FAQ

Frequently asked questions about Smelt

General

What is Smelt?

Smelt is an AI-powered copy generation platform for creating personalized cold email content at scale. Upload your lead CSV, choose templates, and generate unique personalized copy for every prospect.

How is Smelt different from ChatGPT?

Smelt is designed for batch processing. ChatGPT can write one email at a time—you’d copy/paste each lead’s info manually. Smelt reads your entire CSV and generates unique copy for every lead automatically, with quality scoring and export features.

How is Smelt different from Clay?

Different stages of the workflow:

• Clay = Data enrichment (finding information about leads)
• Smelt = Copy generation (writing personalized messages using your data)

Many users use both: Clay to enrich, then Smelt to write.

What AI model does Smelt use?

GPT-4o-mini by default. This provides excellent quality at low cost. Model selection may expand in future updates.

What sending tools work with Smelt?

Any tool that accepts CSV import:

• Instantly
• Lemlist
• Smartlead
• Apollo sequences
• Any custom sending infrastructure

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Pricing & Billing

How much does Smelt cost?

• Free tier: $0 for 250 rows/month
• Starter: $29/mo (BYOK) or$49/mo (Managed) for 5,000 rows
• Growth: $79/mo (BYOK) or$129/mo (Managed) for 25,000 rows
• Scale: $199/mo (BYOK) or$299/mo (Managed) for 100,000 rows

What's the difference between BYOK and Managed?

• BYOK (Bring Your Own Key): You provide your OpenAI API key and pay OpenAI directly for AI costs. Lower monthly fee.
• Managed: Smelt handles all AI costs. No API key needed. Simpler billing, slightly higher monthly fee.

Do template tests count toward usage?

Yes! Each test counts as 1 row of usage. Test strategically to conserve your allowance.

Do unused rows roll over?

No. Usage resets at the start of each billing cycle. Unused rows do not roll over.

What happens if I hit my limit?

Jobs are blocked from starting. You’ll see a clear error message with your usage details and an option to upgrade.

Can I upgrade mid-cycle?

Yes! Your new limit takes effect immediately. You’re prorated for the billing change.

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Technical

What file formats are supported?

CSV only. Maximum 50MB file size, up to 50,000 rows per file.

What encoding should I use?

UTF-8 recommended. Also supports UTF-16, Latin-1, and Windows-1252.

Can I use my own AI prompts?

Yes! Create fully custom templates with your own prompts. Use {{Column}} variables to reference your CSV data.

Can I edit outputs after generation?

Yes! Inline editing is available in the results view. Quality flags are automatically rechecked after edits.

What are quality flags?

Automated warnings about potential issues in generated output. Smelt checks for 11 different issues including length problems, forbidden words, AI-speak, placeholders, and more.

What is template chaining?

Using the output from one template as input to another. For example: Template 1 generates a hook → Template 2 uses that hook to write the email body.

How long do jobs take?

Depends on row count. Smelt processes 5 rows in parallel. Rough estimates:

• 100 rows: ~1-2 minutes
• 1,000 rows: ~10-15 minutes
• 10,000 rows: ~1-2 hours

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Security

Is my data secure?

Yes. Files are stored in encrypted cloud storage (AWS S3). Your data is isolated—other users cannot see it.

How are API keys stored?

API keys are encrypted with AES-256-GCM encryption. They are never stored in plain text and never visible after saving.

Who can see my data?

Only you. All data is isolated per account. Smelt staff do not access customer data except for support requests with explicit permission.

Can I delete my data?

Yes. You can delete individual files from the Files page. Deleting a file removes it from cloud storage.

Does Smelt train on my data?

No. Your data is used only to generate your outputs. It is not used to train any AI models.

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Still Have Questions?

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