Decodo vs IPRoyal Proxy Comparison for Web Scraping and Automation

Choosing a proxy provider can feel overwhelming. There are countless services out there, all claiming fast speeds, strong reliability, and fair pricing. Yet, a few names keep coming up again and again in real user discussions. Among them, Decodo (formerly Smartproxy) and IPRoyal stand out as two popular mid-market options.

While both companies are based in Lithuania and offer similar proxy types, their approaches, strengths, and ideal users differ. One focuses on scale, automation, and performance, while the other emphasizes flexibility and low-commitment usage.

In this comparison, we’ll break things down in plain language. We’ll look at pricing, performance, features, and overall value—so you can clearly decide which provider makes the most sense for your specific needs.

Whether you need affordable residential proxies for large-scale data collection, sneaker copping, or social media management, this guide covers real-world performance benchmarks, API integration, session control, and proxy rotation to help you pick the best provider for your budget and use case in 2026.

Company Background and Evolution

Decodo

Decodo is a modern proxy and web data platform built for people who need fast, reliable access to online data. The company started in 2018 and quickly became popular for offering high-quality proxies at affordable prices. It was previously known as Smartproxy and rebranded to Decodo as part of its expansion into scraping and automation tools. It serves freelancers, developers, small businesses, and large teams that need secure, scalable data access.

Decodo provides several proxy types, including residential, mobile, datacenter, and static residential IPs. These proxies help users bypass geo-blocks, avoid CAPTCHAs, and collect public web data safely. In addition to proxies, Decodo offers scraping APIs and AI-ready tools that simplify data collection without complex setup. Users can integrate the platform with automation tools and AI workflows, enabling research, SEO monitoring, price tracking, and AI model training.

One of Decodo’s biggest strengths is ease of use. The dashboard is beginner-friendly, onboarding is quick, and detailed documentation helps users get started quickly. The company is also known for responsive 24/7 customer support. Decodo focuses on balancing performance, features, and price, making it a strong choice for anyone who needs dependable proxies and scraping solutions without enterprise-level complexity.

IPRoyal

IPRoyal is a mid-market proxy provider designed for individuals, small businesses, and growing teams that need affordable access to global IP networks. Founded in 2020 and based in Lithuania, the company focuses on flexibility, simple onboarding, and low commitment pricing. Its goal is to make proxy infrastructure accessible without requiring large enterprise contracts.

IPRoyal offers all major proxy types, including residential, mobile, ISP, and datacenter proxies. These networks support common tasks such as web scraping, SEO tracking, social media management, automation, and market research. One of the provider’s main strengths is pricing flexibility. Users can buy small amounts of traffic, rent single IPs, or choose non-expiring bandwidth plans, which helps control costs for testing and short projects.

The platform includes a clean dashboard, API access, and detailed documentation, making setup straightforward even for beginners. Security features such as account controls and optional identity verification are built in to protect the network. Customer support is available 24/7 through chat and email, which adds reliability for active users.

Proxy Network Comparison

Both providers offer all four major proxy types: residential, datacenter, ISP (static residential), and mobile proxies. However, the scale and characteristics of these networks differ significantly.

Residential Proxies

Decodo boasts a massive residential proxy pool of 115 million IPs, covering 195+ countries. The network combines proxies from various carefully vetted sources, though the company doesn’t disclose extensive details about its sourcing methodology. Decodo offers state-, country-, city-, and ASN-level targeting, providing granular control over your proxy selection.

IPRoyal operates a smaller but growing residential network of approximately 32 million IPs. The key differentiator here is sourcing: IPRoyal’s residential proxies come entirely from its proprietary Pawns.app, ensuring ethical sourcing through transparent user agreements. This gives IPRoyal a moral advantage, though the smaller pool size may limit large-scale operations.

The catch with IPRoyal is that without KYC verification, you only get access to 40% of the pool, and various high-value targets (LinkedIn, banks, government websites) remain blocked. This restriction doesn’t apply to Decodo’s service in the same way.

Datacenter Proxies

Decodo offers datacenter proxies from around 15 countries in shared, dedicated, and pool-based formats. These are designed for speed-critical applications and come with the reliability expected from a mature provider.

IPRoyal provides datacenter proxies across 60+ locations, giving it a wider geographic footprint. The proxies come in dedicated lists, and the provider has historically targeted specific niches like sneakerheads with specialized endpoints for stores like Nike.

ISP Proxies

Both providers offer ISP proxies (static residential), which combine the speed of datacenter proxies with the legitimacy of residential IPs.

Decodo positions these as very similar to datacenter proxies, offering them across multiple countries with reliable performance.

IPRoyal provides ISP proxies in over 30 countries, also in dedicated list formats. Pricing starts competitively at $2.00 per proxy.

Mobile Proxies

Decodo offers mobile proxies from real smartphones connected to 3G/4G/5G carrier networks worldwide, starting at $2.25/GB. These are genuine mobile IPs that provide authentic mobile traffic footprints.

IPRoyal provides mobile proxies based on dedicated dongles in over 15 countries, starting at $10.11/day (approximately 4.5 million IPs). The dongle-based approach offers stability for long-session use cases.

Pricing and Value Proposition

Pricing is where these providers reveal their different philosophies.

Decodo’s Pricing Strategy

Decodo has positioned itself firmly in the mid-market segment with competitive but not bottom-barrel pricing:

• Residential proxies: from $2/GB
• Static residential (ISP): from $3.3/IP
• Mobile proxies: from $3.75/GB
• Datacenter proxies: from $0.6/GB
• Site Unblocker: from $10/GB

The company also offers various web scraping APIs:

• Core Scraping API: from $0.88/1,000 requests
• Advanced Scraping API: from $0.95/1,000 requests

Decodo frequently runs promotions, currently offering 67% off residential proxies with the code “NOIDEA67.” Free trials are available for most products, allowing potential customers to test before committing.

IPRoyal’s Pricing Strategy

IPRoyal’s pricing has evolved from ultra-budget to mid-market:

• Residential proxies: from $7/GB
• ISP proxies: from $1.80/proxy
• Datacenter proxies: from $1.57/proxy
• Mobile proxies: from $10.11/day
• AI Web Unblocker: from $1.00/1,000 requests

A significant advantage of IPRoyal is its non-expiring traffic model. Once you purchase bandwidth, it doesn’t disappear at the end of the month – a feature that particularly benefits sporadic users or those with unpredictable usage patterns.

IPRoyal also offers a 30% discount with the code “PROXYWAY30” and provides 24-hour refunds for some products.

Performance and Reliability

Success Rates and Uptime

Decodo advertises 99.99% uptime and an average speed of 0.2 seconds. The company has built a reputation for reliable, performant proxies that can handle demanding scraping operations. Users consistently report strong success rates against most targets.

IPRoyal’s case study mentions achieving “a success rate of over 95%” across tens of thousands of websites, representing a substantial improvement over an 80% baseline. The company promises 99.9% uptime with built-in redundancy and zero third-party dependencies.

Both providers offer enterprise-grade reliability, though Decodo’s longer track record and larger infrastructure give it a slight edge in proven stability.

Target Access and Blocks

Decodo applies KYC only in limited cases. Verification is required when users want to access sensitive targets such as business platforms, streaming services, or email providers. Without KYC, most websites and general web access remain available.

IPRoyal follows a stricter KYC policy. If users do not complete verification, residential proxy access is heavily limited. Only a part of the proxy pool is available, and many important websites are blocked. These include LinkedIn, banks, government portals, and login pages. Because of these limits, KYC becomes almost necessary for serious or professional use on IPRoyal.

User Experience and Dashboard

Decodo’s Interface

Decodo’s dashboard is widely praised for its user-friendliness. The interface provides all necessary functionality for self-service proxy management: buying plans, setting up proxies, tracking usage, and accessing support.

The dashboard is well-organized, with sections separated by product type. The main screen offers quick overviews of current plans, top targets, and traffic usage, though these are displayed one product at a time.

Particularly helpful are Decodo’s introductory tutorials and product recommendation tools. You can enter a desired use case, feature, or target and receive tailored product suggestions – a feature that significantly simplifies onboarding for new users.

IPRoyal’s Interface

IPRoyal’s dashboard has improved considerably over the years and now offers a fully-featured, self-contained management interface. It’s available in English and Chinese, with a dark theme option.

The dashboard is divided into sections for each product, allowing users to buy proxies, authenticate them, and track usage without leaving their tab (except for account settings or wallet deposits). The Home page allows toggling usage statistics between different products, and there are unified pages for all orders and invoices.

Both dashboards are competent, but Decodo’s edges ahead slightly with better guidance features and recommendation tools that help users make informed product choices.

Customer Support

Decodo’s Support

Customer support is consistently cited as one of Decodo’s strongest points. The company offers 24/7 support via email and live chat, primarily in English but also in Chinese (and other languages via Google Translate).

User reports and reviews consistently praise the support team for quick (often nearly instant) and competent responses. In 2020, Decodo received an award for its customer service, and that excellence has continued to this day.

IPRoyal’s Support

IPRoyal provides 24/7 support through live chat, email, and Discord. In testing, agents responded within a minute and competently handled multiple questions. The support quality is genuinely impressive, particularly for a company of IPRoyal’s size and age.

Both providers excel in customer support, making this category essentially a tie. You can expect prompt, helpful assistance from either company.

API and Programmatic Access

Decodo’s API

Decodo offers a comprehensive API for programmatic proxy control, available to every user (not just resellers). API functions include:

• Creating and managing sub-users
• Setting traffic limits
• Viewing usage reports and subscription status
• Filtering available endpoints

The API is well-documented and integrates smoothly with popular automation tools.

IPRoyal’s API

IPRoyal provides API endpoints for each proxy type, with the residential proxy API being the most fully featured. The APIs allow interaction with accounts, proxy servers, and retrieval of location and other information.

The mobile proxy endpoint is less developed, only allowing users to view remaining balance and rotate IPs. Overall, IPRoyal’s API functionality is solid but slightly less comprehensive than Decodo’s.

Additional Tools and Features

Decodo’s Ecosystem

Decodo has evolved into a complete data access and automation platform. Beyond proxies, the company offers:

• Site Unblocker: An advanced proxy solution engineered to bypass anti-bot defenses
• Scraping APIs: Core and Advanced options with different feature sets
• Video Downloader: For YouTube content at scale
• AI Parser: Converts HTML into structured JSON data
• MCP Server: For AI agents and LLMs
• Free tools: X Browser, Chrome and Firefox extensions, proxy checker

Decodo also provides integrations with AI and automation tools like n8n, MCP server, and LangChain, making it particularly appealing for modern data workflows.

IPRoyal’s Ecosystem

IPRoyal’s additional offerings include:

• AI Web Unblocker: For bypassing blocks and accessing geo-restricted content
• Free tools: Proxy checker and browser extension
• Pawns.app: The bandwidth-sharing application that powers the residential network

IPRoyal’s ecosystem is more focused, lacking the extensive scraping APIs and AI integration tools that Decodo provides. This reflects the companies’ different stages of evolution and target markets.

Target Audience and Use Cases

Who Should Choose Decodo?

Decodo is ideal for:

• Medium to large businesses: The extensive proxy pool and proven reliability support enterprise-scale operations

• AI and automation users: Excellent integration with modern AI tools and workflows

• Users needing comprehensive solutions: The full ecosystem of scraping tools and APIs reduces the need for multiple vendors

• Those prioritizing customer experience: Outstanding support and documentation minimize friction

• Users requiring diverse proxy types: Access to 125M+ IPs across all proxy types with granular targeting

Who Should Choose IPRoyal?

IPRoyal is best suited for:

• Small to mid-size users: The flexible plans and non-expiring traffic benefit sporadic users
• Budget-conscious customers: Competitive pricing with the “pay once, use whenever” model
• Ethical-sourcing advocates: Transparently sourced residential proxies through Pawns.app
• Sneakerheads and niche users: Specialized endpoints and a history of serving specific communities
• Users needing wide datacenter coverage: 60+ datacenter locations provide geographic flexibility

Limitations and Considerations

Decodo’s Weaknesses

• Some features like dedicated proxies or certain web scraping APIs may be more limited compared to ultra-premium providers
• Pricing, while competitive, isn’t the absolute cheapest in the market
• The company sacrifices some niche features to maintain focus on broad appeal

IPRoyal’s Weaknesses

• Smaller residential proxy pool (32M vs Decodo’s 115M) may present limitations for large-scale operations
• Serious abuse issues reported in the proxy pool
• Restrictive KYC requirements that block 60% of residential pool and major targets without verification
• Still experiencing “growing pains” as it scales up
• May not have sufficient capacity to serve as the sole provider for enterprise operations

The Verdict: Which Provider Wins?

Choosing between Decodo and IPRoyal ultimately depends on your specific needs, budget, and use cases.

Choose Decodo if you:

• Need proven reliability at scale
• Want access to the largest possible proxy pool
• Value comprehensive documentation and world-class support
• Require integration with AI and automation workflows
• Are willing to pay slightly more for a mature, feature-rich platform
• Need a one-stop solution for proxies and web scraping

Choose IPRoyal if you:

• Have sporadic usage patterns that benefit from non-expiring traffic
• Prioritize ethical proxy sourcing
• Need wide geographic coverage for datacenter proxies
• Are a small to mid-size user with budget constraints
• Can work within KYC restrictions
• Want flexibility in how you purchase and use proxies

Final Thoughts

The proxy market is changing quickly, and competition between Decodo and IPRoyal is pushing both companies to improve. Each provider is growing and investing in better tools. Decodo has expanded from a proxy seller into a full data platform. This follows a broader trend in which users prefer integrated solutions to separate tools.

IPRoyal is also developing fast. Its growth and new ideas show strong ambition. Over time, it could become a top-tier competitor.

At the moment, Decodo is the better choice for most users because of its scale, stability, and support. It is not the cheapest option, but it offers strong value. Both providers offer trials, so testing them yourself is important. More competition means better services, better pricing, and more options for everyone!

FAQ