PhantomBuster
PhantomBuster is a Paris-based SaaS platform founded in 2016 that provides cloud-based browser automation tools ('Phantoms') enabling sales and marketing teams to extract real-time leads from 15+ social platforms and automate personalized LinkedIn outreach at scale.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2016
- HeadquartersParis, France
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What PhantomBuster does
PhantomBuster is a Paris-based, privately held SaaS company founded in 2016 by Guillaume Wallace that operates a cloud-based browser automation platform for real-time B2B sales prospecting. The core product consists of pre-built automation workflows called 'Phantoms' that extract data, enrich leads, and execute outreach across 15+ platforms including LinkedIn, Sales Navigator, Twitter/X, Instagram, Facebook, Slack, GitHub, Reddit, YouTube, Google Maps, and Yellow Pages. A distinctive MCP (Model Context Protocol) server, launched in 2026, allows external AI tools to trigger these automations using plain English commands, while a Chrome Extension enables in-browser lead qualification. According to the company, the platform has served 2.5M+ users since founding, with 100K+ sales professionals currently using it and 270K+ automations launched daily, generating 1M unique leads per day.
The product portfolio is organized around four pillars: LinkedIn-native automations (Outreach Flow, Post Commenter/Liker Scraper, Search-to-Lead Outreach), CRM integration suites (six dedicated HubSpot automations plus native Salesforce and Pipedrive connectors), AI-powered enrichment and messaging features built on third-party GPT models, and supporting workflow tooling (Outbound Workflows, Real-Time Lead Sourcing, Lead Prioritization, Playbooks). PhantomBuster distributes through a self-serve, product-led growth motion with a 14-day free trial requiring no credit card, supplemented by marketplace listings on Zapier, Make, n8n, and the Chrome Web Store. Revenue is generated via subscription tiers using a slot-based consumption model where each Phantom or Workflow consumes a defined number of execution slots.
The company has raised approximately $758K in disclosed funding across two rounds in 2017 ($75K) and 2019 ($683K led by OneRagtime with NUMA and The Refiners). A 2019 getlatka snapshot recorded $600K ARR on a $1.8M post-money valuation. With 11-50 employees and no subsequent funding rounds disclosed, the business appears to be largely self-funded from operating revenue. Customers span SMB and individual sales professionals across manufacturing, education, professional services, and sales technology, with named case studies including Trotec, Rocket School, MVP Team Pro. Reported customer outcomes include 340% pipeline increases, 15 hours saved per week, 99.9% email deliverability, and time savings of 170 hours to generate 2,000 leads.
PhantomBuster firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- PhantomBuster
- Legal name
- PhantomBuster
- Website
- https://phantombuster.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2016
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- PhantomBuster is a Paris-based SaaS platform founded in 2016 that provides cloud-based browser automation tools ('Phantoms') enabling sales and marketing teams to extract real-time leads from 15+ social platforms and automate personalized LinkedIn outreach at scale.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
PhantomBuster industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Sales Automation Software
- NAICS
- Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (5182)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Workplace Automation & Self-Service (RPA for IT, Chatbots, Virtual Agents) (BPAEAIAI)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Agents & Autonomous Workflows (Tool Use, Planning, Multi-Agent) (HDAAACAF), AI/ML Solution Integration & MLOps Enablement (BPAEAAAJ)
Keywords
Where PhantomBuster is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Paris
- HQ country
- France
- HQ region
- Europe
Markets served
PhantomBuster business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- SaaS Subscription (Slot-based): Subscription-based pricing with slot allocation system where users purchase slots to run automations. Each Phantom/automation consumes a specified number of slots. Plans include 14-day free trial with no credit card required.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Monthly | Free trial available |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels7 records
PhantomBuster product offering
Product offeringCore offering
PhantomBuster provides a cloud-based browser automation platform that runs pre-built workflows (called Phantoms) 24/7 to extract real-time data from 15+ social platforms and automate sales outreach. The platform enables sales teams to capture intent signals (job changes, social engagement), enrich leads with verified contact data, run personalized LinkedIn outreach sequences, and sync enriched leads into CRMs like HubSpot and Salesforce without requiring coding.
Product overview
PhantomBuster is a multi-platform data extraction and automation platform for real-time sales prospecting. The core platform offers automations called 'Phantoms' that extract data, enrich leads, and automate outreach across 15+ platforms (LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Slack, GitHub, Reddit, YouTube, Google Maps, Yellow Pages, and more). The product portfolio includes: (1) the core PhantomBuster Platform with Phantoms/Automations for data extraction and outreach; (2) specialized LinkedIn automations including LinkedIn Outreach Flow, LinkedIn Post Commenter and Liker Scraper, and LinkedIn Search to Lead Outreach; (3) HubSpot integrations including Contact Sender and Contact Data Enricher for CRM sync; (4) AI-powered features including AI LinkedIn Message Writer, AI LinkedIn Profile Enricher, Advanced AI Enricher, and AI LinkedIn Post Responder leveraging GPT; (5) the PhantomBuster Chrome Extension for in-browser lead qualification; (6) MCP Server for natural language-driven automation; and (7) supporting features including Outbound Workflows, Real-Time Lead Sourcing, Lead Prioritization, Data Compliance, and Playbooks. The platform integrates natively with HubSpot, Salesforce, and Pipedrive CRMs, and connects via Zapier, Make, and n8n for workflow automation.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- PhantomBuster Platform Multi-platform data extraction and automation platform for real-time B2B sales prospecting. Runs pre-built Phantoms to extract live data and automate outreach across LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Slack, GitHub, Reddit, YouTube, Google Maps, and more. Targets sales development representatives, account executives, and revenue operations teams.
- PhantomBuster Chrome Extension Browser extension that enables users to spot, qualify, and save high-intent leads directly from LinkedIn profiles, revealing verified emails, phone numbers, and company details with one click. For sales professionals and SDRs running LinkedIn prospecting.
- PhantomBuster MCP Server Model Context Protocol server that connects PhantomBuster to AI tools, allowing users to execute LinkedIn, Sales Navigator, and other automations using plain English natural language commands (e.g., 'Find 100 tech Directors in the US'). For sales and RevOps teams using AI assistants.
Quantifiable outcome
- 340% pipeline increase
- +5 more outcomes
Companies that use PhantomBuster
Customer profileNamed customers5 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
PhantomBuster technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration13 records
AI capability8 records
Feature7 records
PhantomBuster partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
13 partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- HubSpotcoreNative integration allowing users to send enriched leads to HubSpot, update contacts with LinkedIn signal data (like job changes), and automatically log outreach activity. Enables seamless CRM sync for pipeline management.
- SalesforcecoreIntegration to feed CRM with context-rich contacts and keep lead lists updated with fresh enrichment data from LinkedIn.
- PipedrivecoreIntegration to push enriched leads to Pipedrive CRM and automatically update contact records.
- ZapiercoreConnects PhantomBuster to thousands of apps via Zapier, enabling multi-step workflows across entire tech stacks.
- MakecoreVisual drag-and-drop workflow builder for designing and automating end-to-end prospecting workflows with PhantomBuster.
- ChatGPTcoreAI integration to enrich lead profiles with tailored insights, unique talking points, and personalized icebreakers at scale.
- ClaycoreSends enriched leads and updates contacts with signal-based LinkedIn data like job changes.
- LinkedIncorePrimary data source for lead extraction, profile scraping, outreach automation, and Sales Navigator integration. Runs automations through user's own LinkedIn session.
- Sales NavigatorcoreExtraction of lead and account data, intent signal spotting, and automated outreach directly from Sales Navigator searches.
- Google MapscoreLocal business data extraction from search results including emails, phone numbers, and contact details.
- InstagramcoreBuild lead lists from profiles, followers, and hashtags; automated engagement actions including follows, likes, and comments.
- X (Twitter)coreFind and engage leads from profiles, followers, and tweets automatically.
- SlackcoreExport members, extract searches, or send messages automatically to connect with active Slack communities.
Scale indicators6 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
PhantomBuster competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Lusha: Lusha provides B2B contact enrichment and prospecting data, with browser extensions and CRM integrations — competing in the same workflow of finding and enriching prospect data that PhantomBuster automates.
- Seamless.AI: Seamless.AI is a real-time B2B contact search and lead generation tool that emphasizes live data sourcing — directly comparable to PhantomBuster's real-time extraction positioning across LinkedIn and other platforms.
- Snov.io: Snov.io provides email finding, verification, and drip campaigns for sales outreach — a direct comparable in the prospecting automation stack where PhantomBuster also integrates (Snov.io is listed as a partner).
- Hunter.io: Hunter.io is a leading email finding and verification tool with Chrome extension and API access, comparable to PhantomBuster's email-discovery integrations (Hunter partnership) and competing for the same outbound prospecting workflow.
- Lemlist: Lemlist is a multichannel sales engagement platform focused on personalized email and LinkedIn outreach automation — competing directly with PhantomBuster's LinkedIn Outreach Flow and outbound workflow offerings.
- Clay: Clay is an AI-powered data enrichment and outbound personalization platform that pulls signals from multiple sources (including LinkedIn) to build targeted prospect lists — competing head-to-head with PhantomBuster on real-time, multi-source enrichment and outreach workflows.
- Apollo.io: Apollo.io is a sales intelligence and engagement platform combining a B2B contact database with email/LinkedIn outreach sequences and AI-driven prospecting — directly overlapping PhantomBuster's data extraction and outbound automation use cases.
Broad incumbents
- LinkedIn Sales Navigator: LinkedIn's own premium prospecting product offers lead search, InMail, and CRM integrations directly on the platform — and is also a key data source for PhantomBuster, making it both a competitor and a critical upstream dependency.
- ZoomInfo: ZoomInfo is the largest publicly-traded B2B contact data and sales intelligence provider, offering a broad database plus intent signals and workflow tools. While its data sourcing is more static than PhantomBuster's, it competes for the same sales-prospecting budget.
Emerging players
- Instantly.ai: Instantly.ai is a fast-growing cold email outreach platform with AI personalization and lead database features — competing for the same SMB outbound prospecting budget with a more focused PLG motion than PhantomBuster.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
PhantomBuster social profiles
Digital presencePhantomBuster financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
PhantomBuster leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
PhantomBuster funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds2 records
Investors3 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
PhantomBuster M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about PhantomBuster
What does PhantomBuster do?
PhantomBuster provides a cloud-based browser automation platform that runs pre-built workflows (called Phantoms) 24/7 to extract real-time data from 15+ social platforms and automate sales outreach. The platform enables sales teams to capture intent signals (job changes, social engagement), enrich leads with verified contact data, run personalized LinkedIn outreach sequences, and sync enriched leads into CRMs like HubSpot and Salesforce without requiring coding.
Is PhantomBuster a public or private company?
PhantomBuster is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was PhantomBuster founded?
PhantomBuster was founded in 2016. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is PhantomBuster based?
PhantomBuster is headquartered in Paris, France, in the Europe region.
How does PhantomBuster make money?
One revenue line is on record: saaS Subscription (Slot-based).
Who are PhantomBuster's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Lusha, Seamless.AI, Snov.io, Hunter.io, Lemlist, Clay and Apollo.io. Broad incumbents are LinkedIn Sales Navigator and ZoomInfo. Instantly.ai is listed as an emerging player.
Does PhantomBuster have an API?
Yes. PhantomBuster offers an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that allows users to connect to AI tools and run automations (LinkedIn, Sales Navigator, and other workflows) using plain English commands. For example, users can type 'Find 100 tech Directors in the US' and the MCP will execute the automation and return results. Developer documentation is at hub.phantombuster.com/docs/mcp-server.
What industry is PhantomBuster in?
PhantomBuster's product category is Sales Automation Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAEAIAI, Workplace Automation & Self-Service (RPA for IT, Chatbots, Virtual Agents), with a secondary code of HDAAACAF, Agents & Autonomous Workflows (Tool Use, Planning, Multi-Agent). Its NAICS code is 5182 and its SIC code is 7372.