Whether you’re a casual internet user or a company looking for a proxy service, you must choose a good one. This way, you can rest assured the proxy servers you use are fast, reliable, and within your budget.
Otherwise, you can end up with unreliable or slow proxies or overpaying for a service that doesn’t meet your needs. And you don’t want that!
However, this requires checking what providers are out there and what they offer so you can get the best deal possible. With so many providers out there, analyzing every one of them can take too much time and effort.
For that reason, we’ve decided to help you by doing the research for you and selecting the top five proxy sites currently available on the market. Factors influencing our decision include the provider’s proxy sourcing methods, location coverage, proxy speed, uptime, and features such as protocol support, IP rotation, traffic limits, etc.
Without further ado, here’s the result of our thorough research.
5 Best Proxy Providers of 2023
We’ll take a look at five companies that are significantly better than the rest in the proxy industry, in no particular order. What may be best for others may not be the best for you, so consider everything when making your decision.
1. IPRoyal
The most affordable, non-expiring traffic
SPECIFICATIONS
Coverage: over 195 locations
IP addresses: over 8 million
TODAY’S BEST DEALS
- Royal residential – $7/GB
- Datacenter – $1.80/proxy
- Sneaker – $1/proxy a day, $1.80/proxy a month
- ISP – $1.80/proxy a day, $2.70/proxy a month
- Mobile – $7/day, $90/month
REASONS TO BUY
- Low prices
- Non-expiring traffic
- Bulk discounts
REASONS TO AVOID
- No web scraping tools
IPRoyal is one of the younger proxy providers on the market, but it sure knows how to attract and retain proxy users. It has a versatile proxy network comprising over 8 million IP addresses from 195 countries around the world.
The location support is great, except for its mobile proxy service, which lets you choose between three locations only – the US, the UK, and Lithuania. The proxy pool size is average, but the fact that these IPs are sourced ethically turns in IPRoyal’s favor.
IPRoyal’s versatile proxy catalog includes residential, static residential, datacenter, mobile, sneaker, and private proxies. It also offers browser extensions and a proxy tester, but unfortunately, no web scraping tools. On the one hand, this is a downside, but on the other hand, it is a fantastic option for those who want to develop their own scraper and have full control over it.
The company allows you to choose which countries, states, or cities you want to target, but this is only for its residential proxy service. For all other proxies, you only get country-level targeting. Another feature worth mentioning is the flexible rotation options that allow you to get a new IP for each request or hold the same from 1 second to 24 hours.
The provider offers HTTP(S) and SOCKS5 support, dual authentication, fast speeds, high uptime, and 24/7 customer support. But what makes it stand out is the never-expiring traffic which allows you to buy it today and use it the next month, year, or whenever you want.
This fantastic feature is hard to find out there, so kudos to IPRoyal for that. The pricing is very affordable with a pay-as-you-go option and great bulk discounts.
2. MarsProxies
The best proxies for copping sneakers and shopping online
SPECIFICATIONS
Coverage: over 200 locations
IP addresses: over 550,000
TODAY’S BEST DEALS
- Ultra residential €3/GB
- Mars ISP – €2/proxy
- Mars Obsidian (datacenter) – €0.80/proxy a day, €1.40/proxy a month
REASONS TO BUY
- Unbanned IPs
- Fast speeds
- Affordable
REASONS TO AVOID
- Only supports EUR payments
MarsProxies is an excellent option if you’re into sneaker copping or shopping online. The provider is known for its fast proxies that are unbanned on most retail stores online. This means you can use them to cop limited-edition items from popular stores without worrying about getting detected or banned.
The proxy catalog includes residential, static residential or ISP, and datacenter proxies called Obsidian proxies. While the small to average-sized proxy network is not one of the company’s strengths, the location coverage is impressive. Right now, there are only 550,000 IP addresses in the MarsProxies’ pool, but the provider is constantly increasing it.
You can get IP addresses from around 200 locations across Europe and the US, though you can’t see these locations on the website before subscribing. With residential proxies, you can target countries, states, and cities, while the rest proxy services allow only country-level targeting.
MarsProxies provides SOCKS5 support, sticky sessions, and dual authentication. But what makes it excellent for copping sneakers and shopping online are the lightning-fast speeds of up to 10Gbps and uptime of 99.9%, ensuring you stay connected during the entire drop time.
On top of that, all proxies are private and compatible with any sneaker bot, boosting your chances of getting the sneakers you want before they sell out. The excellent features and affordable pricing make these proxies suitable for many other use cases, such as web testing, data scraping, market research, etc.
However, you won’t find web scraping tools, a proxy tester, or any other additional tool on this site. Speaking of downsides, the company accepts only euro payments and offers no free trial. However, the daily plan lets you test its datacenter proxies at a minimal cost.
3. Bright Data
The best proxies for data collection companies
SPECIFICATIONS
Coverage: over 195 locations
IP addresses: over 72 million
TODAY’S BEST DEALS
- Residential $15/GB
- Datacenter – $0.110/GB + $0.80/IP
- ISP – $15/GB + $0.50/IP
- Mobile – $40/GB
REASONS TO BUY
- Web scraping tools
- Great infrastructure
- Large proxy pool
REASONS TO AVOID
- Expensive
Bright Data is a well-established name in the proxy world, with a robust infrastructure and one of the largest proxy pools on the market. The company sells residential, ISP, datacenter, and mobile IPs from over 195 locations worldwide, with a total count of over 72 million.
The versatile proxy catalog, large proxy pool size, and excellent location coverage ensure there’s something for everyone.
Another great thing about Bright Data is the precise geo-targeting options, allowing you to target countries, cities, carriers, ASNs, and zip codes. Unlike many other providers, this one allows city-level targeting even for its datacenter, ISP, and mobile proxy services.
Bright Data’s proxies come with 99.99% uptime, decent speeds, and 24/7 customer support. But the most impressive part is the range of scraping solutions packed with useful features. They include a Web Scraping IDE, Web Unlocker, SERP API, and Scraping browser. This makes the company ideal for businesses looking for scraping proxies.
However, the great features and fantastic catalog come at a cost. These are some of the costliest proxies you can find, despite the limited SOCKS5 support and expiring traffic. Even though there’s a pay-as-you-go option and a refund policy, Bright Data may not be the best option for individuals on a budget.
4. ProxyEmpire
Proxies for multiple use cases with rollover bandwidth
SPECIFICATIONS
Coverage: over 170 locations
IP addresses: over 9.5 million
TODAY’S BEST DEALS
- Residential $15/GB
- Datacenter – $25/40 GB
- ISP – $2/proxy, $40/3 GB
- Mobile – $30/GB
REASONS TO BUY
- SOCKS5 support
- Rollover bandwidth
- Versatile proxy catalog
REASONS TO AVOID
- No HTTPS support
ProxyEmpire is another great proxy provider you can trust. It offers different types of proxies for various use cases such as social media management, ad verification, SEO, brand protection, sneaker copping, etc. Its proxy catalog comprises residential, static residential or ISP, rotating mobile, dedicated mobile, and rotating datacenter proxies.
Right now, the company has over 9.5 million IP addresses in over 170 countries around the world, allowing you to target by country, city, and ISP. The precise geo-targeting comes with all residential and mobile plans, while the rest of the proxy services support country-level targeting only.
Some of the best features of ProxyEmpire include ethical proxy sourcing, SOCKS5 support, and zero thread limits. The rollover bandwidth is unique to this provider, allowing you to keep any unused data you paid for without being charged extra fees.
On the downside, the company doesn’t offer HTTPS support or any web scraping tool. And although there’s a trial, it’s not entirely free. You must pay $1.97 to get 100 MB of residential and 50 MG of mobile data. There’s a pay-as-you-go plan, which is a plus, but the prices are relatively high, so you need to consider your budget before making a subscription.
5. SpeedProxies
Versatile proxy servers with flexible pricing
SPECIFICATIONS
Coverage: over 150 locations
IP addresses: over 60 million
TODAY’S BEST DEALS
- Residential $5/GB
- Datacenter – $10/5 proxies
- ISP – $2/proxy a day, $3.50/proxy a month
- Mobile – $80/4G proxy, $150/5G proxy
REASONS TO BUY
- Fast speeds
- Flexible pricing
- Large proxy pool
REASONS TO AVOID
- Limited location support for datacenter, mobile, and ISP proxies
SpeedProxies hasn’t been in the market for a long time, but it still managed to build a large proxy pool with over 60 million IP addresses. It also has a good proxy catalog consisting of residential, datacenter, ISP, and mobile proxies.
When it comes to location coverage, it has residential IPs in over 150 locations, which is more than enough for most online tasks. The location support, however, is not so great for its datacenter and ISP IP addresses which come from only 8 locations. And if you’re looking for 4G/5G mobile proxies, you’ll only find UK mobile proxies, that is, if any are available as they are often out of stock.
The residential proxies come with static sessions and never-expiring traffic, the datacenter ones with fast speeds, and the mobile proxies with unlimited bandwidth. SpeedProxies offers HTTP and SOCKS5 support, instant IP rotation, and unlimited sessions, making the proxies great for web scraping and other automation tasks.
Regarding authentication, the provider offers username/password authentication only, except for its mobile proxy service, which comes with dual authentication support. The flexible pricing is one of the biggest strengths of SpeedProxies, and so is the one-day plan for the ISP proxy servers. However, there’s no free trial or money-back guarantee that would give users the peace of mind they need to make the purchase.
What Are Proxies?
Proxies, or proxy servers, are intermediary servers between you and the internet. They act as a bridge, connecting your device to the target websites or services without revealing your online identity. That’s because they use their own IP addresses when connecting you to the destination servers, keeping your real IP hidden.
Based on the IP source, proxies can be residential or datacenter.
Residential proxy servers use IP addresses from genuine users and internet service providers. For that reason, they are considered the most secure type of proxies, resembling real users’ traffic. However, they depend on other users’ connections, meaning they are not very fast.
Datacenter proxy servers, on the other hand, use IPs obtained from data centers or cloud services. They are easier to detect than residential ones but don’t rely on other people’s connections. This is why they have faster speeds and lower prices.
Who Uses Proxies?
Proxies are used by millions of people and companies worldwide for various reasons. They increase users’ online privacy, so people use them whenever they want to browse anonymously without leaving traces behind.
Since you can pick the location of the proxies’ IP addresses, people use them to bypass geo-restrictions. This way, they can access any website or service they want, even if it’s unavailable in their region. Switching their IP address allows them to continue using gaming, social media, streaming, or any other service despite an IP ban.
Proxies are a great way to hide users’ bots, so they are perfect for anyone who wants to perform automation on websites or services that don’t allow such activity. For example, sneakerheads use them to hide their sneaker bots when copping limited-edition shoes, and companies use them to hide their web scrapers when collecting data from their competitors.
Besides efficient data collection, businesses also use proxies for website testing, ad verification, SEO, market analysis, brand protection, etc. They also use them to block distracting websites and services on the company’s network, preventing employees from wasting time on distracting websites or apps.
In the same manner, parents use them to block inappropriate or potentially harmful content on the home’s network to protect their kids from the dangers of the internet.
Whether you want to access your bank account from another region without triggering alarms, change Netflix region, boost your gaming, snatch a pair of highly coveted sneakers, scrape data, or just protect your online privacy and data, good proxy servers can help.
How to Find Good Proxies?
If you want to reap the benefits of proxy servers, you must find a trustworthy provider. Therefore, ensure the provider is 100% legitimate and reliable and uses ethical proxy sourcing practices.
The proxies should be reliable and fast enough for your proxy needs. Ideally, they should support HTTPS and SOCKS5 connections and dual authentication for maximal security online. In addition, they should be private and not shared with anyone else. This means avoiding public or free proxies!
If you want optimal anonymity and security, go with residential proxy servers. If you need faster speeds and more affordable prices and anonymity is not your top priority, go with datacenter proxies.
And if you need the speed of datacenter and the stability of residential IPs, ISP or static residential proxies are the best option. Just remember that these are not rotating, hence the name static residential.
The bottom line is that you should consider your needs when looking for a proxy service. You should also consider your budget and pick a provider with the best value. And don’t forget to stay away from free proxies, as they tend to be unreliable and unsafe.
To Sum Up
No matter why you need proxies, you should use reliable ones from a trusty proxy provider. Only that way can you be sure you get the benefits without compromising your privacy and security online. The five companies on our list are some of the best out there, so we hope we’ve made it easier for you to find the perfect proxies for you.
