This is the comparison that actually matters, and almost nobody makes it. Agencies compare themselves with other agencies. But the choice on the table for most directors is not “which agency”, it is: do we hire someone, or do we outsource it?
What an SDR really costs
In the US, the median sales development representative earns a $55,000 base salary and $80,000 in on-target earnings (OTE), according to the Bridge Group's 2025 SDR Metrics Report. In the UK, sales recruiter Coburg Banks puts the average base at £30,000 with OTE of £40,000 to £50,000, and RepVue's more tech-heavy data puts the median at £39,125 base and £58,688 OTE. Below we use £35,000 base and £50,000 OTE for the UK. That is not what they cost.
| Item | US per year | UK per year |
|---|---|---|
| Base salary | $55,000 | £35,000 |
| Commission at target (OTE minus base) | $25,000 | £15,000 |
| Benefits and payroll taxes | $20,000 (health insurance, retirement and payroll taxes, about 25% of pay) | £6,750 (employer National Insurance, 15% above £5,000) |
| Employer pension contribution | Included above | £1,300 (3% of qualifying earnings) |
| Laptop, phone, workstation | $2,000 | £1,500 |
| Tooling (software, lead data, validation, mailboxes) | $4,000 to $12,000 | £3,000 to £9,000 |
| Total year 1 | ± $106,000 to $114,000 | ± £62,500 to £68,500 |
That is $8,800 to $9,500 per month in the US and £5,200 to £5,700 per month in the UK, and that still leaves out the items that do not appear on the payslip.
Ramp-up time. An SDR who starts on Monday does not deliver on Tuesday. The average ramp time is 3.0 months, according to the Bridge Group: learning the offer, learning the target audience, setting up the infrastructure, testing the first copy. During that period you pay in full and get little back. That is roughly $26,000 to $29,000 in the US, or £15,500 to £17,000 in the UK, in start-up cost that rarely appears in a business case.
Turnover. SDR is a role with high turnover. Average tenure is 1.9 years, according to the Bridge Group, and that is already the highest it has been in more than a decade. If someone leaves, you pay the ramp-up time again, plus recruitment. And you lose the knowledge of your target audience, unless it has been documented somewhere, which it usually has not.
Who manages them? An SDR without sales leadership underperforms. Count on a few hours a week from someone who is more expensive than they are.
What outsourcing costs
A fully executed cold email campaign with us costs between $1,995 and $4,495 per month, depending on volume. That is $24,000 to $54,000 per year, including lead data, tooling, infrastructure and execution. Published price ranges for other agencies run from $2,000 to $8,000 per month in the US and £2,000 to £10,000 in the UK. If you do it yourself, the lead data and the mailboxes alone cost you $2,500 to $14,000 per year.
There are downsides to set against that, and I would rather name them myself than have you discover them in month three:
- You do not build up your own capacity. If you stop, the lead flow stops. With your own SDR you keep the knowledge in-house, until they leave.
- You have less direct control. You steer on results, not on the day-to-day.
- A campaign is not a person. An SDR can call and talk a lukewarm reply warm. An email campaign cannot, not even with LinkedIn alongside.
- Follow-up remains your job, unless you pay for that separately.
The side-by-side comparison
| In-house SDR | Outsourced | |
|---|---|---|
| Year 1 cost | US: $106,000 to $114,000 UK: £62,500 to £68,500 | $24,000 to $54,000 |
| Cost before anything comes out of it | US: $26,000 to $29,000 UK: £15,500 to £17,000 | 2 to 3 weeks setup |
| Time to first result | About 3 months | 2 to 4 weeks |
| Cancellable | US: at-will in most states, plus severance and rehiring costs UK: notice period and dismissal rules | 3 months, monthly thereafter |
| Channels | Email, phone, LinkedIn, follow-up | Email and LinkedIn |
| Knowledge stays in-house | Yes, until they leave | No |
| Scalable | Requires a new hire | Move up a package |
| Risk if it underperforms | Entirely yours, fixed | Limited to the contract term |
Where it tips
There is a real point at which your own SDR is the better choice. Four signals that you are there:
- Your sales cycle calls for conversations, not for meetings. If it takes six conversations between first contact and signature, the email is the least valuable part of the process.
- You have enough volume for a full-time role. The median SDR quota in 2025 was 10 meetings a month, according to the Bridge Group. If your market cannot keep someone busy at that level, you start giving them tasks that have nothing to do with acquisition, the classic beginning of the end.
- You have someone who can manage them. Without sales leadership an SDR is an expensive gamble.
- You want the capacity in-house permanently. If outbound is structurally your most important channel, you eventually want to be good at it yourself.
And the combination that works best in practice: outsource the email and put your own people on the follow-up. Your team's most expensive hours then go to conversations with people who have already replied, instead of to list work and deliverability maintenance. Outsourcing is then not a replacement for your sales team, but a way to get more out of it.
The question to answer first
The question is not what is cheaper. The question is: what is a new customer worth to me, and how many conversations do I need per customer?
If your average customer value is $3,000 and you close one in five conversations, each conversation is worth $600. With an outsourced engagement at $3,495 per month you then need six conversations a month to break even. With a US SDR at about $9,000 per month you need fifteen.
Fill that in with your own figures before you talk to anyone at all. It is the only calculation you can use with every provider in this market.
Sources: the Bridge Group 2025 SDR Metrics Report (US base, OTE, ramp time, tenure and quota), US Bureau of Labor Statistics Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, June 2026 (benefits for full-time private industry workers), Coburg Banks and RepVue (UK salaries), HMRC rates for 2026/27 (employer National Insurance) and the auto-enrolment minimums for 2026/27 (pension). These are market indications to show the ratio, not to calculate your situation. Benefits differ per company, state and sector.
Frequently asked questions
What does an SDR cost per year in the US and UK?
In the US the median SDR earns $55,000 base and $80,000 OTE. With health insurance, retirement, payroll taxes, a workstation and tooling, the first year comes to about $106,000 to $114,000. In the UK, with £35,000 base and £50,000 OTE plus employer National Insurance, pension, a workstation and tooling, it comes to about £62,500 to £68,500. On top of that comes about three months of ramp time in which you pay in full and get little back.
Is outsourcing cold email cheaper than hiring an SDR?
In absolute cost, yes: $24,000 to $54,000 per year with us, against $106,000 to $114,000 for a US SDR or £62,500 to £68,500 in the UK. But it is not a like-for-like comparison: an SDR can also call, follow up and talk lukewarm replies warm, and that capacity stays in-house. Outsourcing buys you speed and limits risk, not the same role.
When is your own SDR the better choice?
When your sales cycle calls for conversations instead of meetings, when there is enough volume for a full-time role (roughly ten meetings a month or more), when you have someone who can manage the role, and when you want outbound in-house permanently.
Can I combine outsourcing with doing the follow-up myself?
In practice that is the strongest combination. You outsource the list work, the infrastructure and the sending, and your own people hold the conversations with people who have already replied. Your team's most expensive hours then go to selling instead of to preparation.
Torn between hiring and outsourcing?
Leave your deal value and conversion and we will work it through. If it turns out you are better off hiring someone, we will say so, which is a short answer, but an honest one.
Rather email first? That works too: info@link2leads.nl