Proxy Pricing Comparison 2026: Every Provider Ranked
Proxy pricing varies dramatically across providers, proxy types, and billing models. A single gigabyte of residential proxy traffic can cost anywhere from $1 to $25 depending on the provider and plan. This comprehensive comparison ranks every major proxy provider by price, value, and features to help you find the best deal for your use case.
Quick Pricing Summary
| Proxy Type | Price Range | Avg Price | Best For |
|---|
| Datacenter (Shared) | $0.50-$3/GB | $1.20/GB | High-volume, low-sensitivity |
| Datacenter (Dedicated) | $1-$5/IP/month | $2.50/IP | Static sessions, accounts |
| Residential (Rotating) | $1-$15/GB | $5.50/GB | Web scraping, general use |
| Residential (Static/ISP) | $2-$8/IP/month | $4/IP | Long sessions, accounts |
| Mobile (4G/5G) | $3-$50/GB | $18/GB | Social media, high trust |
| Scraping API | $1-$10/1K requests | $3.50/1K | Managed scraping |
Residential Proxy Pricing Comparison
Pay-Per-GB Plans
| Provider | Starter Price | Mid-Tier | Enterprise | IP Pool Size | Free Trial |
|---|
| Bright Data | $8.40/GB | $6.80/GB | Custom | 72M+ | Yes (free) |
| Oxylabs | $8.00/GB | $6.00/GB | Custom | 100M+ | 7-day trial |
| Smartproxy | $4.20/GB | $3.60/GB | Custom | 55M+ | 3-day refund |
| SOAX | $3.99/GB | $3.30/GB | Custom | 155M+ | $1.99 trial |
| IPRoyal | $1.75/GB | $1.50/GB | Custom | 32M+ | No |
| Webshare | $2.50/GB | $2.00/GB | Custom | 30M+ | 1GB free |
| NetNut | $6.00/GB | $4.50/GB | Custom | 52M+ | 7-day trial |
| PacketStream | $1.00/GB | $1.00/GB | $1.00/GB | 7M+ | No |
| Shifter | $5.00/GB | $4.00/GB | Custom | 30M+ | No |
| Storm Proxies | $3.50/GB | $2.80/GB | Custom | 2M+ | No |
Monthly Subscription Plans
| Provider | Basic Plan | Price/Month | GB Included | Extra GB Cost |
|---|
| Smartproxy | Pay As You Go | $12.50 | 1GB | $12.50/GB |
| Smartproxy | Micro | $30 | 2GB | $12/GB |
| Bright Data | Pay As You Go | $8.40/GB | — | $8.40/GB |
| Oxylabs | Micro | $49 | 1GB | $8/GB |
| SOAX | Starter | $99 | 3GB | $3.99/GB |
| IPRoyal | Pay As You Go | $1.75/GB | — | $1.75/GB |
| Webshare | Free | $0 | 1GB | $2.50/GB |
| NetNut | Starter | $300 | 20GB | $6/GB |
Shared Datacenter Proxies
| Provider | Monthly Price | IPs Included | Extra IP Cost | Bandwidth |
|---|
| Webshare | $5.49/mo | 10 IPs | $0.55/IP | Unlimited |
| Bright Data | $0.066/IP/day | Pay per use | Same | Per GB |
| IPRoyal | $1.39/proxy | Per proxy | $1.39 | Unlimited |
| Smartproxy | $1.30/GB | Per GB | Same | Per GB |
| Proxy-Seller | $0.98/proxy | Per proxy | Same | Unlimited |
| Storm Proxies | $50/mo | 10 ports | $5/port | Unlimited |
Dedicated Datacenter Proxies
| Provider | Per IP/Month | Minimum Order | Bandwidth | Locations |
|---|
| Bright Data | $0.90/IP | 20 IPs | Unlimited | 95+ countries |
| Smartproxy | $2.20/IP | 3 IPs | Unlimited | 35+ locations |
| Oxylabs | $1.80/IP | 100 IPs | Unlimited | 86+ locations |
| Proxy-Seller | $1.50/IP | 1 IP | Unlimited | 20+ countries |
| Webshare | $3.18/IP | 10 IPs | Unlimited | 10+ countries |
| MyPrivateProxy | $2.49/IP | 1 IP | Unlimited | 8 US cities |
| BuyProxies | $2.00/IP | 5 IPs | Unlimited | 15+ locations |
Mobile Proxy Pricing Comparison
| Provider | Price Model | Starting Price | Speed | Locations |
|---|
| Bright Data | Per GB | $24/GB | 4G/5G | 130+ countries |
| Oxylabs | Per GB | $18/GB | 4G/5G | 100+ countries |
| Smartproxy | Per GB | $8.50/GB | 4G | 130+ countries |
| SOAX | Per GB | $5.50/GB | 4G/5G | 120+ countries |
| IPRoyal | Per GB | $6.00/GB | 4G | 35+ countries |
| NetNut | Per GB | $12/GB | 4G/5G | 50+ countries |
| Proxy-IPv4 | Per IP | $85/IP/month | 4G | 15+ countries |
| AirProxy | Per IP | $99/IP/month | 4G/5G | Italy-focused |
| ProxyLTE | Per IP | $75/IP/month | 4G | US-focused |
Mobile Proxy Cost Analysis
For 100GB monthly usage:
| Provider | Monthly Cost | Cost/GB | Best For |
|---|
| SOAX | $550 | $5.50 | Budget mobile scraping |
| IPRoyal | $600 | $6.00 | Affordable mobile |
| Smartproxy | $850 | $8.50 | Balanced price/quality |
| NetNut | $1,200 | $12.00 | Enterprise reliability |
| Oxylabs | $1,800 | $18.00 | Premium enterprise |
| Bright Data | $2,400 | $24.00 | Maximum pool size |
ISP (Static Residential) Proxy Pricing
| Provider | Per IP/Month | Pool Size | Speed | Locations |
|---|
| Bright Data | $5.00/IP | 1.6M+ | Fast | 25+ countries |
| Oxylabs | $3.50/IP | 500K+ | Fast | 28+ countries |
| Smartproxy | $2.40/IP | 400K+ | Fast | 8+ countries |
| NetNut | $2.00/IP | 1M+ | Fast | 50+ countries |
| IPRoyal | $1.75/IP | 100K+ | Fast | 10+ countries |
| SOAX | $3.00/IP | 200K+ | Fast | 15+ countries |
Scraping API Pricing Comparison
| Provider | Price/1K Requests | Success Rate | JS Rendering | Free Tier |
|---|
| Bright Data (SERP API) | $2.70 | 99.9% | Yes | 100 free |
| ScraperAPI | $2.50 | 99% | Yes | 5K free/mo |
| Oxylabs (Web Scraper) | $3.00 | 99.7% | Yes | 5K free |
| ScrapingBee | $3.30 | 99% | Yes | 1K free |
| Zyte (Smart Proxy) | $2.80 | 99% | Yes | 500 free |
| Apify | $2.50 | 98% | Yes | $5/mo free |
| Crawlbase | $1.30 | 98% | Yes | 1K free |
| Zenrows | $2.90 | 98.5% | Yes | 1K free |
Cost Comparison by Use Case
E-Commerce Price Monitoring (1M products/day)
| Solution | Est. Monthly Cost | Success Rate |
|---|
| DIY + Datacenter Proxies | $800-$1,500 | 70-80% |
| DIY + Residential Proxies | $2,000-$5,000 | 92-98% |
| DIY + Mobile Proxies | $5,000-$12,000 | 96-99% |
| Scraping API | $3,000-$8,000 | 98-99% |
| Data-as-a-Service | $5,000-$15,000 | 99%+ |
Social Media Monitoring (100K profiles/day)
| Solution | Est. Monthly Cost | Success Rate |
|---|
| DIY + Residential | $1,500-$3,000 | 85-92% |
| DIY + Mobile | $3,000-$8,000 | 95-99% |
| Social Media API (official) | $500-$5,000 | 100% (limited) |
| Scraping API | $2,000-$5,000 | 90-96% |
SERP Tracking (50K keywords/day)
| Solution | Est. Monthly Cost | Success Rate |
|---|
| DIY + Datacenter | $200-$500 | 60-75% |
| DIY + Residential | $500-$1,500 | 90-95% |
| SERP API | $400-$1,200 | 98-99% |
| SEO Tool (Ahrefs, SEMrush) | $100-$500 | 99% |
Value Rankings: Best Price-to-Performance
Best Overall Value
| Rank | Provider | Why |
|---|
| 1 | Smartproxy | Best balance of price ($4.20/GB), pool size (55M), and features |
| 2 | IPRoyal | Lowest residential price ($1.75/GB) with decent pool |
| 3 | SOAX | Affordable mobile proxies ($5.50/GB) with 155M pool |
| 4 | Bright Data | Most features and largest network, premium pricing |
| 5 | Oxylabs | Enterprise-grade with comprehensive tools |
Best Budget Options
| Category | Provider | Price |
|---|
| Cheapest Residential | PacketStream | $1.00/GB |
| Cheapest Datacenter | Webshare | $0.55/IP (10 free) |
| Cheapest Mobile | SOAX | $5.50/GB |
| Cheapest ISP | IPRoyal | $1.75/IP |
| Cheapest Scraping API | Crawlbase | $1.30/1K requests |
Best Enterprise Options
| Category | Provider | Why |
|---|
| Largest IP Pool | SOAX/Oxylabs | 100M-155M+ IPs |
| Most Features | Bright Data | Full data platform |
| Best Support | Oxylabs | Dedicated account managers |
| Best Compliance | Bright Data | KYC, ethical sourcing |
| Best API | Oxylabs/Zyte | Developer-friendly tools |
Hidden Costs to Watch For
| Hidden Cost | Providers Affected | Impact |
|---|
| Minimum commitment | Most enterprise plans | $300-$5,000 minimum |
| Bandwidth overage | Pay-per-GB plans | 10-50% price increase |
| Failed request billing | Some providers | Charged for 403/timeout |
| Session time limits | Some rotating plans | Forced reconnection |
| Geo-targeting surcharge | 3-4 providers | 20-50% premium |
| API access tier | Several providers | Extra $50-200/mo |
| Concurrent limit | Most plans | Throttling or upgrade |
FAQ
What is the cheapest residential proxy?
PacketStream offers the cheapest residential proxies at $1.00/GB, though with a smaller IP pool (7M). For better balance of price and quality, IPRoyal at $1.75/GB with 32M IPs is recommended.
How much should I budget for web scraping proxies?
For a typical web scraping project, budget $500-$5,000/month for residential proxies depending on volume. Small projects (under 50GB/month) can use budget providers at $1-3/GB. Enterprise operations typically spend $5,000-$50,000/month.
Are expensive proxies worth it?
Premium proxies from providers like Bright Data and Oxylabs offer higher success rates (98-99% vs 85-92%), larger IP pools, better support, and compliance features. For mission-critical data collection, the higher cost is typically justified by the 30-40% higher success rate and reduced development time.
Should I use proxies or a scraping API?
Use proxies if you need full control, have engineering resources, and want to optimize costs at scale. Use a scraping API if you want a managed solution, need JavaScript rendering, and prefer paying per successful request. Scraping APIs typically cost 2-3x more but save significant development time.
How do I avoid overpaying for proxies?
- Start with a free trial to test success rates before committing
- Calculate your actual GB usage before choosing a plan
- Consider annual plans for 20-40% discounts
- Match proxy type to your use case (don’t use mobile for SERP tracking)
- Monitor failed request billing policies
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Prices verified as of early 2026. Pricing changes frequently; check provider websites for current rates. Some providers offer custom enterprise pricing not reflected here.
Internal links: Residential Proxy Pricing Guide | Mobile Proxy Pricing Guide | Proxy Cost Calculator