Import guide
Switch from 
Lemlist to Ballast.
A Lemlist export carries your leads, their custom variables and the icebreaker you wrote for each one. The email steps of a sequence move to Ballast; LinkedIn, call and SMS steps don't, because Ballast is email only.
Six steps: export, create a workspace, connect mailboxes, import with the Lemlist preset, suppress past unsubscribes, relaunch.
Ballast is cold email software with every feature on every plan. Connect unlimited mailboxes, send sequences at a pace your domains survive, and handle replies in one inbox, priced by the emails you send.
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Step by step
Moving from Lemlist.
- 1
Export your leads from Lemlist
From each campaign or lead list you want to keep, export the leads as a CSV. The importer leaves out Lemlist's own status columns (lastState, status, emailStatus), so leads who already replied, bounced or unsubscribed would come in as active: export those separately too, for your suppression list in step 5.
- 2
Create a workspace and check your domains
Sign up, name the workspace and add your sending domain. Ballast checks SPF, DKIM, DMARC, MX and 9 blacklists for it every night; you can run the same check now with the free domain checker.
- 3
Connect your mailboxes
Google Workspace and Gmail connect with an app password, Microsoft 365 and Outlook.com with Microsoft sign-in, anything else over SMTP and IMAP. Don't send from the same mailbox in both tools at once: each tool keeps its own daily limit, so together they can double what the mailbox sends. A new workspace can add 5 mailboxes and send 1,000 emails a day for its first 7 days. Connect a mailbox
- 4
Import the CSV with the Lemlist preset
Drop the file into Leads, Import. Ballast recognises a Lemlist export and maps the columns. Lemlist's camelCase columns (firstName, companyName, linkedinUrl) map to Ballast's fields, and the icebreaker and any other custom variable become custom fields, usable as variables in your emails. Columns that describe Lemlist rather than the lead are left out:
emailstatus,laststate,status,_id,picture. Before anything is imported you see how many rows are new, duplicates, suppressed or invalid. - 5
Suppress past unsubscribes and bounces
Paste the addresses from step 1 into Leads, Suppressions, or upload them as a CSV. Whole domains work too, written as @acme.com. Suppressed addresses are skipped in every campaign, in every list.
- 6
Rebuild the sequence and launch
Paste your steps into a new campaign and switch the variables to Ballast's names, such as {{first_name}}, {{last_name}}, {{full_name}}, {{company}}, {{title}}; custom fields from the import work the same way. The preview shows each email for real leads and flags any variable without a value. Pick the mailboxes, set the schedule and launch. New mailboxes ramp up a little each day, and you can turn on warmup for each one.
Coming from Lemlist
What changes when you leave Lemlist.
Variables change from camelCase to snake_case
Lemlist writes {{firstName}} and {{companyName}}; Ballast writes {{first_name}} and {{company}}. Your icebreaker and other custom variables come in as custom fields with their own names, such as {{icebreaker}}.
Email steps only
Lemlist's Multichannel plan mixes email with LinkedIn, calls, SMS and WhatsApp. Ballast sends email, so rebuild the email steps here and keep any other channel where it is.
Seats aren't priced per user
Lemlist's Multichannel plan is priced per user. Every Ballast plan has unlimited seats, mailboxes and workspaces; you pay for the emails you send.
Warm each mailbox in one place
Lemlist includes lemwarm and Ballast includes its own warmup on every plan. Turn lemwarm off for a mailbox before you turn Ballast's warmup on, so the mailbox isn't warming up in two pools at once.
Your plan on Ballast
Which Ballast plan replaces your Lemlist plan.
The cheapest Ballast plan that sends at least as many emails and holds at least as many contacts, from both pricing pages. Full comparison
| Lemlist plan | Price | Emails a month | Contacts | Same on Ballast | You save |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $69$1.38 per 1,000 | 50,000 | Not listed | $39 Growth125,000 emails, $0.31 per 1,000 | 43% | |
| Multichannel | $109 | No cap | per user, 5 senders each | Priced per user, so there is no like-for-like Ballast plan. | |
The honest part
Don't switch in the middle of a campaign that's working.
If a Lemlist campaign is mid-sequence and replying well, let it finish there. Start new campaigns in Ballast, move each mailbox once its last Lemlist campaign ends, and you never send the same lead twice from two tools.
Questions
Will leads who already replied on Lemlist get emailed again?
Only if you import them as active leads. The Lemlist preset leaves out lastState, status and emailStatus, because they describe Lemlist, not the lead. Remove the leads who replied, bounced or unsubscribed before you export, or paste their addresses into Suppressions after the import.
Does my Lemlist icebreaker come across?
Yes. The icebreaker column becomes a custom field called icebreaker, so {{icebreaker}} works in your Ballast emails the way it did in Lemlist.
Can I keep Lemlist running while I switch?
Yes, as long as each mailbox sends from one tool at a time. Finish or pause the Lemlist campaigns that use a mailbox before Ballast sends from it, and keep the suppression list in step 5 up to date in both.
What doesn't come across?
Your Lemlist campaign stats, sent history, reply threads and lead statuses stay in Lemlist. Ballast starts its own history from the first email it sends, and reads replies to those emails from your mailboxes.
Do my mailboxes lose their warmup?
No. A mailbox's reputation lives with the mailbox and its domain, not with the tool. Ballast's warmup is included on every plan if you want to keep a warmup running.
How much cheaper is Ballast than Lemlist?
It depends on your volume. The comparison page pairs every Lemlist plan with the Ballast plan that sends the same, from both pricing pages.
Ballast vs Lemlist
Bring your Lemlist list. Keep the difference.
Import from Instantly, Smartlead, Lemlist, Apollo or Clay. Every feature on every plan, from $19 a month.