Instantly MCP: what the official server does, how to connect it, and an alternative for agents starting from zero
What Instantly's own MCP server does and how to connect it, and the calls that build a cold email operation from nothing.
$ Set up https://www.routergrowth.com/SKILL.md, then set me up for cold email: find a domain close to [your domain], register it, create two inboxes and start the warm-up.
On this page
We make RouterGrowth, the alternative described in the second half of this page, so read it as a vendor's view. Everything about Instantly was taken from Instantly's own pages on 11 October 2026 and is linked at the end. Products change; check the source before you decide.
Instantly MCP lets Claude or Cursor run an Instantly workspace by conversation. This page covers what the official server does and how to connect it, then what an agent can use when there is no Instantly workspace yet: no domain, no inboxes, no list.
What is Instantly MCP?
Instantly MCP is Instantly's official Model Context Protocol server. It connects an AI assistant to your Instantly account, so you manage campaigns, leads and sending accounts in plain language. It is hosted at mcp.instantly.ai.
Instantly's developer documentation says the server exposes the full Instantly V2 API as tools. Its help centre counts 31 tools in five groups:
| Group | Tools | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Campaigns | 6 | create, pause and update campaigns |
| Leads | 11 | add, move and manage leads and lists |
| 5 | read, reply and verify emails | |
| Analytics | 3 | campaign performance by day |
| Accounts | 6 | manage sending accounts and warm-up |
So you can ask for a three-step campaign aimed at a segment, for the reply rate of each campaign this week, or to pause the campaigns under a threshold.
How do you connect Instantly MCP?
With an API key from your Instantly workspace.
- In Instantly, open Integrations, then API Keys, and create a key.
- In Claude, add a custom connector with the server address
https://mcp.instantly.ai/mcpand the key in the Authorization header. Clients that cannot send a header can put the key in the address instead. - Ask the assistant to list your email accounts to confirm the connection.
Instantly documents the same steps for Claude Desktop, Cursor, n8n and other MCP clients. Because the key gives full access to the workspace, Instantly's guide tells you to treat it like a password and never share a configuration file that contains it.
What does Instantly MCP cost?
We did not see a separate price for the server on the pages we read. You need an Instantly workspace and its API key, so the cost is your Instantly plan.
| Instantly outreach plan | Listed price | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| Growth | $47 a month | 5,000 emails a month, 1,000 uploaded contacts, unlimited email accounts and warm-up |
| Hypergrowth | $97 a month | 125,000 emails a month, 25,000 uploaded contacts |
| Light Speed | $358 a month | 500,000 emails a month, 100,000 uploaded contacts |
Instantly's pricing page also lists bundles that add credits for its lead database, from $94 a month, and credit plans sold on their own.
When is the official Instantly MCP the right choice?
- You already send with Instantly. Your campaigns, your sending accounts and your reply history are there, and the server puts them in a chat.
- You send at volume. A flat plan with unlimited accounts and warm-up is hard to beat on price once you send thousands of emails a month.
- You want a sequencer. Campaigns, steps, schedules and analytics are Instantly's product, and the agent drives them without having to rebuild them.
- You manage many campaigns. Asking which ones underperform and pausing them is faster in a conversation than in a dashboard.
What is the alternative when you are starting from zero?
Instantly MCP manages a cold email operation that already exists. RouterGrowth is an MCP server and API that lets an agent build one, and build the list as well, paying for each call from a prepaid balance.
| The job | The call |
|---|---|
| Find an available sending domain | domain.search |
| Register it | domain.register |
| Verify it for sending | email.domain |
| Create inboxes on it | email.inbox |
| Warm the inboxes up | email.warmup |
| Send an email, or reply in a thread | email.send |
| Read the replies | email.messages |
The same key finds the people and verifies their addresses before anything is sent, which the lead generation tools page covers. The cold email tools page lists every call with its price, and the cold email infrastructure guide runs the whole setup from one prompt.
What it does not do: there is no campaign object, no visual sequence builder and no shared inbox for a team. The agent keeps the sequence: it sends each step and reads the replies. Each email is a paid call, so at high volume a flat plan costs less.
How do Instantly MCP and RouterGrowth compare?
| Instantly MCP | RouterGrowth | |
|---|---|---|
| What you need first | an Instantly workspace and its API key | a key, or an OAuth sign-in from the assistant |
| What you pay | your Instantly plan | each call, from a prepaid balance |
| Domains and inboxes | managed in Instantly | found, registered and created by the agent |
| The list | uploaded, or bought from Instantly's lead database | built by the agent on the same key |
| Sequences | campaigns with steps and schedules | the agent sends each step |
| Best for | teams already sending with Instantly | agents starting from nothing, or sending small, targeted batches |
Can you use both?
Yes. Both are MCP servers. A common split is to build and verify the list with a pay-per-call server, then hand it to an Instantly campaign for volume sending.
Sources
Instantly's own pages, read on 11 October 2026: Instantly MCP, help centre, Instantly MCP introduction, developer documentation, Instantly pricing.
What does each call cost?#
Prices below are the starting price per successful call. /v1/inspect returns the exact figure before the run and reserves it against your balance; failures and unbilled no-matches release the hold in full.
| Capability | What it returns | From | Providers |
|---|---|---|---|
| domain.search | Check which domains are available and what they cost to register through RouterGrowth: a name across common TLDs, or one exact domain. | $0.001 |  |
| domain.register | Buy a domain for outbound sending. Registered in RouterGrowth's registrar account with you as the registrant contact; WHOIS privacy on; transferable to you on request. | $15.60 | |
| email.domain | Bring your own domain for outbound: registers it, returns the DNS records and a one-click setup link, and reports verification status. Run again to re-check. | $1.729 |  |
| email.inbox | Create (or fetch) a sending inbox owned by your organization on a domain you verified with email.domain: name + domain, idempotent. Or rename one you own: inbox_id + display_name sets the From name on everything it sends (free). Run email.inboxes first to see what you already own. | $1.729 | |
| email.warmup | Warm up one of your inboxes before cold sending: a network of real mailboxes sends to it, opens, replies and pulls its mail out of spam, on a ramp to the daily volume you set, weekdays 8am to 6pm. action start (run it again to change volume, ramp or timezone), pause, resume or stop. Charged per inbox per 30 days by daily volume; progress is free with email.warmup_status. | $6.929 |  |
| email.send | Send an email from one of your inboxes, or reply within a thread, with file attachments when needed (a deck, a PDF: by public https url, or inline as base64). You are the sender of record: consent and unsubscribe handling are yours. | $0.003 | |
| email.messages | Messages in one of your inboxes, newest first, sent and received alike: a 200-character preview each, with direction and a bounced flag (a hard bounce is a label on your own sent message). Pass message_id to read one message in full. Poll it after a send. | $0.001 | |
One prepaid balance covers every row. Capabilities marked coming soon are listed but not yet executable.
FAQ#
Is Instantly MCP free?
We did not see a separate charge for it on Instantly's pages. It needs an API key from an Instantly workspace, so you pay for your Instantly plan. Growth is listed at $47 a month.
Which AI tools does Instantly MCP work with?
Instantly documents Claude Desktop, Cursor and n8n, and any MCP client that can call a hosted server with an API key.
What can an agent do through Instantly MCP?
Instantly says the server exposes its full V2 API: create and pause campaigns, add and move leads, read and reply to emails, pull analytics and manage sending accounts and warm-up.
Is it safe to put my Instantly API key in the server address?
Instantly recommends sending the key in the Authorization header and offers the address form for clients that cannot. Either way the key gives access to the whole workspace, so keep configuration files private.
Is there an Instantly MCP alternative for an agent with no setup?
RouterGrowth lets an agent register a sending domain, create and warm inboxes, build and verify a list, send and read replies as pay-per-call tools over MCP.
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