ExpertGen or a LinkedIn automation tool: who runs it

You bought a LinkedIn tool, sent a few hundred invites, and got almost no replies. Now you're choosing between running the software yourself and handing the whole job to someone else.

Prices here are each vendor's own published plans as of September 2026, billed monthly and before any annual discount. We give you our one flat price on the first call.

What LinkedIn automation tools are

A LinkedIn automation tool is software you run yourself. You connect your LinkedIn account, load a list of people, write the invite and the follow up messages, then the software sends them on a schedule you set. Most of them also give you a shared inbox and campaign stats. Choosing who goes on the list, and what the message says, stays your job.

The four common ones publish their prices. HeyReach lists Growth at $79 a month, or $63 a month billed yearly, then an Agency plan at $999 a month for 25 senders and an Unlimited plan at $2,999 a month. Expandi lists one Business plan at $99 a month, or $79 a month billed annually, plus a custom Agency plan for 10 or more seats. Dripify lists Basic at $59, Pro at $79 and Advanced at $99 per user each month, falling to $39, $59 and $79 when billed annually. Waalaxy lists Pro at 19 euros, Advanced at 49 euros and Business at 69 euros per user each month.

Quotas differ from plan to plan. Waalaxy caps invites at 300 a month on Pro and 800 a month on Advanced and Business. Trials differ too, with Expandi and Dripify both listing 7 days and Waalaxy listing 14. The ceiling that matters most comes from LinkedIn itself and not from the software you bought. A published guide to the limits puts it at about 100 connection requests a week on free and Premium accounts, and often 150 to 200 a week with Sales Navigator.

What LinkedIn automation tools do well

Price and control are the real strengths here. For under $100 a month one person can send a few hundred invites and run follow ups without asking anyone for budget. You see every message before it goes out, and you can change a line on Tuesday and know by Friday whether it worked. If you already know who your buyers are, and somebody on your team likes this kind of work, a tool costs less than any service and everything stays in house.

They also fit agencies well. HeyReach sells an Agency plan at $999 a month covering 25 senders, with white label included, and Expandi sells a custom Agency plan for 10 or more seats with white label branding. Dripify Advanced adds multi team management at $99 per user each month. If you're running outreach for other people's accounts, that's the shape you want, and we don't try to match it on cost per sender.

Where LinkedIn automation tools stop

The software sends whatever you hand it. It doesn't decide who to write to or what to say, so the thinking parts of the job stay with you.

• Picking the buyers, because the tool sends to the list you give it, right or wrong.
• Writing the invite and the messages, then rewriting them when the replies don't come.
• Your posts, because none of these four write anything for your profile, which leaves your name new to every person you invite.
• Watching the limits, which sit at about 100 connection requests a week on free and Premium accounts and 150 to 200 with Sales Navigator. Dripify and Expandi both advertise features to keep sending at a safe pace, but the account at risk is yours.
• The weekly hours: loading lists, checking the inbox, answering replies, booking the calls.
• Costs on top of the plan, since Expandi lists image and video personalization as paid add ons and a Sales Navigator seat is its own LinkedIn bill.

What ExpertGen does instead

ExpertGen is a LinkedIn scaling agency in Portland, Oregon, and there's no software for you to log into. First we build your network out of your exact buyers. We pull that list on LinkedIn by title, company size and industry, and you approve it before anything sends. Then 600 connection requests a month go out from your own profile, which comes to 20 a day.

Then we warm that network with posts. Every month we publish 12 posts on your profile, written in your voice, and the words come from you. You and we start with one 45 minute call. After that you send us a 10 minute voice memo each week, and we turn the memo into that week's posts. Setup also includes a rewrite of your profile so it reads for buyers.

From week 3, a short message in your voice goes to each buyer who accepts the request or reacts to a post, and we stop at three. Then we book the calls with the people who reply. Every week you get a scoreboard: buyers added, buyers reacting, messages sent, replies, calls. We count buyers reacting instead of connections, because the feed decides who actually sees a post and a bigger connection count doesn't change that.

Across campaigns we've run, messages to a sender's own first degree network of buyers got 11 to 28 replies per 100, over five campaigns. The same kind of message to strangers got about 1 reply per 100. The people have to be your buyers, and they have to know your name. This is for companies that sell to other businesses. It takes weeks and not days, and it needs 10 minutes of your voice every week.

Who should pick which

What it costs, side by side

On published prices, software wins on the invoice. Waalaxy Pro is 19 euros per user each month. Dripify Basic is $59 per user each month, or $39 billed annually. HeyReach Growth is $79 a month, and Expandi Business is $99 a month. The bill only climbs when you need many senders, where HeyReach Agency is $999 a month for 25 of them. None of those prices include the person doing the work. Budget for a few hours a week to pick the list, write the copy, work the inbox and book the calls, plus Sales Navigator if you want the higher invite limit.

ExpertGen is one flat plan, and it starts with a 90-day block because a network takes weeks to warm up. We give you the price on the first call. The plan covers the buyer list, the profile rewrite, 12 posts a month, 600 connection requests a month, the messages from week 3, the replies, and the weekly scoreboard. The rest of what you spend is time: one 45 minute call to start, then 10 minutes a week.