Scrape.ly vs PhantomBuster: a general-purpose web data alternative
PhantomBuster packages sales and growth automations, such as LinkedIn and Sales Navigator exports, with CRM syncing. Scrape.ly is a general-purpose platform for running and building scrapers across many sites. Here is where each one fits.
Competitor facts and prices as listed on Oct 14, 2026. Sources
The short answer
If your goal is LinkedIn prospecting with outreach steps, email discovery, and a direct sync into HubSpot, Salesforce, or Pipedrive, PhantomBuster is purpose-built for it. If you need web data from many kinds of sites, Scrape.ly fits better: run ready-made Store Actors from a form, schedule them, export the results or send them on with webhooks, and pay for usage from a prepaid balance instead of execution hours and slots. Developers can build their own Actors with Apify-compatible SDKs and sell them in the Store for 80% of what users pay.
Apify-compatible
$2–$4/GB residential, $0.75–$1/GB datacenter
Creators keep 80% of paid fees
Scrape.ly vs PhantomBuster, side by side
PhantomBuster: Cloud automation and data extraction tool for sales and growth teams, with prebuilt automations ('Phantoms') for LinkedIn, Sales Navigator, and other platforms, plus CRM syncing.
| Feature | Scrape.ly | PhantomBuster |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Apify-compatible scraping platform with a Store of ready-made Actors | Sales and growth automations for LinkedIn and other platforms |
| Focus | Web data from any site, plus custom scrapers in code | Lead generation, prospecting, and CRM enrichment |
| Pricing model | Plans raise limits; usage from a prepaid USD balance | Plans by execution hours, automation slots, and credits |
| Free plan | Monthly usage credit, no credit card to start | 30 min execution/mo, 1 slot, exports capped at 10 rows |
| Entry paid plan | See the pricing page | Start: $69/mo monthly, $56/mo billed annually |
| Automation | Saved tasks, cron schedules, and webhooks that can start other Actors | Chain automations into workflows |
| Integrations | API, SDKs, dataset exports, and HTTP webhooks | HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive; others via Zapier, Make, or n8n |
| Catalog or marketplace | Scrape.ly Store; creators keep 80% of what users pay | First-party automation catalog |
| Runs Apify Actors | Yes, most run unchanged | No |
Pricing compared
PhantomBuster prices as listed on Oct 14, 2026 on their public pricing pages; check their site for current figures. Scrape.ly's current plans are on the pricing page.
Scrape.ly
- Free plan
- Monthly usage credit, no credit card to start
- Paid plans
- Raise concurrency, memory, and other limits, and can add a Store discount
- Usage
- Compute, storage, transfer, proxy, and browser usage from a prepaid USD balance
- Residential proxy
- $2–$4 per GB
- Datacenter proxy
- $0.75–$1 per GB
- Spending control
- Optional maximum charge per run; the run stops when it is reached
PhantomBuster
- Pricing model
- Monthly or annual plans sized by execution time (hours), automation slots, and credits (email, AI, URL finder).
- Free tier
- Free plan: 30 minutes of execution time per month, 1 slot, 50 MB storage, and exports capped at 10 rows. A separate 14-day trial (no card) includes 2 run hours, 5 slots, 1,000 AI credits, and 50 email credits, also with a 10-row export cap.
PhantomBuster plans
| PhantomBuster plan | Price | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 30 min/mo execution, 1 slot, 50 MB storage |
| Start | $69/mo monthly, or $56/mo billed annually | 20 h execution/mo, 5 slots, 500 email credits, 10,000 AI credits |
| Grow | $159/mo monthly, or $128/mo billed annually | 80 h execution/mo, 15 slots, 2,500 email credits, 30,000 AI credits |
| Scale | $439/mo monthly, or $352/mo billed annually | 300 h execution/mo, 50 slots, 10,000 email credits, 90,000 AI credits |
- PhantomBuster’s live pricing page could not be read, so these plans come from PhantomBuster’s own pricing post. Plans meter execution hours and slots, with separate email and AI credits.
- Scrape.ly has no hour or slot quotas to buy: each run’s compute, storage, transfer, and proxy traffic is paid from a prepaid balance, plus any Store Actor’s per-event price.
Feature by feature
Where Scrape.ly and PhantomBuster overlap, and where they take different approaches.
What you can automate
The Scrape.ly Store lists scrapers, crawlers, automations, AI tools, and MCP servers from Scrape.ly and community developers. For anything else, you write an Actor in JavaScript or Python.
PhantomBuster offers prebuilt automations for LinkedIn and Sales Navigator, such as search export, profile scraper, list export, account scraper, and auto-connect, which can be chained into workflows.
Running without code
Pick a Store Actor, fill in its input form, and click Start. Save the input as a task and schedule it with a cron expression. You don’t write or host any code.
Automations are configured and run in PhantomBuster’s cloud without code, within the plan’s execution hours and slots.
Getting data into your tools
Each run’s dataset exports as CSV, Excel, JSON, and more, or downloads over the API. Webhooks call any URL, or start another Actor or task, when a run finishes.
Direct CRM integrations with HubSpot, Salesforce, and Pipedrive; other tools connect via Zapier, Make, or n8n. Email discovery and AI steps use credits.
Building and selling your own
Developers build Actors with SDKs that keep the Apify SDK API, deploy them with the scrapely CLI, and can publish them in the Store with pay-per-event pricing, keeping 80% of what users pay with purchased credits.
PhantomBuster’s automation catalog is operated by PhantomBuster. We found no public third-party creator revenue share.
How to switch from PhantomBuster
PhantomBuster automations do not import into Scrape.ly. For data extraction jobs, find a Store Actor that covers the same site, then rebuild your schedule and delivery.
- 01
Find an Actor in the Store
Search the Store for the site and data you need. Each Actor page shows its input, price, and reviews.
Browse the Store →Store docs → - 02
Run it from the form
Fill in the input form and click Start. Set a maximum cost per run if you want a hard cap.
Use Actors → - 03
Schedule it and deliver the data
Save the input as a task, schedule it, and add a webhook that sends results to your systems when a run finishes.
Tasks, schedules, and webhooks → - 04
Connect an AI agent (optional)
The hosted MCP server lets Claude, Cursor, or VS Code search the Store, run Actors, and read results.
MCP server →
When to choose which
PhantomBuster is a good fit for: Sales, recruiting, and growth teams automating LinkedIn prospecting and CRM enrichment without code.
Choose Scrape.ly if
- You need data from many kinds of websites, not only sales platforms.
- You want to run ready-made Store Actors from a form, or build your own in JavaScript or Python.
- You prefer paying for usage from a prepaid balance over plans sized by execution hours and slots.
- You want results through an API, SDKs, an MCP server, exports, or webhooks.
- You want to sell scrapers you build and keep 80% of what users pay.
Choose PhantomBuster if
- Your team automates LinkedIn and Sales Navigator prospecting without code.
- You want direct CRM syncing with HubSpot, Salesforce, or Pipedrive.
- You need email discovery and AI steps inside the same workflow.
- You want prebuilt automations you can chain into outreach workflows.
Worth knowing before you decide
- PhantomBuster focuses on sales and lead-generation automations. Scrape.ly is a general-purpose scraping platform with a Store of Actors across many sites.
- PhantomBuster plans meter execution hours, slots, and credits. Scrape.ly bills usage (compute, storage, transfer, proxy per GB) from a prepaid balance, plus any Store Actor’s per-event price.
- PhantomBuster has native CRM integrations with HubSpot, Salesforce, and Pipedrive. Scrape.ly delivers data through its API, SDKs, dataset exports, and webhooks.
- PhantomBuster’s automations are first-party. In the Scrape.ly Store, independent creators publish Actors and keep 80% of what users pay with purchased credits.
- Scrape.ly runs existing Apify Actors, Apify SDK code, and apify-client calls with few or no changes; PhantomBuster uses its own automation format.
Need something custom, such as volume pricing or a managed scraper? Talk to us.
Scrape.ly vs PhantomBuster, answered
Is Scrape.ly an alternative to PhantomBuster?
For data extraction, yes. Scrape.ly runs ready-made Store Actors and custom Actors through the dashboard, API, SDKs, CLI, or MCP. PhantomBuster is tailored to sales workflows, with built-in CRM syncing and outreach automations.
How much does PhantomBuster cost?
According to PhantomBuster’s own pricing post, read on Oct 14, 2026, paid plans start at $69/mo billed monthly or $56/mo billed annually for the Start plan, with 20 hours of execution and 5 slots.
Does Scrape.ly sync with CRMs like HubSpot or Salesforce?
Scrape.ly has no native CRM integrations. You can export datasets, download them over the API, or use webhooks to push results to your own systems when a run finishes.
Do I need to code to use Scrape.ly?
Not to run Store Actors: the dashboard shows each Actor’s input as a form, and tasks and schedules are set up in the dashboard. Building a new scraper on Scrape.ly does mean writing code.
How is Scrape.ly billed?
Plans raise limits such as concurrency and memory. Runs, storage, proxies, and paid Store Actors draw from a prepaid US dollar balance, and you can cap any run with a maximum charge.
Sources and method
Every PhantomBuster fact on this page comes from their public website and docs, read on Oct 14, 2026. Prices change, so check the linked pages before you buy. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we will fix it.
PhantomBuster (accessed Oct 14, 2026)
- phantombuster.com/pricing
- phantombuster.com/blog/ai-automation/phantombuster-pricing-explained
- support.phantombuster.com/hc/en-us/articles/22306827153810-Introduction-to-PhantomBuster-Automations
- phantombuster.com/automations/sales-navigator/2316536293241490/linkedin-sales-navigator-list-export
- phantombuster.com/blog/linkedin-automation/linkedin-to-hubspot-automation/
Scrape.ly
- Proxy groups and per-GB prices
- Plans, prepaid credits, and billing
- Creator earnings (80%) and payouts
- Maximum charge per run
- JavaScript SDK (API-compatible with the Apify SDK)
- Python SDK
- Migrating from apify-client (JavaScript)
- Migrating from apify-client (Python)
- Scrapely browser
- MCP server
- CLI reference
- Store
- Pricing
PhantomBuster is a trademark of its owner, used here only to identify their product. Scrape.ly is not affiliated with PhantomBuster.
Compare Scrape.ly with other tools
See every comparison on the compare page, or explore the Store, proxies, and anti-blocking.
- No-code tool
Scrape.ly vs Octoparse
No-code, point-and-click web scraping desktop app with cloud extraction, templates, and an AI assistant that builds tasks.
Read the comparison - No-code tool
Scrape.ly vs Web Scraper
Point-and-click browser extension for building scrapers (sitemaps), with a paid Web Scraper Cloud for scheduled, managed runs.
Read the comparison - Actor platform
Scrape.ly vs Apify
Cloud platform and marketplace (Apify Store) for serverless scraping and automation programs called Actors, with its own proxy, SDKs, CLI, API client, and hosted MCP server.
Read the comparison
The internet is full of data.
Start owning yours.
Scrape.ly gives you the infrastructure, the tooling, and the team to extract, process, and operationalize web data at any scale. Setup takes minutes. The advantage lasts forever.
Powered by Evomi infrastructure.
