This is one of the most important things to understand before you get started. Knowing the timeline upfront means you can plan accordingly, set the right expectations, and use the waiting period productively instead of wondering why nothing is happening.
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Setup: 10 to 15 minutes. First send: 5 to 10 minutes after setup. Ramp-up: 1 email per inbox per day, rising by 4 per day to 25 on the 7th sending day. The limit is locked during ramp-up.
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Up to 72 hours - Domain registration, DNS and inbox creation

After you complete your domain and inbox setup, ListKit registers your domains and configures all DNS records, SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, fully managed on your behalf. Nothing is required from you during this window.
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Once DNS is configured, your Google inboxes are created and connected to your domains. You will start seeing them appear on the Inboxes page.
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14 days - Warmup

Once your inboxes are created, warmup begins automatically. This is the longest part of the process. The only way to skip it is to use pre-warmed inboxes.
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Approximately 7 days - Ramp-up

Once warmup is complete, your inboxes do not immediately send at full volume. Sending starts at 1 email per inbox per day and increases by 4 emails per day until reaching the full limit of 25 emails per inbox per day, reached on the 7th sending day (about 9 calendar days, since campaigns don't send on weekends). This gradual ramp-up protects your sender reputation as you scale up to full capacity.
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Also worth noting, campaigns do not send on weekends. Your actual monthly send volume per bundle is closer to 22,000 emails rather than 30,000, based on approximately 22 sending days per month.
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Total for new branded domains: about 2 to 3 weeks from signup to warmup complete, then 7 sending days of ramp-up to full volume.
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Inbox providers like Gmail evaluate the trustworthiness of sending addresses before deciding whether to deliver emails to the inbox or route them to spam. A brand new inbox with no sending history looks suspicious when it suddenly starts sending hundreds of emails per day.
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Warmup solves this by gradually building that sending history. Your inboxes automatically send and receive low-volume emails in the background over 14 days, establishing a legitimate sender reputation before you ramp up to full campaign volume.
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Skipping warmup, or cutting it short, means your emails go straight to spam. This is not a limitation of ListKit. It is how cold email works everywhere. New inboxes on new domains need warmup on every platform. ListKit's pre-warmed inboxes skip the wait because they have already been warmed.
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ListKit warms new branded domains for 14 days before your first campaign launches.
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You are not just waiting. From day 1, you have access to the Dream 100 Launch Bonus, a training and up to $100 in gift cards to help you run hyper-personalized outreach from your main business inbox while your sending inboxes warm up.
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The strategy is simple: identify your 100 most ideal prospects, send them a short personalized email from your main inbox offering a $25 gift card in exchange for a 15-minute call, and start booking meetings before your cold email campaigns ever launch.
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Customers who follow through on Dream 100 often have pipeline moving before they send their first cold email.
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See the full guide here: What is the Dream 100 bonus and how do I use it?
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With pre-warmed inboxes, you reach full volume in your second week. With new branded domains, your inboxes are warmed up within about 2 to 3 weeks of signup and at full volume about a week later. If you have been running Dream 100 in the meantime, you may already have meetings booked and conversations in progress before a single cold email goes out.
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Can I speed up the warmup process?
Yes, by choosing pre-warmed inboxes, which are already warmed. For new branded domains, the 14 days of warmup cannot be shortened without risking your deliverability.
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Can I speed up the ramp-up process?
No. The ramp-up period is pre-configured automatically and exists to protect your sender reputation as volume increases. Trying to skip or accelerate it is one of the most common causes of deliverability problems.
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My inboxes have been warming up for over 3 weeks. Why are they not ready?
Reach out to support via in-app chat or at [email protected] and the team will check the status of your warmup and advise on next steps.
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Can I send any emails at all during warmup?
You cannot send cold email campaigns from your warming inboxes during this period. However, you can and should be running Dream 100 outreach from your main business inbox. See What is the Dream 100 bonus and how do I use it?
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Does the warmup period count from when I subscribe or from when I complete my setup?
Warmup begins after your inboxes are created, which happens after DNS configuration is complete. The clock starts from when you complete your domain and inbox setup, not from when you first subscribe.
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Why is my monthly send volume lower than expected?
Campaigns do not send on weekends. Based on approximately 22 sending days per month, your actual monthly send volume per bundle is closer to 22,000 emails rather than 30,000. This is by design and applies across all tiers. In your first month, the 7-day ramp-up also reduces total sends. The Campaign page shows emails sent against an allowance of 80,000 per bundle per billing period. That is headroom so you can connect your own inboxes and send more. It is not what your Bundle inboxes will send (40 inboxes at 25 a day is about 1,000 a day).
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Also see What should I expect from my ListKit campaigns in the first 90 days?