Belkins vs CIENCE
Belkins is a large, high-volume appointment-setting agency. CIENCE is an SDR-as-a-service shop with rare public pricing. Both book meetings for you, but they are built and priced very differently.
By Kshitij Maheshwari, co-founder · Updated July 2026
Real Good GTM publishes this comparison. We are a small founder-led agency, not Belkins or CIENCE, and we include ourselves only as a third option lower down, never ranked first. Both agencies here are compared on facts verified on their own sites and Clutch. Judge for yourself.
Proven volume, or transparent pricing
Both outsource your SDR work, so this is a close comparison. Belkins is the larger, more decorated appointment-setting agency. CIENCE is the more price-transparent, flexible SDR shop with an offshore option. Pick by what you value more: a top review record, or an itemized price and month-to-month terms.
A large omnichannel agency since 2017, with a dedicated SDR pod per client, packages tied to appointment count, a 4.9 Clutch score across 230-plus reviews, and 1,000+ clients across 50+ industries. Quote-only pricing.
SDR-as-a-service pairing human reps with its own data and AI tooling, month to month with no long contract, itemized public pricing, and a choice of onshore or offshore reps. Clutch score of 4.2 on a smaller sample.
- ✓You want proven, high-volume appointment setting
- ✓A top public review record matters to you
- ✓You want full omnichannel, including calling
- ✓You need coverage across many industries
- ✓You want itemized, published pricing up front
- ✓You want month to month with no long contract
- ✓An offshore-team option to lower the floor helps
- ✓You want reps paired with in-house data tooling
The honest short version. If the top-rated, most-proven appointment-setting brand is what reassures you and budget is not the constraint, Belkins is the safer bet. If you want to see the price before you commit, keep terms flexible, and possibly run a lower-cost offshore team, CIENCE is the more transparent option. Read recent CIENCE reviews on lead quality first. More on both below.
Weighing outsourced SDRs against a founder-led team? We'll tell you straight if we are the wrong fit.
What each one actually is
Belkins
A large B2B lead generation and appointment-setting agency, operating since 2017, that calls itself the "#1 B2B lead generation agency." It runs done-for-you omnichannel outreach (email, LinkedIn, and calling) with a dedicated SDR pod per client, and reports 1,000+ clients across 50+ industries and $2B+ in client revenue generated. Packages are tied to appointment volume. US-based.
Visit BelkinsCIENCE
A large, long-running SDR shop that pairs human reps with its own data and AI tooling, and is one of the very few in the field with fully itemized public pricing. It runs month to month with no long contract, and lets you choose onshore or offshore reps. Best for SMB to enterprise that want outsourced SDRs with the option of a lower-cost offshore team. Denver-based.
Visit CIENCEBelkins vs CIENCE, side by side
The facts that frame the choice, with both agencies verified from their own sites and Clutch in July 2026. Read the row, not just the cell.
| Dimension | Belkins | CIENCE |
|---|---|---|
| The job it does | High-volume appointment setting | SDR-as-a-service, human reps plus data tooling |
| Best for | Teams wanting proven meeting volume at scale | SMB to enterprise wanting transparent, flexible SDRs |
| Channels | Omnichannel: email, LinkedIn, and calling | Multichannel SDR outreach, onshore or offshore |
| Headquarters | US-based (no city stated) | Denver, US |
| Pricing | Not public, quote-only, $1,000+ min (Clutch) | Public: ~$5k setup + $2k/mo, SDRs from $1.5k/mo |
| Terms | Monthly retainer packages by appointment volume | Month to month, no long contract |
| Clutch rating | 4.9 out of 5 (230+ reviews) | 4.2 out of 5 (142 reviews) |
| Scale and history | Since 2017, 1,000+ clients, 50 to 249 staff (Clutch) | Large operating scale, own data and AI stack |
| Watch-outs | Opaque pricing, mid-market floor, founder-light day-to-day | Lower score, some lead-quality and turnover variance |
Facts verified July 2026 on belkins.io, cience.com, and their Clutch profiles. Confirm current terms with each before you sign.
What each one is built for
A capability check, scored the same way for both. A grey mark is not a knock, it is a scope choice: these two solve the same problem with different priorities.
| Capability | Belkins | CIENCE |
|---|---|---|
| High-volume appointment setting | ✓ its core | ✓ SDR programs |
| Published, itemized pricing | ✕ quote-only | ✓ rare in field |
| Cold calling included | ✓ intent calling | ✓ SDR reps |
| Offshore team option | Ask not stated | ✓ lowers floor |
| Month to month, no long contract | Ask retainer packages | ✓ stated |
| Top-tier public review record | ✓ 4.9, 230+ | Partial 4.2, 142 |
| Coverage across many industries | ✓ 50+ industries | ✓ SMB to enterprise |
| Own data and AI tooling | ✓ intent data | ✓ built in-house |
| Founder-level attention | Limited account team | Limited large shop |
"Ask" means confirm it directly, "Limited" means available but not a core strength, and "Partial" means present but weaker. Neither of these is founder-scale: both are large outsourced SDR operations.
What the reviews say
Both have a public Clutch record, checked July 2026. Belkins carries the higher score on a far larger sample. Here is both sides, straight.
Belkins
Praised for: booking meetings with real decision-makers, professional and communicative account teams, and often exceeding the appointment count in the package. A top-5 provider on Clutch's global 1,000 list.
Worth knowing: a review theme notes booked-meeting counts sometimes falling short of what was promised, and results lean on the client bringing sharp positioning. Pricing is quote-only.
CIENCE
Praised for: genuinely transparent itemized pricing, large operating scale, flexible month-to-month terms, and the onshore-or-offshore choice that few competitors offer.
Worth knowing: its 4.2 Clutch score trails others in the category, and reviews note some lead-quality and rep-turnover variance. Read recent reviews on lead quality first.
Read this honestly. On third-party proof, Belkins wins clearly: a 4.9 across 230-plus reviews is one of the largest positive samples in the category, versus CIENCE's 4.2 on 142. That said, a lower score on a real sample plus a published price can be a fair trade for a buyer who wants to see the numbers up front. The live Clutch links are the source of truth as totals move.
How they actually differ
Five things separate these two in practice. Each has a clear edge somewhere, and it depends on what you value most.
Pricing transparency
Edge: CIENCEThis is CIENCE's clearest advantage. It is one of the very few appointment-setting shops that publishes itemized numbers: roughly a $5,000 setup plus $2,000 a month, with SDRs from about $1,500 a month. Belkins keeps pricing quote-only, tied to appointment volume, with a $1,000-plus minimum listed on its Clutch profile. If you want to see the price before a sales call, CIENCE wins outright.
Proof and track record
Edge: BelkinsBelkins has the deeper, higher public record: 4.9 on Clutch across 230-plus reviews, 4.8 on G2, a top-5 spot on Clutch's global 1,000 list, and 1,000+ clients across 50+ industries since 2017. CIENCE also operates at real scale, but its 4.2 on 142 reviews trails Belkins. If a top-rated, heavily-reviewed brand is what reassures you, Belkins is the stronger signal.
Team model and flexibility
Edge: CIENCECIENCE runs month to month with no long contract and lets you choose onshore or offshore reps, which lowers the entry cost and the commitment. Belkins sells monthly retainer packages tied to appointment volume, which is standard for an agency of its size but less flexible. If you want to keep terms light or run a lower-cost offshore team, that is CIENCE's design, not Belkins'.
Channel coverage
Roughly evenBoth are true multichannel operations. Belkins runs full omnichannel outreach across email, LinkedIn, and calling with a dedicated SDR pod, and layers in intent data. CIENCE pairs human reps with its own data and AI tooling across similar channels. On raw channel coverage they are close, so this rarely decides it. The difference is in price and proof, not in what channels they touch.
Lead quality risk
Read reviews firstBoth carry the usual outsourced-SDR caveat, in different shapes. Belkins reviews occasionally note booked-meeting counts falling short of the package, and its results lean on the client's positioning. CIENCE reviews note some lead-quality and rep-turnover variance, which its lower score partly reflects. With either, ask for recent, referenceable results and read the latest reviews before you sign.
Weighing an outsourced SDR team?
If you are seed-stage and not sure volume outsourcing is the right first move, tell us your stage. We'll give you a straight read.
What each one costs in 2026
This is the sharpest split between them. CIENCE publishes itemized numbers, Belkins quotes after a call. Figures below are what each shows on its own site and Clutch profile, checked July 2026.
Belkins
Quote-only- For Small Business
Lean teams, from 30+ appointments a yearQuote - Growth
Multi-channel, from 100+ appointments a yearQuote - Growth Plus
Wider reach, from 200+ appointments a yearQuote - Enterprise
Fully customized, dedicated supportCustom
Belkins does not publish prices; packages are tied to appointment volume and priced after a call. Its Clutch profile lists a $1,000-plus minimum project size. Confirm current terms with Belkins directly.
CIENCE
Published- Setup fee
One-time onboarding and program build~$5,000 - Platform / base
Monthly base for data and tooling~$2,000/mo - SDRs
Per rep, onshore or offshoreFrom ~$1,500/mo - Terms
Month to month, no long contractFlexible
CIENCE publishes itemized pricing, one of very few in the field to do so. The offshore rep option lowers the floor. Confirm current figures with CIENCE directly.
How to think about it. With CIENCE you can model the cost before you talk to sales, and the offshore option can bring the floor down further. With Belkins you get a quote shaped around the number of appointments you want, which suits a buyer optimizing for a target meeting count rather than a line-item budget. If price certainty matters most, CIENCE. If a proven volume outcome matters most and budget is flexible, Belkins.
The honest fit, both ways
Neither is the right answer for everyone. Here is the straight read on who each one suits best.
- ✓You want proven, high-volume appointment setting at scale
- ✓A top public review record is important to you
- ✓You want full omnichannel with intent calling
- ✓You need coverage across many industries
- ✓You are comfortable with quote-only pricing
- ✓You want itemized, published pricing before you commit
- ✓You want month to month with no long contract
- ✓An offshore-team option would help your budget
- ✓You want reps paired with in-house data tooling
- ✓You will read recent reviews on lead quality first
The real question is proof versus transparency. Belkins is the stronger, more-decorated choice when a top review record and proven volume reassure you and budget is flexible. CIENCE is the better fit when you want to see the price up front, keep terms flexible, and possibly run a lower-cost offshore team. Both are large outsourced SDR operations, so if you are the earliest stage and want the principals doing the work, read the next section.
If you are the earliest stage, a founder-led team
We publish this comparison, so here is our place in it, said plainly. Belkins and CIENCE are both built for volume outsourced SDR programs. If you are seed to early Series A and want the principals in the work, we are a different shape of option, and we will only claim the slice that is honestly ours.
Real Good GTM
The publisher, not ranked firstA two-person, founder-led GTM agency running signal-based outbound for seed to early Series A B2B startups. The two founders do the work directly, with no junior handoff. Outbound is triggered by real buying signals, on email and LinkedIn, and you get booked meetings plus a live learning document on who actually buys and why, and you keep the system. Two-month start, then month to month, no lock-in. Paris-based, serving the US and Europe primarily.
Seed to early Series A, founder-led, signal-based outbound, a real read on your market, and a system you keep. Small on purpose, so you get the principals, not a pod.
You need cold calling, enterprise-scale meeting volume, guaranteed lead counts, an offshore team, or coverage across many industries. That is Belkins or CIENCE, not us.
We show no third-party rating for ourselves. We are early and have no credible Clutch, G2, or Trustpilot sample yet, so we point to the pipeline we have built inside companies like Palm.ai, Mindflow, CEF.AI, and Inro instead of inventing a score.
Our take, said plainly
We publish this and we are the third option, not the subject, so here is the honest call in three common situations.
If a top Clutch record and proven high-volume appointment setting reassure you, and quote-only pricing is fine, Belkins is the safer, more-decorated choice.
If you want an itemized price up front, month-to-month terms, and possibly a lower-cost offshore team, CIENCE is the more transparent SDR shop. Read its recent reviews first.
At seed to early Series A, when you want founders working real signals and a system you keep rather than a large SDR program, that is our slice. For volume or calling, go with Belkins or CIENCE.
Not sure which side of the line you are on? We run signal-based outbound for early-stage teams and will tell you straight.
Book a Fit Check
Co-founder of Real Good GTM. He has been the first business hire and Chief of Staff at seed-stage B2B startups, building outbound pipeline before any playbook existed. Real Good GTM publishes this comparison and appears only as a disclosed third option, which is exactly why every Belkins and CIENCE fact is sourced and we do not crown ourselves the winner.
Connect on LinkedInQuestions buyers ask
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Deciding between outsourced SDRs?
Book a fit check. We'll look at your stage, your market, and how you sell today, and tell you straight whether founder-led signal outbound fits, or whether a volume shop like Belkins or CIENCE is the better call.
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