You've probably heard about TexAu - the marketing automation platform that promises to revolutionize your lead generation and outreach efforts. With its impressive array of features for LinkedIn automation, data scraping, and multichannel marketing, it sounds like the perfect solution for growing businesses and agencies.

But here's what they're not telling you upfront: while TexAu packs serious automation power, it comes with some significant reliability issues that could leave you frustrated when you need it most. After analyzing dozens of real user reviews from Reddit, G2, Trustpilot, and other platforms, we've uncovered the full picture of what it's really like to use TexAu day-to-day.

What TexAu Actually Does

TexAu positions itself as a comprehensive growth automation toolbox that helps businesses streamline their sales and marketing processes. The platform offers over 100+ automation "recipes" covering everything from LinkedIn profile scraping and connection management to email enrichment and social media automation.

At its core, TexAu allows you to:

• Extract lead data from LinkedIn, Twitter, and other social platforms

• Automate connection requests and follow-ups

• Enrich contact information with emails and phone numbers

• Schedule and manage social media posts

• Integrate with popular CRMs and tools like Google Sheets

The platform markets itself to freelancers, small teams, growing agencies, and large enterprises with pricing tiers ranging from a free 14-day trial to $459/month for their Agency plan.

The Good: When TexAu Works, It Really Works

Let's start with what users love about TexAu. When the platform is functioning properly, it can be genuinely impressive.

According to reviews on TexAu's Wall of Love, one user enthusiastically shared: "TexAu is hands down one of the best SaaS tools out there for growing your business." Another customer noted: "TexAu has made us look like geniuses many times over with just a simple query."

The platform's strength lies in its comprehensive automation capabilities. Users appreciate the variety of recipes available and the potential time savings when everything runs smoothly. As one reviewer put it: "TexAu is a must have tool for any growth hacker and marketer!"

The interface, while having a learning curve, offers powerful functionality once you get the hang of it. The data extraction capabilities are particularly noteworthy - when working correctly, TexAu can pull detailed information from LinkedIn profiles, including names, job titles, and contact information that can be directly exported to Google Sheets or integrated with your CRM.

The Bad: Reliability Issues That Kill Productivity

Here's where things get problematic. The most consistent complaint across multiple review platforms is TexAu's reliability - or lack thereof.

A frustrated user on Reddit summed up the core issue perfectly: "I find that the tool frequently breaks down and support is very slow to respond." They followed up with an even more telling observation: "TexAu would be a wonderful tool if it worked."

This sentiment is echoed across other platforms. On G2, another user reported: "The tool is not working when I need it." These aren't isolated incidents - the pattern of unreliability appears consistently in user feedback.

The support response time compounds the frustration. When you're running time-sensitive campaigns or trying to meet client deadlines, having a tool break down is bad enough. Having to wait days for a response from support makes it exponentially worse.

One particularly scathing review on Trustpilot highlighted the customer service issues: "CUSTOMER SERVICE IS USELESS AND WHEN YOU MAKE YOURSELF HEAR YOUR VOICE THEIR CEO SHOWS UP PROMISES CALLS AND EXPLANATIONS AND HE THEN DISAPPEARS."

Learning Curve and User Experience Challenges

Beyond reliability, users consistently mention the steep learning curve. Even on TexAu's own Wall of Love, one customer admitted: "The learning curve is a bit high for some tasks, but worth it!"

While some users find the complexity worthwhile, others struggle with the interface and workflow. The platform's extensive feature set, while impressive on paper, can be overwhelming for newcomers. Unlike more streamlined competitors, TexAu requires significant time investment to master effectively.

Additionally, the platform's email enrichment capabilities lag behind competitors. As one G2 reviewer noted: "Email enrichment isn't their strongest suite yet." For businesses heavily reliant on accurate contact data, this limitation can be a deal-breaker.

LinkedIn Automation Safety Concerns

Here's something TexAu doesn't prominently advertise: using their LinkedIn automation features puts your LinkedIn account at serious risk of restriction or permanent suspension.

LinkedIn's Terms of Service explicitly prohibit automated methods, scraping, and spam-like behavior. TexAu's core LinkedIn features directly violate these policies:

Profile Scraping Violations: TexAu's LinkedIn Profile Scraper allows users to "Extract LinkedIn profile data with TexAu's LinkedIn Profile Scraper. Collect names, job titles, and emails, and export directly to Google Sheets." This constitutes a clear violation of LinkedIn's data scraping policies.

Automated Connection Management: Features like their LinkedIn Connection Checker automatically "Check if your LinkedIn connection requests are accepted or still pending in seconds" and enable automated follow-ups. This violates LinkedIn's policies against automated engagement methods.

Spam-Like Following Behavior: The platform's LinkedIn Profile Auto Follow feature automates following actions, which can easily cross into spam territory that LinkedIn actively monitors and penalizes.

TexAu attempts to address these concerns by implementing "robust safety measures" including randomized delays and gradual processing to avoid detection. However, these are circumvention techniques rather than compliance measures - they're designed to hide automation activity from LinkedIn's detection systems, not eliminate the policy violations.

According to TexAu's own documentation, they acknowledge the risks: "LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and all social networks check any suspicious activity, including automation. Therefore, they effectively detect fake accounts, bots, or any automation."

While some users report that TexAu is less likely to result in account restrictions compared to tools like Expandi, the risk remains significant. The question isn't whether you'll eventually face restrictions - it's when.

This highlights a crucial point: while automation for outreach can be risky, managing your existing LinkedIn conversations efficiently and safely is a different challenge altogether – and one that doesn't require violating LinkedIn's terms.

Beyond Automation: Efficiently Managing Your LinkedIn Inbox with Kondo

If the risks of LinkedIn automation tools like TexAu seem too high, but you're still drowning in your LinkedIn DMs, there’s a more compliant and focused solution. Instead of automating outreach, consider optimizing how you manage the conversations you already have. This is where a tool like Kondo shines.

Kondo isn't about automation; it's about transforming your cluttered LinkedIn messaging inbox into a streamlined communication hub, often described as 'Superhuman for LinkedIn'. The native LinkedIn DM experience makes it easy to miss critical messages from leads, clients, or candidates. Kondo addresses this directly, ensuring you stay organized and responsive without jeopardizing your account.

Key benefits of using Kondo include:

• Enhanced Organization: Utilize labels and split inboxes to categorize conversations (e.g., 'Hot Lead', 'Candidate', 'Client'). This declutters your main view, allowing you to focus on what matters most.

• Never Miss a Follow-Up: Set reminders (snooze messages) with a simple keyboard shortcut ('H'). The message resurfaces when it's due, ensuring timely follow-ups.

• Lightning-Fast Navigation: Use keyboard shortcuts to archive messages ('E'), apply labels ('L'), open profiles ('I'), and more, drastically speeding up inbox processing.

• Consistent Communication: Save and reuse common messages with Snippets (';'), including variables for personalization, eliminating repetitive typing.

• Safety First: Kondo operates in strict compliance with LinkedIn's Terms of Service. As detailed in their safety guidelines (see "Is Kondo Safe?"), Kondo does not scrape LinkedIn pages, modify their appearance, or automate any activity like bulk messaging or auto-replies. It uses your active browser session cookie and caches message data locally on your computer, never sending it to their servers. This focus on authentic interaction and data privacy means you can manage your inbox efficiently without fear of account suspension.

For professionals who rely on LinkedIn for networking, sales, or recruitment, Kondo helps reclaim hours each week and capitalize on opportunities previously lost in the clutter, all while keeping your account safe.

Pricing: Is It Worth the Investment?

TexAu offers four pricing tiers:

• Trial: Free 14-day access with no credit card required

• Starter: $79/month for 30 automation hours and 50 data enrichment credits

• Teams: $199/month for 100 automation hours and 500 enrichment credits

• Agency: $459/month for 250 automation hours and 6,000 enrichment credits

The pricing is competitive within the automation space, but the value proposition becomes questionable when you factor in the reliability issues. Paying $199+ monthly for a tool that frequently breaks down during critical moments is hard to justify, especially for growing businesses operating on tight margins.

The credit system for data enrichment also means you're paying twice - once for the platform access and again for each data point enriched. This can add up quickly for businesses with high-volume lead generation needs.

Alternatives Worth Considering

Given TexAu's reliability issues, you might want to explore alternatives:

• Apollo.io: More reliable for B2B prospecting with better email deliverability

• Lemlist: Focused on cold outreach with better LinkedIn safety features

• Phantombuster: Similar automation capabilities with more stable performance

• Kondo: If your primary challenge is managing a high volume of LinkedIn DMs efficiently and safely, Kondo offers a specialized solution focused on inbox productivity without the risks of automation. Learn more at trykondo.com.

• Sales Navigator + Manual Processes: Slower but LinkedIn-compliant approach for outreach; combine with Kondo for inbox management.

Each alternative has its own trade-offs, but they generally offer more consistent performance than TexAu's feast-or-famine reliability.

The Bottom Line: Proceed with Caution

TexAu has the potential to be a powerful automation tool - when it works. The platform offers impressive features and can deliver significant time savings for marketing teams and agencies. However, the persistent reliability issues and slow support response times make it a risky choice for mission-critical operations.

The LinkedIn automation features, while tempting, present serious compliance risks that could jeopardize your professional network and business relationships. The platform's circumvention techniques provide a false sense of security rather than genuine compliance.

If you're considering TexAu, we recommend:

1. Start with the free trial to test reliability with your specific use cases

2. Avoid LinkedIn automation features entirely to protect your account

3. Have backup solutions ready for when TexAu inevitably breaks down

4. Factor in potential downtime when planning campaigns and client deliverables

For businesses that can work around the reliability issues and don't need LinkedIn automation, TexAu might still provide value. But for most users looking for a dependable, professional-grade automation solution, the consistent reliability problems make it difficult to recommend TexAu as a primary tool.

If your core frustration lies with LinkedIn's cumbersome inbox rather than needing broad automation, then TexAu's risks and reliability issues are likely not worth the trade-off. Instead, exploring a dedicated LinkedIn inbox management tool like Kondo could be a far more effective and safer path to reclaiming your productivity and ensuring you never miss an important message. Kondo focuses on enhancing your ability to handle real conversations, a crucial aspect often overlooked by automation-centric platforms.

TexAu shows promise in automation, but until they address fundamental reliability, support, and the inherent risks of their LinkedIn features, it remains a frustrating tool that promises more than it delivers. For genuine, safe improvements to your LinkedIn workflow, especially in messaging, consider specialized solutions designed with user safety and efficiency at their core.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is TexAu primarily used for?

TexAu is primarily used for automating various sales and marketing tasks, such as lead data extraction from social platforms like LinkedIn, automating connection requests and follow-ups, enriching contact information, and scheduling social media posts. The platform aims to help businesses streamline their outreach and lead generation processes through a wide array of pre-built automation "recipes."

Why is TexAu often considered unreliable?

TexAu is often considered unreliable due to consistent user reports of the platform frequently breaking down, automations failing unexpectedly, and slow response times from customer support when issues arise. These reliability problems can significantly hinder productivity, especially when users depend on the tool for time-sensitive campaigns or client deliverables.

Is it safe to use TexAu for LinkedIn automation?

No, using TexAu for LinkedIn automation is not safe and carries significant risks. Features like LinkedIn profile scraping and automated connection management directly violate LinkedIn's Terms of Service. While TexAu claims to have safety measures, these are designed to circumvent detection rather than ensure compliance, putting your LinkedIn account at risk of restrictions or permanent suspension.

What are some good alternatives to TexAu?

Good alternatives to TexAu depend on your specific needs. For B2B prospecting and data enrichment, Apollo.io is often cited. For cold outreach with a focus on email, Lemlist is popular. Phantombuster offers similar broad automation capabilities. If your main goal is to efficiently and safely manage your LinkedIn inbox without risky automation, a tool like Kondo is a highly recommended alternative.

How can I manage my LinkedIn DMs more effectively if TexAu is too risky?

You can manage your LinkedIn DMs more effectively and safely by using a dedicated LinkedIn inbox management tool like Kondo. Kondo enhances the native LinkedIn messaging experience with features like labels, snooze/reminders for follow-ups, keyboard shortcuts for faster navigation, and message snippets for consistent replies. Crucially, Kondo operates in full compliance with LinkedIn's Terms of Service, as it doesn't automate outreach or scrape data, ensuring your account remains safe.

When might TexAu still be a viable option?

TexAu might still be a viable option for users whose primary needs are outside of LinkedIn automation and who can tolerate its potential unreliability. If you thoroughly test specific non-LinkedIn "recipes" during the free trial and find them stable for your use case, and you have backup solutions in place, TexAu could offer some value. However, it's crucial to avoid its LinkedIn automation features entirely to protect your account.