Warmup · Every plan
Email warmup, included on every plan.
Turn warmup on for a mailbox and it trades a few emails a day with other mailboxes in the Ballast pool. They open them, answer some and pull them out of spam, so the mailbox has a history of real conversations before your campaigns lean on it.
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.
Last updated
How it works
A warmup pool that behaves like people.
- 01
It sends a few emails a day
Turn warmup on for a mailbox and it starts at 2 emails a day, adding 1 a day up to 10, half on weekends. Only between 07:00 to 19:00 in the mailbox's time zone, spread out, like a person writing.
- 02
Real mailboxes open and answer them
Each email goes to another mailbox in the Ballast pool, usually in another workspace and often at another provider, with partners changing week to week. That mailbox finds it in the inbox or in spam, opens it, marks about half as important, moves any it found in spam to the inbox, and answers 30% of them.
- 03
It fits inside your daily limit
Warmup emails count toward the mailbox's own daily limit, and today's planned warmup is held back from campaigns, so the two never add up to more than the limit you set. They don't count toward your plan's monthly emails.
- 04
You see where it landed
Ballast records whether each warmup email reached the inbox, spam or neither. The mailbox's warmup health is the inbox share over 7 days (once 10 have landed), split by provider: Gmail can be fine while Outlook slips.
The default ramp
From 2 a day to 10 by day 9.
One more email each day, half on Saturdays and Sundays. The receiving side opens each one 5 to 60 minutes after it arrives, looks again every 30 minutes if it hasn't shown up yet, and answers 10 minutes to 3 hours after opening.
Settings
Change it per mailbox.
Every mailbox has its own warmup settings in its sheet. The defaults suit a new Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 mailbox.
| Setting | Default | Range |
|---|---|---|
| Emails a day, at full speed | 10 | 1 to 50 |
| First day | 2 | 1 to 20 |
| Added each day | 1 | 1 to 10 |
| Share answered (%) | 30 | 0 to 80 |
Warmup and ramp-up
Two different things, both on.
- Warmup
- Emails between mailboxes in the pool, opened and answered, to build the mailbox a history. Off until you turn it on.
- Ramp-up
- Paces your campaign emails: a new mailbox sends a few on day one and a few more each day until it reaches its daily limit. On by default. Mailbox limits and ramp-up
Everyone has it
Warmup is standard. Paying extra for it shouldn't be.
What the other cold email tools' pricing pages say about warmup, October 2026. Ballast includes it on every plan too, next to everything else.
InstantlyIncluded (“Unlimited Email Warmup”)Ballast vs Instantly
SmartleadListed (“Warmup Pool”)Ballast vs Smartlead
LemlistIncluded (lemwarm)Ballast vs Lemlist
The honest part
What warmup can't do.
Warmup gives a new mailbox a record of opened and answered email. It can't fix a bought list, a domain on a blacklist or copy that reads like spam, and it can't promise the inbox: nobody controls Gmail's filter. Check your domain, clean your list, then warm up.
Questions
Is warmup free on Ballast?
Yes. Warmup is included on every plan, for every mailbox you connect. Warmup emails don't count toward your plan's monthly emails; they do count toward each mailbox's own daily limit.
How long should I warm up a new mailbox?
The domain check's own advice for a new domain is at least 2 to 4 weeks before cold email, starting at 5 to 10 emails a day per mailbox. With the defaults, warmup reaches full speed on day 9; ramp-up then raises campaign volume slowly on top.
Which mailboxes can join the pool?
Google Workspace and Gmail connected with an app password, Microsoft 365 and Outlook.com connected with Microsoft sign-in, and other SMTP and IMAP mailboxes. Each one is turned on separately.
Will warmup emails show up in my Unibox or stats?
No. Every warmup email carries a hidden tag, so Ballast keeps it out of the Unibox, campaign stats and analytics. You only see it in the mailbox's warmup panel.
Does warmup guarantee the inbox?
No. Warmup helps a new mailbox build a history of opened and answered email. Bounces, spam complaints, a bought list or pushy copy outweigh it, and nobody controls Gmail's filter.
Should I run another warmup tool at the same time?
No. Pick one pool per mailbox. Two pools double the warmup traffic and blur the health numbers. If you move from another tool, turn its warmup off for the mailbox before you turn Ballast's on.
Warm up, then send. Same plan.
Warmup, unlimited mailboxes and seats, the Unibox and the API on every plan, from $19 a month.