Residential-Proxies Introduction
In 2025, residential proxies remain the leading choice for users seeking robust proxy services.
Their unmatched ability to safeguard users’ identities, maintain privacy, and access geo-restricted content through authentic IPs tied to real devices makes them a top option. Over recent years, the surge in providers has made selecting the right one a challenge. Thankfully, you’re in the right place to make an informed decision!
What Is a Residential Proxy and Why Is It Useful?
A residential proxy serves as an intermediary server equipped with an IP address linked to a genuine residential device, as opposed to a datacenter. Like all proxy servers, it acts as a bridge between the user and the Internet, masking the user’s identity and physical location.
Because residential devices connect through local Wi-Fi networks using real IPs registered by ISPs, residential IPs are significantly harder for anti-bot systems to detect.
Essentially, a residential proxy re-routes a user’s online traffic through IP addresses associated with residential devices. The key benefit is that destination servers interpret the connection as originating from a credible residential IP, not a static datacenter IP.
In 2025, the critical points to understand about residential proxies are:
- Residential IPs come from devices like computers or Internet-enabled tools located in actual homes.
- Residential proxy networks often feature millions of IPs, though only a fraction may be available at any moment since not all devices are always active.
- Due to their reliance on real devices, providers offer extensive location coverage and precise targeting options.
- Residential IPs enjoy higher legitimacy and reputation compared to datacenter IPs.
- These proxies can either be shared among multiple users or dedicated to a single client.
- Shared residential proxies typically rotate IPs periodically by default, streamlining the process for users.
Aspects to Consider When Evaluating Residential Proxy Providers
When evaluating the best residential proxy providers on the market, there are certain elements to focus on. In detail, these comparison aspects are:
- Features: The services and products offered by the provider that enhance and complement its offerings.
- Pricing: The plans available, the cost of residential proxies per GB, and the presence or absence of a trial and/or refund policy.
- Proxy network: Residential IPs available, in how many countries, through what protocols, and support for both dedicated and shared proxies.
- Performance: The average response time of proxy servers. Since the reported figures are often very different from the actual ones, it is worthwhile to analyze both.
- Uptime: The percentage of server availability guaranteed by the provider.
- Success rate: The average percentage of successful requests made through the proxy network. Again, note that the reported percentages may not match the real values.
- Customers and partners: The number of customers that choose the provider and some of their best partners.
- Customer support: The way the provider interfaces with customers, in what channels, and its readiness to address user issues.
- Ethics: Whether the provider respects data privacy regulations and discourages illegal activities by requiring a KYC (Know Your Customer) process. Another important aspect is their commitment to social causes through non-profit initiatives.
- Reliability: What users and customers think about the service they provide. A good metric to evaluate this characteristic is their review score on G2 and Trustpilot. Awards from G2, Capterra and other similar services are good indicators of reliability as well.
Best Residential Proxy Providers of 2026
Explore the top 8 residential proxy services selected and compared by applying the criteria presented above. Which will be the best residential proxy provider? Time to reveal it!
Best Residential Proxies in a Glance
| Provider Name | Features | Free Trial | Starting Pricing | Proxy Network | Avg Response Time | Uptime | Success Rate | Customers | Customer Support | Ethics | Reliability |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bright Data | Many | Yes | $5.04/GB | 150M+ IPs | ~1s | 99.99% | 99.9% | 20,000+ | Exceptional | Transparent; Pro bono access for NGOs, NPOs, and academic institutions | Trustpilot: 4.5/5; G2: 4.6/5; Several awards |
| Oxylabs | Many | At Oxylabs’s discretion | $10/GB | 100M+ IPs, with no dedicated residential proxies | ~1s | 99.9% | 99.95% | 2,000+ | Great | Transparent; Pro bono access for academics and researches | Trustpilot: 4.7/5; G2: 4.5/5; Some awards |
| Decodo (Smartproxy) | Many | Yes | $8.5/GB | 55M+ IPs | ~1s | 99.99% | 99.47% | Undisclosed | Great | Not completely transparent; Member of EWDCI | Trustpilot: 4.7/5; G2: 4.6/5; A few awards |
| SOAX | Regular | No | $99/month | 155M+ IPs, with no dedicated residential proxies | ~1s | 99% | 99.5% | Undisclosed | Great | Transparent | Trustpilot: 4.1/5; G2: 4.9/5; Several awards |
| IPRoyal | Regular | No | $7/GB | 2M+ IPs | ~3s | 99.9% | 99.8% | 10,000+ | Great | Transparent | Trustpilot: 4.6/5; G2: 4.3/5; A few awards |
| NetNut | Many | Yes | $300/month | 52M+ IPs, with no dedicated residential proxies | ~2s | 99.99% | 93% | 2,500+ | Great | Transparent, but not for all users | Trustpilot: 4.3/5; G2: 4.7/5 |
| Webshare | Basic | No | $7/GB | 30M+ IPs | ~2s | 99.97% | >99% | Undisclosed | Regular | Not completely transparent | Trustpilot: 4.4/5; G2: 4.8/5 |
| Geonode | Regular | No | $4/GB | Undisclosed, with no dedicated residential proxies | ~1s | 99.99% | 99.9% | 1,000+ | Regular | Not completely transparent | Trustpilot: 4.7/5; G2: — |
1. Bright Data
Bright Data stands out as one of the leading residential proxy providers in the market, controlling millions of residential IPs since 2016. The provider boasts one of the largest, fastest, and most reliable pools of rotating residential IPs globally. It also offers a wide range of features, including precise targeting via ASN and ZIP code specifications.
Bright Data provides services for both individuals and businesses, featuring both all-in-one plans and pay-as-you-go models. Thanks to its strict KYC policy, it prioritizes transparency and advocates ethical practices. With an extensive network of proxies, Bright Data also offers browser extensions and other useful scraping services.
Features:
- Automatic IP rotation
- Session IP persistence feature
- 100% uptime feature
- Real-time network performance dashboard
- Extensive documentation for technical users and help center for non-technical users
- Proxy manager desktop application to easily configure and manage proxies at the OS level
- Browser extensions to use proxies while surfing the web
- Data extraction solutions such as Scraping Browser, Web Scraper IDE, SERP API, and Web Unlocker based on the residential proxy network
Pricing:
- 7-day free trial
- $5.04/GB for the first $10/month, then starting at $6.43/GB
- $5.67/GB for businesses
Proxy Network:
- 150+ million IPs
- 195+ countries, with city, zip code, carrier, and ASN targeting
- HTTP, HTTPS, SOCKS5
- Both shared and dedicated private residential proxies
Average Response Time:
- Advertised: Undisclosed
- Real: ~1s
Uptime
99.99%
Success Rate
99.9%
Customers and Partners:
- Number of customers: More than 20,000
- Partners: Microsoft, McDonald’s, EPSON, Shopee, United Nations, Statista, Columbia University, and others
Customer Support:
- 24/7 live chat
- Ticketing and email support
- Sales inquiries to find the right plan that best fits your needs
- Dedicated account manager for private residential proxies
Ethics:
- ID card verification required (as part of the KYC procedure)
- GDPR and CCPA compliant
- Users who do not use their proxies ethically and in accordance with compliance standards are banned
- Pro bono access to their services for NGOs, NPOs, and academic institutions through the Bright Initiative project
Reliability:
- Trustpilot score: 4.6/5
- G2 score: 4.6/5
- Several awards from G2 and Capterra
Learn more about Bright Data in our full Bright Data review.
2. Oxylabs
Oxylabs emerges as a prominent player in the realm of residential proxies, giving it access to one of the largest proxy pools in the world. That involves 100 million IPs in most countries and major cities. The company specializes primarily in proxies but complements its offerings with some web scraping services.
Oxylabs provides a solution that targets companies looking for high-performance proxies with a high success rate and fast response time. In fact, the lack of a free trial might discourage most individual users. To ensure a secure and reliable user base, card ID verification is required.
Features:
- Automatic IP rotation
- Endpoint generator
- Extensive documentation for both technical and non-technical users
- Proxy user management web application with public API
- Scraping API and other services at an additional cost
Pricing:
- Free trial on demand
- 3-day refund policy
- Starting from $10/GB
Proxy Network:
- 100+ million IPs
- 195 countries available, with targeting on city, state, ZIP code, ASN, and coordinates
- HTTP, HTTPS, SOCKS5
- Only shared residential proxies
Average Response Time:
- Advertised: ~0.6s
- Real: ~1s
Uptime
99.99%
Success Rate
99.5%
Customers and Partners:
- Number of customers: More than 2,000
- Partners: Trivago, SEON, Debunk.org, Shopee, Rightlander, Boltive, and others
Customer Support:
- 24/7 live chat
- Email support
Ethics:
- KYC procedures applied to all customers
- GDPR, CCPA, and ISO/IEC 27001:2017 standard compliant
- Pro bono access to their services for researchers and academics through project 4β
Trustpilot Score
4.7/5
Reliability:
- Trustpilot score: 4.7/5
- G2 score: 4.5/5
- Some awards from G2 and Proxyway
Learn more about Oxylabs in our full Oxylabs review.
3. Decodo (Smartproxy)
Decodo (Smartproxy) is a popular choice for those in need of residential proxies, although its pool of 55 million IPs is not among the largest in the market. It offers broad location coverage, enabling users to select any city or state in 195 countries around the world. At the same time, it lacks carrier or ASN targeting.
Decodo (Smartproxy) focuses on a flawless user experience, providing numerous guides and ensuring award-winning customer support. With a focus on self-service, users can seamlessly navigate the platform right after signing up, as no KYC procedures are required.
Features:
- Automatic IP rotation or keep the same IP for 30 minutes
- Site unblocker, anti-detection browser, no-code scraper, scraping APIs at an additional fee
- Proxy management browser extensions
- Extensive documentation for both technical and non-technical users
- Free proxy checker to verify the quality and efficiency of an online proxy
Pricing:
- 3-day free trial or 14-day money-back option
- Starting from $8.5/GB
Proxy Network:
- 55+ million IPs
- 195+ countries available, with targeting on country, city, or US state
- HTTP, HTTPS, SOCKS5
- Both shared and dedicated private residential proxies
Average Response Time:
- Advertised: <0.6s
- Real: ~1s
Uptime: 99.99%
Success Rate: 99.47%
Customers and Partners:
- Number of customers: Undisclosed
- Partners: Undisclosed
Customer Support:
- 24/7 live chat
- Email support
- Dedicated account manager for enterprises
Ethics:
- Simple KYC process only for suspected fraudulent clients
- GDPR and CCPA compliant
- Part of the EWDCI (Ethical Web Data Collection Initiative) group
Reliability:
- Trustpilot score: 4.7/5
- G2 score: 4.6/5
- A few awards from Proxyway
Learn more about Decodo (Smartproxy) in our full Decodo (Smartproxy) Review.
4. SOAX
SOAX is a well-known player in the proxy industry, controlling over 155 million proxies. Unlike most of the best residential proxy providers, it does not have a pay-as-you-go plan. Alternatively, it offers monthly plans where you pay to gain access to a specific number of GBs. This means that if you do not use all of them, this provider may not be the most cost-effective choice.
SOAX offers the ability to target regions, cities, and ASNs without incurring additional costs. Yet, the absence of a free trial, mandatory IP whitelisting, and limited concurrency might raise some concerns.
Features:
- Automatic IP rotation
- Web Unblocker and Scraping APIs at a charge
Pricing:
- 3-days test period for $1.99
- Starting from $99/month ($6.6/GB)
Proxy Network:
- 155+ million IPs (limited to 300 simultaneous connections per IP)
- 195+ countries, with country, city, ASN targeting
- HTTP, HTTPS, SOCKS5
- Only shared proxies
Average Response Time:
- Advertised: 0.55s
- Real: ~1s
Uptime: 99%
Success Rate: 99.5%
Customers and Partners:
- Number of customers: Undisclosed
- Partners: Mobio Group, Weljo and others
Customer Support:
- 24/7 live chat
- Email support
- Dedicated customer success manager for plans over $739/month
Ethics:
- KYC processes applied to all customers
- Full GDPR compliant
Reliability:
- Trustpilot score: 4.1/5
- G2 score: 4.9/5
- Several awards from G2, Capterra, SourceForge, SoftwareSuccess, and more
Learn more about SOAX in our full SOAX review.
5. IPRoyal
IPRoyal presents an affordable alternative in the field of residential proxy services, offering proxies that never expire. The provider offers support for Discord, several rotation options, and support for the SOCKS5 protocol.
The main disadvantage of IPRoyal lies in the size of its proxy pool, which is significantly smaller than its competitors. This limitation, along with the potential impact on IP reputation due to low prices and resale options, makes it less suitable for large applications. Plus, the absence of a refund and free trial raises concerns despite Trustpilot’s positive reviews.
Features:
- Automatic IP rotation
- Sticky IP session feature
- Proxy tester and browser extensions
Pricing:
- No free trial or refund policy
- Starting from $7/GB
Proxy Network:
- 2+ million IPs
- 195+ countries, with country and city targeting
- HTTP, HTTPS, SOCKS5
- Both shared and dedicated private residential proxies
Average Response Time:
- Advertised: Undisclosed
- Real: ~3s
Uptime: 99.9%
Success Rate: 99.8%
Customers and Partners:
- Number of customers: Over 10,000
- Partners: Undisclosed
Customer Support:
- 24/7 live chat
- Email and Discord support
Ethics:
- KYC process mandatory for static residential proxies
- GDPR and CCPA compliant
Reliability:
- Trustpilot score: 4.6/5
- G2 score: 4.3/5
- A few awards from G2, Crozdesk, SoftwareSuccess, and more
Learn more about IPRoyal proxies in our full IPRoyal review.
6. NetNut
NetNut is an established provider in the proxy industry, with a large pool of rotating residential proxies. Its plans are on a monthly basis and target mainly large companies, as the basic plan starts at $300 per month.
The detailed statistics offered by NetNut are worth noting. Through these, users can delve into the usage patterns of proxies for comprehensive insights. On the other hand, all these features mean that the web application provided may seem less user-friendly than those of competitors.
Features:
- Automatic IP rotation
- Unlimited concurrency
- Basic documentation
- A web platform with many statistics and insights
- Social scraper, SERP scraping API, website unlocker at an additional cost
Pricing:
- 7-day free trial
- Starting from $300/month (15$/GB)
Proxy Network:
- 52+ million IPs
- 200 countries, with city and state selection
- HTTP, HTTPS, SOCKS5
- Only shared residential proxies
Average Response Time:
- Advertised: Undisclosed
- Real: ~2s
Uptime: 99.9%
Success Rate: 93%
Customers and Partners:
- Number of customers: More than 2,500
- Partners: RocketReach, Apify, Import.io, DataSeal, and others
Customer Support:
- 24/7 live chat
- Email, WhatsApp, Telegram, and Skype support
- Dedicated account manager
Ethics:
- KYC process mandatory for static residential proxies
- GDPR and CCPA compliant
Reliability:
- Trustpilot score: 4.3/5
- G2 score: 4.7/5 (but only ~10 reviews)
- No awards
Learn more about NetNut proxies in our full NetNut Review.
7. Webshare
Webshare provides a good amount of distributed IP in many countries, although it does not guarantee global reach. While not overly feature-rich, the provider covers all the essentials, making it a good choice for individuals and small and medium-sized businesses.
Webshare offers email-only customer support and does not guarantee GDPR compliance out of the box. For that reason, as well as an unclear refund policy and KYC process, it may not rank high among the best residential proxy providers.
Features:
- Automatic IP rotation
- Extensive documentation and help center
Pricing:
- 2-day refund policy at Webshare’s discretion
- Starting from $7/GB
Proxy Network:
- 30+ million IPs
- 40+ countries
- HTTP, SOCKS5
- Both shared and dedicated private proxies
Average Response Time:
- Advertised: Undisclosed
- Real: ~2s
Uptime: 99.97%
Success Rate: >99%
Customers and Partners:
- Number of customers: Undisclosed
- Partners: Undisclosed
Customer Support:
- Email support
Ethics:
- KYC processes at Webshare’s discretion
- CCPA and GDPR ready, but you must contact the support for GDPR compliance
Reliability:
- Trustpilot score: 4.4/5
- G2 score: 4.8/5 (only 2 reviews)
- No awards
Learn more about Webshare in our full Webshare review.
8. Geonode
Geonode is the cheapest proxy providers that sell residential proxies. However, a paid trial and a questionable refund policy do not make it among the most transparent providers. Also, its documentation is not as technical as it should be.
Geonode only provides city targeting and email support, since it must cut costs to secure those appealing prices. At least, it offers some interesting free tools.
Features:
- Sticky and rotating IPs
- High-level documentation for non-technical users
- Free proxy list
- IP and proxy checker
- Scraping API at a charge
Pricing:
- 7-day trial for $7
- Refund policy at Geonode’s discretion
- Starting from $4/GB
Proxy Network:
- 30+ million IPs
- 160 countries, with city targeting
- HTTP, HTTPS, SOCKS5
- BOnly shared residential proxies
Average Response Time:
- Advertised: Undisclosed
- Real: ~1s
Uptime: 99.99%
Success Rate: 99.9%
Customers and Partners:
- Number of customers: 1,000+
- Partners: Plurral, Sea, Naturlife, and others
Customer Support:
- 24/7 email support
Ethics:
- GDPR compliant
Reliability:
- Trustpilot score: 4.7/5 (but only ~70 reviews)
- G2 score: Not on G2
- No awards
Learn more about Geonode in our full Geonode review.
9. Nimble
Nimble is a leading provider of rotating residential proxies, offering flexible options for managing IP replacements. The service is designed to make web scraping easy and reliable, offering key features such as automatic IP rotation and geo-targeting. Whether you’re working on a small project or large-scale data extraction, Nimble ensures smooth operations with its advanced proxy solutions.
They offer a variety of pricing models to fit different needs, including both residential proxies and scraping APIs. Geo-targeting features allow users to focus on specific countries and states, while dedicated and private residential proxies ensure security and privacy. Nimble also offers a 7-day free trial, so you can test the service before committing.
Features:
- Geo-targeting: Country and state-specific targeting
- Dedicated IPs: Private residential proxies for secure access
- IP rotation: Default IP rotation with sticky sessions that change every 10 minutes without activity
- Custom IP Replacement Options:
- Replace IP when unavailable
- Select another IP within the same ASN
- Do not replace, and fail request on unavailability
Pricing:
- Minimum package: $150/month includes residential proxies and scraping API
- 7-day free trial
Proxy Network:
- Rotating residential proxies
- Country and state geo-targeting
Average Response Time:
- 25s per request
Uptime
- 9%
Success Rate:
- 9%
Customers and Partners:
- Trusted by global brands like Microsoft, United Nations, and Statista,
- Powers AI-driven solutions with real-time data
- Scalable, reliable, and actionable data streams
- Supports businesses worldwide with geo-targeted proxies
- Dedicated account management for seamless integration
Customer Support:
- 24/7 live chat and email support
Ethics:
- Nimble adheres to ethical proxy usage and emphasizes transparency and responsible data scraping practices.
- The company prioritizes compliance with GDPR and other privacy regulations.
- Users are expected to follow ethical standards in data collection and are prohibited from using proxies for malicious activities or breaching terms of service of the websites they scrape.
Reliability:
Trusted by multiple clients for efficient and effective data extraction
Learn more about Nimble in our full Nimble review.
10. ProxyEmpire
ProxyEmpire stands out as a premier proxy provider, offering a vast and highly reliable network of residential, mobile, and datacenter proxies. With over 9.5 million IP addresses spanning 170+ countries, ProxyEmpire guarantees high-speed, secure, and ethical access to data for all types of users. Whether you’re conducting web scraping, monitoring competitor prices, or automating research, ProxyEmpire provides a flexible and easy-to-use solution. Its rotating proxies are designed to avoid IP bans and CAPTCHA challenges, making your data-gathering efforts seamless and uninterrupted.
Features:
- Rotating Residential Proxies
- Static Residential Proxies (ISP-level targeting)
- Mobile Proxies (3G/4G/5G/LTE, and soon 6G & 7G)
- Datacenter Proxies
- Advanced proxy management via API
- Detailed proxy usage statistics and traffic monitoring
- Geo-targeting (country, city, state, ASN/ISP)
Pricing:
- Start with a $1.97 trial
- Flexible pricing plans based on usage, with no hidden fees
- Fair and transparent pricing for both individuals and businesses
Proxy Network:
- 5 million+ IPs
- 170+ countries covered, with detailed location targeting
- HTTP, SOCKS5 protocols for high security
- Dedicated and shared private proxies
- Rotating IP pool with seamless integration
Average Response Time:
- Advertised: ~0.6 seconds
- Real: ~0.8 seconds
Uptime:
- 86%
Success Rate:
- 95%
Customers and Partners:
- ProxyEmpire supports a wide range of use cases including web scraping, SEO monitoring, social media automation, ad verification, and more.
- Trusted by businesses of all sizes and industries worldwide.
Customer Support:
- 24/7 live chat
- Email support for technical and sales inquiries
- Dedicated account manager for enterprise clients
Ethics:
- Ethically sourced proxies
- No hidden fees, transparent pricing models
- Committed to data privacy and security
- Compliance with GDPR and CCPA standards
Reliability:
Known for providing a secure, scalable proxy solution with 99.9% uptime, ProxyEmpire ensures reliability for large-scale data operations.
Learn more about Nimble in our full ProxyEmpire review.
How Much Do the Best Residential Proxies Cost?
As seen in the previous chapter and can be seen from the table below, prices range from $4 to $15 per gigabyte:
| Provider | USD per 1 GB |
| Bright Data | $5.04/GB, then $10.50/GB |
| Oxylabs | $10/GB |
| Decodo (Smartproxy) | $8.5/GB |
| SOAX | $6.6/GB |
| IPRoyal | $7/GB |
| NetNut | $15/GB |
| Webshare | $7/GB |
| Geonode | $4/GB |
At the same time, proxy prices usually decrease as the number of GB increases. Thus, “Starting from $10/GB” means that this is the worst-case scenario and prices are generally only going lower.
Final thoughts
There is an overwhelming number of proxy services available online, and selecting the right one requires careful consideration of factors like proxy network, speed, customer support, and reliability.
Identifying the best provider can be a challenging task.
Here, you’ve gained insight into the key aspects to evaluate when comparing the top residential proxy providers. Testing each one individually against these criteria would be a time-consuming, costly, and labor-intensive process.
Luckily, you don’t need to go through that effort-we’ve already done the comparison for you in 2025.
FAQs
Static residential proxies provide a fixed IP address, offering stability and reliability for constant online activities. In contrast, rotating residential proxies dynamically change IP addresses at regular intervals. IP rotation improves anonymity, helps circumvent anti-bot measures, and facilitates data collection activities via web scraping. Best providers offer both types of residential proxies
The use of a residential proxy is legal in that it involves only access to the Internet through a proxy server. However, the legality lies not in the proxy itself, but in the activities performed by users through it. This means that using a residential proxy for unethical purposes can lead to legal issues. To avoid this, it is essential to use residential proxies responsibly and prefer transparent providers that have a KYC system in place, particularly when it comes to shared IPs
Residential proxies are IP addresses assigned by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to real devices. They make your traffic appear as if it’s coming from a legitimate user, reducing the chances of detection and blocking.
Residential proxies use real ISP-assigned IPs, making them harder to detect, while datacenter proxies come from cloud servers and are more likely to be blocked by websites with strict security measures.
Residential proxies provide high anonymity, better success rates for web scraping, and allow access to geo-restricted content. They are ideal for tasks like LinkedIn scraping, sneaker botting, and market research.
Residential proxies are generally slower than datacenter proxies because they rely on real ISP networks. However, premium providers offer high-speed residential proxies with minimal latency.
Free residential proxies are risky as they are often unreliable, slow, and may compromise your data security. Paid residential proxies offer better performance, security, and reliability.
Your guide’s emphasis on ethical sourcing of residential IPs gave me confidence in choosing a provider.
The emphasis on IP legitimacy and avoiding blacklists was critical for my long-term scraping projects.
I thought the notes on KYC, ethics programs, and clear Trustpilot/G2 scores were especially helpful-gave me confidence in picking a responsible provider.
The provider comparison chart (including plans, IP pool sizes, and support) saved me hours. It quickly pointed me toward providers with both dedicated options and trial periods.
Loved the breakdown of features to look for-like uptime guarantees, response times, and ethical sourcing. That’s exactly what I needed to vet providers.
This was a helpful read.. I once tried a shared proxy service for account management, but the speed and reliability weren’t great. Gonna try differen provider based on your review.
Great comparison! I’ve had mixed experiences with some providers some work flawlessly, while others slow things down. Do you have any recommendations for a provider with strong uptime and low latency?
Totally feel you ive had the same experience. Lately been having good luck with soax and smartproxy.. both have strong uptime and super low latency for me. Might be worth a shot..