Best static residential proxies | TechRadar

If you want to maximize your browsing potential or simply unblock your scraper tool, then you will need static residential proxies, also known as ISP proxies. These vital tools offer a combination of high data center-like performance and anonymity of residential proxies. They’re perfect for activities like web scraping, SEO monitoring, and bypassing geo-restrictions.

However, not all IPs are created equal so there are differences even among residential proxies. Thanks to the increased interest in these tools, quite a few companies are now offering these services. To help you make an informed decision, we curated a list of our top picks below, but first, let’s look at factors that make up a good residential proxy offer.

Our Top Picks for 2024

Best Overall

If you’re looking for a service provider with the largest IP pool on the market, then you cannot miss Bright Data. They are among the most popular proxy service providers in the market today, offering more products and solutions than most other competitors, from dedicated data center proxies to extraction tools. The response times usually hover around 1s with a 98.96% success rate, making them also one of the faster and more accurate providers in the field. 

While all of the above mentioned is a plus, if you’re an individual or a small company just getting started in the world of proxies, then Bright Data’s web dashboard may seem intimidating. What’s more, the pricing is also on the premium side. The pay-as-you-go pricing model for residential proxies starts at $8.4/GB while the next pricing tier in the Growth plan starts at $499 a month. There is no free trial for their residential proxy offer, which also might be off-putting to new entrants in the field, but you do get top-notch security, great onboarding, and guaranteed uptime of 99.99% if you decide to pay for their services.

Read our full Bright Data review.

Best for Mid-Sized Businesses

Smartproxy boasts roughly 55 million IP address pools, a “tad” smaller compared to Bright Data, but still covering 190 countries (50 US states). Where it beats out its direct competitor is the response time which stands at roughly 0.5s and a 99.68% success rate. In terms of ease of use, there are Chrome and Firefox extensions for proxy management, complete with a proxy checker, where you can test out connections. The auto-rotation option is also useful if you need to change your IP frequently and would like to avoid the manual work behind it. Furthermore, Smartproxy boasts top-notch 24/7 support, extensive documentation, and great onboarding activities to ensure that mid-sized businesses and individual entrepreneurs can easily hit the ground running. 

Pricing starts at the pay-as-you-go plan where you will be paying $7 per GB, but if you decide to commit to a higher plan, the next one, uninventively called the 2GB plan will charge you $6 per GB, but has a free trial offer if you’re looking to test run services before committing. 

Read our full Smartproxy review.

Best for enterprise-grade operations

As one of the VIPs in the proxy world, Oxylabs is famous for its massive pool of proxies. These include more than 100 million ISP-assigned IPs in over 195 locations around the world (allowing you to zero in on a specific region, city, or even ISP), ensuring legitimacy and minimal risk of detection.

Thanks to their 5G/LTE connectivity, these proxies deliver super-fast speeds and low latency, even if you are handling hefty data loads. Plus, Oxylabs has built-in proxy rotation and session control, allowing you to manage long sessions without worrying about switching IPs.

Furthermore, the platform gives you a steady, uninterrupted overview of geo-specific search results. Conducting market research? You can scrape data from websites without the fear of being banned. Its residential IPs, which mimic real users, also allow you to accurately check ad placements.

Additionally, Oxylabs provides customer support that is always there, day or night. And let’s not forget about its easy-to-use API either, which facilitates quicker onboarding and makes large-scale data extraction run as smoothly as butter.

In terms of pricing, the company has flexible, customized plans based on how much you need, making it easy to scale whether you are a small startup or a big enterprise. The price tag matches the premium features and rock-solid reliability that come with it.

For instance, it offers a pay-as-you-go plan at $8 per 1GB with no limits on the number of concurrent sessions but limits the monthly traffic to 50GB. The base subscription option, Micro, will set you back by $99 per month ($7.75 per GB), imposing a 13GB limit.

That said, there are more powerful options for more demanding enterprises, like the Premium plan at $800 per month ($6.02 per GB), which includes 133GB of monthly traffic. Naturally, the more expensive plans lower these restrictions.

So, if your business needs fast, stable, wide-reaching, and scalable access to static residential IPs, Oxylabs is a go-to. It is especially handy if you need a ton of proxies for long-term projects, without having to worry about babysitting them all the time.

Read our full Oxylabs review.

Best for Versatile Geotargeting

SOAX offers a proxy pool of over 2.6 million data center-hosted proxy servers, which seems small compared to the other more premium players in the field. However, the fact that these proxies can rotate with every connection and the option to create 24-hour sticky sessions, might find its use case among small businesses and individual entrepreneurs. The IPs cover over 190 worldwide locations, with US locations being their strong suit. Response times hover around 0.5s with a 99.55% success rate. Aside from proxies SOAX also offers scrapers, no-code AI scrapers, and web unblockers, but most of this is also offered by the premium providers.   

When it comes to pricing, SOAX represents a great price-to-offer ratio, as the initial plan Residential 15 costs $99 a month or $6.60 per GB, making it the cheapest offer on the list. Its offer is targeted at enterprise customers, however, smaller businesses can take advantage of the cheaper offer and still get a high-performing proxy with additional tools as a backup option.

Read our full SOAX review.

Best for Privacy and Security

An epitaph that can be given to ProxyEmpire is certainly a small-scale residential proxy provider. While it does offer residential, mobile, and data center proxies, its pool of 9.5 million addresses across 170 countries is on the smaller side compared to the premium service providers. However, ProxyEmpire has an ace up its sleeve, called bandwidth rollover. Most residential proxy offerings (especially rotating ones) have a bandwidth expiration date of 30 days, regardless of whether you consume the bandwidth or not. Bandwidth rollover enables users to use their “expired bandwidth” with the purchased one in the subsequent month. This is a great option for small proxy users who still haven’t figured out their bandwidth needs. 

Price-wise, it offers the cheapest solution on the market but only on the smallest plan and mid-tier plans. Namely, the Static Dedicated IP plan with 1 IP costs $2 per GB per month. However, to get competitive prices with more bandwidth you would have to move onto the higher tier plans like Hobby or Startup where you would pay $6 per GB or $5.45 per GB, respectively. There are a total of nine Static Residential IP pricing plans which means you will surely find one that suits your needs.

FAQs

What are static residential proxies?

Static residential proxies are IP addresses assigned by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) that remain constant over time. Unlike rotating proxies, these IPs are fixed, making them ideal for consistent tasks like managing multiple accounts or accessing geo-restricted content.

How to choose the best static residential proxies?

Consider the size of the IP pool, geotargeting capabilities, pricing, and the level of customer support. Evaluate your specific needs, such as the scale of operations, to select the most appropriate service.

How to choose the right static residential proxies

When selecting a static residential proxy provider, consider the following practical aspects:

• Reputation: This one should be a no-brainer. Conducting online research on the reputation of the desired proxy provider, reading reviews, and ensuring that it has been around for some time can guarantee solid results.
• Size and diversity: Also known as IP pool size, is a very important factor to consider since it will guarantee that you will find a proxy in the location you need. Moreover, having a wide pool of IPs reduces the risk of IP bans and improves your targeting capabilities.
• Geotargeting capabilities: Accessing content from specific regions is a basic tenant that modern proxies should offer. Furthermore, this capability enables you to target down to the city level if necessary, so make sure precise geotargeting options are available.
• Scalability: Your chosen provider needs to be able to scale along with you and your needs. This of course depends on your business needs and your ability to scale up or down.
• Reliability and uptime: This point is somewhat tied to the first aspect we mentioned, namely a track record of maintaining stable connections. This is crucial, especially for tasks that require a continuous connection.
• Support and documentation: While proxy usage is not that complicated a good offer should encompass great customer support 24/7 and detailed documentation that ensures smooth operations.
• Cost: If you’re on a budget this might be your first consideration. There are flexible pricing options out there, but you should evaluate pricing on per IP basis and bandwidth availability.
• Compliance and privacy: Ensure the provider adheres to legal standards, such as GDPR or CCPA, and offers features that protect your anonymity and data privacy.

Are static residential proxies legal?

Yes, but ensure that their use complies with the terms of service of the websites you’re accessing and that they are used in accordance with data protection laws.

Conclusion

Each provider has something unique to offer, from high-performance proxy servers for enterprise-level customers to individual entrepreneurs, at varying price points. In the end, the decision you make must be based on the needs of your business, with a recommendation from our side to test-run services that offer a free trial or a money-back guarantee. If you’re a seasoned user and are in the market for the best services regardless of the price point, then sticking with one of the premium providers will ensure you’ve covered all of your use cases. Leveraging proxies responsibly and ethically will surely give you a leg up on your competition thanks to access to valuable data as you maintain your privacy.