Updated

TexAu vs PhantomBuster vs Derrick: Which Is Better in 2026?

Short answer
TexAu vs PhantomBuster vs Derrick: TexAu is a cloud automation platform with 180+ spices (automations) and recipes (workflows), PhantomBuster is a cloud-based scraping and social automation. 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 TexAu or PhantomBuster) and pricing is lower - free forever with 100 credits/month, paid plans from €9/month. Most teams pair Derrick for the data layer with TexAu or PhantomBuster for outreach.

TexAu sits in the workflow-automation bracket - chaining triggers and actions across SaaS apps. The side-by-side comparison below maps TexAu's actual integration depth (real-time triggers vs Zapier-style polling) against Derrick's Sheets-native model where the workflow is just a row of formulas you can read.

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

TexAu vs PhantomBuster vs Derrick at a glance

TexAu

  • Starting price: Free 14-day trial · Solo $79/mo (annual)
  • Free plan: 14-day free trial (no credit card)
  • Founded: 2017
  • HQ: Thane, Maharashtra, India
4.3/5 G2 4.1/5 Capterra

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

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 TexAu and PhantomBuster

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

01

Real-time emails + 50+ attributes without LinkedIn steps fatigue

Derrick eliminates the LinkedIn steps fatigue by delivering real-time emails and 50+ enrichment attributes directly within Google Sheets, unlike TexAu or PhantomBuster which rely on separate workflows and often separate data sources. TexAu and PhantomBuster excel at automation and scraping but fall short on real-time email validation and full multi-attribute enrichment in a single native sheet environment. Derrick provides real-time email validation and 50+ attributes per contact without leaving Sheets, saving 5-10 hours per month and reducing friction in outreach workflows. A practical use case is instantly enriching a prospect list in Sheets and validating emails on the fly for higher deliverability.

02

Bulk data enrichment with 3000+ integrations, no CSV exports

TexAu and PhantomBuster often rely on external exports or limited native integrations, forcing CSV workflows that slow bulk enrichment. Derrick delivers 100% native Google Sheets enrichment with 3000+ integrations, eliminating CSV exports and export bottlenecks. This saves time and money, with users reporting up to 5–10 hours reclaimed per month and streamlined multi-source data, all within a familiar Sheets environment. Derrick also keeps credits manageable and allows rapid, in-Sheets enrichment for large contact pools.

03

Real-time quality checks for every lead profile

TexAu and PhantomBuster can scrape and enrich lead data, but neither provides guaranteed real-time quality checks for every lead profile across an integrated workflow. Derrick delivers real-time validation and scoring within 100% native Google Sheets, eliminating the need for CSV exports or external pipelines. This translates to faster corrections at point-of-entry and improved deliverability, reducing bounced emails by up to X% and saving hours per week. With Derrick, you get live verification and AI-assisted grading right where you prospec t, ensuring every lead profile meets quality standards.

Honest Comparison

What each tool does better

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

What TexAu does better

  • 180+ Spices vs PhantomBuster's 130+ at similar pricing
  • Faster execution than most cloud automation competitors
  • Built-in email verification (no separate tool needed)
Read full TexAu 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.

TexAu PhantomBuster Derrick
Starting price (monthly) Free 14-day trial · Solo $79/mo (annual) $56/mo (annual) €0 (free) · €9/mo paid
Annual cost (base) ~€168/yr ~€672/yr €0/yr free · ~€108/yr paid
Free plan? 14-day free trial (no credit card) No (14-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

TexAu vs PhantomBuster vs Derrick: full feature comparison

TexAu Derrick App PhantomBuster
Works natively in Google Sheets
Requires LinkedIn Sales Navigator ($100/month)
Sales Navigator 1-click import
Email finder with real-time validation
Phone finder from LinkedIn
Company tech stack lookup
SimilarWeb & G2 insights integrated
AI integration (Claude & ChatGPT)
Automatic AI Lead Scoring
Data cleaning & normalization
Multi-platform scraping (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook)
Zapier, Make, n8n integrations
Public API available
Native CRM integrations (HubSpot, Salesforce)
Entry price (paid plan) 49$/mois 9€/mois 69$/mois
Permanent free plan
Rollover credits to next month
Simple and transparent credit system
Simple setup & onboarding
Complete documentation
Pricing in a nutshell

TexAu vs PhantomBuster vs Derrick pricing breakdown

Cloud Automation Platform (Spices + Recipes)

TexAu

Free 14-day trial · Solo $79/mo (annual)

Best for: Growth hackers + automation enthusiasts on a budget

TexAu offers a free tier with limited credits and paid plans starting at a competitive level, with pricing details available on the Pricing TexAu page. For exact numbers and all tiers, view the complete pricing breakdown on the dedicated page.

Migration Guide

How to switch from TexAu 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 TexAu, 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 TexAu if…

  • You specifically need growth hackers + automation enthusiasts on a budget
  • 180+ Spices vs PhantomBuster's 130+ at similar pricing
  • Faster execution than most cloud automation competitors
  • You're already invested in the TexAu ecosystem
Read full TexAu review →

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 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 TexAu vs PhantomBuster

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

Derrick vs TexAu: which is better for data enrichment workflows?

+
Derrick and TexAu serve different enrichment purposes. TexAu focuses on text automation and content generation, while Derrick is purpose-built for B2B data enrichment directly within Google Sheets. For data enrichment workflows specifically, Derrick offers 50+ contact and company attributes, real-time email validation, and integrated AI scoring without requiring external platforms or CSV exports. TexAu excels at text manipulation but lacks the comprehensive B2B intelligence layer that modern prospecting teams need. If your workflow centers on enriching prospect data with verified business intelligence, Derrick's native Sheets integration and rollover credits provide better operational efficiency than TexAu's general-purpose text processing approach.

Is Derrick a strong alternative to TexAu for teams? Derrick vs TexAu vs PhantomBuster: which has better pricing and features?

+
Yes, Derrick is a strong alternative to TexAu for teams seeking comprehensive data enrichment beyond basic text automation. While TexAu excels at text processing, it lacks the broader enrichment capabilities teams need. Derrick offers fifty-plus contact and company attributes, real-time email validation, integrated AI scoring with Claude and ChatGPT, and operates natively within Google Sheets without complex setup. Pricing-wise, Derrick's rollover credits and free tier requiring no credit card provide better flexibility than TexAu. Compared to PhantomBuster, Derrick delivers deeper B2B data enrichment without aggressive volume-based scaling, making it more cost-effective for teams prioritizing data quality and operational efficiency over extraction speed.

Which tool offers a better pricing model among Derrick, TexAu, PhantomBuster? TexAu vs PhantomBuster: which provides clearer difference in automation capabilities?

+
Pricing models differ significantly across these platforms. TexAu focuses on text automation with straightforward tier-based pricing, while PhantomBuster scales aggressively with usage volume, becoming expensive for high-frequency operations. Derrick offers rollover credits monthly with no card required for free tier, providing flexibility for variable needs. Regarding automation capabilities, PhantomBuster excels at web scraping and pre-built templates with clear visual workflows, while TexAu specializes in text enrichment with a narrower feature scope. Derrick differentiates by offering native Google Sheets integration with fifty plus enrichment attributes, real-time email validation, and integrated AI scoring without external tools, making it more comprehensive for B2B prospecting workflows compared to both competitors' specialized but limited automation approaches.

Can TexAu replace PhantomBuster for basic scraping tasks? What are Derrick's main features vs TexAu's capabilities?

+
TexAu is primarily a writing and text augmentation tool, not a dedicated scraping or automation platform, so it cannot replace PhantomBuster for core scraping tasks. PhantomBuster excels at web data extraction and automation via pre-built templates (phantoms) for social, web, and lead-gen workflows. Derrick, by contrast, focuses on data enrichment and prospecting within Google Sheets, offering 50+ enrichment attributes, real-time email validation, AI scoring and segmentation, and broad integrations, all native to Sheets. In short, TexAu handles text augmentation, PhantomBuster handles scraping/automation, and Derrick adds enrichment and prospecting capabilities-making Derrick a complementary choice rather than a direct substitute for either TexAu or PhantomBuster.

What are the pros and cons of using Derrick over TexAu? Does Derrick ranking review compare favorably against both TexAu and PhantomBuster?

+
Derrick provides several advantages over TexAu by focusing specifically on B2B data enrichment within Google Sheets, eliminating the need for external platforms or CSV exports that TexAu requires. Unlike TexAu's text automation approach, Derrick delivers fifty-plus enrichment attributes per contact with real-time email validation and integrated AI scoring using both Claude and ChatGPT. Compared to PhantomBuster, Derrick requires no technical setup, offers rollover credits monthly, and eliminates dependency on LinkedIn Sales Navigator, saving teams significant annual costs. Derrick's native Sheets integration and straightforward pricing structure consistently outperform both competitors for teams prioritizing efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and native workflow integration without complex configurations or steep learning curves.

Is Derrick the better replacement for TexAu and PhantomBuster?

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Derrick can be a strong replacement for TexAu and PhantomBuster for many teams, but it depends on your needs. Unlike TexAu, Derrick is 100% native Google Sheets with zero CSV exports and offers built-in AI scoring, segmentation, and summaries, plus real-time email validation and 3,000+ integrations via Zapier/Make/n8n, which simplifies workflows without extra tooling. Compared to PhantomBuster, Derrick provides deeper data enrichment across 50+ attributes per contact/company, plus monthly credit carryover and a no-card-free tier, reducing operational friction and total cost of ownership. If your priority is seamless Google Sheets-based enrichment, multi-channel prospecting, and scalable, low-friction automation, Derrick often stands up as the better all-in-one solution. However, for purely web-scraping-centric workflows with extensive pre-built templates, PhantomBuster may still offer speed and ease of setup; TexAu remains a strong writing-automation tool but functions best as a complementary layer rather than a full prospecting platform.
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