How Instant Expert works and what it costs
Instant Expert (instant.expert) gets you a short paid call or a written answer from a specific professional, such as an executive, operator or domain expert, including people who aren't on any expert marketplace. It finds them and their work email, sends them a paid invitation with your note, and you pay only if they book or answer.
How it works
- 1
Say who you want to reach.
Describe the kind of person, like "heads of procurement at US hospital systems", or paste the LinkedIn URLs or emails of specific people you already have in mind.
- 2
Write your note and set the offer.
Choose a call (15, 30, 45 or 60 minutes) or a written or voice answer, and what you'll pay each person. Everyone comes with a suggested price you can raise or lower, down to $5. You also set a cap on your total spend.
- 3
We find them and send the invitation.
We find each person's work email and send them your note and the offer. They have 7 days to book a time or answer, and we send up to two reminders. They don't need an account.
- 4
You're charged only when they say yes.
Your card is charged when someone books a call or sends their answer. Declines and invitations nobody accepts cost nothing.
What it costs
- Searching for people, importing a list and drafting requests are free.
- You set the offer for each person. The minimum is $5 per person, and there is no subscription.
- The price you pay includes Instant Expert's fee, which is 20% of what you pay. The person you invite receives the other 80%. Checkout shows both amounts.
- Calls are charged when the person books a time. Written or voice answers are charged when the answer arrives.
- If nobody accepts, you pay nothing: declined invitations, and invitations nobody answers within 7 days, cost $0.
- When you send, one authorization hold is placed on your card for the largest single offer. It isn't a charge, and it's released if nobody accepts.
- Your total cap is filled first come, first served. Once it's spent, the remaining invitations close, so you never pay more than the cap.
Worked example
You offer $100 for a 15-minute call with one person.
- If they book, you pay
- $100
- They receive
- $80
- Instant Expert's fee (20%)
- $20
- If they decline or don't answer within 7 days, you pay
- $0
If someone has set their own rate of $100, the suggested price you see is $125, so they still receive $100. Amounts are rounded to whole dollars.
Calls, no-shows and refunds
- If the person doesn't join the call, you get a full refund. You can take it right away or pick a new time with them instead.
- If the call runs short because someone joined late or left early, it's still charged in full when you were both on for at least 80% of the scheduled time. Below that, the charge is prorated to the minutes you were both on.
- If you don't join and they do, you may be charged the full price.
- You can flag a completed call for review within 24 hours of its scheduled end, before the person is paid.
- Refunds can take a few business days to show on your card statement.
The full rules are in the Terms of Service. Rate and usage limits for AI assistants are on Limits and costs.
Who you can reach
You can reach
- Executives, operators and domain experts, whether or not they've signed up for any platform
- Specific people you already know you want, by LinkedIn URL or email
- A type of person you can describe, for customer discovery, user testing, sales or research
What we won't do
- Send bulk cold email. Every request is a paid invitation that you approve before it goes out.
- Export contact data. We don't return the private email addresses we find.
- Keep emailing people who opt out. Anyone who unsubscribes isn't emailed again, and you can add your own do-not-contact list.
Browse examples in the expert directory.
Questions
How much does it cost to reach an executive?
You decide. Each person comes with a suggested price for a call or a written answer, and you can offer more or less, down to $5. You pay that price only if they book or answer, and it already includes our 20% fee. A $100 offer costs $100 if they book and nothing if they don't.
What if they don't reply?
You pay nothing. They have 7 days to book or answer, with up to two reminders. Declines and expired invitations cost nothing, and if nobody accepts, the hold on your card is released.
Can I reach someone who isn't on any platform?
Yes, that's what it's for. Paste their LinkedIn URL or email, or describe the kind of person you need. We find their work email and send the invitation, and they can book or answer without creating an account.
Should I ask for a call or a written answer?
A call (15, 30, 45 or 60 minutes, on a video link we provide) suits back-and-forth conversations like customer discovery. A written or voice answer suits one specific question, and the person can reply on their own time. Either way you're charged only when they say yes.
Can I use it from Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor?
Yes. Instant Expert is an MCP server. From Claude, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code, Codex and other MCP clients, your assistant can find people, import a list and draft requests, and send orders you approve once you turn on paid sending. In ChatGPT it prepares drafts that you send on instant.expert. Set it up →
How is this different from LinkedIn InMail?
InMail lets you message someone inside LinkedIn on a paid LinkedIn plan, but it offers them nothing for their time. Instant Expert emails them at work with a paid offer, and you pay only when they book or answer.
How is this different from expert networks like GLG?
Expert networks recruit from their own pool of members and mostly sell to investment and consulting firms on contracts. Instant Expert invites the specific people you choose, whether or not they've joined anything, with no contract, and you pay per call or answer you actually get.
How is this different from contact finders like Apollo?
Apollo and similar tools sell you contact data, and then it's up to you to get a reply. Instant Expert doesn't hand out email addresses: it sends a paid invitation for you and charges only if the person responds.
Find the first five people to talk to.
Searching is free, and nothing is sent or charged until you approve it.