If you're a marketer, sales specialist, or business owner looking to scale your lead generation efforts, you're probably looking for a lead scraping tool that:
- Consistently delivers accurate, real-time data
- Offers ease of use, even for non-technical team members
- Scales effectively with your growing data needs
- Provides transparent pricing and reliable customer support
- Integrates smoothly into your existing workflows and CRM
We've tested and compared some of the most popular scrapers for sales and marketing teams in 2026 to see how they measure up: Apify, Lead Scrape, PhantomBuster, Import.io, Outscraper, and Octoparse.
This guide provides detailed information about their strengths, weaknesses, pricing, and practical usability so you can confidently select the best tool for your specific requirements.
Want help setting up a custom lead scraping tool? Request a demo and schedule a live session with our team.
1. Apify
Apify is a versatile web scraping platform that hosts thousands of ready-made data collection tools (Actors) for diverse applications, including lead generation. These tools are pre-configured to extract data from websites, avoid blocking, and store results in the cloud.
Pros
- Cost: Paid plans start at $19 per month. A forever-free plan (no credit card required) provides $5 of monthly credits with access to all platform features.
- Ease of use: Apify’s interface is user-friendly, with no setup required. Automated scheduling lets you set up workflows easily.
- Integration capabilities: Dozens of integrations, including Zapier, Make, n8n, Gmail, Slack, and Google Drive, plus API, webhooks and an MCP server.
- Data storage: The platform includes data storage for persistence and reuse without re-running tasks.
- Scalability: Extract data from any website without limitations and export it in various formats (CSV, Excel, HTML table, RSS feed, XML, JSON).
- Support: Community support on the Free plan, chat support from Starter, and an account manager on Business, plus a Discord community, and a wide array of guides, from video tutorials to documentation.
Cons
- Complexity: Although Apify’s interface is intuitive, its versatility might overwhelm new users, especially when customizing tools for different websites and data types.
How Apify works
With a free plan, you can use any of the Actors on Apify Store. While very similar, each is built for a particular website and designed to overcome the challenges of scraping those sites and extracting specific data types. But to demonstrate, let's do a demo run with Contact Details Scraper.
Clicking the Try for free button on any tool in Apify Store will lead you to your dashboard (Apify Console) if you have an account. If you don't have one, you'll be prompted to sign up first.
Once on the Actor page in Apify Console, you can create and name a task and save it to run on a schedule. But you can also test any of the Actors just by inserting URLs and clicking the start button.
When the run is complete, the status will change from Running to Succeeded. Here, we can see that Contact Details Scraper extracted 68 results from the Apify website in just 43 seconds and used only $0.156 of the free 5 dollars of credit.
You can then export your results in a number of different formats and integrate them with other apps and even other Actors.
Should you use Apify?
Apify's ready-made scrapers save you time building your own solutions from scratch. If you favor low-code or no-code options or are not interested in all the tooling and features of this cloud platform, the Actors in Apify Store are straightforward and cost-effective solutions for anyone looking to collect web data for lead generation.
2. Lead Scrape
Lead Scrape is a data collection tool specifically for users looking to extract business leads. The platform makes sign-up straightforward, with no credit card required for the free trial. Lead Scrape is a desktop app for Windows and macOS, so you install it before running your first search.
Pros
- Cost: Lead Scrape is sold as a flat annual license at $97 for the standard plan and $247 for the business plan. There is also a forever-free trial plan.
- Ease of use: Intuitive interface. Designed for leads.
- Integration capabilities: Direct integrations with CRM and cold email tools, including HubSpot, HighLevel, Pipedrive, Instantly, Smartlead, Lemlist and Woodpecker, plus webhooks for Zapier, Make and n8n. It also collects SEO and tech stack data for each business, which makes it useful for digital marketing.
Cons
- Things to consider: Each license can be installed on two computers. The Standard edition pulls from three data sources and searches one city at a time; the Business edition uses seven sources and adds bulk searches by state or region.
How Lead Scrape works
Once installed, Lead Scrape’s interface is intuitive and caters exclusively to lead-generation workflows. The tool lets you upload files or filter by business type, location, and data fields, such as emails, social media, SEO, and advertising data.
Results can be exported to CSV, Excel or JSON, or sent directly to a connected CRM or outreach tool.
The data quality appeared reliable in our test. The Standard edition uses three data sources and the Business edition seven.
Running a test search on New York restaurant leads, it took just over 10 minutes to collect 211 leads, and it's pretty neat that it displays the number of leads you're likely to get on paid plans.
Should you use Lead Scrape?
If you want a desktop tool with a flat annual license for finding local business leads, with CRM and cold email integrations built in, Lead Scrape is a viable option. If you need cloud-based runs or data from sources other than business listings, compare it with the other tools on this list.
3. PhantomBuster
PhantomBuster is an automation and data extraction platform offering “Phantoms” to execute tasks on sites like LinkedIn, Twitter, Google Maps, and HubSpot. Its ready-made “Workflows” (similar to Apify's Actor bundles) let you automate actions like profile scraping, lead generation, and enrichment without coding.
Pros
- Ease of use: A no-code solution designed for lead generation.
- Integration capabilities: Direct integrations with HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive and Clay, plus Make, Zapier and n8n for other tools.
- Building Workflows: PhantomBuster's main benefit is the ability to build Workflows for LinkedIn and other sales and marketing-related platforms.
- Support: PhantomBuster provides support via a help center, blog, and coaching.
Cons
- Cost: Paid plans start at $56 per month billed annually (Start plan, $672 a year), which includes 20 hours of execution time and 5 automation slots per month. The free trial includes 2 hours of execution time, and its exports are limited to 10 rows.
- Things to consider: Plans are sized by monthly execution time and automation slots: Grow includes 80 hours and 15 slots ($128 per month billed annually) and Scale includes 300 hours and 50 slots ($352 per month billed annually).
How PhantomBuster works
With a “Phantom”, you can scrape a single page. With a “Workflow”, you can scrape the page, do some data processing, and then save this data to HubSpot or send LinkedIn messages.
Here's an example of the interface for its Google Maps Search Phantom.
For this demo run, the Phantom worked efficiently and extracted 10 places from Google Maps without problems.
Should you use PhantomBuster?
If you're a non-technical marketer, lead generator, or sales team interested in small-scale, no-code lead scraping, PhantomBuster was built for you. If you need large-scale data collection beyond LinkedIn and sales platforms, compare execution-time limits with the other tools on this list, or look at options for buying an email list.
4. Import.io
Import.io is a cloud-based web data extraction platform. Its point-and-click and AI extractors let non-technical users build scrapers for most public websites, while developers can refine them with XPath or JavaScript, or work through the REST API and SDKs. Import.io also offers fully managed data delivery.
Pros
- Ease of use: You can use the tool directly from your browser, so no setup required. Intuitive point-and-click UI platform suitable for non-technical users.
- Support: Support depends on the plan: docs and community on Starter, email on Standard, chat, ticketing and training on Professional, and priority live support on Advanced. Managed Services customers get a named customer success manager.
- Data storage: Like Apify, Import.io is a cloud-based platform, which means users can access their data from anywhere without the need for local installations.
Cons
- Cost: Self-service plans start at $9 per month billed annually (Starter, 5,000 successful queries) and go up to $699 per month (Advanced, 500,000 queries). Premium and residential proxies are included on Advanced, and full API access and webhooks start on Professional ($399 per month). There's a 30-day free trial with 5,000 successful queries and no credit card required.
How Import.io works
Import.io is built to handle multiple URL queries efficiently. It uses dynamic rate limiting and retries to manage errors and restrictions. When you query multiple web pages, the service sends requests from rotating IP addresses to speed things up. If a URL fails, it’s retried from a different IP. The service also monitors website response times to avoid overloading sites during extraction.
When we tested it on an Amazon product page, it scraped 10 rows of data in 6 seconds.
Should you use Import.io?
With a minimal setup and an intuitive interface, Import.io is an efficient option for lead scraping. Self-service plans start at $9 per month, and interactive extractors can handle dropdowns, clicks and infinite scroll. For heavily protected sites or sources behind logins, check whether you need the Advanced plan or Import.io's managed services.
- Related: The best alternative to Import.io
5. Outscraper
Outscraper provides ready-to-use APIs for extracting data from Google services (Maps, Shopping, Search, Reviews), and offers lead scrapers like email and contact extractors. It functions similarly to Apify Store, with its scrapers resembling Actors. You can input data, create tasks, and schedule runs through a simple UI. Alternatively, you can call the scrapers using its API.
Pros
- Cost: Free trial. $3 per 1,000 results on the medium tier (after 500 results). Pricing is pay-as-you-go, with no monthly plans. You can pre-pay by adding credits to your balance or set up post-pay by linking a card to be billed monthly for usage beyond the free limit (which varies by scraper). Outscraper’s credits never expire, so you can pre-buy credits without a time limit for using them.
- Integration capabilities: Integrations with automation tools such as Zapier and n8n, plus an API.
- Ease of use: Intuitive user interface.
Cons
- Things to consider: Outscraper's services focus on Google (Maps, Search, Reviews, Shopping, News), Amazon, and email and contact tools. Google Maps, Google Search and the B2B leads database export to CSV, Excel, JSON or Parquet; most other services export to CSV/XLSX.
How Outscraper works
As with Apify, you can run scrapers via UI or API. The API calls work like any other. With the user interface, you choose the API you want and provide input.
Then go to the "Tasks" tab to export your data or schedule your run.
Should you use Outscraper?
If you just want a scraper for one of the major websites that Outscraper covers, this is a good option. If you need data from websites beyond the services Outscraper covers, compare the other tools on this list. Teams that want to scale outbound prospecting often turn to an outsourced SDR provider as well.
- Related: The best alternative to Outscraper
6. Octoparse
Octoparse is a no-code web scraping tool designed for users to extract data from websites without programming skills. It provides a visual workflow builder where users can click on web elements to set up data extraction tasks and supports advanced features like scheduling, data cleaning, and cloud-based scraping.
Pros
- Ease of use: Straightforward navigation with a visual operation pane. However, it requires downloading software to get started.
- Cloud-based extraction: Allows for faster data collection without using local resources. (This feature is restricted to paid plans).
- Pre-built templates: 600+ preset templates for popular websites. Free users can run them and preview results; exporting template data requires a paid plan (or Octoparse's MCP server, up to 2,000 records a week).
- Integration capabilities: Exports to Excel, CSV, JSON, HTML, XML, databases and Google Sheets; Zapier integration and API access on paid plans.
Cons
- Cost: The free plan runs scrapers locally only. Advanced features, such as proxies and cloud runs, require a paid plan, the lowest of which is Standard at $83 per month ($69 per month billed annually).
- Things to consider: On the free plan, tasks run locally without IP rotation, residential proxies or CAPTCHA solving, so heavily protected sites need a paid plan.
How Octoparse works
Octoparse has a point-and-click interface for building generic scrapers and specific templates for popular sites, including Google Maps, LinkedIn, and other websites suitable for lead generation.
We tried a test run on a small, simple website using Octoparse's point-and-click tool on the free plan. We didn't encounter any problems. Then we did the same on a large, complex website.
The data came up empty, though the run was marked “successful”.
However, this isn't too surprising, as the free plan doesn't include proxies, which you need to scrape a website like Amazon. Unfortunately, the UI didn't give any indication that there might be a problem with the run even though it didn't extract anything.
Should you use Octoparse?
Octoparse might be a good fit if you need simple, no-code scraping for straightforward web pages. For heavily protected sites or scheduled cloud runs, you'll need a paid plan, starting at $69 per month billed annually.
- Related: The best alternative to Octoparse
Which lead scraper will you try?
Let's recap:
- Apify stands out for its versatile Actors library, ideal for those needing scalable data collection and automation with wide integration options.
- Lead Scrape offers a desktop tool with a flat annual license, built specifically for lead generation, with CRM and cold email integrations.
- PhantomBuster is tailored for LinkedIn and sales prospecting automation, with plans sized by monthly execution time.
- Import.io provides point-and-click and AI extractors that are accessible to non-technical users, with self-service plans from $9 per month and managed services for complex or high-volume sources.
- Outscraper is a budget-friendly choice for users focused on Google-based data with flexible pay-as-you-go pricing.
- Octoparse is an easy no-code solution with a free desktop plan; paid plans add cloud runs and anti-blocking for more complex sites.
If you're still on the fence, it's always best to start from the beginning: the letter A.
Case study: How itrinity scaled lead gen ops from 10 emails a day to 400 a week with Apify
itrinity is a fast-growing portfolio of highly profitable SaaS businesses with millions of users across the globe. It runs seven SaaS products, including EmailListVerify and Warmup Inbox, designed to improve email deliverability and inbox reputation.
The itrinity team saw strong affiliate traffic from YouTube and wanted to scale it. But their outreach process was slow and capped at 10 emails per day, limited by manual captcha-solving and IP throttling. Facing the daunting task of manually verifying email addresses and warming up inboxes, the need for an efficient, scalable solution was clear.
With Apify, itrinity:
- Scaled from 50 to 400 emails in a week
- Saved 40+ hours on manual work
- Achieved a wider affiliate reach and faster time-to-contact
Note: This evaluation is based on our understanding of information available to us as of October 2026. Readers should conduct their own research for detailed comparisons. Product names, logos, and brands are used for identification only and remain the property of their respective owners. Their use does not imply affiliation or endorsement.
