Proxy networks

A proxy network sends your requests through other IP addresses, often in a country or city you choose. For data work, the common reasons are seeing a page as local visitors see it, spreading a large but permitted job across addresses so no single one sends too much, and testing how ads, prices and search results differ by location.

Providers sell several kinds of address. Datacenter proxies come from server providers and are fast and cheap. Residential proxies route through home internet connections, and mobile proxies through phone networks. ISP proxies sit in between, with addresses registered to internet providers but hosted in data centers. Many providers now also sell scraping APIs and datasets on top of their networks.

Sourcing is the first thing to ask about with residential and mobile proxies. Those addresses belong to real people's devices, usually through apps or programs that share bandwidth. Ask the provider how people opt in, whether they are paid or told clearly, and how consent is recorded. Some publish ethics policies and audits, and that is worth reading before you sign.

Then look at practical fit: which locations you need, whether you need sticky sessions that keep one address for a while, how usage is billed, how the dashboard and API work, and how the provider handles abuse reports.

Featured AI web scraping tools: proxy networks

SponsoredProxy networks This position is open Put your tool at the top of the proxy networks page. Paid spots are always labeled Sponsored. From $99 a month. Get featured

What a featured listing costs ยท from $99 a month

8 AI web scraping tools in proxy networks

Bright Data

Large proxy network with residential, datacenter and mobile IPs, plus scraping APIs and ready-made datasets.

  • Developer API

Oxylabs

Proxy provider with residential, datacenter and mobile pools and a web scraper API for search and ecommerce pages.

  • Developer API

Webshare

Self-serve proxy service focused on datacenter and residential proxies with a dashboard and API for managing lists.

  • Developer API
  • Free plan or free tier

Decodo

Proxy and scraping API provider formerly known as Smartproxy, with residential, mobile and datacenter options.

SOAX

Residential, mobile and datacenter proxies with targeting by country, city and network provider.

NetNut

Proxy network that routes residential traffic through ISP connections, with static and rotating options.

IPRoyal

Proxy provider selling residential, ISP, datacenter and mobile proxies, including traffic that does not expire.

Rayobyte

US-based proxy provider with datacenter, ISP and residential proxies and a published ethics policy on sourcing.

A proxy does not give permission. If a site's terms forbid automated collection or it has asked crawlers to stay out in robots.txt, routing requests through other addresses does not change that. We list proxy networks for location testing and for permitted collection at a polite pace, and we leave out tools sold mainly for slipping past blocks. Keep rates low, and handle any personal data under the laws that apply.

Watch your own usage. Proxy billing is usually by bandwidth or by request, and a script that downloads images, video or the same page over and over can use far more than planned. Block media you do not need, cache pages you already have, and set alerts in the provider dashboard for unusual spend. Lower usage is also lighter on the sites you visit.

Test a provider on a small, permitted job before you commit. Measure how many requests complete, how fast they are, and whether the locations match what you paid for.

Questions about proxy networks

What is the difference between datacenter and residential proxies?

Datacenter proxies use addresses from server providers and are fast and cheap. Residential proxies route through home connections, so pages see a typical visitor's address. They cost more and raise questions about how the addresses were sourced.

How do I check that residential proxies are ethically sourced?

Ask how device owners opt in, whether they are told clearly and paid, and whether the provider publishes an ethics policy or outside audit. Avoid providers that cannot answer.

Do proxies make scraping allowed?

No. A proxy changes where requests come from, not what you may collect. Site terms, robots.txt, copyright and privacy law still apply.

Do I need proxies at all?

Often not. Small, polite jobs from one address work fine on many sites. Proxies help when you need views from other locations or a large permitted job spread out at a gentle rate.

Related categories