Trestle vs Optimal Dial

Steps

1. 1

   Test it with your own list, not their demo.

   Take 200 numbers you plan to call this week. Run them through Trestle first, since it costs about $3 for 200.

2. 2

   Cut the low scores and call the rest.

   Trestle's own team told us to cut numbers scored 30 or below. Keep the cut numbers in a separate tab so you can check them later.

3. 3

   Check 50 contacts by hand.

   Call or look up each one. Mark right person, front desk, voicemail, dead line or wrong person.

4. 4

   Only then try Optimal Dial on the hard titles.

   If your execs still don't answer, run that same group through Optimal Dial and compare.

5. 5

   Pay month to month or pay as you go before you sign a yearly deal.

   Trestle is pay as you go. Optimal Dial is monthly, with a 14 day money back window, so test inside that window.

6. 6

   Drop it if more than 20% is wrong.

   That's Kevin Hopp's rule. If 1 in 5 of the numbers a tool calls good are bad, it's not worth the money.

Side by side

Trestle: try first

• What it does: Tells you if a number is a mobile, landline or internet line, plus an activity score from 0 to 100.
• Price: $0.015 a number for phone validation, no monthly fee, free start with no card (checked Oct 28, 2026).
• Fits: Anyone loading numbers into a dialer.
• Skip it if: You only send email.

What people say: G2: 5.0 out of 5 from 10 reviews (shown in a search result for G2's Trestle page, read Oct 28, 2026). SoftwareFinder: 5 out of 5 from 10 reviews (read Oct 28, 2026).

"Using this has been incredibly simple." (Arjun K. on SoftwareFinder)

Most common praise: simple to start and a helpful team. Most common complaint: only a handful of reviews, and one summary said the dashboard reports are light.

Optimal Dial: solid for hard to reach titles

• What it does: Scores which numbers are likely to answer and watches for spam flags on your caller ID.
• Price: Starter $245 a month (or $219 a month billed yearly), Growth $445, Scale from $895. About $0.22 down to $0.11 a credit, one number is 1 credit. No free trial, 14 day money back (checked Oct 28, 2026).
• Fits: Calling execs who rarely pick up.
• Skip it if: Your list is small or your buyers answer the phone.

What people say: G2 says there are not enough reviews of Optimal Dial to show a rating (G2 seller page, read Oct 28, 2026). We couldn't read public reviews for this one today. Most common praise and complaint: not enough public reviews to say.

The money math

At $0.015 a number, 1,000 Trestle checks cost about $15. On Optimal Dial, 1,000 numbers is 1,000 credits, and at the per credit range above that's roughly $110 to $220, plus you're on a monthly plan. That gap is why Trestle goes first. Optimal Dial earns its price only if it finds pickups on execs that Trestle can't.

Prompts you can copy

Compare the two on the same numbers

I ran the same [number] phone numbers through Trestle and Optimal Dial, then called them. Here are the rows: name, title, phone, Trestle line type, Trestle score, Optimal Dial score, and what happened on the call (right person, front desk, voicemail, dead line, wrong person).

[paste rows]

Tell me: which tool's high scores reached the right person more often, which tool cut good numbers by mistake, and the cost per right person reached if Trestle costs $0.015 a number and Optimal Dial costs [price per credit]. Under 150 words, plain words.

Split my list before I pay for the pricier check

Here is my call list with titles: [paste name, title, company, phone].

Sort it into two groups. Group 1: titles that usually answer their own phone, like owners, office managers and sales managers. Group 2: senior titles that rarely pick up, like CHRO, CTO, CFO and VP. Give me the count of each group and the two lists. I will run Group 2 through a second phone check.

Sources

FAQ

Can I use both?

Yes. Run everything through Trestle first because it's cheap, then send only the hard to reach titles to Optimal Dial.

Does Optimal Dial have a free trial?

No. It had no free trial when we checked on Oct 28, 2026, but it offers a 14 day money back window.

Why did a number with a high Trestle score go to a front desk?

Trestle checks the line, not the person. A busy main office line looks very active. If you call and it's a switchboard, trust the call.

What if neither tool helps my pickup rate?

Then the problem may be the list or the time you call, not the numbers. Check 50 by hand and look at who you're calling before you buy another tool.

Rather have it done for you? We build the system that handles your outreach, one time, and you own it. See how it works.

First posted October 28, 2026. Last updated October 28, 2026. Free to copy and use, CC BY 4.0.