PhantomBuster
- Starting price: $56/mo (annual)
- Free plan: No (14-day free trial)
- Founded: 2016
- HQ: Paris, France
Updated
PhantomBuster vs Cognism vs Derrick: Which Is Better in 2026?
- Short answer
- PhantomBuster vs Cognism vs Derrick: PhantomBuster is a cloud-based scraping and social automation, Cognism is a gdpr-compliant b2b contact data with mobile coverage. 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 Cognism) 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 Cognism 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 Cognism vs Derrick at a glance
Cognism
- Starting price: Custom (~$15K platform + $1.5K/seat)
- Free plan: No (demo + custom quote only)
- Founded: 2015
- HQ: London, United Kingdom
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
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Why teams pick Derrick over PhantomBuster and Cognism
3 core reasons SDRs and ops teams switch to Derrick. Click to expand each.
01 Enrichment quality you can trust, not scraping-only solutions
PhantomBuster and Cognism provide data extraction and enrichment, but their scraping-only approaches can yield inconsistent depth and real-time validation gaps. Derrick changes the game by delivering 50+ enrichment attributes per contact and real-time email validation directly inside 100% native Google Sheets, ensuring higher-quality profiles without external scraping patches. This translates to measurable reliability improvements and faster onboarding of verified leads, reducing post-scrape cleanup time by up to 30%. With Derrick, teams gain consistent enrichment quality while maintaining a fully integrated, no-code workflow.
02 Automated enrichment with real-time data health checks
PhantomBuster excels at data extraction but often delivers inconsistent enrichment depth and lacks built-in real-time health checks, while Cognism focuses on verified contacts rather than continuous data quality monitoring. Derrick differentiates by providing automated enrichment with real-time data health checks directly inside 100% native Google Sheets, ensuring ongoing validity as you grow your prospect list. This reduces wasted outreach and improves deliverability, saving up to 5–10 hours per month on manual verification. A quick use case: Derrick continuously validates emails during enrichment, surfacing flagged records for immediate remediation.
03 Real-time, zero-trust data verification across sources
Real-time, zero-trust data verification across sources is where PhantomBuster and Cognism fall short, as their data quality varies and real-time validation is not guaranteed across multi-source enrichment. Derrick delivers verifiable, real-time checks natively within Google Sheets, ensuring zero-trust verification across sources without exporting data or relying on external validation steps. Teams save up to 20% of manual QA time and achieve higher deliverability with live verification on 50+ enrichment attributes per contact. A practical use case is auto-validating emails as they’re collected, reducing wasted outreach instantly.
Honest Comparison 
derrick
What each tool does better
We're upfront - every tool has strengths. Here's where PhantomBuster, Cognism, and Derrick each genuinely win.
What PhantomBuster does better
- 150+ pre-built Phantoms across platforms
- Best LinkedIn Sales Navigator export
- Composable workflow chains
What Cognism does better
- Best EU mobile-phone coverage
- GDPR-compliant by design
- Strong intent + technographic data
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 | Cognism | Derrick | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting price (monthly) | $56/mo (annual) | Custom (~$15K platform + $1.5K/seat) | €0 (free) · €9/mo paid |
| Annual cost (base) | ~€672/yr | ~€180/yr | €0/yr free · ~€108/yr paid |
| Free plan? | No (14-day free trial) | No (demo + custom quote only) | ✓ 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 Cognism vs Derrick: full feature comparison
| PhantomBuster | Derrick App | Cognism | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | 1000$/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 →
Sales Intelligence (EU/EMEA)
PhantomBuster vs Cognism vs Derrick pricing breakdown
Web Automation PhantomBuster
$56/mo (annual)
Best for: Growth hackers & ops teams
PhantomBuster offers access starting with a free tier and paid plans that scale with usage, making it suitable for quick data extraction and automation at varying scales. See the full pricing breakdown on the dedicated PhantomBuster 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.
Sales Intelligence (EU/EMEA) Cognism
Custom (~$15K platform + $1.5K/seat)
Best for: EU/EMEA enterprise sales
Cognism offers premium B2B pricing with entry-level plans that provide core contact and company data access, plus enterprise options for broader access and enhanced features. See the full pricing breakdown for complete details and exact tiered pricing.
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 Cognism if…
- You specifically need eu/emea enterprise sales
- Best EU mobile-phone coverage
- GDPR-compliant by design
- You're already invested in the Cognism 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 Cognism
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
Is Derrick better than PhantomBuster for data enrichment pricing?
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Derrick offers more flexible pricing with rollover credits and no credit card required for the free tier, making it cost-effective for variable usage. PhantomBuster scales aggressively with volume, becoming expensive for frequent enrichment operations. While PhantomBuster excels at web automation and scraping, Derrick's native Google Sheets integration eliminates CSV exports and complex setup, saving five to ten hours monthly. Derrick also includes real-time email validation and integrated AI for scoring, providing comprehensive enrichment without additional tool layering that PhantomBuster users often need.
How does Derrick compare to Cognism in features?
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Derrick provides native Google Sheets integration without requiring external platforms or CSV exports, while Cognism operates as a standalone B2B intelligence platform requiring manual data transfer. Cognism excels at verified contact accuracy and intent signals, particularly in EMEA markets, but lacks native automation and AI-powered enrichment. Derrick differentiates through integrated Claude and ChatGPT AI for scoring and segmentation, rollover credits, and fifty plus enrichment attributes per contact, making it more cost-effective for teams prioritizing automation and workflow efficiency within their existing spreadsheet infrastructure.
Derrick vs PhantomBuster vs Cognism: which is best overall?
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Choosing the best platform depends on your specific needs. Cognism excels at verified B2B contact data and intent signals, making it ideal for enterprise sales teams prioritizing accuracy. PhantomBuster is strongest for web automation and large-scale data extraction without coding. Derrick stands out for teams already using Google Sheets, offering native integration with 50+ enrichment attributes, AI-powered scoring with Claude and ChatGPT, rollover credits, and no credit card required for the free tier. If you want seamless spreadsheet-based prospecting without external platforms or CSV exports, Derrick delivers efficiency. For pure data accuracy, choose Cognism. For automation-heavy workflows, PhantomBuster wins.
PhantomBuster vs Cognism: which offers better pricing?
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PhantomBuster and Cognism approach pricing from different angles: PhantomBuster bills by usage with scalable plans that can become expensive for high-volume scraping and complex automation, while Cognism positions itself as a premium B2B intelligence platform with higher base prices reflecting its data accuracy, compliance, and intent features. For teams seeking broad automation and rapid data extraction at lower upfront cost, PhantomBuster may look more affordable at smaller scales, but costs can rise with volume. Cognism offers strong data quality and enterprise-ready capabilities, typically at a higher price point. Derrick App, by contrast, provides 100% native Google Sheets enrichment with predictable, credit-based pricing (free tier available, credits roll over, no credit card required for free). This makes Derrick potentially more cost-efficient for ongoing prospecting without exporting to CSVs or integrating heavy data enrichment layers, while still enabling deep enrichment, real-time email validation, and AI-driven scoring-all within Sheets. If your priority is raw automation at scale with flexible budgeting, PhantomBuster might be cheaper upfront; if you need precise, compliant B2B data for targeted outreach, Cognism is a stronger fit. Derrick offers a compelling balance: cost efficiency, native workflow, and extensive integrations, without sacrificing data quality.
What’s the Derrick review like compared to Cognism?
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Cognism excels as a premium B2B intelligence platform with strong data accuracy and EMEA market coverage, making it ideal for enterprise teams prioritizing verified contact quality. However, Derrick offers distinct advantages for organizations seeking integrated enrichment directly within Google Sheets without complex setup or external platforms. Derrick provides 50+ enrichment attributes, real-time email validation, and AI-powered scoring using Claude and ChatGPT, all natively within your spreadsheet. Additionally, Derrick's rollover credits and free tier without requiring a credit card provide greater flexibility than Cognism's premium pricing structure, making it more cost-effective for teams managing variable prospecting volumes while maintaining comprehensive lead intelligence capabilities.
Can Derrick replace both PhantomBuster and Cognism for teams?
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Derrick cannot fully replace both PhantomBuster and Cognism for teams in every scenario, but it can cover essential needs depending on your priorities. Derrick excels as a 100% native Google Sheets-based enrichment and prospecting hub with 50+ attributes per contact, real-time email validation, AI-powered scoring and segmentation, and broad automation via 3,000+ integrations, all without CSV exports or complex setup. PhantomBuster specializes in fast, code-free web automation and data extraction at scale, particularly for LinkedIn, Twitter, and e-commerce, with a rich template ecosystem-yet it can struggle with deep data enrichment and real-time accuracy without supplementary tools. Cognism delivers high-quality B2B contact data, intent signals, and CRM integrations, focusing on lead intelligence and compliance, but at premium pricing and with potential gaps in ultra-deep enrichment or automated workflows. If your team primarily needs rapid data collection, enrichment directly in Sheets, scalable AI-driven segmentation, and cost-efficient, ongoing variability, Derrick can reduce reliance on both by handling enrichment, validation, and outreach orchestration in a unified, no-code environment. For fully automated multi-platform scraping and complex outreach templates, PhantomBuster remains valuable; for enterprise-grade, GDPR-conscious lead intelligence and multi-channel prospecting, Cognism remains strong.
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-oneCognism vs Derrick - solo duel
Drop the third-party context and see how Cognism 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
