Bright Data and IPRoyal contrast on scale versus simplicity. Bright Data brings the largest pool we track (a claimed 400M-plus IPs), a low $4.00/GB rate, and the strictest KYC — registered companies only, human-reviewed. IPRoyal's list price is higher at $7.35/GB, but its traffic never expires, its sessions run up to 7 days with unlimited concurrency, and its self-serve signup lets an individual start immediately with no corporate KYC. The short version: pick Bright Data for scale, low unit price, and compliance posture, IPRoyal for simplicity, non-expiring traffic, and small, irregular usage. All prices are in USD and reflect July 2026 published figures.
Key takeaways
- Bright Data is cheaper per GB: $4.00/GB (a 50% promo off a $8 list) versus IPRoyal's $7.35/GB ($5.15/GB at 50GB).
- Access favors IPRoyal: self-serve with no corporate KYC. Bright Data limits residential access to registered companies via human review — a real barrier for individuals.
- Pool and uptime favor Bright Data: a claimed 400M-plus IPs across 195 countries at 99.95% uptime, versus IPRoyal's 64M at 99.4% (lowest we have recorded). Both are vendor claims.
- IPRoyal's edge is non-expiring traffic and up-to-7-day, unlimited-concurrency sessions — effective cost can flip for small, irregular usage.
- On list per-request price the IPRoyal unblocker is cheaper ($1.00 to $0.70/1,000); Bright Data's Web Unlocker is $1.50/1,000 (5,000 free monthly, full browser rendering built in). Figures are vendor claims; we have not independently benchmarked either.
Bright Data vs IPRoyal at a glance
This is "scale and posture" (Bright Data) versus "simplicity and non-expiry" (IPRoyal). Every figure below was shown on each vendor's own page on July 17, 2026, and performance numbers are vendor claims.
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| Dimension | Bright DataRecommended | IPRoyal |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price | $4.00/GB (50% promo off $8) | $7.35/GB, $5.15/GB at 50GB |
| Cheapest published rate | $2.50/GB at 798GB ($1,999/mo) | Claims $1.75/GB at large volume (terms on request) |
| Traffic expiry | Standard pay-as-you-go / subscription | Non-expiring (bought GB never lapses) |
| Access / KYC | Registered companies only, human-reviewed (strictest) | Self-serve, no corporate KYC; iDenfy KYC on static (ISP) |
| Claimed IP pool | 400M-plus, 195 countries | 64M |
| Geo targeting | Country, state, city, ZIP, ASN | Country, state, city (no ZIP or ASN) |
| Sessions | Rotating and sticky | Up to 7 days, unlimited concurrency |
| Uptime (claimed) | 99.95%, 0.7s response | 99.4% (lowest we have recorded), 0.5s response |
| Unblocker | Web Unlocker $1.50/1K (5K free, full browser rendering) | Web Unblocker $1.00 to $0.70/1K |
| Sourcing | Opt-in via Bright SDK and similar, with rewards | Pays users for bandwidth via Pawns.app (~$0.20/GB) |
Engineer's take (Hinata): With these two, half the decision is simply whether you can register. Bright Data's unit price and pool are excellent, but residential access is gated behind corporate KYC. Working solo or small, I check whether I can clear that gate before I even read the price table — if I cannot, it is a walkover for self-serve IPRoyal. Running at scale as a company, Bright Data is straightforwardly stronger on unit price, pool, and uptime. IPRoyal's non-expiring traffic pays off only when usage is small and irregular and you do not want bought GB to lapse.
Price and access
On per-GB list price alone Bright Data is cheaper — $4.00/GB (a 50% promo off a $8 list), down to $2.50/GB on the $1,999/month 798 GB plan. IPRoyal starts at $7.35/GB and is still $5.15/GB at 50 GB. But before price, access is the fork. Bright Data's residential network is limited to registered companies that pass a human review — a real barrier for individual developers. IPRoyal is self-serve with no corporate KYC, so an individual can start immediately. IPRoyal's non-expiring traffic also removes waste on sporadic, low-volume projects, narrowing the price gap on an effective basis. The habit of comparing effective cost — unit price times volume, and whether GB expires — is in proxy pricing comparison; the budget landscape is in cheapest residential proxies.
KYC and compliance
Bright Data's KYC is the strictest among the providers we track. Residential access is limited to verified companies that pass a human review, requiring company registration, corporate email verification, and a stated use case, sometimes with a video call and a government ID. For an organization with a legal team, that friction is reassurance. IPRoyal applies no corporate KYC on residential, uses iDenfy KYC only on static residential (ISP), and sources bandwidth through its own Pawns.app, paying contributing users a claimed ~$0.20/GB. On sourcing, see ethical proxy sourcing. For other head-to-heads, see Bright Data vs Decodo and Bright Data vs Oxylabs.
Pool, geo, and sessions
- Pool size (claimed): Bright Data 400M-plus across 195 countries vs IPRoyal 64M — an order of magnitude apart, but both unaudited vendor claims (Proxyway's 2026 research puts the median advertised pool at 54M), best treated as scale.
- Geo precision: Bright Data targets down to ZIP and ASN; IPRoyal stops at country/state/city. Fine regional targeting favors Bright Data.
- Sessions: IPRoyal runs up to 7 days with unlimited concurrency, a strength for holding one IP a long time. Bright Data does rotating and sticky.
- Uptime (claimed): Bright Data 99.95% vs IPRoyal 99.4% (lowest of the four).
For the deep dives, see the Bright Data review and IPRoyal review; for the fundamentals, what a residential proxy is.
Unblockers and scraping APIs
Hardened targets favor a managed unblocker. On list per-request price, IPRoyal's Web Unblocker is cheaper at $1.00 to $0.70/1,000. Bright Data's Web Unlocker is $1.50/1,000 (a 5,000-request monthly free tier, 383,000 included on the $499/month Scale plan) with full browser rendering and CAPTCHA solving built in. For the free-tier and feature economics across unblockers, see web unblocker comparison.
Which to choose
- Pick Bright Data if you can register and clear KYC as a company and want the largest pool, a low unit price, high uptime, and the strictest compliance posture — built for organizations operating at scale.
- Pick IPRoyal if you are an individual or small team that wants to avoid corporate KYC, your usage is small and irregular and you do not want bought GB to expire, or you need up-to-7-day sessions.
Bottom line
4 out of 5
Paid link (ad): we earn a commission if you buy.
Bright Data
A claimed 400M-plus IP pool and a low $4.00/GB rate — the pick for companies operating at scale
Link to IPRoyal's site (not an affiliate link).
IPRoyal
Self-serve with no corporate KYC, non-expiring traffic, and up-to-7-day sessions — the pick for individuals and small, irregular usage