# OpenExplee – Free, self-hosted alternative to Explee, Apollo and Instantly

> Source: <https://github.com/vikasvardhanv/openexplee>
> Published: 2026-11-12 19:33:27+00:00

**The Free & Open-Source, Self-Hosted Alternative to Explee**

AI-driven B2B lead discovery, deep website intelligence, real-time mailbox verification, AI personalization, and multi-inbox cold email dispatching — with zero monthly SaaS subscriptions.

Commercial outbound platforms like Explee, Apollo, and Instantly charge **$100 to $300+/month** for bundled lead databases and sending pools. Under the hood, these tools simply chain web scrapers, DNS/SMTP checks, LLMs, and email dispatchers.

**OpenExplee gives you the entire pipeline completely free and open-source.** You keep 100% data ownership, run it on your own machine or a $5 VPS, and only pay direct provider costs (e.g. $9/yr for secondary domains and pennies for API tokens).

| Feature | Explee SaaS | OpenExplee (Self-Hosted) | 
|---|---|---|
| **Monthly Subscription** | $100 – $300+ / month | **$0 / month** (MIT Licensed) | 
| **Lead Discovery & ICP Search** | Proprietary database & credit system | **Crawl4AI & Organic Web Crawlers** | 
| **Email Verification** | Paid credit consumption | **Built-in 4-Tier DNS + SMTP Handshake** ($0) | 
| **AI Personalization** | Locked to proprietary agents | **Gemini, Claude, OpenAI, Groq, or Local Ollama** | 
| **Sending Infrastructure** | Shared multi-tenant sending pool | **Your Own Lookalike Domains & Inboxes** | 
| **Account Providers** | Restricted | **Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Hyvor Relay, Custom SMTP** | 
| **Data Ownership** | Vendor cloud | **100% Private (Local SQLite / PostgreSQL)** | 
| **Estimated Annual Cost** | **$1,200 – $3,600+ / yr** | **~$15 – $30 / month** (only your own mailboxes) | 

```
flowchart TD
    subgraph Discovery ["1. ICP & Lead Discovery Engine"]
        A["Natural Language ICP Query<br/>('B2B SaaS in US using Stripe')"] --> B["DuckDuckGo / Serper Web Search"]
        B --> C["Deep Site Scraper<br/>(Extracts value prop, team, contact emails)"]
    end

    subgraph Verification ["2. Email Verification Engine"]
        C --> D["Permutation Generator<br/>(first.last@, first@, etc.)"]
        D --> E["4-Tier Verifier<br/>(Syntax + Disposable Check + DNS MX + SMTP Handshake)"]
    end

    subgraph Copywriter ["3. AI Personalization Studio"]
        E --> F["Multi-LLM Copywriter<br/>(Gemini / Claude / OpenAI / Ollama)"]
        F --> G["Drafts Personalized 3-Sentence Pitches & Spintax"]
    end

    subgraph Sequencer ["4. Multi-Inbox Sequencer"]
        G --> H["Round-Robin Inbox Rotation<br/>(Google Workspace / M365 / Hyvor Relay)"]
        H --> I["Deliverability Guardrails<br/>(35 sends/day cap, random jitter delays, List-Unsubscribe)"]
    end
```

- **Natural Language ICP Discovery:** Describe your target customer in plain English. OpenExplee finds matching websites, scrapes their core offerings, and identifies decision-makers.
- **4-Tier Non-Intrusive Email Verifier:**  1. RFC 5322 Syntax validation.
  2. Disposable burner email domain blocklist.
  3. Live DNS MX record lookup and prioritization.
  4. Non-intrusive SMTP handshake (`EHLO` →`MAIL FROM` →`RCPT TO` ) to verify mailbox existence without sending mail.
- **Multi-LLM Personalization:** Generate hyper-personalized cold outreach based on live website findings using:
  - **Google Gemini** (Recommended: fast, ultra-cheap)
  - **OpenAI** (`gpt-4o-mini` ,`gpt-4o` )
  - **Anthropic** (`claude-3-5-sonnet` ,`claude-3-5-haiku` )
  - **Groq** (`llama-3.3-70b` )
  - **Ollama** (100% offline and free)
- **Domain Firewall & DNS Deliverability Auditor:** Built-in SPF, DKIM, and DMARC record checker to ensure secondary domains have 100/100 health before sending.
- **Multi-Inbox Rotation & Spintax:** Connect multiple Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, or[Hyvor Relay](https://github.com/hyvor/relay) SMTP inboxes. OpenExplee rotates between them to stay well below spam thresholds.
- **Modern Single-Container UI:** Clean, responsive dark-mode dashboard with real-time KPI metrics, lead tables, live test tools, and campaign wizards.

1. 
Clone the repository: 

```
git clone https://github.com/vikasvardhanv/openexplee.git
cd openexplee
```

2. 
Copy the example environment file and add your preferred LLM key: 

```
cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env and set GEMINI_API_KEY=your_key or OPENAI_API_KEY=your_key
```

3. 
Launch OpenExplee: 

```
docker compose up -d
```

4. 
Open your browser at **`http://localhost:8000`** .

1. 
Clone and create a virtual environment: 

```
git clone https://github.com/vikasvardhanv/openexplee.git
cd openexplee
python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate
```

2. 
Install dependencies: 

```
pip install -r requirements.txt
```

3. 
Start the application: 

```
python -m uvicorn app.main:app --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8000 --reload
```

4. 
Navigate to **`http://localhost:8000`** .

Never use your primary company domain for outbound sales. Follow our detailed guides:

1. **[Secondary Domain Firewall Guide](https://github.com/vikasvardhanv/openexplee/blob/main/docs/DOMAIN_FIREWALL_GUIDE.md):** How to buy $9 lookalike domains (`trycompany.com` ), point 301 redirects, and configure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC.
2. **[Inbox Setup & Authentication Guide](https://github.com/vikasvardhanv/openexplee/blob/main/docs/INBOX_SETUP_GUIDE.md):** Step-by-step setup for Google Workspace App Passwords, Microsoft 365 Authenticated SMTP, and Hyvor Relay.

Contributions are welcome! Feel free to submit issues or pull requests:

- Fork the repo
- Create your feature branch (`git checkout -b feature/cool-feature` )
- Commit your changes (`git commit -m 'Add cool feature'` )
- Push to the branch (`git push origin feature/cool-feature` )
- Open a Pull Request

This project is licensed under the [MIT License](https://github.com/vikasvardhanv/openexplee/blob/main/LICENSE).