LinkedIn automation tools compared: HeyReach, Expandi, Dripify, Waalaxy and La Growth Machine

The short answer

For an agency or a team running many LinkedIn accounts, HeyReach is built around multiple senders at a flat price per sender. For a founder running one account with email in the same sequence, La Growth Machine or Waalaxy cover both channels. Expandi and Dripify suit a single seat that wants LinkedIn sequences run from the cloud.

Whichever you choose, LinkedIn's User Agreement prohibits bots and automation, and LinkedIn says accounts that use them can be restricted or shut down. Keep volumes low, personalize every request, and never automate an account you cannot afford to lose.

What LinkedIn's own rules say

LinkedIn's help center is direct: it does not permit third-party software, including crawlers, bots, browser plug-ins or extensions, that scrapes, modifies the appearance of, or automates activity on its website, and it lists these as violations of section 8.2 of its User Agreement. Accounts using such tools risk being restricted or shut down, temporarily or permanently.

That applies to every tool below, cloud-based or browser extension. Vendors describe their safety features (dedicated IPs, human-like delays, daily caps); they lower how visible the automation is, not whether it is allowed. Ban-rate figures that circulate in vendor blogs are not independently verified, so this comparison does not repeat them.

LinkedIn also enforces in court. In October 2025 it sued ProAPIs in federal court in California, alleging the company ran millions of fake accounts to scrape member data and sold it for up to $15,000 a month. Scraping is a separate violation from automating your own account, and the one LinkedIn pursues hardest.

How LinkedIn limits invitations

LinkedIn does not publish a weekly number. Its help center says that once you reach the invitation limit you can send again after one week, that it cannot shorten the wait, and that withdrawing pending invitations does not lift it. Basic and Premium members are both limited. The figure practitioners repeat is about 100 invitations a week, and more for accounts whose invitations are usually accepted.

Restrictions escalate. By LinkedIn's own description, a first restriction lasts a few hours; repeated restrictions in one day last a few days; and too many outstanding invitations can restrict an account for up to a month. Standard and personalized invitations are counted separately.

The five tools at a glance

LinkedIn automation tools: who each is for and how it is priced

Tool	Built for	Channels	Pricing	Priced by
HeyReach	Agencies and teams with many senders	LinkedIn	Growth: $79 per sender a month; Agency: $999 for 25 senders	Sender
Expandi	One seat, LinkedIn and email	LinkedIn and email	$99 a month per user, $79 billed annually; agency plan by quote	Seat
Dripify	One rep, LinkedIn drip campaigns	LinkedIn	Basic $59, Pro $79, Advanced $99 per user a month	Seat
Waalaxy	Beginners on a budget	LinkedIn and email	Pro €19, Advanced €49, Business €69 per user a month	Seat
La Growth Machine	Multichannel sequences	LinkedIn and email	Basic from €60 to Ultimate €150 per identity a month	Identity

HeyReach

For agencies

Best for: agencies and sales teams running outreach from many LinkedIn accounts at once.

Strengths

• A flat price per sender, so adding accounts is predictable
• Built around running many senders from one place
• A HubSpot marketplace app and a listed integration with Smartlead for the email side

Watch-outs

• LinkedIn only: email needs a second tool
• Reviewers find its sequence branching simpler than some rivals
• Proxies for many accounts can be an extra cost

Skip it if: you run a single LinkedIn account; the per-sender model pays off with several.

Pricing: Growth at $79 per sender a month (discounts for quarterly and yearly billing); Agency at $999 for 25 senders.

Expandi

Cloud, one seat

Best for: a single seat that wants LinkedIn and email in one sequence, run from the cloud.

Strengths

• Cloud-based, with a dedicated IP per account according to one review
• LinkedIn and email in the same sequence
• Image and GIF personalization in messages

Watch-outs

• Per-seat pricing adds up with each account
• The account risk of LinkedIn automation still applies

Skip it if: you need many senders; HeyReach's per-sender model is built for that.

Pricing: $99 a month per user, or $79 billed annually; an agency plan by quote for 10 or more seats.

Dripify

Simple drips

Best for: one rep running straightforward LinkedIn drip campaigns.

Strengths

• A simple campaign builder
• Three clear tiers

Watch-outs

• LinkedIn only, with no email channel
• Fewer multichannel options than La Growth Machine or Waalaxy Business

Skip it if: you want LinkedIn and email in one sequence.

Pricing: Basic $59, Pro $79 and Advanced $99 per user a month; lower on annual billing.

Waalaxy

Budget

Best for: founders new to automation who want a low entry price.

Strengths

• The lowest entry price on this list
• A clean interface built for beginners
• LinkedIn and email at full scale on the Business plan

Watch-outs

• Monthly invitation caps on the lower plans (300 on Pro, 800 on Advanced in one breakdown)
• Sources disagree on whether a free plan still exists

Skip it if: you send at agency volume or need many accounts.

Pricing: Pro €19, Advanced €49 and Business €69 per user a month.

La Growth Machine

Multichannel

Best for: multichannel sequences from one identity, LinkedIn and email together.

Strengths

• LinkedIn and email in one sequence
• Pro adds lookalike search, LinkedIn intent data, social warming and inbox rotation

Watch-outs

• Priced per identity, above single-channel tools
• Prices in euros

Skip it if: you only need LinkedIn steps.

Pricing: From €60 per identity a month (Basic) to €150 (Ultimate); agency plans from 6 identities.

Pick by how you sell

Cloud tools or browser extensions

Browser extensions run inside your own browser session; cloud tools run your account from their servers, usually with a dedicated or residential IP. Vendors argue cloud tools are harder to detect. LinkedIn's rules make no such distinction: they name browser plug-ins and extensions, and they prohibit automated activity of any kind. Treat cloud as lower visibility, not as permission.

How to run LinkedIn outreach with less risk

• Start from a real, complete profile with a history of normal use; new or empty accounts draw attention.
• Ramp slowly and keep daily volumes modest. Let LinkedIn's weekly limit, not a vendor's default, set the ceiling, and keep pending invitations low: too many outstanding is what triggers the longest restriction.
• Personalize every connection request. A relevant note earns acceptances; a blank request at volume earns reports.
• Stop the sequence when someone replies, on any channel.
• Carry volume on email, not LinkedIn. Pair a LinkedIn tool with a cold email tool so LinkedIn stays light; see Instantly vs Smartlead (opens in a new tab).
• Never scrape. Copying profiles in bulk is a separate violation of the same rules, and the one LinkedIn takes to court.

Pair LinkedIn with email and your CRM

Most teams run LinkedIn as the second channel, with email carrying the volume and the CRM holding the record. HeyReach is listed by Smartlead as its LinkedIn layer and has a HubSpot marketplace app that adds LinkedIn activity to HubSpot contacts; La Growth Machine, Waalaxy Business and Expandi keep both channels in one tool instead.

For where LinkedIn fits in the order you build a go-to-market stack, see the GTM tech stack for early-stage founders (opens in a new tab). If you are weighing LinkedIn's own prospecting tool instead, our Sales Navigator pricing guide (opens in a new tab) covers its plans and limits.

Questions

Is LinkedIn automation allowed?

No. LinkedIn's help center says it does not permit third-party software, bots or browser extensions that automate activity on LinkedIn, and that accounts using them risk being restricted or shut down.

How many LinkedIn invitations can I send a week?

LinkedIn does not publish a number. Practitioners cite about 100 a week, more for accounts with high acceptance. Once you reach the limit, LinkedIn's help center says you can send again after one week.

Which LinkedIn automation tool is best for agencies?

HeyReach is built for it: a flat price per sender and many LinkedIn accounts run from one place. Agencies usually pair it with a cold email tool for the email side.

Can I automate LinkedIn and email in one sequence?

Yes. La Growth Machine, Waalaxy (on Business) and Expandi run both channels in one sequence. Alternatively, run HeyReach for LinkedIn alongside Instantly or Smartlead for email.

What is the cheapest LinkedIn automation tool?

Of these five, Waalaxy has the lowest entry price: its Pro plan is €19 per user a month in third-party breakdowns, with a monthly cap on invitations.

Does Sales Navigator automate outreach?

No. Sales Navigator is LinkedIn's own prospecting and search product. It does not send sequences, and it does not include email addresses or phone numbers.

Sources

1. Prohibited software and extensions (opens in a new tab), LinkedIn Help, checked October 18, 2026
2. Automated activity on LinkedIn (opens in a new tab), LinkedIn Help, checked October 18, 2026
3. Invitation limit reached (opens in a new tab), LinkedIn Help, checked October 18, 2026
4. Types of restrictions for sending invitations (opens in a new tab), LinkedIn Help, checked October 18, 2026
5. LinkedIn sues software company allegedly scraping data from millions of profiles (opens in a new tab), The Record, checked October 18, 2026
6. LinkedIn sues ProAPIs for $15K/month LinkedIn data scraping scheme (opens in a new tab), Security Affairs, checked October 18, 2026
7. HeyReach pricing explained (2026): the real per-sender math (opens in a new tab), Valley, checked October 18, 2026
8. HeyReach pricing 2026: cost per LinkedIn account and agency plans (opens in a new tab), Emelia, checked October 18, 2026
9. Dripify vs Expandi in 2026 (opens in a new tab), La Growth Machine, checked October 18, 2026
10. Dripify pricing 2026: plans, costs and what you actually pay (opens in a new tab), LeadHaste, checked October 18, 2026
11. Waalaxy competitors compared on price and limits (2026) (opens in a new tab), Swarmhit, checked October 18, 2026
12. La Growth Machine pricing: what you actually pay (opens in a new tab), Ampliflow, checked October 18, 2026
13. Best HeyReach alternatives (opens in a new tab), La Growth Machine, checked October 18, 2026
14. Sales engagement apps (opens in a new tab), HubSpot Marketplace, checked October 18, 2026
15. Integration with your favourite apps (opens in a new tab), Smartlead, checked October 18, 2026
16. LinkedIn Sales Navigator alternatives (opens in a new tab), Hack'celeration, checked October 18, 2026
17. Frequently asked questions about Canada's anti-spam legislation (opens in a new tab), CRTC, checked October 18, 2026

How these comparisons are made: from each vendor's own documentation and pricing pages, independent reviews and the policies of the platforms involved, each linked and dated. Prices change often; check the vendor's page before you buy.