Apollo.io vs PhantomBuster (and is ScrapeField better?)
Apollo.io is a sales platform: a contact database, sequences, a dialer and a CRM. PhantomBuster is no-code automations that run in the cloud through your own accounts. Here is how they differ, when to choose which, and where ScrapeField fits.
| Apollo.io | PhantomBuster | ScrapeField | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | A sales platform: a contact database, sequences, a dialer and a CRM | No-code automations that run in the cloud through your own accounts | An API for five platforms, Google Maps, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok and X |
| What it covers | Its own database of people and companies; a Google Maps business search on paid plans | LinkedIn, Sales Navigator and other sites, as automations | Google Maps, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok and X: 45 endpoints |
| How you use it | An app with a seat per person, and an API | A no-code builder, schedules and CRM sync | From code, an agent or the MCP server: one GET returns the answer |
| How it bills | Free; then $49, $79 or $119 per seat a month billed annually, with credits per seat | $56, $128 or $352 a month billed annually, by execution hours, automation slots and credits | Credits per call, in packs from $39; they never expire |
| Free to try | A free plan | A trial, with exports of 10 rows | 2,000 credits once, and a demo with no account at all |
| Needs your login | No | Yes: it works through your own accounts | Never: no login, cookie or session of yours, for any reason |
| What you get back | Contact and company records from its database | Spreadsheets and CRM records | One documented schema per platform, named after its official API |
Checked 3 October 2026 against each vendor’s own pricing page. Rechecked quarterly — tell us if something here is out of date and we will fix it.
Which to choose
Choose Apollo.io if you are a sales team that wants contacts with emails and phone numbers, sequences and a dialer in one seat.
Choose PhantomBuster if you want outreach: connection requests, sequences and lead lists that refresh themselves, synced to a CRM.
Is ScrapeField better?
Only for one job. Choose ScrapeField if you need Google Maps, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok or X data in your code, at a price per call you can multiply, without lending us an account. For anything else, choose Apollo.io or PhantomBuster as above.
Each has a full comparison with us, including where it wins: ScrapeField vs Apollo.io and ScrapeField vs PhantomBuster.
Try it before you decide
Every endpoint has a playground that runs against the live API with no key and no account. If the response shape does not fit your code, you will know in about a minute.