Mailshake vs Email Audit Engine: Which Tool Wins for Email Success?

Ever sent an email campaign that felt more like shouting into the void than sparking conversations? We’ve all been there, hitting “send” with hope, only to be met with silence. But more often than not, the problem isn’t what you’re saying, it’s how and where you’re saying it.

In the world of email marketing, having the right tools can make or break your results. Whether you’re trying to land more replies or fix why your messages aren’t getting seen in the first place, two tools stand out: Mailshake and Email Audit Engine. 

Mailshake is designed specifically for cold emailing, helping optimize outreach effectiveness and campaign management. They’re built for different things but often get compared. 

This article offers a complete view of Mailshake vs Email Audit Engine so you can make the right call for your strategy.

Let’s unpack how they work, who they’re for, and how to choose (or combine) them to supercharge your outreach.

What Do These Tools Do?

Before we compare, let’s get clear on what each platform is built to do.

Mailshake is a cold email outreach tool that helps sales and marketing teams send cold emails at scale, send personalized cold emails, automate follow-ups, and even engage prospects across LinkedIn and phone calls. Think of it as your outbound sales assistant and a full-service cold email software.

Email Audit Engine, on the other hand, is an email deliverability audit platform. It’s designed to clean your email lists, perform email verification, diagnose inbox placement issues, and help optimize deliverability and prevent campaigns from being blocked by the recipient's email provider. 

It doesn’t send emails, it ensures the emails you do send land where they’re supposed to. Most importantly, Email Audit Engine offers automated email marketing audits, enabling continuous health checks and optimization suggestions without requiring manual intervention.

In simple terms:

• Mailshake helps you send smarter.
• Email Audit Engine helps your emails land better and keeps them there through automation.

Who Should Use Which Tool?

Both tools cater to different slices of the email puzzle. So, who are they really for?

Mailshake is built for:

• Sales teams are doing outbound prospecting
• Teams that want to leverage Lead Drivers, a feature for generating and converting leads through advanced targeting options like location, industry, and job title
• Marketing teams running nurture campaigns
• Founders looking to grow through cold outreach
• Agencies handling lead generation for clients

Email Audit Engine is ideal for:

• Teams suffering from low open or reply rates
• Businesses switching email providers or CRMs
• Marketers using email verification tools
• Anyone worried their emails are ending up in the spam folder
• Teams looking for scalable, automated email audit capabilities

If your priority is to reach people and scale outreach efforts, Mailshake is your go-to. Mailshake can also automatically detect prospect replies and adjust campaign flows accordingly, streamlining your outreach process. 

If your emails are going unnoticed because of hidden inbox issues, Email Audit Engine is the specialist that digs deep and keeps things optimized through automation.

The Importance of Deliverability in Email Marketing

Deliverability is the backbone of any successful email marketing strategy. No matter how compelling your message or how well-crafted your campaign, if your emails aren’t reaching the inbox, your efforts go unnoticed. High deliverability ensures your email campaigns avoid the dreaded spam folder and get seen by your audience.

A strong cold email software should offer features that actively support deliverability, such as robust email verification tools to weed out invalid addresses, domain warm-up processes to build trust with email providers, and custom tracking domains to maintain a clean sender reputation. These tools work together to maximize the chances of your cold emails landing in the inbox, not the junk pile.

The Role of Automation in Email Marketing

Automation has transformed the way sales teams and marketers approach email campaigns. With the right tools, you can send personalized cold emails and automated follow-ups at scale, freeing up valuable time and resources for your team.

Personalization and Email Marketing

Personalization is at the heart of effective email marketing. Today’s audiences expect more than generic blasts; they want messages that speak directly to their needs and interests. By using data-driven insights, businesses can craft personalized email campaigns that resonate and drive higher engagement.

A/B Testing and Email Marketing

A/B testing is a powerful way to continually improve your email marketing efforts. By experimenting with different subject lines, email content, and calls-to-action, you can discover what truly resonates with your audience and refine your campaigns for maximum impact.

Core Features at a Glance

Let’s break down the standout capabilities of each email tool. Both platforms also offer additional features that support business growth, such as account-based marketing or predictive analytics.

Mailshake Features

• Mailshake automates outreach and sends emails to prospects at scale, streamlining your campaign process.
• Automated Cold Email Sequences
  Create multi-day personalized email sequences with follow-ups that adjust based on recipient behavior.
• Personalization Tokens
  Tailor personalized messages using names, companies, and other custom fields to make your emails feel personal and optimize your messaging for better engagement.
• LinkedIn and Phone Outreach
  Combine cold emails with cold calls and social channels to create a true multichannel outreach strategy.
• Campaign Analytics
  Monitor campaign performance metrics like opens, clicks, and response rates to improve your outreach sequences.
• Email Warm-Up
  Uses a smart warm-up process to build domain warm-up and sender reputation gradually.
• A/B Testing
  Test subject lines, email content, and timing to discover what drives the best response.
• Sales Engagement Platform Capabilities
  Enables users to manage multiple campaigns and collaborate as a team.

Email Audit Engine Features

• Email List Cleaning - Removes invalid, risky, or duplicate addresses before you launch personalized email campaigns.
• Email Deliverability Audit - Identifies technical issues like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC misconfigurations.
• Automated Email Marketing Audits - Provides ongoing, intelligent scans of your domain health, sender score, blacklist status, and inbox performance, without needing manual checks. Utilizes machine learning algorithms to analyze email content and provide optimization suggestions for improved personalization and effectiveness.
• Audit Dashboards - Visualize key deliverability metrics with pipeline-focused analytics and easy-to-read dashboards
• CRM and ESP Integrations - Integrates with platforms like HubSpot, Mailchimp, and others to support your entire sales process
• Spam Trap Detection - Spot harmful addresses that may sabotage your email outreach.
• Inbox Placement Testing - Test emails landing across folders to identify if your outreach campaigns are making it to the inbox or getting flagged
• Email Verification and Validation - Helps ensure your cold outreach campaigns reach real, valid contacts

Pros & Cons: What the Comparison Reveals

Both tools shine in their lanes, but let’s look at where they win, and where they fall short. Notably, both platforms offer tools or suggestions to improve the subject line, which is critical for increasing open rates.

Mailshake Pros:

• Excellent for launching cold email outreach campaigns
• Intuitive user interface that enables users to act fast
• Warm up, multi-channel outreach, and cold email automation in one platform
• Strong analytics and email templates for continuous improvement

Mailshake Cons:

• Less focus on technical health and email validation
• Lacks deep auditing or diagnostics features
• Premium pricing plans for advanced features

Email Audit Engine Pros:

• Expert-level deliverability and inbox placement tools
• Automated email marketing audits for continuous optimization
• Affordable entry-level options with essential features
• Useful as a pre-launch companion to cold outreach
• Easily integrates with third-party services for CRM syncing

Email Audit Engine Cons:

• Does not send emails directly or provide cold email writer tools
• No outreach sequences, templates, or A/B testing features
• Best used as a supportive solution to strengthen email marketing efforts

Price Comparison: Value vs Volume

Let’s talk numbers. Here’s how they compare.

Mailshake Pricing:

• Starts at $29/month for basic outreach efforts
• Premium tiers at $99/month or more for a dedicated account manager and advanced capabilities

Email Audit Engine Pricing:

• Starts at $6/month with free trial
• No per-user fees, making it ideal for high-volume senders and small teams

If you're just starting or want to improve your domain health, Email Audit Engine is a cost-effective gateway. For larger-scale cold email campaigns and managing personalized emails at scale, Mailshake delivers stronger sales outreach tools.

Use-Case Scenarios: What Works Best Where?

Scenario 1: Launching a Cold Email Campaign

You have a list and want to send personalized cold emails to potential customers. You plan to run multiple campaigns across several verticals.

• Start with Email Audit Engine to clean and validate your list using email verification tools, and activate automated audits to catch unseen deliverability problems
• Then, use Mailshake to send personalized emails and automate follow-ups with detailed campaign tracking

Scenario 2: Open Rates Have Dropped

You’re running cold email campaigns, but open and click rates are nosediving.

• Email Audit Engine helps identify issues with sender reputation, spam traps, and domain health via its continuous auditing engine
• Fix issues before restarting your personalized email campaigns with Mailshake

Scenario 3: Scaling Team Collaboration and Outreach

Your sales team is growing, and you’re launching outreach campaigns across multiple departments.

• Use Mailshake as your centralized sales engagement platform
• Perform monthly and automated audits with Email Audit Engine to keep email automation and inbox placement optimized

Where They Overlap and Work Together

You don’t have to choose between Mailshake vs Email Audit Engine. These tools can work in harmony.

• Email Audit Engine strengthens email engagement by ensuring your domain is healthy before sending
• It's automated auditing ensures continuous protection of your sender reputation
• Mailshake handles outreach efforts by letting you send personalized cold emails through automated outreach sequences
• Combined, they support cold email software with deliverability-first thinking

Some teams use Email Audit Engine before every new campaign as part of their warm-up process. With automated scans, they’re notified of risks early, without needing to dig into the backend. Then they move into Mailshake for campaign execution, supported by CRM integrations, email credits, templates, and performance metrics.

FAQs

What is the difference between Mailshake and Email Audit Engine?

Mailshake focuses on cold outreach and automation. Email Audit Engine focuses on deliverability, inbox placement, and email validation with automated audit functionality.

Can I use Mailshake and Email Audit Engine together?

Yes. They are most effective when used together as part of your broader email marketing strategy.

Which is better for improving email deliverability?

Email Audit Engine is built specifically for email marketing campaign audit and improving sender reputation, including continuous automated email marketing audits.

Is Email Audit Engine cheaper than Mailshake?

Yes. Its pricing plans are lower and better suited for early-stage or budget-conscious teams.

Does Mailshake include email list auditing features?

No. Email validation and audit capabilities, including automated health scans, are available via third-party services like Email Audit Engine.

Final Recommendation: Which Tool Should You Choose?

If your goal is to scale cold outreach and generate more leads, Mailshake offers the personalization, automation, and tracking your team needs. If your primary concern is email engagement, domain reputation, and ensuring emails land in the inbox, Email Audit Engine is the smarter start, especially with its automated email marketing audits.

Ideally, use both:

• Begin with a deliverability audit and list clean-up
• Launch with Mailshake for personalized email campaigns
• Let automated audits run in the background to monitor and maintain your performance

This two-pronged strategy gives your outreach campaigns the best chance of success.