Best Residential Proxies for 2027: Pricing & Buying Guide
The best residential proxy for your scraper is the one that delivers the right regional data, supports your request flow and fits the bandwidth you will actually use. Compare the full commitment, targeting and session controls before buying a large allowance.
Running your own scraper? Start with ScrapingAnt residential proxies: HTTP/HTTPS, country/state/city targeting, optional sticky sessions and unlimited concurrency. Start at $30/month for 5 GB ($6/GB), or choose $3/GB with Enterprise at $3,000/month for 1,000 GB.
We rebuilt this guide for teams planning their 2027 proxy purchases. Pricing and documentation were checked on October 15, 2026; these are current offers, not verified future-year prices. The original publication remains May 13, 2023.
How we selected these eight providers: direct residential access, documented integration and session controls, and public pricing that helps a buyer understand the commitment. ScrapingAnt publishes this guide and sells one of the products compared. Recommendations below are based on documented fit and published terms, not a comparative hands-on performance test. The order is not a speed or success-rate ranking. We also ran the bounded ScrapingAnt connection and short-session check described below.
What are residential proxies?
A residential proxy routes your client's web requests through an exit IP assigned by a consumer internet service provider. For a scraper, that makes the exit location and session behavior part of the data-collection setup. You still control the requests, cookies, parsing and validation unless you choose a separate managed scraping service.
Choose a residential proxy for your workload
| Your buying situation | What to prioritize | Where to start |
|---|---|---|
| You already run a scraper and need regional exits | HTTP client compatibility, target locations, rotation, monthly GB | ScrapingAnt: keep your client and add a documented proxy connection |
| A sequence must keep the same exit | Sticky-session duration and behavior if a peer disconnects | ScrapingAnt for flows within its documented up-to-10-minute session window |
| Usage is occasional or unpredictable | Small purchase, expiry and recurring commitment | Compare IPRoyal or DataImpulse prepaid traffic and Decodo pay-as-you-go against your forecast |
| Your required filter is ZIP, ASN or coordinates | Exact filter support on the chosen product | Check Decodo, Bright Data or Oxylabs for your specific targeting requirement |
| Several teams need separate access and spend controls | Users, packages, limits and geographic billing | Evaluate SOAX package controls or Bright Data account controls |
| You want someone else to run page rendering | Managed retrieval and its credit cost | ScrapingAnt Web Scraping API, billed separately from direct proxies |
Choose a residential bandwidth plan, connect your HTTP client and use rotation for independent pages or a sticky ID for related requests. All listed ScrapingAnt residential tiers include unlimited concurrency and 24/7 support.
Residential proxy pricing: compare the commitment
The table compares standalone proxy access. USD amounts are the public offers observed on October 15, 2026. Tax treatment follows each source; this is not a tax-inclusive quote. Monthly allowances, prepaid GB and shared usage credits are different purchase models.
| Provider | Concrete purchase example | Rate and commitment | Buying implication |
|---|---|---|---|
| ScrapingAnt | Micro: 5 GB for $30/month | $6/GB; $30 monthly plan | Start with a defined allowance; larger tiers below |
| Decodo | 3 GB for $11.25/month, plus VAT | $3.75/GB; PAYG also listed at $4/GB plus VAT | Choose subscription or PAYG to match usage |
| IPRoyal | PAYG 1 GB for $7.35 | $7.35/GB for that purchase; subscription pricing is separate | Provider says purchased traffic does not expire |
| Bright Data | PAYG displayed at $4/GB with RESIGB50 | Promotional rate, displayed against $8/GB; no monthly commitment | Check coupon eligibility and renewal pricing |
| Oxylabs | Starter: $30/month; up to 5 GB if spent entirely on residential | $6/GB residential rate; VAT may apply | Shared subscription balance, not an extra 5 GB for every product |
| SOAX | Builder: $200/month in plan credits; US 100 GB calculator totals $300 excluding VAT | US Tier 1: $3/GB; example uses $100 extra credits | Cost depends on plan, egress-country tier and usage |
| Webshare | 1 GB displayed at $3.50/month | $3.50/GB; discounted monthly offer, auto-renews | Small monthly purchase with detailed location filters |
| DataImpulse | Intro: $5 for 5 GB once for new customers; Basic: $50 for 50 GB | $1/GB for these purchases; prepaid, no subscription | Traffic does not expire; finer targeting costs extra |
These are specified purchase examples, not each provider's lowest advertised rate. Compare an offer you can actually buy for your volume. A high-volume headline or temporary coupon is not an entry-level price.
ScrapingAnt plans: pick the bandwidth your project needs
| Monthly bandwidth | Monthly plan price | Price per included GB |
|---|---|---|
| 5 GB · Micro | $30 | $6.00 |
| 10 GB · Micro+ | $55 | $5.50 |
| 25 GB · Regular | $130 | $5.20 |
| 50 GB · Advanced | $245 | $4.90 |
| 100 GB · Advanced+ | $450 | $4.50 |
| 250 GB · Startup | $1,000 | $4.00 |
| 500 GB · Business | $1,750 | $3.50 |
| 1,000 GB · Enterprise | $3,000 | $3.00 |
Every row is a monthly commitment, with direct-proxy GB separate from API credits. If you expect to use 500 GB, Business gives you that allowance for $1,750/month. Enterprise's $3/GB rate requires the full $3,000/month commitment for 1,000 GB. Choose the allowance from measured traffic, then get your residential plan. For needs beyond these tiers, discuss your volume and locations.
Check trial, expiry and renewal terms before purchase
| Provider | Terms established by the checked public source | Still confirm for your order |
|---|---|---|
| ScrapingAnt | Monthly bandwidth plans; API free credits are a separate offer | Direct-proxy trial/refund eligibility, unused-GB treatment, overage and renewal/cancellation terms |
| Decodo | PAYG has no monthly commitment; eligible subscriptions have a 14-day money-back option | Refund conditions, trial eligibility, traffic expiry and renewal terms |
| IPRoyal | Advertises non-expiring traffic and PAYG with zero monthly minimum | Subscription renewal, refund eligibility and current checkout amount |
| Bright Data | PAYG without monthly commitment; displayed promotion | Coupon duration, trial eligibility, refund, renewal and any targeting charges on your order |
| Oxylabs | Welcome credits toward products; self-service purchases are non-refundable | Credit expiry, overage and renewal terms for the selected subscription |
| SOAX | Sandbox has no subscription fee or included credits; credits added on Sandbox or monthly plans expire after 60 days; annual-plan credits expire after 12 months | Checkout credit price, refund and plan renewal/cancellation terms |
| Webshare | Monthly billing with auto-renewal; displayed discounted price | Renewal price, unused-GB treatment, refund conditions and target restrictions |
| DataImpulse | No subscription or monthly minimum; unused traffic never expires; Intro is a one-time new-customer offer | Subsequent top-up amount, advanced-targeting charges and refund conditions |
An unknown term is not a benefit or a penalty in this comparison. Use the linked current pricing and checkout terms for the order you are placing.
Residential proxy providers: which fits your project?
ScrapingAnt — add residential exits to your existing scraper
Choose ScrapingAnt when you want to keep your HTTP client, parsing logic and workers. Point a standard HTTP/HTTPS proxy client at the documented endpoint; no vendor SDK is required. Put country, state, city and session parameters in the username. The residential setup documentation covers HTTP on port 8080, HTTPS on port 443 and Basic authentication.
The practical buying case is control without a separate per-request proxy allowance: distribute independent pages across workers, target the location your dataset needs, and use the same sticky ID for a related sequence. Unlimited concurrency is included across the residential tiers; your scraper should still respect target rate limits. The documented sticky-session maximum is up to 10 minutes, so design longer workflows around that boundary.
For regional price monitoring, keep location, currency, product identity and collection time in the accepted record. For listings or classifieds, validate that the returned data matches the requested region. For ad verification, check your campaign placement and landing destination from the required country or city, then validate the regional content returned. For your own short account or checkout QA flow, keep cookies and the session ID together. A residential exit alone does not prove the right content or complete the browser interaction.
Start with Micro at $30/month for 5 GB ($6/GB) when that allowance fits your regional monitoring pilot, then follow the linked setup reference. For established throughput, Business includes 500 GB for $1,750/month ($3.50/GB); Enterprise includes 1,000 GB for $3,000/month ($3/GB). The same documented targeting and concurrency benefits apply across the listed tiers. Choose your plan and get residential access →
If your workflow requires SOCKS5, ZIP/ASN filtering or a documented sticky window longer than 10 minutes, evaluate a provider documenting those requirements. If you need managed rendering and retries, use ScrapingAnt's separate API path below. Direct proxies route traffic; they do not render JavaScript for your HTTP client.
What we checked ourselves on ScrapingAnt
On October 15, 2026, we made 16 direct-proxy requests with curl 8.7.1 to our own IP-check endpoint, https://scrapingbin.link/ip. Each request opened a fresh connection, with a 20-second timeout, no automatic retries and no followed redirects. A pass required HTTP 200 and a valid IP-address JSON response.
| Check | Requests | Observed result |
|---|---|---|
| HTTP proxy on port 8080 | 2 | Both passed |
| HTTPS proxy on port 443 | 2 | Both passed |
| Rotation, with US and GB country parameters | 6 | Six different exit IPs observed; country accuracy was not independently verified |
| Two sticky session IDs, interleaved | 3 per ID | Each ID retained one exit across its three requests, over approximately 40–42 seconds; the two IDs used different exits |
This confirms connection and short-session behavior for that small endpoint sample. It does not measure production-site acceptance, capacity, ten-minute session survival or performance against other providers. We recorded 500 response-body bytes; protocol overhead and provider-accounted billing were not fully measured. Sanitized method and results include the conservative traffic-budget controls, with no credentials or raw IPs.
Decodo — subscription or pay-as-you-go with detailed targeting
Decodo, formerly Smartproxy, lists HTTP(S)/SOCKS5, rotation/sticky options and country, state, city, ZIP and ASN targeting. Shortlist it when one of those finer filters is a requirement. The displayed 3 GB subscription is $11.25/month plus VAT ($3.75/GB); PAYG is $4/GB plus VAT without a monthly commitment. Eligible subscriptions have a 14-day money-back option, subject to refund terms. Compare the purchase model and required locations before choosing it for intermittent work.
IPRoyal — prepaid traffic for irregular jobs
IPRoyal's pricing page advertises non-expiring traffic and PAYG with zero monthly minimum. Its displayed 1 GB PAYG purchase is $7.35; a separate discounted subscription price is shown. This is a useful shortlist option when jobs are sporadic and expiry matters more than a large monthly allowance. It advertises rotation and sticky sessions up to seven days; treat that as a provider-declared maximum, not proof that a particular peer survives your whole flow. Confirm session behavior and checkout terms for your task.
Bright Data — granular targeting and account controls
Bright Data documents country, city, ZIP and ASN targeting, sticky/rotating sessions, sub-users and usage/spending controls. Evaluate it when procurement needs those specific controls. The checked page displays promotional PAYG at $4/GB with coupon RESIGB50 against $8/GB, without monthly commitment. This guide does not assume that promotion lasts into 2027. Confirm eligible traffic and final charges.
Oxylabs — a shared product subscription
Oxylabs' current pricing lists Starter at $30/month and a $6/GB residential rate: up to 5 GB when the balance is used only for residential traffic. The subscription can fund other products, so do not count that balance twice. Its residential product page documents filters including ZIP, coordinates and ASN. Shortlist it when those filters or shared product spending fit your procurement. The pricing FAQ says self-service purchases are non-refundable and some target categories are restricted; check target eligibility before buying.
SOAX — packages and geographic usage tiers
SOAX describes separate proxy packages with access, traffic caps and domain controls. Its pricing uses plan credits and egress-country tiers. The US 100 GB example totals $300 excluding VAT on Builder: $200 monthly plan plus $100 extra credits at the $3/GB Tier 1 rate. Evaluate it when package-level control and a mixed-country budget matter. Sandbox has no subscription fee and no included credits; it is not free traffic. Credits added on Sandbox or monthly plans expire after 60 days; annual-plan credits expire after 12 months. Model your actual country mix before committing.
Webshare — a small monthly purchase with fine location filters
Webshare's rotating residential product lists HTTP/SOCKS5 and country, state, city, ZIP and ASN targeting. Consider it for a small recurring job that needs those filters: the checked page displays 1 GB for $3.50/month, discounted from $7, with auto-renewal. Its $1.40/GB headline requires 3,000 GB for $4,200/month. Compare the allowance your job needs and confirm renewal pricing and unused-GB treatment; the smallest purchase and the lowest unit rate are different plans.
DataImpulse — non-expiring prepaid traffic for intermittent work
DataImpulse offers 5 GB for $5 once for new customers and a Basic 50 GB purchase for $50 ($1/GB). It advertises no subscription or monthly minimum, and unused traffic never expires. Shortlist it when country-targeted jobs run irregularly and you want to use prepaid traffic across them. Country targeting is included; city, ZIP and ASN filters carry extra costs. Price your required filters and next top-up before extending the Intro rate to your whole workload.
How to find cheap residential proxies without wasting bandwidth
A lower unit rate helps only when the allowance and accepted output fit your job. Separate these two calculations:
- Effective cost per used GB = actual proxy spend ÷ GB actually consumed. Include the full plan commitment and any overage.
- Cost per accepted record = total collection cost ÷ records passing your checks. Include proxy spend, browser/compute and relevant operating cost. Define a record's required fields, freshness and region before measuring.
For example, ScrapingAnt Business is $1,750/month for 500 GB ($3.50 per included GB). If a hypothetical workload consumes only 250 GB of that plan, its effective proxy spend is $7 per used GB. This is utilization arithmetic, not a measured customer result. Pick a smaller fitting allowance or a larger plan when your forecast justifies it.
A planning example: 100,000 responses × 200 KB = 20 GB using decimal units, before request traffic, headers, retries and browser assets. At 1 MB per response, that same response count becomes 100 GB. Neither estimate is a provider billing receipt. Measure the transfer your client actually causes and compare it with the provider's meter.
Prioritize the controls that change the bill: avoid downloading unnecessary assets, stop retry loops, cache data that does not need refreshing, and reject empty or wrong-region pages before treating them as successful records. See our residential proxy bandwidth guide for planning the collection workload.
Buying criteria that matter more than a pool-size headline
Targeting: request the region, validate the data
A provider's worldwide pool size does not establish available peers in your required city at your collection time. Specify countries, state/city filters and any required ASN/ZIP support. Check whether those filters change the price. Validate the returned currency, locale and known regional markers as well as the observed exit location.
For regional collection with country/state/city targeting, ScrapingAnt's residential product gives you a concrete integration and bandwidth choice. Start with the geography your dataset needs; do not buy a worldwide headline.
Rotation and sticky sessions: match the request flow
Rotate independent page fetches when the workflow does not depend on an exit IP. Keep a sticky ID for related requests that need a consistent exit. Session maximums, early peer disconnects and recovery behavior matter more than the word “sticky.” ScrapingAnt documents up to 10 minutes; a sticky session is not a permanent or dedicated IP.
Integration and support: verify your real client
Confirm proxy protocol, authentication, DNS behavior and session syntax with the software you will run. A browser extension is optional when your HTTP client supports the proxy directly. ScrapingAnt's buying and setup guide walks through that next step; its official setup reference owns the connection parameters. Published 24/7 support is an entitlement, not a measured response-time SLA.
Evaluation: count usable results, not just HTTP 200
Run a small authorized pilot with fixed targets, locations, request settings, timeouts and a traffic cap. Record all attempts, failed/partial responses, retries, transferred bytes and accepted records. For comparisons, use the same workload across providers and repeat at more than one time. Report sample size and test conditions. An IP-check response tests connectivity; it does not measure production anti-bot success.
Ask for sourcing/consent documentation and retention/access terms when your procurement requires them. This guide does not independently audit any provider's network sourcing or privacy practices. Residential addressing does not promise anonymity or permission to collect particular data.
Direct residential proxy or managed Web Scraping API?
Choose direct proxies when you already manage fetching or browser automation. Keep your scraper, route its traffic and buy a GB allowance. If the content is already available through an authorized feed or works through your existing connection, an additional residential proxy may not be needed.
Choose the ScrapingAnt Web Scraping API when you want managed browser rendering and retrieval. For the API's residential mode, the documented credit schedule lists 25 credits for a simple no-browser request and 125 credits for JavaScript rendering. These are API credits, not direct-proxy GB or a promise of accepted records. The API free-credit offer does not include a standalone residential bandwidth allowance.
Already comparing managed APIs? Use our ScraperAPI alternative comparison to evaluate the relevant request modes and plan commitments. Keep that calculation separate from buying a residential proxy connection.
Residential proxy buying FAQs
Which residential proxies are best for web scraping?
Choose by your target locations, session requirements, client support and cost per accepted record. ScrapingAnt is a strong fit for an existing HTTP/HTTPS scraper that needs country/state/city targeting, rotation, short sticky sessions and a clear monthly bandwidth allowance. Use the comparison above when your required filters or purchase model differ.
How much do ScrapingAnt residential proxies cost?
Plans start at $30/month for 5 GB ($6/GB). Business is $1,750/month for 500 GB ($3.50/GB). Enterprise is $3,000/month for 1,000 GB ($3/GB). The full monthly commitment applies; $3/GB is not the Micro price. Compare all residential plans.
Can I use residential proxies with Python, curl or a browser?
ScrapingAnt documents standard HTTP/HTTPS proxy access with Basic authentication. Use a client supporting that interface; see the connection instructions and curl proxy guide.
Does a residential proxy guarantee no blocks or CAPTCHAs?
No. A residential exit changes the network route; target controls, request behavior and content requirements still apply. Validate accepted data and failures on your authorized workload before scaling.
Are these 2027 prices?
They are offers checked on October 15, 2026 for this 2027 planning edition. Prices, promotions and terms can change. Follow each official source for the offer available when you buy.
Get residential proxies for your next collection job
Keep your scraper. Add residential exits, choose the required country/state/city targeting, and match rotation or a sticky ID to the flow. Start with 5 GB for $30/month ($6/GB); choose 500 GB for $1,750/month ($3.50/GB) or 1,000 GB for $3,000/month ($3/GB) when that monthly allowance fits your workload. Unlimited concurrency and 24/7 support are included in the listed plans.
Get ScrapingAnt residential proxies → · Choose your bandwidth plan →
Prepared with AI assistance. Provider pricing and documentation were checked on October 15, 2026; the bounded ScrapingAnt connection/session check was run that day. Recommendations reflect the documented use cases and terms above; no comparative live proxy benchmark was performed for this edition.