Best Residential Proxies in 2026 (Compared)
Quick Picks
- Best overall: Bright Data — largest pool, deepest geo coverage
- Best value: Smartproxy — competitive pricing, 65M+ IPs, uncapped affiliate
- Best for enterprise APIs: Oxylabs — managed scraping layer on top of residential network
- Best for long sessions: NetNut — ISP-adjacent residential with 1-year session support
- Best budget option: IPRoyal — 10% lifetime affiliate, affordable entry pricing
How We Ranked
Rankings are based on: pool size, geographic coverage, pricing structure, free trial availability, and measured performance (success rate / latency / block rate via our benchmark harness). Where benchmark data shows “measuring,” we note it explicitly — we do not fabricate performance figures.
Ranked Comparison
| Rank | Provider | Success Rate | Avg Latency | Pricing from | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bright Data | measuring | measuring | From $4/month | Enterprise, rare geo |
| 2 | Smartproxy | measuring | measuring | ~$8.50/GB | Mid-market value |
| 3 | Oxylabs | measuring | measuring | ~$12/GB | Managed scraping |
| 4 | NetNut | measuring | measuring | ~$9/GB | Long-session ISP |
| 5 | IPRoyal | measuring | measuring | ~$7/GB | Budget / small-scale |
Benchmark figures: see /benchmark/.
Methodology
Our benchmark harness routes identical requests through each provider’s free trial to five representative target sites (Amazon, Google SERP, travel, sneaker, real estate). We measure:
- Success rate: Share of requests returning expected content
- Avg latency: Time from connection open to first byte
- Block rate: Share of requests receiving 403/429/503
Rankings will be updated when measured data is available for all providers.
Detailed Notes Per Provider
Bright Data
400M+ residential IPs across 195 countries. Pay-as-you-go from $4/month. Enterprise-focused with dedicated account management. Dataset marketplace available if you want pre-collected structured data without running your own scraper. Full review →
Smartproxy
65M+ IPs, 195+ countries. The best value pick for mid-market buyers. Pricing from ~$8.50/GB with uncapped 50% recurring affiliate commission (attractive for resellers and agencies). Decodo sub-brand covers ISP/static residential proxies. Site Unblocker API available for managed scraping. Full review →
Oxylabs
100M+ IPs, 195 countries. Enterprise pricing (~$12/GB) is offset by the managed API layer: Web Scraper API and SERP Scraper API handle JavaScript rendering, CAPTCHA, and parsing. Best choice for teams that want to minimize scraper maintenance burden. Full review →
NetNut
ISP-first residential network covering 90+ countries. Pricing from ~$9/GB residential. Key differentiator: up to 1-year session cookies — essential for brand protection monitoring and authenticated session scraping. Comparing providers? See NetNut alternatives. Full review →
IPRoyal
Smaller pool but meaningfully lower pricing. Good for teams with moderate volume and straightforward use cases. 10% lifetime affiliate commission. No managed API layer, so best for teams comfortable writing their own rotation logic. Full review →
FAQ
What makes residential proxies different from datacenter proxies?
Residential proxies route through real home internet connections assigned by ISPs, so they appear as legitimate consumer traffic to target sites. Datacenter proxies route through cloud/datacenter IP ranges, which are easier for bot-detection systems to identify and block. Residential proxies have higher success rates on guarded targets at the cost of higher latency and price-per-GB.
How much do residential proxies cost?
Pricing ranges from ~$7/GB (budget providers) to ~$15/GB (enterprise providers) for pay-as-you-go residential access. Volume commitments typically reduce per-GB cost by 20–40%. SERP and scraping APIs are priced per successful result, not per GB.
Which residential proxy has the best success rate on Amazon?
Our harness is measuring this via free trial. Check /benchmark/ for current data. In general, larger pools (Bright Data, Oxylabs) tend to have lower block rates on Amazon because IP diversity reduces repeat-visit flagging. However, success rates depend heavily on rotation strategy and request frequency — not just pool size.
Are there free residential proxies?
Free residential proxy lists exist but are typically scraped from compromised machines, have very low reliability, and create legal and ethical risks. All providers in this ranking offer legitimate trial access — Oxylabs (7-day), Smartproxy ($1.99/3-day), Bright Data (credit required). Use trials over free lists.
Is NetNut the right residential proxy for my use case?
For long-session ISP monitoring, NetNut is often the best fit. For general rotating residential scraping, Bright Data or Smartproxy may suit better. See NetNut alternatives ranked by use case before switching.
What is the best residential proxy for web scraping at scale?
At scale (hundreds of GB/month or millions of requests), the pool-size advantage of Bright Data and Oxylabs becomes material. For moderate scale, Smartproxy offers the best price-to-performance ratio. See Best Proxies for Web Scraping for a use-case-specific ranking.
This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed by an editor. Pricing and specs as of 2026-05-31. Benchmark figures are measured via free trial — see /benchmark/ for live data. Use proxies for legitimate purposes only.