The best proxy providers offer a range of solutions to meet diverse online needs, like bypassing IP bans, accessing geo-restricted content, or gathering market research data and conducting competitor analysis. Utilizing proxy servers can also improve Internet speed and performance as they cache frequently accessed web content.
Understanding Proxy Servers
A proxy server provides a gateway between the users and the Internet. It separates them from the target websites and online services so the traffic only gets routed through the proxy, including the response from the destination server.
There are various types of proxy servers, which commonly include residential proxies, datacenter proxies, ISP proxies, and mobile proxies..When choosing a proxy provider, businesses should consider the number of proxy IPs in the network and their available locations. It's also important to highlight the response rate and network uptime as crucial features to look for in a proxy provide
Proxy services enhance security as they apply rules that prevent users from exposing their digital addresses to third-party platforms. These services also make it easy for businesses to scrape public data for market research, competitor analysis, ad optimization, etc.
The demand for proxy servers has grown as they have become an indispensable tool for overcoming digital barriers. Each provider offers different proxy types and boasts varying proxy network sizes. We've compiled five of the best proxy services in 2024 and outlined their distinctive features.
#1 Bright Data
Overview
Bright Data boasts the most advanced proxy infrastructure in the market, with over 72 million reliable, large, and ethical IPs, ensuring high availability. It offers proxy services on both shared and private servers, and guarantees 99.9% uptime. These services can route traffic using HTTP, HTTPS, and SOCKS protocols.
Known for its strict policy and high-performance proxies, Bright Data also offers the best tools and products for web scraping, data monitoring, ad verification, and more. This proxy provider also provides a browser extension and an API for easy integration with other applications and systems.
Bright Data excels in technical capabilities, with fast residential proxies and an extensive IP pool. This proxy provider ensures high-volume web data collection via its patented unblocking proxy technology. Beyond proxy services and solutions, it also boasts a rapid and automated CAPTCHA solver that can effortlessly bypass any CAPTCHA. This tool possesses superior unlocking capabilities and is easy to integrate into the existing code.
The proxy services cater to both individuals and businesses with all-in-one plans and pay-as-you-go pricing models. This provider prioritizes customer security and privacy through ethical IP sourcing and a strict KYC policy. Additionally, it offers 24/7 global support to address customer queries and resolve technical issues. To help new users get started, Bright Data now provides a free trial.
Features
High-Quality Proxy Services
Bright Data offers a wide range of proxy types, such as datacenter proxies, residential proxies, ISP proxies, mobile proxies, and super proxy servers. The proxies work with 100+ programming languages and operate in 195 counties, ensuring high availability, reliability, and optimal performance.
Residential proxies give access to any website content regardless of location. It can help users gather vast amounts of public web data with total anonymity, avoiding IP bans and CAPTCHAs. This proxy network has 72+ million IPs.
Datacenter proxies exhibit the fastest speed compared to other proxy types. They are static, so they can be kept for an extended period of time. This proxy network has 770,000+ fully compliant IPs.
ISP proxies can access hard-to-reach websites and collect data, similar to a real user. This network has 700,000+ IPs.
Mobile proxies connect users to real 3G/4G/5G mobile connections. This network has over 7 million IPs, which can be used to target highly sophisticated websites and collect mobile-specific web data.
Proxy Manager is an open-source interface that allows users to manage all proxies in one place. It provides full control over user access, IP white/blacklisting, and country targeting, along with built-in automated rules and detailed request logs for easy debugging.
Rotating Proxies
Bright Data also offers top-performing rotating proxies for web scraping. This server automatically switches the IP address after every connection, which increases anonymity, thus making it difficult for websites to detect or block the user.
Broad Geo-coverage
Bright Data operates one of the largest and most diverse proxy networks. It comprises millions of IPs located across 195 countries, ensuring broad geo-coverage. Customers can collect data from different geographic locations thanks to the extensive network of its proxy services.
Scraper and SERP APIs
Bright Data ensures seamless integration and maintenance via APIs. Businesses can tailor the data collection of web scraper APIs, which overcomes the limitations of manual web scraping. The proxy provider also offers a SERP API which provides them results in high volumes for all the major search engines. APIs can save operational costs on data extraction as they put the scraping on auto-pilot.
#2 Smartproxy
Overview
Smartproxy gives users access to over 65 million unique IP addresses across 195+ locations worldwide which enables users to access data anonymously. Its data collection infrastructure helps users easily extract web data from even the most challenging targets.
This proxy provider supports all major types of proxies. It also offers easy-to-use data access solutions and proxy management tools like an on-site dashboard, a public API, browser extensions, and more.
Smartproxy caters to all kinds of clients, from individuals to large enterprises, including universities. The proxy provider helps them access public web data in bulk, which is beneficial for data gathering, retail price comparison, or market intelligence. It also gives them access to exit nodes, so they are unlikely to lose access to the data they need.
Although its proxy network is not as extensive as Bright Data's, Smartproxy ensures good performance and provides an exceptional support team. The company offers a 3-day free trial of its residential proxies and a 14-day money-back option.
Features
Global Proxy Coverage
Smartproxy covers over 195 locations across the globe, including key regions like the USA, UK, Canada, Germany, Japan, and India. With a vast proxy pool, businesses can scrape data, verify ads, and use geo-targeting for personalized content marketing.Site Unblocker
Smartproxy can help users access a range of targets while avoiding CAPTCHAs and IP bans through a proxy-like solution. Site unblocker lets them extract valuable web data from websites with sophisticated anti-bot systems. It leverages automatic proxy rotation and pool management, among other features, to overcome the digital barriers that prevent users from gathering data.
Proxies Without Subnets
Smartproxy eliminates the fear of getting banned or blocked by websites. Its proxy network shares no subnetwork. This immunizes them from bulk bans so they can use the proxy servers with all major targets like Google, Amazon, and other top social networks.
Anonymous Proxies
The wide proxy pool of Smartproxy consists only of anonymous proxies (also known as elite proxies), which fully ensure online anonymity. They hide any information that indicates the user is connecting via a proxy, including the IP address. Customers can choose from shared or private data center proxies, residential proxies, or powerful APIs.
Smartproxy leverages the elite proxy server technologies that optimize browsing speed, privacy, and proxy performance. Customers can experience lightning speed with <0.5s average response time for residential proxies and <0.3s for data center proxies.
#3 Oxylabs
Overview
Oxylabs controls one of the most prominent ethical proxy networks with over 102 million IPs. It supports major types of proxies, shared and dedicated, and guarantees 99.9% uptime. The company mostly caters to mid-range and enterprise clients, but its aspirations extend to all businesses, ensuring everyone has access to big data and business intelligence.
Oxylabs provides multiple language support and ready-to-use code examples so businesses can easily integrate its solutions into their web scraping projects. Besides its proxy services, the company also offers scraper APIs for various use cases and datasets for unlocking web intelligence insights.
Features
Ethically Sourced Proxies
Oxylabs follows an ethical procurement process to ensure each IP address comes from a consenting and knowledgeable user. The majority of its proxy network covers Tier A+ model proxies, which compensate end-users in exchange for their participation. The proxy provider presents them with clear information regarding their participation, specifying what devices' resources will be utilized and shared with third parties.
Advanced Proxy Solutions
Oxylabs boasts one of the most reliable and largest proxy services in the market. It covers 195 countries globally, so businesses can gather public web data at scale with fewer IP blocks.
This proxy provider also offers an AI-powered solution called Web Unlocker for block-free scraping. This solution can easily imitate real website users to gain access to public data, even from the most challenging sites. It bypasses sophisticated anti-bot systems and selects the right browser parameters. With 102M+ IPs, businesses can collect localized public data in minutes.
Award-winning & Compliant
This proxy provider is recognized for its outstanding performance and reliability, evidenced by its recognition from G2, Proxyway, and Data Breakthrough Awards. Oxylabs sources its technology from reputable and certified providers that fit international standards. It observes the requirements of data processing legislation, proving it cares for its customers' privacy and safety.
#4 NetNut
Overview
NetNut offers premium proxies that let users effortlessly collect industry data and gain insights. It has a variety of subscription plans, yet its entry price is higher than other alternatives. Trusted by leading data companies, this proxy provider supports all types of proxies and boasts more than 85M+ IPs in 200 countries. It stands out for its unmatched global coverage, ensuring high availability.
NetNut routes all traffic through its exclusive network, which guarantees no disconnections or interruptions. Its architecture can provide rotating residential proxies with one-hop connectivity, ensuring fast speed due to the lack of bottlenecks in the traffic flow.
With optimal network performance, NetNut promises uninterrupted data collection for ad verification, threat intelligence, brand protection, and other use cases. It provides a user-friendly dashboard that users can tailor according to their needs.
Features
User-Friendly Dashboard
NetNut provides a user-friendly dashboard where users can monitor and adjust proxies with just a few clicks, even modify them for precision control. This feature also lets them track usage and performance with detailed statistics.
Rotating Residential Proxy
NetNut offers a powerful rotating proxy service that can avoid website blocks, bypass geo-restricted content, and access localized data. The provider rotates the proxies per session, which users can control with sticky IP sessions. This service can handle any target to extract the data the user needs.
The proxy provider also offers static residential proxies, mobile proxies, and data center proxies. These proxy services have their unique advantages and use cases, which include API access, IP whitelist, dedicated account manager, and city/state selection.
#5 IPRoyal
Overview
IPRoyal boasts a network size of 34 million+ ethical IPs that operate in 40+ countries. It supports major proxy types, which work with all browsers, apps, and bots thanks to its HTTP/HTTPS and SOCKS5 support.
Features
Industry-leading Affordability
IPRoyal offers flexible pricing and customized cost solutions, ensuring industry-leading affordability. The proxy provider constantly expands its IP pools and adds new features to its servers at no extra cost and no contracts to bind customers.
Quick and Easy Setup
It only takes a minute to set up the proxy servers of IPRoyal. It also offers an intuitive dashboard that users can customize to make proxy management a breeze.
The proxy services are tailored for developers and everyday users with API and many integration features that will accommodate many use cases, ranging from account creation to advanced web scraping. IPRoyal provides quick-start guides and documentation so individuals and businesses can manage the proxies that best suit their needs.
Multichannel Support
IPRoyal provides customer support through multiple channels. Customers can ask questions via email, Slack, Discord, etc., which the company's engineering teams and senior technicians address promptly. The proxy provider ensures 24/7 availability for its technical support.
Conclusion
Proxy networks play an essential role in data security and business intelligence. Proxies can change and obscure IP addresses, improve bandwidth control through caching content and bypass other barriers to give users access to valuable web data. Choose from the top 5 best proxy services in 2024 to secure online identities and achieve efficient web scraping on any target.
