PhantomBuster
- Starting price: $56/mo (annual)
- Free plan: No (14-day free trial)
- Founded: 2016
- HQ: Paris, France
Updated
PhantomBuster vs BetterContact vs Derrick: Which Is Better in 2026?
- Short answer
- PhantomBuster vs BetterContact vs Derrick: PhantomBuster is a cloud-based scraping and social automation, BetterContact is a waterfall enrichment platform querying 20+ data providers in sequence. 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 PhantomBuster or BetterContact) and pricing is lower - free forever with 100 credits/month, paid plans from €9/month. Most teams pair Derrick for the data layer with PhantomBuster or BetterContact for outreach.
Where PhantomBuster requires you to build pipelines outside your data, Derrick keeps the data and the logic in the same Sheet. The side-by-side comparison below pits PhantomBuster's no-code IDE, learning curve and per-execution pricing against Derrick's =DERRICK() formula that scales with usage.
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
PhantomBuster vs BetterContact vs Derrick at a glance
BetterContact
- Starting price: Free 50 credits · Starter $15/mo
- Free plan: Yes - 50 free credits to test
- Founded: 2022
- HQ: Lyon, 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 PhantomBuster and BetterContact
3 core reasons SDRs and ops teams switch to Derrick. Click to expand each.
01 Real-time validation and 100% native Sheets, without extra tools
Real-time validation and 100% native Sheets, without extra tools highlights Derrick’s edge over PhantomBuster and BetterContact, which rely on separate validation steps or limited native integration. Derrick delivers real-time email validation directly inside Google Sheets, avoiding export/import cycles or external validation services. This reduces bounce rates and speeds up outreach by keeping data pristine within a familiar 100% native Sheets workflow, saving 5-10 hours per month. With Derrick, no external tool is required, so teams maintain a streamlined, single-source prospecting sheet for faster, more reliable campaigns.
02 Comprehensive multi-source data across platforms without external tools
Derrick delivers comprehensive multi-source data across platforms natively in Google Sheets, outperforming PhantomBuster’s extraction-focused approach and BetterContact’s email-first scope. While PhantomBuster excels at automation, it often requires external enrichment for depth, and BetterContact lacks multi-dimensional company insights to support full prospect intelligence. Derrick consolidates 50+ attributes per contact and company across LinkedIn, websites, and more, with credits that stay usable monthly, reducing data gaps and boosting accuracy in one native workspace. A quick use case: enrich a contact with firmographics and tech stack insights directly in Sheets, saving 6–12 hours per week.
03 End-to-End Data Enrichment via AI-Driven Scoring and Segmentation
Derrick delivers end-to-end data enrichment with AI-driven scoring and segmentation, addressing PhantomBuster’s reliance on extraction without deep enrichment and BetterContact’s limited multi-field insights. Unlike PhantomBuster and BetterContact, Derrick combines 50+ enrichment attributes with integrated AI scoring and segmentation right inside 100% native Google Sheets. The result is a concrete lift: up to 30% faster lead qualification and a 15–25% higher email deliverability due to smarter segmentation and scoring, backed by real-time validation. Use cases range from prospect profiling to account-based prioritization, all without switching tools.
Honest Comparison 
derrick
What each tool does better
We're upfront - every tool has strengths. Here's where PhantomBuster, BetterContact, and Derrick each genuinely win.
What PhantomBuster does better
- 150+ pre-built Phantoms across platforms
- Best LinkedIn Sales Navigator export
- Composable workflow chains
What BetterContact does better
- Highest find rates in the category (87-95% emails)
- One subscription replaces five separate tools
- Pay-per-result + GDPR-clean compliance
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.
| PhantomBuster | BetterContact | Derrick | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting price (monthly) | $56/mo (annual) | Free 50 credits · Starter $15/mo | €0 (free) · €9/mo paid |
| Annual cost (base) | ~€672/yr | ~€600/yr | €0/yr free · ~€108/yr paid |
| Free plan? | No (14-day free trial) | Yes - 50 free credits to test | ✓ 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
PhantomBuster vs BetterContact vs Derrick: full feature comparison
| PhantomBuster | Derrick App | BetterContact | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Works natively in Google Sheets | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ |
| Requires LinkedIn Sales Navigator ($100/month) | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ |
| Sales Navigator 1-click import | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ |
| Email finder with real-time validation | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Phone finder from LinkedIn | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Company tech stack lookup | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ |
| SimilarWeb & G2 insights integrated | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ |
| AI integration (Claude & ChatGPT) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Automatic AI Lead Scoring | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ |
| Data cleaning & normalization | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Multi-platform scraping (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook) | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ |
| Zapier, Make, n8n integrations | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Public API available | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Native CRM integrations (HubSpot, Salesforce) | ✓ | ✕ | ✓ |
| Entry price (paid plan) | 69$/mois | 9€/mois | 49$/mois |
| Permanent free plan | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Rollover credits to next month | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Simple and transparent credit system | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Simple setup & onboarding | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Complete documentation | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Pricing in a nutshell Web Automation derrick
best value for money
Results first.
Discover Derrick →
Waterfall Email + Phone Enrichment
PhantomBuster vs BetterContact vs Derrick pricing breakdown
Web Automation PhantomBuster
$56/mo (annual)
Best for: Growth hackers & ops teams
PhantomBuster offers accessible entry pricing with scalable plans and a free tier to start automating without code; explore the full pricing breakdown for exact credits, limits, and plan details. See the pricing page for complete details.
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.
Waterfall Email + Phone Enrichment BetterContact
Free 50 credits · Starter $15/mo
Best for: Outbound teams who want best-find-rate at one subscription cost
BetterContact offers entry-level credit-based pricing with a free tier and scalable paid plans, designed for teams needing reliable email discovery and verification at scale-see full pricing breakdown for complete details.
Migration Guide
How to switch from PhantomBuster 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 PhantomBuster, 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 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 BetterContact if…
- You specifically need outbound teams who want best-find-rate at one subscription cost
- Highest find rates in the category (87-95% emails)
- One subscription replaces five separate tools
- You're already invested in the BetterContact 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 PhantomBuster vs BetterContact
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
What’s the Derrick vs PhantomBuster main difference for automation?
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Derrick automates enrichment directly within Google Sheets without requiring external platforms or CSV exports, while PhantomBuster focuses on web scraping and workflow automation across multiple sources. PhantomBuster excels at large-scale data extraction but requires manual enrichment supplementation, whereas Derrick provides native 50+ attribute enrichment with real-time email validation built-in. Derrick also integrates AI directly for contact scoring and segmentation, and offers monthly rollover credits with no credit card needed for the free tier, making it more cost-efficient for teams with variable prospecting volumes.
Is Derrick a better PhantomBuster alternative for LinkedIn scraping?
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Derrick offers a compelling alternative to PhantomBuster for LinkedIn scraping, particularly if you're already working within Google Sheets. While PhantomBuster excels at large-scale web automation, Derrick provides native Sheets integration without complex setup or CSV exports, saving significant time. Derrick enriches contacts with 50+ attributes and includes real-time email validation for better deliverability. Unlike PhantomBuster's steep learning curve for complex tasks, Derrick's no-code approach works immediately. Additionally, Derrick's rollover credits and free tier without requiring a credit card offer more flexibility than PhantomBuster's aggressive pricing scaling, making it ideal for teams prioritizing simplicity and cost efficiency over extensive workflow automation.
Derrick vs PhantomBuster vs BetterContact: which is best trio?
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Choosing between Derrick, PhantomBuster, and BetterContact depends on your specific workflow needs. PhantomBuster excels at web automation and data extraction at scale, while BetterContact specializes in email verification with high accuracy rates. Derrick stands out for teams already working in Google Sheets, offering 50+ enrichment attributes, real-time email validation, and integrated AI without requiring external platforms or CSV exports. Derrick's rollover credits and no credit card requirement for the free tier provide more flexibility than competitors. If you prioritize seamless spreadsheet-based prospecting with comprehensive enrichment and cost efficiency, Derrick delivers the most integrated solution.
How does PhantomBuster compare to BetterContact on pricing?
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PhantomBuster and BetterContact price differently for distinct use cases. PhantomBuster scales with task volume and automation templates, which can become costly for high-frequency scraping and multi-source workflows. BetterContact focuses on accurate email finding and verification, typically with transparent usage-based credits, which remains cost-efficient for bulk email discovery but lacks broader enrichment. Derrick offers a 100% native Google Sheets solution with rollable monthly credits and no credit card for the free tier, potentially reducing total cost and manual steps compared to these two when you need integrated enrichment, email validation, and scalable outreach-all without exporting to CSV or extra tooling.
Which is the better pricing option: Derrick or BetterContact?
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Derrick offers more flexible pricing with rollover credits that never expire, whereas BetterContact charges per search without credit carryover, making variable usage more costly. Derrick's free tier includes 100 credits with no credit card required, while providing 50+ enrichment attributes and real-time email validation. BetterContact specializes in email finding alone, so teams needing broader contact and company intelligence typically require additional tools. For cost-conscious teams wanting comprehensive enrichment without subscription lock-in, Derrick's credit system provides better value and operational flexibility than BetterContact's consumption-based model.
Can Derrick replace both PhantomBuster and BetterContact for enrichment?
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Short answer: Derrick can replace some, but not all, enrichment tasks of PhantomBuster and BetterContact, depending on the required scope.
PhantomBuster excels at web data extraction and automation across multiple sources, while BetterContact specializes in high-accuracy email discovery and verification. Derrick, being a 100% native Google Sheets enrichment platform with 50+ attributes per contact, real-time email validation, and extensive API/Zapier integrations, handles broad enrichment workflows directly inside Sheets and offers AI-driven scoring and segmentation. However, for niche multi-source firmographics, advanced validation layers, or multi-step enrichment pipelines that PhantomBuster’s automation templates provide, Derrick may require additional integrations or workflows.
In essence, Derrick can cover the core enrichment use cases (data enrichment, email validation, scoring) and often replaces BetterContact for basic email-focused workflows, and replaces PhantomBuster for standard enrichment tasks within Sheets. For highly specialized or large-scale, multi-source enrichment, a hybrid approach could still be optimal.
One-on-one
PhantomBuster vs Derrick - solo duel
Drop the third-party context and see how PhantomBuster compares to Derrick alone.
Open the head-to-head → One-on-oneBetterContact vs Derrick - solo duel
Drop the third-party context and see how BetterContact 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
