For getting qualified first meetings on the calendar, a done for you cold email agency is usually faster and cheaper in year one. An SDR makes sense once you have a playbook that works and enough volume to keep a person busy. Many teams start with an agency, then hire and hand over a working system.
Run your own numbers
Change any number below to match your market and your salary bands. The One Zero side uses our published Scale price of $1,250 a month, with tools, data and infrastructure included.
Side by side
| In-house SDR | One Zero (cold email agency) | |
|---|---|---|
| What you pay for | Salary, payroll tax, benefits, tools, data, domains and your management time | One flat fee. Tools, data, domains and inboxes are inside it |
| Time to first meeting | Hiring time, then ramp, then building the sending setup | Around day 17 from kickoff, after about 14 days of domain warmup |
| Who builds the infrastructure | Your SDR or you, as a second job | We do. Your main domain never sends a cold email |
| Who writes the copy | Your SDR, usually from templates | Written in house for your buyer, approved by you |
| Who answers replies | Your SDR, between everything else | Our team, the same day, with meetings booked on your calendar |
| What you own | The person, while they stay | The domains, inboxes and lead data, even if you leave |
| Your time each week | Hiring, coaching and daily management | About 15 minutes and a weekly report in plain numbers |
| If it does not work | A notice period, severance and starting the search again | Month to month after the first 90 days. Missed targets, we stop billing |
What goes into the in-house number
Most comparisons stop at base salary. A working outbound seat also needs:
- Payroll tax and benefits on top of the base.
- Tools, data and sending domains, every month, whether the seat books meetings or not.
- Your management time: coaching, reviewing copy, checking lists.
- Ramp months where you pay full cost for partial output.
- Recruiting fees and turnover, which our calculator leaves out, so the in-house figure above is the generous one.
The ramp is the cost people feel most. Every month a new hire spends learning is a month of pipeline you do not get back. We break the agency side down in what cold email lead generation really costs.
When an SDR is the better call
We would rather lose the deal than sell you the wrong thing. Hire in house when:
- Your buyers only pick up the phone, and you need someone calling all day.
- Your deal needs heavy technical discovery before a first meeting is worth having.
- You already have a playbook that converts and enough volume to keep a full time person busy.
The route most teams take: agency first, hire later
You own the domains, inboxes and lead data with us. So when the pipeline proves itself and you hire, the new SDR starts with tested copy, a list of what converts and a calendar that is already moving. Instead of building outbound and learning it at the same time, they inherit something that works.
If you want the full picture of how we run it, read about our B2B cold email agency and our transparent appointment setting pricing.
Questions people ask
Is it cheaper to hire an SDR or a cold email agency?
For getting first meetings on the calendar, an agency is usually cheaper in year one. Tools, data, domains and the sending setup sit inside the fee, and there is no hiring or ramp period. An SDR costs salary plus payroll tax, benefits, tools and your management time. Run your own numbers in the calculator above.
How long does an agency take to book the first meeting?
With us, sending domains warm for about 14 days and the first meeting typically lands around day 17 from kickoff. An in-house SDR has to be hired first, then ramp, and the sending setup still has to be built around them.
When does hiring an in-house SDR make more sense?
When you need someone on the phone all day, when your deal needs heavy technical discovery before a meeting, or when you already have a playbook that works and enough volume to keep a full time person busy.
Can I start with an agency and hire an SDR later?
Yes, and it is often the cheapest route. You own the domains, inboxes and lead data, so when you hire you hand the new SDR a working playbook, tested copy and a record of what already converts.
What does One Zero cost compared with an SDR?
Scale is $1,250 a month, month to month after the first 90 days, with everything included. Launch is $3,500 a year upfront plus 1 to 2% of sales from meetings booked in the first 12 months. See the full pricing breakdown.