Best Residential Proxy Providers in 2026
The residential proxy market is dominated by a handful of providers at very different price points. This comparison cuts through the marketing to give you the actual numbers: pool size, pricing per GB, sticky session limits, and billing minimums. We've included our own service in this list — with honest context about when a competitor makes more sense.
What to look for in a residential proxy provider
Before comparing providers, know which variables actually matter for your use case:
Side-by-side comparison
| Provider | Pool | Price/GB | Countries | Sticky | Min Spend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proxies.VISIONTHIS SITE | 42M+ | $1.00/GB | 195+ | 30 min | None |
| Bright Data | 150M+ | $8.40/GB | 195+ | 30 min | $500/mo |
| Oxylabs | 100M+ | $8.00/GB | 195+ | 30 min | $299/mo |
| Smartproxy | 55M+ | $7.00/GB | 195+ | 10 min | $75/mo |
| DataImpulse | 5M+ | $1.00/GB | 150+ | 30 min | None |
| Webshare | 30M+ | $2.00/GB | 195+ | 24h | None |
Prices as of June 2026. Enterprise contract rates excluded.
Provider breakdown
Proxies.VISION
Best value for operators who need real residential IPs without enterprise minimums.
Bright Data
Most features, largest pool. Requires enterprise commitment and budget.
Oxylabs
Enterprise-grade quality and compliance. High barrier to entry.
Smartproxy
More accessible pricing for mid-market. Still 7x the cost of budget alternatives.
DataImpulse
Budget-tier alternative. Smaller pool and fewer coverage options than Proxies.VISION.
Webshare
Middle-ground pricing. Longer sticky sessions but smaller pool and 2x the cost.
Which provider should you choose?
Best for budget operators and indie hackers
Proxies.VISION — $1/GB, no subscription, instant activation. Start with $5, scale to whatever you need.
Best for enterprise compliance and data compliance
Bright Data or Oxylabs — both offer SLAs, dedicated account management, and GDPR compliance certifications.
Best for scraping Amazon, Nike, or LinkedIn at scale
Any provider with genuine ISP-assigned residential IPs. Pool size matters; choose Bright Data or Oxylabs if you need 100M+ unique IPs per day.
Best for testing before committing to volume
Proxies.VISION or DataImpulse — no minimum spend, buy what you test with.
Frequently asked questions
Which residential proxy provider is cheapest in 2026?
Proxies.VISION and DataImpulse both offer residential proxies at around $1/GB — 7-8x cheaper than Bright Data or Oxylabs. Proxies.VISION offers a larger pool (42M+ vs 5M+) and more countries (195+ vs 150+).
How large should a residential proxy pool be?
For most scraping use cases, a pool of 5M+ IPs is sufficient. Larger pools (40M+) reduce IP reuse and benefit very high-volume operations. Pool size matters less than IP quality — genuine ISP assignment and clean reputation history.
What is the difference between rotating and sticky residential proxies?
Rotating assigns a new IP on every request — ideal for large-scale scraping. Sticky holds the same IP for a set window (10–30 minutes), essential for checkout flows, account management, and session-sensitive tasks.
Start with $1/GB
42M+ IPs. 195+ countries. No subscription.
Volume discounts kick in automatically at 50 GB ($0.95/GB) and 100 GB ($0.90/GB). No commitments needed.