The short version
Pick Expandi if you want a proven sequencer that sends on its own once you launch it, with if/then branching across LinkedIn and email. Pick Nova if you want help with the work before the sequence (finding leads, researching them, warming them up) and you want to read every AI-written message before it goes out. Both list at $99 a month per sender. Expandi protects accounts with infrastructure: cloud sending, a dedicated country-based IP per account, gradual auto warm-up and algorithmic daily limits. Nova protects them with rules every action has to pass: a daily budget for each LinkedIn account, working hours only, random spacing, and a ledger of everything each account has done.
What Expandi does well
Expandi earned its safety reputation early. It pushed dedicated country-based IPs and gradual warm-up before most of the category talked about safety at all. Its sequence builder supports conditional if/then logic, so a campaign can branch on what a prospect does. It runs connection requests, messages and email steps in one flow, and it sells image, GIF and video personalisation add-ons. Its marketing favours research-backed limits over promised volume, a stance we respect. It is self-serve with a 7-day full trial, at $99/mo per account ($79/mo billed annually) with agency pricing for 10+ seats (as listed in July 2026).
Side by side
| Dimension | Nova | Expandi |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Founders, sales teams, agencies wanting one system | Growth marketers, agencies running LinkedIn sequences |
| Pricing (listed July 2026) | Growth $99/mo per sender ($200 on the 3-month term) · Agency $399/mo including 5 senders, $69/mo per extra sender | $99/mo per account ($79/mo annual) · agency pricing 10+ seats |
| Safety approach | Daily budget per LinkedIn account (never pooled), working hours only, random spacing, weekly ramps, every action ledgered; 7 engagement-only days for new accounts | Cloud platform, dedicated country-based IP, auto warm-up, smart daily limits |
| Warm-up of leads | Each lead gets a profile view and a like before its invite | Profile auto warm-up ramps the account's activity volume |
| Lead discovery | ICP agents search LinkedIn every working day and score each match; 25+ Playbooks (post engagers, profile viewers, CSV and more); nobody is contacted until you approve | Imports from LinkedIn/Sales Navigator searches and engagement scraping |
| Per-lead research | Deep research on each prospect (posts, role, company news) with a pursue/hold/skip verdict that feeds the first draft | Personalisation via placeholders + image/video add-ons |
| AI messaging | Drafted in your voice from that research; you approve each message before it sends | Sequences send automatically once launched; conditional logic controls flow |
| Channels | LinkedIn (incl. voice notes) and email from your own mailbox: email-first campaigns, or a move to email when an invite sits unaccepted for 7 days | LinkedIn + email steps |
| Beyond outreach | Unified inbox, Content Studio, profile reviewer, CRM sync (HubSpot, Zoho CRM, Attio, Close) | Campaign analytics, integrations |
| Access | Self-serve, 7-day free trial (no card); 14-day money-back | Self-serve, 7-day free trial |
Two meanings of "warm-up"
Both products use the word, and they mean different things. Expandi's warm-up raises your account's activity volume step by step. Nova does that too: budgets ramp weekly, and a brand-new account spends its first 7 days on engagement only. Nova then adds a second kind. Before any invite, it views the lead's profile and likes a post, so your name is familiar when the request arrives. That should help acceptance, and accepted invites are a trust signal LinkedIn reads. Our bet is that how an account behaves matters more over time than where it sends from. That is our view, and a trial on your own account is the way to test it.
Choose Expandi if
- You want a tool with years of track record behind it. Nova is newer.
- You want one sequence that alternates LinkedIn and email steps to the same person. A Nova campaign is LinkedIn-first or email-first, and on a LinkedIn campaign email picks up a lead only after its invite sits unaccepted for 7 days.
- You prefer to build if/then branching yourself and want messages to send without an approval step.
- You want image, GIF or video personalisation add-ons.
Choose Nova if
- You want limits you cannot set wrong: each LinkedIn account has its own daily budget, and an action over budget waits for tomorrow instead of being dropped.
- You want help before the sequence: ICP agents and 25+ Playbooks find leads, deep research tells you who to pursue, and every lead is warmed up before the invite.
- You want to read and approve every AI-written message, connection note and voice note before it goes out under your name.
- You want the inbox, Content Studio and CRM sync in the same tool, on either plan.
Try it on your own account. The 7-day trial needs no card, and your first payment carries a 14-day money-back guarantee. For the detail, read the account safety guide, check what each Nova plan costs per sender against the Expandi figures above, then Start free trial.
Frequently asked questions
Is Nova safer than Expandi?
Nobody can prove that, us included, so be wary of any tool that quotes a comparative ban rate without its method. What you can compare is how each tool works. Expandi relies on infrastructure: cloud sending, a dedicated country-based IP per account, auto warm-up and algorithmic daily limits. Nova relies on rules every action must pass: a separate daily budget for each LinkedIn account, working hours only, random spacing, weekly ramps, a ledger of every action, and your approval on everything AI writes. To test either tool, ask the vendor what happens to an action once the daily limit is hit. In Nova it waits for tomorrow.
Does Nova have a free trial like Expandi?
Yes. Nova's trial lasts 7 days, needs no card and includes every feature, the same length as Expandi's 7-day full trial (as listed in July 2026). Set your expectations for week one: a brand-new LinkedIn account spends its first 7 days on engagement only, so you will see leads found, researched and drafted before you see meetings booked. Judge the trial on lead quality, research depth and the drafts in your approval queue. If you pay afterwards, the first payment carries a 14-day money-back guarantee.
Related comparisons
- Nova vs HeyReach — multi-sender scale vs depth per account
- Nova vs Dripify — simple drip sequencer vs the full system
- Nova vs Valley — signal-based AI SDR vs approval-first system
- Best LinkedIn outreach tools 2026 — all 8 tools ranked by account safety, verified pricing
- LinkedIn connection request limits — the ceiling every tool on this page shares, and why no plan raises it
- Nova customer stories — how teams actually run this
- All comparisons · The account safety guide behind this page's argument
Expandi is a trademark of its respective owner. Nova is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Expandi. All third-party information on this page comes from publicly available sources — primarily expandi.io — as of the verification date shown above, and may have changed since. If you represent Expandi and believe anything here is inaccurate or outdated, email hello@joinnova.ai and we will review and correct it promptly.
