Bardeen vs PhantomBuster (2026): which should you pick?

Pick Bardeen if

• Fits if you build lead lists and want scraping and enrichment in one place
• Works for a go-to-market person who pays by the row

Look elsewhere if

• Tight if you scrape at volume: 1 credit a row, 3 for enrichment, and unused credits expire each period
• Not for you if you want general personal automation, as it is aimed at lead sourcing
• Pricey if you scale: Premium is $50 a month for 1,000 credits
• Watch out: the page does not say whether the free 100 credits refill
• Skip it if you want a desktop or phone app, as none is listed

Pick PhantomBuster if

• Fits if your leads come from LinkedIn and Sales Navigator searches
• Works for HubSpot users who want LinkedIn leads synced both ways, without writing code

Look elsewhere if

• Tight if lots of lookups come back empty, as each attempt uses an email credit and credits reset monthly
• Not for you if you use Salesforce or Pipedrive and want two-way sync, and Salesforce needs its Enterprise edition
• Skip it if you just need the odd email, as it's built for repeat workflows
• Tight if you're staying free or on the trial, as exports and API output stop at 10 rows
• Watch out: these prices come from its July 2026 pricing guide, as its pricing page couldn't be read

Bardeen

• Pricing is by credit: 1 per scraped row, 1 per search or AI row, 3 per enrichment row. Unused credits expire at the end of each billing period.
• The pricing page shows paid plans only as add-on credit amounts per month; the free 100 credits are described without a refill date.
• The product is aimed at lead sourcing and go-to-market work, not general-purpose personal automation.
• The pages read list no desktop or mobile apps; the product is described as an app used in the browser.

PhantomBuster

• Prices come from PhantomBuster's July 2026 pricing guide on its own site; its pricing page could not be read when checked.
• An email credit is used for every lookup attempt, even when no email is found, and credits reset monthly without rolling over.
• The Free plan and the trial cap exports and API output at 10 rows.
• The Salesforce and Pipedrive connections are one-way, and Salesforce needs its Enterprise edition or above.

Bardeen

Web scraper

Build your own scraper or use premium ones to pull leads from sites such as Product Hunt, Zillow and GitHub, at 1 credit per row.

Web search

Researches or generates leads at scale with AI and web search providers, or finds answers on a given website, at 1 credit per row.

Contact enrichment

Looks up validated emails and phone numbers for leads. Enrichment costs 3 credits per row.

AI qualification

You describe the ideal lead and AI marks each row as qualified or not, with a short reason, at 1 credit per row.

Exports

Results download as CSV or go to Google Sheets, Airtable and Notion. Importing and exporting data is free.

PhantomBuster

Phantoms

Ready-made automations that collect data from LinkedIn, Sales Navigator, Facebook, X and Instagram, such as exporting the people in a search.

Multi-step workflows

Chain steps that collect leads, filter them, find emails, qualify them with AI and send them on, all in one shared workspace.

Email discovery

A built-in email finder, run on BetterContact's waterfall enrichment, or a connected Hunter, Snov.io or Dropcontact account using its own API key.

Chrome extension

Shows emails, phone numbers and company details on a LinkedIn profile when clicked, and saves the lead to PhantomBuster or HubSpot.

HubSpot sync

A two-way HubSpot connection that sends leads, enriches contacts, finds their LinkedIn profiles and tracks job changes.

Zapier, Make and API

Launch automations and fetch their results from Zapier, Make, Google Sheets or the API, or send leads to lemlist for outreach.

Bardeen

• Basic$10

  per month for +100 credits, billed monthly

  Adds 100 credits a month; steps up to +500 credits for $50. Includes custom scrapers, premium scrapers and enrichment.

• Premium$50

  per month for +1,000 credits, billed monthly

  Adds 1,000 credits a month; steps up to +10K credits for $500. Adds Teams. Annual billing starts at $480 per year for +12,000 credits.

• EnterpriseCustom

  Custom bulk credits on annual billing, with custom scrapers built and maintained by Bardeen and premium support.

PhantomBuster

• Free$0

  30 minutes of running time a month, 1 slot and 50 MB of storage; exports and API output limited to 10 rows.

• Start$56

  per month, billed annually ($69 billed monthly)

  20 run hours, 5 automation slots, 500 email credits, 10,000 AI credits and 1,000 URL Finder credits a month.

• Grow$128

  per month, billed annually ($159 billed monthly)

  80 run hours, 15 automation slots, 2,500 email credits, 30,000 AI credits and 10,000 URL Finder credits a month.

• Scale$352

  per month, billed annually ($439 billed monthly)

  300 run hours, 50 automation slots, 10,000 email credits, 90,000 AI credits and 20,000 URL Finder credits a month.

Bardeen

• Annual discount

  Save 20% on annual Premium billing

  The pricing page offers Premium on yearly billing at a 20% saving, starting at $480 per year for 12,000 credits.

PhantomBuster

• Annual discount

  About 20% off with yearly billing

  PhantomBuster's pricing guide gives Start at $56 a month billed yearly against $69 monthly, Grow at $128 against $159 and Scale at $352 against $439.