PhantomBuster Phantom "not working" is often just spent execution time or full slots
PhantomBuster - Docs (PhantomBuster help center): the free trial gives 2 hours of execution time total and 5 Phantom slots for 14 days; the ongoing free plan gives 30 minutes per month and 1 slot, with result files capped at 10 rows.
## The fix
When Phantoms stop launching or sit idle, check plan limits before debugging anything else:
1. Open the PhantomBuster dashboard and look at the usage meters: remaining monthly execution time and active slots.
2. If execution time is burned through, everything halts until the plan resets; either wait or upgrade the plan.
3. If all slots are busy with other automations, the new Phantom is queued, not broken. Stagger launches throughout the day instead of firing everything at once.
4. Keep inputs clean: a Phantom chewing through 1,000 junk profiles burns execution time that should go to real leads.
Constantly hitting the ceiling means you have outgrown the plan, not that the tool is flaky. Clean inputs plus staggered scheduling usually buys back a lot of headroom.
Thread: docs:phantombuster-free-trial-limitsMaintainer review
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