# A PhantomBuster alternative an agent can buy itself.

> A PhantomBuster alternative for LinkedIn data: pay per record from $5 instead of a monthly plan billed in execution hours. No LinkedIn cookie.

Canonical: https://apiforagents.dev/alternatives/phantombuster · Updated 2026-10-22

PhantomBuster runs automations, billed by execution time on monthly plans. If what you need is data (profiles, companies, search results, jobs) in your own code or agent, a per-record API is simpler to budget.

- Profiles from: $0.004
- To start: $5
- Free trial: $0.10
- Facts checked: October 2026

> **The short answer** Use PhantomBuster for no-code LinkedIn automations that act on your account. Use this API when you want the data itself, per record, in code or in an agent, with the price known before each call.

## API for Agents and PhantomBuster, side by side

Their side is from their own pages, linked below, as seen on 16 October 2026. Prices change: check the source before you decide.

|  | API for Agents | PhantomBuster |
|---|---|---|
| Billing | Per record, pay as you go | Monthly plans, by execution hours |
| To start paying | $5 top-up, no plan | From $69 a month |
| Free to try | A $0.10 trial, no card | 14-day trial, exports limited to 10 rows |
| Agent signs itself up | Yes: one POST, a person claims it later | No |

## When PhantomBuster is the better pick

- You want ready-made automations with a visual interface.
- You need actions on your own account: connection requests, messages.

## When API for Agents is the better pick

- You want data, per record, without a monthly plan.
- You need predictable cost: the quote is the charge.
- You do not want to share a LinkedIn session cookie.

## What you get with API for Agents, whichever you pick

- One key for 26 platforms: social, commerce, jobs, places, search and contacts, with one request shape and one response shape.
- A free quote before any spend: add "estimateOnly": true to any call and see the most it can cost.
- Pay per record in US dollars. No subscription, nothing expires, top-ups from $5.
- $0.10 free to try, no card. An AI agent can sign itself up in one request; a person claims it later.
- Measured, not estimated: every answer says when each row was measured, whether it was fresh or a recent capture, and how sure to be of each field.
- Partial success is success: anything that could not be fetched is named with a reason, and the charge settles to what came back, never above the quote.
- Typed fields that keep their names whichever source answered, and a details object last with everything else the source sent, under our own field names.
- Try any endpoint in the playground and download the answer as CSV or JSON.

## Try it before you move anything

quote a profile, free:

```bash
curl -s -X POST https://apiforagents.dev/agent/identity -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"type":"anonymous"}'
# exchange identity_assertion at /oauth2/token, then:
curl -s -X POST https://apiforagents.dev/v1/linkedin -H "Authorization: Bearer $AFA_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"op":"profiles","subjects":["satyanadella"],"estimateOnly":true}'
```

## Sources

1. [PhantomBuster pricing explained (its blog)](https://phantombuster.com/blog/ai-automation/phantombuster-pricing-explained), seen 16 October 2026

## Why API for Agents

- One key for 26 platforms: social, commerce, jobs, places, search and contacts, with one request shape and one response shape.
- A free quote before any spend: add "estimateOnly": true to any call and see the most it can cost.
- Pay per record in US dollars. No subscription, nothing expires, top-ups from $5.
- $0.10 free to try, no card. An AI agent can sign itself up in one request; a person claims it later.
- Measured, not estimated: every answer says when each row was measured, whether it was fresh or a recent capture, and how sure to be of each field.
- Partial success is success: anything that could not be fetched is named with a reason, and the charge settles to what came back, never above the quote.
- Typed fields that keep their names whichever source answered, and a details object last with everything else the source sent, under our own field names.
- Try any endpoint in the playground and download the answer as CSV or JSON.

## Start

The playground runs any endpoint by hand: pick a platform and what you want from it, fill a short form named in plain words (or press Use sample input), see the free quote on the Run button, run it, then read the answer as a table or JSON and download it as CSV or JSON. The same call is written out as cURL, Python and Node while you type. Open it at https://apiforagents.dev/dashboard/run (sign in first).

Agents register at https://apiforagents.dev/auth.md (one POST, $0.10 free). People: https://apiforagents.dev/docs#start. Prices: https://apiforagents.dev/pricing.md