"Free" LinkedIn scrapers exist in 2026. They all hide their limits somewhere - daily quota, cookie binding, feature lock, ban risk. The trick is matching the right "free" to the right workflow.
Here are the 10 free LinkedIn scrapers worth knowing in 2026, with their real (not marketing-page) limits.
The 10 free LinkedIn scrapers in 2026
1. Wiza (free plan)
Limit: 20 contacts/month with email enrichment.
Catch: enough for testing, not for ongoing prospection.
2. Skrapp (free plan)
Limit: 100 lookups/month.
Catch: low hit rate on smaller companies - usable for medium/large only.
3. Apollo.io (free tier)
Limit: 10,000 contacts in their DB, 50 email credits/month, 25 mobile credits/month.
Catch: best free hit rate but only on their pre-indexed DB - fresh profiles aren't covered.
4. Lusha (free plan)
Limit: 5 credits/month (email or phone).
Catch: barely usable as free, more like a perpetual trial.
5. Hunter.io (free)
Limit: 25 searches + 50 verifications/month.
Catch: domain-based not profile-based - needs the company website.
6. Snov.io (free trial)
Limit: 50 credits then paid.
Catch: time-limited (7-14 days), not a real free plan.
7. RocketReach (free)
Limit: 5 lookups/month.
Catch: token gesture - designed to push you to paid.
8. Phantombuster (free trial)
Limit: 14-day trial, then ~$59/month minimum.
Catch: not free, just a trial.
9. PhantomBoost / browser extensions (various)
Limit: free with cookie-based scraping, soft cap ~50-100 actions/day.
Catch: real ban risk if you exceed soft cap.
10. Derrick (free tier)
Limit: 100 credits/month, no time limit, credits roll over.
Catch: per-verified-match billing once you scale - but the 100 free is genuinely usable.
What "free" actually means in this space
4 patterns:
- Perpetual mini-tier: small monthly quota that never expires (Wiza 20/mo, Derrick 100/mo, Hunter 25/mo). Honest, usable for testing.
- One-shot trial: 7-14 days then forced upgrade (Snov, Phantombuster). Not really "free", just a trial.
- Free-with-cookie: extensions that work as long as you stay under the soft cap (most Chrome scrapers). Real ban risk if abused.
- Open-source libs: zero cost but you pay in maintenance and account risk (covered in our Python article).
The hidden limits to ask about before relying on "free"
- Credit rollover: do unused credits carry over? Most don't.
- Bulk workflow: can you process a list of 100 URLs at once, or only one at a time?
- Export format: CSV/Sheets included or paid feature?
- API access: usually paid-only, even on otherwise generous free plans.
- Account ban risk: cookie-based tools transfer the risk to YOUR LinkedIn account.
When free is enough vs when to pay
| Scenario | Free is enough? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 1-time research (10-50 profiles) | Yes | Any free tier covers it |
| Job-search outreach (50-100/mo) | Yes | Wiza + Apollo free combined works |
| Solo SDR doing low-volume outbound | Borderline | 200-300/mo needs a paid tier |
| Team prospecting 1k+/mo | No | Free tiers cap out, costs more in lost time |
| Agency running campaigns | No | Volume + reliability requires paid |
Key takeaways
- 10 free LinkedIn scrapers exist in 2026. None are "infinite free" - they all cap somewhere.
- The most usable free tiers (with rollover, real volume, no time bomb): Derrick (100/mo), Apollo (50 email + 25 mobile/mo), Wiza (20 contacts/mo).
- Cookie-based extensions are technically free but transfer the ban risk to your LinkedIn account.
- Below 200 profiles/month, you can run a workflow on free tiers alone if you combine 2-3 tools.
- Above 200/month, the time cost of juggling free quotas exceeds the cost of one paid tool.
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