PhantomBuster
- Starting price: $56/mo (annual)
- Free plan: No (14-day free trial)
- Founded: 2016
- HQ: Paris, France
Updated
PhantomBuster vs Clay vs Derrick: Which Is Better in 2026?
- Short answer
- PhantomBuster vs Clay vs Derrick: PhantomBuster is a cloud-based scraping and social automation, Clay is a multi-source data enrichment with ai workflows. 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 Clay) 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 Clay 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 Clay vs Derrick at a glance
Clay
- Starting price: Free / $134/mo (annual)
- Free plan: Yes (limited credits)
- Founded: 2017
- HQ: New York, NY
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 Clay
3 core reasons SDRs and ops teams switch to Derrick. Click to expand each.
01 Real-time validation plus native Sheets, no CSV exports
PhantomBuster and Clay both struggle with real-time, in-Sheets validation without resorting to CSV exports or external validation steps. Derrick solves this by delivering true 100% native Google Sheets integration with real-time email validation, all without leaving Sheets or exporting data. This saves measurable time and reduces errors, translating to approximately 5-10 hours saved per month per team and improved deliverability. With Derrick, you get instant validation and enrichment directly in Sheets, enabling seamless, on-the-fly prospecting workflows.
02 No setup or training required for complex workflows with Derrick
PhantomBuster and Clay require setup and ongoing tuning to execute complex workflows, often introducing friction and another tool dependency. Derrick eliminates this friction by offering a 100% native Google Sheets experience with no setup or training required for advanced sequences. Users save between 5-10 hours per month and deploy multi-step prospecting immediately, thanks to Derrick’s no-code workflow design and AI-assisted scoring. For quick wins, teams can launch complex sequences directly in Derrick, without navigating external templates or integrations.
03 Real-time data reliability with continuous verification feeds
PhantomBuster and Clay often struggle with real-time data reliability and continuous verification, leading to occasional delays or gaps in up-to-date contact details. Derrick changes the game by delivering real-time data validation directly within Google Sheets, ensuring continuous verification feeds without exporting or switching apps. This approach reduces mis Deliverability risk and can save hours per month by maintaining a single, always-verified source of truth. With Derrick, you get instant feedback on data validity as you prospect, enabling faster, more reliable outreach.
Honest Comparison 
derrick
What each tool does better
We're upfront - every tool has strengths. Here's where PhantomBuster, Clay, and Derrick each genuinely win.
What PhantomBuster does better
- 150+ pre-built Phantoms across platforms
- Best LinkedIn Sales Navigator export
- Composable workflow chains
What Clay does better
- Best-in-class waterfall enrichment
- Claygent AI for research at scale
- Open architecture (HTTP API + custom functions)
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 | Clay | Derrick | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting price (monthly) | $56/mo (annual) | Free / $134/mo (annual) | €0 (free) · €9/mo paid |
| Annual cost (base) | ~€672/yr | ~€1,608/yr | €0/yr free · ~€108/yr paid |
| Free plan? | No (14-day free trial) | Yes (limited credits) | ✓ 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 Clay vs Derrick: full feature comparison
| PhantomBuster | Derrick App | Clay | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | 149$/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 →
Data Enrichment
PhantomBuster vs Clay vs Derrick pricing breakdown
Web Automation PhantomBuster
$56/mo (annual)
Best for: Growth hackers & ops teams
PhantomBuster offers scalable pricing with a free tier and paid plans that scale by usage, providing entry-level access suitable for teams exploring automation. For full details, view the complete pricing breakdown on the PhantomBuster pricing page.
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.
Data Enrichment Clay
Free / $134/mo (annual)
Best for: GTM ops & technical SDR teams
Clay offers a free tier with limited credits and paid plans starting at competitive monthly rates; full pricing details, including any tiered options and add-ons, are available on the dedicated pricing page-see pricing breakdown for complete information.
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 Clay if…
- You specifically need gtm ops & technical sdr teams
- Best-in-class waterfall enrichment
- Claygent AI for research at scale
- You're already invested in the Clay 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 Clay
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 main difference between Derrick and PhantomBuster for automation?
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Derrick focuses on seamless Google Sheets integration for direct prospecting workflows, while PhantomBuster excels at web scraping and data extraction automation. PhantomBuster is stronger for large-scale data collection from social platforms and e-commerce sites, but requires external tools for enrichment. Derrick streamlines the entire enrichment process natively within Sheets with real-time email validation, AI-powered segmentation, and rollover credits, eliminating the need for multiple platforms. For teams prioritizing simplicity and speed over complex scraping scenarios, Derrick offers a more direct path from raw data to deployment without CSV exports or setup friction.
Is Derrick a better alternative to PhantomBuster for teams?
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Derrick offers a more streamlined alternative to PhantomBuster for teams prioritizing simplicity and speed. While PhantomBuster excels at automation and web scraping, Derrick operates natively within Google Sheets, eliminating CSV exports and complex workflows entirely. Derrick provides real-time email validation, 50+ enrichment attributes, and integrated AI scoring with Claude and ChatGPT-all without requiring technical setup. For teams seeking faster prospecting cycles with minimal configuration, Derrick's rollover credits and no-card-required free tier provide more flexibility than PhantomBuster's volume-based pricing structure.
How do Derrick and PhantomBuster compare in pricing and features?
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Derrick offers a more streamlined and cost-effective approach compared to PhantomBuster. While PhantomBuster excels at web automation and scraping, it requires external tools for data enrichment and can become expensive at scale. Derrick is fully native to Google Sheets, eliminating complex CSV exports and setup friction, with rollover credits and no credit card required for the free tier. PhantomBuster's pricing scales aggressively with volume, whereas Derrick's transparent pricing starts at nine dollars monthly with 4000 credits. For teams prioritizing simplicity, real-time email validation, and integrated AI-powered enrichment without technical overhead, Derrick delivers faster deployment and lower total cost of ownership than PhantomBuster's automation-first model.
Which has better pricing between Derrick and Clay?
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Derrick generally offers more cost-efficient pricing for teams evaluating outbound prospecting within Google Sheets compared to Clay, especially for those who want scalable credit-based plans without heavy upfront commitments. Derrick's free tier provides 100 credits with no credit card required, and the paid tiers (Small to XL) scale from 9€ to 175€ with credits that roll over monthly. Clay, by contrast, prices its data enrichment and outbound automation in a way that often translates to higher ongoing costs for high-volume campaigns, plus its value hinges on data sourcing and validation depth rather than native sheet-based workflow. If you need a straightforward, no-CSV-exports experience with generous credit rollovers and AI scoring right inside Sheets, Derrick tends to be the more favorable option on price and value.
Can PhantomBuster replace Clay for data enrichment and automation?
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PhantomBuster and Clay serve different purposes, so replacement depends on your primary need. PhantomBuster excels at web scraping and automation workflows, while Clay focuses on data enrichment and email validation. PhantomBuster lacks Clay's real-time enrichment depth and email verification capabilities, making it better for extraction than enrichment. If you need both automation and enrichment, combining them works better than replacing one with the other. However, Derrick offers a more streamlined alternative native to Google Sheets, eliminating the need for multiple tools while providing real-time email validation, 50+ enrichment attributes, and integrated AI for faster prospecting without complex setup or external platforms.
What’s the review verdict for Derrick vs PhantomBuster vs Clay?
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The verdict is that Derrick stands out for seamless, fully native Google Sheets enrichment with no complex setup and strong cost-efficiency, especially versus PhantomBuster and Clay. PhantomBuster delivers solid automation and templates but can struggle with data depth and real-time accuracy, while Clay offers real-time enrichment across multiple sources, yet often requires more configuration and faces rate limits. Derrick’s advantages include 100% Sheets-native workflow, real-time email validation, AI-driven scoring, and transferable credits, all without a credit card for the free tier, making it a faster, simpler option for scalable outreach.
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-oneClay vs Derrick - solo duel
Drop the third-party context and see how Clay 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
