7 Best Residential Proxies in 2026 : Top Providers Reviewed

Choosing the Best Residential Proxies goes beyond comparing IP pool size or price. Real-world performance depends on factors such as geographic coverage, city and ASN targeting, rotation controls, sticky sessions, protocols, sourcing, testing options, bandwidth pricing, and scalability. 

This comparison evaluates seven providers to help you find the best residential proxies based on the practical requirements of residential proxy users. 

Quick Tip for Choosing the Best Residential Proxies 

Test the exact country and target website before buying a large residential proxy package. A provider advertising 195 countries does not guarantee identical performance in every location. Run at least 100 requests against your real target, record success rate and latency, and then compare the cost per successful request rather than the advertised cost per gigabyte.

How We Ranked the Best Residential Proxies

Residential proxies need a different evaluation framework from datacenter proxies.

For this comparison, we weighted residential IP pool size, geographic depth, IP rotation, sticky-session controls, city/ZIP/ASN targeting, protocol support, residential IP sourcing, trial availability, bandwidth pricing, and scalability.

We also looked at public customer ratings where available. We did not rank a provider higher simply because it advertised a larger IP count. A 400M-IP network is less useful if your required location performs poorly or the billing structure makes your actual workload too expensive.

7 Best Residential Proxies at a Glance

Provider	Best for	Residential starting price	Residential IP pool	Key targeting
Decodo	Best overall balance	$3.75/GB on 3GB plan, $4/GB PAYG	115M+	Country, state, city, ZIP, ASN
Oxylabs	Enterprise-scale scraping	$6/GB on 5GB plan	175M+	Country, state, city, ZIP
Bright Data	Largest network and advanced targeting	$5.88/GB	400M+	Country, state, city, ZIP, ASN
Webshare	Budget testing	From $1.40/GB at 250GB	80M+	Country, city, state, ZIP, ASN
SOAX	Granular geo targeting	$3/GB Tier 1 on $200 Builder	155M+ residential	Country, region, city, ISP, ZIP, ASN
IPRoyal	Flexible purchasing	$7/GB standard	64M+	Country and location targeting
DataImpulse	Lowest residential $/GB	$1/GB	90M+	Country, state, city, ZIP, ASN

Prices are based on provider pages checked in September 2026. Promotional prices, geographic tiers, and plan requirements can change

1. Decodo

Decodo is the strongest all-round residential proxy option in this comparison because it avoids forcing users into either a tiny budget network or an enterprise-only pricing model.

Its current residential network contains 115M+ IPs, with access across 195+ locations. Users can target countries, states, cities, ZIP codes, and ASNs, while residential endpoints support HTTP(S) and SOCKS5. Decodo also offers rotating and sticky sessions with session durations of up to 30 minutes.

That combination makes Decodo suitable for scraping, price monitoring, SEO monitoring, market research, and browser automation where the application needs both changing IPs and controlled sessions.

Best for: The best overall balance of residential pool size, targeting, session controls, developer tooling, and entry-level pricing.

Decodo Highlights

• Pool: 115M+ residential IPs.

• Coverage: 195+ locations.

• Protocols: HTTP(S) and SOCKS5.

• Targeting: Country, continent, state, city, ZIP code, and ASN.

• Rotation: Rotating sessions and sticky sessions.

• Sticky sessions: Up to 30 minutes.

• Concurrency: Unlimited concurrent sessions.

• Tooling: APIs, Python SDK, TypeScript SDK, CLI, browser tools, and integrations.

• Trial: 3-day residential trial with 100MB.

• Provider performance claim: 99.92% success rate and 99.99% uptime.

• Trustpilot: Approximately 4/5 overall, with recent 2026 reviews including positive comments about support and proxy quality.

What You Pay

Current residential pricing is: (VAT may apply.)

• 3GB: $3.75/GB, $11.25/month

• 10GB: $3.50/GB, $35/month

• 25GB: $3.25/GB, $81.25/month

• 50GB: $3/GB, $150/month

• 100GB: $2.75/GB, $275/month

• Pay As You Go: $4/GB

• Trial: 100MB for 3 days

Why Decodo: Decodo is the best starting point when you need 115M+ residential IPs, 195+ locations, SOCKS5, city and ASN targeting, and a residential entry point below many enterprise-focused competitors.

2. Oxylabs

Oxylabs sits at the premium end of the residential proxy market. Its residential network currently advertises 175M+ IPs, giving it a significantly larger pool than Decodo and Webshare while maintaining detailed geographic controls.

The service supports HTTP(S), HTTP3, and SOCKS5. Its residential product includes rotating and sticky sessions, unlimited concurrent sessions, geographic targeting, and a provider-reported 99.95% success rate. Oxylabs lists an average response time of 0.6 seconds for its residential network.

The main issue is price. Oxylabs makes considerably more sense for a company collecting large volumes of public data than for someone who needs 2GB for a one-off project.

Best for: High-volume residential scraping where pool size, targeting depth, infrastructure, and enterprise support justify premium pricing.

Oxylabs Highlights

• Pool: 175M+ residential IPs.

• Coverage: Global residential coverage.

• Protocols: HTTP(S), HTTP3, SOCKS5.

• Rotation: Rotating and sticky sessions.

• Concurrency: Unlimited concurrent sessions.

• Targeting: Country, state, city, ZIP and other geographic controls.

• Performance: Provider-reported 99.95% success rate.

• Response time: Provider-reported 0.6-second average.

• Support: 24/7 support.

• Trial: Residential trial available through the provider.

• Trustpilot: 4.0/5 from approximately 760 reviews.

What You Pay

Current residential plans include: (VAT may apply.)

• Starter: 5GB at $6/GB, $30/month

• Basic: 20GB at $5/GB, $100/month

• Advanced: 125GB at $4/GB, $500/month

• Corporate: 1TB at $2.50/GB, $2,500/month

Why Oxylabs: Choose Oxylabs when the project needs 175M+ residential IPs, HTTP3, SOCKS5, detailed targeting, and enterprise infrastructure and can justify a starting commitment of $30/month.

3. Bright Data

Bright Data is the scale-focused option in this comparison. Its residential network currently advertises 400M+ residential IPs across 195 countries, with targeting down to city, state, ZIP code, and ASN.

The network also supports rotating and sticky sessions, HTTP(S), SOCKS5, and QUIC-based residential connections. Bright Data combines its proxy network with products such as Proxy Manager and web data APIs, so it can serve as infrastructure for a larger scraping operation rather than simply providing proxy endpoints.

The downside is complexity. Bright Data offers enough products, billing models, compliance requirements, and configuration options that a small team can spend more time comparing plans than actually scraping.

Best for: The largest residential network, advanced geo-targeting, and organizations building large data-collection infrastructure.

Bright Data Highlights

• Pool: 400M+ residential IPs.

• Coverage: 195 countries.

• Targeting: Country, state, city, ZIP code, and ASN.

• Protocols: HTTP(S), SOCKS5, and QUIC.

• Sessions: Rotating and sticky.

• Tooling: Proxy Manager, APIs, Web Unlocker, and web scraping products.

• Success rate: Provider advertises 99.95%.

• Trial: Free options are available.

• Trustpilot: 4.5/5 with approximately 1,000 reviews.

• Compliance: Residential and mobile usage involves compliance/KYC requirements.

What You Pay

Bright Data’s current residential pricing page lists residential proxies starting at $5.88/GB.

Its residential pricing also uses different rates depending on plan and traffic volume, so the $5.88/GB entry figure should not be treated as the price for a large-scale contract.

Why Bright Data: Bright Data is the strongest option when the requirement is scale. Its 400M+ residential IPs, 195 countries, ASN targeting, and additional data infrastructure make it suitable for organizations operating large residential proxy workloads.

4. Webshare

Webshare takes the opposite approach from Bright Data. Instead of leading with enterprise data infrastructure, it emphasizes self-service access and lower-cost plans.

Its current residential product advertises 80M+ ethically sourced residential IPs across 195 countries, with country, city, state, ZIP, and ASN targeting. Residential pricing reaches $1.40/GB at 250GB on the current pricing page.

Webshare also has a separate free proxy product. Users can obtain 10 free proxies without a credit card, making it useful for testing proxy authentication and basic application behavior.

The free proxies should not be confused with the residential network. They are a testing option, not a substitute for a production residential pool.

Best for: Budget-conscious users who want residential proxies with simple self-service management and a very low starting barrier.

Webshare Highlights

• Residential pool: 80M+ IPs.

• Coverage: 195 countries.

• Targeting: Country, city, state, ZIP, ASN.

• Protocols: HTTP(S) and SOCKS5.

• Pricing: Residential rates as low as $1.40/GB at 250GB.

• Free proxy option: 10 proxies.

• Free allowance: Available without a credit card.

• Tooling: Dashboard, API, proxy management, browser extension.

• Sourcing: Provider describes its residential network as ethically sourced.

• Trustpilot: Approximately 4/5 from more than 1,400 reviews.

What You Pay

The current residential pricing page advertises:

• Starting advertised volume rate: $1.40/GB

• Minimum volume for that displayed rate: 250GB

• Higher-volume plans: Rates vary by bandwidth package.

• Free proxy tier: 10 proxies, separate from the residential product.

Webshare currently displays promotional pricing on some plans, so confirm the checkout price before publication.

Why Webshare: Webshare is a strong budget choice when you want 80M+ residential IPs, 195-country coverage, detailed targeting, and a low effective $/GB rate without starting with an enterprise contract.

5. SOAX

SOAX is particularly interesting for projects where country-level targeting is not enough. Its current residential network contains more than 155M residential IPs, while the broader SOAX network exceeds 191M IPs when mobile addresses are included.

The service operates across 195 geolocations and supports targeting by country, region, city, ISP, ZIP code, and ASN depending on plan.

SOAX also allows customized rotation and sticky sessions. Mobile sessions can remain active for up to 60 minutes, while the platform supports HTTP(S), SOCKS5, and UDP/QUIC.

Its biggest disadvantage is the monthly commitment.

Best for: Granular geographic targeting, residential and mobile traffic, and workloads that need detailed session control.

SOAX Highlights

• Residential pool: 155M+ IPs.

• Broader network: 191M+ IPs including mobile.

• Coverage: 195 geolocations.

• Targeting: Country, region, city, ISP, ZIP, ASN.

• Protocols: HTTP(S), SOCKS5, UDP/QUIC.

• Rotation: Custom rotation and sticky sessions.

• Mobile sessions: Up to 60 minutes.

• Tooling: Web Optimizer, MaxIP, dashboard, integrations.

• Trial: Free Sandbox.

• Uptime: Provider/reviewer reports 99.9%.

• Trustpilot: 3.4/5 from 149 reviews.

What You Pay

SOAX currently uses a credit-based model:

• Sandbox: $0/month, Tier 1 usage at $5/GB

• Builder: $200/month, Tier 1 usage at $3/GB

• Team: $500/month, Tier 1 usage at $2.20/GB

• Scale: $1,500/month, Tier 1 usage at $1.50/GB

• Enterprise: $3,000/month, Tier 1 usage at $0.85/GB

Geographic tiers can change the effective per-GB rate. The current pricing page lists Tier 1 at $3/GB on Builder, while Tier 2 and Tier 3 locations cost less.

Why SOAX: SOAX makes sense when geographic precision matters more than entry price. Its 155M+ residential IPs, 195 locations, ISP targeting, ASN targeting, and configurable sessions give it a strong position for location-sensitive data collection.

6. IPRoyal

IPRoyal focuses on flexibility rather than maximum network size. Its residential service currently advertises 64M+ genuine residential IPs, with pricing starting at $7/GB and bulk pricing reaching $1.75/GB.

One feature stands out for buyers who use proxies intermittently: IPRoyal says residential traffic does not expire. That means unused purchased traffic can remain available rather than disappearing at the end of a billing period.

The trade-off is straightforward. IPRoyal’s starting price is high, and its pool is much smaller than Bright Data’s 400M+ and Oxylabs’ 175M+ advertised networks.

Best for: Buyers who want residential traffic with flexible purchasing and no forced short expiration window on unused traffic.

IPRoyal Highlights

• Pool: 64M+ residential IPs.

• Coverage: 195+ locations.

• Protocols: HTTP(S) and SOCKS5.

• Rotation: Rotating residential proxies.

• Traffic: Purchased traffic does not expire.

• Proxy types: Residential, ISP, datacenter, mobile.

• Starting price: $7/GB.

• Bulk rate: From $1.75/GB.

• Trial: Free demo options are available.

• Trustpilot: Current Trustpilot profile does not provide a standard overall score because the profile has a restriction.

What You Pay

Current residential pricing includes:

• Starting rate: $7/GB

• 2GB: $5.95/GB

• 10GB: $5.25/GB

• Bulk/custom: From $1.75/GB

The exact bulk price depends on the traffic volume purchased.

Why IPRoyal: IPRoyal is worth considering when proxy usage is intermittent and traffic that never expires matters more than having the largest possible IP pool.

7. DataImpulse

DataImpulse is the price-focused choice in this list. Its residential service currently advertises 90M+ ethical residential IPs across 195 countries and charges $1/GB on a pay-as-you-go basis.

The provider says traffic never expires, and its residential product supports country targeting, HTTP(S), SOCKS5, rotating sessions, sticky sessions, API access, and IP authorization.

That $1/GB price is unusually low compared with premium residential providers. The important question is not whether DataImpulse is cheaper. It is whether its performance against your target makes the lower bandwidth price translate into a lower cost per successful request.

Best for: Low-cost residential traffic where the main requirement is a simple pay-as-you-go model with broad geographic coverage.

DataImpulse Highlights

• Pool: 90M+ residential IPs.

• Coverage: 195 countries.

• Protocols: HTTP(S) and SOCKS5.

• Sessions: Rotating and sticky.

• Targeting: Country, with state, city, ZIP and ASN targeting also advertised.

• Billing: Pay as you go.

• Traffic: Does not expire.

• Starting price: $1/GB.

• Refund: 7-day refund policy.

• Support: 24/7 support.

• API: Available.

• IP authorization: Available.

• Sourcing: Provider says its residential IPs are first-party and consent-based.

• G2: DataImpulse’s own comparison material cites a 4.8/5 G2 rating.

What You Pay

The current residential product uses pay-as-you-go pricing:

• Intro: $5 credit at $1/GB

• Basic: $50 for 50GB

• Advanced: Higher-volume packages

• Pay As You Go: $1/GB

• Traffic expiration: None

The provider currently describes $1/GB as its standard residential rate.

Why DataImpulse: DataImpulse is the provider to test first when bandwidth cost is the primary constraint. Its $1/GB PAYG rate, 90M+ residential IPs, 195-country coverage, and non-expiring traffic make it unusually easy to budget.

Residential Proxy Decision Matrix

Choosing between these providers becomes easier when the requirement is specific.

For the best overall balance, start with Decodo. Its 115M+ IP pool, 195+ locations, SOCKS5 support, city and ASN targeting, 30-minute sticky sessions, and $4/GB PAYG model give it a strong combination of capability and entry price.

For maximum network size, test Bright Data. Its advertised 400M+ residential IPs and 195-country reach put it at the top for raw network scale.

For enterprise scraping, test Oxylabs. Its 175M+ IP pool, HTTP3, SOCKS5, and enterprise-oriented infrastructure justify its higher $6/GB Starter rate when volume and consistency matter.

For advanced location targeting, SOAX is the more specialized option. Its residential network exceeds 155M IPs and its platform supports city, ISP, ZIP, and ASN targeting, but the first paid plan starts at $200/month.

For budget-conscious volume, Webshare and DataImpulse are the first two services to benchmark. Webshare reaches $1.40/GB at 250GB, while DataImpulse charges $1/GB PAYG.

For intermittent proxy usage, IPRoyal and DataImpulse are attractive because their residential traffic does not expire.

How to Test Residential Proxies

Do not evaluate residential proxies solely from the provider dashboard.

A useful benchmark should reproduce your actual workload.

1. Check the outgoing IP

With cURL:

curl -x http://USERNAME:PASSWORD@PROXY_HOST:PROXY_PORT \

  https://api.ipify.org?format=json

Record the returned IP.

Then run the request again through the same proxy endpoint.

For a rotating endpoint, compare the returned addresses across at least 20 requests.

2. Measure success rate

Run at least 100 requests against your target.

Record:

• Successful HTTP responses

• HTTP 403 responses

• HTTP 429 responses

• Connection failures

• Timeouts

• CAPTCHA responses

• Average latency

• Proxy IP

• Target location

Then calculate:

Success Rate =

Successful Requests / Total Requests × 100

If 97 requests succeed out of 100:

97 / 100 × 100 = 97%

Do this separately for each provider.

3. Measure cost per successful request

Suppose Provider A costs $1/GB and Provider B costs $4/GB.

Provider A looks four times cheaper.

But if Provider A succeeds on 70% of requests while Provider B succeeds on 98%, the difference in useful output can dramatically reduce Provider A’s apparent advantage.

A better measurement is:

Cost per successful request =

Proxy spend / Successful requests

That number is more useful than the advertised $/GB figure.

4. Test sticky sessions

Residential proxies do not all handle sessions the same way.

Run a login-style workflow using a sticky endpoint:

import requests

proxy = “http://USERNAME:PASSWORD@PROXY_HOST:PROXY_PORT“

proxies = {

    “http”: proxy,

    “https”: proxy,

}

session = requests.Session()

for i in range(5):

    response = session.get(

        “https://api.ipify.org?format=json“,

        proxies=proxies,

        timeout=15,

    )

    print(i + 1, response.json())

The goal is to determine whether the same IP remains associated with the session.

Do not assume that a provider’s phrase “sticky session” means the IP will remain unchanged indefinitely.

Decodo currently lists sticky sessions up to 30 minutes, while SOAX reports configurable sessions and mobile sticky sessions up to 60 minutes.

5. Test geographic accuracy

If your project needs US traffic, test US traffic.

If it needs New York, test New York.

If it needs a specific ASN, test that ASN.

Check the returned IP using an independent IP geolocation service and compare:

• Country

• State

• City

• ISP

• ASN

A provider that offers country-level targeting but consistently returns the wrong city is not a suitable choice for a city-sensitive workflow.

Rotating vs. Sticky Residential Proxies

The choice between rotating and sticky residential proxies depends on the application.

Rotating residential proxies

A rotating endpoint changes the IP address according to the provider’s configured rotation policy.

Use this model for:

• Large public-data collection

• Price monitoring

• SEO monitoring

• Search-result collection

• Broad market research

• High-volume page requests

The main benefit is IP diversity.

The main disadvantage is that a changing IP can break workflows that expect the same client identity across multiple requests.

Sticky residential proxies

A sticky session attempts to preserve the same residential IP for a defined period.

Use this model for:

• Multi-step forms

• Authentication flows

• Shopping sessions

• Account workflows

• Browser automation

• Long sequences of related requests

The critical variable is session duration.

For example, Decodo advertises sticky sessions up to 30 minutes, while SOAX supports configurable sessions and mobile sessions up to 60 minutes.

If your workflow takes 45 minutes and your provider only guarantees a 30-minute sticky session, the architecture needs to account for that change.

How Many Residential IPs Do You Need?

There is no universal number.

The correct pool size depends on concurrency, request volume, target restrictions, session duration, and rotation frequency.

A scraper making 10 concurrent requests does not automatically require 10 dedicated residential IPs.

Likewise, a browser automation system running 100 simultaneous sessions may need a significantly larger pool if every session must maintain a distinct residential identity.

Start with a small test.

Measure:

1. Requests per minute

2. Concurrent sessions

3. Average session duration

4. IP reuse

5. HTTP failures

6. CAPTCHA frequency

7. Bandwidth consumption

Then increase the pool until adding additional IPs stops producing a meaningful improvement.

Are Cheap Residential Proxies Worth It?

Sometimes.

The important distinction is between cheap pricing and cheap traffic.

DataImpulse currently charges $1/GB, and Webshare reaches $1.40/GB at 250GB. Those are legitimate provider offers rather than random free proxy-list prices.

But a $1/GB provider that succeeds on 60% of requests may cost more per usable result than a $4/GB provider that succeeds on 95%.

The correct benchmark is therefore:

cost per successful result, not cost per gigabyte.

Free public residential proxy lists are a different category. They can have unknown ownership, poor uptime, contaminated IP reputation, and security risks. They should not be treated as equivalent to a paid residential proxy network.

Quick links

• Best Proxy Providers
• Best Datacenter Proxy Providers
• Best Residential Proxies

Choose Bright Data when network scale and targeting depth matter most, with 400M+ residential IPs across 195 countries. Choose Oxylabs for enterprise workloads that can justify $30/month for 5GB and need a 175M+ residential pool.

For lower-cost traffic, benchmark DataImpulse at $1/GB and Webshare at $1.40/GB at 250GB against your actual target. For granular geographic control, SOAX is compelling, but its $200/month Builder plan makes it unsuitable for many small projects. IPRoyal remains useful when non-expiring traffic matters more than the lowest starting rate.

If you are starting a new residential proxy project today, test Decodo first and use DataImpulse as the low-cost benchmark.

FAQs : Best Residential Proxies in 2026