Quick answer

BDR usually owns inbound or named accounts, SDR owns outbound prospecting, AE owns the close. Comp climbs SDR or BDR ($60-85K OTE) to AE ($120-220K OTE). Title conventions vary by company.

By Vozah Editorial·Last updated May 10, 2026

BDR vs SDR vs AE: Roles, Compensation, and Career Path Explained

BDR, SDR, and AE are the three core seats in a modern B2B sales motion, and the titles confuse people because the conventions are not consistent across companies. The dominant US SaaS pattern: BDRs work inbound and named-account outbound, SDRs work cold outbound, AEs own the deal from qualified meeting to signed contract. This page disambiguates the three roles, covers compensation ranges, and maps the career path from prospector to closer.

Fast-Scan Comparison

| Role | Core job | Typical OTE (US, 2026) | Tenure before next step | |---|---|---|---| | SDR (Sales Development Rep) | Cold outbound, book qualified meetings | $60K to $85K | 12 to 18 months to AE | | BDR (Business Development Rep) | Inbound qualification, named-account outbound | $60K to $90K | 12 to 18 months to AE | | AE (Account Executive) | Discovery to close on qualified pipeline | $120K to $220K | 18 to 36 months to Senior AE |

What Each Role Actually Does

SDR work is cold outbound. The day is dial-heavy, sequence-heavy, and metrics-heavy: dials, connects, meetings booked, meetings held, meetings qualified. SDRs work from prospect lists (often built by the rep with help from sales ops or RevOps) and run a cold call, email, and LinkedIn cadence to book first meetings. SDRs do not run discovery in depth; they qualify enough to know the prospect is worth an AE's time. See Vozah for SDRs and the day in the life of an SDR for the granular pattern.

BDR work is mixed, and the mix depends on the company. The most common US SaaS convention: BDRs handle inbound MQLs (Marketing Qualified Leads) routed from the website, content, or paid acquisition, plus named-account outbound on a defined target list. The work is less dial-volume and more research-and-personalization. BDRs typically book higher-quality meetings per attempt than SDRs because inbound is warmer, but the meeting volume per rep is similar to SDRs. See Vozah for BDRs.

AE work is the close. Once an SDR or BDR books a qualified meeting, the AE owns the deal through discovery, demo, proposal, negotiation, procurement, and signature. AE work is forecast-heavy, multi-stakeholder, and process-heavy at enterprise; cycle lengths run 30 to 180 days depending on segment. See Vozah for account executives and Vozah for closers.

Compensation Ranges by Role

| Role | Base salary | OTE (on-target earnings) | Variable mix | Top performer earnings | |---|---|---|---|---| | SDR (entry) | $45K to $58K | $60K to $78K | 70/30 to 75/25 | $90K to $115K at 150% of plan | | SDR (senior) | $55K to $72K | $75K to $100K | 70/30 | $115K to $140K at 150% | | BDR (entry) | $48K to $62K | $63K to $85K | 70/30 to 75/25 | $95K to $120K at 150% | | AE (first year, SMB) | $65K to $90K | $120K to $160K | 50/50 typical | $200K+ at 150% | | AE (mid-market) | $85K to $120K | $160K to $220K | 50/50 to 60/40 | $280K+ at 150% | | AE (enterprise) | $110K to $160K | $220K to $400K+ | 50/50 | $500K+ at top performance |

The two biggest variables on these ranges are industry and geography. Tech and SaaS pay 20 to 40% higher OTE than agency, recruiting, or industrial B2B for the same role. Major metros (SF, NYC) add 10 to 25% on top of national medians.

See the SDR salary guide for deeper SDR-specific compensation data.

A Typical Day

SDR day. 100 to 150 dials, 20 to 40 personalized emails, 10 to 20 LinkedIn touches, two to four meetings booked on a good day. Manager 1:1 once a week. Practice or coaching session two to five times a week if the team runs disciplined enablement. See calls per day benchmarks.

BDR day. 30 to 80 dials, deeper email personalization, named-account research, sometimes hosting inbound demos before AE handoff. The shape is similar to SDR but lower volume per touch with higher prep per touch. Inbound BDRs run a queue of MQLs and route the qualified ones; outbound BDRs run a target list of strategic accounts.

AE day. Two to five customer-facing meetings (discovery, demo, working sessions, negotiation), pipeline review, deal forecasting in CRM, internal alignment with SE / sales engineering, procurement and security questionnaire responses, and the never-ending email and Slack on active deals. Less dialing, more thinking. AEs at enterprise spend significant time on multi-thread relationship building across six to twelve stakeholders.

The Standard Career Path

SDR or BDR (12 to 18 months). Learn pipeline generation, cold outreach, qualification basics.
Senior SDR or SDR II (optional intermediate step, six to twelve months at some companies).
AE (24 to 36 months). Own the close. Most reps run SMB or mid-market AE before going enterprise.
Senior AE / Strategic AE (24 to 48 months). Larger deals, longer cycles, more autonomy.
Sales Manager / Team Lead (2 to 5 years). First-line management. Many AEs skip this and stay individual contributor (IC) for higher comp.
Director, VP, CRO. Org leadership.

The most common alternative path: stay IC and move up segments (SMB AE to mid-market AE to enterprise AE to strategic accounts). Top enterprise AEs often out-earn first-line sales managers; the IC path is not a downgrade. See how to get promoted from SDR to AE for the specific transition.

When Title Conventions Break

The dominant US SaaS convention (BDR = inbound, SDR = outbound) is not universal. Common deviations:

Inverted convention. Some companies, especially older or non-tech, use BDR for outbound and SDR for inbound.
Single-title. Many startups use only "SDR" for all pipeline-generation work, inbound and outbound.
MDR / LDR. Some companies split out "Marketing Development Rep" or "Lead Development Rep" for inbound, reserving SDR for outbound.
ADR. "Account Development Rep" sometimes replaces BDR at companies running account-based motions.

When evaluating roles, read the job description for activity mix (inbound vs outbound percentage, dial expectations, account ownership) rather than relying on title. The titles are too inconsistent to trust.

How to Prepare for the Next Step

SDR or BDR preparing for AE: build discovery skill before you need it. AE work is multi-stakeholder discovery, demo skill, procurement navigation, and negotiation, none of which pure SDR or BDR work teaches in volume. Reps who practice these skills before promotion ramp faster in role. See Vozah for new hires and the new hire ramp statistics.

AE preparing for senior or enterprise: extend cycle complexity. Run MEDDPICC, drill discovery practice, and rep negotiation scenarios.

Drill the Next Role Now

Reps who get promoted faster are not the ones who optimize for the current role's metrics; they are the ones who are visibly ready for the next role before the slot opens. Vozah lets SDRs and BDRs drill discovery, demo, and objection handling against AI buyers, so AE-readiness is built before the promotion conversation.

Build AE-ready skills with Vozah

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a BDR and an SDR?

Convention varies, but the most common US SaaS pattern is: BDR (Business Development Rep) handles inbound leads and named-account outbound; SDR (Sales Development Rep) handles cold outbound prospecting. Some companies invert the convention, some use the titles interchangeably, and some use only one. Job description is more reliable than title.

Is an AE more senior than an SDR or BDR?

Yes. AE (Account Executive) is the closer role; SDRs and BDRs feed pipeline to AEs. AE is the standard next step on the career path, typically after 12 to 18 months of strong SDR or BDR performance. Comp roughly doubles from SDR to first-year AE.

Which role pays more, BDR or SDR?

At most companies, comp is similar within a few thousand dollars. BDRs working named-account outbound or strategic inbound sometimes earn slightly more because the meetings are harder to book and convert at higher rates. The bigger pay variable is industry (tech and SaaS pay more) and company stage (later stage typically pays higher base, lower variable).