Reply Rate
How to calculate reply rate in cold email, why auto-replies distort it and what reply rate is normal. + The math: how many emails it takes to book one meeting.
Reply rate is the share of recipients who replied to an email or sequence, out of those it was delivered to. It's the key metric in cold outreach: opens are distorted by pixel blocking, while a reply means real interest. The average is 3.43%, and top campaigns get 10.7% or more, according to Instantly's 2025 data.
At the end of this article you'll find the math from contacts to meetings: how many emails you need to send to book one meeting, plus a formula for your own numbers.
At a glance: reply rate in numbers
| Fact | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Average cold email reply rate | 3.43% | Instantly, 2026 |
| Top quartile | 5.5% and above | Instantly, 2026 |
| Top 10% of campaigns | 10.7% and above | Instantly, 2026 |
| Reply lift for teams with stable domain health and consistent sending | +15–20% | Instantly, 2026 |
| Benchmark for cold campaigns on warmed-up mailboxes | 5–15% replies | Holymailer |
| Share of replies that come from follow-ups | 42% | Instantly, 2026 |
How to calculate reply rate
Count by contact, not by email. One person who replied three times is one reply.
Reply rate = contacts who replied at least once ÷ contacts the email was delivered to × 100%Example: a sequence went to 500 contacts, 10 addresses bounced, and 25 people replied. Reply rate = 25 ÷ 490 × 100% = 5.1%.
What not to count as a reply:
- “Out of office” and “no longer with the company” auto-replies.
- Non-delivery notifications.
- Automatic confirmations from support desks and ticketing systems.
If you don't exclude them, your reply rate looks better than it is. According to Instantly, Friday brings the most auto-replies.
Reply rate vs positive reply rate
Overall reply rate includes any human reply, including “not interested”. Positive reply rate counts only replies showing interest: a question, agreement to a call, a request for details.
| Reply type | Example | Reply rate | Positive reply rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Positive | “Let's set up a call”, “How much does it cost?” | Yes | Yes |
| Neutral | “Come back in January”, “Talk to my colleague” | Yes | No |
| Negative | “Not interested”, “Don't email me” | Yes | No |
| Auto-reply | “Out of office until the 15th” | No | No |
Negative replies are useful too: they prove your emails arrive and get read. Add addresses that reply “don't email me” to the suppression list right away.
What reply rate is normal
| Reply rate | Assessment | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| below 2% | Poor | Check deliverability first, then the list and offer |
| 2–3.5% | Below average | Test the first email and the segment |
| 3.5–5.5% | Normal | Improve follow-ups and personalization |
| 5.5–10.7% | Good, top quartile | Scale carefully by adding mailboxes |
| above 10.7% | Excellent, top 10% | Replicate the approach in other segments |
The bands are based on Instantly's 2025 data. For cold campaigns on warmed-up mailboxes, Holymailer's benchmark is 5–15% replies.
Why reply rate matters more than open rate
An open is recorded when an invisible pixel loads, and that mechanism is less and less reliable. For example, Apple Mail's privacy feature makes it harder for senders to learn about the recipient's activity, and corporate filters sometimes open emails themselves when scanning links.
A reply can't be faked and can't be lost because of a pixel. That's why open rate is best used as a deliverability diagnostic, while campaign results are judged by replies.
What affects reply rate
Work down the list: the items at the top have the biggest impact.
- Deliverability. An email in spam won't get a reply. Start with a deliverability diagnostic and warm-up.
- List accuracy. The right person at the right company matters more than any copy.
- The offer. One clear benefit for that segment.
- Length and format. In top campaigns the first email is under 80 words with a single call to action.
- Follow-ups. They bring 42% of replies — see the follow-up article.
- Personalization. A reason for writing tied to the specific company, not just a first name in the greeting.
- Consistent sending. Teams with stable domain health and even volume get 15–20% more replies, according to Instantly.
Don't try to raise reply rate with more emails: extra touches bring complaints. Gmail requires keeping them below 0.1% and never reaching 0.3%, and Mail.ru allows 1.1% to 0.3% depending on volume. Past those thresholds emails go to spam, and you get fewer replies, not more.
In Holymailer, sending analytics show replies for every campaign, and domain monitoring (in Russian) helps tell a copy problem from a deliverability problem.
The math: how many emails it takes to book one meeting
At a 5% reply rate, one meeting takes about 550 sent emails, or 140 contacts. This is an example: the positive-reply share and meeting conversion here are assumptions, so replace them with your own numbers.
| Step | Assumption | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Contacts in the campaign | — | 1,000 |
| 2. Delivered | 95% without bounces | 950 |
| 3. Replied | 5% reply rate | ≈ 48 |
| 4. Positive replies | 30% of replies | ≈ 14 |
| 5. Meetings | 50% of positive replies | ≈ 7 |
| 6. Emails sent | 4-email sequence, repliers drop out | ≈ 3,900 |
| Emails per meeting | ≈ 550 |
Formula for your own numbers:
Meetings = contacts × delivered share × reply rate × positive share × meeting conversion
Emails per meeting ≈ contacts × emails in sequence ÷ meetingsIf you need 20 meetings a month, these assumptions require about 2,800 contacts and 11,000 emails. How many mailboxes and domains that takes is shown in the infrastructure calculation.
Frequently asked questions
What is reply rate in simple terms?
It's the percentage of people who replied to your email. It's calculated from the number of contacts the email was delivered to, excluding auto-replies.
What is a good reply rate in cold email?
The average is 3.43%, the top quartile starts at 5.5%, and the top 10% of campaigns get 10.7% or more, according to Instantly's 2025 data. Below 2% is a reason to check deliverability and the list.
How do I calculate reply rate?
Divide the number of contacts who replied at least once by the number of contacts the email was delivered to, and multiply by 100%. Don't count auto-replies or non-delivery notices.
How is reply rate different from positive reply rate?
Reply rate counts any human reply, including refusals. Positive reply rate counts only replies showing interest: questions, agreement to a call, requests for details.
Why is my open rate high but nobody replies?
Most often the problem is the offer or the segment: people read the email but see no reason to reply. Also, some opens may be automatic, triggered by filters and mail client privacy features.
Should a “don't email me” reply count as a reply?
Yes, it counts toward overall reply rate: the email arrived and was read. But not toward positive reply rate, and the address should go on the suppression list right away.
Sources
- Instantly: Cold Email Benchmark Report 2026 — data for January 1 – December 18, 2025.
- Apple: Mail Privacy Protection.
- Google: Email sender guidelines FAQ — complaint thresholds.
- Mail.ru: technical requirements for mailings (in Russian).
- Holymailer: deliverability, capabilities (in Russian).