PhantomBuster review 2026
PhantomBuster review 2026: pricing, execution time and what users say
PhantomBuster automates data extraction, enrichment and outreach on LinkedIn and more than 15 other platforms. Plans, quotas and public ratings checked on 30 September 2026.
Pricing and features verified on September 30, 2026 on PhantomBuster's public pages.
PhantomBuster is a cloud automation platform: its Phantoms scrape LinkedIn profiles, find emails and send connection requests and messages. After a 14-day free trial, paid plans run from $69 to $439 a month ($56 to $352 on annual billing), capped by execution hours and automation slots. It is excellent at collecting data, but it does not answer your prospects or book your meetings.
- Starting price
- $69 per month (Start), $56 per month billed annually
- Free plan or trial
- 14-day trial with no card, then a very limited Free plan
- Public rating
- 3.3/5 on Trustpilot (113 reviews), 4.5/5 on Capterra (64 reviews)
- Best for
- Growth teams that build their own data collection flows
What is PhantomBuster and who is it for?
PhantomBuster is built on Phantoms. Each Phantom is an automation that does one job, such as exporting a LinkedIn search, collecting everyone who liked or commented on a post, visiting profiles, sending connection requests or finding an email address. Workflows chain several Phantoms toward one goal. The product advertises live data from more than 15 platforms, including Sales Navigator, X, Instagram and Google Maps.
To prospect on LinkedIn, you pick an automation (for example LinkedIn Outreach: a connection request, an introduction message and up to three follow-ups), feed it a search or a list and schedule it. Everything runs in the cloud with your browser closed. AI credits write personalized messages and score prospects against your ideal customer profile, email credits find professional addresses. Results flow to HubSpot, lemlist, Zapier, Make or n8n, and an MCP server lets you launch automations from Claude or ChatGPT.
Billing is not per user but per shared resource: execution hours, slots and credits. It suits growth marketers, agencies and ops teams who like to assemble their own pipelines.
Who the tool is built for
- Growth marketers who extract lists (post likers and commenters, group members, Sales Navigator searches) for their CRM.
- Agencies running many LinkedIn accounts, up to 100 per workspace.
- Teams that also prospect on X, Instagram or Google Maps.
- People comfortable picking, chaining and monitoring their own automations.
How much does PhantomBuster cost in 2026?
PhantomBuster sells resources, not seats: monthly execution hours, slots (how many automations run at the same time), plus AI, email and URL finder credits, shared across the workspace and reset each billing cycle. The help center lists plans in US dollars, excluding VAT, and says Europe is usually billed in euros and the rest of the world in dollars, with the currency fixed at the first payment. The pricing page showed our visitor in France the same amounts in euros. Annual billing takes 20% off.
| Plan | Monthly price | Annual billing | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trial | Free | Not shown | Trying every Phantom for 14 days |
| Free (after the trial) | $0 | Not shown | Very light, occasional use after the trial |
| Start | $69 per month | $56 per month, billed annually | One person or a small team running a few light workflows |
| Grow | $159 per month | $128 per month, billed annually | Freelancers and teams running several workflows at once |
| Scale | $439 per month | $352 per month, billed annually | Agencies and power users running always-on automations |
Trial · Free
Included
- All Phantoms and Workflows, unlimited users
- 5 slots
- 2 hours of execution, 1,000 AI credits and 50 email credits
- MCP server
Limits
- 14 days, then the workspace moves to the Free plan
- Exports capped at 10 rows per file
Free (after the trial) · $0
Included
- Your saved automations and trial data stay available
- API access with the same row cap
Limits
- 30 minutes of execution per month
- 1 slot only
- No AI or email credits
- Exports capped at 10 rows per file
Start · $69 per month
Included
- 5 slots, 20 hours of execution per month
- 500 email credits and 10,000 AI credits per month
- 1,000 URL finder credits per month
- Unlimited exports, API and MCP server
Limits
- One connect-and-follow-up workflow already takes 2 slots
- Automations pause once the 20 hours are used
- No priority support
Grow · $159 per month
Included
- 15 slots, 80 hours of execution per month
- 2,500 email credits and 30,000 AI credits per month
- 10,000 URL finder credits per month
- Priority support
Limits
- Resources shared by the whole team
Scale · $439 per month
Included
- 50 slots, 300 hours of execution per month
- 10,000 email credits and 90,000 AI credits per month
- 20,000 URL finder credits per month
- Priority support
Limits
- Beyond 300 hours a month, a custom plan on request
- The 14-day trial needs no credit card. If you do not upgrade, the workspace moves to the Free plan on its own.
- Annual plans are paid once a year. In euros, the pricing page shows yearly totals of €672 for Start, €1,536 for Grow and €4,224 for Scale.
- When execution time runs out, automations pause until the reset or an upgrade, with no automatic overage charge.
- Some workflows take several slots (2 for Connect and send follow-up messages, 3 for Connect with profiles from a LinkedIn Search), and Chrome extension launches count too.
- Unused credits expire at the end of each cycle. The pricing page says Unlimited users, the help center says up to 100 members per workspace.
What do users say about PhantomBuster?
On 30 September 2026, PhantomBuster showed 3.3/5 on Trustpilot from 113 reviews and 4.5/5 on Capterra from 64 reviews. Trustpilot opinions are split: 52% of reviews give five stars and 34% give one. The G2 page could not be loaded that day.
Positive reviews mention no-code setup, integrations that work and time saved. Critical ones point to automations that stop working, slow support, scraped data that is sometimes wrong and a price that climbs with heavy use. The Capterra summary also lists the risk of accounts being restricted.
What are PhantomBuster's strengths?
The widest catalog around
Dozens of Phantoms for LinkedIn alone: search and Sales Navigator exports, post likers and commenters, group members, event attendees, profile visits, connection requests and messages. More than 15 platforms in total.
No per-seat pricing
The whole team shares the same resources, and one workspace can connect up to 100 LinkedIn accounts. For a larger team this is easier to budget than a price per person.
Serious integrations
Native HubSpot sync, a lemlist hand-off, Zapier, Make and n8n, API access on every plan and an MCP server to run automations from Claude or ChatGPT.
AI for scoring and personalization
AI credits score prospects against your ideal customer profile, clean job titles and write messages from the data you collected. PhantomBuster also tracks signals such as job changes.
A no-card trial and a free tier
14 days with every Phantom, then a permanent Free plan, very limited but rare in this category. The help center also publishes recommended limits per action.
What are PhantomBuster's limits?
You budget hours, not outcomes
You pay for hours, slots and credits. Once the 20 hours on Start are gone, everything stops until the next cycle. Estimating consumption before choosing a plan is not easy.
Five slots fill up fast on Start
A connect-and-follow-up flow takes 2 slots and a search-and-connect flow takes 3. Two flows fill Start, and moving to 15 slots takes the bill from $69 to $159 a month.
Conversations are on you
Its pages advertise neither an AI that answers prospects nor calendar booking. The LinkedIn Outreach workflow stops at a connection request, one message and three follow-ups. When a prospect replies, you take over.
Trial and Free plan are tightly capped
Every results file is capped at 10 rows. The Free plan gives 30 minutes of execution a month, one slot and no AI or email credits.
A toolkit you assemble yourself
You choose the Phantoms, chain them, schedule launches and respect the limits. The rate-limit guide asks you to divide recommended volumes when several automations run on the same account.
PhantomBuster vs MimikFlow: what is the difference?
| Criterion | PhantomBuster | MimikFlow |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $69 per month (Start) | €49 per month (Découverte) |
| Free trial | 14 days, no credit card | 14 days, no credit card |
| Permanent free plan | Yes30 min a month, 1 slot | No |
| Built-in prospect search | Yes, scraping LinkedIn, Sales Navigator and 15+ platforms | Yes, from a target described in a few lines |
| Buying signals | Job changes, social activity | New job, hiring, fundraising |
| AI-written first message | YesUses AI credits | Yes |
| AI answers prospects | Not advertised on its public pages | Yes, the AI Setter (Pro) |
| Calendar booking | Not advertised on its public pages | Yes, on real slots (Pro) |
| Follow-ups | Up to 3 (LinkedIn Outreach workflow) | Up to 6 (Découverte) or 8 with video (Pro) |
| Several LinkedIn accounts | Up to 100 per workspace | Agence: 2 included, up to 5 |
| Webhooks and CRM | Native HubSpot, Zapier, Make, n8n, API | Agence (Zapier, Make, n8n) |
| Channels | LinkedIn, X, Instagram, Google Maps and more | LinkedIn, WhatsApp as an option |
When is PhantomBuster the better choice?
- Your main job is collecting and enriching data (post likers and commenters, group members, emails) for your CRM or another sending tool.
- You also prospect on X, Instagram or Google Maps.
- You run many LinkedIn accounts as a team and do not want to pay per seat.
- You build your own pipelines with the API, n8n or Make, with HubSpot sync on every plan.
- You only need a very occasional extraction, and the Free plan covers it.
And when does MimikFlow fit better?
- You want replies handled and the meeting booked on real slots in your calendar (Calendly, Cal.com or iClosed): that is the AI Setter, included from Pro at €97 per month, billed in euros.
- You do not want to assemble automations: you describe your target in a few lines, MimikFlow finds up to 100 qualified prospects a week on Découverte (unlimited on Pro) and writes a first message for each one.
- You prefer a flat monthly price to a budget of hours, slots and credits.
- You want follow-through around the meeting: a reminder, a follow-up after a no-show or cancellation, and a return at the date the prospect asked for.
What is our verdict on PhantomBuster?
PhantomBuster is still a reference for extracting, enriching and moving data. A huge catalog, solid integrations and no per-seat pricing: if your work is building precise lists from posts, groups or Sales Navigator searches, it does that very well.
For end-to-end LinkedIn prospecting, it stops early. It sends connection requests, a message and three follow-ups, but its pages say nothing about answering prospects or booking meetings. Billing in hours and slots also takes some managing.
If you want one tool that finds prospects, writes, follows up, replies and books the meeting in your calendar, MimikFlow covers that path from €49 per month (Découverte) to €97 with AI replies and booking (Pro), billed in euros. For a multi-platform data collection toolkit, PhantomBuster is the better pick of the two.
What do people ask about PhantomBuster?
How much does PhantomBuster cost in 2026?
On 30 September 2026, the help center lists, excluding VAT: Start at $69 a month, Grow at $159 and Scale at $439. On annual billing they come to $56, $128 and $352 a month. Customers in Europe are usually billed the same amounts in euros, which is what the pricing page showed our visitor in France.
Does PhantomBuster have a free trial?
Yes: 14 days with no credit card, every Phantom, 2 hours of execution, 5 slots, 1,000 AI credits and 50 email credits. Exports are capped at 10 rows per file. Afterwards the workspace moves to the Free plan: 30 minutes of execution a month and one slot.
PhantomBuster or MimikFlow: which should I choose?
PhantomBuster if you mainly want to collect and enrich data on LinkedIn and elsewhere, then send it to other tools. MimikFlow if you want to go all the way to the meeting: prospect search from your target, an AI-written first message, follow-ups and, from Pro at €97 per month, an AI that answers prospects and books real slots in your calendar.
What is execution time on PhantomBuster?
It is the total time your automations can run each month: 20 hours on Start, 80 on Grow and 300 on Scale. When it runs out, everything pauses until the reset or an upgrade.
What are PhantomBuster slots?
Slots set how many automations run at the same time: 5 on Start, 15 on Grow and 50 on Scale. Some workflows take 2 or 3, and launches from the Chrome extension count too.
Is PhantomBuster safe for my LinkedIn account?
No automation tool removes the risk of a LinkedIn restriction. PhantomBuster says it only acts through your own account, without fake profiles or ways around platform safeguards, and it publishes recommended limits, for example 50 to 80 connection requests a week for a new or rarely used account. It adds that respecting them lowers the risk but is not a guarantee. MimikFlow caps invitations at 40 a day, lets you choose your sending hours and applies a weekly ceiling tied to your LinkedIn plan.
Can I cancel PhantomBuster at any time?
Yes, from the Billing page. Your plan stays active until the end of the paid period and you can export your data before the account closes. Annual plans are charged once a year.
Which sources is this review based on?
Every price, limit and rating on this page was read on September 30, 2026 on PhantomBuster's public pages or on the review page cited. Vendors change their offers, so check their pricing page before you subscribe. MimikFlow is neither affiliated with nor endorsed by PhantomBuster.
Vendor pages
- PhantomBuster: pricing
- PhantomBuster: what each plan includes
- PhantomBuster: free trial
- PhantomBuster: homepage
- PhantomBuster: Outbound workflows
- PhantomBuster: Lead prioritization
- PhantomBuster: Chrome extension
- PhantomBuster: LinkedIn automations
- PhantomBuster: recommended rate limits
- PhantomBuster: several LinkedIn accounts
Review pages
Where can you compare PhantomBuster with other tools?
Want to see what MimikFlow would do instead of PhantomBuster?
14-day free trial, no credit card. From €49 per month, with the AI Setter and calendar booking from the Pro plan at €97 per month (billed in euros).
Which other tools have we reviewed?
Explore more
Other resources to dig deeper into LinkedIn prospecting