12 Best & Cheapest Residential Proxies in 2026 (Tested & Ranked)
As AIMultiple’s CTO, I lead data collection from thousands of websites. To find the most reliable residential IP network, we ran benchmarks including a load test with 100,000 parallel requests. Below is our 2026 ranking of the best residential proxy providers, split by budget and performance.
While we analyze 12 providers (both rotating residential proxies and static residential proxies) in detail further down, the table below highlights the top 6 choices that outperformed the rest in speed and success rates.
Residential proxy cost calculator
Enter GBs to compare costs for different residential proxy providers:
The best cheap residential proxies of 2026 (under $5/GB)
Premium residential proxies for large-scale enterprise
Not all residential proxies are equal. While vendors claim similar specs, our 100k request test showed that:
- Bright Data: Although it sits lower on our value-per-dollar chart, it offers the most sophisticated geo-targeting (City/ASN-level) and the most resilient network in the industry.
- Oxylabs: Oxylabs focuses on quality over being the “cheapest.” Their Tier-1 IP pool ensures minimal bans and maximum uptime for corporate users.
Residential price per GB comparison
- Higher lines mean lower prices: The higher the line, the more data (GB) you get for $1.
- Budget kings: As seen above, Apify and Webshare provide the highest data volume per dollar.
- Premium choice: Bright Data and Oxylabs have lower curves, reflecting their premium pricing for enterprise-grade features and IP quality.
Residential proxy benchmark
See the median response times and success rates of residential proxy providers in our benchmark:
- Most stable: As shown in the chart, Bright Data and Oxylabs consistently maintain success rates above 99%, making them ideal for mission-critical scraping.
- Rising star: Decodo shows competitive performance, rivaling the top tier at a lower price point.
How we tested
The graphs above show the success rate performance of various data collection vendors based on automated tests run every 15 minutes. In each run, we accessed randomly selected targets like Google, Bing, and Yandex. A request is marked ‘Successful’ only if the target content loads within 30 seconds.
Detailed review of the top 12 residential proxies
Bright Data’s residential proxies use a default IP rotation setup, and the rotation frequency is per request. If you need more control over IP rotation, Bright Data offers several options for managing it (see IP rotation). There are no bandwidth limitations.
Key features:
- Geo-targeting: Country, city, ASN, and Zip code level targeting.
- Shared and dedicated: You can opt for shared or dedicated residential IP addresses.
- Rotation: Session control (each unique session ID is assigned a unique IP), directing requests to specific IPs (for zones with dedicated residential proxies, specific parameters through a particular IP address), constant IP binding (the same IP is used for the duration of the session).
Pros:
- Bright Data is among the most resilient residential proxy networks.
- The support team provides timely assistance and efficiently resolves issues. We experienced this with AIMultiple accounts, and when we signed up under different domains to test their responsiveness.
Cons:
- As the largest residential proxy provider by employee count, most of its revenue likely comes from enterprises or large startups. As a result, the product is feature-rich. New users need some time to familiarize themselves, and proficiency requires hands-on experience.
Pricing:
- Starting price: $3.50/GB (with monthly plan)
- Free trial: Available
- Pay-as-you-go: $4.00/GB
Bright Data matches first deposits up to $500
Visit WebsiteDecodo (formerly Smartproxy) offers a rotating residential proxy pool with global coverage across countries. ZIP code-level targeting is available only in the US. Decodo’s residential proxies can rotate with every connection request to the target server, and you can also customize the IP rotation settings.
Key features:
- Geo-targeting: Country, city, US states, and zip code-level targeting.
- Dedicated & shared residential IPs
- Rotation: Residential proxies support two session types: sticky sessions (24 hours) and rotating sessions (each new request).
Pros:
- Decodo features an intuitive dashboard and integration tools, including residential solutions such as an anti-detect browser.
- The provider offers granular scaling with their pricing plans. You can buy just 2 GB or 8 GB, without overcommitting.
Cons:
- The free trial may be insufficient; they offer a 3-day free trial with 100 MB of residential proxy traffic.
Pricing:
- Starting price: $2.0/GB (2GB monthly plan)
- Pay-as-you-go: $8.5/GB
- Free trial: 3-day trial with 100MB residential
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Visit WebsiteOxylabs offers shared residential proxies. Residential IPs are assigned based on entry nodes or any parameters you set. Applying granular targeting with residential proxies is free.
Residential proxy servers rotate IP addresses by default with each new request. If you need to keep the same IP for a longer period, there are two options: session ID (up to 10 minutes) or session time (up to 30 minutes).
Key features:
- Geo-targeting: Country, city, and state-level
- IP rotation: Assigns a different residential IP address with each request and allows users to customize the session duration to maintain the same IP (up to 30 minutes).
Pros:
- It is among the best residential proxy networks for large-scale web data collection.
Pricing:
- Starting price: $3.49/GB
- Pay-as-you-go: $4/GB
- Free trial: 7-day free trial
50% discount available with code OXYLABS50
Visit WebsiteWebshare offers limited targeting options and lacks custom rotation features, but it’s friendly for beginners with a simple UI.
Key features:
- Geo-targeting: Country level
- Rotation: For every 5 minutes, you can customize the rotation duration.
Pros:
- Webshare focuses on smaller companies and offers a simpler, user-friendly interface.
Cons:
- Customer support is not accessible 24/7.
- Lacks ASN or ZIP code level targeting options.
- Lacks a flexible pay-as-you-go package.
Pricing:
- Starting price: $3.50/GB (1GB plan)
- Pay-as-you-go: Not listed; plans begin at 1GB
Explore Webshare’s residential proxies with a 50% discount applied to all plans
Visit WebsiteNodeMaven offers residential proxies to small- and medium-sized businesses, marketers, and sneaker bots. NodeMaven’s residential proxy network spans over 150 countries and 1,400 cities, offering country-, city-, and region-level targeting.
They emphasize the quality of their proxies in their claims, which include:
- A proprietary IP quality filter to ensure that users receive only high-quality IPs
- Sticky sessions up to 24 hours
We’ll soon be testing these in an update of our proxy benchmark.
Key features:
- Geo-targeting: Country, region, city, and ISP
- Shared IPs: Shared
- IP rotation: Up to 24-hour sticky sessions, IP rotation for each request
Pros:
- Traffic rollover: Unused traffic rolls over to the next period in subscriptions
- Sticky residential proxies keep the same IP address for up to 24 hours.
Cons:
- NodeMaven offers only a paid trial (500 MB for €3.99), which may be less appealing than competitors’ fully free trials.
Pricing:
- Minimum package price: €6/GB
- Free trial: Paid trial plan for €3.99
DataImpulse’s residential proxies start at $1 per GB, making them among the most affordable options on the market. These proxies allow users to target specific countries, cities, and ASNs, with the flexibility to choose multiple locations or ASNs simultaneously.
For enterprise-level needs, DataImpulse offers a premium residential proxy pool with a dedicated account manager and tailored API endpoints to meet specific use cases.
Key features:
- Geo-targeting: Countries, states, cities, zip codes, or ASNs
- Shared IPs: Shared
- IP rotation: Up to 120 mins, IP rotation for each request
Pricing details:
- Minimum package price: $5 for 5 GB ($1/GB)
- 5GB for $5 to test the service
ProxyScrape provides a shared residential pool that rotates for each connection request. ProxyScrape’s residential proxies support both HTTP(S) and SOCKS5 protocols.
ProxyScrape does not offer a free trial for residential proxies, but you can test the service at a low cost. The proxy provider guarantees a refund if you use less than 1 GB of data and are unsatisfied within 3 days of purchase.
Key features:
- Geo-targeting: Support country, state, and city-level targeting
- Shared IPs: Offers a shared residential proxy pool
- IP rotation: Change with each new connection
Pricing:
- Starting price: $4.10/GB (5GB plan)
- Free trial: Available
NetNut provides shared residential proxies with precise targeting options. The provider offers U.S. city and state-level proxy targeting.
Key features:
- Geo-targeting: Country, city, and state
- Dedicated IP pool: Shared residential proxies
- IP rotation: Every request
You can get started as a business with a 7-day trial.
Cons:
- Experienced increased failure rates during our web data collection load test.
Pricing:
- Starting price: $3.53/GB (starter – 28GB plan)
- Free trial: Available
Nimble offers rotating residential proxies that support different configuration options for IP replacement:
- Replace IP when unavailable: Automatically switches to a new IP if the sticky IP becomes unavailable.
- Select another IP within the same ASN: This replaces the failed IP with another from the same Autonomous System Number (ISP network), keeping the network profile similar.
- Do not replace – Fail request: If the sticky IP becomes unavailable, the system fails the request instead of replacing the IP.
Key features:
- Geo-targeting: Country and state
- Dedicated IPs: Private residential proxies
- IP rotation: Residential proxies that automatically change IP addresses as a default feature, and offer sticky sessions that rotate after 10 minutes without activity.
Pricing:
- Minimum package price: $150/month includes residential proxies and scraping API
- 7-day free trial
IPRoyal offers 32 million rotating residential proxies, with a customizable rotation interval up to 24 hours. It’s important to note that IPRoyal’s proxy pool has a smaller residential proxy plan than leading providers such as Bright Data and Oxylabs.
Key features:
- Geo-targeting: Country, state, and city
- Dedicated & shared IPs
- IP rotation: Automatic proxy rotation every 1, 10, or 30 minutes
Pros:
- The fastest residential proxy is responding according to our response time measurements.
Cons:
- No free trial available, unlike many competing providers.
Pricing:
- Starting price: $12 for 2 GB
- Pay-as-you-go: $6.25/GB
SOAX’s proxy network includes rotating residential, US ISP, mobile, and US datacenter proxies. Residential proxies are available in almost all countries.
Key features:
- Geo-targeting: Offers granular targeting options such as city and ASN (Autonomous System Number) level.
- IP rotation: Provides rotation options ranging from 90 seconds to 600 seconds. You can keep your IP address for a set duration if your IP stays connected online.
Pricing:
- Starting price: $3.60/ GB
- Pay-as-you-go: $4.00/GB
- Free trial: 3-day trial for $1.99
Infatica’s residential proxy network includes 10 million Residential IP addresses compatible with HTTP/SOCKS protocols. You can keep the same IP for 30 minutes before it changes.
Key features:
- Geo-targeting: Country, state, city, and ASN level targeting
- IP rotation: Extend proxy sessions for up to 30 minutes. Multiple proxy rotation options, including scheduled rotation at intervals from 5 to 60 minutes, per-request rotation, and a sticky option.
Cons:
- Infatica does not provide a free trial; instead, it offers a 7-day paid trial for $4.00.
Pricing:
- Starting price: $3.84 / GB
- Pay-as-you-go: $4.00/GB
Rayobyte sources its residential proxy IPs through a proxyware app called Cash Raven. Their residential service covers over 150 countries.
Key Features:
- Targeting Options: Country and city
- IP Pool: The size of Rayobyte’s IP pool has not been disclosed.
- IP Rotation: Rotate on each connection request and support sticky sessions lasting 1-120 minutes.
Pricing:
- Starting price: $3.5 for 1 GB
- Free trial: 50 MB free
ProxyEmpire offers rotating residential IPs in more than 170 countries. Each residential proxy plan includes VIP integration support to help users set up their proxies.
Key features:
- Targeting: Country and city level
Pricing:
- Starting price: $2.85 for 1 GB
- Pay-as-you-go: $3.50 / GB
- Free trial: Paid trial for $1.97
How to buy residential proxies
Before you buy residential proxies, ensure the provider aligns with your specific use case. Follow these three steps to make the right choice:
- Check the rotation options: Ensure the provider offers both sticky sessions and per-request rotation (for high-volume scraping).
- Verify the SOCKS5 support: If you need high speed and UDP support for secure scraping, always prioritize SOCKS5-compatible networks.
- Test the trial first: Never commit to a large monthly plan without testing the pool’s success rate in your target region (US, UK, or Germany).
Too complex? If managing your own residential ip network feels overwhelming, check out our dedicated guide on web scraping APIs for a fully managed solution.
Best SOCKS5 residential proxies for secure scraping
Based on our benchmarks, the top SOCKS5 residential proxies in 2026 are:
Decodo (Best All-Rounder): The data proves Decodo is the “sweet spot,” offering top-tier speeds (sub-2.5ms) and high success rates at a more competitive price point than enterprise giants.
Webshare (Fastest SOCKS5): If low latency is your primary KPI, Webshare’s performance in our response time chart makes it the undisputed leader for high-velocity scraping.
Bright Data & Oxylabs (Best for Scale): These providers are the most reliable for complex SOCKS5 tasks where maintaining a consistent residential IP network connection is more important than raw speed.
Residential proxies vs datacenter proxies
1. IP source:
The source of the IP address is the main difference between residential and datacenter proxies. Residential proxy IPs are assigned by ISPs that belong to real people. (e.g., someone’s phone or computer), whereas datacenter proxies use cloud servers and the data center’s IP pools.
2. Proxy anonymity level:
Unlike residential proxies, datacenter IPs are not associated with an internet service provider. This makes it easier for websites to identify proxy users and block them from accessing the website content.
Residential proxies, unlike datacenter proxies, rotate clients’ IP addresses each time they connect to a website. If you intend to collect a large amount of data, you must constantly rotate your IP address to avoid revealing your actual IP address. Otherwise, the website you’re trying to scrape will suspect your activity and block your IP address to prevent data scraping.
3. Cost:
Residential proxies offer a high level of anonymity and extensive geo-location targeting options. For this reason, the cost of residential proxies is typically higher than that of datacenter proxies.
4. Speed:
Datacenter proxies are faster than residential proxies because their IP addresses are sourced from a remote cloud server. If you need to complete tasks quickly, dedicated datacenter proxies are a good option. Because shared datacenter proxies are overused, they perform more slowly than dedicated ones.
FAQs about residential proxies
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