What is the best day to send cold emails?

Based on 850 million+ emails · Smartlead platform data

Wednesday, narrowly. Reply rates sit between 0.87% and 0.91% on every weekday, with Wednesday highest at 0.91%. Sunday matches Tuesday at 0.90%, and Saturday is lowest at 0.82%.

Cold email reply rate by day of the week

Reply rate by the day the email was sent. Built from more than 850 million emails sent through Smartlead.

Day	Reply rate	Contacts per reply
Monday	0.88%	114
Tuesday	0.90%	111
Wednesday	0.91%	110
Thursday	0.89%	112
Friday	0.87%	115
Saturday	0.82%	122
Sunday	0.90%	111

What the data shows

The weekdays are almost tied. The gap between the best weekday, Wednesday, and the worst, Friday, is 0.04 points, or 5 contacts per reply.

Sunday holds up. At 0.90%, it matches Tuesday and beats Monday, Thursday and Friday.

Saturday is the one outlier. At 0.82%, it needs 122 contacts per reply, 12 more than Wednesday.

How this compares with common advice

Most guides name Tuesday as the best day, often based on open rates. By reply rate, Tuesday is near the top, but Wednesday edges it and the whole working week sits within 0.04 points.

What this data can't tell you

It measures replies by the day an email was sent, not the day it was read. It doesn't show whether moving a campaign to a different day would change its reply rate.

How to use these benchmarks

Send on any weekday. They all fall within 0.04 points of each other.
Don't rule out Sunday. It earns 0.90%, level with Tuesday.
If you take one day off, make it Saturday, the lowest at 0.82%.
Choose the hour with more care. Reply rates peak between 6am and 10am in the recipient's time zone.
Set send windows in the recipient's time zone. The send time guide covers how to schedule them.

Frequently asked questions

Which day of the week is best for sending cold emails?

Wednesday, narrowly, at a 0.91% reply rate. Every weekday falls between 0.87% and 0.91%, so no weekday is a bad choice.

Should I send cold emails on Friday?

Yes, if it suits your schedule. Friday earns 0.87%, against 0.91% for Wednesday, a gap of 5 contacts per reply.

Should I send cold emails on weekends?

Sunday works. It earns 0.90%, level with Tuesday. Saturday is the lowest day at 0.82%.

Methodology

More than 850 million emails sent through Smartlead, using combined, anonymous platform data only. Only senders with at least 500 emails sent in the period are included. Each email is grouped by the day of the week it was sent. Contacts per reply is contacts emailed divided by replies.