What are cold calling tools?
Cold calling tools are the software a team uses to find prospects, get a working phone number for each one, place the calls and keep a record of what happened. Few teams buy one product for all of that. Most put a data provider, a dialer and a CRM together, then add other tools where a step is slow.
Which one to look at first depends on where your calls go wrong. If reps spend the day on numbers that ring out, start with phone data and with checking who will pick up. If they can only make a few dozen calls an hour, look at the dialer.
What’s in this directory?
Phone number checks
Tools that tell you whether a number works, whether the person is likely to pick up, and whether your own caller ID is being flagged as spam. Run these before the dialer so reps start with numbers worth calling.
Dialers
Software that places the calls. Power dialers call one number after another, parallel dialers ring several at once, and both log the result for the rep.
Contact data
Databases of people and companies with emails and phone numbers. Use them to build a list of prospects before anyone picks up a phone.
Mobile number finders
Tools that find direct dials and mobile numbers for a named person, which helps when the office line only reaches a front desk.
CRMs
Where contacts, calls and deals are recorded. A dialer that writes calls back to your CRM saves reps from logging them by hand.
Sales engagement
Platforms that run a sequence of calls, emails and LinkedIn steps, so a contact who does not answer gets another touch.
Call coaching
Tools that record calls, transcribe them and help managers review how reps are doing.
Automation and AI tools
Tools that enrich records, pick up buying signals and automate research or outreach steps, so reps spend less time preparing before a call.
What are the best dialers for cold calling?
The best dialer depends on how many people you call in a day and what your team already uses. Parallel dialers suit teams calling at volume, power dialers suit one-to-one calling with a simple setup, and a CRM with a built-in dialer suits teams that want everything in one place. The table compares the dialers in this directory, with a section on each below it.
| Tool | Best for | Strength | Pricing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | SMBs, Mid-market | Smart Views double as call lists and can filter out recently called leads, leads with pending tasks and leads outside local calling hours. | Per seat |
| ConnectAndSell | - | Prices by seat, with no fees tied to call volume. | Custom quote |
| Kixie | - | Parallel dialing of up to four lines is on its own plan. | Tiered plans |
| Nooks | - | Native integration with Salesforce and HubSpot. Its dialer page describes HubSpot sync as bi-directional and Salesforce as automatic logging of calls, notes and next steps. | Custom quote |
| Orum | Enterprise | Unlimited dials on paid plans, with caller ID rotation and reputation monitoring built in. | Per seat |
| PhoneBurner | SMBs, Enterprise | Publishes plan prices on its pricing page. | Per seat |
Swipe the table sideways to see every column.
Close
Close is a CRM for sales teams that make a lot of calls. Calls, texts and email happen inside the lead record, and a call list is a saved Smart View that the dialer works through in order.
- Smart Views double as call lists and can filter out recently called leads, leads with pending tasks and leads outside local calling hours.
- Both dialers and the CRM are in one product, so call results land on the lead without a sync.
- Pricing is published per seat.
- The power dialer is listed on Growth ($99) and the predictive dialer on Scale ($139), so the cheaper plans do not include them.
- Calling and SMS charges are billed on top of the seat price.
- Close's export guide says export works from a Leads Smart View only, not from Contacts Smart Views.
ConnectAndSell
ConnectAndSell is built for B2B reps who want to spend their time talking, not waiting on rings. In Express Connect, the platform dials and connects the rep to the first live voice or decision-maker it reaches. In Precision Connect, it aims at named targets on your list.
- Prices by seat, with no fees tied to call volume.
- Phone number enrichment is included in its plans.
- Pricing amounts are not published; you contact sales.
- Its home, pricing and Test Drive pages list no CRM or other integrations, so how contacts get in and out is something to ask the vendor.
Kixie
Kixie is a calling and texting platform for sales and revenue teams. It starts with a business phone number tied to your CRM, and its higher plans add a power dialer that works through an uploaded lead list.
- Parallel dialing of up to four lines is on its own plan.
- Lists automation tools (Zapier, Make, Tray, n8n) alongside native CRM integrations.
- Its pricing page text shows no dollar prices, so you cannot compare cost without a trial or a quote.
- Its integrations page says APIs and webhooks are available to enterprise developers.
- ConnectionBoost, Conversation Intelligence and DNC compliance are add-ons.
Nooks
Nooks is a sales platform built around an AI dialer. The dialer rings many numbers at the same time and detects a pickup within milliseconds, and it can also run slower one-to-one calling. It drops voicemails and logs calls and notes for the rep.
- Native integration with Salesforce and HubSpot. Its dialer page describes HubSpot sync as bi-directional and Salesforce as automatic logging of calls, notes and next steps.
- Works on top of Outreach, Salesloft and Apollo as well as replacing them with its own sequencing.
- Pulls in data from several contact data providers, including Cognism, LeadIQ, Datagma, ZoomInfo and Apollo.
- Pricing is not published. Its pricing page asks you to contact the team for a quote.
- CSV upload is mentioned only in the pricing page FAQ, as the way other CRMs can use the AI Dialer. Its integrations help article does not cover it.
Orum
Orum is a dialer built for SDR and BDR teams. Its dialer, called Operator, can run up to five lines at once and connects the rep to whoever picks up, and it handles phone trees, screeners and voicemail drops.
- Unlimited dials on paid plans, with caller ID rotation and reputation monitoring built in.
- Connects to Salesforce, HubSpot, Outreach, Salesloft, Gong and Apollo, which many outbound teams already run.
- Dials from a Salesforce report, a HubSpot list or an imported CSV, and has its own data enrichment for prospects with no callable number.
- Prices are not published, and the pricing page shows a 9-seat minimum.
- Webhooks and AI Coaching are paid add-ons rather than part of the core plans.
- Scout, its phone data product, was a waitlist sign-up when we checked rather than open to everyone.
PhoneBurner
PhoneBurner is a sales dialer that works through a contact list one call at a time, with email and SMS available alongside the calls. Teams use it to move through large lists quickly and log what happened on each call.
- Publishes plan prices on its pricing page.
- Lists an open API, webhooks and Zapier, so call outcomes can be sent to other systems.
- Spam protection (ARMOR) and Connect Scores cost extra on top of the plan.
- Contact import is capped per month by plan, from 10,000 on Standard and 20,000 on Professional to 50,000 on Premium.
- Call recording storage depends on plan (30 days, 90 days or unlimited).