Best LinkedIn Automation Tools in 2026: 8 Compared
LinkedIn automation tools send your connection requests, follow-up messages and profile visits on a schedule, so a campaign keeps running while you do other work.
They differ on three things that matter: what you pay per LinkedIn account, whether email is part of the sequence, and how the tool runs (in your browser, on your computer or in the cloud).
The quick answer: Waalaxy is the cheapest way to start ($19 a month). HeyReach is built for agencies running many LinkedIn accounts from one login. Dripify and Expandi are cloud tools for solo sellers who want LinkedIn and email in one sequence. La Growth Machine adds calls and X. PhantomBuster is for pulling lead data out of LinkedIn and other sites. Linked Helper is the cheapest desktop option, and STACKED (the new name for Dux-Soup) runs on your desktop or in the cloud. Whichever you pick, read what LinkedIn says about these tools first: its user agreement bans them.
Prices are US list prices on monthly billing, read from each vendor’s pricing page on October 13, 2026. Annual billing is cheaper on all of them.
LinkedIn automation tools compared
| Tool | From (monthly) | Priced per | Email in the sequence | Free trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waalaxy | $19 | User | Business plan ($69) | 14 days |
| HeyReach | $79 | LinkedIn sender | Through Instantly or Smartlead | Yes |
| Dripify | $79 | User | Yes | 7 days, no card |
| Expandi | $99 | Subscription (one plan) | Yes | 7 days |
| La Growth Machine | $70 | LinkedIn identity | Yes, plus calls and X on higher plans | 14 days |
| PhantomBuster | $69 | Workspace (unlimited users) | Finds emails | Free trial plan |
| Linked Helper | $15 | License (one LinkedIn account) | Finds emails | 14 days |
| STACKED (Dux-Soup) | $55 | Seat | Not listed | Free to start |
1. Waalaxy
Waalaxy is the easiest way into LinkedIn automation. You import prospects from a LinkedIn search, Sales Navigator or Recruiter Lite, pick a pre-built sequence (invite, then message, then follow-up), and it runs. It has a Chrome extension and a large base of first-time users: Waalaxy says 75% of its users had never done LinkedIn outreach before.
- Pricing: Pro $19/user/month (300 invitations a month), Advanced $39 (800 invitations, API access, Make, Zapier and n8n modules), Business $69 (cold email sequences, LinkedIn plus email campaigns, 500 email-finder credits). Yearly billing drops these to $16, $32 and $55. A LinkedIn inbox is a paid add-on.
- Best for: founders and consultants running their first campaigns.
- Watch out: the invitation caps are monthly, so a busy Pro account runs dry fast.
2. HeyReach
HeyReach is built around many LinkedIn accounts at once. Agencies and sales teams connect as many senders as they pay for, keep each one inside its daily limits, and answer every reply from one unified inbox, with a separate workspace per client.
- Pricing: Growth $79 per sender per month. Agency $999/month for 25 senders. Unlimited $2,999/month (capped at 300 senders). Quarterly billing saves 10% and yearly 20%. Each sender gets 100 one-time enrichment credits.
- Best for: agencies running outbound for several clients.
- Watch out: HeyReach’s own steps are LinkedIn actions. Email runs through its Instantly and Smartlead integrations, which are separate subscriptions.
3. Dripify
Dripify runs LinkedIn and email sequences from the cloud, on a dedicated IP address tied to your location, so campaigns keep going with your laptop closed.
- Pricing: Pro $79/user/month, Advanced $99. Annual billing: $59 and $79. Every plan includes 100 email-finder credits a month; extra packs start at $29 for 1,000.
- Best for: solo sellers and small sales teams who want one sequence across LinkedIn and email.
- Watch out: team management, A/B testing and Dripify’s stronger account protection are on Advanced, not Pro.
4. Expandi
Expandi is a cloud tool with a country-based dedicated IP, an automatic warm-up for new accounts, and “smart limits” that won’t let you exceed the daily caps you set. Sequences can branch on what the prospect does and mix connection requests, messages and email follow-ups.
- Pricing: Business $99/month, or $79/month billed annually. Image and GIF personalization costs extra. Agencies with 10 or more teams get a quote.
- Best for: sellers who want conditional sequences and careful limits.
- Watch out: one plan, at the top of the solo price range.
5. La Growth Machine
La Growth Machine (LGM) is multichannel first. One campaign can send a LinkedIn invite, message, email and leave an AI-generated voice message, and higher plans add calls and X. On Pro and up, a unified inbox puts LinkedIn and email replies together.
- Pricing: Basic $70 per identity per month (LinkedIn and email, 250 enriched leads), Pro $135 (adds calls, 5 sending inboxes per identity, the unified inbox), Ultimate $195 (adds X and 1,000 enriched leads). Longer terms are cheaper.
- Best for: teams that sell across LinkedIn, email and phone.
- Watch out: pricing is per identity, so every rep’s LinkedIn account is billed separately.
6. PhantomBuster
PhantomBuster is less a sequencer than a data tool. Its 100+ automations extract lead data from LinkedIn and 15+ other platforms, find emails and enrich the results with AI, ready to export. It has outreach automations too, but most teams buy it for the lists.
- Pricing: Start $69/month, Grow $159, Scale $439, billed by automation slots and execution hours, with unlimited users. Annual billing: $56, $128 and $352. The free trial plan limits exports to 10 rows.
- Best for: growth teams building lead lists from LinkedIn activity.
- Watch out: execution time is metered, so long-running automations eat the monthly hours.
7. Linked Helper
Linked Helper is desktop software that runs on your own computer or a server you rent. It’s the cheapest per account, and it does more than outreach: scraping full profiles and company pages, finding emails, and a built-in contact manager.
- Pricing: Standard $15/month per license, Pro $45. Each license runs one LinkedIn account. Paying for 3, 6 or 12 months upfront cuts the price by 11%, 33% or 45%, and volume discounts stack on top.
- Best for: technical users who want the most control for the least money.
- Watch out: Standard caps eleven advanced actions at 20 a day, and you can’t upgrade a Standard license to Pro mid-term.
8. STACKED (formerly Dux-Soup)
Dux-Soup now sells as STACKED, “powered by Dux-Soup.” Drip campaigns mix up to 12 actions, including connect, follow, endorse and InMail, with native Slack, Salesforce, Zapier and Make integrations.
- Pricing: STACKED local (a desktop app for Mac or Windows) $55/seat/month. STACKED cloud (runs on their servers) $99/seat/month. Yearly billing saves 25%.
- Best for: users who already know Dux-Soup and want the same campaigns with a choice of where they run.
- Watch out: the local version only works while your computer is on.
What LinkedIn says about automation tools
This is the part most comparison pages skip. LinkedIn’s User Agreement says members must not “use bots or other unauthorized automated methods to access the Services, add or download contacts, send or redirect messages.” Its help page on prohibited software and extensions says anyone using such tools risks “having their accounts restricted or shut down,” and that the tools themselves “may become non-operational without notice.”
Every tool on this list automates exactly those actions. Their safety features (warm-up periods, daily limits, dedicated IPs, human-like delays) make a restriction less likely. None of them makes it allowed. Before you connect an account you depend on:
- Start slow. Low daily limits for the first few weeks, then raise them.
- Write to fewer, better-matched people. You get more replies, and your activity looks more like a person’s.
- Keep your main account out of experiments if losing it would hurt your business.
- Expect the tool to break sometimes. LinkedIn says prohibited tools can stop working without notice, so keep a manual way to reach your prospects.
How to choose a LinkedIn automation tool
- Just starting, one account, tight budget: Waalaxy, or Linked Helper if you don’t mind desktop software.
- LinkedIn and email in one sequence: Dripify, Expandi or Waalaxy Business.
- Calls and X too: La Growth Machine.
- Many accounts, many clients: HeyReach.
- Lead lists, not conversations: PhantomBuster.
Whichever you pick, the automation stops at the reply. Someone still has to answer, send the follow-up email, book the call and log it in the CRM. That’s the job Carly does: she connects to your email, calendar, CRM and thousands of other apps, so once a prospect moves to email, the follow-up gets drafted, the meeting booked and the record updated.
FAQ
Is LinkedIn automation allowed?
No. LinkedIn’s User Agreement prohibits bots and “unauthorized automated methods” to add contacts or send messages, and its help center says accounts using such tools risk being restricted or shut down. The tools on this list reduce the chance of detection with limits and warm-ups, but none of them is approved by LinkedIn.
Can my LinkedIn account get banned for using automation?
Yes. LinkedIn says accounts using prohibited automation tools risk restriction or shutdown. Keep volumes low, target well, and don’t automate an account you can’t afford to lose.
What is the cheapest LinkedIn automation tool?
Linked Helper, at $15 a month per license for Standard, if you’re fine running desktop software. Among browser and cloud tools, Waalaxy is cheapest at $19 a month on monthly billing, or $16 a month billed yearly.
Is there a free LinkedIn automation tool?
Not a lasting one among the major tools. Most offer a free trial: 14 days on Waalaxy, La Growth Machine and Linked Helper, 7 days on Dripify and Expandi, and a limited free trial plan on PhantomBuster that caps exports at 10 rows.
Cloud or desktop LinkedIn automation: which is better?
Cloud tools (Dripify, Expandi, STACKED cloud) run with your computer off and usually give you a dedicated IP address. Desktop tools (Linked Helper, STACKED local) are cheaper and keep everything on your own machine, but they only run while it’s on.
What should I do after a prospect replies on LinkedIn?
Answer fast, move the conversation to email or a call, book the meeting and log it in your CRM. Carly can draft the follow-up, book the time on your calendar and update the CRM record, and her workflows can run those steps every time a lead replies by email.
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