Searchbase vs PhantomBuster (2026 Comparison)
2026-09-08
Quick answer: Searchbase searches B2B contact databases (Apollo alone: 240M+ people and 30M+ companies, as Apollo states; plus Hunter and more) and the open web from one prompt, with nothing to configure and no account of yours in the loop: you get companies or people with email and phone where a provider has them, the ads they run, the jobs they post and the social profiles they keep. Describe your ideal customer. Searchbase finds them across Europe in one prompt, with the source on every cell. It works in English and Italian, bills in euros from a European entity, and charges per action rather than per seat (€0 to €199 a month, with a free plan that renews every month). PhantomBuster is the better pick if your motion runs on LinkedIn and you want scheduled automations that extract profiles, watch engagement and send connection requests and messages from your own account (56€ to 352€ a month on annual billing, after a 14-day trial).
What each tool actually does
PhantomBuster (phantombuster.com) is a cloud automation platform for real-time sales prospecting. Its unit of work is the Phantom, an individual automation that does one task: extract LinkedIn profiles, enrich contacts with an email, export leads to a CRM. Workflows chain several Phantoms into a ready-made sequence, for example finding the people who engaged with a LinkedIn post, collecting their profiles and pushing them to your CRM. PhantomBuster states it extracts real-time data from 15 or more platforms including LinkedIn, Twitter (X), Instagram, Slack and Facebook, filters on more than 1,000 data points, and runs in the cloud so you can close your browser. Crucially, it automates through your own accounts. PhantomBuster is explicit that it does not sell data, does not provide pre-built databases and does not use fake profiles: you build your own lists from what you can already see. On the LinkedIn side it also sends, with personalized messages, connection requests, likes and event invites, plus lead warming and support for connecting multiple LinkedIn accounts.
Searchbase (searchbase.org, Europe) puts the contact databases and the open web behind one sentence. You describe the leads you want in plain words, "every digital agency in Milan with an email and a website", "heads of marketing at Italian furniture manufacturers", "creators in the running niche with over 10k followers and a contact email", "companies advertising kitchen furniture on Meta in Italy", and the agent decides where to look. For standard B2B contacts it queries contact databases, Apollo (240M+ people and 30M+ companies, as Apollo states) and Hunter among them, and enriches companies against Crunchbase and the Italian company registry. For everything else it searches, reads the pages, extracts the rows and streams them into a spreadsheet while you watch. Every cell carries a link to the page or provider it came from, a badge with when it was collected and the extraction method, and emails carry the provider's status. If a value cannot be verified it stays n/a instead of being guessed. Coverage runs from those databases to any public web page, 12 social platforms, 3 ad libraries and 9 job boards, across roughly 33 extraction methods. From the people it finds, the agent drafts personalised email and LinkedIn sequences that you approve before anything launches.
Side by side
| Searchbase | PhantomBuster | |
|---|---|---|
| Input | plain-language prompt | configure a Phantom or pick a Workflow |
| Coverage | B2B contact databases (Apollo alone: 240M+ people and 30M+ companies, as Apollo states; plus Hunter and more) plus any public web page, 12 social platforms, 3 ad libraries (Meta, Google, TikTok), 9 job boards, the Italian company registry, Crunchbase | 15+ platforms including LinkedIn, Sales Navigator, Twitter (X), Instagram, Slack, Facebook, Google |
| Output | table of companies or people: email and phone where a provider has them, website, LinkedIn, any column you ask for; source link on every cell | CSV, JSON or CRM sync from each automation |
| Verification | source link, collection time and method on every cell; provider status on emails; unknown = n/a, never guessed | email enrichment credits, no per-cell source documented |
| Ad intelligence | yes, the Meta, Google and TikTok ad libraries | no |
| Creators and social | yes, 12 platforms | yes, through your own accounts |
| Languages | English, Italian | English |
| Pricing model | per action, no seats: a 10-person team pays the same as one | automation slots, execution hours, email credits and AI credits; unlimited users |
| Pricing | €0 / €29 / €79 / €199 per month, billed annually; 150 to 12,000 credits | 56€ / 128€ / 352€ per month on annual billing, plus a 14-day trial |
| Free tier | free plan, 150 credits every month | 14-day trial, exports limited to 10 rows |
| CRM and export | HubSpot push; CSV, JSON, API, webhooks | unlimited exports on paid plans, HubSpot and CRM sync |
| Outreach | drafts personalised email and LinkedIn sequences per lead; you approve before launch | sends LinkedIn messages, connection requests, likes and event invites |
| Account needed | no, nothing runs through your logins | yes, automations run through your own accounts |
| Scheduling | run a prompt when you need it | daily and scheduled auto-refresh, always-on automations |
| Best for | any team that needs a list a single database cannot give: B2B sales, agencies, recruiters, marketers, European and Italian teams | LinkedIn-led outbound teams and growth operators |
Where PhantomBuster is stronger
- LinkedIn, properly. Profile extraction, Sales Navigator, connection requests, direct messages, likes, event invites, lead warming and multiple connected LinkedIn accounts. Searchbase does none of that. If your pipeline is built on LinkedIn activity, PhantomBuster is the tool.
- Sending from the tool, and always-on automations. PhantomBuster sends, and daily scheduled auto-refresh means a list keeps itself current rather than waiting for you to re-run a search. Searchbase drafts sequences and waits for your approval, and launching from the campaign wizard is still rolling out.
- Engagement signals from inside the platform. Comments, likes, connection degrees and interactions are data PhantomBuster collects because it is logged in as you. A research agent reading public pages and databases does not see who liked what.
Where Searchbase is stronger
- One prompt, every source. Searchbase asks the B2B contact databases, Apollo (240M+ people and 30M+ companies, as Apollo states) and Hunter among them, and reads the open web, 12 social platforms, 3 ad libraries, 9 job boards, Crunchbase and the Italian company registry in the same request. PhantomBuster works platform by platform, one Phantom at a time, on what your account can already see.
- You can check every value. A cell is a claim with a link, a freshness badge, the method used to get it and, on emails, the provider's status. When a client asks where a value came from, you click. PhantomBuster returns the extracted field. Anything unverifiable stays
n/arather than being guessed. - Competitor ads. Searchbase reads the Meta, Google and TikTok ad libraries, so "who is advertising this in Italy right now" is a table. PhantomBuster has no ad library.
- Nothing runs through your account, and nothing to configure. PhantomBuster is careful and compliant about it, and its automations still execute as you, with your login, inside platform constraints. Searchbase reads public sources and licensed databases, so your LinkedIn account is never in the loop, and you write a sentence rather than planning slots, execution hours and four separate credit budgets.
- Per action, no seats, and a real free plan. A ten-person team pays what one person pays, and Free renews 150 credits every month with no card. PhantomBuster's free entry is a 14-day trial whose exports are capped at 10 rows, enough to validate a setup and not enough to work with.
- Built for European teams. Prompts, interface and results in English and Italian, euro billing from a European company, and an agent that reads European sources natively, from national company sites and the Italian company registry to local directories. PhantomBuster is English only. In fairness it also prices in euros, so currency is not the differentiator here, only language and coverage are.
How credits work in Searchbase
You pay per action, not per seat. Reading a page costs about 1 credit, a social profile about 3, a Deep Research report 20 to 40. The Free plan renews 150 credits every month with no card. Starter (€29) gives 1,000, Pro (€79) 4,000 with API access and rollover, Business (€199) 12,000 with webhooks, and contacts push straight into HubSpot. PhantomBuster splits the same idea into four separate budgets you have to plan against: automation slots, monthly execution hours, email credits and AI credits, with URL Finder credits on top.
Frequently asked questions
Is Searchbase a PhantomBuster alternative? For building a lead list from a description, yes, and Searchbase gets there with less setup and a wider net, because the contact databases and the open web are both behind the same prompt. For LinkedIn automation, connection requests and messaging from your own account, no. PhantomBuster does things Searchbase deliberately does not do.
Does Searchbase send LinkedIn messages? No. The agent drafts personalised email and LinkedIn sequences for the people it found and you approve every message. PhantomBuster does send, from your connected LinkedIn accounts.
Which one is cheaper? Searchbase starts at €0 with 150 credits renewed monthly and goes to €199 a month for the whole workspace, whatever the headcount. PhantomBuster's paid plans are 56€, 128€ and 352€ a month on annual billing, which comes to 672€, 1,536€ and 4,224€ a year, and monthly billing removes the 20% annual discount.
Do I need a LinkedIn account to use either tool? PhantomBuster's LinkedIn automations run through your account, so yes for that part of the product. Searchbase does not connect to your accounts at all.
Can I export to my CRM? Searchbase pushes contacts straight into HubSpot and exports JSON on every plan, CSV from Starter, an API from Pro and webhooks on Business. PhantomBuster gives unlimited exports on paid plans and syncs to HubSpot, with n8n, Zapier and Make for everything else.
Where does the data come from? Searchbase: B2B contact databases including Apollo and Hunter, plus company sites, social platforms, ad libraries, job boards, Crunchbase, the Italian company registry and press, each linked from the cell. PhantomBuster: live extraction from 15 or more platforms through your own accounts, with no pre-built database behind it.
Prices and features checked on 2026-09-08 from https://www.phantombuster.com/, https://www.phantombuster.com/pricing and https://phantombuster.com/blog/ai-automation/phantombuster-pricing-explained/. Tell us if something changed.