PhantomBuster is a cloud-based extension that operates on an innovative, proprietary concept called “Phantoms.”
Each Phantom is designed to handle a specific operation, such as scraping, automated invites, and other LinkedIn tasks, and there are flows that combine Phantoms into workflows.
The tool imposes slot limits for simultaneous Phantoms and time restrictions per subscription tier. Essentially, each Phantom functions similarly to a single action in Linked Helper.
Key differences
| Linked Helper | PhantomBuster | |
| Data stored locally (more secure) | Yes | Cloud |
| Operation | Desktop downloadable app | Cloud-based service Has an extension for updating session cookies |
| Limit on working time | No | Yes, based on your package |
| “Open to work” filter | Yes | No |
| Hiring filter | Yes | No |
| Profile collection methods | Most LinkedIn pages CSV, HTML pages, txt Linkedin URLs paste Profile URLs | CSV Linkedin search URL Google Doc |
| 24/7 human support | Yes | No |
| AI LinkedIn message writer | No | Yes |
| Job scraper | No | Yes |
| “Boost post” action | Yes | No |
| Exclude the same leads from two campaigns | Able to detect lead overlaps: On a campaign level On an action level | You need to tick boxes in the list and detect overlaps manually. |
| Limits | No hard-coded limits in Pro | Most actions have hard-coded limits |
| Set conditions for custom variables in messages | Yes | No |
| Email Finder credits included | From 620–3,100. Credits roll over to the next period. Can buy more. | From 500-10,000 Credits don’t roll over to the next period. Can not buy more. |
| Keyword analyzer in messages | Yes | No |
| Mass message limit | 150 / day You can manually increase it and send 200-300, though it’s at your own risk | 80 / day |
| Profile scraper limit | 150 profiles You can manually increase it and scrape 200-300, though it’s at your own risk | 40 profiles |
| Direct CRM integration | Salesforce HubSpot Pipedrive Close Active Campaign Zoho CRM Zoho Recruit HighLevel CRM Streak CRM Capsule CRM | Pipedrive HubSpot Salesforce |
| Other integrations | Webhooks (Zapier, Make.com) Hyperise Snov.io Instantly Send data directly to Google Sheets via a webhook, bypassing Zapier/Make | Webhooks (Zapier, Make.com) Lemlist Snov.io Hunter.io Dropcontact |
| Process Sales Navigator links on a Basic account | Yes | No |
| Price | Standard $15 monthly Pro $45 monthly Annual license −45% discount. Bulk (10+ accounts) — 10% to 50% discount. | Starter €69 Pro €159 Team €439 If you purchase an annual license, there’s a 20% discount. |
21 Reasons to Choose Linked Helper Over PhantomBuster in 2024
Reason 1: Proven Safety
Safety is the foundation of automation tools.
Unlike Linked Helper, PhantomBuster lags behind in security due to its reliance on its browser extension and cloud-based technology, both of which have inherent risks.
Browser extensions, in general, are not considered the safest method on the market, and cloud solutions pose additional vulnerabilities.
Although the PhantomBuster extension doesn’t automate tasks, it can still be detected by LinkedIn.
With cloud tools, we don’t see how actions are executed, and we can’t observe phantoms clicking buttons, we assume that actions occur via direct API requests, which can technically be detected.
For unique fingerprints, PhantomBuster requires you to share sensitive data like your LinkedIn session cookie, which is generated every time you log into LinkedIn. This cookie expires once you log out, and the session needs to be re-authenticated.
Additionally, PhantomBuster may request your browser user agent to limit detection, but this still doesn’t guarantee protection from LinkedIn’s anti-automation algorithms.
From a technical perspective, Linked Helper is considered safer because it is downloadable software. It simulates human behavior by:
- Adding random pauses.
- Typing messages and names manually.
- Performing searches like a real person would.
- Not using the LinkedIn API and clicking buttons just like a human would.
These small but significant actions help avoid detection by LinkedIn’s systems.
On the other hand, PhantomBuster inserts direct links into its searches, which triggers LinkedIn’s automation detection algorithms. Linked Helper takes a more cautious approach, using manual name input and random delays, behaving more like a human to avoid triggering LinkedIn’s defenses.
Reason 2: More Convenient and Customizable Workflow Building
The way these tools work differs significantly, and in our view, Linked Helper offers more intuitive and convenient actions and delays.
You can assemble them like building blocks to create any sequence you need, or select from ready-made campaign templates. It’s flexible and user-friendly for constructing automation workflows.
In contrast, PhantomBuster operates with “Phantoms,” which are predefined automation modules, and you can combine these Phantoms into flows, along with “slots,” which determine how many Phantoms you can run.
For instance, each paid subscription includes a set number of slots, and each Phantom takes up one slot, while a full flow usually takes up two. It’s important to consider the slot limits when using PhantomBuster.
For example, PhantomBuster has three Phantoms for finding emails:
- Enrich your CRM with professional emails: This Phantom scrapes LinkedIn profiles and enriches your CRM (Salesforce, HubSpot, etc.) with professional emails.
- Find email addresses from Sales Navigator searches: This Phantom pulls professional emails from Sales Navigator searches based on filters.
- Find emails as a Recruiter: Specifically designed for recruitment purposes, this Phantom scrapes personal emails from LinkedIn Recruiter profiles.
Let’s compare the number of campaigns you can run on mid-tier plans with Linked Helper and Phantombuster.
Phantombuster’s annual Pro subscription gives you 15 slots for $128 per month (if broken down monthly) and 80 hours of operation per month, or roughly 2.6 hours a day. Within those 15 slots, you can set up three campaigns with five phantoms each. For example, an outreach flow might include:
- Extract profiles
- Send connection requests
- Check who accepted
- Send follow-up messages
- Check who replied
This uses five phantoms and slots. Additionally, you could allocate two slots to LinkedIn Connections to Emails and three slots to a campaign for Connecting with profiles from a Sales Navigator Search. The remaining five phantoms could cover tasks like auto-flow, auto-likes, auto-endorsements, group invitations, and event invites. This setup may be sufficient for many use cases.
In contrast, Linked Helper Pro costs $24.50 per month (with an annual plan) and offers unlimited work hours. You can create as many campaigns as needed and repeatedly collect leads from searches, following the default search collection limits.
PhantomBuster doesn’t have a classic visual workflow builder, but you can chain Phantoms together to work on the results of one another. You can also schedule these Phantoms to run automatically.
Meanwhile, Linked Helper has a single action called “Find Profile Emails,” which works across all plans without slot limits or restrictions. There’s no need to chain different modules — everything is handled under one action without additional constraints.
You can explore more about Phantom slots and flows here and chaining Phantoms here.
Reason 3: Additional Filters in CRM That LinkedIn Lacks
Both Linked Helper and PhantomBuster allow you to conveniently store and manage lead lists collected from campaigns. However, Linked Helper offers more advanced CRM functionality, which is particularly beneficial for sorting and filtering leads in ways LinkedIn itself doesn’t allow.
In PhantomBuster, when managing leads, you’ll find lead cards with data, which include key information like names, positions, and emails, but Linked Helper takes lead management further by incorporating advanced filters.
For example, you can filter leads who have set the “Open to Work” or “Hiring” badges on their profile pictures, something that LinkedIn’s own platform lacks. Additionally, Linked Helper allows you to sort profiles based on various criteria from Sales Navigator searches, like targeting Open Profiles, which lets you send free InMails.
These enhanced filtering options improve the precision of your lead generation campaigns and create opportunities to reach out via free InMails.
For more on PhantomBuster’s lead management features, check here.
Reason 4: Free InMails
In PhantomBuster, sending messages via InMails is limited to paid InMails, requiring a Sales Navigator subscription with available credits. PhantomBuster has a dedicated tool, the Sales Navigator Message Sender Phantom, which automates the process but only works with paid InMail credits. You can find details about this tool here.
On the other hand, Linked Helper provides an option to send free InMails thanks to the Open Profile filter, which allows you to send messages to leads without needing a premium subscription.
This feature is particularly useful when working with a lead list collected from Sales Navigator under a different account, making it easier to distribute outreach tasks across your team.
Reason 5: Faster Email Discovery
Both tools support finding personal emails, but Linked Helper offers twice the speed of PhantomBuster. PhantomBuster imposes daily limits, allowing users to process only 40 profiles per day for email discovery. This limitation often requires users to refresh their session cookie daily, restricting scheduled automation launches.
If we’re talking about personal emails, the Linked Helper Email Finder option allows you to find them almost instantly — several thousand in about 15 minutes, since we’re not searching on LinkedIn but rather in our own database.
However, for corporate emails, the integration with Snov.io requires profile visits, with a limit of around 150 actions per day if no other actions are running.
This means email discovery can be twice as fast in Linked Helper.
It also provides more methods for finding emails, such as integrating with Snov.io and internal databases to find emails not visible on the LinkedIn profile itself, giving users more flexibility and efficiency in gathering contact information.
This makes Linked Helper a more comprehensive tool for handling email discovery, especially for larger outreach campaigns.
Reason 6: Variety of Profile Collection Sources
In PhantomBuster, you can collect profiles by inserting a link, which could be a URL to a CSV or Excel document with LinkedIn profile links, or simply a direct link to a single LinkedIn profile.
However, the process is somewhat limiting because you cannot directly select LinkedIn search sources from within the tool itself. You need to have a pre-prepared list of profiles, which can be time-consuming. It does allow for some CRM integrations, like HubSpot, to use as a profile source.
In comparison, Linked Helper offers more flexible profile collection options. For example, it can scrape profiles directly from LinkedIn searches or lists. One of the newer features is the ability to gather profiles from people you’ve Followed, which is useful for mass Following list cleanup. Here’s more information on this feature here.
Additionally, Linked Helper supports saving any LinkedIn page with profiles as an HTML file, which can then be uploaded like a CSV file. This functionality adds flexibility in creating custom workflows that don’t require a manually prepared list of profile URLs, which gives Linked Helper a significant edge in workflow variety and ease of use.
Reason 7: More Flexible Limits
PhantomBuster’s limitations include recommended daily caps of 20 invitations and 80 messages per day, but you cannot set global limits across all Phantoms, as each Phantom operates independently. You can see the PhantomBuster’s limits below.
| What can be automated | Any new or infrequently used account, including a premium account, with less than 2k connections | Free account with more than 5k connections with frequent daily interaction. | Premium Linkedin account that is used frequently and has over 2k connections, or Advanced Edition Sales Navigator account. |
| Profile page extractions | 80 profiles over 8 launches of 10 profiles each | 150 profiles over 10 launches of15 profiles each | 300 profiles over 20 launches of15 profiles each |
| Search result extractions | Max 100 pages/1000 results per day over 5 launches minimum | Max 150 pages/1500 results per day over 7 launches minimum | Sales Nav max 200 pages/5000 results per day over 10 launches minimum |
| Linkedin profile/company finders | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Extracting your contacts’ URLs | All in one launch. Once a day max. | All in one launch. Once a day max. | All in one launch. Once a day max. |
| Post or article extractions | All in one launch. Once a day max. | All in one launch. Once a day max. | All in one launch. Once a day max. |
| Liker or commenter extractions | 10 posts over 10 launches per day of 1 post each | 10 posts over 10 launches per day of 1 post each | 10 posts over 10 launches per day of 1 post each |
| Group member extractions | 1 group (or 2500 group members) per day | 1 group (or 2500 group members) per day | 1 group (or 2500 group members) per day |
| Auto-connecting actions | 20 invites per working day with 2 invites per launch, once per working hour | 20 invites per working day with 2 invites per launch, once per working hour | 20 invites per working day with 2 invites per launch, once per working hour |
| Auto-liking actions | 100 likes over 10 launches of 10posts each | 150 likes over 10 launches of 15posts each | 400 likes over 20 launches of 20posts each |
| Auto-commenting actions | 10 comments per 1 hour (with a maximum of 8 launches per day) | 10 comments per 1 hour (with a maximum of 8 launches per day) | 10 comments per 1 hour (with a maximum of 8 launches per day) |
| Event invitation sending | 80 invitations over 8 launches of10 invitations each | 120 – 140 invitations per day | 150 invitations per day (15 launches of 10 invitations each) |
| Auto-endorsing actions | 80 invitations over 8 launches of10 invitations each | 150 invitations over 10launches of 15 invitations each | 300 invitations over 20launches of 15 invitations each |
The tool also recommends sending 5 invitations per hour during business hours, reaching the 20-invite daily limit. Moreover, PhantomBuster has a cap on profile uploads—you can load up to 5,000 profiles, but uploading spreadsheets counts as multiple URLs, potentially reaching your account limits quicker.
In Linked Helper, the daily limits are more flexible. You can configure the exact number of actions per day for each task, such as setting a 150-action daily limit for various types of activities like sending messages or connection requests.
You can also customize timeouts between actions, creating more natural behavior to avoid LinkedIn’s detection. This ability to fine-tune settings provides more control and efficiency over your campaigns compared to PhantomBuster’s rigid limits.
Reason 8: Faster Scraping with Flexible Limits
PhantomBuster has strict daily limits for scraping profiles, especially when using a standard LinkedIn account. For instance, the LinkedIn Profile Scraper Phantom limits scraping to 40 profiles per day (5 per launch across 8 daily launches). While this ensures account safety, it significantly slows down lead collection, especially for larger campaigns.
In comparison, Linked Helper allows scraping up to 150 profiles per day without imposing such rigid caps. This flexibility can speed up your scraping by nearly 4 times, making Linked Helper a more efficient tool for larger-scale outreach and data collection.
Additionally, Linked Helper offers advanced data extraction, including company information and message history, when the appropriate features are enabled, which PhantomBuster lacks.
Note: Like Phantombuster, Linked Helper has default limits in place to ensure safe operation, but they are set higher because the software mimics human behavior. For most actions, the recommended daily limit is around 150 actions per day.
Clients can increase the limits if they are not concerned about account bans or if they have a paid LinkedIn subscription, such as Sales Navigator.
For new or free accounts, users can lower the limits to reduce the risk of being flagged and ensure safer operation.
Reason 9: Advanced Custom Message Logic (If-Then-Else Operators)
Both tools support message personalization with custom fields. However, Linked Helper has a significant advantage with its If-Then-Else logic. This feature allows you to set fallback options if a custom field is missing from a profile, ensuring that messages don’t have awkward gaps.
For example, if a profile lacks a first name, Linked Helper will insert a secondary phrase or greeting.
Here’s an example of how you could structure a dynamic Linked Helper message template based on whether a job title is available:
If the job title is available:
“Hi [First Name]! I see you’re a [Job Title], and in this field, it can be challenging to discover fresh content. That’s why I wanted to share something that might be helpful for you…”
Else (if the job title is not available):
“Hi [First Name]! I noticed you’re in the tech industry, and staying updated with fresh content is essential. Here’s something I thought you’d find interesting…”
This approach ensures the message is personalized while accounting for missing data. You can refer to the article on Linked Helper’s dynamic templates for more complex examples and instructions: How to create message templates.
In PhantomBuster, this type of fallback logic isn’t available. If a custom field is missing, the message will display a blank space, potentially creating a less polished outreach.
Reason 10: More Direct Integrations
Both Linked Helper and PhantomBuster offer integrations with major CRMs like PipeDrive, HubSpot, and Salesforce, as well as support for webhooks and Zapier. However, Linked Helper offers more direct integrations, making it more versatile. Some of the unique integrations in Linked Helper include:
- Zoho and Zoho Recruit
- HighLevel CRM
- Streak CRM
- Capsule CRM
- Instantly
- Hyperise
- Google Sheets (with direct webhook integration, whereas PhantomBuster requires using Zapier)
This broader range of direct integrations allows Linked Helper users to connect more seamlessly with various platforms and tailor their lead management processes more precisely to their business needs.
Plus, you save money on a Zapier subscription, as they can charge heavily for large data transfer volumes.
Reason 11: Seamless Transfer of Responses to CRM
In Linked Helper, there’s a streamlined process for transferring not just lead data but also responses from your outreach campaigns directly into your CRM (only available on the PRO license). With the Standard license, you can only access the profiles of those who replied, without the message text.
This can be done via direct integration or using webhooks, making it easy to track and analyze your outreach performance. If your initial message generates a reply from the lead, Linked Helper can automatically log this response into your CRM, ensuring your team stays up-to-date with the lead’s interaction.
In contrast, PhantomBuster doesn’t offer this functionality for responses. It can export profile data but does not have the same capability for automatically transferring replies into a CRM, which can be crucial for teams focused on following up with leads after the initial outreach.
Reason 12: 24/7 Support with Real Humans
Both tools offer support via human agents, but PhantomBuster also incorporates a bot for addressing more common queries. Their support is generally quick, but the level of detail in responses may vary.
PhantomBuster’s support team is available via online chat, request forms, and email, but during nighttime hours, only the request form is available, so live chat may not be an option.
Linked Helper also provides round-the-clock support through human agents, offering assistance via multiple channels such as email, in-app chat, website chat, WhatsApp, and Facebook, ensuring users receive personalized help quickly.
Reason 13: Advanced User Exclusion in Campaigns
Linked Helper offers an advanced List Manager feature that allows you to avoid sending multiple messages to the same person by excluding duplicates across campaigns.
You can also tag users manually or automatically to help categorize and manage leads better. The auto-tagging feature helps maintain a clean, organized system for outreach campaigns and ensures better follow-up.
In contrast, PhantomBuster lacks such a sophisticated system. You have to manually uncheck or remove leads you don’t want to contact again, which can be time-consuming and prone to errors. It doesn’t offer automated cross-campaign exclusion or tagging, making lead management less efficient.
Reason 14: No Need for a Sales Navigator Subscription
With Linked Helper, you don’t need an active Sales Navigator subscription to process LinkedIn profiles. If you already have a CSV file with links to profiles gathered from Sales Navigator, Linked Helper can convert and handle those links even with a basic LinkedIn profile. This allows you to manage outreach campaigns without the extra cost of maintaining a Sales Navigator subscription.
On the other hand, PhantomBuster requires an active Sales Navigator or LinkedIn Recruiter subscription to run certain phantoms like Sales Navigator profile scrapers. Without the subscription, PhantomBuster will not be able to process these profiles, limiting its flexibility compared to Linked Helper.
Additionally, Linked Helper also has features that allow filtering through groups or events collected with Sales Navigator and then processing them on a separate LinkedIn account, giving you more flexibility in managing data across multiple accounts.
Linked Helper lets you assign group or event IDs to profiles so you know which group or event to use for messaging non-connections. This is how it works:
– Collect profiles on account A (filtered by group or event).
– Transfer them to account B.
– Assign group/event IDs so Linked Helper knows how to process them.
You can now message up to third-degree connections via events.
Reason 15: No Time Limit on Campaign Duration
One of the most significant advantages of Linked Helper is that it does not impose any time limitations on how long your campaigns can run. You can schedule actions to occur at any time, for any length of time, without worrying about hitting a cap on your plan.
In contrast, PhantomBuster includes hourly usage limits based on your subscription plan. For example, you may only get 20, 80, or 300 hours per month depending on your plan. Once you hit these limits, you either have to upgrade or wait for the next cycle, which can hinder ongoing outreach efforts.
Reason 16: Email Finder Credits Accumulate
With Linked Helper, when you subscribe to either the Standard or Pro license, you receive Email Finder credits for finding emails outside your immediate LinkedIn network (620 and 3,100 credits per month, respectively).
A significant advantage is that these credits accumulate if not used, allowing them to roll over to the next month. This ensures that if you don’t use your credits, they won’t expire, providing you with a larger pool of credits over time.
You can also purchase additional credits if necessary, giving you greater flexibility.
| Period | Standard License | PRO License |
| 1 month | 620 credits | 3,100 credits |
| 3 months | 1,860 credits | 9,300 credits |
| 6 months | 3,660 credits | 18,300 credits |
| 12 months | 7,320 credits | 36,600 credits |
In contrast, with PhantomBuster, email credits do not roll over and are reset at the beginning of each billing cycle. Additionally, PhantomBuster credits are more expensive and you cannot buy extra credits beyond your subscription, limiting the service’s flexibility for larger-scale email searches.
| Plan | Email credits | Price |
| Trial | 50 | Free |
| Starter | 500 | 69 euros |
| Pro | 2500 | 159 euros |
| Team | 10000 | 439 euros |
Reason 17: Advanced Response Analysis
Linked Helper offers a unique feature where the progress of a campaign can be adjusted based on the content of the response received. For example, you can set up the system to continue or stop depending on certain words or phrases in the response.
It also allows you to ignore basic responses like “thank you” or emoji replies, enhancing campaign precision.
In contrast, PhantomBuster lacks this functionality, which limits its ability to handle advanced response filtering.
Reason 18: Clean Insertion of Names and Titles
A common giveaway that a message was auto-generated is when symbols, emojis, or other unwanted characters appear in the recipient’s name or title. Linked Helper excels at removing these unnecessary characters from names and company titles before inserting them into messages, ensuring that your message appears more natural and professional.
PhantomBuster, on the other hand, does not have this feature, which can sometimes result in awkward message formatting if the lead’s name includes symbols or emojis.
Reason 19: Plan Switching Within a Single Campaign
Another standout feature of Linked Helper is its Override feature, which allows you to switch execution between LinkedIn subscription platforms within a single campaign. For example, you can set actions like liking posts to run with a basic account and schedule InMail messages to be sent using Sales Navigator or Recruiter. This flexibility helps optimize costs while maximizing campaign efficiency.
PhantomBuster does not offer this dynamic plan-switching capability, limiting its adaptability across different campaign needs.
Reason 20: “Boost Post” Feature
This is a unique feature that Linked Helper offers, which is currently unavailable in PhantomBuster. It allows you to promote specific posts, whether they are your own or someone else’s. You can specify the post link and also choose a list of users you want to tag under the post. This not only promotes the post but also acts as a reminder for certain users, which can help spark interactions.
Reason 21: Pricing
Linked Helper offers a more budget-friendly option ($15 monthly), especially for users with basic needs, costing approximately 4x less than PhantomBuster’s Starter plan (€69 monthly).
PhantomBuster’s higher-tier subscriptions are primarily suited for larger automation requirements but come at a significant premium, with the Team plan costing around 10x more than Linked Helper’s Pro plan.
For extended functionality, the PhantomBuster Pro plan starts at €159, which is approximately 2-3x the price of Linked Helper’s Pro plan ($45), depending on conversion rates.
For €56, PhantomBuster provides 5 slots and 20 hours of usage time per month. Each slot represents one Phantom, so you can only run five Phantoms simultaneously with this plan.
With Linked Helper, purchasing an annual license comes with a 45% discount. But that’s not all — if you purchase multiple licenses (10+), you can get an additional bulk discount, ranging from 10% to 50%, depending on the quantity.
A significant advantage is that these discounts stack. For instance, if you purchase 76 Standard yearly licenses for your team, the total cost will be $4,890.60. This is a savings of $8,789.40 compared to renewing licenses monthly for each employee. The combined discount reaches 64.25%, making it an excellent deal for larger teams.
Additionally, if you’re using a sequence (or “flow”) that involves multiple Phantoms, such as the “LinkedIn Search to Emails” or “LinkedIn New Connection Welcome Message” flows, these will require two slots per flow. This means that with a 5-slot limit, you could realistically run just two flows and one additional Phantom at the same time.
In contrast, Linked Helper does not impose these types of slot or time restrictions. You can execute unlimited actions, workflows, and campaigns without extra limitations on hours or the number of tools running in parallel, making it a more flexible option if you need continuous and extensive automation.
Cost comparison:
For example, if you’re managing a team and need to handle basic tasks like invites, follow-ups, endorsements, and liking, here’s how the costs compare:
– Phantombuster: The Team Plan is ideal, offering 50 slots and 300 hours of operation. Managing 10 accounts with a monthly subscription will cost $352, or $4,224 annually with a 20% discount.
– Linked Helper: The PRO subscription for 10 accounts, including a 10% discount, costs $2,673 annually. This also includes 36,600 email-finding credits.
The price difference for achieving the same tasks is 36.7% in favor of Linked Helper, making it the more cost-effective choice.
What’s in PhantomBuster that’s not in Linked Helper?
AI LinkedIn Message Writer
There’s a Phantom tool that allows you to write custom messages for each lead, based on their LinkedIn profile data. This is a convenient and quick way to create personalized messages directly within the tool. However, you will need credits for this task. Each message consumes about 4-6 credits, and on the starter plan, you get 10k credits.
LinkedIn Job Scraper
This tool allows you to scrape all available data from LinkedIn job listings. You can gather detailed job descriptions, required skills, and industry information. This can be highly useful for analyzing labor market trends.
LinkedIn Poll Voters Export
If you frequently create polls that attract many participants, this Phantom tool lets you collect data on those who took part in the poll. You will receive a CSV file containing the names and profile data of the participants, making it easier to analyze or follow up with them.
Criteria-Based Tool Evaluation
Getting Started with the Tools
| Linked Helper | PhantomBuster | |
| Downloading and Registration | Downloadable desktop app | Cloud-based service. Has an extension for updating session cookies |
| Free trial period | 14 days Activates from the moment the campaign starts | 14 days Activates from the registration |
| In-app onboarding tour | + | + |
| Demo & onboarding calls | Friday live group demos for users | Yes |
| Email follow-ups with timely resources and tips | + | + |
| License switching between accounts | Yes, it can be done in the dashboard. | You can automate different LinkedIn accounts within the same PhantomBuster account by obtaining different sets of session cookies. |
Collecting Leads
| Linked Helper | PhantomBuster |
| Redirect to LinkedIn search pages in-app Search URLs: LinkedIn / Sales Navigator / Recruiter Upload CSV Profile URLs (+ Sales Navigator / Recruiter) From any page with HTML | No redirect to LinkedIn search pages in-app Paste URLs: LinkedIn Search URL (Premium, Sales Navigator, Recruiter) Google Sheet URL Upload CSV HubSpot |
| Additional LinkedIn pages: Followers Following Who’s viewed my profile School alumni My event/group My network Sent invitations Post likers and commenters Sales Navigator search Sales Navigator lists Recruiter project Recruiter search1 |
Filtering Leads
| Linked Helper | PhantomBuster | |
| Exclude unwanted profiles | Any selected profiles before launching | Any selected profiles before launching |
| Remove intersections between campaigns | Yes | No |
| Exclude by company | Yes | By keywords |
| Exclude by profile photo | Yes | No |
| Open profile filter | Yes | No |
| “Open to work” filter | Yes | No |
| Hiring filter | Yes | No |
| Premium filter | Yes | No |
Cross-Platform Processing: LinkedIn, Sales Navigator, Recruiter
| Linked Helper | PhantomBuster | |
| Override platform | Yes | No |
| Ability to process Sales Navigator links on a free LinkedIn account | Yes | No |
| Connect any LinkedIn plan | Yes | Yes |
| Set up group/event ID for messaging | Yes | No |
Drip Campaign & Campaign Templates
| Linked Helper | PhantomBuster | |
| Creating drip campaigns | Unlimited | Slots limits |
| Campaign templates | 23 | No |
| Custom delays & time-outs | Yes | Yes |
| Campaign scheduling | Yes – for actions | Yes – for each Phantom |
| Retry failed profiles | Yes | No |
| Workflow triggers | No | No |
Scope of Automation
| Linked Helper | PhantomBuster | |
| Connection requests | Yes | Yes |
| Follow profiles | Yes | Yes |
| Profile views | Yes | No |
| Messages to 1st-degree connections | Yes | Yes |
| Endorsements | Yes | Yes |
| Like posts and articles | Yes | Yes |
| InMails | Yes | Yes |
| Add automatic comments under liked posts | Yes | Yes |
| “Boost post” action | Yes | No |
| Send messages to group members | Yes | Yes |
| Send messages to event attendees | Yes | Yes |
| Invite to group | Yes | Yes |
| Invite to follow organization | Yes | Yes |
| Remove from 1st-degree connections | Yes | Yes |
| Invite person to event | Yes | Yes |
| Cancel pending invites | Yes | Yes |
Messaging
| Linked Helper | PhantomBuster | |
| Reply detection | Yes | Yes |
| View replies & Inbox | Yes | No |
| Custom variables | Any information can be turned into a custom field. | Yes |
| Built-in variables (based on LinkedIn data) | 8 First name Last name Mutual connection first name Mutual connection second name Company Position Mutual connection total Industry (if scraped with Sales Navigator) | 10 First name Last name Full name Location Description School School degree Website Skills |
| IF-THEN-ELSE | Yes, any condition, several levels | No |
| Message analyzer(Filter by content) | Allows you to set keywords and create rules to send/not send a message (filter by content). | No |
| Reply to messages directly in-app | Reply from the LinkedIn interface tab. | No |
Action Limit
| Linked Helper Pro / day | PhantomBuster / day | |
| Campaigns | Unlimited | Within slots limit on your plan |
| Invites | 50*(Within LinkedIn weekly limit) | 20 (Within LinkedIn weekly limit) |
| Messages | 150+ | 80 5 invite messages / month with Basic |
| Free InMails | 150 | No |
| Profile views | 150 | 80 |
| Endorsements | 150 | 80 |
| Likes | 150 | 100 |
| Follows | 150 | 140 |
*recommended adjustable default limit
Check the limits in our article “What kind of limits should I use?” You can set this limit up to 80.
Data Export
| Linked Helper | PhantomBuster | |
| Lead collection | Yes | Yes |
| CSV output | First name Last name Country City Email address Phone number LinkedIn profile URL Job title LinkedIn Premium status Education Industry (with Sales Navigator scraper) If organization extractor is enabled: Company name Company website Number of company employees Number of company followers Extra data: ID (hash ID, Sales Navigator ID, etc.) Member distance (1st, 2nd, or 3rd degree) Avatar (ID and link to the media) Headline Summary Location name Badges (influencer, job seeker, open link) Organization description Languages Skills Mutual connections (count, names, etc.) | Profile URL First name Last name Full name Headline Location Summary Img URL School name Connections count Followers count Connection degree Company name Company URL Company ID Logo URL Website Industry Company size Headquarters Type Founded Specialties Industry code Email address Email qualification |
| Export CSV via Webhook | Yes | Yes |
| Export message history | Yes (Pro)* Separate action / with people scraping | Yes |
| Organization collection | Yes. Separate action or included into people profile scraping. | Yes |
Customer Support and Resources
| Linked Helper | PhantomBuster | |
| Web chat | ✅ | ✅ |
| ✅ | ✅ | |
| In-app chat | ✅ | ✅ |
| ✅ | ❌ | |
| Contact form | ❌ | ✅ |
| ✅ | ❌ | |
| Median reply time, mins. | 6-15 | 3-15 |
| 24/7 support | ✅ | ❌ |
| User manuals | ✅ 200+ manuals | ✅ 95+ manuals |
| Video tutorials (last update) | 106 videos(6 days ago) | 68 videos(90 days ago) |
Scheduling & Timing
| Linked Helper | PhantomBuster | |
| Delayed campaign start | Yes | Yes |
| Set action working hours | Yes | Yes |
| Set tool working schedule | Yes | No |
| Set time zone | Yes | No |
Dashboard and Campaign Stats
| Linked Helper | PhantomBuster | |
| Statistics | By campaigns By actions | By Phantoms |
| Calendar for selecting statistical periods | Yes | No |
| Indicators on the Dashboard | Reply rate (% + number) Acceptance rate (% + number) Queue lists stats: processed failed successful in the breakdown by actions. | Profiles collected Invites sent (% + number) Acceptance rate (% + number) Open rate Click rate |
| Graphs | Daily activity Invited and accepted Messaged and replied | Sent invites Accepted requests Profiles collected |
| Export | Yes | No |
Managing Accounts in Teams
| Linked Helper | PhantomBuster | |
| Managing accounts in teams | Only on a dedicated server | Yes |
| Invite colleagues via email | + | + |
| Team data sharing | – | + |
Integrations with 3rd-Party Tools
| Linked Helper | PhantomBuster |
| Webhooks (Zapier, Make.com) Hyperise Snov.io Salesforce HubSpot Pipedrive Close Zoho and Zoho Recruit HighLevel CRM Streak CRM Capsule CRM Instantly Hyperise Google Sheets | Webhooks (Zapier, Make.com) HubSpot Salesforce |
Pricing & Value
| Linked Helper | PhantomBuster | ||||||
| Standard | Pro | Starter | Pro | Team | |||
| Monthly | $15 | $45 | €69 | €159 | €439 | ||
| Annual | $99 | $297 | €663 | €1527 | €4125 | ||
| Included, per day | Invitations: 50* Invites to event/group/company page: 20 Messages: unlimited Profile views: unlimited InMails: unlimited Likes: 20 Follows: unlimited Endorsements: unlimited Email finder credits: 620 Unused credits roll over to the next period | No limits* Email finder credits: 3,100 Unused credits roll over to the next period | Invitations: 20 Invites to event/group/company page: 80-120 Messages: 80 Profile views: no InMails: 80 Likes: 100 Follows: 140 Endorsements: 80 Email finder credits: 500 | Invitations: 20 Invites to event/group/company page: 80-120 Messages: 80 Profile views: no InMails: 80 Likes: 100 Follows: 140 Endorsements: 80 Email finder credits: 2,500 | Invitations: 20 Invites to event/group/company page: 80-120 Messages: 80 Profile views: no InMails: 80 Likes: 100 Follows: 140 Endorsements: 80 Email finder credits: 10,000 | ||
*150 actions/day – recommended safety limit
