Captain Data vs PhantomBuster (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, PhantomBuster grades higher than Captain Data: 2.6 against 1.6 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
PhantomBuster grades higher on value for money, ease of use and platforms. They get the same grade on the free plan and features.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Captain Data
People and company data API built on LinkedIn profiles
PhantomBuster
Cloud automations that collect and enrich leads from LinkedIn
Which one is for you
Pick Captain Data if
- Fits if you are a developer who needs LinkedIn-based people data in your own tool
- Works for teams that prefer volume pricing to per-seat plans
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you want an app to prospect in, as there is no dashboard
- Pricey if you start small, as the base rate is €59.99 per 1,000 credits
- Watch out: unused credits do not roll over month to month on monthly billing
- Watch out: the page was read with the euro setting, and its dollar figures were not confirmed
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
How we grade them
| 1.6GPACaptain DataWeak | 2.6GPAPhantomBusterGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | D€59.99 per 1,000 credits from a 2,500-credit start is about €150 a month, and the volume slider shows €600 for 20,000. That is the dearer end for what is a data API. | AStart is $56 a month billed yearly for one shared workspace, about $11.20 a head for five, under 60% of this category's cheaper quarter ($34). It buys 20 run hours, 5 automation slots, 500 email credits and 10,000 AI credits a month. |
| Free plan and trial | C100 free credits with no card, one time. | CA free plan with 30 minutes of running time and 1 slot a month, and a 14-day trial with no card. Both cap exports at 10 rows, which makes them a demo. |
| Features | CPeople enrichment, people and company search, company employees and an MCP server. There is no dashboard prospecting app. | CPhantoms for LinkedIn, Sales Navigator, Facebook, X and Instagram, multi-step workflows, an email finder, a Chrome extension and two-way HubSpot sync. The gaps: it pulls from other sites rather than a database, and Salesforce sync is one-way. |
| Ease of use | DNo store rating on record. It is an API product and needs a developer. | CNo App Store rating on record, and this is a tool where you build the automations and chain the steps yourself. No code needed, but there's a learning curve. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWeb, with an API and MCP server and two listed integrations. No apps. | BWeb and a Chrome extension, with HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, Zapier, Make, Google Sheets, lemlist and Hunter, plus an API. No desktop or phone apps. |
| Best for | LinkedIn-based people data over an API | pulling lead lists out of LinkedIn searches |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Captain Data and PhantomBuster. How we grade
Price against what you get
Captain Data starts at about $67.02 a month and scores 1.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. PhantomBuster starts at $56 a month and scores 2.3.
PhantomBuster scores higher and starts $11.02 a month lower. Of the other lead and email finders on the chart, 37 score higher than Captain Data for less, and 19 score higher than PhantomBuster for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Captain Data also covers AI agents.
At a glance
| Captain Data | PhantomBuster | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | €59.99 per 1,000 credits, billed monthly (from 2,500 credits) | $56 per month, billed annually |
| Free plan | None | 30 minutes of running time a month, 1 automation slot and 50 MB of storage, with no email or AI credits and exports capped at 10 rows. |
| Free trial | 100 free credits, no credit card required | 14-day free trial, no credit card required, with 2 run hours, 5 slots and small credit allowances |
| Web | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Captain Data | PhantomBuster |
| Price read from | captaindata.com | phantombuster.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Captain Data
- The page was read with the euro setting showing; a US dollar setting exists but its figures were not confirmed.
- Unused credits do not roll over month to month on monthly billing.
- Pricing scales with volume only, and there is no per-seat plan or dashboard prospecting app.
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.
Key features
Captain Data
- People enrichment
- Return a full profile from a LinkedIn profile URL for 1 credit per record.
- Find people and companies
- Resolve a person from a name and optional company, or a company from a name or domain, at 2 credits per record.
- Search endpoints
- People and company search cost 1 credit per request plus 1 credit per result, with one page counted as one request.
- Company employees
- Retrieve the employees of a given company through a dedicated endpoint, billed per request and per result.
- MCP server
- A Model Context Protocol server exposes the same data to Claude, Cursor and other agents.
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.
Plans
Captain Data
Silver (20,000 credits)€600
per month for 20,000 credits, billed monthly
Shown on the volume slider at €29.99 per 1,000 credits, 50% under the €59.99 base rate.
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.
Ways to pay less
Captain Data
No public discounts listed.
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.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Captain Data or PhantomBuster?
As of Nov 13, 2026, PhantomBuster is cheaper to start with: $56 a month, against about $67.02 a month for Captain Data. Captain Data starts at €59.99 per 1,000 credits, billed monthly (from 2,500 credits), and PhantomBuster starts at $56 per month, billed annually.
Which has a free plan, Captain Data or PhantomBuster?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only PhantomBuster has a free plan. Captain Data does not, though it has a free trial.
Which platforms do Captain Data and PhantomBuster run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only PhantomBuster lists a browser extension. Both list a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.