to 4 months of ramp to full productivity. | Set by the agency. Ask for a dated launch plan before you sign. | Set by your hours. List, domains, two weeks of warm-up and copy all come before the first send. |
| Monthly cost | €3,750 the first month, then €2,850. Tools and data included. | About €4,800 a month at our calculator defaults (€42,000 gross salary, 25% employer cost, €400 of tools), plus a one-off hire. | Retainers commonly run €2,000 to €10,000 a month in Europe. Data, tools and domains can add several hundred to a few thousand on top. | Sending software from about USD 30 to 100 per sender per month, plus data credits. The rest is your own time. |
| Year one | €35,100, setup month included. | About €61,300 at the same defaults, with €4,000 for recruiting and onboarding. | €24,000 to €120,000 across that retainer range. | Low cash cost, high time cost. Your hourly rate decides whether it is cheap. |
| Who does the work | We build the list, write the copy, run the sending and sort replies. You run the meetings. | One person does all of it, and you manage them. | The agency does the work. Scope varies, so read what the retainer covers. | You or your team, on top of the day job. |
| Channels | Cold email and LinkedIn messages as one campaign, in the buyer's language. | Whatever one person can run well, usually one or two channels. | Varies. Many agencies run a single channel. | What you have hours for, usually one. |
| Contract | Month to month. Cancel any month with 28 days' notice. No annual contract. | An employment contract. Notice periods and protections make a bad hire slow to unwind, in Germany especially. | Varies. Check minimum term and notice in writing. | None. |
| Ownership afterwards | On cancel, the sending domains, the email copy, every contact we reached and every reply thread come over to you. The full target list is yours after six months of fees. | Everything is yours, but the know-how leaves with the rep. | Varies. Some agencies keep the domains and the lists. Ask in writing. | Everything is yours. |
| Failure risk | First interested reply within 30 days of sending, or month two runs free. We never promise a fixed number of meetings. | One person is a single point of failure. A published estimate puts SDR turnover near 35%, and each exit restarts the ramp. | Depends on the contract. Without a written guarantee the risk sits with you. | Deliverability mistakes land on your own domain, and the work stalls when sales gets busy. |
Book a strategy call
Thirty minutes. We check whether your market has enough buyers for cold email and tell you straight.
Choosing
Which one fits which situation.
The honest answer is not always us. Outbound that your team can run itself costs less than a retainer, and a proven motion deserves a full-time owner.
- Ripe Leads fits whenYou sell B2B, know your buyer, and want interested replies in your inbox without building the machine. Someone on your side can take the call.
- Hire an SDR whenOutbound is core to your model, you have a proven playbook, and the volume keeps a full-time rep busy. The first hire is an investment, not a shortcut.
- Another agency fits whenIt covers a channel or a market we do not, such as cold calling or a region outside our languages, and the contract terms hold up when you read them.
- Do it yourself whenYou know who to contact and what to say, and only hours are missing. Sending software is the cheapest fix for a capacity problem.
Run your own numbers
Put your own figures into it.
The SDR column uses the defaults of our in-house SDR cost calculator. Change the salary, the ramp and the tools to match your market. The ROI calculator turns your reply and close rates into a revenue range.
In-house SDR cost calculator · Outbound ROI calculator · Full pricing
Read next
- Agency vs. in-house SDR: the real cost in 2026The fully loaded cost of an SDR, ramp and turnover included.
- Outbound agency vs. a freelancerWhere one person is enough and where outbound needs a team.
- Cold email tools vs. an agencySoftware or services: which problem you actually have.
- AI SDR vs human outboundWhat an AI SDR does well and where a person still has to step in.
- B2B lead generation agency pricing, explainedRetainer, pay per meeting, pay per lead and SDR seats compared.
FAQ
Questions people ask before choosing.
Is hiring an SDR cheaper than an agency?
Rarely in year one. At our SDR calculator defaults an SDR costs about €61,300 in the first year, against €35,100 for Ripe Leads, and the SDR takes 3 to 4 months to reach full productivity. Hiring starts to make sense once you have a proven motion and enough volume to keep a full-time rep busy.
How fast does outbound start working with Ripe Leads?
Campaigns go live within 14 days of kickoff. New sending domains warm up for two weeks first, so the first interested replies usually land in weeks 3 to 4. If the first interested reply has not landed within 30 days of sending, month two runs free.
What should I ask another agency before signing?
Four things, in writing: the minimum term and the notice period, whether you own the domains and lists if you leave, what the all-in monthly price is once data and tools are counted, and what happens if the campaign produces no interested replies.
Who owns the domains and lists if I leave Ripe Leads?
The domains and the email copy are yours. On cancel you also get every contact we reached and every reply thread, and the full target list is yours after six months of fees. The 28 days' notice gives us time to hand it all over properly.
When should I not choose Ripe Leads?
If you already know who to contact and what to say and only lack hours, sending software is cheaper. If outbound is core to your model and you have a proven playbook, an in-house SDR is a sound investment. We also hand over interested replies rather than run your sales meetings, so you need someone who can take the call.
See what outbound could return for you.
Set your reply, interest and close rates in the calculator, then book thirty minutes to check it against your market.