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Webshare Evaluation & Top 9 Alternatives in 2024

Businesses rely on proxy services as a navigational tool in conducting market research, competitive analysis, or analyze online presence. Webshare emerges as a notable provider offering a spectrum of proxy solutions to cater to varied user needs. However, certain downsides as expressed in user reviews could lead businesses to consider other options.

This article provides a thorough evaluation of Webshare’s offerings, underscoring its key features, advantages, and drawbacks. Additionally, we list the top alternative proxy providers to Webshare, aiming to assist businesses in finding a proxy solution that aligns well with their requirements.

Top 9 alternative proxy providers to Webshare

VendorsReviewsRatings*Employee sizeResidential starting price/GB/mo**Free trialPAYGProxy types*****
Webshare5164.8/58$73
Bright Data8264.7/5828$6.34
Smartproxy1,0394.6/5125$7✅****4
OxyLabs4444.7/5327$94
ASocks5454.9/5Not provided$34
Infatica594.7/512N/A✖️3
IPRoyal1,0204.3/548$7✅***4
NetNut584.6/556$5✖️4
ProxyRack2244.3/5Not providedN/A✖️3
SOAX1704.7/564N/A✖️✖️3

Check out Webshare alternatives deep dive for top providers , such as Bright Data, SmartProxy  and IPRoyal.

The list is sorted alphabetically with the exception of the products of the article’s sponsors which are linked to sponsor websites.

Number of reviews are based on the total reviews on software review platforms and services such as G2 and Capterra.

* Based on the average ratings on Trustpilot, G2 and Capterra.

** Prices are based on the smallest package and can accelerate when new features added.

*** IPRoyal and Bright Data offer a free trial only for company registrations.

**** SmartProxy offers pay as you go feature only for residential and mobile proxies.

Note: Webshare, unlike larger proxy services, is not reviewed on B2B review platforms as of November 2023. Therefore, we relied on their reviews on a B2C review platforms (i.e. Trustpilot).

*****Explained table features

Proxy types offered by vendors

Webshare: Residential, Datacenter, ISP

Bright Data: Residential, Mobile, Datacenter, ISP

Smartproxy: Residential, Mobile, Datacenter, ISP

Oxylabs: Residential, Mobile, Datacenter

NetNut: Static Residential, Rotating Residential, Mobile, Datacenter

ASocks: Residential, Mobile, Datacenter, ISP

Infatica: Residential, Mobile, Datacenter

IPRoyal: Static Residential, Rotating Residential, Datacenter, and Mobile 

ProxyRack: Rotating Residential, Mobile, Datacenter

SOAX:  Residential, Mobile and Datacenter

To learn more, check out our in-depth guide on different proxy types.

Vendor selection criteria

As there are various vendors providing proxy services in the market, we used transparent criteria to ensure objective evaluation of the proxy itself. Our focus was on metrics that are both public and can be easily validated either through the proxy vendors’ official websites or trusted third-party platforms. Thus, we centered our focus on companies with:

  • 50+ reviews on B2B software review platforms such as Trustpilot, G2 and Capterra. 
  • At least 4.3 out of 5 star ratings

Webshare’s proxy services evaluation

Webshare is a proxy service provider offering a variety of proxy solutions including datacenter and residential proxies. It provides a user-friendly interface and a well-documented RESTful API, which supports backward compatibility to ensure seamless integration with various applications.

Key features

  • Webshare offers freemium datacenter proxies and free shared proxies up to 1GB/month, allowing users to access certain services for free​.
  • Provides 10 free private proxies for all their customers to test and utilize the services
  • Proxy servers are available from 50+ countries.
  • Offers counter detection methods including DNS leaks, TCP fingerprints, and open port scans.
  • The proxies provided come with two-way authentication ensuring a secure connection
  • Webshare’s API adheres to the principles of Representational State Transfer (REST) architecture, ensuring a consistent and predictable structure for developers. It is designed to provide resource-oriented URLs, accept JSON-encoded request bodies, return JSON-encoded responses, and utilize standard HTTP response codes, authentication methods, and verbs.
  • The API allows for the retrieval of proxy lists in two modes: direct and backbone, each having a slightly different data structure but retaining the same proxy data. This might be useful in scenarios where data sharing or management is required.

Note: Unlike other proxy providers, Webshare proxy servers have fewer reviews on B2B platforms, which led us to rely on B2C software review platforms to list the product’s pros and cons.

Webshare Proxy Servers pricing & packages overview

Proxy TypesIP PoolSmallest package/monthLargest package/month
Datacenter100K+$2.99/100 proxy$1794/100,000 proxy
ISP100K+$6/20 proxy$2250/10,000 proxy
Residential30M+$7/GB$4500/1,000 GB

Pros

  • Users state that Webshare’s proxy services are affordable.1
  • Users value the user-friendly and customizable dashboard interface provided by Webshare, as well as its detailed documentation (see figure below).

Source: G22

  • Users commend the stability of proxies and value the flexibility in selecting subnets and countries (see figure below).

Source: G23

Cons

  • Users complain about the technical support which is accessible only via email, which can be problematic when immediate assistance is required.4
  • Customers have expressed dissatisfaction with Webshare’s refund policies, citing that they are charged for unused days (see figure below).

Source: TrustPilot5

  • Customers caution that a significant portion (80%) of the proxies are blacklisted, hindering operational effectiveness, and note that most of the proxies are not residential (see figure below).

Source: TrustPilot6

  • Some customers report that the quality of their proxies is poor (see figure below).

Source: TrustPilot7

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

Find the Right Vendors
Access Cem's 2 decades of B2B tech experience as a tech consultant, enterprise leader, startup entrepreneur & industry analyst. Leverage insights informing top Fortune 500 every month.
Cem Dilmegani
Principal Analyst
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Cem Dilmegani
Principal Analyst

Cem has been the principal analyst at AIMultiple since 2017. AIMultiple informs hundreds of thousands of businesses (as per similarWeb) including 60% of Fortune 500 every month.

Cem's work has been cited by leading global publications including Business Insider, Forbes, Washington Post, global firms like Deloitte, HPE, NGOs like World Economic Forum and supranational organizations like European Commission. You can see more reputable companies and media that referenced AIMultiple.

Throughout his career, Cem served as a tech consultant, tech buyer and tech entrepreneur. He advised businesses on their enterprise software, automation, cloud, AI / ML and other technology related decisions at McKinsey & Company and Altman Solon for more than a decade. He also published a McKinsey report on digitalization.

He led technology strategy and procurement of a telco while reporting to the CEO. He has also led commercial growth of deep tech company Hypatos that reached a 7 digit annual recurring revenue and a 9 digit valuation from 0 within 2 years. Cem's work in Hypatos was covered by leading technology publications like TechCrunch and Business Insider.

Cem regularly speaks at international technology conferences. He graduated from Bogazici University as a computer engineer and holds an MBA from Columbia Business School.

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