An In-Depth Look at Smartproxy's Web Scraping Solutions [2024]

Every online activity, from clicks to searches, leaves a trail of valuable information, turning into precious resources for enterprises. Having a powerful web scraping tool to extract this data is crucial. However, choosing the right solution for your data extraction needs makes all the difference. Smartproxy stands out as a formidable player in the web scraping landscape. The provider offers proxies and web scraping tools for businesses and individuals. 

This article delves deep into the offerings of Smartproxy, exploring its capabilities, strengths in the ever-changing world of web scraping.

Smartproxy overview

Smartproxy is a web data collection platform that offers a wide range of proxy servers and data scraping services. The proxy provider caters to different audiences, from individual users to large enterprises with extensive IP pool (65M+) and geographical coverage (195+).  

Smartproxy offers premium features like Bright Data and Oxylabs at competitive prices since 2018. This approach ensures that small-scale users can find suitable options without overstepping their budgets. 

Features and capabilities

Smartproxy proxy network 

Smartproxy offers various proxy servers that are compatible with major web scraping tools and browsers. Smartproxy’s proxy network includes: 

1. Residential proxies: 55M+ residential proxy pool with <0.5s response time, and unlimited connections. Residential IPs allow users to route their requests through IP addresses from cities, states and zip codes. Smartproxy’s pricing for residential proxies start at $4/GB. Residential proxies support both HTTP(S) and SOCKS5 protocols to ensure compatibility with different tools and applications. SOCKS5 protocol support makes proxies suitable for non-web traffic such as streaming applications and P2P file-sharing networks.  Some tasks require a consistent IP to login and navigate a website. Advanced proxy rotation algorithm allows you to change IPs per connection request or maintain a consistent IP for up to 30 minutes. 

2. Datacenter proxies: 100K shared datacenter IP addresses from the US and Europe, and 400K US private datacenter proxies.  Unlike residential proxies, which originate from consumer devices, datacenter proxies come from cloud data centers. This makes them faster and more stable than residential proxies.  Smartproxy offers IP randomization to help users rotate IP addresses based on their preferences. Instead of sticking with a single IP for all connection requests, you can rotate datacenter IPs with every request or after a fixed duration. Dedicated datacenter IPs allow users to reduce the risk of getting banned due to the actions of others. Dedicated datacenter proxies start from $7.5/month, including 3 IPs.

3. Mobile proxies: 10M 3G/4G/5G mobile proxies with HTTP(s) and SOCKS5 support. Mobile IPs are sourced from 700+ carriers, reducing the likelihood of overlapping usage and bans. Smartproxy offers OS (Operating System) filtering by iOS & Android. This allows users to select proxies that originate from mobile devices running on either the iOS or Android operating systems. You can choose and use proxies from specific cities within the target country. Mobile proxies start from $13/GB.
4. ISP proxies: Offers user-controlled rotation features, enabling users to change the IP address at predetermined intervals.  ISP proxies start from $6.5/GB. 

Smartproxy scrapers 

In the dynamic landscape of the web scraping industry, Smartproxy emerges as one of the most promising vendors, offering a variety of specialized scrapers. 

No-code scraper

No-code scraping tool is designed to extract data from web sources without requiring the user to write a single line of code. It relies on graphical elements and  the click-and-collect actions to help users navigate and locate the desired data codelessly.  

No-code scraper allows users to extract data from dynamic websites that use client-side scripting techniques such as JavaScript and AJAX. Dynamic sites usually employ anti-scraping measures. Smartproxy supports automatic proxy rotation with their scraper to avoid IP bans and bypass rate limits. You can get the scraped data in JSON or CSV formats.

Web scraping APIs

Smartproxy’s scraping APIs combine proxies, a web scraper, and, in some cases, a data parser to ensure data is not only fetched but is also immediately usable. Users are only billed for successful data retrieval with Smartproxy’s SERP, eCommerce, Web Scraping, and Social Media Scraping APIs. Scraping  API solutions deliver the extracted data in JSON or raw HTML formats, allowing users to choose based on their specific need. 

• Web scraping API: Handles JavaScript rendering  to load and display content dynamically. You can fetch data on-demand and extract data from static and dynamic websites.  Web scraping API fetches the raw HTML content from the target website without transforming or structuring it. Getting the raw HTML provides a level of flexibility, allowing users to choose their own tools or methods to gather the specific data they need from the raw HTML.
• Social media scraping API: Obtains publicly available data points from social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. The API returns data  in raw HTML or parsed JSON formats. Smartproxy allows users to make synchronous and asynchronous requests depending on the application’s requirements.  When you send a synchronous request, the API waits until the operation finishes before proceeding to the next one. Asynchronous operation enables users to send connection requests concurrently. Social media scraping API has built-in proxy rotation to avoid IP bans or restrictions. Social media platforms deploy anti-bot measures to prevent automated tools from extracting data. The API integrates browser fingerprints to emulate different browser environments. This approach allows users to make the requests appear as if they come from legitimate users with different devices.

• SERP scraping API: Gathers data from major search engines like Google or Bing, and delivers the gathered data in raw HTML or in parsed JSON formats. 
• eCommerce scraping API: Both SERP scraping and eCommerce APIs are full-stack solutions, combining proxies, a web scraper, and a data parser to help users efficiently and effectively extract data from the web. The API offers two modes: real-time and proxy-like.  A real-time API integration provides instant access and the most up-to-date information available. In a proxy-like API integration, the API acts as an intermediary and the requests are routed through the API. 

Pricing 

Smartproxy offers pay as you go (for mobile and residential proxies) and subscription pricing models. Per-GB pricing model allows users to estimate their costs based on their anticipated data usage. 

• Offers custom trials for  residential, datacenter, and dedicated datacenter proxies (exclusive to company registrations)
• One-month free trial with 3,000 requests for both Scraping APIs and a No-Code Scraper 
• A 14-day money-back guarantee is available for both proxies and scraping services

Transparency statement

AIMultiple serves numerous emerging tech companies, including Smartproxy.

Further reading

• Top 7 Proxy Providers: Pricing & Features Compared
• Comparing the Best Enterprise Proxy Servers

For guidance to choose the right residential proxy service, check out data-driven list of proxy providers, and reach out to us: