GoogleMapsAPI.io vs PhantomBuster · Clay · Outscraper
$0.33 vs $69/mo
with zero execution-hour caps or Phantom slot limits.
PhantomBuster charges $69–$439/month for capped cloud browser execution hours (20h–300h/mo) and limited Phantom slots, requiring CSV polling and separate Data Scraping Crawler Phantoms just to find business emails. GoogleMapsAPI.io gives your Clay tables, n8n workflows, and Python backends a synchronous sub-second REST API with built-in website email and social enrichment—paying strictly per verified record returned.
Cost per 1,000 Google Maps Business Records (with Phone, Website & Hours)
$1.00 = 10,000 Credits (5 Credits / place). Empty search results (0 matches) cost 0 Credits. Crypto top-ups automatically include +5% Bonus Credits.
Side-by-side comparison.
| Capability | GoogleMapsAPI.io | phantombuster.com | Outscraper | SerpApi |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Billing unit | Per verified place returned ($0.33–$0.50/1K) | $69–$439/mo execution-hour subscriptions | $1.00–$3.00 / 1,000 places | $7.50–$15.00 / 1,000 searches |
| Integration pattern | Synchronous HTTP GET JSON (<1s cached) | Launch cloud browser agent -> poll S3 CSV | Async job queue | Synchronous HTTP GET |
| Website email & social link enrichment | Built-in (/v1/leads/enrich · 0 Credits if empty) | Requires chaining a 2nd Crawler Phantom | Paid extra add-on | Not available |
| Concurrent workflow capacity | Up to 1,200 RPM (no slot limits) | Capped at 5–50 Phantom slots | Queue-throttled | Throughput-gated by tier |
| Zero-charge on empty results | Yes (0 places or 0 contacts = 0 Credits) | No (burns execution minutes even on empty runs) | Partial | Charges per search call |
Competitor pricing verified from public pricing pages as of November 2026. Actual costs may vary based on plan tier, concurrency add-ons, and overage rates. All third-party trademarks are the property of their respective owners. GoogleMapsAPI.io rates: $0.20 / 1K places (Business), $0.25 / 1K places (Pro), $0.50 / 1K places (Base PAYG).
Why engineering teams switch from PhantomBuster.
Stop Burning Cloud Execution Minutes on Slow Browser Launches
Headless browser Phantoms spend 15–30 seconds booting Chromium before extracting a single business card. GoogleMapsAPI.io queries our indexed PostgreSQL 16 spatial store and live dual-rail upstream directly over HTTP.
One HTTP Column in Clay, Make.com, or n8n
Drop GET https://api.googlemapsapi.io/v1/places/search or /v1/leads/enrich straight into Clay HTTP API columns or n8n HTTP Request nodes without webhook glue or CSV parsing.
Pay Only for Real Business Leads & Verified Contacts
Empty map cells cost 0 Credits on /v1/places/search, and domains without public emails or social links cost 0 Credits on /v1/leads/enrich.
Migrate from PhantomBuster Agent Launches to Direct REST
Replace multi-step agent launch + container fetch polling with one HTTP GET call:
const launch = await fetch("https://api.phantombuster.com/api/v2/agents/launch", {
method: "POST",
headers: { "X-Phantombuster-Key": process.env.PB_KEY, "Content-Type": "application/json" },
body: JSON.stringify({ id: "phantom_agent_id", argument: { search: "roofing contractors Dallas TX" } }),
});
// Must poll /containers/fetch-output until status === "finished", then download result.csvconst res = await fetch(
"https://api.googlemapsapi.io/v1/places/search?q=roofing+contractors+Dallas+TX&limit=50",
{ headers: { "x-api-key": "gm_live_your_api_key" } }
);
const { data: places } = await res.json();Interactive Engineering Workbench · Benchmark vs PhantomBuster
Verify real-time latency, credit math & JSON schema
Frequently asked questions
- Does GoogleMapsAPI.io require cookies or a Google session like browser scrapers?
- No. You never connect your own Google account, proxies, or browser cookies. Authenticate with a single x-api-key header.
- Can I use GoogleMapsAPI.io inside Clay, n8n, or Make.com?
- Yes. Every endpoint is a standard synchronous GET/POST JSON endpoint that works out of the box with Clay HTTP API columns, n8n HTTP Request nodes, and Make.com webhooks.
Test it against PhantomBuster for free.
Every new account receives 2,000 free Credits immediately — no card required.