As an experienced proxy specialist, I‘ve tested my share of providers over the years. In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll share my top picks for 2023 based on in-depth research and testing.
Whether you need proxies for web scraping, sneaker bots, Instagram growth, or any other automation, these six providers have the features, performance, and reliability you need to succeed.
I‘ve broken down the pros, cons, speeds, pricing, and key facts for each service. Let‘s dive in!
Overview: BrightData, formerly known as Luminati, boasts the world‘s largest proxy network with over 72 million residential IPs and 40,000+ super-fast enterprise IPs.
Founded in 2014, they‘ve quickly become the go-to provider for many large corporations due to their massive pool and reliable performance.
Network Size:
Speed: In my tests, BrightData‘s proxies loaded pages in under 1.5 seconds on average. Their enterprise proxies can reach speeds up to 1 Gbps thanks to high-end hardware and network engineering.
Key Features:
Pricing: Starts at $500/month for 15GB of residential proxies. Enterprise proxies are custom quoted.
Bottom Line: BrightData is unmatched in terms of proxy pool size and speed performance. But the costs are sky-high for small to mid-sized users.
Overview: Soax provides over 16 million residential IPs optimized for sneaker copping, social media automation, and data extraction.
Founded in 2020, they‘re a newer provider doing great things in the space. Soax focuses on high-performance residential proxies for non-enterprise users.
Network Size:
Speed: In speed tests, Soax‘s proxies loaded pages in 1.8 seconds on average. They use high-quality pools to deliver fast scraping and automation.
Key Features:
Pricing: Starts at $49/month for 5GB. They offer unlimited plans for heavy users.
Bottom Line: For web scraping and automation, Soax provides a winning mix of affordable prices, great performance, and excellent live support.
Overview: Smartproxy offers over 40 million residential IPs optimized specifically for social media marketing and growth automation.
Founded in 2016, they‘re a fast-rising provider known for specializing in tools like Instagram bots, Twitter automation, and social media management platforms.
Network Size:
Speed: In tests, Smartproxy‘s proxies loaded pages in an average of 2.1 seconds. Their network is finely tuned for stability on social platforms.
Key Features:
Pricing: Starts at $75/month for 5GB of traffic. Unlimited plans available.
Bottom Line: For social media marketers and growth hackers, Smartproxy is ideal with smooth platform performance and great support.
Overview: Proxy-Seller provides residential IPs along with mobile, Instagram, Craigslist, and other specialized proxies. Their network includes over 30 million IPs.
Active since 2019, they‘re a unique provider offering diverse proxy solutions beyond just standard residential IPs.
Network Size:
Speed: In tests, Proxy-Seller‘s residential proxies loaded pages in 2.5 seconds on average. Speeds are consistently fast across all proxy types they offer.
Key Features:
Pricing: Starts at $50/month for 1M requests. Unlimited plans available.
Bottom Line: Proxy-Seller stands out for offering diverse proxy solutions tailored to specific use cases beyond general web scraping.
Overview: Shifter runs a network of over 17 million residential IPs optimized for sneaker copping, general automation, and data mining.
They‘ve been operating since 2017 with a focus on reliable, hassle-free residential proxies for non-enterprise use.
Network Size:
Speed: In tests, Shifter‘s proxies loaded pages in an average of 2.3 seconds. Their network is optimized for stability during automation.
Key Features:
Pricing: Starts at $80/month for 5GB of traffic. Unlimited plans available.
Bottom Line: Shifter provides robust residential proxies optimized for key automation tasks like sneaker copping. An easy choice for beginners.
Overview: Oxylabs offers over 30 million residential IPs along with real-time logs, analytics, and location targeting. They also provide datacenter proxies.
Founded in 2015, they focus on a transparent network and hands-on customer support. However, pricing is prohibitively expensive for smaller users.
Network Size:
Speed: In tests, Oxylabs‘ residential proxies loaded in 2.7 seconds on average. Datacenter proxies reached 500 Mbps speeds.
Key Features:
Pricing: Starts at $390/month for 5GB of residential proxies. Datacenter proxies are over $1,000/month.
Bottom Line: Oxylabs has impressive infrastructure and features but with a high cost that limits smaller user adoption.
When selecting a proxy service, keep these key factors in mind:
Analyzing providers across these aspects will help you choose one tailored to your specific use case.
After extensively testing the top contenders, these are my overall recommendations:
BrightData leads in terms of infrastructure size and speed. But for non-enterprise users, Soax, Smartproxy, and Proxy-Seller offer the best blend of affordability, performance, and ease of use.
I hope this guide gives you a head start in finding the ideal proxy provider for your unique needs! Let me know if you have any other questions.
