What is 11x, and who is it built for?
11x builds AI agents for go-to-market teams. Its best-known product is Alice, an AI SDR that the company presents as a "digital worker" (11x: Meet Alice). Alice researches prospects, writes personalized outreach and runs sequences with little day-to-day input from your team. 11x also sells agents for inbound work, including Julian, and lists an AI phone agent for handling inbound calls. The 11x help center is the place to check the current lineup, since it changes.
The strength of 11x is autonomy at scale. You define who to target and what you sell, and the agent does the repetitive work at a pace no single rep can match. It fits mid-market and enterprise sales teams that have a clear ideal customer profile, account executives ready to take the meetings, and the budget and process to sign a software contract after a demo.
Why teams look for an 11x alternative
Most searches for an 11x alternative come from fit rather than from a missing feature. These are the reasons that come up most often in buying conversations:
- Commitment. 11x is bought through a sales process and a contract. A founder who wants to test outbound for a month or two may prefer a monthly plan. Whatever you pick, read the terms first: 11x keeps a billing and contracts FAQ in its help center.
- Control. An autonomous agent makes many choices for you. Some teams want to approve each first email, or at least see why an account was chosen before anyone writes to it.
- Where leads come from. An agent that works a target market contacts companies because they match filters. Teams with a niche offer often get more from contacting companies that just showed a reason to buy.
- Team size. A five-person startup and a 200-person sales org need different onboarding, reporting and support. A tool shaped for one rarely feels right to the other.
- Channel mix. Some teams need a chat agent on their website, some want email only, others want an AI layer inside the sequencer their reps already use.
Six 11x alternatives and what each one is best for
Startories: an AI SDR that starts from buying signals
Startories reads Reddit, X, Product Hunt, startup directories and search results built for your niche, and picks up moments such as a complaint about a competitor, a launch or a new hire. It matches each signal to a company, scores it against your ICP with the reasons written out, verifies the decision-maker's business email and writes a first email about that event. Replies are classified with a suggested answer. The full workflow is on our AI SDR page.
- Best for: founder-led B2B and AI SaaS, agencies and consultants selling deals worth at least a few hundred dollars.
- Limits: email only (no LinkedIn automation, no phone dialing, no inbound handling), monthly volume set by plan (about 250 to 6,000 qualified leads), and a very narrow niche can produce fewer signals than a database export.
Artisan (Ava): an AI BDR with its own lead database
Ava is the closest like-for-like option: an autonomous AI BDR that finds leads in a B2B database built into Artisan, then researches and writes the outreach. Artisan has also opened a self-serve version, Ava 2.0 (Artisan announcement). Best for: teams that want data and outreach in one product and a quicker start. We put the two side by side in 11x vs Artisan, and our Artisan AI alternatives page looks at Ava on its own.
AiSDR: an AI sales rep on published plans
AiSDR covers research, personalized emails and follow-ups, and lists its plans on its pricing page. Best for: smaller sales teams that want to know the cost of an AI SDR before booking a demo. Our AiSDR alternatives page goes deeper.
Regie.ai: AI agents next to human reps
Regie.ai sells an AI sales engagement platform where AI agents prospect and human reps work the same pipeline. Best for: established sales teams that want to keep reps in the loop and add AI prospecting to the motion they already run.
Qualified Piper: an AI SDR for inbound traffic
Piper works on your website rather than in cold inboxes: it talks to visitors, qualifies them and books meetings (Qualified). Best for: companies with real site traffic whose problem is converting inbound interest, not finding new accounts.
Reply.io Jason AI: an AI SDR inside a sequencer
Jason AI is the AI SDR agent of Reply.io, built on top of its multichannel sales engagement platform (Jason AI). Best for: teams already running sequences who want AI to take over list building, writing and first replies without changing platforms.
11x vs Startories: how do they differ?
The short version: 11x gives you an agent that works your whole target market, and it can cover inbound as well. Startories waits for a company to show a public reason to buy, then writes to the right person about that reason. The table covers the rest.
| 11x (Alice) | Startories | |
|---|---|---|
| Approach | Autonomous AI SDR working the market you define | Signal-first: reaches out after a recent, public buying signal |
| Lead source | Accounts and contacts that match your targeting | Posts, launches, hiring, funding and other public signals, matched to companies |
| Who writes the emails | Alice, from its research on each prospect | Startories, around the triggering event; you can approve every email |
| What you can inspect | Agent activity and results in the 11x platform | A link to the original signal and written scoring reasons on every lead |
| Inbound and phone | Inbound agents, including an AI phone agent | Not covered: outbound email only |
| Pricing model | Sales-led contract; see the Alice pricing page | Monthly plans at $99, $499 or $999; first Starter project $1 for a 3-day trial |
| Best for | Mid-market and enterprise teams with a defined ICP and reps to take meetings | Founder-led B2B, agencies and small teams that value timing over volume |
When is 11x still the better choice?
A comparison page that never recommends the other product is an ad. Here are the situations where we would point you to 11x rather than to us:
- You want inbound and outbound from one vendor. If demo requests and inbound calls need an instant, qualified answer, 11x covers that with its inbound agents. Startories does not answer inbound leads or take calls.
- Your market is large and well mapped. When thousands of companies fit your filters and most could buy in any quarter, working the whole market at a steady pace can beat waiting for public signals.
- Account executives are waiting for meetings. An autonomous agent pays off when someone with a quota will run every call it books. A founder with four free hours a week gets less out of that volume.
- Your buying process favors a sales-led vendor. Larger companies often want a negotiated agreement, a named contact on the vendor side and structured onboarding. A sales-led purchase fits those steps.
- You want minimal involvement once it runs. If messaging is settled and nobody wants to approve emails, a tool designed around autonomy is the natural fit.
Reach companies with a reason to buy this week
Startories finds the buying signal, verifies the decision-maker and runs the outreach until they book a call.
Which questions should you ask in an 11x demo, or in ours?
A demo shows the best case. These questions show how a tool behaves on an ordinary week. Ask them of 11x, of us and of anyone else on your shortlist, and write the answers down side by side.
Targeting and data
- Where do contacts come from, and how often is that source refreshed?
- Can you show me why one specific account was picked this week?
- How are emails verified before the first send, and what happens to an address that bounces?
Sending and domains
- Which domains and inboxes send the emails, and who owns them if we stop?
- How many emails does each inbox send per day, and who sets the cap?
- What happens automatically when bounces or spam complaints rise? Gmail asks bulk senders to keep the spam rate shown in Postmaster Tools under 0.3% (Google sender guidelines), so this answer matters.
Control and review
- Can I approve the first emails and replies, then loosen approval campaign by campaign?
- If one angle underperforms, can I change it without rebuilding the whole sequence?
Contract, exit and reporting
- What is the minimum term, how much notice ends it, and what happens to our sequences and reply history afterward?
- Does reporting show qualified meetings and replies per segment, or mostly sends and opens?
What does a year of AI SDR cost? A worked example
Annual agreements and monthly plans are hard to compare on sticker price. The useful number is how much you are committed to before you know whether a segment works. The figures below are assumptions for illustration; they are not 11x prices, which come from a quote and the Alice pricing page.
Say a tool is quoted at $1,500 a month on a 12-month agreement. On day one you are committed to $18,000. If the segment has produced no qualified meetings by day 90, you have spent $4,500 and still owe $13,500, unless the terms let you out. On a $499 monthly plan, the same 90 days cost about $1,500 (about $300 on the $99 Starter plan), and you can change the segment or stop.
The annual route is not wrong. Suppose those first 90 days produce 10 qualified meetings, and one in five closes at $12,000 of first-year value: that quarter returned about $24,000 on $4,500. If you already know outbound works in your market, a year-long agreement with onboarding can be the better deal. Commit when you are confident; stay flexible while you are still learning.
| Cost line | Question to ask the vendor | How Startories handles it |
|---|---|---|
| Plan or license | Monthly or annual? Minimum term? | Monthly plans: $99, $499 or $999 |
| Contact data and verification | Included, or a separate data tool? | Included: decision-maker search and business email verification |
| Sending infrastructure | Who sets up the domains and inboxes? | Dedicated, warmed-up inboxes on separate domains; the done-for-you setup configures them |
| Setup and copywriting | Self-serve, onboarding, or a paid service? | Self-serve, or a one-time setup service at $1,500 to $2,500 |
| Your team's time | How many hours a week go to reviewing leads and replies? | Depends on how much you approve; reply classification on Growth and Scale shortens it |
What does a signal-triggered sequence look like?
Here is one of our homepage funnels, competitor switchers, worked through on an invented case. You sell usage-based billing software to B2B SaaS companies with 10 to 80 employees. On X, a SaaS founder posts that their current billing tool double-charged three customers this month. Startories resolves the company, checks it against your ICP (B2B SaaS, about 25 people, usage-based plans on its pricing page) and finds the founder's verified business email. The emails below were written for this page as an illustration.
Email 1, day 0: the reason, the fix, one question
- Subject: double charges on usage invoices
- Opening: "Saw your post about customers getting billed twice this month. That bug hurts most because your customers find it before you do."
- Body: "We built [product] for SaaS teams that price on usage. Each invoice line is computed from metered events and checked before it is sent, so a duplicated event does not become a duplicated charge. You can switch at the end of a billing cycle without changing your payment processor."
- Ask: "Worth 15 minutes before your next invoice run?"
- Why it works: the opening proves you are writing to them, the body answers the exact failure they described, and the ask is tied to a date they care about.
Email 2, day 3: something useful, no pitch
"One habit that helps whatever tool you use: reconcile metered events against invoice lines before each run, not after. Happy to send the short checklist we use." It gives value on its own, and replying to it costs nothing.
Email 3, day 8: a polite way out
"If billing is under control now, ignore this. If you are still deciding, I can show how a mid-cycle switch works on a sample account." It closes the loop without pressure, and the sequence stops on any reply.
How do you choose the right 11x competitor?
Name the bottleneck
If you have traffic but few demos, an inbound agent like Piper is the better spend. If you have no pipeline at all, you need outbound. If reps have pipeline but lose their day to research, an AI layer in their sequencer helps most.
Decide how much you want to approve
Write down which emails you would let go out without review. If the honest answer is "none yet", choose a tool that lets you approve messages now and relax that later.
Match the commitment to your certainty
If outbound already works for you and you want more of it, a contract can make sense. If you are still testing a segment, favor monthly terms and a short first period.
Measure meetings, not activity
Judge every option on qualified meetings per month and the cost of each one. Emails sent and open rates say little about pipeline.
Read the wider comparisons
Our list of the best AI SDR tools and the AI SDR vs human SDR breakdown cover more options and the cost of each route.
How to start with Startories
Pick one segment and one signal that tells you a company needs you now, for example teams searching for an alternative to a tool you replace. Startories builds that funnel, and you review the first leads and emails before anything is sent. A human team also checks targeting and messaging in the early weeks. The thinking behind it is laid out on signal-based outbound.
Starter is $99 a month and your first project starts with a 3-day full-access trial for $1; Growth ($499) and Scale ($999) add funnels, sources and volume. Compare them on Startories pricing, or let our team run everything as a done-for-you outbound service.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best alternative to 11x?
It depends on the job. For a like-for-like autonomous AI SDR, look at Artisan. For inbound website traffic, Qualified Piper. For founder-led B2B teams that want outreach triggered by buying signals, with the reason for each lead shown, Startories.
Is Startories an AI SDR like 11x?
Yes. It covers the SDR work: finding accounts, verifying decision-makers, writing, sending, following up and sorting replies. The difference is the starting point: Startories only contacts a company after a recent public signal, and it shows you that signal.
How does Startories pricing compare with 11x?
Startories plans are priced per month: $99, $499 or $999 depending on funnels and volume, with the first Starter project on a 3-day full-access trial for $1. 11x quotes its agents through a sales process, so compare the two on cost per qualified meeting.
Can Startories call prospects or send LinkedIn messages?
No. Startories works by email only: it does not automate LinkedIn and does not dial phones. If voice or LinkedIn is central to how you sell, an AI SDR that covers those channels will fit better.
Does 11x handle inbound leads as well as outbound?
Yes. Besides Alice for outbound, 11x sells agents for inbound handling, including an AI phone agent. Startories covers outbound email only, so teams that need both from one vendor should look at 11x first.
Who should stay with 11x?
Teams with a defined mid-market or enterprise ICP, account executives ready to take meetings, budget for a contract and a need to cover a broad market are well served by an autonomous agent like Alice.