Import guide
Switch from 
Smartlead to Ballast.
A Smartlead export carries your leads, their custom fields and a few columns about Smartlead itself. Ballast unpacks the custom fields, leaves Smartlead's own columns out and tells you what it skipped.
Six steps: export, create a workspace, connect mailboxes, import with the Smartlead 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 Smartlead.
- 1
Export your leads from Smartlead
From each campaign or lead list you want to keep, export the leads as a CSV. The importer leaves out Smartlead's own status columns (is_unsubscribed, lead_category, status), 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 Smartlead preset
Drop the file into Leads, Import. Ballast recognises a Smartlead export and maps the columns. Smartlead puts custom fields in one JSON column; Ballast splits it into one custom field per key, usable as variables in your emails. Columns that describe Smartlead rather than the lead are left out:
id,campaign_lead_map_id,status,created_at,is_unsubscribed,unsubscribed_client_id_map,last_email_sequence_sent,open_count,click_count,reply_count,lead_category. 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 Smartlead
What changes when you leave Smartlead.
Custom fields are unpacked for you
Smartlead puts every custom field in one JSON column. The Smartlead preset splits it into one field per key, so each one works as a variable in your emails.
Clients become workspaces
Smartlead sells client workspaces at $29 a month each from Pro. On Ballast, give each client a workspace with its own plan, mailboxes and Unibox, or run several clients from one workspace on one plan.
No placement tests, warmup instead
Ballast has no SmartDelivery-style placement tests. Its warmup, on every plan, shows the share of warmup emails that reached the inbox, by provider, which tells you when a mailbox starts slipping.
Bring the mailboxes you already have
Smartlead sells pre-warmed mailboxes. Ballast connects the Google, Microsoft or SMTP mailboxes you already have, with their own login.
Your plan on Ballast
Which Ballast plan replaces your Smartlead 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
| Smartlead plan | Price | Emails a month | Contacts | Same on Ballast | You save |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Base | $39$6.50 per 1,000 | 6,000 | 2,000 | $19 Starter20,000 emails, $0.95 per 1,000 | 51% |
| Pro | $94$1.04 per 1,000 | 90,000 | 30,000 | $39 Growth125,000 emails, $0.31 per 1,000 | 59% |
| Unlimited Smart | $174$1.16 per 1,000 | 150,000 | Not listed | $79 Pro300,000 emails, $0.26 per 1,000 | 55% |
| Unlimited Prime | $379$0.76 per 1,000 | 500,000 | Not listed | $149 Scale750,000 emails, $0.20 per 1,000 | 61% |
The honest part
Don't switch in the middle of a campaign that's working.
If a Smartlead campaign is mid-sequence and replying well, let it finish there. Start new campaigns in Ballast, move each mailbox once its last Smartlead campaign ends, and you never send the same lead twice from two tools.
Questions
Will unsubscribed Smartlead leads come across as active?
Yes, unless you handle them. The Smartlead preset leaves out is_unsubscribed, lead_category and status, because they describe Smartlead, not the lead. Filter the rows where is_unsubscribed is true into a separate file and paste those addresses into Suppressions.
Can my Smartlead clients log in to Ballast?
Yes. Invite them to their own workspace with the member role; seats are unlimited. Ballast has no white-label branding, so they see Ballast, not your agency's name.
Can I keep Smartlead running while I switch?
Yes, as long as each mailbox sends from one tool at a time. Finish or pause the Smartlead 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 Smartlead campaign stats, sent history, reply threads and lead statuses stay in Smartlead. 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 Smartlead?
It depends on your volume. The comparison page pairs every Smartlead plan with the Ballast plan that sends the same, from both pricing pages.
Ballast vs Smartlead
Bring your Smartlead list. Keep the difference.
Import from Instantly, Smartlead, Lemlist, Apollo or Clay. Every feature on every plan, from $19 a month.