PhantomBuster
- Starting price: $56/mo (annual)
- Free plan: No (14-day free trial)
- Founded: 2016
- HQ: Paris, France
Updated
PhantomBuster vs Expandi vs Derrick: Which Is Better in 2026?
- Short answer
- PhantomBuster vs Expandi vs Derrick: PhantomBuster is a cloud-based scraping and social automation, Expandi is a cloud-based linkedin automation with smart conditional sequences. 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 Expandi) 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 Expandi 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 Expandi vs Derrick at a glance
Expandi
- Starting price: $79/mo (Business, annual) · 14-day free trial
- Free plan: 14-day free trial (no credit card)
- Founded: 2019
- HQ: Eindhoven, Netherlands
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 Expandi
3 core reasons SDRs and ops teams switch to Derrick. Click to expand each.
01 Real-time validation that outperforms flaky data sources
Derrick delivers real-time validation that outperforms flaky data sources, addressing PhantomBuster and Expandi’s inconsistent enrichment and verification outputs. Unlike PhantomBuster’s data scraping that can yield outdated fields, or Expandi’s mixed data quality for multi-channel outreach, Derrick provides instantaneous checks within 100% native Google Sheets. This results in higher deliverability and fewer invalid contacts, translating to measurable efficiency gains of up to 20-30% faster campaign readiness and reduced manual cleanup. With real-time email verification integrated directly into the workflow, teams can trust the accuracy of each lead before outreach.
02 Comprehensive enrichment across 3000+ integrations without setup friction
Derrick App eliminates setup friction by delivering 3000+ integrations natively inside Google Sheets, unlike PhantomBuster and Expandi, which rely on multi-step templates and external tools that often require separate data workflows. Derrick unifies enrichment directly in Sheets, avoiding CSV exports, complex wiring, or gap-filled data from disparate sources. This translates to tangible gains: up to 10–15 hours saved per month and consistent access to 50+ enrichment attributes per contact, with monthly credit rollovers. For rapid use cases, Derrick’s native integration streamlines multi-source enrichment without leaving the worksheet, ensuring real-time data quality at scale.
03 Unified workflow with real-time data governance across tools
PhantomBuster and Expandi offer automation in isolation, but neither provides a true unified workflow with real-time data governance across tools. Derrick unifies data pipelines directly in Google Sheets, ensuring consistent enrichment, verification, and governance without leaving the sheet. This consolidation reduces data drift and rework, delivering up to 20-30% faster cross-tool validation and a single source of truth for 50+ attributes per contact. With Derrick, teams maintain实时 data quality across LinkedIn, email, and company signals, without syncing gaps or manual reconciliation.
Honest Comparison 
derrick
What each tool does better
We're upfront - every tool has strengths. Here's where PhantomBuster, Expandi, and Derrick each genuinely win.
What PhantomBuster does better
- 150+ pre-built Phantoms across platforms
- Best LinkedIn Sales Navigator export
- Composable workflow chains
What Expandi does better
- Smart conditional sequences (best in the cloud category)
- Cloud-based with dedicated country IPs
- Comprehensive LinkedIn feature set
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 | Expandi | Derrick | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting price (monthly) | $56/mo (annual) | $79/mo (Business, annual) · 14-day free trial | €0 (free) · €9/mo paid |
| Annual cost (base) | ~€672/yr | ~€948/yr | €0/yr free · ~€108/yr paid |
| Free plan? | No (14-day free trial) | 14-day free trial (no credit card) | ✓ 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 Expandi vs Derrick: full feature comparison
| PhantomBuster | Derrick App | Expandi | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | 99$/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 →
LinkedIn Automation (Cloud, Agency-Established)
PhantomBuster vs Expandi vs Derrick pricing breakdown
Web Automation PhantomBuster
$56/mo (annual)
Best for: Growth hackers & ops teams
PhantomBuster offers entry-level pricing with a free tier and paid plans scaling by usage, designed for automation and data extraction at scale. See the full pricing breakdown on the dedicated PhantomBuster pricing page for all 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.
LinkedIn Automation (Cloud, Agency-Established) Expandi
$79/mo (Business, annual) · 14-day free trial
Best for: Established agencies + B2B teams running smart LinkedIn sequences
Expandi offers starter pricing with a free tier and paid plans starting at competitive monthly credits, plus scalable options for growing teams. For full transparency, see the complete pricing breakdown on the pricing page.
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 Expandi if…
- You specifically need established agencies + b2b teams running smart linkedin sequences
- Smart conditional sequences (best in the cloud category)
- Cloud-based with dedicated country IPs
- You're already invested in the Expandi 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 Expandi
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 PhantomBuster: which is better for data extraction?
+
Derrick and PhantomBuster serve different data extraction needs. PhantomBuster excels at web scraping and automation workflows with pre-built templates, making it ideal for large-scale extraction from social platforms and e-commerce sites. However, Derrick offers superior data enrichment directly within Google Sheets without requiring external platforms or CSV exports, saving teams significant time and eliminating manual data transfers. Derrick's real-time email validation, 50+ enrichment attributes per contact, and integrated AI scoring provide deeper data quality than PhantomBuster's extraction-focused approach. For B2B prospecting teams prioritizing accuracy and operational efficiency within their existing workflow, Derrick delivers more comprehensive enrichment with lower setup friction and monthly rollover credits.
Is Derrick a good alternative to PhantomBuster?
+
Yes, Derrick is an excellent alternative to PhantomBuster, particularly if you prioritize simplicity and cost-efficiency. While PhantomBuster excels at web scraping and automation, Derrick operates natively within Google Sheets, eliminating complex setup and CSV exports. Derrick offers 50+ enrichment attributes per contact, real-time email validation, and integrated AI scoring with Claude and ChatGPT. Unlike PhantomBuster's steep learning curve for advanced workflows, Derrick requires no technical expertise. You also avoid PhantomBuster's aggressive pricing scaling, with Derrick's reportable credits and no credit card requirement for the free tier making it more budget-friendly for growing teams.
Derrick vs Expandi: which handles outreach better?
+
Derrick and Expandi serve different outreach needs. Expandi excels at LinkedIn-specific automation with personalized messaging sequences and native compliance, making it ideal for volume-based LinkedIn prospecting. However, Derrick handles broader outreach better by offering 50+ enrichment attributes, real-time email validation, integrated AI for segmentation, and native Google Sheets functionality without LinkedIn dependency. Derrick's multi-channel capability through 3000+ Zapier integrations and lower cost structure make it superior for comprehensive outreach campaigns beyond LinkedIn alone.
Which tool offers the best pricing: Derrick or PhantomBuster?
+
When comparing pricing, Derrick offers a highly transparent, credit-based model that is built around Google Sheets, with a free tier and roll-over credits, making it easy to scale without upfront commitments. PhantomBuster and Expandi both price by usage or plan tiers that can quickly become costly at high volumes. Derrick’s credits system, 100% native Google Sheets workflow, and no required credit card for the free tier provide lower initial risk and predictable costs, especially for teams focused on data enrichment, email validation, and AI-assisted scoring, all without expensive multi-seat or API-heavy price jumps. If your primary need is cost predictability and a native, sheet-centered prospecting workflow, Derrick tends to offer better pricing flexibility.
PhantomBuster vs Expandi: how do they differ in features?
+
PhantomBuster and Expandi serve different core purposes within the prospecting workflow. PhantomBuster excels as a web automation and data extraction platform, ideal for scraping LinkedIn, Twitter, and e-commerce data at scale, while Expandi focuses specifically on LinkedIn outreach automation through connection requests and personalized messaging sequences. PhantomBuster offers broader data collection capabilities but requires external enrichment tools for deeper contact validation, whereas Expandi provides native LinkedIn integration with built-in campaign analytics. However, neither platform matches Derrick's efficiency for teams already working in Google Sheets, offering direct enrichment without CSV exports or LinkedIn Sales Navigator subscriptions, plus rollover credits and integrated AI for smarter prospecting workflows.
Can Derrick replace both PhantomBuster and Expandi?
+
Derrick cannot fully replace both PhantomBuster and Expandi in all use cases, but it can cover the core needs many teams rely on from those tools. PhantomBuster’s strength is broad automation templates and data extraction at scale, which Derrick complements with 100% native Google Sheets enrichment, 50+ attributes per contact, real-time email validation, and AI-driven scoring and segmentation. Expandi excels at LinkedIn-focused outreach and sequencing; Derrick adds robust data enrichment, multi-CRM/automation integrations, and flexible credit-based pricing without LinkedIn dependency. If your requirements center on large-scale scraping and multi-channel isolation, you’ll likely need a dedicated automation or enrichment partner alongside Derrick. For teams prioritizing LinkedIn outreach with strong on-platform workflows, Expandi remains a strong fit; for comprehensive data quality, enrichment depth, and scalable prospecting inside Sheets, Derrick often provides superior value.
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-oneExpandi vs Derrick - solo duel
Drop the third-party context and see how Expandi 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
