12 Best & Cheapest Residential Proxies in 2026 (Tested & Ranked) (original) (raw)

As AIMultiple’s CTO, I lead data collection from thousands of websites. To identify reliable residential proxy providers, we benchmark across 10 vendors and process 2,880 requests per day, or 86,400 over a 30-day period.

While we analyze 12 providers (both rotating residential proxies and static residential proxies) in detail further down, the table below highlights the top 6 choices that outperformed the rest in speed and success rates.

Residential proxy cost calculator

Enter GBs to compare costs for different residential proxy providers:

The best cheap residential proxies of 2026 (under $5/GB)

Premium residential proxies for large-scale enterprise

Not all residential proxies are equal. While vendors claim similar specs, our 100k request test showed that:

Residential price per GB comparison

Residential proxy benchmark

See the median response times and success rates of residential proxy providers in our benchmark:

How we tested

The graphs above show the success rate performance of different vendors based on automated tests run every 5 minutes. In each run, we accessed randomly selected targets like Amazon, Bing, eBay, and YouTube. See methodology section.

Detailed review of the top 12 residential proxies

Bright Data lets you customize both IP type and protocol to suit your specific scraping or routing needs. You can choose between shared or dedicated access to the residential proxy network.

Based on our benchmark, a notable differentiator is Bright Data’s emphasis on compliance and ethical sourcing. The model is built around partner applications that provide a user benefit tied to participation. You can select the IP protocol that best fits your target website’s infrastructure:

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Apply code AIM70 in the billing section and save 70% on residential proxies

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Decodo (formerly Smartproxy) offers a rotating residential proxy pool with global coverage across countries. ZIP code-level targeting is available in the US. Decodo’s residential proxies can rotate with every connection request to the target server, and you can also customize the IP rotation settings.

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Oxylabs offers shared residential proxies. Residential IPs are assigned based on entry nodes or any parameters you set. Applying granular targeting with residential proxies is free.

Residential proxy servers rotate IP addresses by default with each new request. If you need to keep the same IP for a longer period, there are two options: session ID (up to 10 minutes) or session time (up to 30 minutes).

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Webshare offers residential proxies with city-level targeting and is beginner-friendly, with a simple UI. Residential proxy pool uses ISP-issued residential IPs, supports HTTP/SOCKS5.

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Explore Webshare’s residential proxies with a 50% discount applied to all plans

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DataImpulse’s residential proxies start at $1 per GB, making them among the most affordable options on the market. These proxies allow users to target specific countries, cities, and ASNs, with the flexibility to choose multiple locations or ASNs simultaneously.

For enterprise-level needs, DataImpulse offers a premium residential proxy pool with a dedicated account manager and tailored API endpoints to meet specific use cases.

Key features:

ProxyScrape provides a shared residential pool that rotates for each connection request. ProxyScrape’s residential proxies support both HTTP(S) and SOCKS5 protocols.

ProxyScrape does not offer a free trial for residential proxies, but you can test the service at a low cost. The proxy provider guarantees a refund if you use less than 1 GB of data and are unsatisfied within 3 days of purchase.

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Pricing:

NetNut provides shared residential proxies with precise targeting options. The provider offers U.S. city and state-level proxy targeting.

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You can get started as a business with a 7-day trial.

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Nimble offers rotating residential proxies that support different configuration options for IP replacement:

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IPRoyal offers 32 million rotating residential proxies, with a customizable rotation interval up to 24 hours. It’s important to note that IPRoyal’s proxy pool has a smaller residential proxy plan than leading providers such as Bright Data and Oxylabs.

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SOAX’s proxy network includes rotating residential, US ISP, mobile, and US datacenter proxies. Residential proxies are available in almost all countries.

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Infatica’s residential proxy network includes 10 million Residential IP addresses compatible with HTTP/SOCKS protocols. You can keep the same IP for 30 minutes before it changes.

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Rayobyte sources its residential proxy IPs through a proxyware app called Cash Raven. Their residential service covers over 150 countries.

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ProxyEmpire offers rotating residential IPs in more than 170 countries. Each residential proxy plan includes VIP integration support to help users set up their proxies.

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How to buy residential proxies

Before you buy residential proxies, ensure the provider aligns with your specific use case. Follow these three steps to make the right choice:

  1. Check the rotation options: Ensure the provider offers both sticky sessions and per-request rotation (for high-volume scraping).
  2. Verify the SOCKS5 support: If you need high speed and UDP support for secure scraping, always prioritize SOCKS5-compatible networks.
  3. Test the trial first: Never commit to a large monthly plan without testing the pool’s success rate in your target region (US, UK, or Germany).

Too complex? If managing your own residential ip network feels overwhelming, check out our dedicated guide on web scraping APIs for a fully managed solution.

Don’t miss our benchmarks and data-driven insights. The button opens Google; selecting AIMultiple confirms that you wish to see AIMultiple more often in Google search results.

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Best SOCKS5 residential proxies for secure scraping

Based on our benchmarks, the top SOCKS5 residential proxies in 2026 are:

Decodo (Best All-Rounder): The data proves Decodo is the “sweet spot,” offering top-tier speeds (sub-2.5ms) and high success rates at a more competitive price point than enterprise giants.

Webshare (Fastest SOCKS5): If low latency is your primary KPI, Webshare’s performance in our response time chart makes it the undisputed leader for high-velocity scraping.

Bright Data & Oxylabs (Best for Scale): These providers are the most reliable for complex SOCKS5 tasks where maintaining a consistent residential IP network connection is more important than raw speed.

Residential proxies vs datacenter proxies

1. IP source:

The source of the IP address is the main difference between residential and datacenter proxies. Residential proxy IPs are assigned by ISPs that belong to real people. (e.g., someone’s phone or computer), whereas datacenter proxies use cloud servers and the data center’s IP pools.

2. Proxy anonymity level:

Unlike residential proxies, datacenter IPs are not associated with an internet service provider. This makes it easier for websites to identify proxy users and block them from accessing the website content.

Residential proxies, unlike datacenter proxies, rotate clients’ IP addresses each time they connect to a website. If you intend to collect a large amount of data, you must constantly rotate your IP address to avoid revealing your actual IP address. Otherwise, the website you’re trying to scrape will suspect your activity and block your IP address to prevent data scraping.

3. Cost:

Residential proxies offer a high level of anonymity and extensive geo-location targeting options. For this reason, the cost of residential proxies is typically higher than that of datacenter proxies.

4. Speed:

Datacenter proxies are faster than residential proxies because their IP addresses are sourced from a remote cloud server. If you need to complete tasks quickly, dedicated datacenter proxies are a good option. Because shared datacenter proxies are overused, they perform more slowly than dedicated ones.

Methodology for residential proxy benchmark

We tested residential proxies to measure their performance across common target platforms, including Amazon, Bing, eBay, and YouTube.

Benchmark frequency

A new benchmark cycle runs every 5 minutes, resulting in 288 cycles per day. This helps capture changes in proxy availability, response quality, and connection stability throughout the day.

Request volume

The residential proxy benchmark currently covers 10 vendors.

Validation logic

A request was counted as successful if it passed both checks:

Requests were marked as failed if they returned an error, timed out, triggered a CAPTCHA, or produced an empty or incomplete page.

Metrics

FAQs

Decodo is the most cost-effective option for scaling. While Webshare leads at lower bandwidths, Decodo reaches a peak value of 0.45 GB per $1 as monthly bandwidth increases beyond 1,000 GB, making it the cheapest choice for high-volume users.

Yes. Bright Data and Oxylabs offer a 7-day free trial for registered businesses. If you are an individual user, Thordata provides a $900 cashback bonus on your first deposit, making your initial testing phase virtually free.

Residential proxies serve as a gateway between clients and web servers, preventing clients’ actual API addresses from being revealed. They do that by masking the IP addresses of client machines and assigning a different IP address to each.

Based on IP rotation, residential proxies are divided into two groups:

1. Rotating residential proxies: Rotating residential proxies alter the IP addresses of their clients with each new request.
2. Static residential proxies: Static residential proxies assign clients the same IP address for each connection request to the destination.

Cite this benchmark

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Sedat Dogan and Gulbahar Karatas (2026) - "12 Best & Cheapest Residential Proxies in 2026 (Tested & Ranked)". Published online at AIMultiple.com. Retrieved June 15, 2026, from: https://aimultiple.com/residential-proxy-providers [Online Resource]

Dogan, S., & Karatas, G. (2026, June 15). 12 Best & Cheapest Residential Proxies in 2026 (Tested & Ranked). AIMultiple. https://aimultiple.com/residential-proxy-providers

@misc{dogan2026, author = {Dogan, Sedat and Karatas, Gulbahar}, title = {{12 Best & Cheapest Residential Proxies in 2026 (Tested & Ranked)}}, year = {2026}, month = jun, howpublished = {\url{https://aimultiple.com/residential-proxy-providers}}, note = {AIMultiple. Retrieved June 15, 2026} }

Results and timestamps of 14 data points. Download the data used in this article as a ZIP file containing one CSV file and a README.

Sedat Dogan

Sedat is a technology and information security leader with experience in software development, web data collection and cybersecurity. Sedat:
- Has ⁠20 years of experience as a white-hat hacker and development guru, with extensive expertise in programming languages and server architectures.
- Is an advisor to C-level executives and board members of corporations with high-traffic and mission-critical technology operations like payment infrastructure.
- ⁠Has extensive business acumen alongside his technical expertise.

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Researched by

Gulbahar Karatas

Gulbahar Karatas

Industry Analyst

Gülbahar is an AIMultiple industry analyst focused on web data collection, applications of web data and application security.

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