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PhantomBuster Zapier integrationAutomate PhantomBuster with Zapier.

The PhantomBuster Zapier integration is small: 1 trigger and 1 action, no search. That is enough to react when a Phantom finishes and to launch another one, as long as you know how often Zapier checks and what each run costs.

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Overview

What the PhantomBuster Zapier integration actually does

It links your PhantomBuster account to Zapier so that a Phantom finishing its run can start something else, and so that something happening elsewhere can launch a Phantom. A Phantom is one of the automations you set up inside PhantomBuster. Zapier never edits it: it only watches it end, or presses start.

Three results people build with it. First, a relay: a lead-extraction Phantom ends, New Output picks that up, and Launch Phantom starts the enrichment Phantom you set up next. Second, a remote start: a form, a CRM or a calendar event from another app becomes the signal that launches a Phantom, so nobody has to open PhantomBuster to press the button. Third, a handoff: the end of a run becomes the moment your team or another tool takes over.

What it does not do matters just as much. There is no search, so a Zap cannot look up a Phantom, a result or a lead before acting. There is no instant trigger either: the only trigger is checked on a timer, so a Phantom that ends at a given minute is noticed at the next check, not that second. And nothing here creates, edits or deletes a Phantom. You build them in PhantomBuster, Zapier just runs the sequence around them.

If this feels thin, it is a fair reaction. The PhantomBuster n8n integration and the PhantomBuster Make integration cover the same app on the two other platforms, worth a look before you commit.

Vocabulary

Zapier words in one minute

If you have never opened Zapier, these are the only words the rest of the page relies on.

Zap
The automation you build: one trigger, then one or more actions that run every time that trigger happens.
Trigger
The event that starts the Zap. Once the Zap is switched on, Zapier sits there and waits for it.
Action
What the Zap does once it has started: the step that launches, sends or writes something for you.
Task
What Zapier bills you for: one action that completed successfully. Your plan counts these, nothing else.
Polling trigger
A trigger Zapier checks on a timer. It asks the app for new items, then keeps only what it has not seen yet.
Instant trigger
A trigger the app reports itself, the moment it happens. PhantomBuster has none on Zapier today.
Filter
A step that lets the Zap carry on only when what arrived matches your condition, and stops it otherwise.
Connection
Your PhantomBuster account, linked to Zapier once and then reused by every step that talks to PhantomBuster.
Cost

What it really costs to run

PhantomBuster is not a premium app on Zapier, so it works from the free plan.

  • Trigger and checks0 tasks
  • Each successful launch1 task
  • Free plan100 tasks a month, two steps per Zap
  • Premium appNo

The trigger costs nothing, and neither do the checks Zapier makes to see if a Phantom has finished. You pay one task each time Launch Phantom succeeds; a launch that fails is not counted. The free plan gives 100 tasks a month and checks every 15 minutes, but it only builds two-step Zaps. Add a filter or a second action and the Zap becomes a multi-step Zap, which needs a paid plan, even when PhantomBuster itself stays the same.

Connect

Connect PhantomBuster to Zapier in three steps

  1. 01

    Open your connections

    In your Zapier account, go to the Apps page and click + Add connection. You need a PhantomBuster account first, and access to the Phantoms you plan to use.

  2. 02

    Pick PhantomBuster

    Type PhantomBuster in the search box of the dialog, select it in the list, then click Add connection. A new browser tab opens on the PhantomBuster side.

  3. 03

    Sign in and allow access

    Log in to PhantomBuster in that tab and grant Zapier access to the account. Back in Zapier, the connection now appears in your list and every PhantomBuster step can reuse it.

First Zap

Your first Zap: a two-Phantom relay

GoalWhen an extraction Phantom finishes, launch the enrichment Phantom automatically, but only when the run is the one you care about.

  1. 01

    Create the Zap

    In Zapier, start a new Zap. Choose PhantomBuster as the trigger app and New Output as the event, then select your connection.

  2. 02

    Point it at the first Phantom

    In the Phantom field, pick the extraction Phantom you want to watch. Test the trigger: Zapier brings back the three most recent items so you map on real data.

  3. 03

    Add a filter

    Click the plus icon, choose Filter, and set the field, the rule and the value. Use a text rule on text and a number rule on numbers, or it never passes.

  4. 04

    Launch the second Phantom

    Add an action, choose PhantomBuster and Launch Phantom, then pick the enrichment Phantom by name. Pick a different Phantom from the one the trigger watches.

  5. 05

    Test, then publish

    Test each step and read what came back. When it looks right, click Publish. The filter makes it a multi-step Zap, so this one needs a paid plan.

Triggers

The PhantomBuster trigger

1 event starts a Zap when something happens in PhantomBuster. Zapier checks for them at the interval your plan allows.

1

New Output

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a specific Phantom finishes.”

Fires when a Phantom you chose has finished its run, which makes it the natural starting point for anything that should happen once the job is done: launching the next Phantom, warning a colleague, passing the work to another tool.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
a recruiter's sourcing Phantom wraps up and the screening workflow should start without anyone watching the dashboard.
Watch out
the Phantom field is required, so the Phantom you want to watch has to exist in the connected account before you build.
Actions

The PhantomBuster action

PhantomBuster gives you 1 action. For each one: what it does for you, when to reach for it, and what to watch out for.

1

Launch Phantom

Action

In Zapier“Launches a Phantom.”

Starts one of your existing Phantoms by name, from any trigger Zapier offers, so a run no longer depends on someone remembering to press the button.

When to use it
a new lead lands in your CRM and your enrichment Phantom should run without anyone pressing start.
Watch out
the Phantom name is required, and an option asks whether to wait until the Phantom produces an output before the step ends.
When it breaks

When the PhantomBuster Zap breaks

Zapier attaches no help article to PhantomBuster, and no limit specific to the app was found. What breaks is what breaks on every Zap, with a twist here.

Four cases are worth knowing before you publish. The second one is the most expensive, and with an app whose only action launches the very thing its only trigger watches, it is easy to walk into.

  • Past runs are never picked up

    A Zap only reacts to Phantoms that finish after you switch it on. Runs that ended yesterday stay where they are, and moving that backlog is a separate job.

  • The relay that relaunches itself

    If Launch Phantom starts the same Phantom that New Output watches, each run triggers the next one. The Zap loops and burns through your task count fast.

  • A huge batch arrives at once

    When a trigger suddenly returns a very large batch, after a bulk import or a migration, Zapier's flood protection can hold it back instead of running it.

  • The same run counted twice

    It does not happen: on a polling trigger Zapier keeps track of what it has already seen, so one finished run starts the Zap once.
Need help

Need help automating PhantomBuster with Zapier?

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FAQ

PhantomBuster Zapier integration: common questions

01Is the PhantomBuster Zapier integration free?
Yes, on the Zapier side it works from the free plan, because PhantomBuster is not a premium app. The free plan gives you 100 tasks a month, an unlimited number of Zaps and a check every 15 minutes. The catch is the shape of the Zap: free means two steps, one trigger and one action. A relay with a filter in the middle, or a Zap that launches two Phantoms in a row, is a multi-step Zap and needs a paid plan.
02How many tasks does a PhantomBuster Zap use?
One per successful action. The New Output trigger costs nothing, and neither do the regular checks Zapier makes to see whether a Phantom has finished. Each time Launch Phantom goes through, one task is counted; if it fails, nothing is counted. In a Zap with two Launch Phantom steps, both are counted separately, so the same run costs twice as much. A filter that stops the Zap before the action means no task at all for that run, which is a cheap way to keep only the runs you care about.
03Does PhantomBuster trigger Zapier in real time?
No. New Output is a polling trigger, the only kind PhantomBuster offers on Zapier: Zapier goes to check at regular intervals. On the free plan that is every 15 minutes, on Professional every 2 minutes, on Team and Enterprise every minute. On the paid plans you can change how often a polling trigger checks, and you can run a check by hand from the editor while you build. The trigger type is set by the app itself, so no setting in Zapier turns it into an instant one.
04What do you need to connect PhantomBuster to Zapier?
A PhantomBuster account and at least one Phantom already set up in it. Connecting takes three moves: open the Apps page of your Zapier account, click + Add connection and pick PhantomBuster, then sign in to PhantomBuster in the tab that opens and grant access. The Phantom part matters more than it looks, because both the trigger and the action ask you to choose a Phantom and that field is required. With an empty account, the dropdown has nothing to show.
05Can Launch Phantom start the Phantom its own trigger watches?
It can, and that is the trap to avoid. A Zap that writes where its own trigger watches sets itself off again and again: if Launch Phantom starts the Phantom New Output is watching, each finished run launches a new one, which finishes and launches another. Every launch that succeeds costs a task, so the count drains fast. Point the action at a different Phantom from the one picked in the trigger, and test each step before you publish.
06What if the PhantomBuster operation you need is not there?
On Zapier the list is short: New Output and Launch Phantom, nothing to search, edit or delete. Phantoms themselves are built and changed in PhantomBuster, never from a Zap. When the step you need is missing, the honest options are to rethink the flow around those two, or to look at the same app on another platform. The PhantomBuster pages for n8n and Make on this site list what each one exposes, which makes the comparison quick.
07Zapier, Make or n8n for PhantomBuster?
Compare by criterion, the speed you need, the steps you need, who maintains it, rather than by brand. On Zapier, PhantomBuster comes down to two operations, New Output and Launch Phantom, with no search. Its limits are clear: no instant trigger, so a finished Phantom waits for the next check, every 15 minutes on the free plan, and two steps per Zap before you pay, with one task per successful launch. Check what each platform exposes for PhantomBuster against those criteria.
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