Best Alternatives to PhantomBuster / Waalaxy / Expandi / Botdog for LinkedIn Automation

Hey folks! Creator of Botdog here. Recently replied to this Reddit post asking about LinkedIn automation alternatives. The questions were great, so I wanted to share a detailed perspective since I've both used these tools extensively and ended up building one myself. Here's what I've learned:

What are each tool's market share today?

When people sign up for Botdog.co, we ask what other tools they considered. Here's the actual breakdown from our data:

• PhantomBuster: 19%
• Dripify: 17%
• Waalaxy: 14%
• Expandi: 11%
• MeetAlfred: 9%
• LinkedHelper: 9%
• Octopus: 4%
• Apollo, Lemlist, Copilot, TexAu, We-Connect: Less than 2%

What type of LinkedIn automation tool should you choose?
After using most of these tools, I've noticed they fall into four main categories:

The Swiss Army Knives (like PhantomBuster)

• These aren't specifically built for LinkedIn. PhantomBuster is great for building custom automations - think "every time I get an inbound lead on my landing page, go scrape their LinkedIn profile." It's less of a "shovel" and more of a "pipe." Rather expensive though, starting at $69/month for a limited subscription.

• Simple LinkedIn-Focused Tools (like Botdog.co, MeetAlfred, Dripify)
  Easy to use, quick to set up. Yes, they have fewer features, but they do the basics really well. We priced Botdog at $29/month specifically to make it accessible.

• The Full CRM Systems (like Waalaxy, LaGrowthMachine, Lemlist, Expandi)
  These handle multiple channels - LinkedIn plus email plus more. Lemlist, for example, is great for multi-channel stuff but pretty expensive ($99/month!). They're building entire "systems of work."

Have you had any experience with PhantomBuster or Waalaxy? What are your thoughts?

• PhantomBuster is great if you're building custom automation flows. It's particularly good at data extraction - if you need to scrape thousands of LinkedIn profiles, there's probably no better tool. But it's more for setting up automated pipelines than day-to-day LinkedIn outreach.
• Waalaxy has evolved into more of a CRM system. Very different from PhantomBuster - better for managing ongoing campaigns and multi-channel outreach. Their free tier used to be great but it's pretty limited now.

What features are crucial for successful LinkedIn automation?
At the end of the day, all these tools have the basics:

• Automated invitations to connect
• Delayed follow-up messages
• LinkedIn search + CSV import
• Stats
• Good UX/design

What matters is how you use them. If you're building a whole system, look for API integrations. If you just need reliable LinkedIn automation, the simpler tools might be better.

Any tips for automating LinkedIn processes safely?
Here's something crucial I learned the hard way - don't test multiple tools on the same day. Got my account blocked for 3 days doing exactly that! Most tools are pretty conservative with limits because they don't want your account suspended (that would mean losing you as a customer). PhantomBuster is the exception - they don't set limits by default, so you need to manage that yourself.

Bottom Line:

Need multi-platform automation? PhantomBuster
Want simple LinkedIn automation? Try Botdog.co, MeetAlfred, or Dripify
Building a full sales system? Check out Waalaxy or Lemlist

Happy to answer any specific questions about these tools - I've probably either used them or researched them extensively!

PS: Obviously I'm biased since I run Botdog, but I've tried to be as objective as possible here. Each tool has its place depending on what you need.