What does PhantomBuster do?
- Exports lists from LinkedIn search, Sales Navigator searches, post likers and commenters and event guests, plus sources such as Google Maps, Instagram, X, Reddit, GitHub and YouTube (the pricing page counts 15+ platforms).
- Meters usage by execution time and slots rather than seats: Start includes 20 hours a month and 5 parallel automation slots, Grow 80 hours and 15 slots, Scale 300 hours and 50 slots, all with unlimited users.
- Pauses automations when the monthly execution time runs out instead of charging overage, according to the pricing FAQ.
- Chains Phantoms into Workflows, for example post engagers to profile scrape to CRM export, and runs them in the cloud on a schedule with auto-refresh so only new results are added.
- Finds emails with separate email credits (500 a month on Start, 10,000 on Scale) using enrichment sub-processors that its published list names as Icypeas, Dropcontact, Bright Data and BetterContact.
- Sends LinkedIn connection requests and follow-up messages through your own LinkedIn session, with daily caps and randomised timing you configure; messages only reach 1st-degree connections.
Where does PhantomBuster fit in a GTM engineering stack?
PhantomBuster is the LinkedIn sourcing and action layer in a GTM engineering stack: it turns live LinkedIn activity, such as post engagers or Sales Navigator searches, into rows for Clay, and can execute LinkedIn touches on the rows Clay qualifies.
- 1A PhantomBuster agent exports commenters on a competitor's LinkedIn post on a daily schedule
- 2Clay's Pull in leads source imports only the new container results into a table
- 3Clay waterfalls work emails and company data, then scores rows on title, headcount and industry
- 4Qualified rows go back through Push Data to a PhantomBuster connection-request automation, or to Smartlead for email
- 5Accepted connections and enriched contacts sync to HubSpot or Salesforce
See how every layer connects in Clay integrations: how the GTM engineering stack fits together.
How do you use PhantomBuster?
PhantomBuster's official walkthrough, from the PhantomBuster YouTube channel.
How much does PhantomBuster cost?
Prices as shown on PhantomBuster's pricing page on 17 October 2026 (EUR). Free plan: No permanent free plan. The Trial tier is free with 5 automation slots, 2 hours of execution time, 50 email credits, 1,000 AI credits, 100 URL finder credits and exports limited to 10 rows. Free trial: A 14-day trial on the free Trial tier; PhantomBuster says no credit card is needed.
Trial
Free
14 days
5 slots, 2h execution time, 50 email credits, 1k AI credits, 100 URL finder credits, exports limited to 10 rows.
Start
€69/month, or €56/month billed annually (€672 a year)
Monthly or annual
Unlimited users, 5 slots, 20h execution time, 500 email credits, 10k AI credits and 1k URL finder credits a month, unlimited exports.
Grow
€159/month, or €128/month billed annually (€1,536 a year)
Monthly or annual
15 slots, 80h execution time, 2,500 email credits, 30k AI credits and 10k URL finder credits a month.
Scale
€439/month, or €352/month billed annually (€4,224 a year)
Monthly or annual
50 slots, 300h execution time, 10,000 email credits, 90k AI credits and 20k URL finder credits a month.
Prices were shown in euros when the page was loaded; the annual toggle advertises savings of 20%. All plans include the MCP server, Chrome extension, multiple LinkedIn account connections and integrations.
Who is PhantomBuster best for?
A good fit if you
- GTM engineers who need fresh LinkedIn signal lists (post engagers, event attendees, Sales Navigator search exports) as an input to a Clay table rather than a static database.
- Teams whose sourcing goes beyond LinkedIn, since the same account covers Google Maps, Instagram, X, Reddit and GitHub extraction.
- Shared team accounts: every plan includes unlimited users, and cost scales with execution hours and slots, not seats.
Look elsewhere if you
- Running multi-sender LinkedIn outreach with a shared inbox; PhantomBuster's outreach automations are single tasks, not a sequencer with reply management.
- Anyone who needs a pre-built contact database: the pricing FAQ says PhantomBuster does not sell or provide pre-built databases.
- Teams that cannot accept LinkedIn account risk: LinkedIn's help centre prohibits third-party software that scrapes or automates activity on its site, and PhantomBuster itself says you are responsible for staying within platform rules.
- Evaluating on the Trial plan alone, because Trial exports are limited to 10 rows.
Does PhantomBuster integrate with Clay and your CRM?
- Clay
- Native Clay integration. Clay lists PhantomBuster as a Clay-built integration on all Clay plans, with three actions that need your own PhantomBuster account. Clay reads results with "Pull in leads" (a table source) and "Pull Data" (a column), both keyed on a PhantomBuster agent ID with the latest container or a specific container ID. Clay writes with "Push Data", which sends mapped columns such as a LinkedIn profile URL to an existing PhantomBuster automation; Clay cannot create the automation. (source)
- Integrations
- Native CRM integrations with HubSpot, Salesforce and Pipedrive; enrichment with Clay, BetterContact, Hunter, Snov.io and Dropcontact; ChatGPT for AI personalisation; Zapier, Make and n8n for workflows; and an MCP server for Claude and ChatGPT. (source)
- GDPR
- PhantomBuster's Data Processing Agreement (The Phantom Company) names the customer as controller and PhantomBuster as processor under Article 28. It lets PhantomBuster host data within the EEA, with transfers outside it under adequacy or Standard Contractual Clauses, and commits to breach notice within 48 working hours. The sub-processor list (updated 21 July 2026) shows AWS in Ireland with EU storage, plus US AI providers including OpenAI, Anthropic and Google under SCCs. You remain responsible for the lawful basis for prospecting the people you extract. (source)
- Data coverage
- PhantomBuster does not hold its own contact database. It extracts what is visible to your connected accounts in real time from 15+ platforms, and finds emails through third-party enrichment sub-processors (Icypeas, Dropcontact, Bright Data, BetterContact). (source)
What are the best PhantomBuster alternatives?
Other LinkedIn automation tools that do the same job in a GTM engineering stack, with their own trade-offs.
Web scraping and automation platform with 90,000+ ready-made scrapers (Actors), billed by usage or per result.
- Pricing
- Free; paid from $17/mo (annual)
- Free trial
- None listed
LinkedIn outreach automation that rotates sending across multiple LinkedIn accounts, with a unified inbox for agencies and teams.
- Pricing
- $63/sender/mo (annual)
- Free trial
- Free trial on Growth and Agency; the FAQ describes 14 days with no credit card and 3 LinkedIn accounts. A 30-day trial of Unlimited can be requested.
French multichannel sequencer that runs LinkedIn, email, voice messages and calls from one lead record, billed per sending identity.
- Pricing
- €50/identity/mo (annual)
- Free trial
- 14-day free trial without card details, limited to 1 identity; all features except custom sequences, which support can enable on request.
Multichannel outreach platform for cold email, LinkedIn and calls, with a built-in lead database and warm-up.
- Pricing
- $55/mo (annual)
- Free trial
- 14-day free trial with Multichannel features (except in-app calls) and 200 free credits, per the pricing page FAQ. A banner on the same page advertised an extended 30-day trial on 17 October 2026.
PhantomBuster FAQs
Is PhantomBuster against LinkedIn's terms?
LinkedIn's help centre says it does not permit third-party software, bots or browser extensions that scrape or automate activity on its website, and accounts using them can be restricted. PhantomBuster runs through your own LinkedIn session with caps and pacing, but its own guidance says you are responsible for staying within platform rules. Treat any LinkedIn automation as an account risk you choose to take.
What happens when PhantomBuster runs out of execution time?
PhantomBuster pauses your automations until the monthly execution time resets or you upgrade, and it does not apply overage charges automatically. Execution time is consumed only while a Phantom is actively running, so long scrapes and frequent schedules drain it fastest.
How many LinkedIn connection requests should PhantomBuster send per day?
PhantomBuster's account safety guide suggests 10 to 15 connection requests a day on a new account and 15 to 25 on a warm one, noting many users stay under about 100 a week. LinkedIn does not publish official limits, so these are vendor recommendations rather than rules.
Can I send LinkedIn post engagers from PhantomBuster into Clay automatically?
Yes. Point Clay's "Pull in leads with PhantomBuster" source at the agent that exports post likers or commenters, and scheduled pulls can import only new container results. You then enrich and score those rows in Clay before pushing qualified ones back to an outreach Phantom or a sequencer.
Does PhantomBuster find email addresses?
Yes, PhantomBuster enriches profiles with emails using email credits that are separate from execution time, from 50 on the Trial to 10,000 a month on Scale. Its sub-processor list names Icypeas, Dropcontact, Bright Data and BetterContact as the enrichment providers behind this.
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Sources
Checked on 17 October 2026.
- PhantomBuster pricing
- PhantomBuster integrations
- PhantomBuster Data Processing Agreement
- PhantomBuster list of sub-processors
- PhantomBuster: How to automate LinkedIn outreach without getting restricted
- PhantomBuster: PhantomBuster and Clay integration
- Clay: PhantomBuster integration
- Clay University: PhantomBuster integration overview
- LinkedIn Help: Prohibited software and extensions
Pricing, integrations and data policies are checked against PhantomBuster's own pages. How we research tools.