Overview — What Each Tool Does
Handshake
Handshake is a cloud-based LinkedIn automation platform designed from the ground up for multi-sender rotation. It lets teams manage unlimited LinkedIn sender accounts from a single dashboard with built-in warmup scheduling, a unified inbox, and premium residential proxies included on every plan. Pricing is based on sender accounts — not per-seat — so your entire team collaborates without multiplying costs. Plans start at $69/month for 1 sender and scale to enterprise volumes.
TexAu
TexAu was a workflow automation platform that originally offered extensive LinkedIn scraping and outreach capabilities alongside automation for other social platforms and web services. The platform allowed users to build multi-step automation workflows (called "spices") that could scrape LinkedIn profiles, send connection requests, automate messages, and extract data from Sales Navigator searches. Previous pricing started at approximately $79/month for the Starter plan, $199/month for Teams, and $459/month for Agency accounts. However, in August 2025, TexAu made a significant strategic pivot — retiring its LinkedIn automation features entirely and relaunching as TexAu V3, a data intelligence platform focused on data extraction, enrichment, and analysis rather than outreach automation. This means TexAu is no longer a direct competitor to LinkedIn automation tools like Handshake. Users who relied on TexAu for LinkedIn outreach have had to migrate to alternative platforms. The pivot highlights the risks of depending on a tool that treats LinkedIn automation as one feature among many rather than its core mission.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Handshake | TexAu |
|---|---|---|
| LinkedIn Automation | Core platform focus — full LinkedIn outreach automation including connection requests, messaging sequences, profile visits, and follow-ups | LinkedIn automation was retired in August 2025. TexAu V3 no longer offers LinkedIn outreach capabilities |
| Multi-Sender Rotation | Built-in core feature — automatically rotate outreach across multiple LinkedIn accounts | Was never offered — TexAu managed accounts independently without rotation logic |
| Warmup Automation | Automated warmup scheduling with gradual ramp-up for new accounts | Not available — TexAu never included LinkedIn account warmup features |
| Unified Inbox | Single inbox aggregating conversations from all sender accounts | Not available — TexAu was primarily a data extraction tool, not a conversation management platform |
| Data Scraping | Focused on outreach execution rather than data scraping | TexAu V3 excels at web data extraction, enrichment, and cross-platform scraping (though LinkedIn-specific scraping has been reduced) |
| Workflow Automation | LinkedIn-specific campaign workflows with sequences and conditional logic | TexAu V3 offers general-purpose workflow automation across multiple data sources and platforms |
| Platform Stability | LinkedIn automation is the core product — the entire platform is built around it | Pivoted away from LinkedIn automation entirely in 2025, leaving existing users without their outreach tool |
| Team Collaboration | Unlimited team seats on every plan at no extra cost | Team plans were available but pricing was per-tier with account limits |
| Safety & Proxies | Premium residential proxies included on every plan with human-like sending patterns | Previously offered cloud execution but lacked dedicated residential proxy infrastructure for LinkedIn |
| A/B Testing | Built-in A/B testing for outreach campaigns on all plans | Was not offered for LinkedIn campaigns — TexAu focused on automation steps rather than optimization |
| API Access | Full API access available on all plans for custom integrations | TexAu V3 offers API access for data intelligence workflows |
| Cross-Platform Data | LinkedIn-only — does not extract data from other platforms | TexAu V3 extracts data from multiple platforms including social networks, directories, and websites |
| Long-Term Viability for LinkedIn | Purpose-built for LinkedIn automation — this is the product's entire reason for existing | Abandoned LinkedIn automation features, making it unreliable for users who depended on LinkedIn outreach |
Where Handshake Wins
The comparison between Handshake and TexAu is straightforward: TexAu no longer offers LinkedIn automation. After retiring its LinkedIn features in August 2025, TexAu pivoted to become a data intelligence platform with TexAu V3. If you're looking for a LinkedIn outreach tool today, TexAu simply isn't an option.
Beyond the pivot, Handshake was always the stronger choice for dedicated LinkedIn outreach. Even when TexAu offered LinkedIn features, it treated them as one workflow type among dozens — LinkedIn automation was never TexAu's core focus. Handshake, by contrast, is built entirely around LinkedIn outreach automation. Every feature — multi-sender rotation, warmup scheduling, the unified inbox, residential proxies — exists specifically to make LinkedIn outreach safer, faster, and more scalable.
The TexAu situation highlights an important lesson for teams choosing a LinkedIn automation tool: pick a platform where LinkedIn is the core product, not a side feature. Tools that spread across many platforms often deprioritize or discontinue specific channel support when strategic priorities shift. With Handshake, LinkedIn automation is the business — there's no risk of the feature being retired because it IS the product.
Handshake's multi-sender rotation — the ability to automatically distribute outreach volume across multiple LinkedIn accounts — was something TexAu never offered even at its peak. For teams running high-volume outreach, this feature alone makes Handshake the clear winner for LinkedIn-specific automation.
Where TexAu Wins
To be fair, TexAu V3 has carved out a legitimate niche in data intelligence that Handshake doesn't attempt to compete in. If your primary need is extracting and enriching data from multiple platforms — scraping company directories, pulling data from social networks, building prospect lists from various web sources — TexAu V3 is a capable tool for that workflow.
TexAu's general-purpose workflow automation engine is also genuinely powerful. The ability to chain together data extraction steps across multiple platforms into automated sequences goes well beyond what any LinkedIn-specific tool offers. For teams that need a data operations platform rather than an outreach tool, TexAu V3 serves a purpose that Handshake doesn't.
However, these are fundamentally different tools for different jobs. TexAu V3 is a data intelligence platform; Handshake is a LinkedIn outreach platform. They're no longer competing in the same category.
Choose Handshake If...
Choose Handshake if you need LinkedIn outreach automation — period. Whether you're scaling multi-sender campaigns, warming up new LinkedIn accounts, or managing replies across multiple profiles from a unified inbox, Handshake is purpose-built for this workflow. It's ideal for sales teams, lead generation agencies, and anyone who was previously using TexAu for LinkedIn outreach and needs a reliable, LinkedIn-focused replacement with better multi-sender capabilities.
Choose TexAu If...
Choose TexAu V3 if your primary need is data extraction and enrichment across multiple platforms — not LinkedIn outreach. It's a strong pick for data operations teams, growth hackers focused on building prospect databases from diverse web sources, and teams that need general-purpose workflow automation for data processing tasks.
The Verdict
This isn't really a comparison anymore. TexAu retired its LinkedIn automation features in August 2025, making Handshake the clear choice for anyone searching for a TexAu alternative for LinkedIn outreach. If you were a TexAu user relying on its LinkedIn features, Handshake gives you everything TexAu offered for LinkedIn — plus multi-sender rotation, warmup automation, a unified inbox, and residential proxies that TexAu never had. For pure data intelligence work, TexAu V3 is still a capable platform, but it's no longer in the LinkedIn automation game.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does TexAu still offer LinkedIn automation?
No. TexAu retired its LinkedIn automation features in August 2025 when it pivoted to TexAu V3, a data intelligence platform. If you need LinkedIn outreach automation, you'll need to use a different tool like Handshake.
Is Handshake a good replacement for TexAu's LinkedIn features?
Yes. Handshake offers everything TexAu previously provided for LinkedIn (connection requests, messaging, profile visits) plus features TexAu never had — multi-sender rotation, warmup automation, a unified inbox, and premium residential proxies. Most former TexAu users find Handshake to be a significant upgrade.
Why did TexAu stop offering LinkedIn automation?
TexAu made a strategic decision to pivot toward data intelligence with TexAu V3. Rather than maintaining LinkedIn outreach as one of many features, the company chose to focus on data extraction, enrichment, and analysis across multiple platforms.
How does Handshake's pricing compare to TexAu's old pricing?
Handshake starts at $69/mo for 1 sender vs. TexAu's previous Starter at $79/mo. For teams, Handshake's 5-sender plan at $199/mo is comparable to TexAu's old Teams plan at $199/mo, but Handshake includes unlimited team seats, multi-sender rotation, and residential proxies that TexAu never offered.
Can I use TexAu V3 alongside Handshake?
Yes. TexAu V3's data extraction capabilities could complement Handshake's outreach automation. You could use TexAu V3 to build and enrich prospect lists, then import those leads into Handshake for LinkedIn outreach campaigns.