# Artisan vs Reply.io: which do AI models recommend for AI SDR, September 2026

GTM AI Recommendation Index, September 2026 Edition, AI SDR agents. Two of twelve models named Artisan first on the direct prompt; one named Reply.io. Page: https://gtm-ai-index.com/sales/ai-sdr-agents/artisan-vs-reply-io/

| | First-choice share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels | Models naming it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Artisan | 13% | #2 of 11 | 42% | 36 | 12 of 12 |
| Reply.io | 2% | #6 of 11 | 6% | 18 | 11 of 12 |

## The direct prompt, model by model

- Gemini 3.5 Flash: artisan first (first choices: Artisan) (alternatives: Clay, Regie.ai, Reply.io)
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: artisan first (first choices: Artisan) (alternatives: 11x, AiSDR, Regie.ai, Salesforge)
- Kimi K2: reply.io first (first choices: Amplemarket, Reply.io) (alternatives: AiSDR)
- GPT-5.4 mini: neither first, one named (first choices: Qualified) (alternatives: Reply.io)
- Grok 4.1 Fast: neither first, one named (first choices: Apollo.io) (alternatives: Amplemarket, Reply.io)
- Mistral Small: neither first, one named (first choices: Amplemarket Duo Copilot) (alternatives: AiSDR, Artisan, Salesforge)
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: neither first, one named (first choices: Amplemarket) (alternatives: 11x, AiSDR, Artisan, Reply.io)
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: neither first, one named (first choices: Amplemarket) (alternatives: AiSDR, Reply.io)
- MiniMax M2.5: neither first, one named (first choices: Amplemarket, SalesTools.io) (alternatives: Agent Frank, AiSDR, Reply.io)
- Claude Haiku 4.5: neither named (first choices: RocketSDR) (alternatives: Apollo.io)
- Perplexity Sonar: neither named (first choices: Amplemarket Duo) (alternatives: AiSDR, Artisan Ava)
- Llama 4 Maverick: neither named

## What the models said about Artisan

- "Avoid fully autonomous AI SDRs with annual lock-in contracts, no trials, and documented quality problems (Artisan, 11x.ai especially)" (DeepSeek V4 Flash, negative prompt, hard negative)
- "Artisan
- LinkedIn restricted their automated outreach in early 2026... G2 rating of 3.8/5 (lowest among reviewed platforms)" (MiniMax M2.5, negative prompt, hard negative)
- "Artisan was temporarily banned by LinkedIn in late 2025/early 2026 due to platform compliance and data-scraping violations." (Gemini 3.5 Flash, negative prompt, hard negative)
- "unless your team specifically wants an AI SDR that books meetings more autonomously, in which case Artisan is the better fit" (Perplexity Sonar, paraphrase prompt, first choice)
- "Artisan"s AI agent, Ava, is highly regarded for mid-market companies that want a fully autonomous out-of-the-box solution." (Gemini 3.5 Flash, direct prompt, first choice)
- "or Artisan/Ava if you want more autonomous outbound prospecting with built-in contact data." (Claude Haiku 4.5, paraphrase prompt, first choice)

## What the models said about Reply.io

- "though the cited evaluation ranks it far below the leaders on total capability" (Perplexity Sonar, direct prompt, soft negative)
- "Best Overall for Mid-Market ... Start with Reply.io (Jason AI) or Amplemarket Duo for mid-market B2B." (Kimi K2, direct prompt, first choice)
- "Reply.io's paid plans start at $59/month for email sequences with Jason AI available on higher tiers, making it the most accessible entry point" (Claude Haiku 4.5, budget prompt, alternative)

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all twelve models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category. Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category. Published under CC BY 4.0; the output is the models' output, and nothing here is a recommendation by the index.