Storm Proxies is a relatively new but highly rated residential proxy service provider that has quickly gained popularity in the proxy market. Launched in 2016, Storm Proxies focuses on providing super fast residential proxy connections at affordable prices.
In this Storm Proxies review, we‘ll take an in-depth look at their service, features, pricing, pros and cons to help you determine if Storm Proxies is the right residential proxy provider for your needs.
Storm Proxies promotes itself as the provider of the "world‘s fastest residential rotating proxies". The company is based in Estonia and offers global residential IP proxy services optimized for usages like web scraping, sneaker bots, social media automation and more.
Some key things to know about Storm Proxies:
Storm Proxies mainly competes with providers like Oxylabs, Smartproxy, NetNut and GeoSurf in the residential proxy space. While it doesn‘t have as many features or as large a proxy pool as the major players, Storm Proxies tends to be significantly cheaper for basic proxy plans.
The service is ideal for users who want reliable rotating residential proxies on a budget. Power users who need advanced features or huge proxy pools will want to look elsewhere.
Yes, Storm Proxies is a legitimate and legal company that provides residential proxy services for various internet activities.
The proxies themselves can be used for any legal purpose that doesn‘t violate the website‘s terms of service. Of course, proxies could potentially be misused for things like scraping or spamming – but that’s on the end user, not Storm Proxies.
As a company based in Estonia, Storm Proxies operates under Estonian and EU laws. They document how customers are allowed to legally use their residential proxies here: https://stormproxies.com/tos.html
Overall, Storm Proxies has a trusted reputation as a legitimate proxy provider. Just be aware that proxies bring risks around violating terms of service if misused.
One of the biggest selling points of Storm Proxies is affordable pricing, especially for entry-level use cases.
They offer pre-configured rotating proxy plans with unlimited connections:
Each proxy port gives you access to the full residential IP pool, with intelligent rotation to avoid bans. More ports = more concurrent threads.
For even cheaper access, you can get a single proxy port for $19/month. Volume discounts are also available if you need 100+ proxy ports.
Overall, Storm Proxies has some of the most affordable plans among residential proxy providers. The pricing is simple and easy to understand compared to metered bandwidth models.
Storm Proxies stands out for its competitive pricing, fast connection speeds, and easy setup process. Here are some of the key features:
The clear focus here is affordable proxy plans for individuals and small teams. Prices start at just $10 per month for 5 ports. Bulk discounts available for purchasing more proxy ports.
No complex metered billing based on bandwidth usage. Just pay per month based on the number of ports you need.
Storm Proxies uses highly optimized servers to offer fast residential proxy speeds. In independent speed tests, their proxies consistently rank among the fastest residential providers.
This makes them ideal for use cases where speed is important like sneaker bots, web scraping and ad verification. Slow proxies result in errors and captchas.
Compared to some services, Storm Proxies is relatively easy for beginners to setup and use.
Proxy ports are consumed directly in your apps and scripts via the IP address and port number. No browser extensions or additional software needed.
They provide sample code and documentation to help you get started across different languages and frameworks.
All plans come with full access to Storm Proxies‘ pool of 40,000+ residential IP addresses. Their system automatically rotates your IP to avoid getting blocked or banned.
No need to manually rotate IPs. Their algorithm handles it seamlessly in the background based on your usage patterns.
Storm Proxies leverages a highly optimized network architecture to deliver reliable proxy connections around the clock. This results in minimal downtime and network errors compared to some providers.
Advanced load balancing across datacenters helps ensure smooth performance even when many users are active. High availability is critical for residential proxies.
As a pure proxy service, Storm Proxies does not associate any user identity or behavior with the proxy IPs you use. This provides a high level of anonymity.
Their proxies are located on residential ISP networks for authentic requests. All traffic is encrypted for security.
Storm Proxies is designed to support common use cases like web scraping, sneaker/retail bots, ad verification bots, pricing monitoring and more.
The rotating IPs and residential network avoids getting blocked. Fast speeds allow running intensive bots and scrapers.
The Storm Proxies residential IP pool includes locations primarily in the United States and Europe. This covers the most common regions targeted.
Having proxies close to your targets improves performance and accuracy for geographically targeted activities.
Storm Proxies infrastructure is designed for maximum uptime and reliability. Their systems are monitored 24/7. Any issues are quickly identified and addressed.
This round-the-clock reliability is essential for automation and scraping tasks that run continually. Minimum downtime means better data.
Storm Proxies is very developer focused. Their API and documentation allows easy integration into your scripts and tools.
Support for HTTP, HTTPS and SOCKS5 protocols provides flexibility. Sample code provided for Python, Node, C#, Ruby and more.
While Storm Proxies delivers excellent value, there are some limitations to be aware of:
With around 40,000 residential IPs, Storm Proxies has a much smaller pool compared to leading vendors like Bright Data (40+ million IPs).
This means there could be competition for popular IPs during peak usage. If you need large scale automation, the pool size may be restrictive.
The residential proxy locations are focused mainly on the US and parts of Europe. Other major regions like Asia, South America and Africa are not covered.
So your ability to target other countries and regions will be limited based on the proxy locations.
Storm Proxies does not currently offer a free trial. The cheapest option is a single proxy port for $19/month.
Without a free trial, you‘ll need to rely on their 7 day money back guarantee to evaluate the service. Make sure to test thoroughly within the trial window.
The only authentication method is by IP address. There is no support for username/password auth at this time.
This makes it a bit less flexible if you need to use the proxies from different IPs or share them with others.
Some advanced customization features like domain fronting and header modification are not supported natively. You would need to handle this programmatically.
If you require highly customized and branded requests, other proxies may have more options.
Storm Proxies provides email based support 24/7. However, there is no live chat or phone support at this time.
So if you need urgent help, you‘ll need to rely on email. Typical response times are pretty fast though.
Storm Proxies is a great fit for users who value affordable residential proxies with good performance. Here are some of its most common use cases:
Fast proxy speeds and rotating IPs make Storm Proxies very capable for large scale web scraping and data extraction projects.
The residential proxy network can efficiently run sneaker/retail bots to automate ordering and checkout processes.
Track pricing and other data points across ecommerce sites without getting blocked.
Use Storm Proxies to detect and analyze scrapers targeting your site. Help protect pricing data.
Verify online ads and detect ad fraud with residential proxies that provide realistic user traffic.
Manage multiple social media accounts efficiently with Storm Proxies residential IPs.
Conduct large scale analysis of rankings, backlinks and other SEO data across the web.
Post ads quickly across different Craigslist sites without dealing with restrictions.
Register accounts efficiently on sites with email confirmation without getting flagged.
Improve connection speeds and avoid IP restrictions when gaming by using Storm Proxies.
Check flight and hotel prices from different geographic locations using residential proxy IPs.
As you can see, Storm Proxies is versatile enough to support a wide range of use cases – both basic and more advanced.
Storm Proxies is a great affordable option for residential proxies. However, more premium providers like Bright Data, Smartproxy, and Oxylabs offer more advanced features, larger proxy pools, and broader geographic coverage.
Here’s an overview of how some top residential proxy services compare:
Bright Data
Smartproxy
Oxylabs
Storm Proxies
Storm Proxies is best suited for individuals and teams who want very affordable but capable residential proxies. The service competes well on price while still delivering good performance and features.
If you need large scale residential proxies with maximum geo-targeting flexibility, advanced customization and larger IP pools, then premium providers will be better options albeit at higher cost.
But for basic to moderate residential proxy usage, Storm Proxies provides excellent value. Their simplified approach also makes setup and usage easy for beginners compared to more complex providers.
We give Storm Proxies a strong recommendation for low to mid-tier residential proxy use cases where pricing is a major factor. The speed, reliability and ease of use are impressive given the affordable rates.
Just keep the limitations around pool size, geographic coverage and lack of advanced options in mind. Storm Proxies focuses on the core essentials of residential proxies at budget friendly rates for the average user.
Storm Proxies manages to stand out in the crowded residential proxy space by providing a cost-effective solution with good performance. Their straightforward pricing and easy setup process also appeals to users who don‘t require tons of advanced configuration options.
For high level proxy users, Storm Proxies’ smaller pool size and lack of geographic targeting flexibility are drawbacks to consider. But for individuals and teams who want capable residential proxies on a budget, Storm Proxies is a strong choice.
Give their 7 day money back guarantee a test drive to experience Storm Proxies‘ excellent speeds and reliability first hand. Their affordable proxy plans and performance punch above their weight against the competition.
