The short answer
Unipile and FirstTouch both connect to LinkedIn. The difference is everything that sits on top of that connection.
Unipile hands you an API. Your engineers build the sending queue, permissions, approvals, scheduling and safety limits, then keep all of it working every time LinkedIn changes.
FirstTouch is that layer, already built and maintained. Your reps run plays in Flows, your AI agents plug in through our API or MCP server, and every action is governed by the same queue, approvals and sender limits. Results land in HubSpot automatically.
Whether you're running outreach for your own team or building an outreach product for your customers, FirstTouch gets you there faster, with less engineering and less risk.
Infrastructure for agents to operate social safely
AI agents are getting good at deciding who to contact and what to say. The hard part is everything after the decision:
- Which sender should this go from?
- Does it need a human to approve it first?
- Has this rep already hit today's invite limit?
- Is it 2 a.m. in the sender's time zone?
- Is another team already working this contact?
On a raw API, your team writes and maintains the answer to every one of those questions. On FirstTouch, they're answered before a single message goes out. Your agent proposes, FirstTouch enforces the rules, and your team stays in control.
FirstTouch vs Unipile at a glance
| FirstTouch | Unipile | |
|---|---|---|
| What you get | A complete LinkedIn outreach platform with an API and MCP server | An API connection to LinkedIn and other messaging channels |
| Best for | Revenue teams, AI agents and companies building outreach products | Teams that want a raw multi-channel API and will own everything on top of it |
| Sending queue | Built in, shared across the team. Outreach queue | You build it |
| Approvals | Built in. Reps can approve agent-drafted messages. Approval tasks | You build it |
| Per-sender caps and working hours | Built in and enforced on every action | Account rate limits. You decide how campaigns share each sender |
| Team roles | Roles and sender seats built in | You build the roles and review screens |
| When LinkedIn changes | We update the platform | Unipile maintains the connector. Your engineers update your app |
| Customer account safety | Safeguards and safety guidance maintained by FirstTouch | You design the safeguards and educate your customers |
| LinkedIn terms-of-service risk | Shared under a partner agreement for products built on our API | Your company carries it |
| AI agent access | API and MCP server, with guardrails applied | API |
| HubSpot | Native workflow actions, inbox sync and revenue attribution | Build your own integration |
| Enrichment | Contact and company enrichment included | Profile data via API. You build the reporting |
| Channels | LinkedIn-first, plus email | LinkedIn, email, Instagram and more |
| Security | SOC 2 Type II. Trust Center | Unipile secures its service. You secure the app you build. Unipile security |
| Onboarding help | Academy training on Pro, one-on-one onboarding on Custom Teams | Developer support for your integration |
| Starting price | 3 Pro seats for $297/month, everything included | €49/month API minimum, plus engineering time |
A real example: two campaigns, one invite slot
Your CEO's account has one connection request left today. Marketing's cold campaign wants it. So does an AE trying to reach a buyer on an open deal.
On Unipile, nothing decides. Your app has to, which means someone has to design, build and maintain that logic.
On FirstTouch, RevOps sets priorities in a shared queue. The deal intro goes first, approvals and sending limits still apply, and the marketing team can see exactly why their message is waiting.
Multiply that by every rep, every campaign and every agent, and you can see why the queue matters.
Building an outreach product? Build it on FirstTouch
If you're shipping LinkedIn outreach inside your own product, a raw API looks like the flexible choice. In practice, it means owning every problem that comes with LinkedIn.
- Keep your engineers on your product. Queues, sender limits, working hours and LinkedIn changes are full-time maintenance. On FirstTouch, that's our job.
- Protect your customer relationships. If a customer's LinkedIn account gets restricted, they don't blame your API vendor. They blame you. FirstTouch enforces caps, working hours and approvals on every sender, so your customers stay within sensible limits.
- Skip the safety education. On a raw API, teaching every customer how to use LinkedIn safely falls on your team. FirstTouch builds the safeguards in and maintains the guidance.
- Don't carry the LinkedIn risk alone. Build your own outreach layer on a third-party LinkedIn connector and your company takes on significantly more LinkedIn terms-of-service risk. Build on the FirstTouch API under a partner agreement and you're not carrying it alone.
Talk to us about a partner agreement
Bring your own agent, keep the guardrails
FirstTouch doesn't replace what you've built. It makes it safe to run.
- Connect any agent through the FirstTouch API or MCP server (Claude, custom agents, internal tools).
- Keep humans in the loop. Agents draft, reps approve with one click.
- Get notified instantly. Webhooks tell your app the moment someone replies.
- Stay inside the lines. Every agent action runs through the same caps, working hours and permissions as your reps.
We run our own outreach this way. Our agent drafts sequences with LinkedIn follow-ups, and Jared, our founder, edits and approves the copy before anything sends.
Revenue you can actually see
Outreach is only worth it if you can prove it moved pipeline. FirstTouch traces LinkedIn activity to HubSpot deals automatically:
- Direct revenue: deals sourced from FirstTouch outreach.
- Influenced revenue: deals where outreach touched a contact within a 90-day window (adjustable).
- No double counting: a deal that qualifies for both counts once.
With Unipile, attribution is another system you'd need to build. How to build the HubSpot report
What it really costs
Pricing as of November 2026.
Unipile starts at €49/month for the API. The real cost is the engineering time to build and maintain the queue, approvals, scheduling, limits, HubSpot sync and reporting, plus the ongoing work every time LinkedIn changes, plus the risk you carry if customer accounts run into trouble.
FirstTouch Pro is $99 per seat per month. Three seats is $297/month and includes the queue, approvals, sender limits, HubSpot attribution and 1,500 monthly credits pooled across your workspace. Building a product? Ask us about partner pricing.
Either way, budget separately for any custom app or agent you run on top.
When Unipile makes sense
Unipile can fit if LinkedIn is a small part of what you need and you mainly want one API across WhatsApp, Instagram, email and calendar, with engineers ready to own everything on top of it. If LinkedIn outreach matters to your team or your product, FirstTouch is the safer bet.
Choose FirstTouch if
- You want reps and agents running LinkedIn outreach now, not after a build.
- You're building an outreach product and don't want to own LinkedIn maintenance, customer account safety or terms-of-service risk on your own.
- You run on HubSpot and want outreach inside your workflows, with revenue attribution included.
- You need approvals, sender limits and working hours enforced for every action, human or AI.
- You'd rather your engineers build your product than maintain LinkedIn plumbing.
FAQ
Can I build my own outreach product on FirstTouch?
Yes. Build on our API or MCP server and sign a partner agreement. We maintain the LinkedIn connection, queue, sender limits and safety controls, so your engineers focus on your product and you don't carry the LinkedIn platform risk alone.
Can I use FirstTouch alongside my own app?
Yes. Your app or agent can create outreach through our API or MCP server, receive replies by webhook, and route drafts to reps for approval.
Does FirstTouch work with HubSpot?
Yes. FirstTouch runs natively in HubSpot workflows, syncs conversations to the CRM and attributes revenue to deals.
Can FirstTouch prevent LinkedIn restrictions?
No tool can guarantee that. LinkedIn controls account restrictions, and account owners handle any identity checks LinkedIn requests. What FirstTouch does is enforce per-sender caps, working hours and approvals on every action, so your team and your agents operate within sensible limits. FirstTouch safety checklist
Is FirstTouch secure?
FirstTouch is SOC 2 Type II certified. Visit our Trust Center for details.
See it with your own campaigns
Bring two campaigns that compete for the same sender to a demo. We'll show you which message goes first, who approves it, and what the other team sees while it waits. Building a product? We'll walk you through the API and partner agreement.
