The best PhantomBuster alternative for Google Maps depends on what else you automate. If you only need Google Maps businesses with email addresses, MapScraper does that one job with no execution hours to budget: email is in every lead, and you pay per lead in one-time packs (100 free leads with no card, then 1,000 leads for $5 at launch, 5,000 for $19, 20,000 for $49, 50,000 for $99). PhantomBuster starts at $69 a month for 20 hours of execution time, its Google Maps Search Export has no email column, and each search stops at 120–200 results. Stay with PhantomBuster if Google Maps is one step in a wider LinkedIn or multi-platform workflow.
Every PhantomBuster figure below comes from PhantomBuster's own pages, read on 3 November 2026: the help articles for the Google Maps Search Export and the Google Maps Search to Contact Data workflow, and PhantomBuster's pricing explainer, dated 21 July 2026. Prices change, so check PhantomBuster's pricing page before you buy. MapScraper figures come from our own pricing.
MapScraper vs PhantomBuster for Google Maps at a glance
| MapScraper | PhantomBuster | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A Google Maps lead tool: pick a business type and area, or type a search | A multi-platform automation tool; Google Maps is one set of "Phantoms" |
| How you pay | Per lead, one-time packs: 1,000 / $5 (launch), 5,000 / $19, 20,000 / $49, 50,000 / $99 | Monthly plan with execution hours: Start $69 (20 h), Grow $159 (80 h), Scale $439 (300 h); annual billing $56 / $128 / $352 per month |
| Free allowance | 100 leads once per new account, no card, full download | 14-day trial, no card: 2 run hours, downloads capped at 10 rows. Free plan: 30 minutes, 10-row exports |
| Email addresses | Included in every lead, crawled from the business website | Not in Search Export. The separate Contact Data workflow pulls emails from business websites |
| Speed figures the vendor gives | Free pre-count of how many businesses a scan returns, before you spend | Search Export: "~7–8 minutes per 100 results". Contact Data: 5–10 minutes for 10–20 businesses |
| 120-result Maps limit | Area split into cells automatically, de-duplicated by place_id | "Each search only returns up to 120–200 results"; split areas and run them separately |
| Proxies | Nothing to set up | Proxy "highly recommended" for Google Maps |
| Unused balance | Leads never expire | Credits "reset monthly and don't roll over" |
| Export | Excel, CSV | CSV, JSON, Google Sheets and integrations |
| Beyond Google Maps | Nothing: Google Maps lead lists only | LinkedIn, Sales Navigator and many other automations, email finder, AI credits |
"Not stated" or missing cells mean we did not find the detail on PhantomBuster's pages, not that it is absent.
Why execution hours are hard to budget for Maps leads
PhantomBuster sells time, not rows. A Google Maps run uses execution hours from your plan, and how many businesses an hour buys depends on the Phantom, the area and the proxy. PhantomBuster gives two estimates on its help pages, and they are the only way to compare like for like:
- Search Export (no emails): about 7–8 minutes per 100 results. That is roughly 750–860 businesses per hour of execution time.
- Google Maps Search to Contact Data (with emails): 5–10 minutes for 10–20 businesses. That is roughly 60–240 businesses per hour, because the workflow visits each website.
Here is what that means on each plan if every hour went to Google Maps. These are our extrapolations from PhantomBuster's own small-run estimates, so treat them as rough ranges, not quotes.
| Plan (monthly price) | Execution time | Businesses without emails (Search Export) | Businesses with emails (Contact Data) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start ($69) | 20 hours | about 15,000–17,000 | about 1,200–4,800 |
| Grow ($159) | 80 hours | about 60,000–69,000 | about 4,800–19,200 |
| Scale ($439) | 300 hours | about 225,000–257,000 | about 18,000–72,000 |
And the same volumes on MapScraper, where email is part of every lead:
| Businesses with emails | MapScraper | PhantomBuster plan that fits, by the ranges above |
|---|---|---|
| 1,000 | $5 (launch pack) | Start, $69/month |
| 5,000 | $19 | Grow, $159/month (Start's range tops out near 4,800) |
| 20,000 | $49 | Scale, $439/month (Grow's range tops out near 19,200) |
| 50,000 | $99 | Scale, $439/month, and only if runs land in the faster half of the estimate |
What the tables show:
- For lists with emails, the cost gap is large. At 5,000 businesses with emails, MapScraper is $19 once; by PhantomBuster's own speed estimates it needs the Grow plan, $159 for that month.
- Without emails, PhantomBuster's hours go further, but a list without emails is half a lead list for cold email. Why Google Maps has no emails explains where they come from.
- The bill is fixed, the output is not. On PhantomBuster you know the monthly price, but not how many rows those hours will produce until the runs finish. On MapScraper a free pre-count shows how many businesses a scan will return before any lead is used, and if you stop early you pay only for rows already delivered.
Three practical differences beyond price
1. The trial gives you a usable list, or a preview
PhantomBuster's trial is 14 days with 2 run hours, but its pages say downloads on the free plan and trial are capped at 10 rows. You can see the data shape; you can't take a list into a campaign. MapScraper's 100 free leads download in full, as Excel or CSV, so you can test them on real prospects before you pay $5.
2. No 120-result splitting by hand
Google Maps stops a single search at around 120 results. PhantomBuster's help page says each search returns up to 120–200 results and advises splitting into smaller areas and running them separately. MapScraper does the splitting for you: it divides the area into cells, searches each one, and merges the results by place_id, so "dentists in Chicago" comes back as one de-duplicated list. The method is explained in how to get past Google Maps' 120-result limit.
3. No proxies, slots or Phantom chains
To get emails on PhantomBuster you use the Contact Data workflow (2 slots) or chain Search Export into an email finder, and PhantomBuster recommends a proxy near your target region. That is normal for a platform built to automate many sites. In MapScraper you pick a business type and a city, or type "roofers in Denver", or ask Scout, our agent, to build the search. Email, phone, website and rating land in the same row.
Who should stay with PhantomBuster
Switching is not always right. Stay with PhantomBuster if:
- Google Maps is one step in a bigger workflow, such as finding a business on Maps, then its people on LinkedIn or Sales Navigator, then enriching them. MapScraper does not touch LinkedIn.
- You need named decision-makers' professional emails. PhantomBuster's Professional Email Finder turns company data into person-level emails; MapScraper finds the emails published on the business's own website.
- You want Google Maps attributes that PhantomBuster's Search Export lists, such as plus code, current open status or whether a listing is claimed.
- You need JSON output or Google Sheets sync for your pipeline.
- You already pay for PhantomBuster and have spare execution hours each month; a Maps list without emails then costs you nothing extra.
Who MapScraper fits better
- Cold-email teams who need a business email in the row, not a second tool. The full workflow is in the Google Maps lead generation pipeline.
- Agencies selling websites or local SEO. Filter for businesses with no website or sort by the digital weakness score; there is a ready-made no-website leads use case.
- Cold callers who want phone numbers in E.164 format for a dialer (cold calling lists).
- Occasional buyers. If you need 5,000 leads this month and none next month, a one-time pack is cheaper than a plan whose credits reset monthly.
Every lead has 41 fields, including name, category, phone as shown and in E.164, email, website, full address split into parts, coordinates, place_id, rating, newest review date, opening hours and the digital weakness score. The full list is on the fields page.
How to test both in fifteen minutes
- Pick one real search you would buy, for example "plumbers in Austin".
- In MapScraper, sign up free and run the pre-count to see how many businesses the area holds.
- Run it with your 100 free leads and download the CSV.
- In PhantomBuster, start the trial, open Google Maps Search to Contact Data, paste the same Google Maps search URL, and launch it.
- Compare how many rows have an email and phone, how long the run took, how many rows you could download, and what 5,000 more would cost each month.
Comparing other tools too? Read the Apify Google Maps Scraper alternative and Outscraper alternative breakdowns, or the side-by-side tables at MapScraper vs Outscraper and MapScraper vs Apify.
Summary
PhantomBuster is a multi-platform automation tool that sells execution hours: $69 to $439 a month for 20 to 300 hours, credits that reset monthly, a 10-row cap on trial downloads, and Google Maps searches that stop at 120–200 results. Its Search Export has no email column; emails need the slower Contact Data workflow. It wins when Google Maps feeds a LinkedIn or multi-step workflow. MapScraper does one job, turning a Google Maps search into a lead list with email included, priced per lead in one-time packs that never expire, with automatic area splitting past the 120-result limit.
Try it on your own market: start free with 100 leads, no card needed. After that, the launch pack is 1,000 leads with emails for $5, one-time, and the leads never expire.