What 100 GB a month costs on the same terms at each vendor, and the day that figure was read
| Provider | At 100 GB/mo | Per GB | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| DataImpulseCheapestNever expires | $100+VAT | $1 | |
| Thordata | $150 | $1.50 | |
| Decodoformerly Smartproxy | $275+VAT | $2.75 | |
| Bright Data | $400 | $4 | |
| IPRoyalEstimated | $490 | $4.90 | |
| Oxylabs | $500 | $5 | |
| SOAX | $500+VAT | $5 |
Prices come from each vendor's own pricing page. Rows are ordered by monthly cost — a partnership does not move one.
An independent, vendor-neutral data reference on the 2026 residential-proxy market: per-GB pricing ($2.00–$7.35), advertised pool sizes, free trials, and compliance/KYC across Oxylabs, Bright Data, Decodo, and IPRoyal — every figure dated and sourced (July 2026, USD).
8 min read
Independent comparison of the best residential proxies in 2026. Every provider we track compared on per-GB pricing, trials, targeting and compliance, with Oxylabs, Bright Data, Decodo and IPRoyal profiled in depth.
22 min read
A complete web scraping guide for 2026: lawful use cases, the legal landscape, proxy types, build-vs-buy decisions, and how to choose compliant infrastructure.
18 min read
DataImpulse review: $1/GB residential proxies that never expire, checked against five dated pool measurements, the 2× targeting fee, the refund fine print and the IP supply chain.
20 min read
We compare the best SERP APIs of 2026 — Decodo, Oxylabs, Bright Data, Thordata and SearchApi.io — on published per-1K pricing, JavaScript rendering, free tiers, and the costs a rate card does not show.
19 min read
Vendors publish pool size, never pool composition. A pre-registered, free-sources-only method for measuring how much of a residential proxy pool exits through hosting networks — plus five dated runs on DataImpulse's US pool, the latest reading 0% by the rule while one unclassified network supplied 9.7%.
29 min read
How to store scraped data with SQLAlchemy 2.0: declarative models, connection-pool sizing, idempotent ON CONFLICT upserts, bulk inserts, asyncio sessions, retry policy and Alembic migrations — with runnable code and the official defaults.
19 min read
Thordata review for 2026: prepaid residential packages from $2.00/GB down to $0.65/GB, a one-month expiry the pricing page never mentions, published scraping-API rates the vendor told us did not exist, and an IP supply chain it declines to document.
12 min read
Bright Data pricing for 2026 in one ledger: residential proxies at $4.00/GB pay-as-you-go down to $2.50/GB, Web Unlocker at $1.50 per 1K requests, what the 50%-off promo hides, and the KYC gate before residential access.
9 min read
Oxylabs pricing for 2026 in one ledger: residential proxies from $6.00/GB down to $2.50/GB, Web Unblocker from $9.40 down to $5.00/GB, Web Scraper API from $0.25 per 1K results, and why no pay-as-you-go rate is published.
10 min read
SOAX review for 2026: credit-based pricing from $5.00/GB down to $0.85/GB, a geography multiplier that breaks naive comparisons, no free trial, and the sourcing policy we could not find.
9 min read
On 2 July 2026 the FBI and IRS-CI seized domains belonging to residential proxy provider NetNut, alleging ties to the 2-million-device Popa botnet. What is confirmed, what is still an allegation, and how to check whether your own traffic was exposed.
8 min read
Choosing proxies for AI agents that browse and act on the live web — research assistants, computer-use/browser agents, and live RAG. Residential for defended and geo-specific sites, a managed unblocker for hardened targets, with low latency, sticky sessions, and concurrency for agent fleets (2026, USD).
12 min read
How to choose proxies for cyber threat intelligence — phishing and scam detection, brand and domain abuse, leaked-credential and OSINT monitoring across regions. Residential to defeat geo/device cloaking, with authorized, defensive, public-data-only scope (July 2026, USD).
8 min read
Choose proxies for fintech and investment research — public market data, competitor rates and fees, filings, and alternative data. Residential for geo-accurate, high-trust collection, with the catch that many providers restrict financial targets. Strictly public, non-personal data (July 2026, USD).
7 min read
The best datacenter proxies — the cheapest and fastest of the three families, for high-volume collection from lightly defended targets. Verify a target tolerates datacenter IPs first, then choose by need: Oxylabs, Bright Data, Decodo, or IPRoyal (July 2026, USD).
5 min read
Bright Data vs IPRoyal (July 2026, USD): Bright Data has $4.00/GB, a claimed 400M-plus pool, and the strictest KYC (companies only); IPRoyal counters at $7.35/GB with non-expiring traffic, 7-day sessions, and self-serve access — compared by use case.
5 min read
What datacenter proxies are, compared on IP origin, speed, price, and detectability. How they differ from residential, shared vs dedicated, what they suit and what they don't, and how to pick a provider (prices in USD, July 2026).
5 min read
Looking for a Decodo (formerly Smartproxy) alternative? The best switches by use case — Oxylabs for precision and scale, Bright Data for the largest pool and strictest KYC, IPRoyal for non-expiring traffic — plus where Decodo still wins (July 2026, USD).
7 min read
Decodo vs IPRoyal (July 2026, USD): Decodo is cheaper at every tier ($3.75/GB at 3GB, $2.75/GB at 100GB, +VAT) with a 3-day trial (card required) or a 14-day money-back, not both; IPRoyal counters with non-expiring traffic and 7-day sessions at $7.35/GB — compared by use case.
6 min read
How to choose geo-targeting proxies — by granularity (country, state, city, ZIP, ASN, coordinates) and by provider. Residential with real in-region IPs is the default for region-served prices, ads, and search. Oxylabs is finest; IPRoyal covers country/state/city (July 2026).
5 min read
HTTP vs SOCKS5 proxies compared on layer, supported protocols, caching, DNS resolution, and use case. Most web scraping is fine on HTTP(S); use SOCKS5 for non-HTTP traffic, remote DNS, or flexibility (July 2026).
4 min read
Looking for an IPRoyal alternative? The best switches by use case — Decodo for the cheapest rate and a trial (card required), Oxylabs for precision and scale, Bright Data for the largest pool and strictest KYC — plus where IPRoyal's non-expiring traffic still wins (July 2026, USD).
7 min read
What ISP proxies (static residential) are — ISP-registered IPs hosted in a datacenter, combining residential trust with datacenter speed and a static IP. How they differ from rotating residential and datacenter, and when an ISP proxy is the right pick (July 2026, USD).
7 min read
Oxylabs vs IPRoyal on July 2026 pricing (USD): Oxylabs starts at $6/GB (5GB) with coordinate/ASN geo, a claimed 175M IPs, and HTTP3; IPRoyal is $7.35/GB but adds non-expiring traffic and 7-day sessions. Price, geo, pool, sessions, and unblocker costs by use case.
6 min read
Choosing proxies for brand protection — detecting counterfeits and unauthorized sellers, monitoring MAP violations, and finding brand and logo misuse. Geo-accurate residential is the default, a scraping API for hardened targets — public information only (July 2026, USD).
5 min read
How to choose proxies for market research — competitor pricing, catalogs, trends, reviews, ad intelligence. Residential for geo-accurate collection, datacenter for light targets, a scraping API for hardened ones — with strict public-data-only compliance (July 2026, USD).
5 min read
Choosing proxies for travel fare aggregation — flights, hotels, car rentals. Fares vary by point of sale, region, and currency and travel sites defend hard: geo-accurate residential is the default, sticky sessions for multi-step search, a scraping API for the hardest (July 2026, USD).
5 min read
Proxy authentication methods compared: IP whitelist (allowlist) vs username/password. Whitelist suits fixed-IP servers; credentials suit dynamic, cloud, and multi-location setups — covering setup, portability, and handling credentials safely (env vars, rotation).
4 min read
Proxy vs VPN compared on encryption, IP count, rotation, geo-targeting, scope, and cost. A VPN encrypts one device through one IP for privacy; proxies pool many IPs with rotation and city/ASN geo-targeting to collect public data at scale — which is why proxies are the default for web scraping.
7 min read
Rotating vs static (sticky) proxies compared on IP behavior, session continuity, block resistance, concurrency, and cost model. Rotating for large volumes of independent requests; static for logins, multi-step flows, and ongoing monitoring — grounded in documented 2026 provider session support.
9 min read
Mobile (4G/5G) vs residential proxies compared on IP origin, block resistance, per-GB price, geo precision, speed, and use case — grounded in the documented 2026 terms (USD) of Oxylabs, Bright Data, Decodo, and IPRoyal so you can decide which type you actually need.
14 min read
How ad verification proxies help you detect ad fraud, audit geo-targeted placements, and enforce affiliate compliance — plus how Oxylabs and Bright Data compare in 2026.
13 min read
We compare the best web scraping APIs of 2026 — Oxylabs Web Scraper API, Bright Data Web Unlocker, and Decodo — on pricing, JS rendering, and parsing.
15 min read
The best Bright Data alternatives in 2026, ranked by price and KYC strictness: Decodo from $3.75/GB with automated onboarding, Oxylabs from $30/mo with enterprise targeting, and IPRoyal's never-expiring traffic from $7.35/GB.
14 min read
An evidence-based Bright Data review for 2026: residential proxy pricing, Web Unlocker costs, the strict KYC onboarding, features, trial terms, and our verdict.
12 min read
Bright Data vs Decodo compared on July 2026 pricing: Bright Data's $4.00/GB promo PAYG and 400M+ IP claim versus Decodo's $3.50/GB at 10 GB and $2.75/GB at 100 GB, plus KYC, trials, and unblocker costs.
14 min read
Bright Data vs Oxylabs compared on documented pricing, network claims, geo-targeting, trials, and KYC — which residential proxy provider wins in 2026.
13 min read
DataImpulse buys the most gigabytes at every budget in 2026 at $1.00/GB on never-expiring traffic; Decodo stays the pick where an audited compliance record matters. What $50, $150 and $500 a month buy, and why sub-$0.50/GB proxies fail the safety test.
17 min read
Full Decodo review for 2026: how the Smartproxy rebrand went, what residential proxies cost, trial terms, compliance, and how Decodo compares to rivals.
13 min read
How Oxylabs, Bright Data, Decodo, IPRoyal and DataImpulse source residential IPs: SDK opt-ins, published payouts of $0.20/GB and $0.10/GB, what those rates imply about a $1/GB retail price, EWDCI membership, and 5 red flags.
19 min read
Free proxies vs paid, settled with evidence: what a 30-month academic study found about free proxy lists, and when a cheap paid tier is the smarter buy.
11 min read
Learn how to choose a proxy provider in 2026: a requirements checklist by use case, procurement questions, red flags, and how the leading vendors compare.
13 min read
How to scrape a website without getting blocked in 2026: robots.txt compliance, rate limiting, realistic headers, session management, and ethical residential proxies.
13 min read
An evidence-based IPRoyal review for 2026: residential pricing, never-expiring traffic, pool-size claims, and where it fits vs premium providers.
13 min read
Is web scraping legal? A plain-English 2026 overview of US case law (hiQ v. LinkedIn, CFAA), EU rules (GDPR, TDM exceptions), and what compliant scraping looks like.
11 min read
Oxylabs lists no pay-as-you-go rate and starts at $30/mo ($6.00/GB). The best alternatives in 2026: DataImpulse at $1.00/GB from a $5 entry, Decodo from $11.25/mo ($3.75/GB), Bright Data at $4.00/GB pay-as-you-go, and IPRoyal's never-expiring traffic.
16 min read
Our Oxylabs review for 2026: residential proxy pricing tiers, geo-targeting and session control, trial terms, KYC compliance, and who should (not) buy.
12 min read
Oxylabs vs Decodo (formerly Smartproxy) on July 2026 numbers: $6.00/GB vs $3.75/GB entry rates, 175M+ vs 115M+ IP pool claims, coordinate-level targeting, 24-hour sticky sessions, KYC posture, and $0.25 vs $0.50 per 1K scraping API pricing.
13 min read
Compare the best proxies for AI training data collection in 2026 — Oxylabs vs Bright Data pricing, scraping APIs, compliance programs, and cost models at terabyte scale.
13 min read
Best proxies for e-commerce monitoring in 2026: Oxylabs, Decodo, Bright Data, and IPRoyal compared on per-GB pricing from $4.00, geo targeting for marketplace variants, sticky sessions for MAP evidence, and scraping-API rates from $0.25 per 1K for JS-heavy product pages.
13 min read
Which proxies for price monitoring actually work in 2026? Requirements, architecture patterns, compliance rules, and how Oxylabs, Bright Data, and Decodo compare.
13 min read
Why localized rank checks fail without proxies, how to build geo-distributed SERP tracking, and which proxies for rank tracking fit best in 2026.
14 min read
Residential proxy pricing comparison for 2026: published per-GB rates across every provider we track, worked cost examples at 10, 100 and 500 GB, where DataImpulse's flat $1.00/GB wins and where Thordata retakes the lead, plus the billing traps that move the real bill.
19 min read
Checked September 30, 2026: who offers a residential proxy free trial. Decodo's needs payment details and voids its refund, Oxylabs' is by request (7 days for verified companies), and Bright Data's credit does not open residential.
19 min read
Residential vs datacenter proxies compared alongside ISP and mobile options: IP sourcing, cost models, detection resistance, speed, and when each type fails.
11 min read
Scraping API vs proxy costs compared with worked examples from Oxylabs, Bright Data, and Decodo list prices — plus a build-vs-buy decision framework.
13 min read
A worked model for web scraping costs in 2026: pages x page weight x retry factor gives GB, priced against per-GB proxy rates ($2.00-$7.35) and per-request APIs ($0.25-$1.50 per 1K). Three personas from $7.50/mo to five figures, plus break-even math.
13 min read
Every published web unlocker rate, dated 2026-09-05: Bright Data $1.50 per 1K requests, Decodo Site Unblocker $1.25 per 1K or $10.00/GB plus VAT, IPRoyal $1.00 per 1K, Thordata $1.30 per 1K responses, Oxylabs from $9.40/GB — plus the floor each vendor keeps behind a tab, a toggle or a slider.
32 min read
What is a residential proxy? A plain-English definition, how routing through real household IPs works, where those IPs come from, and the legitimate ways businesses use them.
12 min read