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PlacesData API
vs Google Places APIvs Outscrapervs SerpApivs Apify Google Maps Scrapervs Bright Datavs PhantomBustervs Scrap.iovs Geocodio (geocode.io)

PlacesData API 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. PlacesData API 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.

Start Free ($1.20 · 12,000 Free Credits — No Card) →Compare All Plans

Instant API key in 5s · No credit card required (+20,000 Sandbox Streak Credits) · Pay via Stripe (Card, Apple Pay, Google Pay) or 0%-fee Crypto (+5% bonus)

Cost per 1,000 Google Maps Business Records (with Phone, Website & Hours)

PlacesData API (Business $0.20 · Base $0.50)$0.20 – $0.50
Official Google Places API (Text Search Pro + Contact SKU)$32.00

$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.

PlacesData API compared with PhantomBuster, Outscraper, and SerpApi
CapabilityPlacesData APIphantombuster.comOutscraperSerpApi
Billing unitPer 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 patternSynchronous HTTP GET JSON (<1s cached)Launch cloud browser agent -> poll S3 CSVAsync job queueSynchronous HTTP GET
Website email & social link enrichmentBuilt-in (/v1/leads/enrich · 0 Credits if empty)Requires chaining a 2nd Crawler PhantomPaid extra add-onNot available
Concurrent workflow capacityUp to 1,200 RPM (no slot limits)Capped at 5–50 Phantom slotsQueue-throttledThroughput-gated by tier
Zero-charge on empty resultsYes (0 places or 0 contacts = 0 Credits)No (burns execution minutes even on empty runs)PartialCharges 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. PlacesData API rates: $0.20 / 1K places (Business), $0.25 / 1K places (Pro), $0.50 / 1K places (Base PAYG).

PlacesData API transparent per-endpoint rate card ($1 = 10,000 Credits).

PlacesData API per-endpoint credit and USD rate card
CapabilityEndpointCredit RateEffective USD / 1K
Google Maps Text Search (Places, Ratings, Phone, Website, Hours, Coordinates)GET /v1/places/search5 Credits / place returned (min 10 Credits; 0 if empty)$0.20 – $0.50 / 1,000 places
Bounding-Box & Radius Viewport Search (Polygon / Grid Scanning)GET /v1/places/nearby5 Credits / place returned (min 10 Credits; 0 if empty)$0.20 – $0.50 / 1,000 places
Full Business Profile & Enriched Contacts (Place ID / CID / Google ID)GET /v1/places/details, GET /v1/places/{place_id}20 Credits / business profile$0.80 – $2.00 / 1,000 profiles
Verified Customer Reviews, Owner Replies & Reviewer MetadataGET /v1/places/reviews, GET /v1/places/{place_id}/reviews2 Credits / review returned (min 10 Credits; 0 if empty)$0.08 – $0.20 / 1,000 reviews
High-Res Business & StreetPhotos MetadataGET /v1/places/photos, GET /v1/places/{place_id}/photos2 Credits / photo returned (min 6 Credits; 0 if empty)$0.08 – $0.20 / 1,000 photos
Website Email, Phone & Social Media Lead Enrichment (8 Social Platforms)GET /v1/leads/enrich, GET /v1/domains/{domain}/contacts20 Credits / enriched domain (0 Credits if no emails/socials found)$0.80 – $2.00 / 1,000 enriched domains
Typeahead Place Autocomplete & Reverse Geocoding (Lat/Lng to Address)GET /v1/places/autocomplete, GET /v1/geocode/reverse5 Credits / request$0.20 – $0.50 / 1,000 calls

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. PlacesData API 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.placesdataapi.com/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:

Before (PhantomBuster — Launch Agent -> Poll Container Output -> Fetch CSV)
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.csv
After (PlacesData API — Instant Structured JSON)
const res = await fetch(
  "https://api.placesdataapi.com/v1/places/search?q=roofing+contractors+Dallas+TX&limit=50",
  { headers: { "x-api-key": "pd_live_your_api_key" } }
);
const { data: places } = await res.json();

1-Click Remote MCP Connector · Claude Web & ChatGPT

Connect live Google Maps & B2B email tools via OAuth 2.1.

Paste https://mcp.placesdataapi.com/v1/mcp into Claude.ai Settings → Connectors or ChatGPT Developer Mode for 1-click PKCE S256 login (or use https://api.placesdataapi.com/mcp with x-api-key in Cursor, Windsurf, and n8n).

Core Endpoints & Enrichment Docs

Interactive Engineering Workbench · Benchmark vs PhantomBuster

Verify real-time latency, credit math & JSON schema

5,000 places/day
5,000 reviews/day
500 domains/day
HTTP Calls / Day
600
Up to 100 items/call
Credit Unit
$1 = 10,000
Unified across 8 routes
Empty Result Fee
0 Credits
$0.00 for 0 matches
Estimated Monthly Pipeline Cost (30 Days)
$54.00/ mo on Business ($76.95 on Pro)
Monthly consumption: 1,350,000 Credits (45,000 Credits/day)
PlacesData API (Business $0.20/1K):$54.00 / mo
Official Google Places API ($32/1K):$5175.00 / mo
Empty search / unfound email fee:$0.00 (0 Credits)
Start Free (12,000 Credits) →Full Rate Card

Frequently asked questions

Does PlacesData API 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 PlacesData API 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 12,000 free Credits immediately — no card required.

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