Updated

PhantomBuster vs EmailSearch.io vs Derrick: Which Is Better in 2026?

Short answer
PhantomBuster vs EmailSearch.io vs Derrick: PhantomBuster is a cloud-based scraping and social automation, EmailSearch.io is a email finder + verification + drip campaigns + data enrichment with api access. 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 EmailSearch.io) 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 EmailSearch.io 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.

Quick Facts

PhantomBuster vs EmailSearch.io vs Derrick at a glance

PhantomBuster

  • Starting price: $56/mo (annual)
  • Free plan: No (14-day free trial)
  • Founded: 2016
  • HQ: Paris, France
4.4/5 G2 4.4/5 Capterra

EmailSearch.io

  • Starting price: No free trial · Basic $29/mo (1K searches)
  • Free plan: No (paid plans only - 100% money-back guarantee)
  • Founded: 2019 (estimated)
  • HQ: London, UK (328 Chester Road, NW39 8YK)
3.5/5 G2 3.6/5 Capterra

Derrick

★ Recommended
  • Starting price: Free · Paid from €9/mo
  • Free plan: Yes - 100 credits/mo permanent
  • Founded: 2023
  • HQ: Marseille, FR
4.8/5 G2 4.8/5 Capterra
Why Derrick wins

Why teams pick Derrick over PhantomBuster and EmailSearch.io

3 core reasons SDRs and ops teams switch to Derrick. Click to expand each.

01

Real-time validation to cut bounce rates without manual checks

Real-time validation is essential, but PhantomBuster and EmailSearch.io either focus on data extraction or basic email verification without continuous, live checks in user workflows. Derrick delivers real-time email validation directly inside a native Google Sheets workflow, eliminating manual triage and separate validation steps. This reduces bounce rates by ensuring only deliverable addresses are used, with measurable impact on deliverability and campaign performance. A typical use case: validate contacts on-the-fly during list-building to maintain a clean, inbox-friendly prospect pool. Derrick keeps credits actionable in Sheets and supports immediate follow-up actions without leaving the platform.

02

Flexible workflow with 3,000+ integrations for automation

Derrick shines where PhantomBuster and EmailSearch.io fall short on flexible workflow and scale, delivering 3,000+ integrations to automate end-to-end prospecting without leaving Google Sheets. Unlike PhantomBuster’s data extraction focus or EmailSearch.io’s single-purpose email discovery, Derrick 100% native in Google Sheets orchestrates enrichment, validation, and scoring across channels in one seamless workflow. This translates to measurable gains: up to 20–40% faster campaign setup and real-time updates across 3,000+ integrations, reducing manual handoffs and lag. In practice, teams deploy multi-step automation in minutes, not hours, with credits that carry forward each month.

03

Hands-off data quality with built-in QA AI scoring

PhantomBuster and EmailSearch.io both struggle with real-time, hold-your-hands-off data quality at scale, often delivering incomplete or inconsistent enrichment without a dedicated QA layer. Derrick delivers built-in QA AI scoring that autonomously flags and prioritizes data quality, using Claude and ChatGPT-based scoring to ensure accuracy across 50+ attributes. This translates to measurable helps: up to 20-30% higher deliverability and time savings of 5-10 hours per month from automated validation and segmentation. With Derrick, you get continuous QA scoring without extra tooling, keeping your lists clean as you scale outreach.

Honest Comparison

What each tool does better

We're upfront - every tool has strengths. Here's where PhantomBuster, EmailSearch.io, and Derrick each genuinely win.

What EmailSearch.io does better

  • Cheapest meaningful email finder + drip campaigns bundle
  • LinkedIn email extraction + 92% accuracy claim
  • 100% money-back guarantee
Read full EmailSearch.io review →
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 EmailSearch.io Derrick
Starting price (monthly) $56/mo (annual) No free trial · Basic $29/mo (1K searches) €0 (free) · €9/mo paid
Annual cost (base) ~€672/yr ~€348/yr €0/yr free · ~€108/yr paid
Free plan? No (14-day free trial) No (paid plans only - 100% money-back guarantee) ✓ 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 EmailSearch.io vs Derrick: full feature comparison

PhantomBuster Derrick App EmailSearch.io
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 29$/mois
Permanent free plan
Rollover credits to next month
Simple and transparent credit system
Simple setup & onboarding
Complete documentation
Pricing in a nutshell

PhantomBuster vs EmailSearch.io vs Derrick pricing breakdown

Email Finder + Drip Campaigns

EmailSearch.io

No free trial · Basic $29/mo (1K searches)

Best for: Solo SDRs needing affordable email finder + drip campaigns bundle

EmailSearch.io offers competitive entry pricing with a free tier and affordable monthly plans for email discovery, plus a clear paid tier structure for increased usage. See full pricing breakdown for all details and plan comparisons.

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
Read full PhantomBuster review →

Pick EmailSearch.io if…

  • You specifically need solo sdrs needing affordable email finder + drip campaigns bundle
  • Cheapest meaningful email finder + drip campaigns bundle
  • LinkedIn email extraction + 92% accuracy claim
  • You're already invested in the EmailSearch.io ecosystem
Read full EmailSearch.io review →

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
Try Derrick free →

What teams say after switching from PhantomBuster vs EmailSearch.io

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

Reviewed on Product Hunt

"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

Reviewed on Product Hunt

"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

Reviewed on Capterra

"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

Reviewed on Capterra

"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

Reviewed on Capterra

"This app is fantastic. Brilliantly created to help small and mid sized businesses."

Dan Hughes

Founder/CEO, AlmanacIO

Reviewed on Product Hunt

"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

Reviewed on G2

"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

Reviewed on Capterra

"Have tested over 10+ LI scraper apps, Derrick beats them all. Simple to use, accurate data, and affordable price."

AJ Alexander

Opportunity Prospector

Reviewed on Capterra

Frequently Asked Questions

Which Derrick vs PhantomBuster comparison highlights key differences?

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The key difference between Derrick, PhantomBuster, and EmailSearch.io lies in their core purpose and integration approach. PhantomBuster excels at web automation and large-scale data extraction through pre-built templates, while EmailSearch.io focuses narrowly on email discovery and verification. Derrick, by contrast, operates natively within Google Sheets as a comprehensive enrichment platform, eliminating CSV exports and complex setup entirely. Unlike PhantomBuster's automation-heavy workflow or EmailSearch.io's standalone email finder, Derrick combines 50+ enrichment attributes, real-time email validation, built-in AI scoring with Claude and ChatGPT, and rollover credits-all without requiring external platforms or LinkedIn Sales Navigator subscriptions, making it significantly more cost-effective for teams prioritizing data quality and operational simplicity.

Is Derrick a better alternative to PhantomBuster for growth teams?

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Derrick and PhantomBuster serve different growth priorities. PhantomBuster excels at web automation and large-scale data extraction, but requires external tools for enrichment and validation. Derrick operates natively within Google Sheets, eliminating CSV exports and setup complexity while delivering 50+ enrichment attributes per contact with real-time email validation. For growth teams prioritizing speed and simplicity without technical overhead, Derrick's integrated approach-combining enrichment, AI-powered segmentation, and native sheet workflows-reduces manual verification steps that PhantomBuster users typically need. PhantomBuster remains stronger for pure automation scenarios, while Derrick provides faster prospecting workflows directly where teams already work.

How does Derrick compare with PhantomBuster on pricing and features?

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Derrick operates as a fully native Google Sheets platform, eliminating the need for CSV exports and complex external workflows that PhantomBuster and EmailSearch.io require. While PhantomBuster excels at web automation and EmailSearch.io focuses on email discovery alone, Derrick provides comprehensive B2B enrichment with 50+ attributes per contact, integrated AI scoring with Claude and ChatGPT, and real-time email validation-all directly in your spreadsheet. Derrick's pricing starts at zero with no credit card required, and unused credits roll over monthly, offering significantly more flexibility than both competitors' traditional consumption models.

What’s the Derrick vs PhantomBuster vs EmailSearch.io trio difference?

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Derrick differs from PhantomBuster and EmailSearch.io by being 100% native to Google Sheets, turning Sheets into a full prospecting hub without CSV exports or complex setup, which saves time and reduces friction compared to PhantomBuster’s automated scraping workflows and EmailSearch.io’s standalone email finding. Derrick delivers 50+ enriched attributes per contact, real-time email validation for deliverability, and integrated AI (Claude and ChatGPT) for scoring, segmentation, and summaries, all within a familiar spreadsheet environment. It also offers flexible credits with monthly rollovers and no credit card required for the free tier, plus extensive integrations via Zapier/Make/n8n. This combination provides a cohesive, scalable data enrichment and outreach workflow that complements or supersedes basic data extraction and email discovery in many B2B sales contexts.

PhantomBuster vs EmailSearch.io: which fits automation and discovery better?

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PhantomBuster excels at web automation and large-scale data extraction, making it ideal for teams needing workflow automation across social platforms and e-commerce. EmailSearch.io specializes in email discovery and verification, offering speed and simplicity for basic prospecting. However, PhantomBuster requires manual enrichment for deeper intelligence, while EmailSearch.io lacks advanced firmographic data and intent signals. For teams seeking a unified solution combining discovery, enrichment, and automation without switching between platforms, Derrick offers 50+ enrichment attributes, real-time email validation, and native Google Sheets integration-eliminating CSV exports and technical setup while providing AI-powered segmentation in one streamlined environment.

Can Derrick replace both PhantomBuster and EmailSearch.io for enrichment?

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Derrick can replace some enrichment tasks, but it doesn’t fully replace both PhantomBuster and EmailSearch.io in every scenario. Derrick excels as a 100% native Google Sheets enrichment platform with 50+ attributes per contact, real-time email validation, AI scoring and segmentation, and broad integrations, all without CSV exports or complex setup. PhantomBuster specializes in automation and data extraction at scale, including social and web scraping, and often requires external tools for deep data validation and multi-source enrichment. EmailSearch.io focuses on rapid email discovery and verification but lacks comprehensive firmographic or intent data. If your goal is end-to-end enrichment and prospect intelligence in Sheets with flexible credits and AI-assisted insights, Derrick can cover many, but for heavy multi-source enrichment and automated scraping workflows, you may still rely on PhantomBuster or EmailSearch.io in a complementary capacity rather than a complete one-tool replacement.
PhantomBuster vs EmailSearch.io vs Derrick - Free · 100 credits/mo PhantomBuster vs EmailSearch.io vs Derrick - Derrick is Product of the Day on Product Hunt Try Derrick free →