PhantomBuster

Overview

PhantomBuster is a prospecting platform that automates lead sourcing, enrichment, and outreach across more than 15 platforms. It is best for individuals and sales teams building repeatable, multi-network workflows. Its breadth is useful, but execution hours and export limits make capacity central to choosing a plan.

Key features

More than 100 automations cover data extraction, targeted lead-list building, and real-time enrichment. Leads can be filtered, cleaned, scored, and segmented using more than 1,000 data points, giving teams several ways to shape prospect lists before outreach. That range suits varied workflows, but is less of an advantage if a team needs only one narrow task.

LinkedIn workflows include personalized messages, follow-ups, connection requests, likes, and event invites. The Chrome extension can surface contact details from LinkedIn profiles, qualify prospects, and save them to lists or HubSpot. This makes the product a strong fit for LinkedIn-led prospecting without limiting it to one network; prospect discovery, social listening, relationship CRM, and outreach automation are also supported.

Automations run in the cloud, so they continue after the browser is closed. The HTTPS API returns JSON and can launch or abort automations, then retrieve status and output. That combination suits teams connecting prospecting workflows to their own systems. Integrations include HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, Clay, ChatGPT, Zapier, Make, and n8n.

The privacy policy describes encryption, network partitioning, role-based access controls, MFA, secure backups, audits, intrusion tests, and a bug bounty program. The company says platform data is hosted on servers in the European Union and that it does not sell user data to third parties. Support requests can be submitted through the Help Center.

Pricing

PhantomBuster has a free plan and a 14-day trial. The Free plan costs nothing and includes 5 automation slots, 2h execution time, 50 email credits, 1k AI credits, and 100 URL finder credits/month. Exports are limited to 10 rows, so it works for trying small workflows rather than routinely exporting larger lists.

Start costs $56 a month, billed $672 billed annually. It keeps the 5 automation slots while raising execution time to 20h/month, with 500 email credits/month, 10k AI credits/month, 1k URL finder credits/month, and unlimited exports. The maker positions it for individuals or small teams doing light prospecting and building small lists; the fixed slot count and execution allowance still constrain broader use.

Grow costs $128 a month, billed $1,536 billed annually. It provides 15 automation slots, 80h execution time/month, 2,500 email credits/month, 30k AI credits/month, 10k URL finder credits/month, and unlimited exports. It is the more practical step for teams running several workflows and building lists at higher volume.

Scale costs $352 a month, billed $4,224 billed annually. Its 50 automation slots, 300h execution time/month, 10,000 email credits/month, 90k AI credits/month, 20k URL finder credits/month, and unlimited exports target substantial ongoing workloads. Across plans, the execution allowance matters: when monthly time runs out, automations pause until reset or upgrade, with no automatic overage charges.

Platforms

PhantomBuster is available on web, through a Chrome extension, and via API. Cloud execution means browser closure does not stop launched automations; the API provides HTTPS endpoints for launching or aborting them and retrieving status and output.

Who it's for

Choose PhantomBuster if prospecting spans multiple platforms, benefits from enrichment before outreach, and needs workflows that can run in the cloud or connect to a sales stack. It is less suitable when export volume or execution time is hard to predict and the plan allowance would interrupt ongoing work.

Pros and cons

• Pros: Broad automation coverage and lead filtering, scoring, and segmentation support a complete prospecting workflow rather than data extraction alone.
• Pros: Cloud execution, API controls, and integrations provide options for operating workflows beyond the browser.
• Pros: The maker describes multiple security controls and says data is hosted in the EU and not sold to third parties.
• Cons: Monthly execution limits can pause automations until reset or upgrade, making capacity planning important.
• Cons: The free plan caps exports at 10 rows and includes just 2h execution time, limiting its usefulness for ongoing list-building.

Alternatives

Social Selling Software is the category to browse when comparing products for social selling more broadly.

Consider TexAu if its freemium offer and 50 starter credits on the free plan are a better starting point; its platforms include macOS, web, and Windows. Choose OutX.ai if its free plan's 500 leads per week and watchlists suit the job better than PhantomBuster's workflow and execution-hour model. Buzz is another freemium option, with Android, iOS, web, and extension support; its Core plan is $79 a month per seat, billed monthly, and includes 500 credits/month.

LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a paid alternative with Android, iOS, and web support; its Core plan is $119.99 a month per license and includes 50 InMail credits per month. Linked Helper offers a 14-day trial with full Pro access, no daily caps, and no credit card requirement, across Linux, macOS, Windows, and self-hosted platforms. Consider Oktopost if its paid Professional or Advanced plan, each with one marketing user, matches your needs; both have custom pricing. SocialOS is a web-based paid option whose Base plan costs $199 a month and includes 5,000 actions/month and two LinkedIn sender profiles. PostEagle is a web-based paid alternative with a Starter plan at $29 a month, including three topics and 50 enrichments/month.

Verdict

PhantomBuster is a strong choice for individuals and sales teams that want multi-network prospect discovery, enrichment, and outreach in automated workflows, with API and sales-stack connections. Its main advantage is the breadth of prospecting tasks it can combine; look elsewhere if your work cannot tolerate monthly execution pauses or the free plan's tight export cap.