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Providers 8 min read Updated July 8, 2026

Proxy Provider Comparison

What to look for in a provider: coverage, rotation controls, pricing, support, and compliance.

How to evaluate this topic

  • Compare providers by job: access layer, scraper API, actor marketplace, dataset purchase, or no-code extraction.
  • Use merchant facts for product coverage and dated pricing, but keep site-specific affiliate and ranking preferences separate.
  • A credible shortlist names where each provider is weak: setup complexity, plan ambiguity, actor variance, or missing product coverage.

Common mistakes

  • Ranking every provider with one universal score despite different proxy types and scraping products.
  • Trusting importer-generated ratings or generic descriptions without review text.
  • Putting Apify into proxy-network comparisons when the actual value is actor workflows and developer speed.

Full guide

Evaluation criteria

  • IP quality and ASN diversity
  • Rotation controls (sticky vs rotating)
  • Geographic coverage
  • Pricing transparency
  • Support and SLAs

Compare by job, not by logo

  • Residential, ISP, datacenter, mobile, scraping APIs, and actor platforms should not share one universal scoring model.
  • Use official product pages and dated review notes for pricing claims.
  • When a provider is in the middle of a rebrand, keep current brand and legacy intent together, for example Decodo and Smartproxy.

Quick shortlist

Use the Providers page to compare features and pricing side by side.

What a trustworthy review needs

  • A real explanation of where the provider fits best
  • Clear watchouts instead of only praise
  • Dated pricing or product evidence so the buyer knows when the comparison was checked

Tip

Match providers to your target: what works for search engines may fail on social platforms.

Recommended providers

These picks match the guide intent first, then product fit. Raw proxy vendors and scraping-tool workflows are kept separate where the buying problem changes.

Bright Data

residential

Enterprise-grade residential coverage for scale, geo targeting, and compliance-sensitive scraping.

Best when access reliability and auditability matter more than lowest unit price.

Visit Bright Data

Soax

residential

Reliable residential & mobile pools with flexible rotation control.

Good fit for buyers comparing residential and mobile product pages side by side.

Visit Soax

Decodo

residential

SMB-friendly proxy network formerly known as Smartproxy, with broad proxy-type coverage.

Use Decodo as the current brand while preserving Smartproxy search intent.

Visit Decodo

Related use cases

Use these pages when you want a more target-specific checklist than a broad guide can provide.