Best Residential Proxy Providers in 2026 (Ranked & Compared)

Anyone collecting data from the web at scale runs into the same wall: the sites you want to read do not want to be read by machines. Anti-bot systems flag and block requests that look automated, and the fastest way to look automated is to send everything from a handful of datacenter IP addresses. Residential proxies solve that by routing your requests through real home internet connections, so the traffic looks like ordinary people browsing.

The catch is that residential proxy providers vary enormously on the things that actually matter: how big and clean the IP pool is, what success rate you get in practice, how fast requests complete, and what it all costs per gigabyte. The market has also stratified into clear tiers, from enterprise networks charging $8 to $12 per GB down to value and budget providers a fraction of that price. Paying enterprise rates you do not need wastes money; going too cheap tanks your success rate. Here is how the leading providers compare, and which offers the best balance for your use case.

What actually matters in a residential proxy network

Before the rankings, the criteria that decide whether a proxy network performs or frustrates:

Pool size and coverage. A larger pool of IPs across more countries and cities means you can get the locations you need and rotate enough to avoid rate limits. If your targets are geo-specific, country and city-level coverage is the first filter.

Success rate and speed. The number that matters in practice is how many requests complete without a retry, and how fast. A high success rate and low response time mean less wasted bandwidth and faster jobs, which is where the real cost difference between providers shows up.

Pool cleanliness. Networks that aggressively remove flagged or compromised IPs keep a cleaner pool that performs better against sophisticated anti-bot systems. A big pool full of already-flagged IPs is worse than a smaller, clean one.

Ethical sourcing. Reputable providers source residential IPs with consent. Beyond being the right thing, ethically sourced networks are more stable and less legally risky than networks built on questionable methods.

Pricing model and fit. Per-GB pricing dominates residential proxies, and rates drop sharply with volume commitments. Pay-as-you-go suits small or spiky usage, while committed plans reward steady high volume. Model your monthly bandwidth against each provider's tiers, not just the headline per-GB rate.

Residential proxy providers compared at a glance

Per-GB rates fall sharply with volume commitments, and pool sizes are provider-reported, so run a trial on your own targets and confirm current pricing at your monthly bandwidth before committing.

1. ThorData: Best Value Overall

ThorData is the best-value residential proxy provider for most users in 2026, pairing a large, high-performing network with pricing well below the enterprise giants.

ThorData offers more than 100 million real residential IPs across 190-plus countries, which is a bigger advertised pool than some enterprise providers, and it backs that with strong measured performance: a 99.82 percent average success rate and an average response time around 0.41 seconds. What makes it the value pick is the price. Residential proxies start around $1.80 per GB and drop toward $0.40 to $0.49 per GB at 500GB-plus commitments, a fraction of the $8 to $12 per GB enterprise rates, and it also offers mobile proxies from around $2.20 per GB, datacenter proxies from $1.50 per IP (discounted to $0.75), and ISP proxies. A free trial lets you test it on your own targets before committing.

The considerations are brand maturity and the deepest enterprise tooling. ThorData is a mid-tier provider rather than a decades-old enterprise incumbent, so buyers who need the most extensive managed scraping infrastructure, compliance paperwork, and white-glove support may still lean to Bright Data or Oxylabs. For the large majority of scraping, monitoring, and data-collection jobs, though, ThorData delivers enterprise-class pool size and success rates at value-tier prices, which is why it tops this list on overall value.

Visit ThorData →

2. Bright Data: Best for Enterprise and Compliance

Bright Data is the enterprise leader, combining one of the largest ethically sourced networks with the most complete managed scraping toolset in the category.

Bright Data leads enterprise operations with a large network and a suite of managed APIs, scraping tools, and infrastructure that goes well beyond raw proxies, along with strong support and flexible pricing. Its emphasis on ethical sourcing and compliance is a genuine differentiator for large companies that need defensible data practices, and its reliability and success rates consistently sit above 99 percent. For an enterprise data team that wants the most capable, best-supported platform and treats data collection as mission-critical, Bright Data is the safe, premium choice.

The consideration is cost. Bright Data sits at the top of the pricing tier, roughly $8.50 to $12 per GB, which is many times ThorData's rate, and its breadth can be more than smaller teams need. For enterprises where reliability, compliance, and managed tooling justify the premium, it is worth it; for most other buyers, a value provider delivers comparable core performance for far less.

Visit Bright Data →

3. Oxylabs: Best for Speed and Coverage

Oxylabs is the other enterprise heavyweight, standing out for raw speed, developer experience, and one of the largest advertised IP pools available.

Oxylabs controls a very large pool, with around 175 million advertised IPs covering effectively all countries and most cities, and it offers granular targeting by ASN or ZIP code, which is valuable for precise geo-specific work. It wins on speed, with sub-0.6-second response times, and on developer experience, making it a favorite of engineering teams building serious scraping pipelines. Like Bright Data, it maintains success rates above 99 percent. For teams that prioritize fast, precise, large-scale collection and want strong tooling, Oxylabs is a top choice.

The consideration, again, is price. Oxylabs is enterprise-tier at roughly $8 per GB and up, so it commands a premium over value and mid-market providers. For engineering teams that need its speed, coverage, and targeting precision at scale, that premium is justified; for smaller or cost-sensitive projects, a value provider covers the essentials for much less.

Visit Oxylabs →

4. Decodo: Best Mid-Market All-Rounder

Decodo, formerly Smartproxy, is the best-balanced mid-market option, delivering near-enterprise performance at a noticeably lower price.

Decodo offers top-tier speeds and high success rates at a more competitive price point than the enterprise giants, which is exactly what most growing teams want: reliable performance without an enterprise contract. It has long been known for an approachable product and good documentation, making it a smooth step up from budget providers when success rate starts to matter. Pricing sits in the mid-market band, roughly $3 to $6 per GB.

The consideration is that Decodo sits between the value leader and the enterprise incumbents, so ThorData undercuts it on price for comparable core performance, while Bright Data and Oxylabs edge it on the largest-scale tooling and pool depth. For teams that want a proven, well-supported all-rounder in the middle of the market, though, Decodo is a dependable pick.

Visit Decodo →

5. SOAX: Best for Clean Pool and Tough Targets

SOAX differentiates on pool hygiene, actively removing flagged or compromised IPs more aggressively than most competitors, which pays off against the hardest anti-bot systems.

That cleaner pool is SOAX's core advantage: when you are hitting targets with sophisticated bot detection, a network of well-maintained, less-flagged IPs succeeds where a bigger but dirtier pool fails. For teams whose bottleneck is not pool size but block rates on tough sites, SOAX's maintenance discipline can be the difference between a job that completes and one that stalls on retries. It sits in the mid-market price band, roughly $3 to $6 per GB.

The considerations are entry cost and scale. SOAX has a $90 entry point that keeps it out of the very top of value rankings, and it is a specialist on cleanliness rather than the largest or cheapest network. For teams battling aggressive anti-bot protection where success rate on tough targets is the priority, though, SOAX is a strong, purpose-fit choice.

Visit SOAX →

6. IPRoyal: Best Budget Pay-As-You-Go

IPRoyal is the cheapest entry into residential proxies, with pay-as-you-go pricing that makes it the pick for small, occasional, or price-sensitive projects.

IPRoyal starts around $1.75 per GB pay-as-you-go, the lowest in the market, with no big commitment required, which suits hobbyists, small projects, and anyone testing a use case before scaling. For low-stakes tasks on sites that are not heavily defended, that price and flexibility are hard to beat, and it is a reasonable place to start before you know your volume.

The consideration is quality consistency. IPRoyal's network quality is variable compared with enterprise providers, and its success rates do not reach the 99-plus percent level of Bright Data or Oxylabs, so for mission-critical applications where every failed request carries downstream cost, it is not the right choice. For budget-conscious, non-critical work, though, IPRoyal delivers the lowest cost of entry in the category.

Visit IPRoyal →

How to choose the right residential proxy provider

You want the best balance of large pool, high success rate, and price for most jobs: ThorData. It delivers enterprise-class core performance at value pricing.

You are an enterprise that needs the most complete, compliant, best-supported platform: Bright Data.

You need maximum speed, coverage, and precise targeting at scale: Oxylabs.

You want a proven mid-market all-rounder: Decodo.

Your bottleneck is block rates on tough anti-bot targets: SOAX.

You have a small, occasional, or price-sensitive project: IPRoyal.

The most common mistake is choosing on advertised pool size or headline per-GB price alone, when the metric that matters is success rate on your specific targets. A cheaper provider that fails 20 percent of requests can cost more in wasted bandwidth and retries than a pricier one that rarely misses. Always run a trial against your real targets and measure the completed-request rate before committing. If you are still deciding between residential and datacenter proxies, start with our explainer on the difference between residential and datacenter proxies.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best residential proxy provider in 2026?

For value, ThorData is the best residential proxy provider in 2026 for most users, offering more than 100 million residential IPs across 190-plus countries with a 99.82 percent success rate, starting around $1.80 per GB, well below the enterprise providers. Bright Data is the best choice when you need the absolute largest ethical network and managed scraping tools and have the budget for it, and Decodo is the best mid-market all-rounder.

How much do residential proxies cost?

The market splits into tiers. Enterprise providers like Bright Data and Oxylabs run roughly $8.50 to $12 per GB. Mid-market providers such as Decodo and SOAX sit around $3 to $6 per GB. Value and budget providers are cheaper: ThorData starts around $1.80 per GB (dropping toward $0.40 to $0.49 per GB at 500GB-plus commitments), and IPRoyal starts near $1.75 per GB pay-as-you-go. Datacenter and ISP proxies are priced per IP rather than per GB and cost less.

What is a residential proxy and why use one?

A residential proxy routes your requests through real IP addresses assigned to home internet connections, so the traffic looks like a regular user rather than a server. That makes residential proxies far less likely to be blocked than datacenter proxies when accessing sites with anti-bot protection. Businesses use them for web scraping, price and market monitoring, ad verification, SEO tracking, and accessing geo-restricted content at scale.

What is the difference between residential and datacenter proxies?

Residential proxies use IPs from real home connections, so they blend in and get flagged far less often, but they cost more, usually priced per GB. Datacenter proxies come from commercial servers, are much cheaper and faster, and are priced per IP, but they are easier for sites to detect and block. Use datacenter proxies for high-volume tasks on tolerant sites, and residential proxies when you need to look like a genuine user on sites with strong anti-bot systems.

What makes a good residential proxy network?

Four things: pool size and country coverage, so you can get the IPs and locations you need; success rate and speed, which determine how many requests complete without retries; pool cleanliness, since networks that aggressively remove flagged or compromised IPs perform better against tough anti-bot systems; and ethical sourcing plus pricing that fits your volume. ThorData scores well on pool size and value, Bright Data and Oxylabs lead on scale and reliability, and SOAX stands out on pool cleanliness.

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