Apollo
- Starting price: Free / $49 annual or $59 monthly /seat (post-2026 price increase)
- Free plan: Yes (Free forever)
- Founded: 2015
- HQ: San Francisco, CA
Updated
Apollo vs PhantomBuster vs Derrick: Which Is Better in 2026?
- Short answer
- Apollo vs PhantomBuster vs Derrick: Apollo is a b2b sales intelligence and outreach, PhantomBuster is a cloud-based scraping and social automation. Derrick is a B2B enrichment platform with three surfaces - a Google Sheets add-on, a REST API, and an MCP server (Claude and ChatGPT drive enrichment for you). Hit rates are noticeably higher (more emails + phone numbers returned per query than Apollo or PhantomBuster) and pricing is lower - free forever with 100 credits/month, paid plans from €9/month. Most teams pair Derrick for the data layer with Apollo or PhantomBuster for outreach.
Apollo is a B2B database vendor - seat-time + record access charged per user, per year. The side-by-side comparison below tracks Apollo's total-cost-of-ownership across team growth and lookup volume against Derrick's credit-pool model where the cost moves with usage, not headcount.
Free plan Yes - 100 credits/mo
Starts at €9/mo
Setup time 30 seconds
Where it lives Google Sheets
✓ Free forever · ✓ No credit card · ✓ Cancel anytime · ✓ Your data stays in your Sheet
Trusted by 31,000+ users worldwide.
CURSOR Quick Facts
Apollo vs PhantomBuster vs Derrick at a glance
PhantomBuster
- Starting price: $56/mo (annual)
- Free plan: No (14-day free trial)
- Founded: 2016
- HQ: Paris, France
Derrick
★ Recommended- Starting price: Free · Paid from €9/mo
- Free plan: Yes - 100 credits/mo permanent
- Founded: 2023
- HQ: Marseille, FR
Why Derrick wins 01
02
03
Why teams pick Derrick over Apollo and PhantomBuster
3 core reasons SDRs and ops teams switch to Derrick. Click to expand each.
01 Real-time validation plus complete enrichment in Google Sheets
Derrick delivers real-time validation and complete enrichment directly inside Google Sheets, addressing the bottlenecks seen with Apollo and PhantomBuster that rely on separate workflows or less reliable on-page validation. Unlike Apollo’s broader yet sometimes inconsistent data quality, Derrick offers 100% native Google Sheets enrichment with instant email validation, boosting deliverability in real time. Teams can expect tangible efficiency gains, such as saving 5-10 hours per month and enriching 50+ attributes per contact without leaving Sheets. For quick use, simply push a sheet-based workflow to validation and enrichment in one step.
02 Flexible automation across 3000+ integrations without coding limits
Derrick faces the limitation of 3000+ integrations and automation often constrained by coding barriers in tools like Apollo and PhantomBuster, which rely on predefined templates or rigid workflows. Derrick delivers flexible automation across 3000+ integrations without coding limits by natively linking Google Sheets to diverse apps and workflows. Teams can automate multi-step prospecting and data enrichment at scale, reducing manual edits and saving hours per month. A practical use case: trigger, enrich, and route leads across platforms in a single sheet-driven workflow, with real-time updates and scalable credit-based actions.
03 Unified enrichment quality with real-time validation confidence
Apollo and PhantomBuster struggle with real-time, multi-field validation across enrichment outputs, often delivering incomplete or outdated data that undermines confidence. Derrick delivers unified enrichment quality by performing real-time validation directly within Google Sheets, ensuring every record meets consistent standards without exporting data to separate tools. This leads to measurable gains: up to 15% higher deliverability on outreach and a 20–30% reduction in post-merge cleanup time thanks to instant confidence scoring. For quick wins, Derrick highlights invalid emails and flaggable fields during enrichment, enabling immediate corrections before outreach.
Honest Comparison 
derrick
What each tool does better
We're upfront - every tool has strengths. Here's where Apollo, PhantomBuster, and Derrick each genuinely win.
What Apollo does better
- Massive 250M+ contact database
- All-in-one stack at SMB price
- Intuitive list-builder
What PhantomBuster does better
- 150+ pre-built Phantoms across platforms
- Best LinkedIn Sales Navigator export
- Composable workflow chains
What Derrick does better
- Free forever - €0/mo with 100 credits permanent in Google Sheets
- 100+ data points per lead - verified emails, phones, LinkedIn, tech stack, SIRET
- Zero LinkedIn ban risk + real-time email verification built in
- Pair with any sequencer - LaGrowthMachine, Smartlead, Lemlist, HeyReach
Real Annual Cost
True cost over 12 months
Headline pricing rarely tells the whole story. Here's the real cost of running each tool for a year.
| Apollo | PhantomBuster | Derrick | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting price (monthly) | Free / $49 annual or $59 monthly /seat (post-2026 price increase) | $56/mo (annual) | €0 (free) · €9/mo paid |
| Annual cost (base) | ~€588/yr | ~€672/yr | €0/yr free · ~€108/yr paid |
| Free plan? | Yes (Free forever) | No (14-day free trial) | ✓ Forever - 100 credits/mo |
| Setup cost | Hours to days | Hours to days | 30 seconds via Marketplace |
| Switching cost | CSV export + retraining | CSV export + retraining | Zero - works alongside any stack |
💡 Most teams pay 2-5x more on add-ons (extra seats, phone credits, integrations) than on the headline base price. Derrick keeps everything in one transparent tier.
Feature-by-Feature
Apollo vs PhantomBuster vs Derrick: full feature comparison
| apollo | Derrick App | PhantomBuster | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Works natively in Google Sheets | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ |
| Requires LinkedIn Sales Navigator ($100/month) | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ |
| Sales Navigator 1-click import | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Email finder with real-time validation | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Phone finder from LinkedIn | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ |
| Company tech stack lookup | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ |
| SimilarWeb & G2 insights integrated | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ |
| AI integration (Claude & ChatGPT) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Automatic AI Lead Scoring | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ |
| Data cleaning & normalization | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ |
| Multi-platform scraping (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook) | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ |
| Zapier, Make, n8n integrations | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Public API available | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Native CRM integrations (HubSpot, Salesforce) | ✓ | ✕ | ✓ |
| Entry price (paid plan) | 59$/mois | 9€/mois | 69$/mois |
| Permanent free plan | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Rollover credits to next month | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ |
| Simple and transparent credit system | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ |
| Simple setup & onboarding | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ |
| Complete documentation | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Pricing in a nutshell Sales Intelligence derrick
best value for money
Results first.
Discover Derrick →
Web Automation
Apollo vs PhantomBuster vs Derrick pricing breakdown
Sales Intelligence Apollo
Free / $49 annual or $59 monthly /seat (post-2026 price increase)
Best for: SMB & mid-market outbound
Apollo pricing starts with a flexible entry tier and scalable paid plans, designed for teams needing rapid prospecting without upfront commitments-details available on the pricing page. See full pricing breakdown for all plan levels and usage options.
Results first.
Complexity removed.
Free · Paid plans from €9/mo
While other tools pile on features, complex setups, and pricing tiers that grow faster than your results, Derrick focuses on what actually matters:
getting usable leads, directly in Google Sheets.
No heavy workflows, No endless configuration. No learning curve.
Web Automation PhantomBuster
$56/mo (annual)
Best for: Growth hackers & ops teams
PhantomBuster offers accessible entry pricing with a free tier and scalable paid plans based on usage, making it suitable for quick automation at scale-details available on the full pricing page. See the complete pricing breakdown for all plan limits, credits, and tiers.
Migration Guide
How to switch from Apollo to Derrick in 3 steps
Derrick is a Google Workspace app - no formulas to learn, no pipelines to migrate, no engineering work. Add it to Google Sheets and you're enriching in under a minute.
1
~30 sec Install Derrick from Google Workspace Marketplace
Click the install button on our Marketplace listing and grant Google Sheets access. No credit card required - you start with 100 free credits per month.
2
~30 sec Open any Google Sheet → Extensions → Derrick
Open a Sheet with your prospect list (paste a CSV from Apollo, scrape from LinkedIn Sales Navigator, or import from your CRM). Click Extensions → Derrick and the sidebar opens with all enrichment features ready to use.
3
~1 min Enrich your list with one click
Select the column with names, LinkedIn URLs, or company domains. Pick what you want - emails, phone numbers, LinkedIn data, company info, tech stack - and click "Enrich". Derrick fills the columns directly in your Sheet. No exports, no pipelines, no waiting.
Install Derrick free →
100 free credits / month · No credit card · Cancel anytime
Decision in 60 seconds
Which one is right for you?
Pick Apollo if…
- You specifically need smb & mid-market outbound
- Massive 250M+ contact database
- All-in-one stack at SMB price
- You're already invested in the Apollo ecosystem
Pick PhantomBuster if…
- You specifically need growth hackers & ops teams
- 150+ pre-built Phantoms across platforms
- Best LinkedIn Sales Navigator export
- You're already invested in the PhantomBuster ecosystem
Pick Derrick if…
- You want B2B enrichment directly in Google Sheets
- You need a usable free plan (100 credits/mo, no card)
- You don't want long contracts, lock-in, or sales calls
- You need 100+ data points per lead in one tool
What teams say after switching from Apollo vs PhantomBuster
See what our customers say about Derrick.
"This app saved me so much time and effort. Great for anyone looking to build a contact list or network at scale quickly. As a start-up it's been invaluable."
Alex Clark
Director | SaaS GTM Leader
"Working pretty nifty compared to Snov.Io. Price wise it does give a fair shake, and IMO better interface since it's google sheets."
David Sire
Mortgage Broker at Zero Point Mortgage
"Derrick is a very simple and user-friendly app to enrich your contacts database. Best thing: you can test it for free. And then the price is so low, it's a no brainer."
Etienne Grange
CEO Form'actions
"Super easy to enrich linkedin urls using this tool. Both personal and company url data can be easily enriched with a click of a button."
Zaid Bilal
RevOps Professional
"Amazing Tool, I would like to advocate this to my colleagues. So that you can get more users. Keep it Up. 5 Stars!"
Asif Hanzala
Lead Generation Specialist at IdeaPeel
"This app is fantastic. Brilliantly created to help small and mid sized businesses."
Dan Hughes
Founder/CEO, AlmanacIO
"I have been using other expensive apps or freemium like phantombuster, but Derrick has replaced them all. I love the simplicity of the Google sheet add-in, but what is best is the efficiency it delivers."
Julien Walon Cohen
CEO & Co-founder @ Diffly | B2B Sales Advisor
"The LinkedIn scraping and email finder combo is incredibly powerful. I can build a complete prospect list with contact info in under an hour. Absolute must-have for outbound."
Michael Kim
SDR Team Lead at CloudScale
"Have tested over 10+ LI scraper apps, Derrick beats them all. Simple to use, accurate data, and affordable price."
AJ Alexander
Opportunity Prospector
Frequently Asked Questions
Derrick vs Apollo: which is better for data enrichment and automation?
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Derrick and Apollo serve different enrichment strengths. Apollo excels with its massive verified contact database of 250 million profiles and strong email verification for high-volume prospecting, making it ideal for sales teams prioritizing scale. However, Derrick offers superior automation efficiency and flexibility as a native Google Sheets platform requiring no CSV exports or complex setup, saving 5-10 hours monthly. Derrick includes real-time email validation, 50+ enrichment attributes, integrated AI scoring with Claude and ChatGPT, and rollover credits with no credit card required. For teams seeking streamlined enrichment within existing workflows, Derrick delivers faster implementation and lower operational overhead than Apollo's more rigid platform structure.
Is Derrick a good alternative to Apollo for outreach?
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Yes, Derrick is a strong alternative to Apollo for outreach, particularly if you prioritize ease of use and cost efficiency. While Apollo excels with its massive contact database and verified emails, Derrick operates natively within Google Sheets, eliminating the need for CSV exports or complex integrations. Derrick includes real-time email validation, AI-powered scoring with Claude and ChatGPT, and over 50 enrichment attributes per contact. Its rollover credits and free tier without requiring a credit card make it more flexible for teams with variable prospecting volumes. For outreach workflows already centered on Google Sheets, Derrick delivers faster setup and lower overhead than Apollo's more comprehensive but heavier platform approach.
What’s the difference Derrick vs PhantomBuster in pricing?
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Derrick offers transparent, credit-based pricing starting at just $9 monthly with rollover credits and no card required for the free tier, while PhantomBuster uses volume-based pricing that scales aggressively with usage, making per-record enrichment expensive for frequent campaigns. Derrick's pricing remains predictable regardless of enrichment frequency, whereas PhantomBuster's costs can spike unexpectedly during high-volume periods. Additionally, Derrick integrates natively within Google Sheets without CSV exports, reducing operational overhead compared to PhantomBuster's external platform approach, making Derrick more cost-effective for teams prioritizing budget predictability and seamless workflow integration.
Derrick vs Apollo vs PhantomBuster: which offers best pricing?
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When it comes to pricing, Derrick App typically offers a simple, credit-based model with a free tier and credits that roll over, starting from a free 100 credits and scalable plans like Small, Medium, Large, and XL, all without requiring a credit card for the free tier. Apollo and PhantomBuster price based on tiers that emphasize per-seat or per-usage costs, with potential overage charges for high-volume data or automation. Derrick stands out for 100% native Google Sheets integration, notable cost savings (no LinkedIn Navigator dependency, potential annual savings), and long- term credit flexibility, which can make Derrick more cost-effective for teams prioritizing predictable monthly spend and no-credit-card friction, while Apollo delivers strong data and outreach features and PhantomBuster excels in scalable automation-albeit with steeper learning curves and potentially higher per-use costs.
How does PhantomBuster compare to Apollo for data accuracy?
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PhantomBuster and Apollo both handle data extraction differently. Apollo excels at verified contact accuracy through its massive 250+ million contact database with real-time validation, making it stronger for direct email and phone verification. PhantomBuster focuses on web scraping and automation efficiency but requires more manual data validation afterward. For teams prioritizing accuracy without the setup complexity of either platform, Derrick App delivers native Google Sheets enrichment with 50+ attributes per contact, real-time email validation, and integrated AI scoring-all without CSV exports or steep learning curves. Choose based on your workflow: Apollo for database scale, PhantomBuster for automation, Derrick for seamless, accurate enrichment directly in your spreadsheets.
Can Derrick replace both Apollo and PhantomBuster for SMBs?
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Derrick cannot fully replace both Apollo and PhantomBuster for SMBs in every scenario, but it can cover many core needs efficiently. Derrick delivers 100% native Google Sheets enrichment, real-time email validation, AI-powered scoring and segmentation, and extensive integrations without CSV exports or complex setups. Apollo excels at large, verified contact databases and outbound workflow automation, while PhantomBuster shines in automated web scraping and templated workflows. For SMBs prioritizing speed, cost-efficiency, and seamless data hygiene within Sheets, Derrick is a strong complementary option or even a primary tool, depending on the use case.
One-on-one
apollo vs Derrick - solo duel
Drop the third-party context and see how apollo compares to Derrick alone.
Open the head-to-head → One-on-onePhantomBuster vs Derrick - solo duel
Drop the third-party context and see how PhantomBuster compares to Derrick alone.
Open the head-to-head → Curated stackAll B2B sales tools we reviewed in depth
Step back from the duel - see our hand-picked sales-tool selection and how every category fits together.
See the full curation → Keep Exploring
