Apify vs PhantomBuster 2026: Pricing, LinkedIn Scraping Compared

Apify prices scraping by the compute unit, starting at $29/month. PhantomBuster prices automation by execution hours, starting at $69/month for 20 hours. Scrape 10,000 LinkedIn profiles on Apify's per-result actors and you'll spend around $55. Burn through PhantomBuster's Starter plan doing the same job and you're stuck until next month's reset.

Apify vs PhantomBuster in 2026: Feature and Pricing Comparison

Here's the breakdown across pricing model, free tier, library depth, and what each platform is actually built to do.

Feature	Apify	PhantomBuster	Winner
Starting price	$29/month (Starter)	$69/month (Starter, 20 execution hours)	Apify
Free tier	Yes, $5 usage credit, no card required	No permanent free plan	Apify
Pricing model	Pay-per-compute-unit, $0.20 to $0.13/CU by tier	Pay-per-execution-hour, fixed monthly caps	Tie
Scraper/automation library	10,000+ Actors in the Apify Store	Around 20 pre-built Phantoms, mostly LinkedIn and social	Apify
Setup	Actor config, some JSON/coding helpful	No-code dashboard, ready in minutes	PhantomBuster
Best for	Large-scale scraping across many sites	LinkedIn and social outreach automation	Tie

How does Apify's compute-unit pricing actually work in 2026?

Apify runs on compute units, not seats. The Free plan bundles $5 of usage at $0.20 per CU with 8GB of Actor RAM. Starter is $29/month for $29 of usage, 32GB RAM, and 32 concurrent runs. Scale runs $199/month at $0.16/CU, and Business hits $999/month at $0.13/CU, per Apify's pricing page.

For LinkedIn-specific work, Apify's LinkedIn Profile Scraper actor bills around $5.50 per 1,000 profiles on the pay-per-result model, per listings in the Apify Store. Annual billing knocks 10% off every paid tier, and students get 30% off Starter and Scale.

What do PhantomBuster's execution hours actually buy you?

PhantomBuster meters usage in execution hours, not compute units. Starter costs $69/month for 20 execution hours. Pro runs $159/month for 80 hours plus 30,000 AI credits. Team is $439/month for 300 hours and 10,000 email credits, per PhantomBuster's pricing page. Annual billing cuts roughly 20% off each tier.

Run out of hours mid-month and your Phantoms stop cold. There's no pay-as-you-go top-up on any plan, only the next tier or the next billing cycle.

Apify vs PhantomBuster: which one actually scrapes LinkedIn better?

PhantomBuster wins on setup speed. Its pre-built Phantoms handle Sales Navigator exports, auto-connect sequences, and profile scraping with zero code. Apify wins on cost at volume. Its LinkedIn Profile Scraper actor and 10,000+ item Apify Store cover more ground than PhantomBuster's roughly 20 phantoms, and pay-per-result billing beats a fixed hour cap once you're past a few thousand profiles a month.

If your LinkedIn list is under 2,000 profiles a month, PhantomBuster's no-code setup saves more time than it costs. Past that, Apify is cheaper, and it isn't close.

Neither tool sends email on its own. Teams running cold outbound usually pair Apify or PhantomBuster with a sending platform like Instantly or Smartlead, plus a verification step, before any scraped contact hits a sequence.

Pick Apify if... pick PhantomBuster if...

Pick Apify if:

• You're scraping 5,000+ records a month across multiple sites, not just LinkedIn
• Someone on your team can configure an actor or read JSON output
• You want a free tier to test before committing spend

Pick PhantomBuster if:

• Your automation is entirely LinkedIn: Sales Navigator, profile visits, auto-connects
• Nobody on your team writes code and you need results this week
• You're a solo founder or small agency running one or two client accounts at a time

Frequently asked questions

Is Apify cheaper than PhantomBuster?

Yes, for most use cases. Apify's Starter plan is $29/month versus PhantomBuster's $69/month, and Apify's pay-per-result actors like the LinkedIn Profile Scraper cost around $5.50 per 1,000 profiles. PhantomBuster only wins on cost if you're barely using either platform.

Does PhantomBuster require coding?

No. PhantomBuster's Phantoms are pre-built and configured through a dashboard, no code required. Apify's Store has no-code options too, but getting full value out of Apify usually means reading JSON output or tweaking an actor's input schema.

Can Apify scrape LinkedIn?

Yes. Apify's Store includes dedicated LinkedIn actors, including a Profile Scraper and a Sales Navigator search exporter, priced per result instead of by execution hour. Reliability varies by actor since different developers build and maintain them.

What happens when you run out of execution hours on PhantomBuster?

Automations stop entirely until the next billing cycle. PhantomBuster doesn't offer mid-cycle top-ups, so the only options are waiting for the reset or upgrading to the next plan, per PhantomBuster's pricing page.

Scraped and verified contact data is only half the job. It still needs a sending infrastructure, a copy framework, and someone watching deliverability before it turns into booked meetings. If you'd rather skip building that stack yourself, that's what Modern Inbound's setup service handles end to end.

By Rishabh Ambasta, Founder, Modern Inbound.