# Pre-warmed vs email warmup

> Email warmup builds reputation on a mailbox you already have. Pre-warmed mailboxes have already finished that ramp. EmailPal warmup is $0.60/mo; pre-warmed leases are $3/mo with warming included and 15 cold emails a day from day one.

Source: https://emailpal.io/help/pre-warmed-vs-email-warmup

## They solve different problems

**Email warmup** is a process you run on a mailbox you control. Volume starts low, conversations happen with seed inboxes, placement is measured, and you wait until the mailbox is campaign-ready.

**Pre-warmed** means that process already finished before you claimed the address. You are buying remaining time on a mailbox that is already allowed to send.

If you only remember one line: **warmup is something you turn on; pre-warmed is something you lease.**

Vendors (Instantly, Smartlead, EmailPal) sell both SKUs and the names get mixed in sales calls. If the listing is ready on day one, it is pre-warmed. If you still have to wait two weeks, it is warmup. [What "pre-warmed" means](/help/what-pre-warmed-means) and [What is email warmup and how it works](/help/what-is-email-warm-up).

## EmailPal warmup

[Email warming by EmailPal](/help/email-warming-by-emailpal) costs **$0.60 per inbox per month**. It works on:

- Mailboxes we host on domains you registered or brought
- Gmail / Google Workspace
- Outlook / Microsoft 365
- SMTP/IMAP on your own server

What you get at that price: real Gmail/Yahoo/AOL seeds, spam rescue, weekend throttling, automatic holds when placement collapses. Graduation is [campaign-ready placement](/help/campaign-ready-placement), not a calendar date.

Typical waits: **14+ days** on a fresh domain (standard profile, ~2/day start), about **7 days** on an aged one (accelerated, ~5/day). Default cold-email cap after that is **40 per day**.

Warming traffic does not count against the cap. [Do warmup emails count toward sending limits?](/help/do-warmup-emails-count-toward-sending-limits).

## EmailPal pre-warmed

[Pre-warmed Mailboxes by EmailPal](/help/pre-warmed-inboxes-by-emailpal) cost **$3 per inbox per month**, 90-day minimum. Warming stays on and is included — you do not also pay $0.60. Cap is **15 cold emails per day from day one**.

The domain is at least 90 days old. The listing shows the inbox rate measured during the ramp. Handover is minutes (password rotation), not hours. You do not pick the name.

You cannot turn a warmed plan mailbox into a pre-warmed listing, and you cannot run the $0.60 product "faster" to skip the ramp the way a lease does.

Search-intent sibling: [Pre-Warmed Domains and Accounts](/help/pre-warmed-domains-and-accounts).

## Side by side

| | Warmup on a mailbox you own | Pre-warmed lease |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Starting point | Your mailbox | Our inventory |
| Domain owner | You (or Google/Microsoft) | EmailPal |
| Wait | Until placement says campaign-ready | Minutes after claim |
| Price | $0.60/mo | $3/mo |
| Send cap | 40/day once ready | 15/day immediately |
| You pick the domain | Yes | No |
| 90-day term | No | Yes |
| Measured rate before you pay | No (dashboard after you start) | Yes, on the listing |

A third SKU, [aged, unwarmed domains](/help/aged-unwarmed-domains), is the middle: you own the name, it is parked 60+ days, you still run the ~7 day ramp.

## Which to buy

- Need to send **this week** and do not care what the domain is called → pre-warmed.
- Need a **brandable name** or already own the domain → register/BYO + warmup.
- Already sending from Gmail/Outlook → connect it and pay $0.60. Do not expect a pre-warmed Google seat from us.

[SMTP vs Google vs Outlook for cold email](/help/smtp-vs-google-vs-outlook-for-cold-email).

## FAQs

### If warmup is included on pre-warmed, why is warmup a separate product?

Because most customers send from domains they own. Warmup is the add-on for those mailboxes. Pre-warmed is a different SKU for people who will not wait.

### Should I warmup a pre-warmed mailbox anyway?

Leave the included warming on. Turning it off throws away the reason you leased it. You do not add a second $0.60 warmup on top.

### Is Instantly's "pre-warmed accounts" the same as warmup?

No. Instantly, Smartlead and EmailPal all sell a pre-warmed SKU *and* a warmup SKU. The names are easy to mix up. If the listing is ready on day one, it is pre-warmed. If you still have to wait two weeks, it is warmup.

### Can I skip warmup on a domain I just registered if I send 15/day?

No. 15/day is the pre-warmed cap for inventory that already finished the ramp. A new domain at 15/day is still unknown. Run warming, or lease inventory.

### Does pre-warmed cost more over a year?

$3 × 12 = $36 per inbox if you keep it after the 90-day term, vs $0.60 × 12 = $7.20 of warming on a mailbox you already pay for in the plan. You are paying for skipped time and a measured listing, not for cheaper warming.

## Need more help?

[How to claim pre-warmed inboxes](/help/how-to-claim-pre-warmed-inboxes) or [enable, pause or resume warming](/help/enable-pause-or-resume-warming).