TL;DR
Across the four vendor reports I pulled for this page (Woodpecker, Sendr, GMass, Clay), average cold email reply rates sit in the 1 to 5 percent band. Good campaigns run 5 to 10 percent. Great, tightly targeted ones sit above 10 percent. If a dashboard is showing you above 25 percent, audit the tracking pixel before you audit the copy.
How should you read this page?
Every number below links to the primary report it came from. Vendor reports carry their own selection bias, so we quote ranges rather than a single hero number. Where a report gives a median and an average, we use the median.
What are the headline benchmarks?
Reply rate ranges by vendor source
| Source | Segment | Average reply rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Woodpecker Cold Email Report | All B2B cold email in-platform | ~1 to 5% | Averaged across large customer cohort |
| Sendr benchmark report | Agencies and lean outbound teams | ~2 to 8% | Skews toward smaller volume, tighter lists |
| GMass benchmark reports | Gmail-based senders | ~1 to 5% | Mixed marketing and sales use cases |
| Clay usage reports | High-personalisation workflows | 5 to 15% | Small n, strong ICP, heavy enrichment |
- Source
- Woodpecker Cold Email Report
- Segment
- All B2B cold email in-platform
- Average reply rate
- ~1 to 5%
- Notes
- Averaged across large customer cohort
- Source
- Sendr benchmark report
- Segment
- Agencies and lean outbound teams
- Average reply rate
- ~2 to 8%
- Notes
- Skews toward smaller volume, tighter lists
- Source
- GMass benchmark reports
- Segment
- Gmail-based senders
- Average reply rate
- ~1 to 5%
- Notes
- Mixed marketing and sales use cases
- Source
- Clay usage reports
- Segment
- High-personalisation workflows
- Average reply rate
- 5 to 15%
- Notes
- Small n, strong ICP, heavy enrichment
Where these numbers come from
The bands below are triangulated from vendor benchmark posts published by Woodpecker, GMass, Sendr and Clay across 2023 to 2025. Each vendor reports on its own customer base, so we cite ranges rather than a single hero number. Search each vendor blog for their most recent "cold email benchmarks" post to see the current figures.
Woodpecker blog (search for their cold email benchmarks post) Vendor research.
GMass blog Vendor research.
Clay learning hub Vendor research.
Benchmarks by volume
| Daily volume per inbox | Expected reply rate range | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| 0 to 20 | 5 to 15% | Hand-picked, highly personalised |
| 20 to 50 | 3 to 8% | Personalised at scale with signals |
| 50 to 100 | 1 to 4% | Semi-personalised, template-driven |
| 100+ | <2% typically | Pushes against sender guidelines |
- Daily volume per inbox
- 0 to 20
- Expected reply rate range
- 5 to 15%
- Comment
- Hand-picked, highly personalised
- Daily volume per inbox
- 20 to 50
- Expected reply rate range
- 3 to 8%
- Comment
- Personalised at scale with signals
- Daily volume per inbox
- 50 to 100
- Expected reply rate range
- 1 to 4%
- Comment
- Semi-personalised, template-driven
- Daily volume per inbox
- 100+
- Expected reply rate range
- <2% typically
- Comment
- Pushes against sender guidelines
Benchmarks by persona
| Persona | Expected reply rate range | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Local business owner | 5 to 12% | Reads own inbox, decides fast |
| SMB operator (10 to 50 staff) | 3 to 8% | Owner or ops lead reads, some filtering |
| Mid-market director | 2 to 5% | Assistants and filters common |
| Enterprise VP or C-level | 1 to 3% | Heavy filtering, gated inbox |
- Persona
- Local business owner
- Expected reply rate range
- 5 to 12%
- Why
- Reads own inbox, decides fast
- Persona
- SMB operator (10 to 50 staff)
- Expected reply rate range
- 3 to 8%
- Why
- Owner or ops lead reads, some filtering
- Persona
- Mid-market director
- Expected reply rate range
- 2 to 5%
- Why
- Assistants and filters common
- Persona
- Enterprise VP or C-level
- Expected reply rate range
- 1 to 3%
- Why
- Heavy filtering, gated inbox
Ladder
Reply rate ladder
- 01
Red flag low
<1% sustained
- 02
Average
1 to 5%
- 03
Good
5 to 10%
- 04
Great
10 to 25%
- 05
Red flag high
>25% sustained
When a "great" number is a lie
Reply rates above 25 percent sustained across hundreds of sends usually mean bots, catch-all inboxes replying with auto-responders, or tracking pixels counting opens as replies. Audit the actual thread contents before you celebrate.
What actually moves the number?
- Narrower ICP. Halving the target list roughly doubles the reply rate in most reports.
- Signal-anchored opener. Reference something the business did in the last 30 days.
- One clear ask. A single low-friction question outperforms a pitch plus a calendar link.
- Domain health. A cold domain with weak SPF and DKIM will not reach the inbox, so the reply rate cannot start.
Further reading
Google email sender guidelines Reference.
Why cold emails go to spam Internal.
Is cold email legal Internal.
Where do Milo users tend to sit on this ladder?
Milo runs signal-led prospecting with sends from the operator own Gmail or Outlook inbox and per-send approval. Users typically sit in the 5 to 12 percent band on local and SMB motions, in line with the "good to great" range in the ladder above. That is a function of narrow lists and copy that names the specific trigger, not a magic number in the product.
FAQ
What is a good reply rate for cold email in 2026?
Anything from 5 percent upward is good, above 10 percent is great, and sustained above 25 percent should be audited for artefacts.
Why do vendor reports disagree?
Different customer mixes and different definitions of reply. Some count auto-replies, some do not.
Are open rates a useful benchmark?
Not since Apple Mail Privacy Protection and Gmail image proxying. Track reply rate and positive reply rate instead.