Affordable Alternative to Artisan & 11x.ai [2026]

Both Artisan and 11x.ai are impressive products. Artisan's agent "Ava" and 11x.ai's agent "Alice" represent genuine advances in AI-powered sales automation. The problem is not the technology — it is the price tag and the target audience.

Pricing excludes most businesses: Artisan starts at $1,500/month with annual contracts (minimum $18,000/year commitment). 11x.ai starts at $2,500/month, also with annual commitments ($30,000+/year). These prices make sense for venture-funded startups spending $50,000+/month on sales — but they price out the vast majority of businesses worldwide that could benefit from AI prospecting.

Enterprise complexity for SMB needs: Both platforms are built for enterprise sales workflows. They offer extensive CRM integrations, team management features, multi-seat configurations, and complex onboarding processes. A small business with 5-20 employees does not need Salesforce integration, multi-seat permissions, or a dedicated customer success manager. They need a tool that finds prospects and sends good emails — period.

Annual contracts lock you in: Neither Artisan nor 11x.ai offers true month-to-month pricing at their entry tiers. For a small business testing AI prospecting for the first time, committing $18,000-30,000 before seeing results is an enormous risk. Many businesses want to start small, prove ROI, and scale gradually — but the pricing structure does not allow it.

Overkill features increase costs: Features like LinkedIn automation, multi-channel sequencing, advanced analytics dashboards, and AI-powered call scripts are valuable for enterprise teams. But each feature adds to the price. Small businesses end up paying for capabilities they will never use, when all they really need is an AI SDR that finds and emails prospects autonomously.

Core AI prospecting — all three deliver: All three platforms offer the fundamental AI SDR workflow: find target companies, research them individually, write personalized emails, send follow-up sequences, and classify responses. This is the 80% of value that matters most, and eesier delivers it at $100/month. The premium platforms do it too — they just add layers on top.

Email personalization — comparable quality: All three use large language models to research companies and write personalized outreach. The personalization quality is comparable because the underlying technology (GPT-4 class models for email generation, web scraping for research) is similar. The difference is in how it is packaged and delivered, not in the email quality itself.

Data coverage — different strengths: Artisan claims 300M+ contacts globally. 11x.ai focuses on US/EU markets with deep firmographic data. eesier includes 60M+ companies with strong Latin American coverage (CNPJ database). Choose based on where your prospects are located — US/EU businesses may prefer Artisan or 11x.ai for data depth; Latin American businesses should choose eesier.

Multi-channel — premium only: Artisan and 11x.ai offer LinkedIn automation alongside email, allowing coordinated multi-channel outreach. eesier focuses on email prospecting. For most small businesses comparing AI SDR options, email alone generates sufficient pipeline — LinkedIn adds incremental value but is not essential for the majority of use cases.

CRM integration — premium only: Artisan integrates natively with Salesforce, HubSpot, and other enterprise CRMs. 11x.ai offers similar integrations plus custom API access. eesier operates standalone with WhatsApp notifications and internal lead tracking. For small businesses without a CRM (or using a simple one), this is not a limitation.

Honest assessment: If your company has 50+ employees, a dedicated sales ops team, $50K+/month sales budget, and needs Salesforce integration — choose Artisan or 11x.ai. If you have 1-50 employees, need autonomous prospecting without complexity, and want to start for $100/month — eesier is the right choice.

Step 1 — Document your current ICP and messaging (10 minutes): Before canceling your current platform, note your ideal customer profile settings: target industries, company sizes, geographies, decision-maker titles, and the messaging angles that generated the best response rates. This information makes your eesier setup faster and more effective.

Step 2 — Set up eesier via WhatsApp (15-20 minutes): Message the eesier agent on WhatsApp and describe your ideal customer using the ICP parameters you documented. The AI generates targeting configurations automatically. Review the proposed targeting and approve it. No forms, no dashboards, no technical configuration.

Step 3 — Connect your email domain (10-15 minutes): If you are using the same email domain you used with Artisan or 11x.ai, the domain is already warmed up — eesier can start sending immediately. If using a new domain, the AI handles warmup automatically over 2-3 weeks. eesier walks you through DNS configuration via WhatsApp with simple copy-paste instructions.

Step 4 — Let the AI ramp up (24-48 hours): eesier begins researching companies from its own database and sending personalized emails. First responses typically arrive within 24-48 hours. There is no historical data to migrate — each email is written from scratch based on fresh research, so the AI's output is independent of whatever your previous platform had stored.

What about your existing pipeline? Prospects already in conversation should continue through your current platform until those deals close or expire. eesier runs parallel to your existing pipeline — it generates net-new outreach to companies you have not contacted yet. There is no disruption to deals in progress.