The Ultimate Guide to Residential Proxy Providers in 2023

Alexandra Murtaza -

In today's digital age, web scraping has become a vital tool for businesses and individuals who rely on web data for their operations. However, scraping websites can lead to being blocked or blacklisted, which can be detrimental to your business. Fortunately, using residential proxies can help overcome these issues.

Residential proxies are a type of proxy server that uses residential IP addresses, meaning they come from real devices and internet service providers. By using a residential proxy server, your web requests will appear genuine and not be flagged as suspicious activity. This makes it much more difficult for websites to detect and block your requests.

The residential proxy market has experienced significant growth in recent years, resulting in a plethora of providers to choose from. However, with so many options available, it can be challenging to find the best residential proxy provider for your specific needs. To help you make a confident buying decision, we've compiled a list of the top 5 residential proxy providers in the market today.

But, firstly, let's see how you can use residential proxy.

Why use Residential Proxy?

Here are 4 reasons why you should use residential proxies:

  1. For Web Scraping: As told you before, residential proxies are commonly used for web scraping, which involves collecting data from sites automatically. Websites often block access from data centers and known IP addresses, so you can use them to help avoid detection and prevent being blocked.

  2. For Ad Verification: If you are an advertiser or publisher, you can use residential proxies to verify the placement and performance of your online ads. Also, you can simulate user behavior from different locations and devices to make sure the ads are displayed correctly.

  3. For geo-restricted content: Some websites restrict access to users based on their location. By using residential proxies, users can appear as if they are accessing the content from a different location and access the restricted content.

  4. For social media management: If you are a social media professional, you can use residential proxies to manage multiple social media accounts from different locations. You can use proxies to simulate user behavior and manage the accounts without being flagged by the social media platform.

Top 5 Residential Proxy Providers

Choosing the right residential proxy provider can make a significant difference in the quality and success of your web scraping tasks. Not all residential proxies are created equal, and the wrong provider could result in:

  • slow speeds,
  • poor-quality proxies,
  • high costs.

Whether you need residential proxies for data gathering, web scraping, or online research, our residential proxy comprehensive guide will help you choose the best provider for your needs.

1. Shifter.io

Shifter.io has been at the forefront of online proxy services since its inception. Their platform offers one of the largest residential proxy networks, making it the go-to choice for operations that require a large volume of unique IPs.

With over 50 million IP addresses available from multiple residential internet service providers, Shifter.io's residential proxy pool covers 195 countries worldwide. Their product can be accessed via backconnect entry nodes, which enable automatic IP rotation based on the IP rotation time provided by the user. This feature, coupled with country-level geo-targeting capabilities, makes Shifter.io an ideal choice for high-intensity scraping jobs.

One of the standout features of Shifter.io is its pricing model. While most residential proxy providers charge based on bandwidth usage, Shifter.io includes bandwidth on all plans and bases its billing model on backconnect proxy ports.

This pricing model provides an excellent price-to-quality ratio, making it a cost-effective solution for intensive scraping projects.

  • Product Features:

Shifter.io offers a robust set of features for its customers, including a proxy pool of over 50 million IPs and support for HTTP/(S) and Socks 5 protocols. With locations in 195 countries and the ability to target specific countries, Shifter.io provides excellent flexibility for its customers. IP rotation can be set between 5 and 60 minutes, and customers have access to a variety of support options, including chat, email, and Skype.

  • Product Performance:

With a large pool size and a success rate of 99%, Shifter.io delivers high-quality performance to its customers. The platform's response time typically ranges from 0.40s to 0.90s, ensuring fast and reliable performance for even the most intensive scraping projects.

  • Pricing and Guarantee:

Starting at just $596.77 for 25 backconnect proxy ports with 1000 GB included, Shifter.io offers a cost-effective solution for those looking for high-quality residential proxies. The company also provides a 3-day money-back guarantee, giving customers the confidence to try the platform risk-free.

  • Bottom Line:

Choose Shifter.io for a reliable, high-performance, and affordable solution for all your web scraping needs.

2. WebScrapingAPI

WebScrapingAPI is the go-to solution for developers looking to build web scrapers without the hassle of managing their own proxies. By handling proxies, browsers, and CAPTCHAs through a simple API call, WebScrapingAPI allows developers to access raw HTML from any website with ease.

With a vast pool of datacenter, residential, and mobile proxies from their own private pools, ScraperAPI is the ultimate proxy management tool. Its intelligent routing system automatically manages rotating IP addresses and throttles requests to avoid IP bans and blocks.

ScraperAPI offers a free trial of its services that includes 5000 API calls, making it an exceptional choice for developers looking for a proxy management solution. With access to free rotating proxies with unlimited bandwidth, it offers a unique selling point that sets it apart from other services like Shifter, BrightData, and Oxylabs.

  • Product Features:

WebScrapingAPI offers a large pool of data center, residential, and mobile IPs, making it an ideal choice for developers looking for a diverse range of options. With support for HTTP/(S) protocols and the ability to target any country in the world for enterprise customers, this proxy API service is highly versatile. Users can opt for rotation with every request or persistent session, providing flexibility for their web scraping needs. Additionally, a ticketing system provides comprehensive support.

  • Product Performance:

The proxy service boasts a very large pool size with a success rate of 99%, ensuring high-quality service. Although the response time is slightly longer due to the usage of real browsers, ranging from 0.60s - 1.5s, this proxy API service remains a top choice for developers.

  • Pricing:

With unlimited bandwidth and a starting price for paid plans of $49 for 100,000 API calls, it offers an affordable solution for users looking for a cost-effective option.

  • Bottom Line:

Choose this proxy service and experience its reliable and versatile approach to proxy management at an affordable price.

3. Smartproxy

Looking for a top-tier backconnect residential proxy service that offers good value? Look no further than Smartproxy. With its high-performance capabilities, affordable pricing, and versatile feature set, Smartproxy is an excellent choice for most web scraping tasks.

One of the standout features of this service is its user-friendly experience, with easy-to-use guides and proxy control tools, as well as great customer support. The service emphasizes self-service, so users can start using it with minimal interaction.

Although Smartproxy offers many benefits, it does have a couple of drawbacks to consider. The service does not support SOCKS5 and has limited targeting options, such as no carrier or ASN targeting. However, the wealth of features and user-friendly approach to proxy management make it a great choice for most developers.

  • Product Features:

This proxy service offers a massive monthly pool of 40 million IPs with support for HTTP(S) protocols, making it an ideal choice for developers in need of a diverse range of proxy options. With 195 locations available, including country, state, and city targeting, users have comprehensive targeting capabilities for their web scraping tasks. The proxy service offers flexible rotation options, including every request, 10 minutes, and 30 minutes. Additionally, users can access 24/7 support via chat or email, and take advantage of extras like the API, browser extension, anti-detect browser, and extensive documentation.

  • Product Performance:

With a factual pool size labeled as large, this proxy service boasts a 98.37% success rate, ensuring high-quality and reliable performance. The response time is also impressive, with a speedy 0.61 seconds response time.

  • Pricing:

This proxy service offers a range of pricing options, starting from $12.5 for 1GB. Users can take advantage of the 3-day refund policy to try out the service before committing to a subscription.

  • Bottom Line:

Choose this proxy service and experience its high-performing and reliable approach to web scraping at a market price point.

4. Oxylabs

For businesses in need of premium residential proxies, Oxylabs is a reliable choice. They offer comprehensive global coverage, with proxies available in all countries and most cities, and users can even target specific ASNs. The proxies are highly performant, stable, and can be easily scaled to accommodate increased usage. With a dedicated account manager and expert advice, you can optimize your web scraping success.

While Oxylabs is a reliable and high-quality option for businesses, it may not be the best choice for beginners or individual users. Additionally, its pricing may be higher compared to some other proxy options. Despite these drawbacks, Oxylabs offers excellent performance and customer support for those in need of premium residential proxies.

  • Product Features:

This provider offers a vast pool of over 100 million monthly IPs for users to choose from. HTTP(S) protocols are available, and users can target every country, thousands of cities, and specific ASNs. The provider offers both per-request rotation and sticky sessions lasting up to 30 minutes, and support is available 24/7 via live chat. Users also have access to a dedicated account manager for additional assistance, as well as an API, browser extension, and extensive documentation.

  • Product Performance:

In terms of performance, this provider boasts a very large pool size with an impressive 99.57% success rate and a response time of 0.86 seconds. These features make it an ideal choice for users who need reliable and high-quality proxies for their projects.

  • Pricing:

Pricing for this provider starts at $15 for 1 GB. The provider offers a 7-day free trial for businesses and a 3-day refund for individuals, allowing users to try out the service before committing to a plan.

  • Bottom Line:

With its extensive features and reliable performance, this provider is a solid choice for businesses and individuals looking for high-quality proxies.

5. Bright Data

Bright Data, formerly known as Luminati, boasts a large proxy pool of rotating residential IPs worldwide, making it the largest proxy provider in the market. The proxy pool provides many features and even allows targeting by ASN. Bright Data’s performance is exceptional when provider limits are not imposed. It includes powerful proxy control tools, including its open source proxy manager. You can choose between subscribing to a pricing plan or pay-as-you-go.

Bright Data is a business-oriented proxy provider, similar to Oxylabs. It may not be the best option for beginners because the service can be complex to use, and the pricing structure can be somewhat confusing. Additionally, it has a strict KYC process that may exclude certain gray hat use cases.

  • Product Features:

With over 72 million monthly IPs and available in every country and city, the proxy pool of this provider is vast. The product provides HTTP(S), SOCKS5 protocols, and allows users to target specific carriers and ASN. It has rotation capabilities and customizable sticky sessions. The service offers 24/7 support via live chat, tickets, and dedicated account manager. Extras include API, browser extension, Proxy Manager, and extensive documentation.

  • Product Performance:

The provider has a large pool size and a 99.47% success rate, and the response time is 1.08s. Users can expect top-notch performance while using this product.

  • Pricing:

The pricing starts from $15 for 1 GB, with a 7-day free trial available for businesses and a 3-day refund for individuals.

  • Bottom Line:

In conclusion, Bright Data is a leading proxy provider in the market with a vast pool of rotating residential IPs worldwide, ideal for businesses that require a high volume of unique IPs. If you want to know what others think after trying this proxy provider, read BrightData Reviews on Tekpon.

Final Thoughts

The use of residential proxies has become very important for web scraping, ad verification, accessing geo-restricted content, and social media management. Residential proxies help avoid detection and prevent being blocked, allowing businesses and individuals to collect web data without issues.

There are many residential proxy providers in the market - to choose the best provider, factors such as speed, quality, and cost should be considered.