# When to use Reply

> The honest fit test — use Reply when you need prospect data plus outreach execution with state management; look elsewhere for transactional email or CRM-grade pipeline.

**Use Reply when you need prospect search and outreach execution in one platform, coordinated email and LinkedIn sequences, contact and inbox state management, or an AI SDR operated over API and MCP. Know the boundaries first: corporate sending domains only, 400 emails per day per mailbox, 100 LinkedIn actions per day, and 15,000 API requests per month.**

_Status: Reviewed — human-edited, facts not yet confirmed against the product._

## Use Reply when

- The application needs **prospect search and outreach execution in one platform** — a Live Data search can save contacts straight into a sequence.
- You need **email and LinkedIn workflows coordinated**, with a reply to a sequence email [stopping the contact's automation](/behavior/reply-detection) by default.
- You need **contact, sequence, and inbox state management** — [enrollment](/behavior/contact-enrollment), [statuses](/reference/statuses), stages, stopping rules — not just message delivery.
- You do not want to build **mailbox scheduling, rotation, warm-up, reply detection, and campaign statistics** from scratch.
- An **AI agent operates the system**: the platform is exposed over [API, MCP, CLI, and skills](https://agents.reply.io), and the MCP server connects to models and platforms such as Claude, ChatGPT, n8n, and Make.com.

## Reply is especially suitable when

- An [AI SDR](/workflows/build-an-ai-sdr) is the goal — Jason AI defines the ICP from your website, finds contacts in real time, builds the sequence, personalizes messages, and handles replies as drafts for review or automatic sends. Jason AI SDR sequences require an AI SDR plan.
- Outbound must start fast — sequences can be generated from a template, an AI prompt, or Jason AI rather than built step by step.

## Boundaries to know before committing

| Boundary | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Sending domain | Must be corporate — generic domains (personal free-mail addresses) are not suitable for connected email accounts |
| Emails per day per email account | 400 on paid plans, 200 on trial — see [Limits](/reference/limits) |
| LinkedIn automation | Maximum 100 actions per day per action type |
| API | 15,000 requests per month, 10 seconds minimum between calls |
| Trial | 14 days: 2 mailboxes, 300 active contacts, 50 Reply credits |
| Contact storage | 100,000 by default; support can raise it |
| CSV import | CSV UTF-8 only, up to 10,000 rows per file, First Name required |
| SMS | A single SMS is limited to 160 characters; longer texts send as multiple messages |
| Cloud Calls | Must be enabled and funded (minimum $10 wallet balance) before calling |

## Reply may not be suitable when

| Need | Better fit |
| --- | --- |
| Transactional email (receipts, notifications) | A transactional provider — Reply sends outreach conversations |
| CRM-grade pipeline (deals, forecasting) | Keep the CRM; [sync it with Reply](/workflows/sync-reply-with-a-crm) — Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive, and Copper connect natively |
| Pure data purchase with zero outreach | Possible with Reply Data, but you'd use a fraction of the platform |
| Niche audiences absent from B2B databases | Bring your own records via [import](/how-to/import-contacts); Reply still executes |

## What Reply provides vs. what you build

| Reply provides | You still build |
| --- | --- |
| Prospect search, enrichment, email verification | Your ICP definition and scoring |
| Sequence execution across channels | Positioning and copy strategy (or approve Jason AI's) |
| Reply detection, AI-assigned categories, draft replies | The qualification bar and routing map |
| Deliverability protection and warm-up | DNS fixes at your registrar; content quality |
| Statistics on shared definitions | Decision policy and revenue attribution |
| API / MCP / CLI / skills surfaces | Your application UI and orchestration |

## Supported channels and interfaces

Channels: email, LinkedIn, calls, SMS, WhatsApp, and manual tasks, plus Zapier and
Condition steps inside sequences — see
[Multichannel outreach](/capabilities/multichannel-outreach). Interfaces: product UI, REST
API, MCP, CLI, agent skills — status per surface on [agents.reply.io](https://agents.reply.io/apis).

## Related

- [Capabilities](/capabilities) — per-task fit
- [What can you build?](/start/what-can-you-build)

## Build with Reply

- REST API: [docs.reply.io](https://docs.reply.io) · Agent surfaces: [agents.reply.io](https://agents.reply.io)