# HeyLead vs PhantomBuster

> HeyLead vs PhantomBuster: PhantomBuster runs no-code automations ("phantoms") on its servers across LinkedIn and other sites, billed per workspace by execution time, from $69 a month. HeyLead is an AI agent you brief in a sentence, Free or $29 per LinkedIn account. Checked 28 September 2026.

This is the Markdown twin of https://heylead.dev/compare/heylead-vs-phantombuster (the page, in text). Index for agents: https://heylead.dev/llms.txt

Last updated 28 September 2026

PhantomBuster and HeyLead (heylead.dev) both run from the cloud and both offer an MCP server. PhantomBuster runs no-code automations, its phantoms, on its servers across LinkedIn and other sites, billed per workspace by execution time from $69 a month [[1]](https://support.phantombuster.com/hc/en-us/articles/4494623647250-What-Each-PhantomBuster-Plan-Includes-Features-Limits-and-Pricing) [[2]](https://support.phantombuster.com/hc/en-us/articles/22306827153810-What-is-PhantomBuster-and-What-Can-You-Automate). HeyLead is an AI agent you brief in a sentence: it finds the people, writes each message, follows up and answers replies. Free is $0; Pro is $29 per connected LinkedIn account per month.

HeyLead is an AI agent for LinkedIn outreach: it finds the right people, writes to them in the voice of your own LinkedIn posts, follows up, and handles replies. It runs from Claude Code, Cursor, any MCP client or a web dashboard.

## Side by side

|  | HeyLead | PhantomBuster |
| --- | --- | --- |
| What it is | An AI agent that runs LinkedIn outreach: people, invitations, messages, follow-ups, replies. | A no-code, cloud-based tool for lead generation and outreach automation: phantoms that scrape and act on LinkedIn, Sales Navigator, Instagram, X and other sites (support article, 14 July 2026) [[2]](https://support.phantombuster.com/hc/en-us/articles/22306827153810-What-is-PhantomBuster-and-What-Can-You-Automate). |
| Price | Free: $0, one LinkedIn seat, no card. Pro: $29 per connected LinkedIn account per month, monthly, cancel any time. | Per workspace, not per user: a free plan with 30 minutes of execution a month; Start $69 a month or $56 billed annually; Grow $159 or $128; Scale $439 or $352; plans differ by execution hours, slots and credits [[1]](https://support.phantombuster.com/hc/en-us/articles/4494623647250-What-Each-PhantomBuster-Plan-Includes-Features-Limits-and-Pricing). |
| Where it runs | In the cloud, with your laptop closed. Not a browser extension. The MIT-licensed client can also run on your own machine. | On its servers; a browser extension is optional, to capture the LinkedIn session cookie [[2]](https://support.phantombuster.com/hc/en-us/articles/22306827153810-What-is-PhantomBuster-and-What-Can-You-Automate). |
| Invitations | 20 invitations a day and 100 a week on a free LinkedIn account; 168 and 320 on Premium or Sales Navigator (measured 16 September 2026). Monday to Friday 08:00 to 22:00 in your time zone. | Its guidance for the LinkedIn auto-connect phantom: 50 to 80 invitations a week on a new or infrequent account, 80 to 100 on an active free account, 100 on Premium or Sales Navigator; 80 messages a week, 150 on Premium [[3]](https://support.phantombuster.com/hc/en-us/articles/360017014479-PhantomBuster-Rate-Limits-Daily-Limits-by-Platform-and-Phantom). |
| Channels | LinkedIn invitations, messages and InMail. Email to people whose record carries an address, once you connect a Gmail or Outlook mailbox. No voice messages, calls or WhatsApp. | LinkedIn connect, message, comment and follow; email discovery credits; scraping of other sites. Email sending is not stated [[1]](https://support.phantombuster.com/hc/en-us/articles/4494623647250-What-Each-PhantomBuster-Plan-Includes-Features-Limits-and-Pricing) [[3]](https://support.phantombuster.com/hc/en-us/articles/360017014479-PhantomBuster-Rate-Limits-Daily-Limits-by-Platform-and-Phantom). |
| Several accounts | Pro: more than one LinkedIn account in one workspace, each billed and capped on its own. One workspace per client, with editor and viewer roles. No white-label. | Up to 100 members per workspace with owner, admin and member roles; a LinkedIn account can be shared without workspace access; agencies run a workspace per client [[5]](https://support.phantombuster.com/hc/en-us/articles/27385997696914-How-to-Invite-Teammates-and-Manage-Roles-in-Your-PhantomBuster-Workspace) [[2]](https://support.phantombuster.com/hc/en-us/articles/22306827153810-What-is-PhantomBuster-and-What-Can-You-Automate). |
| From an AI client | Built as an MCP server: every step of a campaign runs from Claude Code, Cursor, any MCP client, or the web dashboard. | An MCP server for Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, Claude Code and other CLIs, included on every plan (support article, 10 September 2026) [[4]](https://support.phantombuster.com/hc/en-us/articles/36491676049426-How-to-get-started-with-PhantomBuster-MCP). |
| Integrations | HubSpot is the only CRM sync, from the local client. Meetings book on Google Calendar. | HubSpot two-way; Salesforce and Pipedrive enrichers; n8n, Zapier and Make; an API [[1]](https://support.phantombuster.com/hc/en-us/articles/4494623647250-What-Each-PhantomBuster-Plan-Includes-Features-Limits-and-Pricing) [[2]](https://support.phantombuster.com/hc/en-us/articles/22306827153810-What-is-PhantomBuster-and-What-Can-You-Automate). |
| Trial | A free plan instead of a trial, with no card. | 14 days with the trial allowances, no card, then a free plan [[1]](https://support.phantombuster.com/hc/en-us/articles/4494623647250-What-Each-PhantomBuster-Plan-Includes-Features-Limits-and-Pricing). |

Checked on 28 September 2026 on PhantomBuster's own pages (phantombuster.com and its support centre at support.phantombuster.com). Each [n] links to the page the fact comes from; the list is under Sources. Prices and plans change, so check the linked page before you decide. HeyLead wrote this page; if a fact about PhantomBuster is wrong, write to [hello@heylead.dev](mailto:hello@heylead.dev) and it will be corrected.

## What PhantomBuster does better

- Breadth: phantoms for Sales Navigator, Instagram, X, Google Maps and more, not only LinkedIn [[2]](https://support.phantombuster.com/hc/en-us/articles/22306827153810-What-is-PhantomBuster-and-What-Can-You-Automate). HeyLead works on LinkedIn.
- Workspace pricing with up to 100 members [[5]](https://support.phantombuster.com/hc/en-us/articles/27385997696914-How-to-Invite-Teammates-and-Manage-Roles-in-Your-PhantomBuster-Workspace). HeyLead bills per connected LinkedIn account.
- Salesforce and Pipedrive enrichers as well as HubSpot [[1]](https://support.phantombuster.com/hc/en-us/articles/4494623647250-What-Each-PhantomBuster-Plan-Includes-Features-Limits-and-Pricing). HeyLead syncs with HubSpot only.
- An MCP server on the free plan [[4]](https://support.phantombuster.com/hc/en-us/articles/36491676049426-How-to-get-started-with-PhantomBuster-MCP). HeyLead's MCP server is on every plan too, and its free plan sends; the difference is what the tools do, not who gets them.

## What HeyLead does differently

- You brief it in a sentence, from Claude Code, Cursor, any MCP client or the web dashboard. It saves a draft campaign and sends nothing until you press Launch.
- Each message is written for the person, in the voice of your own LinkedIn posts. The agents plan each person's next step as accepts and replies land; every decision is readable with `inspect` or on the campaign page.
- Replies are answered from your campaign's facts. Anything ambiguous is held for you, and "not now" gets a check-in in 30 days.
- Free is $0 with one LinkedIn seat and cloud sending, no card.

A campaign has one of six goals, and the ICP, the fit check and the messages follow it: Sell a product or service, Find a job, Hire people, Find partners or investors, Find a vendor and Research interviews. Hire people, Find partners or investors and Research interviews run on a custom brief until their message sets exist.

HeyLead sends from your own LinkedIn account at a human pace: at most 20 invitations a day and 100 a week on a free LinkedIn account (more on Premium or Sales Navigator), Monday to Friday 08:00 to 22:00 in your time zone, minutes apart. It backs off when LinkedIn pushes back and resumes on its own. You can pause any campaign at any time.

## Choose PhantomBuster if

- You want to scrape and enrich lists from many sites and hand them to other tools [[2]](https://support.phantombuster.com/hc/en-us/articles/22306827153810-What-is-PhantomBuster-and-What-Can-You-Automate).
- You want to build your own automation flows step by step with n8n, Zapier or Make [[1]](https://support.phantombuster.com/hc/en-us/articles/4494623647250-What-Each-PhantomBuster-Plan-Includes-Features-Limits-and-Pricing).
- A whole team shares one workspace and one bill [[5]](https://support.phantombuster.com/hc/en-us/articles/27385997696914-How-to-Invite-Teammates-and-Manage-Roles-in-Your-PhantomBuster-Workspace).

## When HeyLead is the wrong choice

- You need data from Instagram, X, Google Maps or Sales Navigator exports. HeyLead scrapes nothing outside LinkedIn.
- You need a CRM other than HubSpot, or a calendar other than Google Calendar.
- You want to assemble the flow yourself from building blocks rather than brief an agent.

## Choose HeyLead if

- You want an agent that runs the whole campaign from one sentence, in the voice of your own LinkedIn posts, and answers replies from the campaign's facts, rather than phantoms you chain.
- You want a fixed ceiling the tool enforces per seat, 20 a day and 100 a week on a free account, rather than a weekly range to stay under [[3]](https://support.phantombuster.com/hc/en-us/articles/360017014479-PhantomBuster-Rate-Limits-Daily-Limits-by-Platform-and-Phantom).
- You want a free plan that sends, with one LinkedIn seat and no card.

## Questions people ask

What is the difference between PhantomBuster and HeyLead?

PhantomBuster is a no-code automation tool: phantoms that scrape and act on LinkedIn and other sites, run on its servers, billed by execution time per workspace. HeyLead is an AI agent for LinkedIn: you brief it in a sentence and it finds the people, writes each message in the voice of your own LinkedIn posts, follows up and answers replies.

How much do PhantomBuster and HeyLead cost?

On 28 September 2026 PhantomBuster's support centre listed a free plan with 30 minutes of execution a month, Start at $69 a month ($56 billed annually), Grow at $159 ($128) and Scale at $439 ($352), per workspace, with a 14-day trial and no card. HeyLead Free is $0 with one LinkedIn seat and no card; Pro is $29 per connected LinkedIn account per month.

Is PhantomBuster a Chrome extension?

No. Its support centre says phantoms run on its servers; the browser extension is optional and captures the LinkedIn session cookie. HeyLead reaches LinkedIn through Unipile's API from the cloud, with no extension.

Do both work with Claude or Cursor?

Yes. PhantomBuster's MCP server, included on every plan, connects Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and Claude Code to its phantoms. HeyLead is an MCP server for Claude Code, Cursor and any MCP client, and every step of a campaign runs from the chat: the brief, the draft, the launch, approvals and replies.

## Sources

Checked on 28 September 2026. PhantomBuster's pricing page renders only with JavaScript, so prices are taken from its support centre article on plans; the support centre is hosted at support.phantombuster.com.

1. [PhantomBuster support: what each plan includes](https://support.phantombuster.com/hc/en-us/articles/4494623647250-What-Each-PhantomBuster-Plan-Includes-Features-Limits-and-Pricing)
2. [PhantomBuster support: what is PhantomBuster](https://support.phantombuster.com/hc/en-us/articles/22306827153810-What-is-PhantomBuster-and-What-Can-You-Automate)
3. [PhantomBuster support: rate limits by site](https://support.phantombuster.com/hc/en-us/articles/360017014479-PhantomBuster-Rate-Limits-Daily-Limits-by-Platform-and-Phantom)
4. [PhantomBuster support: getting started with the MCP](https://support.phantombuster.com/hc/en-us/articles/36491676049426-How-to-get-started-with-PhantomBuster-MCP)
5. [PhantomBuster support: teammates and roles](https://support.phantombuster.com/hc/en-us/articles/27385997696914-How-to-Invite-Teammates-and-Manage-Roles-in-Your-PhantomBuster-Workspace)

HeyLead is not affiliated with LinkedIn. It reaches LinkedIn through Unipile, which is also not affiliated. LinkedIn's own rules are in the [Terms](https://heylead.dev/terms). HeyLead is not affiliated with PhantomBuster; the name belongs to its owner.

[Start free, no card](https://heylead.dev/dashboard/login)

Related: [All comparisons](https://heylead.dev/compare) · [Expandi](https://heylead.dev/compare/heylead-vs-expandi) · [HeyReach](https://heylead.dev/compare/heylead-vs-heyreach) · [Dripify](https://heylead.dev/compare/heylead-vs-dripify) · [Waalaxy](https://heylead.dev/compare/heylead-vs-waalaxy) · [Sales Navigator](https://heylead.dev/compare/heylead-vs-sales-navigator) · [lemlist](https://heylead.dev/compare/heylead-vs-lemlist) · [La Growth Machine](https://heylead.dev/compare/heylead-vs-la-growth-machine) · [Linked Helper](https://heylead.dev/compare/heylead-vs-linked-helper)