Comparison
Outsourced SDR teams cost $3,000-$8,000/month per rep and take weeks to onboard. Shadow Workers start free and scale to $800/month, and start in minutes.
The verdict
Outsourced SDR teams offer human flexibility but come with significant costs, long ramp times, and inconsistent quality. Shadow Workers deliver consistent, autonomous execution at a fraction of the cost, task-based pricing from $0/month vs $3,000-$8,000/month per outsourced rep. No management overhead, no training, no turnover risk.
An outsourced SDR costs $3,000-$8,000/month. Shadow Workers use task-based pricing from $0 to $800/month, and you can hire unlimited AI workers. For the cost of one outsourced rep, you get an entire AI workforce.
Outsourced teams require onboarding, QA reviews, weekly check-ins, and performance management. Shadow Workers are autonomous, set a goal and they execute.
Outsourced SDR agencies have notoriously high turnover. When a rep leaves, you lose context and restart training. AI workers never leave.
For volume work (prospecting, initial outreach, follow-ups), AI SDRs outperform outsourced reps on cost, speed, and consistency. For complex relationship-building, human SDRs still have an edge. The best approach is hybrid.
Outsourced SDR services typically cost $3,000-$8,000/month per rep, plus setup fees. Shadow Workers start free (50 tasks/month) with paid plans up to $800/month, no setup fees and no long-term commitment.
Many teams use AI workers to replace outsourced SDRs for prospecting and outreach, keeping human reps only for high-touch conversations. This typically reduces costs by 80-90%.
More comparisons
11x charges ~$5,000/month for a single AI SDR locked into annual contracts. Shadow Workers give you a full AI workforce for a fraction of the cost.
ROI comparison. Time to ramp, cost per meeting, availability, scalability. Not about replacing humans, about augmenting the team.
Your first Shadow Worker is ready in 30 seconds. No contracts, no workflows to build, no AI to babysit.