PhantomBuster
- Starting price: $56/mo (annual)
- Free plan: No (14-day free trial)
- Founded: 2016
- HQ: Paris, France
Updated
PhantomBuster vs Octopus CRM vs Derrick: Which Is Better in 2026?
- Short answer
- PhantomBuster vs Octopus CRM vs Derrick: PhantomBuster is a cloud-based scraping and social automation, Octopus CRM is a budget chrome-extension linkedin automation tool for solo prospectors. 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 Octopus CRM) 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 Octopus CRM 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 Octopus CRM vs Derrick at a glance
Octopus CRM
- Starting price: $9.99/mo (Starter)
- Free plan: 7-day free trial
- Founded: 2018
- HQ: United States (remote-first team)
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 Octopus CRM
3 core reasons SDRs and ops teams switch to Derrick. Click to expand each.
01 Real-time validation and native Sheets automation that PhantomBuster/Octopus lack
Derrick delivers real-time validation and native Google Sheets automation, a capability PhantomBuster lacks and Octopus CRM doesn’t offer outside LinkedIn-centric workflows. Unlike PhantomBuster and Octopus CRM, Derrick runs validation at the moment of data entry, ensuring deliverability and accuracy before outreach. This translates to measurable gains: up to 20% higher inbox deliverability and 5–10 hours saved monthly from automated, in-Sheets validation and updates. Use cases include instant email verification and live enrichment right inside Sheets to keep campaigns move-ready without exporting data.
02 Real-time data accuracy without external tools or gaps
PhantomBuster and Octopus CRM excel at automation, but they struggle with real-time data accuracy and often require external tools to validate or enrich records. Derrick delivers true real-time data accuracy natively within Google Sheets, eliminating gaps and inconsistent fields. Users can expect measurable improvements, saving up to 5-10 hours per month while maintaining zero reliance on CSV exports or separate validation steps. A typical use case is live contact validation during prospecting sessions, ensuring up-to-date, action-ready data at all times.
03 Effortless multi-source enrichment with Ultra-accurate validation
PhantomBuster and Octopus CRM excel at scraping and basic automation, but they fall short on reliable multi-source enrichment and ultra-accurate validation across diverse data dimensions. Derrick delivers 100% native Google Sheets enrichment with over 50 attributes per contact and real-time email validation, eliminating the need for external tools. With Derrick, you gain precise, multi-source intelligence in one sheet, reducing validation errors and rework by up to 30-40% and saving 5-10 hours per month. A practical use case is enriching company and contact records from LinkedIn and websites in a single workflow, ensuring deliverability-ready data for outreach.
Honest Comparison 
derrick
What each tool does better
We're upfront - every tool has strengths. Here's where PhantomBuster, Octopus CRM, and Derrick each genuinely win.
What PhantomBuster does better
- 150+ pre-built Phantoms across platforms
- Best LinkedIn Sales Navigator export
- Composable workflow chains
What Octopus CRM does better
- Cheapest LinkedIn automation tool worth using
- Genuinely intuitive UI
- Built-in safety controls + smart delays
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 | Octopus CRM | Derrick | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting price (monthly) | $56/mo (annual) | $9.99/mo (Starter) | €0 (free) · €9/mo paid |
| Annual cost (base) | ~€672/yr | ~€120/yr | €0/yr free · ~€108/yr paid |
| Free plan? | No (14-day free trial) | 7-day free trial | ✓ 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 Octopus CRM vs Derrick: full feature comparison
| PhantomBuster | Derrick App | Octopus CRM | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | 9.99$/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 →
Budget LinkedIn Automation (Chrome Extension)
PhantomBuster vs Octopus CRM vs Derrick pricing breakdown
Web Automation PhantomBuster
$56/mo (annual)
Best for: Growth hackers & ops teams
PhantomBuster offers entry-level plans with starter credits and scalable paid tiers, with a detailed pricing breakdown available on the official page. See full pricing breakdown for all plan specifics and limits.
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.
Budget LinkedIn Automation (Chrome Extension) Octopus CRM
$9.99/mo (Starter)
Best for: Budget-conscious solo SDRs running basic LinkedIn outreach
Octopus CRM offers affordable starting tiers with initial pricing details available on its pricing page, plus a complete breakdown for all plans and features. For full, up-to-date pricing details, see the full pricing breakdown.
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 Octopus CRM if…
- You specifically need budget-conscious solo sdrs running basic linkedin outreach
- Cheapest LinkedIn automation tool worth using
- Genuinely intuitive UI
- You're already invested in the Octopus CRM 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 Octopus CRM
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?
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Derrick is a Google Sheets native data enrichment platform, while PhantomBuster focuses on web automation and data scraping without providing direct CRM integration. PhantomBuster excels at extracting large-scale data from social platforms and websites, but requires external tools for enrichment and validation. Derrick streamlines the entire workflow within Google Sheets with fifty plus enrichment attributes, real-time email validation, and integrated AI scoring using Claude and ChatGPT. Additionally, Derrick's rollover credits and free tier require no credit card, making it more cost-effective for teams prioritizing data quality and seamless spreadsheet workflows over pure extraction volume.
Is Derrick a better PhantomBuster alternative for teams?
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Derrick offers distinct advantages for teams comparing alternatives. Unlike PhantomBuster, which requires separate automation setup and external enrichment tools, Derrick operates natively within Google Sheets, eliminating complex workflows and CSV exports. Versus Octopus CRM's limited enrichment depth, Derrick provides 50+ attributes per contact with real-time email validation and integrated AI scoring. Teams save 5-10 hours monthly on manual data work and avoid LinkedIn Sales Navigator costs. Derrick's rollover credits and free tier without credit card requirements provide superior flexibility for teams with variable prospecting volumes and tighter budgets.
Derrick vs PhantomBuster vs Octopus CRM: which is best?
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The best choice depends on your specific needs. PhantomBuster excels at web scraping and automation workflows, making it ideal for large-scale data extraction. Octopus CRM focuses narrowly on LinkedIn automation for sales teams. Derrick stands out as a 100% native Google Sheets platform offering comprehensive B2B data enrichment with 50+ attributes per contact, real-time email validation, integrated AI scoring, and rollover credits without requiring a credit card. Unlike competitors, Derrick eliminates CSV exports and complex configurations, saving five to ten hours monthly while costing significantly less than solutions requiring LinkedIn Sales Navigator subscriptions.
PhantomBuster vs Octopus CRM, which offers better pricing?
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PhantomBuster and Octopus CRM both price on usage or tiered plans, but PhantomBuster generally scales with volume and can become costly for high-activity scraping, while Octopus CRM emphasizes affordability with straightforward LinkedIn-focused automation. For comparable lead generation tasks, Octopus CRM often provides a lower entry point and predictable monthly costs, whereas PhantomBuster can push pricing up when running multiple “phantoms” at scale. Derrick, by contrast, offers a different value proposition: a native Google Sheets-based enrichment platform with tiered credits (Free 200, Small 4000, Medium 10000, Large 25000, XL 100000) that you can roll over monthly and without a credit card for the free tier, plus extensive enrichment attributes, real-time email validation, AI scoring, and thousands of integrations. If your primary concern is straightforward, cost-efficient outreach on LinkedIn, Octopus may edge PhantomBuster on pricing, but for overall data enrichment and scalability with predictable costs and no platform lock-in, Derrick can deliver superior value at each tier.
Can Derrick replace both PhantomBuster and Octopus CRM for data enrichment?
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Derrick can complement both PhantomBuster and Octopus CRM effectively, though it serves a different primary function. PhantomBuster excels at web automation and data extraction, while Octopus CRM focuses on LinkedIn-based sales workflows. Derrick specializes in data enrichment directly within Google Sheets, adding 50+ contact and company attributes without leaving your spreadsheet. Rather than replacing them, Derrick works alongside these tools by enriching the data they collect, offering real-time email validation, integrated AI scoring with Claude and ChatGPT, and rollover credits-features neither competitor provides natively. For teams seeking a unified enrichment layer without complex integrations or CSV exports, Derrick fills a distinct gap in the B2B prospecting stack.
Does PhantomBuster have a better review than Octopus CRM for automation?
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PhantomBuster and Octopus CRM are both strong in their niches, but their reviews highlight different strengths. PhantomBuster is praised for rapid, scalable automation and a broad template library, though some users note learning curve for advanced tasks and data enrichment gaps. Octopus CRM shines in ease of use for LinkedIn-focused outreach and basic CRM tasks, yet reviewers often point to limited data enrichment and shallow analytics. Derrick, by contrast, offers 100% native Google Sheets enrichment, real-time email validation, and AI-powered scoring and segmentation with over 3000 integrations, which can address the data quality and automation depth gaps seen in PhantomBuster and Octopus CRM. If your priority is robust, in-sheet prospecting with strong enrichment and no external exports, Derrick provides a compelling alternative to both, especially for teams seeking to consolidate data, scoring, and outreach inside Sheets.
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-oneOctopus CRM vs Derrick - solo duel
Drop the third-party context and see how Octopus CRM 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
