If you’re shopping for a residential proxy provider, this is your 101 on how to choose the best provider.
First: What is a residential proxy?
A residential proxy address is an IP address assigned to a home device or computer connected to the internet through an Internet Service Provider. Residential proxies can protect your online activities from being tracked by websites, governments, and other third parties by using residential proxies.
The biggest advantage of residential proxies is that they allow you to view content from the perspective of a real user in a specific location around the world. Many residential proxies are used for web scraping, a large-scale process of extracting website data.
With residential proxies, websites cannot detect and block web scrapers. Generally, residential proxies enable you to perform tasks like: market analysis, price monitoring and comparison, ad verification, website testing, product matching, and more.
A wide variety of residential proxy providers are available on the market, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. The following is a comparison of the top 5 residential proxy providers:
Table of Contents
#1 Bright Data
Bright Data (formerly Luminati) is our favorite choice for residential proxies. Bright Data has one of the largest residential proxy networks, with over 72 million IP addresses in more than 195 countries and territories.
It offers advanced features like session control, geolocation targeting, and IP rotation, making it suitable for data scraping, ad verification, and other web automation tasks.
We like Bright Data’s versatility and geographic range–you can find a proxy in any target location, as Bright Data enables targeting by country, city, and ZIP Code. Bright Data’s commitment to ethical-sourcing of proxies makes them a reliable and safe bet, as depending on the less-reputable providers with dubiously-sourced IPs will cost you down the line.
While some Bright Data plans seem more expensive, the cost in our view is worth it, as you get what you pay for. For big-time data scaling projects and enterprise customers, Bright Data is 100% the way to go.
Bright Data's proxies are designed for high performance and low latency, making them suitable for data scraping, ad verification, and other web automation tasks. Bright Data offers advanced features like session control, geolocation targeting, and IP rotation, which allow users to customize their proxy usage and avoid detection.
Not to mention, Bright Data has a dedicated customer support team that is available 24/7 to assist users with any issues they may encounter.
#2 Geonode
Geonode is a cutting-edge platform designed to revolutionize proxy services for developers and non-developers alike.
With a comprehensive range of features and reliable infrastructure, Geonode ensures seamless and secure browsing experiences—offering a vast network of IP addresses from around the world that allows users to access location-specific content, conduct market research, and perform web scraping with utmost efficiency and anonymity.
Its intuitive interface simplifies proxy management, enabling users to monitor usage, track performance, and customize settings effortlessly.
Their dedicated customer support team also ensures prompt assistance. Plus, they have some of the most affordable pricing in the market.
#3 NetNut
NetNut offers a residential proxy network of over 52 million IP addresses in over 50 locations worldwide.
It offers features like automatic IP rotation, sticky sessions, and geolocation targeting, making it suitable for data scraping, ad verification, and other web automation tasks. Its pricing is relatively affordable compared to other providers.
With over 52 million residential IP addresses available in over 50 countries, NetNut is another residential proxy provider with good performance for a variety of online activities.
#4 IPRoyal
IPRoyal is one of the best and most affordable options for residential proxies on the market. It has over 2 million residential IPs sourced ethically and legally from real users in over 195 countries. This ensures high anonymity and privacy levels and minimal risk of bans.
The service offers precise-geo targeting options, flexible rotation, and sticky sessions that let you keep the same IP address for 1 second up to 7 days. The proxies come with HTTP(S) and SOCKS5 support, unlimited concurrency, and API access, making them a good fit for web scraping, SEO research, and automating all kinds of online tasks.
The best things about IPRoyal’s residential proxy service are the competitive pricing, great bulk discounts, and non-expiring traffic.
#5 MarsProxies
MarsProxies offers SOCKS5 residential proxies at highly competitive prices. Its ethically-sourced proxy pool consists of over 1 million IPs, covering over 190 locations worldwide.
The proxies have 99.99% uptime and allow you to authenticate via IP address or username and password, making them highly reliable and secure. They provide sticky sessions and zero concurrency limits.
Most importantly, the traffic you buy never expires. This is great for anyone who doesn’t know how much residential traffic they need or when they will need it.
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#6 Smartproxy
Smartproxy offers residential proxies in over 195 locations worldwide, with a pool of over 40 million IP addresses. It offers features like city-level targeting, session control, and rotating IPs, making it suitable for a range of web automation tasks.
Its pricing is competitive compared to other providers. This service is a low-cost option for residential IPs. Not a bad choice if you are on a budget, but of course, you know what they say, you get what you pay for.
#7 Oxylabs
Oxylabs offers a residential proxy network of over 100 million IP addresses in more than 195 locations worldwide. It offers advanced features like session control, geolocation targeting, and automatic rotation of IPs, making it suitable for data scraping, market research, and other web automation tasks.
Its pricing is also competitive compared to other providers, but some reviews indicate that this provider may have difficulties with network stability with large-scale projects.
#8 GeoSurf
GeoSurf offers a residential proxy network of over 2 million IP addresses in more than 130 countries worldwide. This residential proxy provider offers advanced features like session control, geolocation targeting, and IP rotation, making it suitable for web automation tasks like data scraping, ad verification, and brand protection.
Its pricing is competitive compared to other providers. There are over 2 million residential IPs in more than 130 countries available on Geosurf, which makes it another good choice for geo-targeted web scraping. The dashboard offers easy-to-use features and advanced features.
Conclusion
All of these providers offer residential proxy networks with advanced features and competitive pricing. An individual's choice of provider ultimately depends on his or her specific needs and budget.
Overall, Bright Data's large residential proxy network, advanced features, high-quality proxies, comprehensive dashboard, and reliable customer support make it a top choice for users who need high-quality proxies for web scraping, ad verification, and other web automation tasks.
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About the Author:
Daniel Segun is the Founder and CEO of SecureBlitz Cybersecurity Media, with a background in Computer Science and Digital Marketing. When not writing, he's probably busy designing graphics or developing websites.
